You what?

[Finnegan]

No six nations thread this week? Why not, lads?

[Milky]

No six nations thread this week? Why not, lads?

well done for only loosing 4 games by the way

[Leonisco]

No six nations thread this week? Why not, lads?

RBS Six Nations Table

Team P PD PTS

1 France 5 69 8

2 Ireland 5 65 8

3 England 5 4 6

4 Italy 5 -53 4

5 Wales 5 -27 2

6 Scotland 5 -58 2

Hardly anything to shout about, is it.

[Finnegan]

Obvious and predictable come backs! Just as much as me saying "you're only as good as your last performance", ho ho ho. Fact of the matter is we have good players and you don't! All we've got to do now is work out whatever back room problems we have and get organized!

Don't get me wrong, I'm hugely embarrassed by the tournament as a whole, and I am largely joshin' with you. But it's embarrassment for the WRU and I suppose Jenkins in part more than simply for the players. Anyone who knows their rugby, English or not, will admit we've got (maybe along with the Irish) the best backs in the Northern Hemisphere and some of the best in the world. There's potential there, and if we can get whatever it is that ails us sorted, we could have a very promising world cup.

What have England got as prospects, really? If Tait, Strettle (as good as his debut was) and Flood are it, I'd be fairly concerned if I were you.

[Milky]

what exactly are you trying to achieve with this thread? Well done, you won a game between two very average teams who are a shadow of there former glories (of course englands glories have been far superior)

on the backs issue, you've got Hook who's a great talent, and peel but who else? Ireland piss on your backs all day.

[Maybes]

No six nations thread this week? Why not, lads?

There is no place for rugby on a football forum

[Finnegan]

Don't be daft, lad. Peel is the best scrum half in the Northern Hemisphere bar none (Stringer himself would probably admit it); Shanklin and Henson are a fantastic center pairing that made D'arcy and O'Driscoll (though I don't deny he's probably the best center in the world) look distinctly average the last time they met (05); Shane Williams would walk into any attack minded team in the world and Kevin Morgan's also undoubtedly world class.

Jones on form (though I admit he isn't) is still match winning and Hook's performance yesterday largely spoke for him. Add cover from the likes of Thomas and Phillips and the electric pace of Jones and you're looking at one of the better set ups around.

Ireland have a fantastic center pairing, they really do - possibly the best in the world. But you look across the rest of the back line, and yes, while it is world class in most parts, it's still largely over-rated. With, perhaps, the exception of Horgan - whose power, speed and versatility really should draw him far more plaudits than he receives.

I've noticed you (I think it was you?) chiming in on Cricket threads, bemoaning rent-a-fans chatting balls. Don't be an equivalent here. If you know what you're talking about, then furry muff lad, but let's not chat too much toss, eh?

[Milky]

Don't be daft, lad. Peel is the best scrum half in the Northern Hemisphere bar none (Stringer himself would probably admit it); Shanklin and Henson are a fantastic center pairing that made D'arcy and O'Driscoll (though I don't deny he's probably the best center in the world) look distinctly average the last time they met (05); Shane Williams would walk into any attack minded team in the world and Kevin Morgan's also undoubtedly world class.

Jones on form (though I admit he isn't) is still match winning and Hook's performance yesterday largely spoke for him. Add cover from the likes of Thomas and Phillips and the electric pace of Jones and you're looking at one of the better set ups around.

Ireland have a fantastic center pairing, they really do - possibly the best in the world. But you look across the rest of the back line, and yes, while it is world class in most parts, it's still largely over-rated. With, perhaps, the exception of Horgan - whose power, speed and versatility really should draw him far more plaudits than he receives.

I've noticed you (I think it was you?) chiming in on Cricket threads, bemoaning rent-a-fans chatting balls. Don't be an equivalent here. If you know what you're talking about, then furry muff lad, but let's not chat too much toss, eh?

Don't worry i watch enough rugby to form an opinion, just for the record i actually watched every single six nations game apart from a couple that clashed with the leicester home games.

For me Henson is hugely over hyped and shanklin is limited. I've already accepted that hook and peel are class.

How can you sing the praises of a back line that was outdone by the italians. Italy had flair and invention and played some really nice running rugby and put your backs to shame!

shane williams is all pace and no brain! yesterday he had a shocker, he wasted so many great opportunities.

no world class set of backs would loose so badly throughout the competition

[Finnegan]

Well there in lies the problem. And I don't know what that problem is. I appreciate it sounds like a kop-out, but you simply don't go from mastery to misery so easily. Something is genuinely not right in Welsh international rugby. Whatever it is, it doesn't seem to be reaching the regions - Scarlets' European form, anyone? Trouncing Toulouse in Toulouse?

I'll happily hold my hand up and admit my embarrassment. We just didn't turn up against Italy (and far more embarrassingly) Scotland. Italy was unfortunate - I'd be tempted to claim we were genuinely robbed (let's be fair, we were) but I'm stopped by the fact it shouldn't have even come that close in the first place. Scotland was worse, it was shocking - probably the worst game of rugby I've ever seen. Ireland, well, again you can blame refereeing decisions (penalty / penalty try, please?) but again we had bountiful chances to close out the game before that.

Since midway through 6N '06 it's been evident that something's very, very not-right. Unfortunately, I don't know what (if I did, I'd have taken Jonathan Davies' job) - but you'd have to be an idiot (and if you watch that much rugby, I hope you're not) to believe it's purely down to the actual quality of the players themselves.

Where as England's problem is exactly that. The organisation isn't too bad, I quite like Ashton. But you just lack any real quality or flare in the players available to you at the moment. Shrug. Wilkinson just isn't the answer, and neither is Flood.

edit, oh and:

RE Shanklin: Not at all. Easily the most under-rated player in our squad. He's the backs equivalent of Martyn Williams, he's defensively strong, a good ball carrier, has great ball skills, picks fantastic running lines and is a hugely important and very strong line breaker. Oh, and he's ginger. If he'd have played against Ireland, we'd have (probably) won. Fact. We lacked good line breakers and penetration in the final quarter, something Robinson just can't give us. He's one of my favourite players, so I admit I am somewhat bias (this is akin to you claiming Earnshaw is toss ), but you should really study some of his performances if you believe he's one dimensional.

RE Henson: Oh yeah, absolutely. But so is, I dunno, Wayne Rooney, Freddy Flintoff, Andy Murray and (I'm willing to bet) Lewis Hamilton. He's British and he's a top athlete, and the closest thing Wales has to a David Beckham. Of course he's over hyped, but that doesn't mean his rugby skills aren't world class and world beating. He's another defensive rock who makes fantastic running lines. He should have started in Hook's place (and Hook in Jones') from the start, really.

RE Shaneo: Haha, he's no Geordan Murphy, I'll give you that. But he's no idiot, either, just a bit ball-greedy. He's there to terrify defenses, not create play and he does that wonderfully. Sure, short sightedness is no great attribute to any sportsman (except maybe a 100m sprinter) - but it's not enough of a weakness to counterbalance his enormous running skills. He'd get into any club and national side in this hemisphere and I think you know that, really.