Not quite as big as the Premier League or the NFL or AFL - but definitely full of superb rugby.
I've been watching this tournament since it was the 5 Nations (no Italy) back in the mid 90's.
These are the fixtures...all times GMT
06/02 20:05 Wales v England
07/02 14:30 Italy v Ireland
07/02 17:00 France v Scotland
14/02 14:30 England v Italy
14/02 17:00 Ireland v France
15/02 15:00 Scotland v Wales
28/02 14:30 Scotland v Italy
28/02 17:00 France v Wales
01/03 15:00 Ireland v England
14/03 14:30 Wales v Ireland
14/03 17:00 England v Scotland
15/03 15:00 Italy v France
21/03 12:30 Italy v Wales
21/03 14:30 Scotland v Ireland
21/03 17:00 England v France
It's a superb tournament, all broadcast live in terrestrial TV (BBC 1).
Order of the table at the end....I'm going for
Wales
Ireland
England
Scotland
France
Italy
France and Scotland may swap - my patriotism may be showing through there.
Good luck to all.
Did we win?
it's close.
I meant to urge or US friends to watch it. it's not far off American Football and is truly a superb tournament
Quote from: JudgeDredd on February 06, 2015, 03:56:48 PM
it's close.
I meant to urge or US friends to watch it. it's not far off American Football and is truly a superb tournament
I admire your noble cause
I fear there may not be enough body armour, helmets and eye makeup for the colonials
lol
Quote from: undercovergeek on February 06, 2015, 03:59:27 PMI fear there may not be enough body armour, helmets and eye makeup for the colonials
some of us are watching soccer instead :)
it might be apparent to our US pals that we don't switch TEAMS out...only players. so most players will play 80 minutes :-)
Quote from: bayonetbrant on February 06, 2015, 04:33:13 PM
Quote from: undercovergeek on February 06, 2015, 03:59:27 PMI fear there may not be enough body armour, helmets and eye makeup for the colonials
some of us are watching soccer instead :)
im right with you there - JD is the rugby man
Superb win by England. A tough place to play and it was even stevens at half time, but England came out to kick arse and they pegged the Welsh back.
Well done. Great game and superb first strike by England!
Really? No rugby fans? It's a SUPERB game! AND - there's no animosity between supporters. Rugby fans will be mixed. No segregation. Football? Yeah - fight, scum, twats....not everyone, butit takes the shine off the game.
There was a time when soccer allowed fans to mix...but not now. They are too angry. Thankfully, rugby has avoided that to date.
I love (well loved, knees won't take it any more) to play rugby but watching it is dull. Especially since the dominant tactic these days seems to be endless kicking into touch for line outs and just hoping for a defensive breakdown. If not, kick to touch again. It's boring.
And shouldn't it be 4 nations rugby? France, Italy, Ireland, and the U.K.?
england, ireland, scotland, wales
france
italy
and within there is the triple crown for the home nations, and the calcutta cup for england v scotland which is like wolves v sheep to be honest ;D ^-^
Quote from: Silent Disapproval Robot on February 06, 2015, 06:29:46 PM
I love (well loved, knees won't take it any more) to play rugby but watching it is dull. Especially since the dominant tactic these days seems to be endless kicking into touch for line outs and just hoping for a defensive breakdown. If not, kick to touch again. It's boring.
And shouldn't it be 4 nations rugby? France, Italy, Ireland, and the U.K.?
I smell wind up (with the UK statement!) ;D
I will give you rugby
used to be about kicking but not so much now. As you played it you must understand it.
As rugby doesn't swap it's team in and out they are at it for 90 minutes. The kicking is about gaining territory to relieve the pressure on the forwards. Without the kicking, the forwards would be knackered in 15 minutes!
Kicking did take over for a while, but a tweak in the rules meant it's not so prominent now. Yeah, they still do but more often than not it's an "up and under"...and watching those guys jump up for it whilst running at 10mph knowing full well there's another guy going to challenge for it - and with no body armour...just jumping up and hoping they either get it or don't break their back.
Rugby has got a lot more open play in it now. The forwards batter their way up, protecting the ball when the backs get tackled in the hope of creating a hole for a back to run through.
It's incredibly tactical now. And I would think anything tactical would be right up this boards members street.
Last night was a case in point. England's forwards totally dominated the Welsh in scrum, breakdown, ruck and lineout drive...but it wasn't only that dominance that won the game - it was a combination of the lot. England were far superior last night in the second half in all aspects.
I'm not talking about "up and under" punts or grubbers. I'm talking about the constant little weenies in the back (I played tight-head prop) forever kicking the ball into touch. The game's devolved into 10 minutes of actual running play, scrums, and mauls and 80 minutes of kicking into touch along the sidelines followed by a line out, a kick into the defender's territory, and another kick into touch. It's boring!
(And you lost the vote so be quiet and go put on your white St. George jersey with the luverly flower on it and wave the Union jack around proudly you dirty porridge wog. I can say that. Many of my friends and ancestors are dirty porridge wogs.)
Quote from: Silent Disapproval Robot on February 07, 2015, 04:26:54 AM
I'm not talking about "up and under" punts or grubbers. I'm talking about the constant little weenies in the back (I played tight-head prop) forever kicking the ball into touch. The game's devolved into 10 minutes of actual running play, scrums, and mauls and 80 minutes of kicking into touch along the sidelines followed by a line out, a kick into the defender's territory, and another kick into touch. It's boring!
(And you lost the vote so be quiet and go put on your white St. George jersey with the luverly flower on it and wave the Union jack around proudly you dirty porridge wog. I can say that. Many of my friends and ancestors are dirty porridge wogs.)
lol O0
I have to disagree about the kicking. It's not nearly as prevalent as it was a few years ago. They do it definitely, but either through bad choice, lack of options or simply to break the battering their forwards are getting. It's a "reliever".
They used to be able to kick into touch wherever they were on the field - and kicking was ALOT of the game then. But now (and for quite a few years now), they can't kick out on the full...meaning if they are outside their 22, the kick to touch is often going to go to the opposition.
It's not used nearly as much as it was...and I do acknowledge it was. It was like tennis with a rugby ball at one point.
But as you were a forward, you must understand the importance of some of those kicks. Even the ones giving it to the opposition have a place from time to time...just to give you lot (forwards) a break.
Anyway - last nights game was a prime example of a superb example of great rugby.
Well done England :knuppel2:
SDR - are you in the UK or US? Who did you play for?
EDIT: God-damned iPhone auto-correct!
As the team's resident fat bastard with tree trunk calves, I'd much rather have gotten into a ruck than deal with another lineout. Pushing was 90% of my job. You've still got to jog to get there and you have to hoist up some gangly freak from the 2nd row by his scrotum.
As a lumbering knuckle-dragger with the acceleration of a banana slug, I was usually late to the play in most cases regardless so I'd either just push if the mob was still standing or step on all the squishy little backs if people were lying down. Pushing's easy. Running up and down the pitch sucks.
Quote from: JudgeDredd on February 07, 2015, 04:39:03 AM
SDR - are you in the UK or US? Who did you play for?
Neither. I'm a filthy colonial. In fact, the first team I played for after high school was the Trail Colonials RFC. In university, the varsity team was the Victoria Vikings and their practice team was the Jutes. I'd sometimes play with them. In Japan, I played for Utsubuki RFC.
Quote from: Silent Disapproval Robot on February 07, 2015, 04:43:56 AM
As the team's resident fat bastard with tree trunk calves, I'd much rather have gotten into a ruck than deal with another lineout. Pushing was 90% of my job. You've still got to jog to get there and you have to hoist up some gangly freak from the 2nd row by his scrotum.
As a lumbering knuckle-dragged with the acceleration of a banana slug, I was usually late to the play in most cases regardless so I'd either just push if the mob was still standing or step on squishy little backs if people were lying down. Pushing's easy. Running up and down the pitch sucks.
lol
There will ALWAYS be the battle of the forwards and the backs...and that's in the same team! Forwards always want to batter their way up the field and backs always want to run at the opposition. The captains job must be a nightmare!
is rugby the game with the pseudo gay kinda football Australian game with tight shorts?
No tight shorts - but there are lots of heads near arses and men jumping on each other
so its Mirths Friday night.
Manly Rugby
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Almost a year after the event, the adjudicators at Guinness World Records have announced that the Household Cavalry Regiment have been awarded the World Record for the highest tag rugby match in the world. The world record breaking match was played by 28 serving members of the Household Cavalry, Life Guards and Blues and Royals, at Everest Base Camp at 5,165m above sea level at the Gorak Shep Plateau, Nepal on 11 March 2014.
The soldiers, fresh from a six-month frontline operational tour in Afghanistan, were eager to push themselves further with an adventurous training exercise on their return. The trek to Everest base camp was not easy. At Tengboche (3,867m) the team was hit with severe altitude sickness and a contagious virus and their number was nearly halved to just 15. Those fit to continue made haste to the next stop, whilst those that were suffering from the virus remained behind with the Doctor. Two days later every last man was sufficiently recovered and able to be involved in the rugby match at base camp and play a full match.
Captain Mike Wilmot, Blues and Royals, was the expedition team leader and explained it was two years in the planning. "Everyone was at the peak of physical fitness having just come back from operational tour of Afghanistan but we were still taken aback by how tough it was," he said. "None of us envisaged how quickly you become out of breath when running at that altitude. The air is so thin it is agony to draw breath."
The rugby was played at Gorak Shep, a dry flat lake bed at 5,165m, on the edge of the last permanent hamlet before Everest Base Camp. The match got off to a slow start as the players got used to playing at such high altitude, before Lance Corporal Lovern Veramu of the Blues and Royals took an early interception and ran over half the length of the pitch to score the opening try. There was unanimous relief, shortly followed by celebration, when the final whistle blew and the game was complete.
Mike said: "It was a tremendous achievement to have played and finished a match at that altitude, but having now heard that that achievement has now been recognized by the Guinness World Records' Adjudicators as the world's highest match of tag rugby, we are all euphoric!"
Another loss for Scotland - but my 18 year old daughter had a great time at her first ever rugby game. Scotland 19 - 22 - Italy at Murrayfield in Edinburgh - Saturday, 28th Feb 2015
And yes - I have a beautiful wife!
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Our seats were this close to the pitch
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This one is of my wee brother Darren (far left), his wife Luisa, their son Romano
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shes very pretty JD - shame she didnt bring you any luck
if you were in the US, you'd have a shotgun by the door, with a daughter that good-looking.
lol - thanks. She is a beautiful lass and the icng on the cake is she's beautiful inside too. O0
except when those insides are all over the house, and smelling of wine :P
An Irishman tries to explain rugby to two American idiots masquerading as games journalists.
SDR - I haven't looked at that video yet - I will do tomorrow.
Just now...I'm settled for the afternoon. I'm in the back room. I've got my snacks, my telly and my beer and that's me until 19:00
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^Nice figurines, JD.
Thanks. Picked them up at the William Wallace Monument in Stirling.
Left one is William Wallace and right one is Robert the Bruce
What a superb second half from the Welsh. They've totally almost stolen the cup from underneath the Irish and English....almost
There's still 2 games to go. Ireland need to beat Scotland by 21 points and England need to beat France by 16...both are do-able - but asking a lot.
What a superb competition. O0
wow...Scotland owes a MAHOOSIVE apology to Wales. We stole that from them and gave it to the Irish/English/French in that order.
Scotland had lost all their games up to today and yet had played great rugby...and yet they lost by 30 points today!! Totally embarrassed. I've got Welsh mates texting me and I dare not look at what they are saying!
Embarrassed.com! :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[
The end
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Well done Ireland. Unlucky Wales - it was our fault. Unlucky England - good bloody fight.
No-one - but no-one - expected these results today. Sure...the final results were probably without doubt....but Wales beating Italy by THAT AMOUNT....Ireland beating Scotland by THAT AMOUNT and England beating France BY THAT AMOUNT???
It just wasn't expected. Superb day. Yeah...we lost AND got the Wooden Spoon...but screw it...what a day for rugby!!!
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Well done Ireland. Unlucky England (superb battle) and my sincerest apologies to Wales on behalf of the Scottish nation - who threw your chance of the Championship cup away!
Italy - you massively deserved to be above Scotland in the table...you outplayed them at Murrayfield. Unlucky England. Superb game against France...just not enough...just. Unlucky France...good fight at Twickenham.
Let us be under no illusion.....this is by far, without exception, the single best rugby tournament of the world.
Now...Scotland...lets try again...! FFS! :knuppel2: