6 Nations

[mik]

I enjoyed that game. I’m not usually the greatest fan of Finn Russell, but his kicks were bob-on today.

[Carlos]

Ireland game was a belter and nice to see Scotland back up last week's win

[Carlos]

Russell is hilarious, you're never sure what he's going to do and must be a nightmare to coach in a game that has so much structure these days

[mik]

Russell is hilarious, you're never sure what he's going to do and must be a nightmare to coach in a game that has so much structure these days

Yeah - when these backhand passes he does work they look amazing, but I think the success is far more down to the skill of the receiver….

[duncs500]

Finally managed to catch a game (Sco vs Wal), first half I thought there were some really basic errors from both teams (particularly Wales, back foot offside from an attacking scrum is unforgivable). Second half Scotland found another gear though.

It seems like Scotland have gone from a team that played some great stuff but ultimately fell short, to becoming a lot better at getting over the line.

[GG.]

Setting off to Twickenham shortly... will be interesting to see if England look more cohesive now they've dropped the Farrell / Smith axis of confusion...

[dinny_g]

Setting off to Twickenham shortly... will be interesting to see if England look more cohesive now they've dropped the Farrell / Smith axis of confusion...

It’s Twickers GG…

Let me guess, Brown Shoes and Barbour… no, no.. Musto

[GG.]

Setting off to Twickenham shortly... will be interesting to see if England look more cohesive now they've dropped the Farrell / Smith axis of confusion...

It’s Twickers GG…

Let me guess, Brown Shoes and Barbour… no, no.. Musto

Haha - half right. Black chelsea boots but I was wearing a barbour

Took my big camera with the new 70-200 I bought last year so got some good shots. May post a few a bit later.

Italy were pretty good today. More exciting to watch than us I'd say.

[dinny_g]

Any trouble getting the camera gear in??

I was turned away from the O2 for having a 70/200 cause “No Professional Camera Gear”. Had to walk miles back to the car…

[GG.]

No they've been fine - have taken it a few times now. I generally have the tele lens in a bag/pocket rather than on the camera though.

[dinny_g]

I had the same but he made me open my case, saw the grey L lens and went Nope…

This was at WWE Smackdown…

Don’t ask, my boy and nephew were mahoooosive Wrestling fans

[GG.]

I had the same but he made me open my case, saw the grey L lens and went Nope…

This was at WWE Smackdown…

Don’t ask, my boy and nephew were mahoooosive Wrestling fans

I imagine they're a lot fussier at non-sporting events (I think fair to class wrestling as non-sporting...). When you're at the rugby with pros with £20,000 400m f2 lenses I think clearly you're not going to be selling your images to any buyers...

This is an image from the Japan game, RAW straight out of camera as I've been sat here for 90 minutes waiting for images to upload to my editing software - still not bad and shows how sharp the lens is even without tweaking



And a random one from today - again unedited

[duncs500]

Managed to catch the England game as well, thought we looked broadly coherent and discipline was better than it has been. Love Italy's ambition, they've got a nice style to them, but defensively apart from a few spells we were able to push them back behind the gain line when they tried to go through the backs.

Hope we stick to Farrell at 10, or indeed Smith, but no Fly Halfs at 12 anymore please!

[mik]

I often wonder how Italy maintain sufficient morale to remain in the 6N, taking beating after beating. Fair play to them.

[dinny_g]

I often wonder how Italy maintain sufficient morale to remain in the 6N, taking beating after beating. Fair play to them.

It's the same in every sport really - Italy play for the wins and not with any genuine hope of winning the 6 Nations. Only 5% or 10% of teams in most sports ever have any real hope of winning their leagues or championships...

this is why the US draft system is brilliant because it's the exception. Forced Leveling of the playing field benefits the whole league

[Carlos]

They are a much better team now and are competing with top tier teams.

They beat Wales and Australia last year, lost to France last week by 5 and England in HQ by 14.

That's not the headlines for whipping boys.

[GG.]

Yes exactly - I was chatting to a guy behind me who had a 12 year old son and mentioned that you could get junior tickets for certain matches and they're only £30. Downside is that they aren't available for the bigger fixtures but the silver lining is that we've now got a team performing at a low enough level that even Eng v Italy is a close match

[mik]

Wasn’t sure where to post this

Stuart Hogg retirement. Balls.

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/stuart-h ... te-effect/

[dinny_g]

Yeah real shame, especially coming so close to a World cup..

Fantastic player by any measure...

[Carlos]

Shame he couldn't get fit for the World Cup as he still had the ability to change a game, a cracking player.

He was playing adult rugby at 16 and never been shy of contact, 15 years of it is good going.