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: Ireland

"Mr Meehan wants the money today, otherwise I'll have to hurt ye"

When you look at it, Ireland have arguably the best first fifteen in Europe.  Their scrum, for so long a greater source of amusement than Andy Powell, has sorted itself out; notwithstanding the question marks over O'Brien as a genuine seven, the back-row is a match for anyone; they have a choice of half-backs who are all either decent or excellent, even Ronan O'Gara; and the backline has finishers, hitters and runners even without the injured BOD.  

Added to this, their domestic teams are carving a mighty harp-shaped swathe throught the Heineken Cup with three in the quarter-finals, compared to one team each from England and Wales. So far so optimistic for the championship, eh?

But, cast your mind back to the not too distant past.  In 2011 Leinster won the Heineken Cup; the top three teams in the Celtic League were Irish and the grand final was contested by Leinster and Munster. Yet, leaving aside the victory over Australia in the RWC group stages, this domestic and European dominance did not translate to success in national colours.  Throughout the summer Ireland were stunted and bullied and in the RWC they were generally frustrating before being shamed by Wales.  Why should it be different now?

Given their personnel this must be a mental problem, and we will see if Kidney had found the right inspiration amongst his blarney-laced patter for his team to realise the sum of its parts.  We think they'll fall short unfortunately, but only just.

Prediction: 2nd

Best Named Player: Leo Cullen - even if you didn't know what he looked like, that name sounds like a 1930s Chicago gangster boss's most trusted muscle.

We All Want A Look At: Andrew Trimble.  For so long a peripheral figure, can he translate his magical Ulster form to the green shir? 

Six Nations 2012: Wales & Ireland name squads.

The big news is about two centres; one in each squad respectively - Gavin Henson be reselected and Gordon D'Arcy clinging onto a squad place better than he did a ball at any time in last year's tournament.

In other news, Declan Kidney seems not undestand the concept of Ulster, either as the place or the team apparently.

WALES (35 man training squad for trip to Poland)

Backs: Mike Phillips (Bayonne), Lloyd Williams (Cardiff Blues), Rhys Webb (Ospreys), Rhys Preistland (Scarlets), James Hook (Perpignan), Jamie Roberts (Cardiff Blues), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Scott Williams (Scarlets), Gavin Henson (Cardiff Blues), Ashley Beck (Ospreys), George North (Scarlets), Leigh Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues), Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), Harry Robinson (Cardiff Blues), Liam Williams (Scarlets), Lee Bryne (Clermont Auvergne)

Forwards: Craig Mitchell (Exeter Chiefs), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Ryan Bevington (Ospreys), Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Paul James (Ospreys), Rhys Gill (Saracens), Rhodri Jones (Scarlets), Matthew Rees (Scarlets), Huw Bennett (Ospreys), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Bradley Davies (Cardiff Blues), Ian Evans (Ospreys), Lou Reed (Scarlets), Ryan Jones (Ospreys), Dan Lydiate (Newport Gwent Dragons), Sam Warburton (capt, Cardiff Blues), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Toby Faletau (Newport Gwent Dragons), Andy Powell (Sale Sharks).

Ireland after the jump....

IRELAND (Six Nations Squad)

Ireland squad: Rory Best (Ulster), Tommy Bowe (Ospreys), Tom Court (Ulster), Sean Cronin (Leinster), Leo Cullen (Leinster), Gordon D'Arcy (Leinster), Keith Earls (Munster), Stephen Ferris (Ulster), Cian Healy (Leinster), Jamie Heaslip (Leinster), Shane Jennings (Leinster), Rob Kearney (Leinster), Fergus McFadden (Leinster), Conor Murray (Munster), Sean O'Brien (Leinster), Donncha O'Callaghan (Munster), Paul O'Connell (Munster), Ronan O'Gara (Munster), Eoin Reddan (Leinster), Mike Ross (Leinster), Donnacha Ryan (Munster), Jonathan Sexton (Leinster), Andrew Trimble (Ulster), Paddy Wallace (Ulster)

Wolfhounds squad: Stephen Archer (Munster), Isaac Boss (Leinster), Gavin Duffy (Connacht), Luke Fitzgerald (Leinster), Chris Henry (Ulster), Denis Hurley (Munster), David Kearney (Leinster), Ian Keatley (Munster), Ronan Loughney (Connacht), Ian Madigan (Leinster), Mike McCarthy (Connacht), Kevin McLaughlin (Leinster), John Muldoon (Connacht), Tomas O'Leary (Munster), Eoin O'Malley (Leinster), Rhys Ruddock (Leinster), Mike Sherry (Munster), Nevin Spence (Ulster), Devin Toner (Leinster), Dan Tuohy (Ulster), Damien Varley (Munster), Brett Wilkinson (Connacht)

 

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! 

SHIT/GOOD™ Ratings: Ireland 10 - 22 Wales. Wales player ratings

As regular readers of the blog will know, the SHIT/GOOD™ Ratings are a staple of our coverage, and we take great comfort in knowing that we dish out scorn as much as praise.  However, for the first time in our four years on the web, it's a struggle to find a single person who deserves a SHIT rating.

This was, first and foremost, a fabulous game of rugby that serves as an advert for the Northern Hemisphere game, and secondly it was an 80-minute display by the Wales team of such all-consuming competence that many in the nation must still be checking whether they've woken up yet.

I could list all fifteen Wales players here , but I'll give a special mention to Sam Warburton, Huw Bennett and Rhys Priestland.

Warburton proved once and for all that he is a player of the highest class in the most important games; Bennett, limited as he is, never stopped and disrupted the Ireland ball, in the ruck in particular; and Rhys Priestland managed the game with an aplomb that players of more experience and great reputation could not have achieved.

A fabulous win, richly deserved.

Rugby World Cup, Quarter Final Preview: Wales vs Ireland

This should be the game of the weekend, honourable mention to Australia vs South Africa also,  but this is the game that has most of us licking our beercans in anticipation.

Wales have selected the team that most of us would go for at this time, and Gatland finally realising that crowbarring James Hook into a team simply because he's James Hook is not a smart tactic is a welcome development.  Ireland stick with the same team that destroyed Italy in the second half of their last match, and they come into the game with the quiet confidence of a team undefeated in the group for the first time in their history.

The most fascinating thing about this match-up is the comparable quality of the teams in many positions juxtaposed against the wild differences in experience.  In the front-row, Wales edge it on quality (Huw Bennett aside, but he has been much better so far in NZ), but stamp all over Ireland in terms of experience, with Gethin and Adam both large on caps and former Lions.  Second row sees Ireland even the scores on both counts. 

Back row has Ireland winning as well, with Sean O'Brien the only player low on experience, but what he loses in experience he makes up with being obscenely good.  However, as many have pointed out, he is not a natural seven, and all the grunt in the world is often not the answer when some smaller swine is out-techniquing you at the breakdown.  Warburton could be that swine.  Similar comparisons can be done in the centres and outside backs.

The packs will be evenly matched and so the half-backs is where this game will be won and lost. Will Murray stand up to the physicality and nous of Mike Phillips, and more importantly, how will the impressive get raw Priestland go against the perpetually irritating, but admittedly usually decent quality ROFG?  Will the Wales man's decision making crumble in the face of the Munsterman's relentless efficiency?  This game may come down to minute margins and it was Priestland who shanked the drop that could have beaten SA; ROFG is the man who usually doesn't - as Wales can attest to, having been on the wrong end of it a couple of times.

This is the hardest result to call since Danny Grewcock and Trevor Brennan appeared on the short lived celebrity game show "Hold Your Temper!"

B&M Prediction: Wales by 3.  There, I've said it.  (sorry Brighty)

Spotter's Badge: Large gust of wind created by the Wales fans all sighing with relief simultaneously as Huw Bennett's first line out throw hits his jumper.

TEAMS:

Ireland: 15 Robert Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O’Driscoll (capt), 12 Gordon D’Arcy, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Ronan O’Gara, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Paul O’Connell, 4 Donncha O’Callaghan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best/Sean Cronin, 1 Cian Healy.

Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin/Damien Varley, 17 Tom Court, 18 Donnacha Ryan, 19 Denis Leamy, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Jonathan Sexton, 22 Andrew Trimble.

Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Huw Bennett, 1 Gethin Jenkins.

Replacements: 16 Lloyd Burns, 17 Paul James, 18 Bradley Davies, 19 Ryan Jones, 20 Lloyd Williams, 21 James Hook, 22 Scott Williams.

Rugby World Cup: Things we learned from the groups stages about the quarter-final teams

1.  Ireland have a very good bunch of forwards now, the transformation in their front-row in particular has been nothing short of lazarusesque.

2.  Dan Carter is out.  Colin Slade and Aaron Cruden are not exactly mugs, but they're not Dan Carter either (who is?), and no matter how much spin they want to put out in press conferences this loss will hurt NZ both on the field and in their heads.  They should still win comfortably against Los Puma, and then the whole thing.  But we've been there before haven't we?

3.  Wales are improving game by game since the Samoa outing. The reason they were so stilted in that game was due to nothing but pure psycholigical terror and fear of failure against their bogey-nation again. Once that was out of the way they settled into a rhythm that could see them go far.  Just a simple glance at the SportGuru predictions give you an idea of just how impossible to pick their game vs Ireland is.

4.  England are playing very badly and have not looked fluent, confident or proficient at any time so far in the tournament, and they can count themselves extremely lucky they had that group to play in.  This malaise of form will not right itself in the next week.  History books may eventually show that they reached the semis, but someone will have to include the caveat "Struggled past Scotland, then beat a divided and demoralised France, lost to someone decent"

5.  Australia will go a lot better if Berrick Barnes is more involved.

6.  Argentina have provided some great moments and are a team that we all admire and like to watch, but this is the end of the road come Sunday.  However, if they can do this well now, what will they be like next time around after four years of TriNations games?

7.  France make it very hard for sports writers and bloggers to be original by living up to every single cliche ever written about them.  But, despite the disgraceful performance against Tonga it's still very hard to say they will definitely lose against England.

8.  After New Zealand, South Africa are the team looking the most likely.  However, the gap between NZ and the rest is pretty damn big.

SHIT/GOOD™ Ratings: Ireland 36 - Italy 6

by Mark McKew

With the 6 Nations game between these two being so close, a lot of people were expecting an upset.  The Italians have this week been boasting about their sheer manliness and that testosterone was far superior to Irish shovel-handed farmers.  The ITV commentators subsequently went searching for more details about Testosterone, assuming he was the Italian replacement prop.

The teams picked themselves.  Despite much being made of ROG’s selection it wasn’t a difficult decision to make – Declan Kidney plumping for someone who should in theory be a calming influence and land his kicks despite everything else.

In all a good match. A balanced first half and a crunching second with the Italians unable to string phases together until the last quarter.

SHIT

Italian discipline. There is such a thing as being too fired up.  Every breakdown saw the Italians more concerned with their opposite number than winning possession. The ball was squandered in the first half and near impossible to get hold of in the first 20 of the second.  The only way they could’ve won would was through their forwards, but Bergamasco stupidly and petulantly had a penalty reversed before half-time.  That penalty would have seen Italy go in level. 

Ghiraldini. He knew what he was doing and it was the act of a cunt and a coward.  A ban looms.

ITV Commentators. ‘I’ve never seen so many camper vans in one place. You can bet your bottom dollar that they’re full of Irish’…why not go the whole hog and say they’ll tarmac your drive and sell you some lucky heather while you’re at it? Awful.

Kappa rugby shirts. Time has moved on and gone are the days of heavyweight cotton shirts that would absorb sweat to the extent that the salt contained in their very material could possibly erode your nipples. Fine, every manufacturer puts ‘grip pads’ on their shirt nowadays, but when you start looking like your wearing something so rubbery that Michael Jackson turned it down for his ‘Thriller’ video, you know you look like a dick.  With a johnny on it. A ribbed one.

 

GOOD

Ireland.  Easy that one.

What?

Oh. Alright.  From 1 – 15, Ireland were solid, patient and resilient. It was a genuine team effort but the distinguishing factors were:

Irish Discipline.  For the most part they refused to be drawn into any off-the-ball confrontation.  Cian Healy did well to stick just the one on Ghiraldini despite provocation.  They remained focussed and in the end, that was the major factor in their win.  

The Irish Pack.

Initially the scrums were shared, each side losing some against the head, but once Castrogiavanni and then Bergamasco left the pitch, they were buggered.

Their line-out was criminally unchallenged for large parts of the game.  Clean, crisp ball allowed O’ Gara the ability to look half decent. There, I said it. I feel dirty though. His decision making was at times slow and ponderous and his left-hand pass seemed to take an age to arrive.  You still get the feeling that what Tommy Bowe gives, ROG can still screw up. Time will prove him to be someone who consistently nailed England, but also screwed his country and the Lions on a semi-regular basis.

Tommy Bowe.  Robbed of a try and a penalty try, he sent BOD in for their first.  Does the basics exceptionally well – direct running, drawing his tackler.  But it’s his turn of pace that is most notable.  He takes the ball so flat that at times he impossible to play.  While O’Driscoll knows his clock is ticking down, the loss Ireland face will be considerably lessened knowing Bowe is around.

Cian Healy.  He can kick too! There will be hard decisions to be made about who gets the Lions loosehead shirt in 2 years time, providing Jenkins and Stevens keep their legs going. Without a doubt, Ireland are slowly forming a pack which will see them through the next 10 years, before the RWC finishes. Take note England.  Or don’t. Probably the latter.  

Heaslip.  The best 8 in the Northern hemisphere? Undoubtedly. Top three in the world? Probably. Future Ireland Captain? Yup.  He has it all – the physical presence to break the line constantly, a scavenging mentality, great hands and an ability to read the game better than anything the English pack can offer.  The fact he plays in one of the best back-rows in the world doesn’t hurt.

O’Brien. Where Heaslip takes the piss-poor prattling pundit plaudits, O’Brien gets on quietly with his work. His carrying made Ireland’s job simple, his defence made Italy’s all the more difficult.  He’s the European player of the year for a reason, but you’d hardly know he was on the pitch thanks to ITV’s match commentators.  

Ferris. Not bad either.  As an England supporter, I’m incredibly jealous of the back-row situation.  We have James Nice-But-Dim, Nick Easterislandhead and Lewis Moody, who is only in the team because he has similar hair to Neil Back.

While I’m on the subject, Irish hair. A bit like their game 10 years ago, it’s lustrous, shiny and initially well controlled, but ultimately wild and prone to areas of mentalness (apart from O’Connell and he’s ginger). Alternatively for the Italians, Castrogiovanni aside they had nothing to offer. After his substitution they looked lacklustre and greasy, with only the occasional sideburn on display.  Even Lo Cicero’s highlights couldn’t lift a dull and lifeless display.

The posts. Hit by more balls than Jordan this morning, which is saying something.

Of all the Northern Hemisphere teams, Ireland can go furthest and would present a real challenge for the All Blacks.  It used to be said that if the game was 60 minutes long, Ireland would be World Champions.  Now they’ve shown they can play 80 and beyond.  If they can do that consistently, the next few weeks could be interesting.