Matt Giteau has retired from professional rugby. Managed to play into his 40's. Impressive. Seems like a decent human too.

Handle9: The six nations start tonight. Ireland should be too good for Wales but it’ll be intense in the Principality Stadium with the roof shut.

England Scotland should be a good game. Scotland has had the wood on England for the last two years. England have named a pretty exciting team, with a lot more speed than they had in the Autumn internationals.

Unfortunately I think there’ll be at least 1 red card, probably 2. Borthwick and Gatland haven’t had any time with the teams so will be focussed on physicality and defence. That’s likely to lead to red cards when someone makes a mistake.

Ooh oooh can I guess who the cards will be given to? :)

I had to LOL the other day when I saw a Facebook comment asking if Farrell wraps his arms when he hugs his kids.

Seriously though, this will be the first 6N I've watched in a while, will watch ENG vs Scotland and Ireland vs Wales. I've missed Rugby more than usual over the Xmas period. Looking forward to it.

Handle9: The six nations is a much better product than the rugby championship. The games are in much the same time zone so are programmed in a coherent way. The grounds almost always have a great atmosphere.

It’s great for us in Dubai with the exception of French night games. Tonight Wales Ireland is at 6:15pm and Scotland England is at 8:45pm.

I don't mind the timing too much, I will record them on Sky overnight and watch them back to back tomorrow AM fast forward lots of the 'dead' time.

Ireland far too clinical and accurate for Wales who had opportunities but squandered them. There seems to be a pattern forming in Ireland about strong starts. The first 20 minutes was absolutely sensational by them. They look really strong. Not as good in the second half, but still, the scoreline probably reflected the game.

Scotland vs England was interesting as well. Well done to Scotland for the third consecutive win at Twickenham, not the start Bothwick would have been desiring. Scotlands aimless kicking throughout the majority of the game has to be fixed. With that, I think the scoreline could have been even further apart, but van der Merve is a sensation. His first try will end up a contender for try of the year I believe. Not many players in the world could have scored that.

Ireland v France next week is going to be a clanger.

networkn:

 

Scotland vs England was interesting as well. Well done to Scotland for the third consecutive win at Twickenham,

PolicyGuy:

 

 

 

Surely you aren't suggesting Eddie would be petty enough to laugh at his ex teams misfortune?

Given he was in charge for 2 of the three losses, I am not sure he would have much to crow about really :)

networkn:

 

Ireland far too clinical and accurate for Wales who had opportunities but squandered them. There seems to be a pattern forming in Ireland about strong starts. The first 20 minutes was absolutely sensational by them. They look really strong. Not as good in the second half, but still, the scoreline probably reflected the game.

 

Scotland vs England was interesting as well. Well done to Scotland for the third consecutive win at Twickenham, not the start Bothwick would have been desiring. Scotlands aimless kicking throughout the majority of the game has to be fixed. With that, I think the scoreline could have been even further apart, but van der Merve is a sensation. His first try will end up a contender for try of the year I believe. Not many players in the world could have scored that.

 

Ireland v France next week is going to be a clanger.

 

The kicking wasn't aimless, England just kicked a bit better but their defence was pretty poor. If you haven't watched it the squidge posted a video on kicking this week that may give some context.

I really enjoyed Scotland England. There were plenty of mistakes but generally both teams looked to be there to play rugby. There was a noticeable absence of niggly cynical garbage which let the game flow. It was really fun game and well worth watching. Englands attack was noticeably better than it was under Jones, they just let Scotland hang around and never kicked clear.

The new laws around time wasting have helped a fair bit and I thought Paul Williams had one of the better games I've seen him referee. He was noticeably better than Karl Dickinson, who isn't a particularly good referee yet. The ruck was a bit of a shambles in the Wales Ireland game.

Handle9:

 

The kicking wasn't aimless, England just kicked a bit better but their defence was pretty poor. If you haven't watched it the squidge posted a video on kicking this week that may give some context.

 

Will watch that, however, I disagree that the kicking was just a 'bit' better. They regularly found grass in Scotlands territory, turned them around and made the greater distance. Scotland, especially the first half, rarely did that, it didn't apply any form of pressure and the kicks weren't particularly chasable.

 

I really enjoyed Scotland England. There were plenty of mistakes but generally both teams looked to be there to play rugby. There was a noticeable absence of niggly cynical garbage which let the game flow. It was really fun game and well worth watching. Englands attack was noticeably better than it was under Jones, they just let Scotland hang around and never kicked clear.

 

The new laws around time wasting have helped a fair bit and I thought Paul Williams had one of the better games I've seen him referee. He was noticeably better than Karl Dickinson, who isn't a particularly good referee yet. The ruck was a bit of a shambles in the Wales Ireland game.

 

I also enjoyed the lack of niggle. I felt that the try that Wales scored where Ireland came in and started stuff, was pretty poor form by them.

I don't typically enjoy Paul Willams refereeing at all, but yes, I felt he did pretty well compared to usual.

England generally kicked better but Scotland scored points from their kicking game. I guess their intent from their kicking game was to create broken play and get a kick return or hunt penalties from the breakdown.

Their first try was from a kick return penalty from Haskell-Collins, Van Der Merwe scored on kick return and the breakout for the final try was from kick tennis creating problems with Englands chase.

For those who might be interested. I learned a lot.

Thanks @handle9

You have the weirdest takes. Are you meaning Marler being dropped for sledging? He hasn't played international rugby since 2021.

Edit: He did play six nations last year but didn't go to Australia or play in the Autumn

Handle9:

 

You have the weirdest takes. Are you meaning Marler being dropped for sledging? He hasn't played international rugby since 2021.

 

Edit: He did play six nations last year but didn't go to Australia or play in the Autumn

 

That's not a weird take, it's it's a weirdly selective selection policy. You can't be a verbal dickhead, but a physical one is OK, oh and by the way, have the captaincy.

You could understand it if it was a form-based decision, but he didn't state form, he dropped him for sledging because he has a problem with sledging...

He seems a quirky guy I guess.