Oooooopsy.....i was on the Night Train ......i meant Wales lol.......oh well wishful thinking but watching the game wales control was poor and the defence weak so maybe the paper has been re-written, only time will tell.

Edited at 21:41 Mon 08/02/10 (GMT)

didnt mention paper

to stop England - you stop wilkinson

totally reliant on one player whereas Ireland and France have match winners all over the park.....

the Irish lineout will dominate again as they always do meaning Englands ball will be limited

Ireland will never turn as much ball over as the Welsh did - not like Wales at all, but I still fancy Ireland, France and Wales to finish 1,2,3 in that order with Scotland and England battling for 4th place

Merv

agreed with you there, but we can use him as a dummy, you focus too much on stopping our "match winner" and leav the rest free to go, as i said anything can happen, could be 14-14 with 2 minutes left and england get a break and try leaving the irish stuffed, but then it could be the otherway around, all i know is it'll be fun!

Who cares about England-Ireland right now, the Grand Slam decider is on this weekend ...and I suspect France are gonna beat us, they were rightly favourites pre-tournament because of this game alone....hope I'm wrong though!

least niall cant moan at handball this time sorry had to say it you irish people!

I don't see how Johny Wilkinson won that match against Wales. Granted he kicked well, but you need your kicker to kick well in order to win anyway..... I'd say the forwards won it and the forwards will win any of the other games.

Don't know if you've noticed Merv, but England's lineout isn't too bad at all and I'd say our scrum has the possibility of being better than yours if everyone is available for selection. It'll be won in the break-down area and the fact your backs/back-forwards are bloody awsome!


To me France vs Ireland is the championship game. I still think the Irish will win as they can have a bad day and scrape a result whereas France have to play really well to win.

I can't see England coming 4th now. Wales would have to beat either Ireland or France and Scotland beat us.... then again stranger things have happened.

I think England will have a great championship... easily could get 2nd spot... i called the Wales game right..

The day has finally arrived.....

Mervs Predictions

Wales 31 vs Scotland 15

France 10 vs 19 Ireland

Italy 6 vs 44 England

Not really mate - your match was won by a silly error from Wales going down to 14 men and then a "lucky" intercept try when it only looked as though Wales would be the winner.....

The great thing about the 6 nations though is "lucky" intercept trys and yellowcards could determine the match that decides the championship

I just think England, or France wont be able to cope with the Ireland back line and lineouts...

Sounds to me like you've been reading the wrong paper!

Anyhow...... I sharen't say anything about Wales vs Scotland, am far too shocked still...

Ireland were awful - they beat themselves.

England will defeat Ireland.

I think Scotland are the danger now.......

Easier said than done Merv

Tell that to the Aussies; how to beat us in big competitions

A shock of all shocks.......firstly that scotland had it for the taking then silly mistakes left the door wide open for wales to get 17 points within 8 mins....give or take a minute, then Ireland........well i expected a harder game by them to be honest....Ireland Lose to England?? Looking more probable now, but you never know with Ireland, Like Wales comeback, it may be the turnaround/kick up the article they need.......Im looking forward to it.

Not impressed by England's play today i honestly thought we were going to lose it in the second half Credit to the Italians though, certain improvement on their last game, they may not receive the wooden spoon this year! I don't think any position bar first is a certain at this stage.

Also i do hope Evans and Pattison recover quickly! I enjoy seeing them both play

How many times have England had one bad game yet beat others, last world cup jumps to mind, shocking in group yet we beat Australia AND France. Same France that beat New Zealand in the World Cup.

So first place is certain? I very much doubt it.

England are not half the team that got to the World Cup final - the kicking game doesnt work like it did 3 years ago.

As for England beating Ireland - come on guys - wake up - France didnt beat Ireland - they beat themselves and after watching my local mini rugby team (sorry England) struggle to beat Italy today, they will really need to up their game at Twickenham

All in all though, I think we would all agree that ALL teams in the six nations are going to need to severely up their games to have any chance of a good world cup next year.

PS

Scotland were robbed by an idiot referee - when times up - times up - this isnt football we are playing..

To PS. Scotland were idiots, kick was over with seconds to spare, when restart, smash it into touch to end the game. Not down the middle.

Against Wales, England were decent in all areas, against Italy, poor tactics or poor execution by the players. Hopefully we can find another performance or 3

lol @ the thought that Ireland beat themselves...Ireland were well and truly battered and outclassed by a far superior, far more organized French team, which is streets ahead of any NH team on their day. Their pack is incomparable to any in the NH, they are awesome, and absolutely destroyed Ireland in every facet of the game bar the lineout, which really doesn't matter a damn when the vast majority of lineouts are in the oppositions half. Based on todays performance, England won't get close to them in Paris. I greatly admire what Lievremont has done in the last couple of years with the French team, I'll be backing them long before I even consider any other NH team come next Summer!

I remember something similar being said about that team and the team that won the world cup 7 years ago.

I think what Italy have shown is that you can turn things around inbetween games

Nothing is certain

lol @ the game niall must have watched - Ireland were dominating and received a silly yellow card - followed by an even sillier penalty reversal - once you have to chase the game against the French - you are beat - so I stand by what I said - Ireland beat themselves - yes the French were o.k, but nothing special - just picked Ireland off after silly mistakes - but sure - thats what makes Rugby much better than football - if you do something stupid - a yellow card means you get your punishment there and then - not after getting 5 of them

True but normally in rugby its much harder to get a card, and football it can be quite easy (as the things you get cards for aren't always as serious)
I think rugby's better to watch week in week out but cant beat those heated (usually derby) games in either football or rugby