Six Nations 2023 General Discussion

sydthebeat · 24-02-2023 11:28am

England by about 18

i cant see emotion being enough for the welsh, they're a bit of a raggle taggle group of yung' un's and auld lads.

england will smother and suffocate the life out of them in the most boring form possible.

24-02-2023 12:08pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120283001#Comment_120283001

Yeah, this is exactly how I feel about this game too. I know normally you get a reaction, but I don't even know if that's applicable here. The Welsh players must feel a bit besieged by the events of the past few weeks, and it was really telling for me how little support they got through this from the wider Welsh public.

Before even going into how chaotic their 2023 has been so far with a new coaching ticket, and a lot of changes for each game, the last week in particular must have been extremely mentally exhausting on them.

They can't be well prepared for this, and while you'll see a bit of heart from them, if England click at all then they should be comfortable.

Dubinusa · 24-02-2023 1:35pm

The last couple of matches between France v Scotland have been highly entertaining. They've also been relatively close. If Scotland beat France, their buttons will be up.

I reckon they have a chance. They beat France and who knows?

Quin_Dub · 24-02-2023 1:35pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120283001#Comment_120283001

I don't think England will win by that much - I think it's a one score game either way , with England the more likely , but if Wales score first and get the crowd behind them then I think they might have a shot.

Oddly enough I think the likely English game plan somewhat helps Wales.

The legs have gone from AWJ and the rest of the old heads in the Welsh pack and as such they struggled hugely against the pace that Ireland and to a somewhat lesser extent Scotland brought.

England seem to have reverted to slow grinding rugby of one out runners , kicks to the corner and mauling. AWJ in particular is expert at messing up mauls and slow ball.

It probably won't be enough , but I suspect that Wales will be far more competitive against the English game plan than they were against the speed of Ireland and Scotland.

awec · 25-02-2023 1:02pm

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https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120286849/#Comment_120286849

StevenToast · 25-02-2023 1:12pm

Italy +23

Wales +7

Scotland +7

Im backing that triple at 6/1

Brief_Lives · 25-02-2023 4:50pm

so, bust?

Burkie1203 · 25-02-2023 5:03pm

England and Wales think its 2007

awec · 25-02-2023 5:03pm

Both of these teams are garbage.

Brief_Lives · 25-02-2023 5:07pm

Such a bad game....

fullstop · 25-02-2023 5:07pm

There was a forward pass in the lead up to that try, surely?

sydthebeat · 25-02-2023 5:11pm

England Wales throwing up the boring kick fest which was predicted

25-02-2023 5:19pm

Watson back for England adds a lot to them. I think when he's at his best, he's a starting Lion calibre winger and he's a big improvement over their alternatives.

25-02-2023 5:21pm

Something really frustrating as you watch this boring, Tier 2, kick fest between England and Wales here to remember that it's likely one of these two teams will be a Rugby World Cup semi finalist later this year.

bingobango12 · 25-02-2023 5:32pm

Some pretty terrible rugby on show. Owen Williams looking an upgrade on how Bigger has played in the past two weeks.

sydthebeat · 25-02-2023 5:40pm

Wales can't get their centres into the game at all.... And when the get within 10 meters of the English line they look brainless.

They're carrying AWJ as a passenger. Falateu is as class as ever

Xander10 · 25-02-2023 5:47pm

Wales try...game on

ednwireland · 25-02-2023 5:55pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120287999#Comment_120287999

England try

dastardly00 · 25-02-2023 6:09pm

Apart from the first 10 minutes of the second half, this is like watching paint dry

sydthebeat · 25-02-2023 6:14pm

Two coaches from the jurrassic age.

Turgid boring stuff

Dick phelan · 25-02-2023 6:17pm

Two poor teams awful boring game

Hodges · 25-02-2023 6:27pm

Strange penalty advantage call there; England kicked over for a long distance chase but the Wales grounding leads to advantage over and a drop out when a kick at goal would have their win sealed. A try resulted shortly after the restart; perhaps the ref just wanted to put the game out of it's misery 🤓

Dillonb3 · 25-02-2023 6:27pm

Another miss from Farrell. His kicking is miles off

Clegg · 25-02-2023 6:35pm

The final Wales and England attacks were brutal. Shipping from touchline to touchline with very penetration or gain line success. Not much in the way of subtlety or decoy work either.

25-02-2023 6:40pm

As poor as they've been, I still think England will be very dangerous for us on Day 5 of this championship and will be a force come RWC time.

They're playing an incredibly limited and boring style of play. But it's not remotely surprising given how little time their coach has had with the team.

They still have a lot of quality, and are playing a kind of simple, low risk knock-out style that will keep them in close games.

I'm not saying they've been remotely impressive in this Championship by any means, but I still wouldn't take them for granted.

awec · 25-02-2023 6:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120288141#Comment_120288141

I think this England team will cause us less problems than Italy did today tbh. We'll deal with their turgid play no bother.

Dillonb3 · 25-02-2023 6:46pm

Wales were bad. They're fortunate they have 2 favourable fixtures in their opening world cup pool games.

Lost Ormond · 25-02-2023 6:56pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120288158#Comment_120288158

They do have Fiji in one of them and would be quite welsh like if they lost to them....

Cosmo Kramer · 25-02-2023 8:24pm

It really was like going back in time watching that Wales v England game. Reminded me how many poor games there were in the 6 Nations 10 to 15 years ago.

The next round of games could be the best round of the Championship though. None of the fixtures look entirely clear cut, with Scotland and England both at home against Ireland and France. You can't rule out a home win in either game.

Italy v Wales is a massive game for both teams now, Italy may start as favourites for the first time in a 6 Nations game in who knows how long. It will feel like a big step backwards for them at this point if they can't beat that Wales team at home.

It will be interesting to see the reaction in Wales if they lose all five games. Especially after the way they went after Pivac last year (he seemed to be quite enjoying himself in the BBC studio today). Too much of the commentary in Wales is still about selection and setup, as though the players are there but are not being selected. The penny doesn't seem to have quite dropped yet in terms of where they have fallen to. They're quite an insular, parochial bunch at times so, despite his previous success, I can see them turning on Gatland at the latest outsider to scapegoat before the year is out.