RBS 6 Nations 2013

[Cardiffblue]

Apparently Walsh is reffing the orc game in Cardiff next weekend. Luckily for him we've got a roof if its wet. Will keep his hairdo tidier. No idea why Irish didn't put one on whilst they were building the new stadium

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Halftime at Landsdowne Road (IRE vs FRA) and even with the constant rain, the surface seems in great condition.

Many ovals would be chopped up to buggery by now in these conditions.

Must be used to a bit of "liquid sunshine" in the Emerald Isle.

 

[Cardiffblue]

IRE vs FRA. Catching up on overnight games, and they have just kicked off (Fox Replay).

Question for the Paddies. At Anthems time the Irish had two. One I assume was the Eire National Anthem, and the other is one I recognise as the IRU song (played as the "anthem" on most times I have seen the Irish play).

My understanding is that the IRFU is in the unique situation of playing players from two sovereign nations under a geographic barrier, and therefore a "Neutral" Anthem is normally used for political sensitivities. Understandable that a Landsdown Road crowd would not want to hear God Save the Queen, and the Queen lovers in Ulster probably wouldn't like top hear the Eire Anthem.

I can't recall hearing two anthems being played at Landsdown Road previously. I may not have been paying attention. Is the two anthems thing that they did before Les Frogges v The Paddys a typical thing that they have always done or is it a new protocol?

This is also a good segue into the B&I Lions Tests. What do they play as an anthem before those games?



PS. Loved the massed Brass Band that pumped out the Anthems. Should be more of them, and less of the canned music, and Pretty Young Things from the Reality TV Talent Quest Du Jour.

Hey Huw, was going to suggest if you're watching the scottish game that you should ffwd the penalties. It's 5 to 10 now. If you do that you could could be tucked up in bed with Mrs Jarse by 10 past 10.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

I don't usually comment on a referees performance as a general rule, however I agree that the endurance performance of the Acme Thunderer was demonstrated beyond doubt.

Conversely a couple of SuperRugby games this weekend went beyond the 20 minute mark before the first scrum was awarded.

WAL v SCO was on Fox before the IRE v FRA match.

 

[boyo]

agree re: brass bands. And piped music at every point scored is a bad idea that needs to end

This.

 

[Bardon]

IRE vs FRA. Catching up on overnight games, and they have just kicked off (Fox Replay).

Question for the Paddies. At Anthems time the Irish had two. One I assume was the Eire National Anthem, and the other is one I recognise as the IRU song (played as the "anthem" on most times I have seen the Irish play).

My understanding is that the IRFU is in the unique situation of playing players from two sovereign nations under a geographic barrier, and therefore a "Neutral" Anthem is normally used for political sensitivities. Understandable that a Landsdown Road crowd would not want to hear God Save the Queen, and the Queen lovers in Ulster probably wouldn't like top hear the Eire Anthem.

I can't recall hearing two anthems being played at Landsdown Road previously. I may not have been paying attention. Is the two anthems thing that they did before Les Frogges v The Paddys a typical thing that they have always done or is it a new protocol?

This is also a good segue into the B&I Lions Tests. What do they play as an anthem before those games?



PS. Loved the massed Brass Band that pumped out the Anthems. Should be more of them, and less of the canned music, and Pretty Young Things from the Reality TV Talent Quest Du Jour.

Amhrán ná bhFiann (in English "the Soldiers Song") is only played in Dublin. Since 1995 Ireland's Call has been our official away from home anthem and is also played after Amhrán na bhFiann in Dublin. When games are played in Belfast only Ireland's Call is played.

Ireland's Call was really hated at the start because of it's simple lyrics and tune but it's grown on a lot of people, although some people will always hate it. For me, I love belting out both of them up in the stands before a home game, although I didn't go to any of the 6Ns games this year.

Rugby is one of the very few areas where both north and south & republican and unionist can come together on the same side and cheer for Ireland without any political nonsense. Just another reason to love this game.

The brass band is the combined Garda Siochána (the cops) & army bands. They really do justice to the anthem playing them the way they were meant to be rather than the tinny digitised muck that is pumped out over the speakers at a lot of stadiums these days.

One of my pet hates about the Rugby Championship is the way the anthems are performed by a string of talentless contest nobodies. It seems (and I'm sure it's not true before anyone takes it too seriously) that NZ go out of their way to find the absolute worst singers they can find to perform the anthem of the visiting team.

 

[Bardon]

Shocking use of the bench by Kidney again. Only one more match until the bluffer is gone, hope Luke Marshall is ok for next week. Would like to see Cronin get more than 4 seconds as well

Worryingly on the BBC coverage Phillip Mathews was saying that if the IRFU don't have a replacement lined up they will probably renew Kidney's contract rather than go maybe 6 months without a head coach while they find a new one.

 

[Cardiffblue]

I don't usually comment on a referees performance as a general rule, however I agree that the endurance performance of the Acme Thunderer was demonstrated beyond doubt.

Conversely a couple of SuperRugby games this weekend went beyond the 20 minute mark before the first scrum was awarded.

WAL v SCO was on Fox before the IRE v FRA match.

Me neither, cept for infamous blind irish one west '74, then '78 all blacks game, quittenton............RWC 1999 Paddy O'Brien.....RWC Alain Rolland.....Joubert last night

 

[Hugh Jarse]

.../snip./..

One of my pet hates about the Rugby Championship is the way the anthems are performed by a string of talentless contest nobodies. It seems (and I'm sure it's not true before anyone takes it too seriously) that NZ go out of their way to find the absolute worst singers they can find to perform the anthem of the visiting team.

like this?

Made worse when they use some of our own against us!

Love Murray Mexted comments at the end!

 

[Cardiffblue]

Worryingly on the BBC coverage Phillip Mathews was saying that if the IRFU don't have a replacement lined up they will probably renew Kidney's contract rather than go maybe 6 months without a head coach while they find a new one.

Hopefully RTE might terminate Matthews contract tho

 

[JSRF10]

Worryingly on the BBC coverage Phillip Mathews was saying that if the IRFU don't have a replacement lined up they will probably renew Kidney's contract rather than go maybe 6 months without a head coach while they find a new one.

I wouldn't worry Kidney will be out the door, Mike Ruddock the u-20's coach will get the job for the summer tour I reckon. Hopefully the IRFU will do whatever it takes to get Joe Schmidt to take the job

 

[Cardiffblue]

I wouldn't worry Kidney will be out the door, Mike Ruddock the u-20's coach will get the job for the summer tour I reckon. Hopefully the IRFU will do whatever it takes to get Joe Schmidt to take the job

Mike ruddock, Blaina boy? well well

 

[Bardon]

Normally I'm all for backing Referees and other match day officials but we've seen some woeful refereeing performances lately. At the start of the season there were a bunch of up and coming referees used in the opening rounds of the Heineken Cup and they did really well. They made the new scrum engagement sequence seems a really good idea.

Then the November internationals came along and the top tier referees came back on the scene and started slowing down the call sequence. Now as I've said in another thread it's crouch touch <silent pause in the Refs head>, set. Due to this we have the ridiculous number of early engagements we've seen yesterday. Add that to overall poor performances and the top tier of referees aren't performing to the same standard they were a few years ago. Some Refs have always been poor and remain so. But guys like Joubert used to be excellent. Maybe it's time we gave the new crop a go.

On the scrums I thought the Brian Moore put it very well yesterday after a scrum had to be reset a few times he said something along the lines of "We've had 2 minutes of watching nothing and it's not the players fault. The laws state that the scrum is a safe and quick way to restart the game."

Personally I don't see what would be wrong with removing the hit, having the scrum fold together, then a straight feed and a fair contest once the ball is in. I'm all for the physical side of rugby but watching a bunch of 18st plus guys trying to untangle themselves from what looks like a game of twister that's gone badly wrong in order to reset and do the same thing over again is not entertaining unless you have a fetish for that kind of thing.

The only draw back I can see to a stationary start with a straight feed, then contest, is that from the Ref cam it would appear that the referee is rarely in a position to even see the feed let alone judge if it's straight or not.

Also on the flip side in the defence of referees this thing with players going over to officials to voice their opinion soccer style needs to be stamped out. A few yellow cards here and there, rather than telling the captain the player has a bit too much to say, wouldn't go amiss. Hopefully the IRB will do something about it before it becomes the norm.

 

[Cardiffblue]

Normally I'm all for backing Referees and other match day officials but we've seen some woeful refereeing performances lately. At the start of the season there were a bunch of up and coming referees used in the opening rounds of the Heineken Cup and they did really well. They made the new scrum engagement sequence seems a really good idea.

Then the November internationals came along and the top tier referees came back on the scene and started slowing down the call sequence. Now as I've said in another thread it's crouch touch <silent pause in the Refs head>, set. Due to this we have the ridiculous number of early engagements we've seen yesterday. Add that to overall poor performances and the top tier of referees aren't performing to the same standard they were a few years ago. Some Refs have always been poor and remain so. But guys like Joubert used to be excellent. Maybe it's time we gave the new crop a go.

On the scrums I thought the Brian Moore put it very well yesterday after a scrum had to be reset a few times he said something along the lines of "We've had 2 minutes of watching nothing and it's not the players fault. The laws state that the scrum is a safe and quick way to restart the game."

Personally I don't see what would be wrong with removing the hit, having the scrum fold together, then a straight feed and a fair contest once the ball is in. I'm all for the physical side of rugby but watching a bunch of 18st plus guys trying to untangle themselves from what looks like a game of twister that's gone badly wrong in order to reset and do the same thing over again is not entertaining unless you have a fetish for that kind of thing.

The only draw back I can see to a stationary start with a straight feed, then contest, is that from the Ref came it would appear that the referee is rarely in a position to even see the feed let alone judge if it's straight or not.

Also on the flip side in the defence of referees this thing with players going over to officials to voice their opinion soccer style needs to be stamped out. A few yellow cards here and there, rather than telling the captain the player has a bit too much to say, wouldn't go amiss. Hopefully the IRB will do something about it before it becomes the norm.

With you 100%, Time to remove the hit. Set front rows first. Shame but has to go. At elite level its killing the game. At lower grades it's killing players.

 

[Cardiffblue]

That. And I get distinct impression that refs are getting reluctant to blow up for stuff like not straight throws that will lead to having to set a scrum

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Sentiments oft commented on in the "Scrum Thread".

Getting back on topic, does anyone give the Azzuri any chance against the Soap Dodgers tonight?

 

[Cardiffblue]

Yup. the gnome's been badgering about it all day. Personally I am torn between the 'england lose and after a week of abuse and self hatred get roundly thrashed in Cardiff' scenario and the 'england win, then after a week of over inflated hype on the part of the poodle press come to cardiff and we repeat the last game at wembley' scenario.

 

[Bardon]

Sentiments oft commented on in the "Scrum Thread".

Getting back on topic, does anyone give the Azzuri any chance against the Soap Dodgers tonight?

Italy in recent years have been woeful in recent visits to Twickenham. Some of that has to definitely be laid at the door of coaches, Burgamasco at scrum half?, but still there have to be mental scars there for the team. They have a chance but they'll have to play territory for at least the first half. They concede too many penalties to play the game in their own half, they could be 12-15 points down before you know it. Then it just takes that one try that makes you think, "Why don't England play like that more often", to put the game beyond them. Annoyingly I have a feeling that if that happens today it will end with a distinctive swan dive from he who shall not be name but will be hated with a passion.

They'll have to perform better than the French game if they're going to win and either finish the game in England's half or be more than 1 score up. Any other scenario with them leading by 1 or 2 points with a minute to go ends with Flood kicking the winning penalty/drop goal for England.

It's the 6Ns so anyone has a genuine chance of beating anyone else. But Italy have to get almost everything from selection. tactics, momentum, discipline and luck right to win this one.

 

[Cardiffblue]

I don't usually comment on a referees performance as a general rule, however I agree that the endurance performance of the Acme Thunderer was demonstrated beyond doubt.

Conversely a couple of SuperRugby games this weekend went beyond the 20 minute mark before the first scrum was awarded.

WAL v SCO was on Fox before the IRE v FRA match.

Going back a bit, Huw, your post forced me to recall another couple of reffing gems that I have got over after years of therapy and rehabilitation: Byers and Burnett 1978

 

[Cardiffblue]

Italy in recent years have been woeful in recent visits to Twickenham. Some of that has to definitely be laid at the door of coaches, Burgamasco at scrum half?, but still there have to be mental scars there for the team. They have a chance but they'll have to play territory for at least the first half. They concede too many penalties to play the game in their own half, they could be 12-15 points down before you know it. Then it just takes that one try that makes you think, "Why don't England play like that more often", to put the game beyond them. Annoyingly I have a feeling that if that happens today it will end with a distinctive swan dive from he who shall not be name but will be hated with a passion.

They'll have to perform better than the French game if they're going to win and either finish the game in England's half or be more than 1 score up. Any other scenario with them leading by 1 or 2 points with a minute to go ends with Flood kicking the winning penalty/drop goal for England.

It's the 6Ns so anyone has a genuine chance of beating anyone else. But Italy have to get almost everything from selection. tactics, momentum, discipline and luck right to win this one.

The orc have won their game cos of the strength of their bench -even the ultimate twunt Haskell. Heaps of threads pointed to the disruption caused when interchanges happen. With the Sais, the replacements really do replace tired legs, not just give the second string a run