The Six Nations

[Paul.Power]

It's that time of year when, for about seven weeks, I stop nattering incessantly about cricket.

And start nattering incessantly about rugby union.

Particularly so this year because injuries have finally stopped plaguing Jonny Wilkinson long enough for him to put in some appearances for England.

And appear he did, putting 27 points on Scotland as England beat them 42-20.

In other news, France flattened Italy 39-3, and Wales gave favourites Ireland a scare before Ireland eventually won out 19-9.

The next round of matches feature England vs. Italy, Ireland vs. France and Scotland vs. Wales.

Game on!

[Pigbuster]

Oh Paul.
How many cricket related posts shall we expect this year?

[Paul.Power]

Oh Paul.
How many cricket related posts shall we expect this year?I don't know, but this is rugby, so it doesn't count :p

[Pigbuster]

Oh. You said STOP talking about cricket.

I cannot read English, obviously.

Though my question still stands.

[Paul.Power]

Oh. You said STOP talking about cricket.

I cannot read English, obviously.

Though my question still stands.Well, it is a 4n+3 year, so the Cricket and Rugby World Cups both occur this year...

OTOH the Cricket World Cup is one-day cricket, so I won't be overly enthusiastic.

[FutureWorm]

Does the US even have a national rugby team?

[bonz]

Does the US even have a national rugby team?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_national_rugby_union_team

[FutureWorm]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_national_rugby_union_team
We lost to the UK 106-8 in 1999? That's rather painful.

[Paul.Power]

We lost to the UK 106-8 in 1999? That's rather painful.Not even that: you lost to England. Which, okay, does make up about 5/6 of the UK's population, but considering the amount of talent the Wales and Ireland rugby teams have (admittedly less so in 1999), means you may have got off lightly there.

[Pigbuster]

Hohoho. We lost bad.
I wish America was more interested Rugby than in football (oh wait... AMERICAN football. :rolleyes:)
It's a better sport.

[bonz]

It's a better sport.
It's the manlier sport.

[Paul.Power]

Righto, this weekend's results.

England pulled off an unconvincing 20-7 win over Italy, led mainly by Mr. Wilkinson's boot, as the Italian pack proved more than a match for England's.

Scotland beat Wales 21-9 in a scrappy game also dominated by the kickers.

And France shocked pre-tournament favourites Ireland by squeaking a 20-17 win against them, scoring a try in the dying minutes of the game.

[AndrewTaylor]

England pulled off an unconvincing 20-7 win over Italy, led mainly by Mr. Wilkinson's boot, as the Italian pack proved more than a match for England's.

That was a bit rubbish. My housemate was predicting 50-something (in fairness, so were statistics). But then he said that Wilkinson wasn't ready to come back yet so perhaps he's losing his touch...

[Paul.Power]

Italy's defiant performance against England was capped by a 37-17 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield.

England got slaughtered 43-13 by an Ireland side smarting from their narrow defeat by France.

And France beat Wales 32-21 and, unless England can pull something magical out of the bag, look set for another Grand Slam.

The table after the first three rounds

Team P W D L F A PTS
1 France 3 3 0 0 91 41 6
2 Ireland 3 2 0 1 79 42 4
3 England 3 2 0 1 75 70 4
4 Italy 3 1 0 2 47 76 2
5 Scotland 3 1 0 2 58 88 2
6 Wales 3 0 0 3 39 72 0

EDIT: What the hell is the point of Code tags that don't preformat text?

[Paul.Power]

Round 4.

Ireland narrowly beat Scotland in Scotland (18-19) to win the Triple Crown (i.e. one of the four British Isles nations defeating the other three).

Italy beat Wales 23-20 in a controversial finish - Wales could have snagged a tie if they'd chosen to take the three points from a penalty instead of kicking for the corner and a try chance, but the ref blew his whistle as soon as the ball reached touch.

And England bounced back from their leathering by Ireland to beat France 26-19 and ensure that no-one can win the Grand Slam this year (France beat Ireland, Ireland beat England, England beat France).

The mini-table going into the final fixtures next week.

Team P PD PTS
1 France 4 42 6
2 Ireland 4 38 6
3 England 4 13 6
4 Italy 4 -26 4
5 Scotland 4 -31 2
6 Wales 4 -36 0


The final round of fixtures is

Italy vs. Ireland
France vs. Scotland
Wales vs. England

It's fairly neck-and-neck between France and Ireland, but for England to win the championship they'd either have to give Wales a record hammering or hope Ireland and France both lose.