2025 Six Nations

[Cameo]

Confused about Gray. I thought Townsend was hoping he'd be back for Bordeaux a couple of weeks ago. Was it a leg injury?

[Cameo]

Didn't feel like we learnt that much from the first weekend:

- Scotland are decent but have their weaknesses - particularly up front.

- Italy weren't great but should get better.

- France play a different way than anyone else. When on fire, they look unstoppable, but can drift a bit.

- Wales are struggling. Looked reasonably well drilled but just not threatening.

- Ireland are a little but vulnerable (Prendergast stoll finding his feet), but still have that relentlessness when they get going. Will be hard to live with.

- England are still weird. Great in spells and then just resort to putting up high kicks. Defence is scary then poor. Beatable but could also hammer us.

[Cameo]

One thought for next week is that Ireland are not only good under a high kick, they are brilliant at picking up the loose ball. Jamie Ritchie has a good knack of being there for tap backs etc., but we'll need to be on our game.

[switchskier]

Didn't feel like we learnt that much from the first weekend:

- Scotland are decent but have their weaknesses - particularly up front.

- Italy weren't great but should get better.

- France play a different way than anyone else. When on fire, they look unstoppable, but can drift a bit.

- Wales are struggling. Looked reasonably well drilled but just not threatening.

- Ireland are a little but vulnerable (Prendergast stoll finding his feet), but still have that relentlessness when they get going. Will be hard to live with.

- England are still weird. Great in spells and then just resort to putting up high kicks. Defence is scary then poor. Beatable but could also hammer us.

Thought that Dawson had a point when he said that England are trying to play at a pace and intensity that they (and probably noone) can maintain for 80 minutes. Important not to panic if they come out fast.

Ireland are the opposite. If you get ahead then you can't try defend a lead and surrender the initiative.

Without having seen Wales-Frajcw, Italy were the most disappointing. Their centres look and should be dangerous and there are good players in the back row but something didn't quite click. Agree they might get better.

[BaldiePete]

One thought for next week is that Ireland are not only good under a high kick, they are brilliant at picking up the loose ball. Jamie Ritchie has a good knack of being there for tap backs etc., but we'll need to be on our game.

Some nerd has done analysis on team’s performance in aerial contests during the autumn internationals. We were by some distance the worst (winning 28%) with Ireland winning 56%, double our win rate.

https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/ ... Dashboard2

[Cameo]

One thought for next week is that Ireland are not only good under a high kick, they are brilliant at picking up the loose ball. Jamie Ritchie has a good knack of being there for tap backs etc., but we'll need to be on our game.

Some nerd has done analysis on team’s performance in aerial contests during the autumn internationals. We were by some distance the worst (winning 28%) with Ireland winning 56%, double our win rate.

https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/ ... Dashboard2

It did feel a bit like that though Saturday was much better. Hard to separate out opponent and tactics. Also, sometimes players just have a day it is going for them. The thing you can control is the desperation of other players around the ball for the knock downs.

[Donny osmond]

Well, Wales and Itlay gave us about the worst 80 minutes of rugby I've seen in a while. England with a huge victory over France means tomorrow is the Grand Slam decider!

[Cameo]

Haha. England France was such a strange game. Felt like France had the measyre if England's defence but just couldn't catch the final pass. England's attack is decent when they trust it (though didn't think M Smith at fullback really worked).

[Cameo]

A key takeaway from this for tomorrow is the importance of restarts. France could have won comfortably if they had taken theirs.

For the England game, it showed there is space if we can get it out wide, but don't think we can offer the same threat through the middle to make the defence narrow.

[septic 9]

A key takeaway from this for tomorrow is the importance of restarts.

France could have won comfortably if they had taken theirs. France would have the game done in dusted first half if they could catch the ball anywhere on the park

[BaldiePete]

Darcy has suffered no significant damage but is unlikely to play against England.

https://www.theoffsideline.com/positive ... head-scan/

[Mikey Brown]

Even the suggestion he could be back in training that soon (I don't really want him to be) seems surprisingly positive. Maybe it was amplified by the tone of the game at the time but it looked really ominous. Great news.

I'm more than happy with Rowe coming in. It's come in handy that Dobie can play there, and he did well enough, but I just don't know why we're so insistent on this experiment. To have a 6:2 split and crowbar Sam Skinner on to the bench?