Six Nations Rugby 2018

[Ashman]

The Rugby Football Union administers rugby union in England .

[iron_mike]

Fair enough

[KinvarasPassion]

It’s a sickening statistic Dan. I’m not sure where we go as a country from here…

Myself and Mrs KP have discussed leaving the country on the back of this but uprooting the kids seems unfair. I’m drop a PM to @Little_Lord_Fauntleroy as he must be in a similar predicament.

[carryharry]

I’d advise caution before approaching Sherry Fitz on this.

[gilgamboa]

Just soak it in maaaaan

[Halfpipe]

That seems to say the average viewing figures for last year’s football final was 180,000 more than for Saturday’s rugby game. A staggering figure if true considering one involves a national side in possibly their biggest ever game on a day much of the country was snowed in and the other was between just 2 counties on a lovely autumnal Sunday.

[glenshane]

If we could arrange for the inevitable Irish unity referendum to be held on the evening of Ireland’s grand slam victory in 2019…

[iron_mike]

**strong tex[quote=“gilgamboa, post:2289, topic:25271, full:true”]
Just soak it in maaaaan
[/quote]

Any word from Ewan Mackenna since Saturday?

[gilgamboa]

Hes thrown out a few alright.

[GeoffreyBoycott]

@Little_Lord_Fauntleroy has been converted. He’s seen the light. He’s one of us now for Ireland rugby purposes.

[Bandage]

@tallback

Cat got your tongue @Robert_Emmet @Cicero_Dandi @The_Selfish_Giant @Bandage

That’s the way it’s gone now I suppose.

[Sidney]

@Tim_Riggins

FFS it has been talked about for a decade and a half.

It is a self made “advantage”.

If the Scots could have got the people through the turnstiles then maybe they could have it. Ditto the Welsh.

As far as I know the rugby authorities didn’t invent the concepts of Leinster, Munster, Ulster and Connacht. They go back many centuries before Master Webb Ellis handled the ball and had a free kick given against him.

Please refer to my Tour de France posts on this subject last week.

Luck has been a major factor in the conditions for a readymade professional set up falling into the hands of the IRFU.

@Tim_Riggins

It’s an out of date narrative at this point. England gave lots of access to their players now. So too the French. Going on about training camps being a great leveler in World Cup year’s night have been a half interesting insight 10 years ago, it really isn’t now. Ireland played the French off the pitch at the last World Cup.

In your previous passage you admit to an advantage. Now you’re denying the advantage.

Make up your mind which narrative you want to go with and stick to it, because at the moment you’re all over the place.

@Tim_Riggins

What you in fact are doing is failing to acknowledge the vastly improve player development pathways developed by the IRFU in the last 15 years. This has created a depth that Ireland can lose two British and Irish Lion Test backrow players and indeed some of their replacements, and not miss a beat. It’s a far cry from Eddie O’Sullivan’s 15 plus a couple of squads, at a time when England and France had far less access to their players.

Now you’re back to peddling the advantage line.

The real advantage Ireland have during the Six Nations is that their players are not flogged like the English, French or even the Welsh. Please refer to Ian McGeechan’s stat about Owen Farrell playing twice the number of minutes Jonny Sexton did this season before Saturday. You can apply this principle largely across the board. Where Ireland have the advantage is in freshness.

That freshness advantage doesn’t apply at a World Cup. Other northern hemisphere teams can rest their players from May, southern hemisphere teams do not go as hard at a season in World Cup years as they normally do. The preparation is indeed a leveller and Ireland’s regular season freshness advantage evaporates - successive World Cups bear this out.

[Horsebox]

I’d take winning the 6 nations every couple of years over being beaten in a world cup semi final every day of the week.

[gilgamboa]

@Horsebox

I’d take winning the 6 nations every couple of years over being beaten in a world cup semi final every day of the week.

If we won the QF and were beaten by a point in the SF the narrative amongst the haterz and the trolls would change again no doubt

[Horsebox]

@gilgamboa

@Horsebox

I’d take winning the 6 nations every couple of years over being beaten in a world cup semi final every day of the week.

If we won the QF and were beaten by a point in the SF the narrative amongst the haterz and the trolls would change again no doubt

They’d be hopping up and down like sausages in a frying pan.

[iron_mike]

God forbid the lads get acquitted up north. It’ll be pure fucking meltdown around here. It’ll make the current Facebook scandal look like a minor mishap

[carryharry]

We’re winners this year, pal.

[Horsebox]

@carryharry

We’re winners this year, pal.

Each and every one of us, old friend.

[gilgamboa]

@Horsebox

They’d be hopping up and down like sausages in a frying pan.

Lovely turn of phrase there pal

[carryharry]

He’s like a poet, he’d be rhyming all the time.