6N 2016 - build-up thread

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

English Lurker wrote: »

Glum acceptance, disappointment and muted curiousity. It's not how most of us would do it, but we're not the England coach, so we're going to wait and see how it goes. The performance is far more important than the selection anyway.

The most optimistic thing most have to say about it is that it's solely a response to how little time he has with them before the first game and that we're sure to see a better England team in a year... personally, seeing is believing there.

Do you think if Slade wasn't injured he'd be in at 12? Leaving Jones with the Farrell vs Ford at 10 conundrum?

English Lurker

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Do you think if Slade wasn't injured he'd be in at 12? Leaving Jones with the Farrell vs Ford at 10 conundrum?

Probably - I think he'd have also gone with Tuilagi at 12 if not for the injuries too. I suspect/hope his first choice centre pairing with everyone fit would be Slade-Tuilagi, which looks pretty scary to me.

vienne86

Very surprised to see Farrell at 12.

Ashton loses his appeal - good.

ionadnapokot

https://mobile.twitter.com/FFRugby/status/695185324876681216/photo/1
Lovin that French side. Not lovin the prospect of Ireland playing that team after they get a good run out v Italy

bennyl10

hi guys,
pardon if this is the wrong place for this to go, but heading over to Paris for the game on the 13th..

wondering if ye'd have any recommendations for pre/post beverages/craic?

thanks!

Podge_irl

bennyl10 wrote: »

hi guys,
pardon if this is the wrong place for this to go, but heading over to Paris for the game on the 13th..

wondering if ye'd have any recommendations for pre/post beverages/craic?

thanks!

As far away from Stade de France as possible (it's in a soulless hellhole). Just head back to the centre. A lot of Irish will head to the various Irish bars (Corcorans have a few places, can't really remember the rest).

Also all the beer in the stadium is non-alcoholic.

CMOTDibbler

Podge_irl wrote: »

As far away from Stade de France as possible (it's in a soulless hellhole). Just head back to the centre. A lot of Irish will head to the various Irish bars (Corcorans have a few places, can't really remember the rest).

Also all the beer in the stadium is non-alcoholic.

Some years ago, I remember popping into one of the local bars near the stadium to allow the crowds to disperse and avoid the queuing. We ended up in this small little bar with sawdust on the floor, just a few locals in there and had a great time.

Podge_irl

CMOTDibbler wrote: »

Some years ago, I remember popping into one of the local bars near the stadium to allow the crowds to disperse and avoid the queuing. We ended up in this small little bar with sawdust on the floor, just a few locals in there and had a great time.

I didn't even know there were local bars. It looks like an industrial estate and we were fairly herded out of there afterwards.

galwaylad14

Couple of quick ones. Need to come up with a kicker for a fantasy rugby thing. Will Farrell kick the goals for England? And is he likely to start every game?

CMOTDibbler

Podge_irl wrote: »

I didn't even know there were local bars. It looks like an industrial estate and we were fairly herded out of there afterwards.

I couldn't tell you where it is now. All I know is it wasn't far from the stadium; maybe 10 minutes walk away. It's not all industrial, there's a fair bit of residential property across the river.

aimee1

galwaylad14 wrote: »

Couple of quick ones. Need to come up with a kicker for a fantasy rugby thing. Will Farrell kick the goals for England? And is he likely to start every game?

I would guess Ford will take the kicks

Ive opted for Laidlaw

Losty Dublin

It's Sixmas Eve

Buer

galwaylad14 wrote: »

Couple of quick ones. Need to come up with a kicker for a fantasy rugby thing. Will Farrell kick the goals for England? And is he likely to start every game?

I would say yes to both. Farrell is the better kicker and, this season, the better outhalf. If changes are to come later in the tournament, I would expect Farrell to move to 10.

I think Ford is quite fortunate to get into the team at the moment.

Losty Dublin

Claiming this to be todays team.

http://www.punditarena.com/rugby/bbarry/the-leaked-ireland-team-to-face-wales-in-the-six-nations-will-surprise-fans/

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Losty Dublin wrote: »

Claiming this to be todays team.

http://www.punditarena.com/rugby/bbarry/the-leaked-ireland-team-to-face-wales-in-the-six-nations-will-surprise-fans/

That lineup won't surprise anyone who has been paying attention all week.

Losty Dublin

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

That lineup won't surprise anyone who has been paying attention all week.

I know. It's hardly a shock but it's more about what bench JS goes with for Sunday.

CMOTDibbler

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

That lineup won't surprise anyone who has been paying attention all week.

They clearly haven't being paying attention (or they're plagiarising) but Kearney is unlikely to have been dropped and far more likely to have been injured.

HYPE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6fxpgj-pEk

CatFromHue

Sunday games are a right pain.

It's much better when they're all on the Saturday.

CatFromHue

Sunday games are a right pain.

It's much better when they're all on the Saturday.

Faugheen

Sorry if this has been discussed already, but surely England appointing Dylan Hartley as captain has to be one of the worst decisions in the history of rugby?

turnikett1

Faugheen wrote: »

Sorry if this has been discussed already, but surely England appointing Dylan Hartley as captain has to be one of the worst decisions in the history of rugby?

There was no way in hell Robshaw could stay, obviously, so a decision had to be made... But with regards to who, I haven't seen enough English club rugby to really determine who'd be a good captain. I do think Hartley is a knob though!

If Ireland won a slam, I think it would make up for the WC disappointment. Or even just won haha! I've seen a lot of expert opinions (BBC) who for the most part rate Ireland as 3rd, though there was a few who put us at 4th and even 5th. I don't think it's going to get that bad - I'd say 3rd is a good bet - but is it just me or does anyone else find the BBC really underestimate Ireland at times?

I even remember one time in an Ireland vs England preview, can't remember the exact pundits, for every British pundit that came up it would show "won X amount of times against Ireland", and when the Irish pundit came up it said "lost X amount of times against England"... the cheek!

CMOTDibbler

Faugheen wrote: »

Sorry if this has been discussed already, but surely England appointing Dylan Hartley as captain has to be one of the worst decisions in the history of rugby?

He's Northampton captain, so it's not completely out of the blue. The only real issue is how he'll manage with refs who, let's face it would have a certain view of Hartley.

It will certainly stretch their professionalism to breaking point.

irishbucsfan

CMOTDibbler wrote: »

He's Northampton captain

He was Northampton captain, not any more

CMOTDibbler

irishbucsfan wrote: »

He was Northampton captain, not any more

I'll amend that to "He has previous" shall I?

The Rape of Lucretia

CMOTDibbler wrote: »

I'll amend that to "He has previous" shall I?

He is a hot headed thug that has an weakness that makes him a potential liability to his team - the other end of the spectrum to what one looks for in a captain, spokesman, leader of his team, and cool head under the pressure of top level sport.

LorMal

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

He is a hot headed thug that has an weakness that makes him a potential liability to his team - the other end of the spectrum to what one looks for in a captain, spokesman, leader of his team, and cool head under the pressure of top level sport.

From what little I have read, th Northampton guys love him - he is their de facto leader and they would walk through walls for him.
Remember England with Martin Johnson as captain?

Faugheen

LorMal wrote: »

From what little I have read, th Northampton guys love him - he is their de facto leader and they would walk through walls for him.
Remember England with Martin Johnson as captain?

Johnson had the trophies to back it all up though. Hartley has 1 Premiership title and 1 6 Nations in an 11 year career. He got sent off for calling Wayne Barnes a 'f*cking cheat' in another Premiership final and with all the mouthing off he was doing in the first half, you can be damn sure he was a central point of Johnny Sexton's half time speech at the Heineken Cup final in 2011.

He's a great player when he's behaving himself, but he's missed 2 world cups and a Lions tour because of his ill-discipline which has included eye-gouging (twice), biting and calling refs cheats.

Total liability as a captain. The fact England have hired 3 vice-captains shows Jones is expecting the inevitable

CMOTDibbler

LorMal wrote: »

From what little I have read, th Northampton guys love him - he is their de facto leader and they would walk through walls for him.
Remember England with Martin Johnson as captain?

Yep, I've heard that said. Most people who know him say he's a completely different guy off the pitch.

The Rape of Lucretia

CMOTDibbler wrote: »

Yep, I've heard that said. Most people who know him say he's a completely different guy off the pitch.

Unfortunately for him, most rugby matches are played on a pitch though.

CMOTDibbler

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

Unfortunately for him, most rugby matches are played on a pitch though.

Hopefully he won't have copped a ban before we get to play them so that he can get a yellow or two in our match.

Pink Fairy

Actually think Hartley will be a huge & positive influence on England this 6N starting with today's game

CMOTDibbler

Pink Fairy wrote: »

Actually think Hartley will be a huge & positive influence on England this 6N starting with today's game

And thusly the mocker god's wrath was invoked...

Buer

If Hartley gets his discipline under control (which I don't think will ever happen long term with consistency), he's well placed to be the best hooker in the 6N.

He's a complete liability on the field due to his mental issues, though. It's a shame as he is a class act when he's on form.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I think the general opinion was Robshaw was too "nice" to be a captain and they were looking for someone with a bit more bite to them. Problem being, when you look at their squad, there really aren't that many options. Launchbury, maybe in the future.

CMOTDibbler

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I think the general opinion was Robshaw was too "nice" to be a captain and they were looking for someone with a bit more bite to them. Problem being, when you look at their squad, there really aren't that many options. Launchbury, maybe in the future.

Well you can't get much more bite than Dylan Hartley. Ask Stephen Ferris

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Is there a match thread for France v Italy?

wp_rathead

"First shots to be fired in Paris"
Jesus wept Daire!

aimee1

only 60000 at it, top tier empty on one side. is there a reason for this does anyone know

Pudsy33

I set up a match thread folks

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

aimee1 wrote: »

only 60000 at it, top tier empty on one side. is there a reason for this does anyone know

Probably what happened in November.

The Rape of Lucretia

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Probably what happened in November.

I dont think so. FFR was trying to flog discounted tickets to the game last week. Just not enough interest to fill it maybe.

LorMal

CMOTDibbler wrote: »

Yep, I've heard that said. Most people who know him say he's a completely different guy off the pitch.

I think it's his level of self confidence / arrogance that England need. I don't like him, but that's not going to worry him.
England tend to thrive on being the team everyone loves to hate.

Cheese Wagstaff

I think Scotland will arrive this season. Cotter is a top class coach, and they've been building nicely. I'm interested to see what they can do and would not be surprised if they won this evening.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Match thread for Scotland v England http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=98632346#post98632346

thomond2006

Louis Picamoles has been ruled out of the Ireland match.

France and Italy entertaining but disorganised and poor.

Scotland good for 40 minutes but just don't have the pack and their handling skills really let them down.

England look good, basically resemble 2012 / 2013 England. Powerful and direct and looked a little less glittery than they have this last year.

Tomorrow I think decides potentially 1st and 3rd because England won't be lower than 2nd.

Pretty poor quality start to this year's 6 nations.

The RTE coverage is pretty boring. I even miss George Hook a little bit.

English Lurker

Buer wrote: »

If Hartley gets his discipline under control (which I don't think will ever happen long term with consistency), he's well placed to be the best hooker in the 6N.

He's a complete liability on the field due to his mental issues, though. It's a shame as he is a class act when he's on form.

See, I disagree with this. Pretty strongly. Strongly enough that I always bite when it comes up. Not even the best hooker at his club. And that's my main issue with his captaining. Better players left out as a result.

That he's a time bomb is a pretty major issue as well in fairness, a far bigger one than the likes of Johnson ever were, but it's not the only issue.

vienne86

CMOTDibbler wrote: »

Yep, I've heard that said. Most people who know him say he's a completely different guy off the pitch.

Someone on boards posted a lovely pic of him after the Leinster v Nothampton match in the Aviva, chatting to a young fella in a wheelchair. Apparently he spent ages chatting to kids at the Havelock Square end after that match - he gave his boots to the guy in the photo. Seemingly he does lots of work with kids. Fair play to him.

On the pitch, I dislike the guy intensely.