RBS 6 Nations 2013

[KevinO]

Hoping for more of this to happen, big stuff up by Nike and England when they got to far ahead of them selves last time.

 

[the plastic paddy]

Such a shame that Nike didn't look to sell those shirts to Irish fans and shredded them instead!!!!

 

[Dan54]

Geez,I'm really looking forward to 6N kicking off. And cheers to KevinO, P Paddy, Bardon and other NH posters keeping us up with the spite/thoughts etc of the locals up that way, it sure helps to get feeling for the games, more so than just reading reports on net or papers.
I not dead sure who I supporting, always have a soft spot for Ireland, but Wales is always good as I always remember the battles ABs and Wales have had over years. Then again, son lives in Italy so...... ahh bugger it I'll decide later and just enjoy the rugby!

 

[Jets]

England v Scotland is always special. Went the the game at RWC and had a great night all decked out is Scottish gear apart from the result.

 

[KevinO]

Geez,I'm really looking forward to 6N kicking off. And cheers to KevinO, P Paddy, Bardon and other NH posters keeping us up with the spite/thoughts etc of the locals up that way, it sure helps to get feeling for the games

Will take this as a compliment, actually Melbourne based. Just love Munster and Irish rugby through my dads influence growing up. Does help when your Grandfather has worn the red jersey a long time ago.

Can't wait for Ireland v Wales, we owe them one after the last couple of years and am quite happy with the Irish line up and the changes that have been made. Something like the game against Argentina would be nice.

 

[en_force_er]

I'm amused by and curious as to why this thread called "RBS 6 Nations 2013"?

Are we going to start including sponsors in all our thread titles?

 

[KevinO]

Thought it sounded a little less bias than Irish fans on the 6 nations.

And 6 nations is to plain without it.

 

[Dan54]

Yep Kevin0, realised you Melbourne based but you still got the passion for Irish team, that's what makes it interesting reading comments rather than the perhaps more coldblooded discussions fron us pretty neutral fans.Same as I like Paddy's comments from "on the battlefront" ,as you do tend to get more of a feel when you actually there.

 

[KevinO]

Best thing about Rugby being my number one sport, have teams to follow all year round.

Also like when the game is at a time that a pub can show the game and don't have work to get up for, I have to agree about reading the articles from that side of the world. They are very biased towards there own nations.

 

[JSRF10]

Best thing about Rugby being my number one sport, have teams to follow all year round.

Also like when the game is at a time that a pub can show the game and don't have work to get up for, I have to agree about reading the articles from that side of the world. They are very biased towards there own nations.

or absolute clowns like Stephen Jones

 

[KevinO]

Sorry Will Greenwood and his Lions squad for the daily telegraph takes the cake for me and is far worse than Stephen Jones. He had Nathan Hines getting selected at lock even though he has retired from International Rugby.

 

[the plastic paddy]

Sorry Will Greenwood and his Lions squad for the daily telegraph takes the cake for me and is far worse than Stephen Jones. He had Nathan Hines getting selected at lock even though he has retired from International Rugby.

Not quite as bonkers as it may seem Kevin, Wilkinson has retired for England but is still under consideration for the Lions, although he is so sh*t now I don't think it is likely. I hope Hines is on the plane home because, hopefully, that will mean Paulie is having a summer off ready to play next year for Munster and Ireland, rather than getting injured playing for Murdoch. EDIT please don't mention Stephen Jones, he and his one eyed views should not be considered on any self respecting rugby forum the man is an absolute C U next tuesday.

 

[JSRF10]

Sorry Will Greenwood and his Lions squad for the daily telegraph takes the cake for me and is far worse than Stephen Jones. He had Nathan Hines getting selected at lock even though he has retired from International Rugby.

in fairness Hines has been playing some great stuff for Clermont! He is one of the few quality tight head locks available to the Lions. Although anyone who has Warburton in their Lions team cant be taken seriously he hasn't played well since the World Cup, he is utter dross for Cardiff and seems to be made of glass on Welsh duty

 

[KevinO]

Not quite as bonkers as it may seem Kevin, Wilkinson has retired for England but is still under consideration for the Lions, although he is so sh*t now I don't think it is likely. I hope Hines is on the plane home because, hopefully, that will mean Paulie is having a summer off ready to play next year for Munster and Ireland, rather than getting injured playing for Murdoch. EDIT please don't mention Stephen Jones, he and his one eyed views should not be considered on any self respecting rugby forum the man is an absolute C U next tuesday.

Johnny has no chance,

Would love to see POC play live again. But this is more for the Lions thread now.

 

[Bardon]

Here's the England team to play Scotland. Billy Twelvetrees makes his at 12 with Brad Barritt pushed out to 13 to cover Manu. Dylan Hartley is on the bench so that people hatred can be more effectively directed solely towards Chris Ashton for the first 60 minutes or so. I'm really looking forward to seeing how Launchbury goes against Scotland.

England team: Alex Goode (Saracens), Chris Ashton (Saracens), Brad Barritt (Saracens), Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester), Mike Brown (Harlequins); Owen Farrell (Saracens), Ben Youngs (Leicester); Joe Marler (Harlequins), Tom Youngs (Leicester), Dan Cole (Leicester), Joe Launchbury (London Wasps), Geoff Parling (Leicester), Tom Wood (Northampton), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, capt), Ben Morgan (Gloucester)

Replacements: Dylan Hartley (Northampton), David Wilson (Bath), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Courtney Lawes (Northampton), James Haskell (London Wasps), Danny Care (Harlequins), Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers), David Strettle (Saracens)

 

[Bardon]

As far as I can see Wales haven't announced their team to play us, but it should be along in the next few hours. The main news that's come out so far is that Andrew Coombs is expected to start in the 2nd row. It's still a toss up who'll start at 10 between Biggar and Hook, over the whole 6Ns I'd expect them to get close to equal game time (injuries aside) with a 3/2 split either way for the starting spot.

Can someone send out the Daibando signal so we can get his views on Wales' chances this year?

 

[Bardon]

BoD talking about this probably being his last 6Ns. He's my favourite player but it will probably be the right time to step aside once his contract is up in the summer and allow a new centre partnership to develop for the next WC. I hope he goes out on a high and we see some of the old magic over the coming weeks.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/21273201

Ireland legend Brian O'Driscoll has confirmed this year's Six Nations campaign is likely to be his last.

O'Driscoll, 34, has started the most Tests for his country (119) and scored the most tries (45) but has struggled with injuries for the last 18 months.

The centre missed the 2012 Six Nations and the autumn internationals and Jamie Heaslip has been preferred as Ireland captain for this year's campaign.

"There's a strong possibility it could be my last," said O'Driscoll.

"There's every chance it's my last Six Nations but I haven't really allowed myself to start thinking about finishing.

"If you start thinking about it too early, you're one foot into retirement already. I'm contracted [with the Irish Rugby Football Union] until the summer and I'll see how my body feels."

Ireland kick off their Six Nations campaign against Wales at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday.

Despite his disappointment at being overlooked for the Ireland captaincy, O'Driscoll is still regarded as a leading contender to captain the British and Irish Lions in Australia this summer.

"It would be an honour that would be too big to pass up again," said O'Driscoll on being offered the Lions captaincy.

"I got to do it once, albeit for only 25 seconds of a Test match [O'Driscoll was injured early in the first Test against New Zealand in 2005], so it would be nice to get another opportunity.

"But first things first, I've got to get myself into a position to get myself on the tour and deserve my spot."

Fly-half Ronan O'Gara has won the most caps for Ireland (126) but has 87 starts against O'Driscoll's 119 from 120 caps.

O'Driscoll has captained his country 83 times, a joint-record for any country and won won six Lions caps (scoring one try) and scored 25 tries in 55 Six Nations matches, both tournament records.

He has only missed 10 of Ireland's 65 matches in the Six Nations since 2000, including all five last year.

 

[en_force_er]

I really really hope this is Italy's year. They are great fighters and are doing plenty to show that they will regularly beat Scotland over the next few years.

If Wales' form doesn't pick up it's possible (though unlikely) the Italians will beat them too, they are playing a really good brand of rugby lately and 2012 was probably the 1st 6N they played well for 4 of the 5 games.

Still, they lack impressive and consistently selected players at 10, 13, and 15. Can't see them winning many games till they sort out at least 2 of the 3. The plus side is Gori is looking the goods at 9 at 22 years old, so that issue is solved for hopefully a while.

Does anybody here know about James Ambrosini? Word is plenty of Italians are hoping he gets real good, real fast.

http://www.swide.com/sport-man/rugb...t-the-future-of-italian-rugby-team/2012/11/27

 

[the plastic paddy]

Wales Team to face Ireland -
WALES: Leigh Halfpenny (Blues); Alex Cuthbert (Blues),
Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Jamie Roberts (Blues), George North (Scarlets); Dan
Biggar (Ospreys), Mike Phillips (Bayonne); Gethin Jenkins (Toulon), Matthew Rees
(Scarlets), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Andrew Coombs (Dragons), Ian Evans (Ospreys),
Aaron Shingler (Scarlets), Sam Warburton (Blues, capt), Toby Faletau (Dragons).


REPLACEMENTS: Ken Owens (Scarlets), Paul James (Bath), Craig
Mitchell (Exeter), Olly Kohn (Harlequins), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Lloyd
Williams (Blues), James Hook (Perpignan), Scott Williams (Scarlets).

I am not going to say that Ireland should beat that team but if we don't Kidney will definitely lose his job and there will also not be many Irish lads going on the Lions tour, in which case the phrase about clouds and silver will come to mind.

 

[Jets]

I really really hope this is Italy's year. They are great fighters and are doing plenty to show that they will regularly beat Scotland over the next few years.

If Wales' form doesn't pick up it's possible (though unlikely) the Italians will beat them too, they are playing a really good brand of rugby lately and 2012 was probably the 1st 6N they played well for 4 of the 5 games.

Still, they lack impressive and consistently selected players at 10, 13, and 15. Can't see them winning many games till they sort out at least 2 of the 3. The plus side is Gori is looking the goods at 9 at 22 years old, so that issue is solved for hopefully a while.

Does anybody here know about James Ambrosini? Word is plenty of Italians are hoping he gets real good, real fast.

http://www.swide.com/sport-man/rugb...t-the-future-of-italian-rugby-team/2012/11/27

I used to coach him when he was 16. He's a good kid and made the Aust Schoolboys team after being selected in QLD 2. It wasn't an overly strong schoolboy year for 10 after the previous years had Cooper, To'omua, JOC (James O'Connor) etc. Went to school at Lauries in Brisbane, so they are starting to get a reputation for Italian players after Luke McLean also went there. He was with the Brumbies for a few years on the outer squad but never cracked the big time. Was the 10 for UQ last year before moving over to Italy. Also played in the UK for one of the Uni's, can't recall which one off the top of my head.
I always thought this would be his best shot at playing test rugby.