The Silver Fern

@profitius said in 6N 2022 : Wales v Italy:

It's not a great time for Welsh rugby. They've an aging team, their u20s only beat a rabble of a Scottish side and all their regions look like missing out on the top 8 of the URC. Meanwhile the WRU have just built a hotel. Priorities!

If five of our best performers this 6N had been selected to start - Francis, Rowlands, Basham, Cuthbert, Liam Williams - the result would have been very different

And Scott Williams should have been brought in at 12 from the start

Colin Charvis speaking on BBC Wales Scrum V was correct

You don’t become a shit team overnight

A better game plan with the players we have and we get different results

For that reason, the first to go is Pivac

NOW

Shit selections
No real, modern game plan

Then Jones
Unless he’s toeing the Pivac line

And the new hotel is magnificent and a far better return on investment than Pivac

@bones said in Italy v Scotland:

@cgrant think he missed 3 pretty crucial tackles before finally getting into the positive down the other end.

Too emotional ?

Ireland are ambitious, and do play with width. They just have shit outside backs who really struggle to turn opportunities in to points

And Sexton is still teh biggest fluffybunny in world rugby

France - Ireland on Saturday should be a cracker.

@booboo said in Italy v Argentina:

Something about this match up just screams boredom.

In fairness, Italy want to play an open game.

@stodders said in Italy vs All Blacks 2021 NH Tour:

@nostrildamus said in Italy vs All Blacks 2021 NH Tour:

@stodders said in Italy vs All Blacks 2021 NH Tour:

@nostrildamus but I think a lot of energy was put into that Ireland game because they (along with SA) had given the ABs the most trouble in that 4 year WC cycle.

As England showed after beating NZ, it is difficult to climb another peak when you feel you've conquered Everest the week before.

The key to winning WCs is to not scale the peaks in the QFs. ABs were too good (and Ireland poor) in QFs. A scratchy, hard fought win would have been better preparation. A bit like a scratchy hard fought win against limited, but game opposition like Italy 😉

Ireland's team for Japan was supposedly (from Irish fans and writers) a bit of a conservative selection. They didn't get much opposition from Japan, who were v poor. What does it say when their conservative side were seemingly striking from anywhere and everywhere? Their defence can be brutal, but Japan rarely threatened for 80 mins. I've seen ABs struggle in their next game after looking other worldly in their previous game. Expectations are high now for Ireland to repeat that performance (not result) against NZ.

Ireland were up for that game because of what happened in last WC against Japan. It was also Sexton's 100th test. Now they have to scale another emotional high against NZ a week later. That's a big job for the coaching staff to get the focus right.

NZ have work ons after Italy. They enter the game with things to prove, not plaudits in their ears. Ireland go into the game in fine fettle, but with a sense of trepidation because they know what is coming. I reckon it'll be a cracker.

This is NZ's biggest game of the NH tour. Ireland are on an upward curve after finishing 6 Nations strongly and putting away Japan with ease. This is where the ABs will be put to the test, not in Paris.

Thank you much there to agree with. But do (and did) Ireland have the equivalent depth as the ABs?
From memory when we played them in that game they already and on the field had key injuries? Have they improved their depth?

Front row they have depth. Cian Healy wasn't playing last week (Furlong and Porter were the starting props). Hooker they have options. At lock, they can afford to leave a Lion in Henderson out. Back row they are spoiled for choice. Peter O'Mahoney, who was MoM against ABs when Ireland beat ABs in 2018, isn't first choice.

At 9 they have Gibson-Park who offers more of a passing game than Murray, but Murray has a grade A box kicking game. Nice blend. At 10 they struggle behind Sexton to have the same quality, but they have good enough back ups.

At 12 they have Henshaw or Aki who are both good foils for Ringrose at 13. They have plenty of v good outside backs to choose from who run fast, hard and have skills. The addition of Lowe has provided them with an extra something to unlock defences.

So yeah, I'd say depth wise they are doing fine. One of the strongest squads in the 6N now.

That is impressive if they can leave Henderson out, have not followed his recent form but he impressed me. I recognized most of the names so that surprises me as well!

This Italian team has a bunch of very good players (Canonne, Steyn, Polledri, Minozzi) but a majority of very bad ones who are not even M10 level. Hopefully some of their U20 promising players could join the national squad soon (halfback, 1st Five, centre, Nr.8, one of their locks, hooker, both props).

@Steven-Harris said in Wales vs Italy, Six Nations 2020:

I reckon if you gave Georgia more consistent big rugby against the other 5, they will gradually improve

This was the argument for including Italy.

The best team outside the top 5 in my lifetime was undoubtedly Romania. Limited game but they were a real handful at home in the 70's and early 80's. Regularly won against France. The fall of communism and then rise of professionalism fucked them though.

I reckon the fish heads will be comfortable with Italy. Plenty of sponsorship and corporate hospo opportunities. Rome's lovely in the spring dontchaknow. Who gives a fuck about the quality of the rugby.....

@sparky said in RWC: All Blacks v Italy (Cancelled) (Pool 😎:

Very easy to make the right call with hindsight, but I think if they had moved the kickoff forward three and a bit hours to 10:30 on Saturday morning Japanese time, then this game could have gone ahead and everyone would have got back indoors ahead of the typhoon arriving in Nagoya.

I would imagine, given the seriousness of the situation and the unpredictability of the typhoon, this was simply not possible. The authorities had to shut down the trains, and other utilities, the last thing on their minds was transporting rugby teams and their spectators to and from a ground in the middle of a typhoon warning zone

@antipodean said in RWC: South Africa v Italy (Pool 😎:

Can't help but feel what's holding Italy back is that the majority of their players play for Italian clubs.

Apparently the forwards on the bench, according to one of the commentators, all came from the one club.

All the best domestic Italian players are from either Bennetton or Zebre as they play in the Pro14 so are playing at a higher standard than the Italian Top12. Looking at their RWC squad there are only 5 players who play outside of Italy (1 in France, 4 in England).

Italy played well in attack but boy they were camped offside in defence.

Canadian rugby is in a hole and it’s hard to see them returning to their competitive state from the 90s.

Extended highlights:

@sparky said in Italy vs All Blacks:

@crucial

I hope none of them are heading to the Disabled Toilet with an Italian lady they met last night.....

I hope they are!! This is what you want from your professional sports men!

@reprobate said in v Italy:

@nostrildamus said in v Italy:

and I'd just like to add I thought Todd was a good player but not suitable for bench and I was wrong, he has been a great teamplayer.
It is almost tempting to have him/Savea on at 7 and move the hard tackling Cane to 6 or 8 but no doubt such heresy would melt down the forum.

i reckon todd has played the best game in black 7 this year, he's done well. big motor, best support runner of the 3 options.

Better than Cane in the first two Bledisloe's? Nah.