Won't be long now !

So the question on everyones lips
"Will the Welsh once again win the best hair award again ?"

After watching the Ospreys at the weekend in action methinks they are shaping up nicely once again. The Paddies will probably give them a good run for their money with the English coming in a poor last once again. Someone should tell the English that "shaggy and mad looking" is where its at.......

Does anyone know how England got on at the weekend ?

It's Belgo that should be asking that question. Got themselves on the receiving end of a peroxide mullet.....

How did the England France game go ?
Maybe the Sweaties could take up curling or something ?

Wales Ireland at the Millenium is shaping up to be the one, although on form I guess France could turn up at Lansdowne and sporn it.

What's cryotherapy, by the way?

I definately think its a case of "which French team turns up", if the the good French team turns up then I think they could tear the Irish apart even in Dublin like they did last year in Paris. If the team that played England and Scotland this year turn up I think Ireland will win it comfortably. Although the Taffs have come a long way I still think the Irish are too cute for them and will wear them down in Cardiff, the current Irish side seem to have matured a lot from 2 or 3 years ago. They can put teams away now and are not afraid of winning. If Italy or England had either O'Gara or Humphreys as kicker this year they wouldnt be pushing Scotland for the wooden spoon. However Wales, France and Ireland have still to play each other so I'm sure there will be some surprises. It would be nice to see the Taffs do well but my head and heart says that its going to be a green year.........

Well one thing's for sure: this weekend I don't think it'll be close between Ireland and England.

All big games though this weekend - the Sweaties have the spoon decider & what happens between France and Wales will set the tone for both when they face Ireland.

Predictions?

Oh My, I hope that the Micks are not favorites, that could be just what the English would need to spurn them on. Mind you, I hear extra supplies of Prawn sandwiches have been shipped in for the visitors (to choke on ;-)

Predictions:
England V. Ireland.
I hate this. Everyone expects the Irish to take this one but this is still a very strong English side. Ok, they were crap against France but if you consider the Taffs to be title contenders then you have to say they were lucky to beat England.
BUT these lads play with each other week in week out now and I reckon Ireland will take it by around 3 points. Phew.........

France V. Wales.
I expect the French to blow the Welsh out of the water, Scotland and England have absorbed Frances bad games this year, yer man can dance as much he likes for the Welsh but the froggies will win by a mile...

Scotland V. Italy.
Not sure where this one is being held, I think Scotland, if so I think the sweaties will probably crawl over the winning line with a few points to spare. If in Italy then I reckon the Italians will stuff them (by >6 points)

One hell of a run in if Ireland and Wales win this weekend though !
and yes, I know, I know you're still World Champoins...........

You're just being nice. Ireland are way stronger than England right now & should win comfortably. Shame D'Arcy's out but at least O'Driscoll's back in.

Crunch time for France - shape up or ship out. There's no more room for sporny wins: I hope the Welshies do 'em.

Would love to see the Sweaties beaten at home by Italy.....

Me too nice ? now I know you're pulling the piss...

Actually the reason I'm nervous about our chances against England has nothing to do with recent form. Every year we "want" to beat you guys sooo much that when we don't (regularly) its a real downer. My head tells me that we should win, on current form, playing at home etc but my heart misses a beat when I think about the prospect of you winning. Two years ago when we (and you) were both playing for the Grand Slam in Dublin, ye annihilated us, we were absolutely blown away (and I celebrated our loss with Marcie in K'oSheas which I vaguely remember...). I know Ireland have improved since then and you guys have gone back but God damn it, it means more to us than you. Can't ye just not turn up or something ?

Anyhow, good luck at the weekend and may the best team win.

PS - of course I don't mean that.

Cracking comeback from the Welsh. Showed great spirit and dancing Williams has gone up in my estimations, but can he sing too ? The "wrong" French team turned up, lets hope they send those garcons to Dublin....

19-13 in Dublin. Hickie played a stormer, Murphy stuffed Barkley and O'Driscoll applied the finish. England had Ireland on the ropes for a lot of the second half, but the difference to the pre-world cup outfit they just couldnt convert the pressure to scores. Irelands defence was sufficient to hold them out but were lucky to get away with a few decisions. The first English try "technically" shouldnt have been given and I think the second one shouldnt have been dis-allowed. Wasnt too impressed with the number of off-the-ball lete tackles that the English made, they were definately being more cute with the timing of their tackles that the Paddies. O'Gara was definately deliberately taken out late for the first try. But they are all big boys now I suppose.... In any case I think it was a fair result on the day, Ireland will be relieved cos this was "the big one" for them. The pressure will be off for France and Wales. I think Wales will have to careful against the Scottish, they always have one good game in them and Wales will find it more difficult to raise their game against them. IF the French team that has played sofar turns up in Dublin then I fancy Ireland to take them and would feel very confident that Ireland could beat the Welsh at home quite well (mind you thats what I said about the French game...)

England to hammer the poor Italians in a game where I would hope they change what they have been doing sofar and use it as a testing ground for new players and ideas (badly needed).

Absolutely. What a stormer by Wales!

Where do you start with what's wrong with England? Jason Robinson should probably step down for Corrie - his own game is massively suffering. There are just too many things to find fault with though.

What happened yesterday ??!! I just saw the second half and could not believe how Scotland lost so badly. They were so good when I was watching. What were they doing in the first 40 minutes ??

I was away as well - any chance of an update Diz?

To be sure.
Lets just put it this way, "Scotland were crap". Wales couldnt believe their luck. You know how usually there are one or two players on each team who you can expect to try and break the gameline and run at the defence, well it got to a point in that game that every one of the Welsh players were doing it. The Scottish just werent there, useless, uesless, useless.... As the commentators said you can only play the team that you are up against so Wales did what was needed. It was difficult to get over-excited about the Welsh performance cos it was such an atrocious performance from the sweaties. They definately demonstrated that they were miles ahead of Scotland but on that performance I reckon most international sides would have put 3 or 4 tries past them. The Welsh have some cracking "running" players who are confident enough to try and break the gameline, Shane "dancing" Williams, Rhyse Jones, Peel and that other Jones (Ryan I think) fellow who I never noticed before. Not Stephan, the tall chap who was wearing headgear and scored a try on Saturday. I was very impressed with his performance. I felt sorry for Cusiter,Paterson and the most impressive Scottish player Lamont (blonde one) who were the only jocks who seemed to have any balls on Sunday. Wales did very well running with the ball, excellant ball handling but their line outs and scrums left a lot to be desired. I suspect that the Paddies won't be so forgiving next weekend. In a way the pressure is all on the Welsh, Ireland can't win the Grand Slam now, its at home for Wales and theirs to lose. I don't rate Henson much, too much of a girl for my liking.

Best players on the Park : Ryan Jones and the blonde Lamont guy for Scotland. Shame he had no support....

Predictions for next week:
France to beat Italy by at least 30 points.
England to beat Scotland by at least 30 points.
Ireland to beat Wales by 6 points.

They were singing in the Vallies last night....... great Grand Slam for the Welsh, congrats Belgo. Have to say the Welsh were much better than I expected this year. You cant begrudge them their Grand Slam, after so many years in the doldrums. I reckon the 1st,2nd,3rd placings were all correct. I can see England coming back next year and Ireland slipping back, France to be as un-predictable as ever, maybe 1st, maybe last.......

What about Ireland though in the final analysis? It was the France game which did the damage - had they got through that the result at the Millenium stadium would definitely have been different, don't you think?

I dunno, I was surprised at how the Welsh blew us away in the first half. It would have seemed that they were more "up for it" but I honestly thought that the Irish would have got over the French loss. Maybe I under-estimated the Welsh. I suspect that Ireland will go back (down) from this now but if they had lost to England or France (while going for the grand slam) I don't think I'd be saying that (no dis-respect to the taffs mind). I think what it does tell you though is that its not easy to win a grand slam, lets face it, England fell at the final hurdle on quite a few occasions. Wales seem to have gone from the bottom of the pile to the top very quickly, I'm probably wrong but I still dont think they are in the top 3 teams in the northern hemisphere.
This would be my rankings/ratings.
1 - France
2 - Ireland
3 - England
4 - Wales
5 - who cares......

Questions for next season.
- Will the Irish fall away from France, England and heaven forbid Wales next season ?
- Will Wales prove that this wasnt a fluke ?
- Will England improve to compete for the championship/triple crown/grand slam ?
- will Italy beat Scotland ?
- Will Scotland try to emulate the Welsh and change their hairdresser too ?