Rugby : Rugby Union Thread

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Russ

The enemy of my enemy.....

They did not help you did they

[MalteseFalcon]

Very tight going into next week, England Ireland and Wales only countries to win title now.

FIXTURES:

Italy v Wales, 12:30
Scotland v Ireland, 14:30
England v France, 17:00

WHO CAN WIN:

Wales will win outright if they beat Italy and Scotland and France win their matches, seeing Wales finish with 8 points and England & Ireland on 6 points each.

If Wales win, and so do England and/or Ireland, then it comes down to points difference. As it stands tonight, England top the table with +37, Ireland second with +33 and Wales third with +12. With England playing last, this means that England will head into the game knowing what scenario they need.

WHAT HAPPENS IF IDENTICAL DIFFERENCE:

Then tries scored come into play. If this is the case, then England lead the way so far with 11, Wales with 5 and Ireland with 4. If after this countries cannot be separated, then the title is shared.

It is worth noting that under Warren Gatland, the last 3 matches played in Rome have seen Wales win by small margins, with scores of 26-9, 21-16 and 20-15. The last march prior to the Gatland reign was a loss of 23-20 in 2007. During the Grand Slam season of 2005 however, Wales thumped Italy 38-8.

There could also be a really tricky table next week, as both France and Italy have an outside chance of winning if one of them wins BOTH remaining fixtures (obviously they meet tomorrow). In which case we would end up with 4 teams on 6 points each. This is assuming of course that Ireland, Wales and England all lose next week.

All information comes from walesonline.co.uk, thanks to their article for these facts that I have pruned down for here.

[Russ]

Originally Posted by Sirius

They did not help you did they

Keep up dear boy, they don't need to.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Russ

Keep up dear boy, they don't need to.

[MalteseFalcon]

Half time:

Italy 13-14 Wales

This could be a VERY exciting day for Rugby. If Wales and Ireland lose, France then need to beat England by a minimum of 8 points to win the title.

[MalteseFalcon]

So after a 61/20 win for Wales against Italy and Ireland beating Scotland 40/10, England now MUST score some tries as they need to beat France by a minimum 26 point gap otherwise Ireland will be the 6 Nations winners. So the one country who didn't get a replica to where they were playing are now looking likely to be the ones who win the trophy.

Bet there is some egg on faces tonight if Ireland do end up winning.

[Shadow Demon UK]

I thought there was a replica at Murrayfield for Ireland and they didn't send one to Rome for Wales?

[MalteseFalcon]

Was it? I was going by what my sister told me, so you could be right. If that is the case, then looks like they got it right. More by luck though, as who could have predicted a score like that from Wales?

---------- Post added at 17:26 ---------- Previous post was at 17:16 ----------

And looks like the curse of England strikes again, 8/7 to France. Oh dear.

Still, cannot remember the last time the 6 Nations came down to an epic finish like this weekend. Any of 4 countries still had a chance of winning the trophy.

[denphone]

Well when it comes to the World Cup later this year England have no chance on this performance.

[MalteseFalcon]

Getting interesting now den, 27/15 to England at half time. English teams like leaving it late and giving people squeaky bum syndrome.

[Russ]

Originally Posted by MarkC1984

Bet there is some egg on faces tonight if Ireland do end up winning.

Oh you could say that

[MalteseFalcon]

Well, that was an exciting end to the tournament. Really cannot remember the last time it was this close. Gutted England didn't win, but congratulations to Ireland. Scotland win the wooden spoon again.

You really have to wonder if Italy invested more time and money into rugby whether they could ever be in a position to challenge for a trophy. Scotland need to buck their ideas up, cannot remember last time they won a 6 Nations trophy.

[Shadow Demon UK]

Well done Ireland.

At least we didn't suffer the embarrassment of finishing below the Welsh

[Russ]

Yeah that makes a change

[denphone]

Originally Posted by Russ

Yeah that makes a change

You better get used to it as its going to happen next year as well.