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POC has always been the Lions captaincy elephant in the room. I think he only needs to stay fit to get the gig. I can't see Robshaw anywhere near the captaincy. For one thing, his practical, on-field leadership of England was increasingly found wanting during the 6N. For another, he's not the...

Only Connacht? They've been mixing it pretty well but lacking consistency. My only point being that it makes it an even better effort by POC. If it had been against Zebre, OTOH. Also, though technically off-topic, nice to see Treviso over the Blues with Treviso resting some of their national...

Good old POC, big return for Munster including the first try. Nailed on Lions' skipper. ;)

Yes, I don't have any complaints about 1/2p winning. Very solid, consistent player. Certain Lions tourist, but probably a bench cover player.

Leigh 1/2p wins Player of the 6N. It's basically a popularity poll, the public voting on a shortlist made up of all the TV commentator-awarded MOTM winners. They say 80,000 voted, 1/2p drew 40% of the vote, Zanni second with 11%. Picamoles nowhere.

Just saw that. Freddie Michalak seems to have avoided being cited for biffing Hogg.

Walsh now lives in Australia and is an Australian-registered ref. Has been since he quit New Zealand as part of turning his life around.

Very. I think the bleating is at Rowntree's instigation, too. Having trouble accepting the reality that they were outplayed. Not a word from him when England won a scrum penalty the week before with Marler's paw on the ground throughout. The Italians didn't protest either. Even my most die-hard...

True, but the game is entrenched regardless.

Got back from Rome yesterday arvo. The Stadio Olimpico was, indeed, nuts. Great stadium, even if a pain in the butt to get to via public transport. A good day for Italian rugby and another very emotional retirement with Andrea Lo Cicero going out with a win. There was a large Irish contingent...

According to my French rugby mate it's T-D or no one really. There's a critical lack of quality at 10 in the Top-14. Some kids coming through but not ready for Test rugby.

Glorious day here in Rome, if on the cool side. Plenty of Irish in the streets this morning.

The stupid thing is that refs will ping 1 in 20 or 30 crooked feeds, oppo get the put in, and the 9 feeds just as crookedly as the one just pinged. And gets away with it. It's a bit like props' paws on the ground when scrummaging. It gets ignored - in fact, Clancy awarded a scrum penalty to...

Moore is one of the more sensible English pundits. Actually knows what he's talking about - he'd done a ref's course on top of his own playing experience - even if he becomes obsessed about aspects of scrummaging like straight feeds. But more power to him. The IRB would do well to listen to him...

Sexton was named in the Ireland team but now out. Bunged his foot at training this morning. Young Paddy gets another start. Ireland: R Kearney, C Gilroy, B O'Driscoll, L Marshall, K Earls, P Jackson, C Murray; C Healy, R Best, M Ross, M McCarthy, D Ryan, P O'Mahony, S O'Brien, J Heaslip...

Marler isn't any great scrummager.

He only needs a half-decent game to be player of the tournament for mine. Must break his big heart watching the shite that has gone on around him.

French team named. No prize for guessing who's at 10. 15-Yoann Huget, 14-Vincent Clerc, 13-Mathieu Bastareaud, 12-Wesley Fofana, 11-Maxime Medard, 10-Frederic Michalak, 9-Morgan Parra 8-Louis Picamoles, 7-Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 6-Antonie Claassen, 5-Yoann Maestri, 4-Sebastien...

First choice halves back will help them enormously. Get them back into their comfort zone after last week's halves nightmare. Lightweight back row with Croft starting but I don't think Wales have the aggressive back-row muscle to take advantage. I don't fancy their front row to cope, Marler in...

That's one thing Walsh is usually quick to punish and consistently. Unlike George Clancy, who could only ever see blue jerseys lying on the ball. Bastard.