6N 2022

[Finnegan]

Fixtures:

 

R1:

IRE v WAL, 5th, 14:15

SCO v ENG, 5th, 16:45

FRA v ITA, 6th, 16:00

 

R2:

WAL v SCO, 12th, 14:15

FRA v IRE, 12th, 17:45

ITA v ENG, 13th, 16:00

 

R3:

SCO v FRA, 26th, 14:15

ENG v WAL, 26th, 16:45

IRE v ITA, 27th, 15:00

 

R4:

WAL v FRA, 11th, 20:00

ITA v SCO, 12th, 15:15

ENG v IRE, 12th, 26:45

 

R5:

WAL v ITA, 19th, 14:15

IRE v SCO, 19th, 16:45

FRA v ENG, 19th, 21:00

 

 

Squads:

 

WAL, SCO, ITA, IRE, FRA, ENG

 

Oddschecker:

 

FRA, 13/8

ENG, 11/4

IRE, 9/2

WAL, 6/1

SCO, 11/1

ITA, 10000000000000000/1

 

Last Year's Table:

1. Wales

2. France

3. Ireland

4. Scotland

5. England

6. Italy

 

Finners' mood:

 

 

[Finnegan]

France play Ireland and England at home, have by far and away the best squad at the moment and have been terrifying for the last couple of years. If that wasn't odds from English betting sites I think the gap would be wider on paper.

 

But then Scotland beat them in Paris last year and we were about 15 seconds away from securing the Grand Slam there, so really, who fvcking knows at this point?

 

There's a general consensus amongst the Welsh support that the results last year papered over the cracks, growing frustrations with the regional game and the butt-sliding of Welsh rugby on the European stage means the WRU's stock is about as low as ever. I've even heard supporters claim that if we're going to lose, they hope it's a hammering to force their hand. So, we'll probably inevitably over perform and put in a challenge again. Or karma will come round full swing and we'll get a man sent off in every match, who knows?

 

Also looking forward to another Scotch false dawn as they go home with a single win. The fact they don't play Italy til round four and have away trips to London and Cardiff to start things off is hideous scheduling in a tournament that's all about form and momentum.

 

Marcus Smith might well be the best thing that ever happens to Eddie Jones' England career, potentially forcing him to embrace the bit of flair and creativity he needs to turn a 5th place finish last year in to a title push. The quintessential one trick ponies under Jones have had pretty much zero creativity outside set piece plays. Being near 'forced' to play Smith may have a similar effect as Gatland being left with only the Stirling Carlos Spencer against the Saffers and that's probably a good thing for England fans.

 

 

[The boy Linacre]

Heard that George Ford is back in the squad due to Farrell's injury.  Be interesting to see if he plays and how much time he gets.

BUT safe to say he is in stunning form currently and probably has been for the last 12 months for Tigers, like an orchestra conductor, his passing opens up so much during games, the spiral bomb is a major challenge and he just gets it currently, unlike Eddie.

England's problem is always injuries and an unsettled team, rarely we get consistent selection in the backline, where we have been looking for a pair of centres since Greenwood & Tindall.  You again have to find a spot for Slade but then Eddie always wants a "banger" in midfield.  For me Smith/Ford, Slade, Manu if fit (not often) May, maybe Nowell & Freddie obviously, he pick's Ben every time as starter so that's not open to choice.

Be nice to see England give it a really good go this year & "not build to the World Cup", winning is what matters!!!

3 horse race, though Italy look a punt at those odds, better than 5000-1!!!

[SpacedX]

Thanks @Finnegan. Copied from the other thread, because I was so pleased to hear it - 

 

Heard on Radio 4 this morning, the joint bid from the BBC and ITV worth £460million has secured terrestrial coverage of the Six Nations for the next four years. This will also filter down to teams and increase prize money. As senior partners, ITV get to show home matches of England, Ireland, France and Italy, BBC get Wales and Scotland, the former being particularly significant to the deal given the proportional popularity of the game amongst the Welsh public. Very good news this, but it took a colossal sum to wrest it from the evil all reaching tendrils of pay to view TV but it does mean alternating between Mark Pougatch and John Inverdale. 

[Finnegan]

We'll never get true justice until the government do the right thing and give the tournament the highest level of protection, a la the World Cup and FA Cup final, etc.

 

Eventually it'll get sold to private broadcast, we know this. Every contract cycle the big money edges closer and closer.

 

Rugby is experiencing a real crisis at the moment as the ugly side of capitalism finally starts to really mess with the professionalism of the sport. An absolute chasm is opening up between the wealth of different leagues all largely thanks to varying broadcast deals of incrementally ludicrous values. The Irish regions, Leinster in particular, are doing a fairly good job of insulating themselves from the disparity between France, England and everyone else but you question how long even that will last. The URC is one of the stupidest ideas I've ever heard but it's the only way the WRU and SRU can keep their regions even vaguely competitive and even that's proving more of a laugh every year.

 

Genuinely worry about the future of the game in Wales. Would love to see a simple UK based league system, it's probably the only thing that can really 'save' us. But the English will never go for it and fair play, really, there's no incentive.

[Dr Marco]

Going to France-England in March

can't wait

[Finnegan]

24 minutes ago, Dr Marco said:

Going to France-England in March

can't wait

 

How do you do, fellow masochist?

 

I've got Wales v France tickets. Fvcking idiot. Going to be carnage. At least I'll probably be shitfaced before Dupont gets his hattrick.

 

 

Edit: Sorry, just noticed your location - if you're actually French I take that back. If you're English living IN France then jesus you're even worse than I feared. Poor soul.

Edited 24 January 2022 by Finnegan

[CosbehFox]

My manager has been like a school kid the last week. Was a will it/won't it about crowds in Dublin. He'd booked his airbnb and stood to lose £150 for the accommodation - around £600 for the fourth of them. Had his ticket. 

 

Edited 24 January 2022 by Cardiff_Fox

[CosbehFox]

1 hour ago, Finnegan said:

Genuinely worry about the future of the game in Wales. Would love to see a simple UK based league system, it's probably the only thing that can really 'save' us. But the English will never go for it and fair play, really, there's no incentive.

My Welsh boss seems to think it's something the CVC will eventually push for. The problem is that the money pool needs to be enough that some of the smaller English teams are happy to play at something deemed second tier. 

 

Your post is bang on. Rugby Union's acceleration into professionalism has left so many victims. Welsh rugby going from superb depth, brilliant crowds into something which even looks naff. South Africa is the same. The regions idea has killed something incredibly rich in history. (It's where I fear cricket is heading). 

[Finnegan]

14 minutes ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

My Welsh boss seems to think it's something the CVC will eventually push for. The problem is that the money pool needs to be enough that some of the smaller English teams are happy to play at something deemed second tier. 

 

Your post is bang on. Rugby Union's acceleration into professionalism has left so many victims. Welsh rugby going from superb depth, brilliant crowds into something which even looks naff. South Africa is the same. The regions idea has killed something incredibly rich in history. (It's where I fear cricket is heading). 

 

As soon as CVC invested the reaction pretty much across the entirety of the UK 6N viewership was "ah crap, there goes terrestrial viewing." Lot of F1 fans chirping up. 

 

I'll be honest, I don't really mind the regions too much. I accept that there's some self-serving bias there, as a Llanelli fan pre-regions it was always an easier pill to swallow because we got pretty much the best possible outcome. But clearly we don't have the population to support many more than four clubs to be competitive at the top level. To be honest, even then it may be a bit of a stretch (and I wonder how long it is until the WRU bin one and go for East, West, North - the latter they're weirdly obsessed with.) The sheer concept has always been used as a reason attendances aren't higher and the clubs haven't been more popular than they are but I think it's probably a bit of a kop out and it's overly simplistic. 

 

Transport connections are shit, we're not very densely populated, the standard of rugby on offer is pretty poor, our best players often go abroad or are sparsely played to keep them fit for international windows. Would you truck a couple of hours on some shit valleys train going round the villages to watch a team of mostly young prospects and older journeymen play a South African side you'd never heard of on a dreary afternoon in a competition with a stupid format you've no hope of winning because Leinster exist? I don't think you need to be a Neath fan bitter about the games being hosted in Swansea to find the thought of that unappealing. 

 

Edited 24 January 2022 by Finnegan

[Dr Marco]

1 hour ago, Finnegan said:

Edit: Sorry, just noticed your location - if you're actually French I take that back. If you're English living IN France then jesus you're even worse than I feared. Poor soul.

born in France, English dad

I will be supporting England though

[Finnegan]

2 minutes ago, Dr Marco said:

I will be supporting England though

 

I'm so very sorry.

[Nalis]

France for me but not a Grand Slam. Best squad with England and Ireland at home.

 

Though last year I thought Wales would finish 5th and France or England would win it so what the hell do I know?

 

Scotland guaranteed to finish 3rd or 4th and be regarded as 'moving in the right direction' by the media. This will include one brilliant performance just to get their hopes up.

[Finnegan]

3 minutes ago, Nalis said:

Scotland guaranteed to finish 3rd or 4th

 

IMO only way they don't finish fifth is if they win in Cardiff (which they haven't done in twenty years) or England bottle it at Murrayfield. It's mad how wildly overrated Scotland are by the press, there almost seems to be a weird duality where by the more we get bizarrely written off the more they seem to get hyped up.

 

We're an objectively better side than them unless we're completely crippled by injuries.

[Nalis]

10 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

IMO only way they don't finish fifth is if they win in Cardiff (which they haven't done in twenty years) or England bottle it at Murrayfield. It's mad how wildly overrated Scotland are by the press, there almost seems to be a weird duality where by the more we get bizarrely written off the more they seem to get hyped up.

 

We're an objectively better side than them unless we're completely crippled by injuries.

I do agree they are 5th in terms of squad ability, I just think in recent times they usually have one game when things falls into place for them and the hype restarts, only to fall away again by the end of the championship.

 

Funny if they got the wooden spoon though obviously wont happen as Italy are crap.

[Finnegan]

Just as an interesting comparison of "odd" vs "even" years, # Six Nations championship wins by country in each:

 

"Odd" (2001 to 2021)

England: 4 (01, 03, 11, 17)

Wales: 4 (05, 13, 19, 21)

Ireland: 2 (09, 15)

France: 1 (07)

 

"Even" (2000 to 2020)

England: 3 (2000, 2016, 2020)

France: 3 (2002, 2004, 2006)

Wales: 2 (2008, 2012)

Ireland: 2 (2014, 2018)

 

 

Which makes "even" years harder to call / less predictable, benefiting France the most obviously in the fall of the fixtures. 

 

 

Edit: Ireland don't give a fvck home or away.

 

 

 

Edited 24 January 2022 by Finnegan

[RonnieTodger]

I love the Six Nations, although last year was an unmitigated disaster  

[Finnegan]

3 hours ago, RonnieTodger said:

I love the Six Nations, although last year was an unmitigated disaster  

 

No it wasn't it was fantastic. 

[Bert]

9 hours ago, Finnegan said:

 

I'm so very sorry.

This is my thought about you most times  

[Nalis]

4 hours ago, RonnieTodger said:

I love the Six Nations, although last year was an unmitigated disaster  

It comes around at precisely the right time of year, a nice competitive tournament to look forward to while we wait for the winter to fvck off post Christmas.

[Tielemans63]

On 24/01/2022 at 21:48, Nalis said:

It comes around at precisely the right time of year, a nice competitive tournament to look forward to while we wait for the winter to fvck off post Christmas.

Agreed. It's been incredibly competitive these past few years too. I think France will win it this time, I fancy them to do the Grand Slam too. 

 

They'll finish 5th now I've said that.

[Duquesne Whistle]

France to win it, England 2nd, Welsh 5th.

[Finnegan]

Faz out for the entirety by the looks of things. Probably low key good news for England. 

[Dr Marco]

[walkerleeds]

Can't see anything other than Wales battling it out for the wooden spoon against Italy.