6 Nations 2015

[HFX]

@Hanley! , @Romo, @prophet and whoever else may care about this tournament.

Even though we all support different teams we should all rejoice that none of us cheer for Italy

Also I challenge Hanley to a sig bet for tomorrow's Ireland/France game. Sig bet would last two weeks because I intend to sig bet Romo when France plays Wales and I expect that Hanley and the Brits would do the same for Ireland/England.

Even if they are playing on the road in Ireland I'm still backing the French to win, no matter how unlikely. If Johnny Sexton wasn't just coming off a three month enforced injury sabbatical due to concussion symptoms I'd probably feel way different. But Camille Lopez gonna wreck his shit tomorrow.

[Daz]

I'm aware it's taken place, but I only really get into it when I watch with my brother. I hold a grudge against the sport of Rugby thanks to all the concussions it gave me in high school.

[Romo]

massively looking forward to Wales - Scotland, need a win to bounce back from that embarrassment of the england game

[HFX]

I'm aware it's taken place, but I only really get into it when I watch with my brother. I hold a grudge against the sport of Rugby thanks to all the concussions it gave me in high school.

My brother had to have a concussion test by our trainer one game. Our trainer just walked off the field shaking her head. The head coach asked her if my brother was alright and she just shook her head and said "I don't know? I can't tell." hahaha. My brother and I were blessed with thick skulls and strong necks. Helps there's not much up there to hurt already .

[Everlong]

I support Ireland, because @Hanley! pretends to care about the Packers sometimes and I appreciate that

[Hanley!]

I'll take your sig bet. Worked out pretty well for me last year.

This is going to be an interesting weekend of rugby. Ireland v France should be competitive, and I reckon if Scotland are to pick up an upset victory this year, it's likely going to be against Wales. England vs Italy will be a massacre probably. I just hope Italy can keep them from getting too far ahead, in case the tournament comes down to points difference like last year. We only beat Italy by 23 points in the opening game.

We haven't been beaten in a year at this point, and with a world cup coming up, I really hope we can keep that momentum going. We have it in us to go far this year.

[prophet]

I support Ireland, because @Hanley! pretends to care about the Packers sometimes and I appreciate that

WHAT THE FUCK, MAN? @Everlong

Proper enjoyed the game with Wales for obvious reasons, bodes well.

[Romo]

I support Ireland, because @Hanley! pretends to care about the Packers sometimes and I appreciate that

WHAT THE FUCK, MAN? @Everlong

Proper enjoyed the game with Wales for obvious reasons, bodes well.

we let you win so we can smash you when it matters... Rugby World Cup!

[Hanley!]

So @HFX, for your signature you can just use this picture of Johnny Sexton:



And the words: "Everything's Better in Ireland"

Cheers.

[Romo]

@SlightlyJamesbet me you scottish iron bru

[HFX]

@Romo you sheep shagger we're sig betting today brah. Bet will last two weeks at which time you and @Hanley!can have at each other.

[Hanley!]

Our team in work is currently in a roundtable competition with 23 other teams based on the results and scores of the Six Nations. We're coming second at the moment. This week is a tricky one to predict though.

I got outvoted and our team ended up guessing Wales to beat France. Given how Wales played against Scotland, I reckoned the French would take it honestly. But I guess we'll see today.

Scotland should beat Italy though. I thought that was an easier prediction. At least I hope they beat them anyway. Scotland were very unlucky (and kinda screwed) against Wales and it'd be nice to see them pick up a win.

[Romo]

@Romo you sheep shagger we're sig betting today brah. Bet will last two weeks at which time you and @Hanley!can have at each other.

enjoy

[Hanley!]

This weekend had some great rugby in the end! Was glad to see things getting back to normal today, after some mad results yesterday. Wales winning in France and Italy winning in Scotland were surprising results. I was happy for Italy. It's nice to see them pick up a win every now and then. Though Scotland are falling apart a bit. Looks like they're heading for the wooden spoon. Which can't be a nice feeling.

Wales winning is frustrating, as it means they'll be playing their next game with renewed vigour and hoping to launch themselves back into title contention. Hopefully Ireland can see them off, despite being away from home. By now Ireland, England and Wales are the only teams left in contention.

Ireland are the only team trying for the Grand Slam now though, after a great win today against England. I thought we played really well today - it was our best game of the tournament. England were a bit sloppy at times and we put them under more pressure than they could cope with. They'll finish strong in their last two games, but that will have been a disappointing loss for them. And it was a big win for us. Great try from Henshaw, that was a bit of genius from Murray who had a cracking game today.

Lets just hope O'Brien is okay for our next game (and if possible that we have Hieslip back again). Though it's great to see O'Donnell and Murphy stepping up at 7 and 8 and really delivering, to the extent where we barely notice we're missing two of our best players.

[prophet]

The Welsh did us a favour earlier.

England currently leading Scotland, good game this

[Hanley!]

Dunno what the ref was smoking during that Ireland vs Wales game. His refereeing of the scrum was fucking ludicrous, and the scrum penalties ended up killing us. Really shitty for our Grand Slam to come to an end that way. Johnny Sexton had a terrible game, but other than that, I thought we were playing pretty good. We deserved more in the second half.

Championship hopes are still alive though. We just really have to put the screws to Scotland next week and make sure to rack up a lot of points. They'd be doing us a great favour by keeping Englands points to a minimum. If they somehow manage to win, even better.

[Romo]

Leigh Halfpenny is king!

[prophet]

Sig bet on the overall winner fellas? @Hanley! @Romo

[Hanley!]

Yeah, why not? I'm in.

It's really anyone's game at the moment. England are ahead on points, but probably have the toughest opposition going into the last week. Wales are dead last, but are likely to rack up points against Italy. This will make for a tense final day.

Not the finish I was hoping for, but should still be entertaining. Though unfortunately I'm going to miss most of the games next weekend, cos I have to go tasting cake for the wedding. At least that will have its upsides.

[Hanley!]

Here ye go, lads:

IRELAND: SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONS 2015

I have to say, I actually feel bad for those of you who don't watch rugby today. That was maybe the greatest day in the history of the Six Nations. Pure non-stop free-flowing rugby all day long. Three really engaging games. 27 tries scored in total! And the championship came down to the very last play of the very last game! You couldn't have scripted it better.

With England, Ireland and Wales all having a chance coming into the last day (with France still having a chance to win it, albeit a real long shot), it was everything to play for. With the better points difference, England started out as the favourites. That quickly changed when Wales hammered Italy. Completely opened them up in the second half and thoroughly pounded them. People thought it was a safe assumption that neither Ireland or England could bring things back in terms of points difference. Both of them did.

Ireland managed to beat Scotland 40-10 away from home to put themselves back into the lead, and France and England put on a ridiculously fast-paced game ending 55-35, with England almost doing enough to win the championship with their last play of the game, but didn't quite get there. Any fan of the tournament could happily have sat there all day and watched all three games. Every minute was vital.

I've heard some Irish commentators mention how Jamie Heislip may have saved Ireland's championship, when he managed to knock the ball out of a Scottish player's hands after he had already crossed over the try line. Not many players would have even made that tackle, as it seemed so certain it would be a try. But Heislip committed, managed to prevent the score and may have won us the tournament in the process. Cracking stuff.

I'm glad Wales came third. I thought they got away with murder in both the Ireland game and the Scotland game. England were the better team in this tournament and they deserved to finish in second.

Mostly though, I'm chuffed that we've won a second trophy in two years. This is the first time we've retained the title since 1949, I think. So it's a pretty major deal, especially coming up to a world cup.

Motherfucking Ireland!