If ever the Cardiff factor won a game for Ireland that was it. We lost every other game (maybe we drew against France actually) and Wales won every other game. By the end of the championship Wales were playing like world beaters, Ireland were beaten out the gate by Italy.
A bizarre result. But that was the end of the Cardiff hoodoo for a decade. Better Ireland teams would lose the next four there.
I’d meet regularly with the father of the current captain of the team. ‘Poor year’ is what he said but ‘we’ll take it’
Hows the garden lookin?
My garden? Bad… We’ve an insulated cabin jobby almost built. The garden has been neglected but once the cabin is done and the builders fuck off we’ll get her back to her former glory.
Well I was more talking about me mans sons garden, he’d be a great fella to get around some day to give you the few pointers.
I’ll have to Google that one
France v Ireland: Ruined by the red card. Would have been a cracker otherwise
Italy v England: Didn’t see it but entertaining and competitive enough game by all accounts.
Wales v Scotland: Compelling cracker where Wales mounted a stirring comeback.
Scotland v France: Grandstand finish to an otherwise poor game.
England v Wales: Tight contest but not a thriller.
Ireland v Italy: The less said the better.
Ireland v Wales: Dull enough game because we were so comfortable.
Scotland v England: Seemed like a cracker. I must watch back the highlights.
France v Italy: Almost the biggest upset in decades.
Conclusion: Almost all of the games not involving Ireland have been interesting viewing. Ultimately we’ve been too comfortable thus far.
Very poor Ireland miles too good for them
This truly is a golden age for Irish rugby.
Another world cup Quarter Final defeat in 3 year’s time will be the icing on the cake 
…
Should you not be off crying/celebrating another Milk Cup win for you English hedge fund owned soccer franchise of choice?
I can do that while posting here.
What the actual fuck 
The power and presence of Marler, Tuilagi, Vunipola and Martin can help England to win the physical battle at Twickenham
Stephen Jones
Rugby Correspondent
Saturday March 02 2024, 6.00pm, The Sunday Times
Well into the evening last week at Murrayfield, the Scots were still in that relentlessly sunny mood which characterises them every day. The last few England players had been dragged out of the dressing room to face the media after their 30-21 defeat, and it is no offence to them to suggest that you could have written down what they would say before they arrived.
Truth is always the first casualty of the sporting war, and there are one or two of us who find it testing to hang on every word.
Deep under the main stand, Maro Itoje had the last word. Perhaps the media managers felt that he would end proceedings on a high note. The great man stood tall and immaculate — and honest. We’ve always become so used to Itoje being a wonderful player and a wonderful spokesman for rugby, with its strengths and all its many weaknesses, that we take his grand eminence for granted.
Itoje dissected rather well yet another poor England performance, mentioning the good start, the rather bungled middle period, the confusion and the need to go back to work.
Towards the end, I asked him why, given the poor performance and England’s obvious authority, England had not switched, not done what England teams have always done against Scotland: attack them up front, with feeling. Why had the likes of Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Sam Underhill and himself not got together and decided to raise the stakes, and the temperature?
He knew what I was driving at and he did admit that forward intensity is a huge part of what England are striving for, but you could hardly have gone further without treading on the soft ground of rugby’s conscience at present. Instead, we were left with another chapter in the interminable process of England’s search for clarity and action in their play. And at the moment, you could hardly call it a process — it is more of a standstill.
So next Saturday, England play Ireland. There will be no discussion about Ireland’s attitude. They will be merciless; they are a merciless team. All the rest of their game is subordinate to attacking the opposition up front, in the tackle and just behind the forward phases. For me and many others, they remain at their best — and they are the best team in the world.
The return of Tuilagi, who was overlooked for the Scotland game, could set up a mouthwatering battle with Aki
There is no sense in being too pessimistic by reading the bookmakers’ odds because if punters knew everything, there would be no bookmakers. But for this away game for Ireland at Twickenham, the men in green are at a chillingly unbackable 6-1 on. If England needed any extra motivation, there it is, in those figures.
England cannot afford to subside lamely, or to give us a “we’ll-be-better-next-time” promise. The implications of a hammering would be horrendous. They should close their ears to the crowing Irish and to the flecks of arrogance now emerging around the team.
But do we seriously believe that if England play the same style as they have played in their past six or seven games — even if they improve markedly — that they can challenge Ireland? It is incredibly doubtful. This time they have to add dynamism, power, anger and bared teeth. A nice tactical shape? Who cares?
Steward must return at full back to counter the hulking presence and aerial threat of Lowe, the Ireland wing
England must have the nous and humility to accept that Ireland are better than them in all the conventional exchanges, to forget all high hopes of finesse and try to shake Ireland out of their rhythms, physically and mentally. If Ireland do hit the spots, it could be brutal. They could even treat next week as a one-off, and resume what progress they are making after that. Steve Borthwick, the England head coach, should choose the biggest, grumpiest, most physical players at his disposal. The only thing on their plate at the moment is a mighty one-off confrontation that could yet infect the rank-and-file England public with what amounts to blood-free blood lust.
For this confrontation, the necessary selections may not be popular. Manu Tuilagi is the one player with the requisite power to take England forward with a crunch and he is needed to compete against the rampaging Bundee Aki, the Kiwi-born centre now thundering along at a career high. They cannot allow Bundee to beast England. England also have to look after the extraordinary James Lowe, the ex-donkey turned world-class wing with so much all-round talent that he could be a circus act. Tuilagi could yet win ten more England caps if only he can find his form and stay fit long enough. He is a presence. For our one-off beastly England, it is a shame that the big Joe Cokanasiga is not ready for the wing.
So if England launch Tuilagi, they will also need power around him. Freddie Steward, with the strength of a flanker, must return at full back. He is bigger and stronger under the high ball, although more effective when he allows the ball to drop rather than sprinting at it so that it cannons away. Ireland’s kicks need him underneath.
Martin, who made an impact during the World Cup, should partner Itoje in the second row
The outstanding Irish pack is full of snarling competitors. England must react. George Martin, the massive Leicester Tigers lock, has quickly become the most important England forward despite hardly playing. England must draft him into the second row alongside Itoje. I would fancy the Tiger. to announce himself on the world stage with a roar. Borthwick could shunt Ollie Chessum, who is in good form, to the back row to play the role that Courtney Lawes perfected: a kind of tight-loose forward with a major lineout component.
And however admirable the performances of Ben Earl at No 8 have been, next Saturday is the day to switch it up. I would play Earl on the open side, where his competitive edges will be effective.
And at No 8? If England stubbornly refuse to consider Zack Mercer — you can see why, but now it has gone way too far — then I would, without question, play Billy Vunipola, who showed improved form before the Six Nations. Colleagues at Saracens report that he is rumbling nicely.
Vunipola had a poor World Cup but has been playing well for Saracens in recent months
No one believes that Billy can contribute 80 minutes at the same titanic levels of his past, but if he can make six big carries and six big hits in the first half, England can reshuffle at half-time and he will have done a job.
One drawback to the might-is-right theory is that England tend to fall off in the final quarter because of the lack of impact of their bench. The replacements were was profoundly disappointing at Murrayfield last week. No one has yet become an effective backup to Dan Cole at tight-head prop, and the scrum was disappointing last week even after the arrival of the scrum specialist Joe Marler at loose-head. A fit Luke Cowan-Dickie would be a boost for the bench at hooker. Against an Ireland front row containing Tadhg Furlong and with a depth chart of scrummagers as long as your arm, it’s not the day to enfeeble yourself up front.
Perhaps it is a case of Hobson’s choice. If England continue along the same mazey and tricky path, they may improve on Murrayfield but surely not by enough to hold the Irish. If they revert to firing some big cannons, they may delay their long-awaited revival by deviating from the plan.
But for now, the danger of Ireland and the impossibility of those long odds should be the motivation for strong arms and shortish tempers — and a rugged policy of not allowing the Irish the run of Twickenham. To arms
You would forget Jones is actually Welsh
He’s some fucking eejit 
Another tour de force by Stephen Jones, he’s an absolute wanker but fuck it if he hasn’t become self aware and knowing that he riles paddy egg ball up and is totally leaning into it
Which fella here thought he and the Welsh out half were one and the same?
Paul Thorburn called him “the scum of the earth”.
