Yes, I would firmly agree with this, but the improved domestic fortunes (not in the HC) hasn’t panned out in the test arena, and worryingly Scottish development has been matched and overtaken by Ireland and Wales. I also think that if Scotland and Italy played each other 10 times, five at home and five away, each side would win their home games. How does that compare with Scottish rugby in the early 1990s? The removal of rucking can’t be to blame for all the Scottish woes.

Ye heavens, no.

As for Cipriani, he cannot kick a tactical ball to save his life, cannot pass and cannot tackle. Melbourne can have him.

Scotland may have chosen to run with ball in hand and make the game more dynamic, but they failed to cross the French line at critical times, and not all of it was down to good French defence. Equally their defending against the French for the two tries they scored was pretty inept too. The first try scored by Basteauraud was so predictable in its pulling in of the backline into tackles at the ruck, that Basteauraud was practically able to walk over the line. Equally the Scottish defence, particular at 6 and 12 was very poor in not communicating with each other and drifting across to cover the run of Harinorduqouy and the pass to Basteauraud. No one laid a glove on him as he ran in.

The second half between England v Wales had much more excitement to it – for this neutral observer anyway, in that Wales made a game of it and were able to get points on the board from boot and hand – Hook’s try the best of the match.

France were treading water for a lot of the second half – maybe saving themselves for next week. If they were trying to score, then like Ireland against Italy failing to score in the second half, they’ll need to up a few gears.

The French scrum certainly looks the most complete of the 6 Nations. They drove the Scots backwards on a number of occasions for quite a few metres each time. Ireland could be in the doghouse if that happens next week.

I’d agree that if England’s backline improves – Wilkinson standing more shallow, and the return of Flutey – it is going to make them tough to beat. They should dispense with Italy easily next week – who have got their first-up match out of the way. Unless Mallet tells them to spend 5 minutes on each ball behind the scrum (was there anything more excrutiating to watch?

If the pundits and bookies are right and Ireland lose against France in Paris, England should be in very buoyant mode by the time they meet the Irish in Twickenham.

Was it just me or was the Frnech/Scotland match not full of reset scrums that seemed to serve no purpose? Owens may be a good ref, but he struck me as far too patient, and should have started pinging a lot quicker.

I would be interested to ask you a question about him, Spiro. Do you really think he had an excellent game ? After the match, on the BBC discussion programme, somebody asked if it made any sense to have a referee who addressed the players only in English. If the French don’t speak English very well, it’s pretty difficult. Plus, Owens speaks with the Welsh accent which they probably don’t catch.

In Rugby, they have video technology and lots of backroom staff. How much dinero would it cost to teach the refs a few words of la langue francaise ?

“A vaincre sans peril, on triomphe sans gloire…”

You use the word “would” rather than “will” in a conditional sentence.

Anyway, I am a little surprised that there are apparently plenty of people in the colony who take an interest in what is laughably called “Northern Hemisphere Rugby”. I thought people down there were more interested in Rugby a XIII.

Best wishes,

M Fromage

If you want some interesting debate from a NH / Eng viewpoint, look at the Times website – ahead of Sat they had Barnes / Jones / Dalaglio / Guscott / McGeechan discussing the 6N teams and esp Eng. No holds barred and some very good points made (probably after the 16th bottle of red was drained) …..

And I like the “new” Eng all white kit – and even the purple change kit ! Now if only we could get rid of the “O2″ (or indeed any) sponsors logo…..

How about Wilkinson between 2000 and 03? Hodgson whenever he played? Flood played flat last season. I probably need to study the game again, but I thought Wilkinson stood flat against Wales. The problem comes when the forwards don’t generate quick(er) ball, therefore it doesn’t matter where you stand as a fly-half, you are unlikely to score tries.

Jameswm ‘but it’s probably more obvious in the club games’ wow astounding analyses. Did you perhaps stop to think that player resources are spead amongst a larger number of clubs in the NH?

I’ll see if I get the chance to tape an England match and show you what I mean, but it’s probably more obvious in the club games.

you dont know a lot about Italian rugby, there are more Argies than Aussies in their side.

And rugby is a lot more popular in Italy than it ever was in Romania.

Scottish teams currently hold 1st and 3rd places in Magners League
Their 7 national team is solid
Their development program has lifted child (24%) and adult (9%) since it began
The national is more competitive now than it was in the early 2000′s

Other than that, Scottish rugby is headed in the wrong direction?

Sure they are ranked 9th but the game as a whole is in much better shape and heading in a much better direction then it was 5-10 years ago.

Terrific? More like horrific. I thought they were horrid. I couldn’t work out if someone had left something in the wash with the kit, or if they started out white and the grass stains were having a weird effect.

Go back to straight white, this cream or off white or whatever looked …… (urgh). Words fail me.

how will they attract this extra talent. people like winning and if you can’t get a win watching good performance and their team having a go. if i was italian i wouldnt want anything to do with a national team that had damage limitation as their main goal in most matches in their annual comp. note that they can achieve their not losing by more then 15 without actually scoring at all so they can “succeed” without having any success as an attacking (kicking or running or mauling or whatever)team whatsoever. bad for rugby and very bad for italian rugby.

it’s so incredibly short sighted. plus they’re in the 6N to help them develop italian rugby but it goes both ways. wouldnt matter in one off games but an ongoing situation in one of the worlds top 2 annual rugby comps just aint good enough.

If 80,000 fans at the San Siro can’t convince the powers that be to act then nothing will.

Let’s wait and see if Scotland come up with another barrier to entry……

Romania would have been a more obvious choice for the 6th nation, but nobody fancied Bucharest. The powers-that-be fancied an occasional trip to Rome instead. Neither Italy nor Romania would have been excellent, but still…..

Nick Mallett has a bunch of goats to work with. What do you expect him to do ?????

Choosing 15 decent Italian egg-chasers is like choosing 15 decent Australian novelists. However hard you look, you just won’t find them…

Robby Deans like Mallet are two superb Rugby Coaches who have the runs on the board and need your understanding about their skills and not have you going off like a badly constructed firecracker when their teams don’t conform to your expectations as to how Rugby Union should or should not be played. Learn the game …Union is TOTALLY different from League and remember that Union is also an all weather game where sometimes you have to use your team in different configurations and tacticts depending on who your opposition is.

Please make the necessary distinctions between the two codes when next you take pen to paper to report on what you know too little about.

I imagine that this will not pass your censorship which is part and parcel of your lack of insight.

Kearney must be hoping – along with a lot of Irish fans – that he’s had his ‘mare’ of a match out of his system. He was lacklustre, lazy and seemed to be sparking on about 3 of the ten cylinders that he has shown previously.

Earls and Dempsey are not up to scratch to replace him, so here’s hoping he’s back in form next week.

Italy’s delays at the scrum should have been tested a bit more, even if it meant coughing up a penalty to find out, through assuming the ball was out (because on a few occasions it was, and the ref let them away with it.)