Blood & Mud

RBS 6 Nations Match Previews in 140 characters or less

Twitter is worth more than Jonny Wilkinson's 2002 aura these days, so let's have a go at previewing the weekend's action within their arbitrary limits.  Have a try yourselves in the comments.

Italy vs England - Scrumfest, maladroit passing, tense finish involving place kicks and reduced hyperbole and optimism.

Fra vs Ire - Fra dominate scrum, parity in lineout, Fofana shows up D'Arcy, France win due to Ire shocking record in Paris + being better

Wales vs Scotland - Wales win because they are playing Scotland at home.

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SHIT/GOOD™ Ratings: RBS 6 Nations, round one

Our stab at who's worth your time and who's worth a kicking after the weekend.  Don't forget to add your nominations in the comments, or I'll send 

SHIT

Phil Dowson - After wanting him in a white shirt for so long, it hurts a great deal to have him in this section, but it cannot be denied that he was poor and outplayed by a child (see below).  Ben Morgan will likely start against Italy.

Scotland line-breakers - If any one of them would have made a single decision that was the correct side of "why the fuck did you do that?" then Scotland would have run out very comfortable winners.

Sean O'Brien - He justifies his 7 shirt thus; lack of fetching skills offset by carrying the ball like an angry rhinocerous who's just received a tax bill.  He's maintaining the former but failing in the latter. 

Ben Youngs - All at sea at the minute, and while this blog still believes that he still has an enormous future, he needs to be left out for a bit to get some form and confidence back.

GOOD

Mouritz Botha - It was a weekend when people with comical hair impressed greatly, and the erstwhile Saffer was among the best of them.  Carried and hit hard, and will cause some selection headaches when Lawes is fit again.  Could England select both?

George North - Let's just remind ourselves again that this lad is 19.  His basics are fantastic, when he carries the ball he is fearsome - as Fergus McFadden and Rob Kearney will testify, and that offload for the second Davies try showed a sublime level of skill and composure.  NINETEEN!  

Warren Gatland - Completely took the wind out of Sonia McLoughlin's journalistic sails by replying "yes" when asked if Bradley Davies should have had a red card.  Honestly like this from coaches is what every sport needs.

Luke McLean - On a day when Italy's pack did the decent job we all expect, the beardy winger was the only back to really show any kind of adventure or flair.

Louis Picamoles - If you're going to drop big Imanol, you'd best make sure whoever comes in is bloody good.  He was.

David Denton - Has civil servant's name and looks like an extra from Fast Times At Ridgemont High, but my word he can play, eh?

Conor Murray - Ireland's young scrum-half was lively all game.

Rugby Video: Top 6 Nations tries from each team

Stuart Barnes might be a large ball of pompous gas these days, but check out his skills in the England try!

Which is your favourite?  Hard to see past Phil Bennett, what a player that man was. 

RBS 6 Nations Preview: England

Hodgson no doubt missing the sticks as per, hopes are high that giving kicking duties to Owen Farrell will sort the Sarries man's head and SHITness out.

After a World Cup so bad that most fans wish they could unsee it, it's all change for England prior to the start of this Six Nations.  A new coaching team, a squad full of fresh faces, a new training base in the north for spurious north=tougher reasons, and a new approach.  

Head coach Stuart Lancaster has been in the media talking about getting the structures and performances right and then "the points will take care of themselves" which is music to this blog's ears.  However, a loss to Scotland and anything other than a win in Rome may soon have him rethinking that if the press, fans and RFU upper echelon start to twitch and bitch.  Hopefully this either won't be a problem, or if it does happen he'll have the backbone to ride it out. Here's hoping.

New captain Chris Robshaw is good news, mainly as it means he'll actually be playing, something that should have happened quite some time ago, and it's the performance of the forwards around him, particularly at the breakdown, which must see the greatest improvement.  Beyond that anything in the backs that shows some creativity and doesn't involve Matt Banahan will be pleasing.  Pleasing in way akin to coming up from the basement after a hurricane and seeing your house is half standing, granted, but still enough to perk you up a bit.  

Good results will be welcome, but most fans if they have a brain will want to see more dynamism to start and signs that something can be built upon in the years to come.  

Prediction: 4th

Best Named Player:  Toby Flood - sounds like a peripheral character from This Life.

We All Want A Look At: Owen Farrell, he's young, but he's three years older than his dad when he made his international debut and he didn't do too bad.  And Charlie Hodgson, can he possibly not be be SHIT in an international shirt any more? 

Squad

FORWARDS: Mouritz Botha (Saracens), Calum Clark (Northampton), Dan Cole (Leicester), Alex Corbisiero (London Irish), Tom Croft (Leicester), Louis Deacon (Leicester), Phil Dowson (Northampton), Dylan Hartley (Northampton), Courtney Lawes (Northampton), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Lee Mears (Bath), Ben Morgan (Scarlets), Tom Palmer (Stade Francais), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Matt Stevens (Saracens), Rob Webber (Wasps), David Wilson (Bath), Tom Wood (Northampton)

BACKS: Chris Ashton (Northampton), Brad Barritt (Saracens), Mike Brown (Harlequins), Lee Dickson (Northampton), Owen Farrell (Saracens), Toby Flood (Leicester), Ben Foden (Northampton), Charlie Hodgson (Saracens), Charlie Sharples (Gloucester), Joe Simpson (Wasps), David Strettle (Saracens), Manu Tuilagi (Leicester), Jordan Turner-Hall (Harlequins), Ben Youngs (Leicester).

Stuart Lancaster pretty much ruins his decent start as England coach.

New ideas are generally good things.  

Without new ideas we'd still believe that the world was flat, storks deliver babies, Shane Williams is a third choice squad scrum-half, and Iain Balshaw was any good.   Indeed, it was a new and decent RFU idea that brought England's new coaching team into their posts bringing fresh selections to the national team.  So far, so new, so good.

But, an obsession with new can sometimes lead to doing very silly things; the Sinclair C5 and Barrie-Jon Mather for example.  

Stuart Lancaster seems to have fallen into the latter trap by inviting Gary Neville and some other random  sports stars to expound about the honour of playing for England and the behaviour that should go with it.  In his heady excitement it seems the new Head Coach has belted so fast into THE NEW that he has shot straight out the other side and tripped accidentally into the adjoining "What the fuck is this all about then?" room.

Leaving aside the wounded soldier Simon Brown, who everyone should be listening to frankly, here are the others Lancaster believes his players need pointers from for some reason.

Gary Neville - It's hard to think of a more divisive person than the former Man U defender, he is like Marmite if Marmite was a little bloke with a ratty beard and too much to say. Plus, any Liverpool fans in the squad are likely to smack him rather than listen to him.  Lancaster is also treading a very dodgy line in believing that rugby players want to be lectured on anything by anyone associated with association football.

Hugh Morris - Opening bat who played 3 tests for England in the dark days of the 1990s, averaging a not exactly earth shattering 19.16, and captained perennial dross county Glamorgan to the Sunday League title in 1993.  Retired in 1997 to a life of administration at the ECB.  Oh, and he's Welsh!

Jamie Peacock - Great RL player for Bradford Bulls and Leeds Rhinos, and a thouroughly decent and frighteningly hard man.  Has spent his international career losing crunch games in major tournaments to Australia and New Zealand.

Kevin Sinfield - As above, except for the Bradford Bulls and frighteningly hard bit.

No, I don't get it either.

 

It's now official that the RFU know nothing about rugby

Where to begin with the news that the RFU have appointed a City headhunting firm to look for their new coach?

What the RFU is doing here is admitting publicly that they have no-one at the top of the organisation who has any idea about how to find a man to run the national team.  

I know that many large organisations use headhunting firms, but they are not sports governing bodies, and this is once again another depressing example of how the RFU sees no difference between itself and some multinational in Canary Wharf.  This is what continues to cause so many England fans such despair.

The firm will apparently advise a five-man RFU panel which will include Rob Andrew, leading to the surreal situation of a company that knows nothing about rugby advising a man who has been moved away from a role that has anything to do with the senior national team.

I'm off for a little cry if anyone fancies joining?

England's new Elite Player Squad in full.

Changing of the guard etc, most inexperienced England squad for fifty years, bloke stolen from Wales included, Dave Attwood misses out, Louis Deacon still an international player.  But, in the best news ever heard ever: BANAHAN IS OUT! 

Forwards (18)

Mouritz Botha (Saracens)
Callum Clark (Northampton Saints)
Alex Corbisiero (London Irish)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers)
Phil Dowson (Northampton Saints)
Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
Joe Marler (Harlequins)
Lee Mears (Bath Rugby)
Ben Morgan (Scarlets)
Tom Palmer (Stade Francais)
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
Matt Stevens (Saracens)
Rob Webber (London Wasps)
David Wilson (Bath Rugby)
Tom Wood (Northampton Saints)

Backs (14)

Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints)
Brad Barritt (Saracens)
Mike Brown (Harlequins)
Lee Dickson (Northampton Saints)
Owen Farrell (Saracens)
Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers)
Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)
Charlie Hodgson (Saracens)
Joe Simpson (London Wasps)
Charlie Sharples (Gloucester Rugby)
David Strettle (Saracens)
Maunsamoa Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers)
Jordan Turner-Hall (Harlequins)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)

 

Bloodandmud.com (predictably daft) predictions for 2012

"Haskell-San no more want to run at people, he want make paper beauty of him own self"

1. IRB to address the scrum issue; ruling that all scrums will now require the forwards to make a heap of bodies on the floor while a back either quick-taps or kicks for touch. This will save 3.4 years in lost game time across an average season.

2.  Rob Andrew will chair a press conference about the Olympics; he will have an official badge on and speak with great confidence about what his role at the 2012 Games does not involve.  After an hour of questioning no-one will be any clearer about what he was doing there.

3.  Dan Parks will be replaced as a Scotland impact sub by an upturned yard brush stuck in the ground.  No-one will notice.

4.  The national press's main rugby writers will publish a "My Current Lions Fifteen" column every hour, on the hour, for what will seem like the whole of eternity.

5.  Stuart Lancaster will select a young and promising squad.  They will lose by 3 points in Rome on the opening weekend on the Six Nations, prompting the recall of Simon Shaw, Mike Tindall, Phil Vickery and Dean Richards.  Stephen Jones of The Times will blame it all on rugby league.

6.  Wales will win the Six Nations. Or at least they should.  If they don't then Gatland, Edwards et al need a good hiding.  (NB.  The blog is not voluteering to carry this out)

7.  Ireland will cope without the injured semi-deity O'Driscoll as his dad will send a certain ancient carpenter who happens to be a handy outside centre down to plug the gap.  They never mentioned that in the good book or at mass, did they?

8. Phillipe Saint-Andre will introduce consistency of selection to the French team, this will bore the players and they will resort to performing show tunes in defence.  Marc Lievremont will be seen smiling in the crowd.

9. Inspired by Tom Cruise in the "The Last Samurai", Haskell-San will go native and be unavailable for England selection due to dedicating his next twelve months to making origami sculptures of himself in various masculine poses.

Give us your predictions in the comments.  

Thanks for your attention, comments and interest in 2011; your patronage of this simple little blog is always appreciated and never taken for granted.

Look forward to seeing you all here again in 2012.  Happy New Year! 

On Jonny Wilkinson's international retirement

Jonny Wilkinson, the man whose wrong foot half-volloyed England to a Rugby World Cup, has announced that he will not be pulling on his nation's shirt again.  He will instead focus his efforts in the red and black of his French team, Toulon, who will now reap the full benefit of his attitude and solid and competent game management.

Many may see the last sentence above as some kind of sarcastic barb, or damning with faint praise, but it's not - Wilkinson was and is a very good fly-half.  Not many can claim to be a record breaker and an era definer - which he was in terms of the new muscularity he brought to the 10 channel.  

He did not have the obscene talent of a Mark Ella, or the balletic skills of a Phil Bennett, or the unpredictability of a Carlos Spencer.  But, what he did have was the skills to be a top international 10, and more importantly the temperament to execute them when it most mattered.  

One-dimensional is an assessment often applied to him, which is probably a fair assessment in the latter stages of his career.  But, that is to forget that he was the pivot during 2001 - 2003, the most creative period in English rugby history.  England may have had brain-farts in Grand Slam deciders, but up to that point in those Championships they vapourised all of Europe with their try-scoring verve,and beat every team in the world, home and away.  Don't just take my word for it; 28 tries scored in the 2001 Six Nations, 23 in 2002, 18 in 2003 - the numbers speak for themselves.  Admittedly, England's pack were monstrous at that time, but Wilkinson's ability was at the heart of crafting the possession into comprehensive wins, as shown in the above video.  The try that he scores is wonderfully worked, but his interventions in the build up to it were just as impressive.  

The disappointment for England fans is that he never pushed on with that expansive game to make it his trademark.  Why didn't he?  Probably a combination of factors, not least his absence from the game for so long due to injury, and on his return England as a team were a bloddy shambles. A very different proposition to marshall compared to that golden period in the early noughties.

He should be remembered as a decent international player and, maybe more importantly, a decent man. Most of the rugby world wish him well.

England now look to a future without Jonny Wilkinson, but in the current context of change at Twickenham his retirement looks to be as well timed as that last minute strike in Sydney eight years ago.

 

 

Anyone else pleased with the England coaching team? This blog is..

As the dust settles from the mushroom cloud of institutional embarrassment the RFU itself created, probably when an overweight middle-aged bloke in a blazer pressed the wrong button when trying to get some ice from the machine for his G&T, three figures stand in the middle of the crater:  Stuart Lancaster, Graham Rowntree and Andy Farrell.

Firstly, regardless of personnel, the interim solution of appointing coaches for the Six Nations is a very good idea.   Secondly, in Lancaster, Rowntree and Farrell England have combination that covers most bases.

Graham Rowntree was the only man to come out of the post Rugby World Cup mudslinging with a clean shirt; he has the respect of the players who will be retained and according to all is a very good coach.  Stuart Lancaster, from his role with the younger age group, knows what is coming through and who can make the step up.  And Andy Farrell has been an integral part of Saracens' success of late, comes with a fresh approach, and regardless of his questionable England RU career seems to be much respected by those who work with him and for him.  Also, crucially, he has got results as a coach.

But, most importantly of all, they are a group - Lancaster in particular - who will not me encumbered by history.  There will be no loyalties to players who they took the field with and moreover a genuine desire to start the England squad's necessary personnel transition to ensure a solid handover next year to Nick Mallett whoever gets the job full-time.

Optimism is slowly creeping in, not something this blog is famed for where England are concerned.  

What are your thoughts on the appointments?