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How about judging it after the tournament has been completed.
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S this the worst 6N ever.......
- Thread starter Tony Manx
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If Ireland were 2 from 2 he would not even have written that article. IF Ireland arent winning, its a non-vintage year NQAT
I have a feeling it will pick up. France, England, Scotland and Italy all look to be playing more exciting rugby. The weather is getting better too. I dunno why, but I feel like Round 3 is gonna be a really good one.
Wales are in do-or-die mode, France are en route to a slam with an energetic bold team. Ireland NEED to at least put in a decent performance against England if we're to leave with any modicum of respect. Scotland and Italy is always a close contest, but I feel that both teams have improved a lot individually, and that this fixture might also be a bit more skillful and exciting whilst being as close as always (after Italy's last 2 matches I actually really look forward to seeing them play!)
Or maybe it's just hopeful optimism. I don't know. I miss the World Cup
Wales are in do-or-die mode, France are en route to a slam with an energetic bold team. Ireland NEED to at least put in a decent performance against England if we're to leave with any modicum of respect. Scotland and Italy is always a close contest, but I feel that both teams have improved a lot individually, and that this fixture might also be a bit more skillful and exciting whilst being as close as always (after Italy's last 2 matches I actually really look forward to seeing them play!)
Or maybe it's just hopeful optimism. I don't know. I miss the World Cup
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Cleary makes one or two good points.
But there is a huge difference between the 6N and the World Cup - preparation time. For the World Cup all the teams had pretty much the whole summer to train together, for the 6N a fortnight.
Most of the players have got to be pretty tired after all the rugby they have had to play and as I've said elsewhere, the 6N is sandwiched into 7 weeks between European Cup matches.
Having said that, quality has been low but the Rugby Championship would pay good money to replicate the passion and friendship shown by the spectators.
But there is a huge difference between the 6N and the World Cup - preparation time. For the World Cup all the teams had pretty much the whole summer to train together, for the 6N a fortnight.
Most of the players have got to be pretty tired after all the rugby they have had to play and as I've said elsewhere, the 6N is sandwiched into 7 weeks between European Cup matches.
Having said that, quality has been low but the Rugby Championship would pay good money to replicate the passion and friendship shown by the spectators.
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I have a feeling it will pick up. France, England, Scotland and Italy all look to be playing more exciting rugby. The weather is getting better too. I dunno why, but I feel like Round 3 is gonna be a really good one.
Wales are in do-or-die mode, France are en route to a slam with an energetic bold team. Ireland NEED to at least put in a decent performance against England if we're to leave with any modicum of respect. Scotland and Italy is always a close contest, but I feel that both teams have improved a lot individually, and that this fixture might also be a bit more skillful and exciting whilst being as close as always (after Italy's last 2 matches I actually really look forward to seeing them play!)
Or maybe it's just hopeful optimism. I don't know. I miss the World Cup
There are many words that could be used to describe the current French team; exciting, bold and energetic are not among them.
This is how the teams currently feel:
France - Players all pulling in different directions
Ireland - Players all pulling in one direction, just not entirely sure what direction it is
Wales - Determined to pull in 1 direction regardless of any obstacles
England - Don't pull at all followed by pulling as fast as possible
Italy - Pull very hard then have a nap
Scotland - Let everyone know how much better you are going to pull, pull ok then blame the ref.
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It always baffles me why professional rugby players NEED to so long to prepare for a tournament or even a single match. I can see the peak fitness angle, but otherwise I suspect the answer is that they really don't and much of the time it's a huge coaching staff justifying their existence and stifling creativity at the altar of patterns and frameworks......death by analysis, the same kind of thing that destroyed Tiger Woods swing.
I would love to see whether NZ use their preparation time in the same way as ENG or WAL. Bet there's a different emphasis.
spartan32
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Your right, where's all that flowing open play running rugby, with passing out of tackles and deft running moves that was always so prevalent in NH rugby? Oh wait, that's right, it never has been like that, and I doubt it ever will be. It's always been mud, and forwards and scrums, with a sprinkle of backs moments here and there. 6N teams are never going to play like NZ, so just get over it. It's still a great spectacle with lots of passion and fun, throw in some fine ales and the odd lovely rugby supporting lady and it all adds up to a grand day out.
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It's a big call to say "worst ever" - memories are always unreliable - but I have been acutely aware of quite an alarming basic lack of skill in every game. Goalkicking, for example, has been appalling.
Part of the preparation time is to protect your best players from injury before a tournament. How would you feel if Farrell, Vuinipola and Ford got injured in a club game the week before an International?
I suspect NZ have the same preparation time as any other team - they certainly took their best players away before the last Lions tour. I would agree they may use that time a lot differently though.
I suspect NZ have the same preparation time as any other team - they certainly took their best players away before the last Lions tour. I would agree they may use that time a lot differently though.
I know, I'm just trying to think and believe positively... also lol @ Wales. But to be fair I think the 6N can always be hit and miss in terms of quality matches. I don't think this 6N is wholly different to others I've seen before, but I have only been watching since 2009. I do seem to remember enjoying them more around 2009/2010/2011 though. What the 6N may sometimes lack in quality in at least makes up for in general craic and atmosphere.
But it is time to stop taking the **** and start playing more exciting rugby. Nothing worse than watching a ruckfest and infinite scrum restarts knowing what the potential excitement provided by the game truly can be. At the end of the day though players and coaches play to win, so whatever play style allows them most wins is what they'll stick to - and for some reason they've convinced themselves it's pukeball. I don't know.
Though I do maintain that this one will get better. Hopefully before the last day of the championship.
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I definitely feel rules need to be introduced about setting up for set pieces, especially scrums. It should be like the "use it" rule (although that's rarely enforced for ruck ball). The ref should say something like "set up" if a team are ambling or generally not getting ready. It's stupid, 1 scrum fails and it takes about 3 minutes to set it up again. I remember when we did some in practice, you could easily get the next one set up in seconds. Refs should speed the whole process up.
I'm not sure if it's the worst ever, maybe some past edition was worse. But it's awful and very hard to watch.
The administrators of the 6N seem to be happy because the tournament generates good money and don't care about the decline in the standard of play. But if nothing changes, the gap between the SH and the NH will continue to widen until eventually every match between a SH and a NH team will result in a trashing for the North.
The 6N badly needs to be reformed. It needs bonus points and it must be moved at least a few weeks later in the year to avoid bad pitches and allow running rugby in every match. And it needs a promotion/relegation system with ENC 1A, the top tier of the other European tournaments. The prospect of relegation (and the introduction of bonus points) would give every team a reason to fight until the end of every match and every try scored would matter.
The administrators of the 6N seem to be happy because the tournament generates good money and don't care about the decline in the standard of play. But if nothing changes, the gap between the SH and the NH will continue to widen until eventually every match between a SH and a NH team will result in a trashing for the North.
The 6N badly needs to be reformed. It needs bonus points and it must be moved at least a few weeks later in the year to avoid bad pitches and allow running rugby in every match. And it needs a promotion/relegation system with ENC 1A, the top tier of the other European tournaments. The prospect of relegation (and the introduction of bonus points) would give every team a reason to fight until the end of every match and every try scored would matter.
The reset of scrums is also not helped by the sudden appearance of water carriers in between. As Brian Moore says - get on with the game!
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Whilst on a rant about reset scrums, why allow substitutions in between reset scrums unless someone is genuinely injured?
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Whilst on a rant about reset scrums, why allow substitutions in between reset scrums unless someone is genuinely injured?
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I'm with you in principle, but isn't the argument that if you rush the set up they are more likely to go down? Not sure I really buy it though, it strikes me they mainly go down because someone wants it to, and if they wanted to keep them up the front rows would make damn sure of it
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I'm not talking about the crouch, bind, set bit (although some refs do that really slowly which doesn't help, they should all have a similar gap between bind and set). What I mean is the scrum collapses, people walk around a bit, have a chat, drink and THEN get back into position for the next scrum. It should be front rows are up and immediately getting locked together again for the next scrum. Should not take more than 20 seconds or so. Just generally the speed forwards get up from scrums is terrible, a 9 could take a quick tap and forwards will still be on the floor after the first breakdown.
Now that's the second time this week I've seen something like that. Which Scottish players did you hear blaming the ref?
It's **** stirring of the highest order and not at all any form of banter. A truly pathetic attempt to turn Laidlaw's post WC QF interview into a generalisation that Scots like blame the ref. Interestingly he never specifically mentioned the referee or Joubert in that interview.
LukeFitzgerald
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they're probably all pulling towards the hospital
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