France U20 78 Italy U20 12
Ireland U20 38 Wales U20 41
Scotland U20 24 England U20 17
Not sure if these were on TV but the U20s results were something else, Scotland beating England is a massive shock and the Ireland Wales game sounds amazing from what I've read.
Half time in Dublin and for all their dominance Ireland only lead 15-13. Wales have given away seven penalties and are struggling with the referee and his interpretation of the laws at the breakdown.
Just back from a pub full of Irish fans . How we were in with a chance in the last minute I'll never know. We were bullied all day long. Some of the big fellas need to ask some serious questions. You can't win a game on 20% possession - but we nearly did.
15 minutes to go and Sam Underhill gets a yellow for a shoulder tackle. The Scotland players got Nigel Owens to go to the TMO. From the penalty Scotland go 12 points clear.
Scotland were magnificent. I was going to say especially the half-backs and the full-back, but really it was the whole team. Apart from 10 mins at the start of the second-half, they simply dominated England.
I've seen six minutes of the Six Nations in passing. The last two minutes of the game against france, and the last four minutes against wales. Regardless of the sport, It is difficult to express how weird it is watching an Ireland team of any description, when push comes to shove, actually winning by a) systematically sticking to their carefully prepared plan for an absurdly long period of time under enormous pressure or b) responding to clinging on at the end of a game by keeping their shape and pouncing on a mistake to make the game safe.
Ireland were utter shite when I first began watching rugby. Their transition into being quite good, and sustaining it for a nearly 20 year period with no end in sight, is remarkable.
In retrospect, I think they did capitalise very well on two things: professionalism and the booming Irish economy. Being the only pro sports teams of any consequence in Ireland and the provincial setup being dead perfect for a centralised, low quantity high quality model which seems to work best in the professional era were two fortuitous happenstances.
Two retirements today at either ends of the spectrum, Jamie Heaslip retires at 34 and 23 year old Jack Condy of the Scarlets, both because of persistent injuries that never recovered.
James Davies aka Cubby Boi hasn't been released by Wales back to the Scarlets for this weekend's match against Leinster sparking speculation that he's finally going to play for Wales against Italy. Patchell has been released meaning he's unlikely to even be in the 23 when many pundits thought he'd start.
Two retirements today at either ends of the spectrum, Jamie Heaslip retires at 34 and 23 year old Jack Condy of the Scarlets, both because of persistent injuries that never recovered.
And another today, Ospreys wing Eli Walker retires with a back injury. He is 25 and only ever got one cap due to injuries, that was the pre RWC warm up against Ireland that ended the international careers of Hook, Philips and Hibbard.
The Dragons fall to a humiliating defeat away to the previously winless Southern Kings, 45-13, with no points at all in the second half. I'm guessing the players Jackman is going to ship out have given up.
Comment