RugbyRebels

Bigger does like flapping his arms for no reason.

fivepointer wrote:

twitchy wrote:Did biggar get slapped at the end there? He was really in turbo twat mode today.

One can only hope.....

How refs continually indulge his behaviour is beyond me. Mind you, there is far too much yap from far too many players nowadays.

If ever a ref needed to penalise somebody for mouth it was today. Biggar conceding a penalty for his first offence and yellow-carded for the second would do so much for the game. It just needed a referee with a pair.

Digby wrote:

p/d wrote:

Digby wrote:I get why you'd want Dupont, not so sure what you think we're missing at 10. Ntamack has at least been kicking much better from hand, so far, but he's not at Ford's level

I thought Ntamack was really good. As for the French wing Teddy Sheringham ..... pony

Teddy has been shocking in defence through the 6N. And I do like Ntamack, I just wouldn't even waste a second wondering if I'd swap him in for George, even if Romain speaks better English

I'd take Ntamack over Ford in a heartbeat.

Weird. Given that you don’t rate an awful lot of our players and you think Eddie a charlatan and a fraud, we actually do remarkably well.

Oakboy wrote:

Digby wrote:

p/d wrote: I thought Ntamack was really good. As for the French wing Teddy Sheringham ..... pony

Teddy has been shocking in defence through the 6N. And I do like Ntamack, I just wouldn't even waste a second wondering if I'd swap him in for George, even if Romain speaks better English

I'd take Ntamack over Ford in a heartbeat.

Just not seeing that. Taken in the round there isn't a better 10 in test rugby for me than Ford, a few better defenders, BB is for sure a better runner, and some very close with Ford but no one I'd put ahead of him. Pollard might have be change my mind if he continues to recover and SA actually let him play

Picking Ntamack over Ford just seems like the magpie trait of picking the shiny new thing

Wales still enjoying a good bit of the Gatland & Edwards residual effect. The further they get from that era the more inconsistent they’ll become I reckon. There’s some gold in there, but also a fair bit of weakness. Can see a rocky 2/3 years for them.

Timbo wrote:Wales still enjoying a good bit of the Gatland & Edwards residual effect. The further they get from that era the more inconsistent they’ll become I reckon. There’s some gold in there, but also a fair bit of weakness. Can see a rocky 2/3 years for them.

I think Pivac is a good fit for them and can see them doing well under him.

Digby wrote:

p/d wrote:

Digby wrote:I get why you'd want Dupont, not so sure what you think we're missing at 10. Ntamack has at least been kicking much better from hand, so far, but he's not at Ford's level

I thought Ntamack was really good. As for the French wing Teddy Sheringham ..... pony

Teddy has been shocking in defence through the 6N. And I do like Ntamack, I just wouldn't even waste a second wondering if I'd swap him in for George, even if Romain speaks better English

Agree. Ford is the real deal, however cam see Ntamack becoming quite some player. For all the talk of world class kicking that gets banded about (yes Owen) he really was sublime today.

Regards Terry, would love to know what Adams said that got him a ticking off

WaspInWales wrote:

Timbo wrote:Wales still enjoying a good bit of the Gatland & Edwards residual effect. The further they get from that era the more inconsistent they’ll become I reckon. There’s some gold in there, but also a fair bit of weakness. Can see a rocky 2/3 years for them.

I think Pivac is a good fit for them and can see them doing well under him.

I think Gatland and Edwards squeezed every last drop out of this group of players and they’ll now regress to the mean.

Timbo wrote:

WaspInWales wrote:

Timbo wrote:Wales still enjoying a good bit of the Gatland & Edwards residual effect. The further they get from that era the more inconsistent they’ll become I reckon. There’s some gold in there, but also a fair bit of weakness. Can see a rocky 2/3 years for them.

I think Pivac is a good fit for them and can see them doing well under him.

I think Gatland and Edwards squeezed every last drop out of this group of players and they’ll now regress to the mean.

I dunno. If they get the balance right, they will be a top team. They have had outstanding defence and there has been glimpses of brilliance in attack under Gatland. If Pivac can get that balance, they'll be up there.

WaspInWales wrote:

Timbo wrote:

WaspInWales wrote:
I think Pivac is a good fit for them and can see them doing well under him.

I think Gatland and Edwards squeezed every last drop out of this group of players and they’ll now regress to the mean.

I dunno. If they get the balance right, they will be a top team. They have had outstanding defence and there has been glimpses of brilliance in attack under Gatland. If Pivac can get that balance, they'll be up there.

I think they fundamentally lack penetration and ball carriers. Gatland came up with a style that mitigated this- nuggety set piece and the best defence and aerial game in the world. Not sure they can keep the Gatland/Edwards characteristics and transition to play the way Pivac wants them to.

Also, just my opinion, but think the talent at their disposal across the whole squad is a step down from the top 5 or so teams.

p/d wrote:

Digby wrote:

p/d wrote: I thought Ntamack was really good. As for the French wing Teddy Sheringham ..... pony

Teddy has been shocking in defence through the 6N. And I do like Ntamack, I just wouldn't even waste a second wondering if I'd swap him in for George, even if Romain speaks better English

Agree. Ford is the real deal, however cam see Ntamack becoming quite some player. For all the talk of world class kicking that gets banded about (yes Owen) he really was sublime today.

Regards Terry, would love to know what Adams said that got him a ticking off

I'm open to revising my position on Ntamack, but history says he's more likely to be dropped in the next 5 games than change my mind

Wales will be fine. France are the best team in europe right now and will get better. I think they have a golden generation of talent.

Wales did enough to win today - unlucky with a few decisions & a jd2 instead of tompkins would have given the edge (he played ok but appears to still be finding his feet at this level).
Not sure if Fra need to bring this mass-handbagging thing into play as the games reach their conclusion - not an Eddiefying spectacle.

Galfon wrote:Wales did enough to win today - unlucky with a few decisions & a jd2 instead of tompkins would have given the edge (he played ok but appears to still be finding his feet at this level).
Not sure if Fra need to bring this mass-handbagging thing into play as the games reach their conclusion - not an Eddiefying spectacle.

I thought France deserved the win based on the run of whole game. Wales made a great effort to get back in to it. The ref was quite poor for both sides. There were a few obvious examples of Welsh players running through and trying to take out opposition players well behind the ruck, and getting away with it.
Re. Handbagging - it may just be a reaction of French players getting well pissed off with the pronouncements of their opponents. Jones tells them they will be physically bullied and a Welsh prop openly, and stupidly, calls them cheats. I think they are out to let everyone know they will not be intimidated.

WaspInWales wrote:

Timbo wrote:Wales still enjoying a good bit of the Gatland & Edwards residual effect. The further they get from that era the more inconsistent they’ll become I reckon. There’s some gold in there, but also a fair bit of weakness. Can see a rocky 2/3 years for them.

I think Pivac is a good fit for them and can see them doing well under him.

I actually think it’s a bit of both.

Right now, Pivac arguably has the strongest/most experienced squad at his disposal, but I wonder how much longer AWJ can keep going and then the likes of Owens and Jonathan Davies are not too far behind in age. They’re all key players and I’m yet to see anyone of the same calibre coming through to replace any of them.

Pivac is a good coach who should suit them well but Timbo hit the nail on the head when he said Gatland has managed to squeeze every last drop out of this group IMO, so I think a lot we’ll depend upon how successfully Pivac can regenerate the squad.

twitchy wrote:Wales will be fine. France are the best team in europe right now and will get better. I think they have a golden generation of talent.

If you mean ‘right now’ as in the last few weeks, OK, but I think it’s a little premature to be making that statement.

I think they did deserve to win yesterday but had Wales been awarded a penalty try for Willemse’s blatant knock down, they would have been 1 point down against 14 with about 15mins to go. Given they did score again, I think there’s a good chance they would have won had that decision gone their way. France have also come close to imploding in their second halves against us and even Italy so I’m not sure they’re worthy of your accolade just yet.

I do agree that they have a ‘golden generation’ though. When you consider that Penaud (arguably their best outside back) has yet to play in the 6N and Raka didn’t even make the squad, it’s clear they’re building a special team that will keep getting better.

It’s good the 6 Nations to have four genuine contenders and good for rugby to have another top team.

Galfon wrote: Not sure if Fra need to bring this mass-handbagging thing into play as the games reach their conclusion - not an Eddiefying spectacle.

I hadn't realised the French were wearing need yesterday. Because it was certainly the guys in red kick-starting the majority of the handbags.

Biggest alone should have seen a few reversals and marched back 10s, with a warning for yellow if he continued.

Spiffy wrote:The ref was quite poor for both sides. There were a few obvious examples of Welsh players running through and trying to take out opposition players well behind the ruck, and getting away with it.

Yes, I noticed that. Late in the game, for example, AWJ took two French players out a good two yards beyond the ruck. It was over the goal line. I was amazed the ref did not penalise him.

Scrumhead wrote:

twitchy wrote:Wales will be fine. France are the best team in europe right now and will get better. I think they have a golden generation of talent.

If you mean ‘right now’ as in the last few weeks, OK, but I think it’s a little premature to be making that statement.

I think they did deserve to win yesterday but had Wales been awarded a penalty try for Willemse’s blatant knock down, they would have been 1 point down against 14 with about 15mins to go. Given they did score again, I think there’s a good chance they would have won had that decision gone their way. France have also come close to imploding in their second halves against us and even Italy so I’m not sure they’re worthy of your accolade just yet.

I do agree that they have a ‘golden generation’ though. When you consider that Penaud (arguably their best outside back) has yet to play in the 6N and Raka didn’t even make the squad, it’s clear they’re building a special team that will keep getting better.

It’s good the 6 Nations to have four genuine contenders and good for rugby to have another top team.

Agreed re France. They seem to be the most emotionally focussed team this year and on a bit of a mission. Everyone else still finding their feet after the World Cup.

England and Wales will both be kicking themselves that they weren’t able to convert their long periods of dominance in both games into more points and a win.

Also agree that the French well of talent is pretty special at the moment. If they add the confidence, belief and momentum from a grand slam then they could start to develop into a genuine world beating team.

Which Tyler wrote:

Galfon wrote: Not sure if Fra need to bring this mass-handbagging thing into play as the games reach their conclusion - not an Eddiefying spectacle.

I hadn't realised the French were wearing need yesterday. Because it was certainly the guys in red kick-starting the majority of the handbags.

Biggest alone should have seen a few reversals and marched back 10s, with a warning for yellow if he continued.

I was watching on my phone so will have to check again but thought that the handbags at the final whistle were for a cheap shot on the French player that tapped, kicked the ball out and had his standing leg taken away.

Yeah, charged down from about 2m away rather than 10.
There was also the highly noticeable incident where Biggar called a mark and immediately kicked it straigtpht into the Frenchman who'd been challenging for the ball, and flapping his arms around distraught at not being awarded a penalty. I'd have happily seen him carded for unsportsmanlike conduct at that point.
There were many, many other examples as well, including the Welshman running in from way away to start handbags for no apparent reason, and being explicitly warned by the ref before he arrived.

Whole team was in full-on niggle mode, just led by Biggar (in that respect)

Which Tyler wrote:Yeah, charged down from about 2m away rather than 10.
There was also the highly noticeable incident where Biggar called a mark and immediately kicked it straigtpht into the Frenchman who'd been challenging for the ball, and flapping his arms around distraught at not being awarded a penalty. I'd have happily seen him carded for unsportsmanlike conduct at that point.
There were many, many other examples as well, including the Welshman running in from way away to start handbags for no apparent reason, and being explicitly warned by the ref before he arrived.

Whole team was in full-on niggle mode, just led by Biggar (in that respect)

This needs to happen soon. A ref with bottle must set an example. As an example to young kids, this disrespect of officials is horrendous, IMO.

I think France have been fortunate in twogames now. Both ourselves and the Welsh failedto covert a lot of chances. They don't have to get lucky for much more though...

Which Tyler wrote:Yeah, charged down from about 2m away rather than 10.
There was also the highly noticeable incident where Biggar called a mark and immediately kicked it straigtpht into the Frenchman who'd been challenging for the ball, and flapping his arms around distraught at not being awarded a penalty. I'd have happily seen him carded for unsportsmanlike conduct at that point.
There were many, many other examples as well, including the Welshman running in from way away to start handbags for no apparent reason, and being explicitly warned by the ref before he arrived.

Whole team was in full-on niggle mode, just led by Biggar (in that respect)

such a good player, yet such a twat. As you say there were a lot of stupid niggles, Adams was at it as well.