Rugby

[John Kimble]

Wow, what a conclusion!! The missus is a Brit, so I have no qualms in rooting for England, especially when it was to our benefit. Talk about down to the wire. England redeemed themselves somewhat and a couple of decisions didn't go their way, so they can feel somewhat hard done by. Ramos was never gonna miss that kick. Ah well.

[Blizzard Beast]

Two absolutely brilliant games of Rugby today.
This seasons 6 nations was a great watch over all.

[Anvil]

That France game was nuts... so was the tournament - Scotland beat France who beat Ireland who beat Wales who beat Italy who beat England.  How many days to the next one?

Under 20s going for a triple crown as well today, kick off 3.15

[open face surgery]

Best 6 nations in recent years for sure. Was okay with England winning by 1 point but also thoroughly enjoyed them losing in that manner.

As a colleague said, if they won't give us the 6 counties why would they give us the 6 nations!?!

[Carnage]

That's Connacht out of Europe for this year. Hard to argue with it, they weren't very convincing bar the odd moment of brilliance. A couple of iffy try decisions didn't help either.

Now to watch the women get hammered in England.

[Anvil]

The yellow cards killed Connacht.  Conceded 21 points during the periods they were men down.  Thought Connacht missed Jansen's physicality and Billy Vuinpola was immense for Montpellier.   

Ulster have Exeter in their semi, will be a hard game to win, but can't see anyone but Montpellier winning it now, given how they played yesterday

[Carnage]

Yeah they were dominant alright, as soon as they had momentum there was no stopping them. Theirs to lose at this stage.

[Carnage]

I went to the Ireland - Italy women's match in Galway the other day, enjoyed it. The new stand in the Sportsground (Dexcom my arse) is mighty, a major upgrade on the previously existing facilities. Looked wedged on the day but watching it back yesterday half the seats were empty. I'm assuming tbey were corporate bookings that just didn't bother, or buggered off after posing for their Instagram shots. Same at Connacht games, you can't get a ticket and yet the stand is half empty come match time. Infuriating.

Anyway, a good result for the wimmin and an impressive setup at the ground.

[Anvil]

Couple of sobering days for Irish rugby, both Ulster and Leinster soundly beaten in their respective European finals.

[Carnage]

Jesus Ireland made hard work of that. Not helped by the ref but no way should it have been that close. Australia lost it rather than Ireland winning it.

[open face surgery]

Only caught the last 20 minutes. Good stuff. Down to the wire.

[Anvil]

Great day of rugby, ended up watching all of it aside from Japan Italy game and the last 5 minutes of Scotland.  New Zealand France was a cracker, as was the Ireland game... we deserved to lose.  That try before half time was crucial.  Lineout was a mess again. While Paul O'Connell is a legend, we need to start questioning why the lineout has been so fragile for so long with him in charge. Fiji will be disappointed.  Cut Wales apart at times but just couldn't match the Welsh pack at the set piece. South Africa look unbeatable at the moment especially when you consider who was missing from their pack.  Argentina were a shadow of themselves against Scotland.  You always expect Argentina to be physical and tough, but they just didn't show up and it was an easy win for Scotland in the end. The score line flatters Argentina. 

[Eoin McLove]

I haven't watched a rugby match in years but happened to catch this one. I'm no expert by any stretch but I found it incredibly entertaining.

[Carnage]

Not a great game there this morning, passing wasn't the best, a few silly penalties given away, just not up to the All Blacks' standard really. Appalling officiating didn't help either: that first half yellow was a red all day, the deliberate knock on in the second half was a definite yellow, not letting them play the ball when they were entitled to... shocking, amateur level stuff.

[CanofCans]

Not a surprising result today given how our form has been the past 3 years. Feels like the team are chasing their own tails. Fix one thing and two others go to shit. Raging at the refs refusal to let us compete at the breakdown but we should have adapted and stopped trying for the jackal completely, leaving more out to defend. We've always had the problem of not adapting to conditions and here it is again. He wasn't reffing the scrum either, at least two penalties should have been given to us there. As far as the deliberate knock on, he let Sam away with one also so I'm not too miffed about that but the shoulder charge should have been a straight red full stop. They completely ignored there own rules there because it was always illegal therefore no mitigation applies.

One of NZ trys was held up from where I was standing and another was as good as an own goal. We did well in defense the second half but overall very poor. JGP had a howler, Prendergast had some great reads skipping tackles and great kicks but in general in attack the other team just drift off him because he isn't an attacking threat at all. A few lazy loop passes achieved nothing. Aki should have been bursting his lungs getting up to Frawley for that cross field but he was out for a fucking jog and had no excuse because he was on the bench.

Teams go through cycles its perfectly normal but it's been frustrating watching Ireland go through their dip yet completely ignore it by fielding the same old heads again and again. New players come through via injury or retirement or if your name is Sam Prendergast that's it. I don't buy that there is no one to take over from the established and fading heads we have because we always play it safe and field the team we know. Joe did it and now Faz is doing it. Faz got that extra 5 years based on 6N performance because that's all the suits care about and we will never win a world cup with that mentality.

Had to laugh at the lads on Virgin calming that first half of rugby was the best they have seen Ireland play in a long time. Sure thing lads only 4 trys let in.. Also PoM talking absolute waffle saying the ref shouldn't have been coaching so much and calling the penalties because it would have sped up the game??

Well that turned into a rant. Angered at the whole situation TBH it's a shitshow.