Who will win the Six Nations

[alexrugby]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (DonBilly @ Jan 16 2009, 04:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (LeksoRugby @ Jan 16 2009, 09:45 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Look at him!!!

How do you think is he going to Give In??

[/b]

Looking at him, this guy doesn't look that astute or smart... The trophy could be stolen without him noticing.
[/b][/quote]


Yeeeaaaahhhhhh :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Stillknox]

Wales should win this one, maybe not with a Grand Slam but this is the best and the more (only ?) regular team in the tournament. France is still in rebuilding and not yet ready, even if the experimentations of last year are behind us. And we're french, so we can easily beat Wales and still losing the Tournament with one or two bad loss against England or Scotland. England are in the same situation, with a longer way to go obviously. I see Scotland make one or two upset... really don't know what to expect of Ireland (apart from losing vs France with at least two tries by Clerc) and as Parisse is in poor form right now, it could be a no win year for Italy.

This will be once again a transition year to me. The 2010 edition could be interesting.

 

[QLD]

France will win, Ireland coming so close like they do every year.

1st France
2nd Ireland
3rd Wales
4th Italy
5th England
6th Scotland

 

[Nidhogg]

After last season, it only seems harder to come up with good picks this year.

You obviously can't discard England, somehow they always seem able to come up with some sort of result when it really matters. They have been supremely unconvincing thus far, but as always there is hope. Several players are putting up their hands for a spot in the team, if anything, the wealth of good players to pick from is their biggest problem. It's preventing a natural selection of the 15 "best" players, who can develop as a team. There is a whole team of fly-halves ALONE, who are in contention for a spot in the team. MJ will have to build a new structure, and this doesn't just happen over night. The best England can hope for is that the process of forging a team goes very smoothly, that they can use a possible win against Italy to build some confidence, and carry this momentum forward in the tournament. They'll need a bit of luck and dog though.

France is AGAIN the mystery guest, they must be a bookies worst nightmare. It's anyone's guess who they'll play as their starting XV. They do seem to have selected a lot of the same players as last year, hopefully they'll be able to build on their performance. It's cliche, but they can shine on one day, and drop every high ball and pass another.

Wales is still the top pick, having clearly made their statement last year, continuing in the vein of form that won the the Grand Slam by beating Australia, and putting up a good fight against NZ and SA.
There are some worries still, Byrne might not make it, and Ryan Jones seems like a totally different player at the moment than he was during the 6 Nations. Hook is also a worry, as I have yet to see him shine this year.

I'm looking to Ireland to suffer the most this year, their pack just doesn't cut the mustard for me. They have the likes of O'Connel, Wallace and Heaslip, but somehow seem to punch below their weight come the 6 nations. They also really need some fresh impulses in their front 5.

Italy, they keep getting a little bit better every year. Their pack is huge, and in Parisse they have the best 8 in the game to lead them. I wonder who they'll play as fly-half this year, with Pez in the squad it's likely the Masi disaster won't be repeated, perhaps he can bring some stability to the side. Roll-on Italy, I'm expecting them to take the scalp of two teams this years, I'm thinking Scotland and Ireland :diablo:

Scotland? They'll do one of two things, they'll shock everyone by beating Italy and England/Ireland, or they'll go home crying with another wooden spoon for their horrible porridge.

So I guess this translates to something like:

1. Wales
2. England/France
4. Italy
5. Ireland
6. Scotland

Roll on 6N, this is gonna be sweet I'll be in front of the tele with my scrumcap and my Italy shirt on watching every match

 

[cyRil]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Dale @ Jan 20 2009, 04:58 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

France will win, Ireland coming so close like they do every year.

1st France
2nd Ireland
3rd Wales
4th Italy
5th England
6th Scotland[/b]

Yeah, like last year....
I can see us losing to Scotland but winning the tournament.
It'll go like this:

Wales 8
Ireland 6
Scotland 6
France 6
England 4
Italy 2

 

[shtove]

Nidhogg, your scrum cap's on back to front. Italy fourth ahead of Ireland?

Buuuut you may be right, and I look forward to the day. So we'll see.

All the teams will be interesting. Which is ... not a very interesting thing to say.

England.
France.
Wales.
Scotland.
Ireland.
Italy.

There you go.

 

[Incredible Schalk]

Whoever mentioned Scotland beating Italy at home as a surprise is in need of a psychiatrist. However it is never easy against the Italians, realistically we should target our home games but if we are well beaten by Wales then it could be a wooden spoon.

 

[Nidhogg]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (shtove @ Jan 21 2009, 12:06 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Nidhogg, your scrum cap's on back to front. Italy fourth ahead of Ireland?

Buuuut you may be right, and I look forward to the day. So we'll see.

All the teams will be interesting. Which is ... not a very interesting thing to say.

England.
France.
Wales.
Scotland.
Ireland.
Italy.

There you go.[/b]

Here's to hoping, right? They came close last year against England, all they need is a little luck to push them over the edge against a failing team. Plenty of those around

 

[glyndwrowain]

With the benefit of biase mixed with reality, i have to go for Wales. Looking at the squads, we have the strength in depth that has sadly been lacking for years. In Halfpenny and Roberts we have two genuine "new gems" who have already proven themselves yet might not even get a game. Ryan Jones was not firing on all cyclinders in the last 6 nations either but we won a grand slam. We have a real weakness at the line-out but the new laws prevent the age old Irish or English rolling maul, so that does help a little. Surely a squad that can leave our the Lions SH has a degree of confidence about it!
The new laws suit a fit running side and i think our back three are the best in the competition (id plump for Haapenny over the defensively sound but tryless Mark Jones). I just think that, overall, even though we are not quite the finished article, we are the closest to any kind of article in this years competition.
Im a bit concerned about the Scottish game, but if we play to our potential should come away with a good win as they dont have the running game necessary to put enough points over us (unless its a wet quagmire) 65/35 Wales. Moving on to the England game, i honestly dont quite see what England are going to bring to Cardiff and, if anything, id be more confident about playing in Twickenham this year than i was last year. I think we might actually repay years of thrashings in Cardiff against England, and i dont see Jonno as being the saviour of the English game - maybe he will be a CRAP coach, we dont know yet 65/35 Wales.
On to France and if we have two wins under our belt we CAN beat them in Paris but France are FRance and its just not possible to call - is it ever...50/50 and a wobbly bottom.
Italy will be blown away if we get the result in France, if we dont the demons might resurface, but overall id call it 70/30 Wales.
On to the Oirish and if its a GS game, im confident we will win it as the belief will have grown to incredible proportions by then. Ireland offered less than nothing in Croke Park last year, and im not sure where their improvement is going to come from but it will be a tight game. 60/40 Wales

The table

Wales - probably done out of a GS in Paris alas!
France
Ireland
Scotland
England
Italy

Six Nations Player of the tournament - If he gets in at 13, Jamie Roberts.

The dark horse on the Welsh horizon............if Martyn Williams gets injured, we can all go home...we HAVE to bring a replacement through and quickly.

 

[glyndwrowain]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Nidhogg @ Jan 20 2009, 09:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Wales is still the top pick, having clearly made their statement last year, continuing in the vein of form that won the the Grand Slam by beating Australia, and putting up a good fight against NZ and SA.
There are some worries still, Byrne might not make it, and Ryan Jones seems like a totally different player at the moment than he was during the 6 Nations. Hook is also a worry, as I have yet to see him shine this year.

I'm looking to Ireland to suffer the most this year, their pack just doesn't cut the mustard for me. They have the likes of O'Connel, Wallace and Heaslip, but somehow seem to punch below their weight come the 6 nations. They also really need some fresh impulses in their front 5.[/b]

The bad news for Wales is that Hook has NOT pushed on from his initial venture into international rugby and looks a long way away from running a game at this level. The good news is that, with Henson back, Steven Jones can slot in at 10 and we will still have natural creativity to back up his more solid, but generally dependable game.

I think we will line up with Phillips,Jones, Henson, Shanklin (id like to see Jamie Roberts though) and Byrne with Ickle and Mark Jones wide (but id like to see Ha'apenny)

Ireland have consistently underachieved yet consistently retained the bulk of their underachievers on the premise it seems, that it will all come good eventually. Ireland need a damn good clear-out, but it wont happen. Methinks BOD has far to much say in the side.

 

[shazbooger]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (glyndwrowain @ Jan 22 2009, 10:00 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Ireland have consistently underachieved yet consistently retained the bulk of their underachievers on the premise it seems, that it will all come good eventually. Ireland need a damn good clear-out, but it wont happen. Methinks BOD has far to much say in the side.[/b]

By a damn good clear out of course you mean O'Driscoll, cause outside of that the likes of Fitzgerald, Kearney, Earls, Bowe and O'Leary have only just cemented their places.

We dont have prop options so nothing we can do there (though its good to see Healy and Court involved) and the core pack members e.g. O'Connell, O'Callaghan, Wallace, Flannery would be good enough to walk into a lot of sides.

Remember this is Kidney's first run at a 6 nations. He's only had the team for a few weeks during the AI's and there was little he could do with then given the need for a result. Even still, he threw fitzgerald in the centre, kearney out on the wing, gave Earls his first cap, and we had a chance to see Ferris in action as well.

Incidently O'Driscoll wasnt announced as Captain of the expanded squad. Probably nothing to read into it, but they could easily have announced it then. Would be a great signal of intent if O'Connell was named as captain instead.

 

[glyndwrowain]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Logorrhea @ Jan 23 2009, 02:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (glyndwrowain @ Jan 22 2009, 10:00 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ireland have consistently underachieved yet consistently retained the bulk of their underachievers on the premise it seems, that it will all come good eventually. Ireland need a damn good clear-out, but it wont happen. Methinks BOD has far to much say in the side.[/b]

By a damn good clear out of course you mean O'Driscoll, cause outside of that the likes of Fitzgerald, Kearney, Earls, Bowe and O'Leary have only just cemented their places.

We dont have prop options so nothing we can do there (though its good to see Healy and Court involved) and the core pack members e.g. O'Connell, O'Callaghan, Wallace, Flannery would be good enough to walk into a lot of sides.

Remember this is Kidney's first run at a 6 nations. He's only had the team for a few weeks during the AI's and there was little he could do with then given the need for a result. Even still, he threw fitzgerald in the centre, kearney out on the wing, gave Earls his first cap, and we had a chance to see Ferris in action as well.

Incidently O'Driscoll wasnt announced as Captain of the expanded squad. Probably nothing to read into it, but they could easily have announced it then. Would be a great signal of intent if O'Connell was named as captain instead.
[/b][/quote]

We'd take O'Connell off you, and even slot him in as captain. Interesting that the Grand Slam champions would probably have him as captain but not his own country.

 

[An Tarbh]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (glyndwrowain @ Jan 23 2009, 05:35 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Logorrhea @ Jan 23 2009, 02:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (glyndwrowain @ Jan 22 2009, 10:00 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ireland have consistently underachieved yet consistently retained the bulk of their underachievers on the premise it seems, that it will all come good eventually. Ireland need a damn good clear-out, but it wont happen. Methinks BOD has far to much say in the side.[/b]

By a damn good clear out of course you mean O'Driscoll, cause outside of that the likes of Fitzgerald, Kearney, Earls, Bowe and O'Leary have only just cemented their places.

We dont have prop options so nothing we can do there (though its good to see Healy and Court involved) and the core pack members e.g. O'Connell, O'Callaghan, Wallace, Flannery would be good enough to walk into a lot of sides.

Remember this is Kidney's first run at a 6 nations. He's only had the team for a few weeks during the AI's and there was little he could do with then given the need for a result. Even still, he threw fitzgerald in the centre, kearney out on the wing, gave Earls his first cap, and we had a chance to see Ferris in action as well.

Incidently O'Driscoll wasnt announced as Captain of the expanded squad. Probably nothing to read into it, but they could easily have announced it then. Would be a great signal of intent if O'Connell was named as captain instead.
[/b][/quote]

We'd take O'Connell off you, and even slot him in as captain. Interesting that the Grand Slam champions would probably have him as captain but not his own country.
[/b][/quote]

it's one thing captaining at provincial level, it's a whole different thing at international level and when given the chance previously he's not delivered

 

[PGSGimson]

I think that Wales will win, but England will get second, losing to Wales.

 

[Sir Speedy]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PGSGimson @ Jan 29 2009, 10:49 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

I think that Wales will win, but England will get second, losing to Wales.[/b]

Optimism, that's the key!
It's the only thing that kept Welsh hopes afloat for twenty years...

 

[gingergenius]

In the event of Grand slams:

If Wales repeat the Grand Slam it will back up their GS last year; their good performances against SH sides, and confirm them as a world class team.

If France, Ireland or England do it then as far as I'm concerned it won't mean anything until it's backed up next autumn. All 3 countries have seriously underachieved in recent years and one grand slam is not enough to reverse that.

If Scotland do it then it should announce them as a serious team especially on the back of Glasgow & Edinburgh's recent resurgence; it won't mean they're necessarily better than Wales or any of the other lesser sides though.

Much the same for Italy, but there are no signs that they will spring any surprises at all.

 

[thekrl]

I think that France will won the tournament and I think that Wales will be second and Ireland third. Yes I think that England will not be on the podium

But I think that Wales will be a very great team, after every WC (like last year) they won the tournament so why they couldn't win once again ? France will be very strong to defeat Wales

 

[danit]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Incredible Schalk @ Jan 21 2009, 12:08 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Whoever mentioned Scotland beating Italy at home as a surprise is in need of a psychiatrist.[/b]

absolutely right

the solid Scots are more than capable to win their 3 home games and defeat a struggling France in Paris

Scotland 8
England 8
Ireland 6
Wales 4
France 4
Italy 0

 

[An Tarbh]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (danit @ Feb 4 2009, 09:36 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Incredible Schalk @ Jan 21 2009, 12:08 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Whoever mentioned Scotland beating Italy at home as a surprise is in need of a psychiatrist.[/b]

absolutely right

the solid Scots are more than capable to win their 3 home games and defeat a struggling France in Paris

Scotland 8
England 8
Ireland 6
Wales 4
France 4
Italy 0
[/b][/quote]

are you sure you won't be needing the psychiatrist yourself? I mean, I know it's been a traumatic day what with the Bergasmasco news but don't be losing the run of yourself.

 

[danit]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (An Tarbh @ Feb 4 2009, 10:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

are you sure you won't be needing the psychiatrist yourself? I mean, I know it's been a traumatic day what with the Bergasmasco news but don't be losing the run of yourself. [/b]

sure, mhhh... :scratch_one-s_head: no, i ain't completely sure... maybe i really need a psychological counseling myself... :lol: