Right then.

Christmas and New Year behind us. The RWC done and dusted, onto this year's 6 Nations.

What are your thoughts about how the teams will shape up after what was a pretty poor showing at the RWC:

France - yes, made it to the finals, and I've always said that good teams make their luck, but let's face it, they barely showed up until the final and with all the political wranglings in the team that was in itself a minor miracle. Will things get better under PSA?

England - crap on and off the field. Immature etc. etc. Lancaster now in charge and already dropped Care for being a prize tool (after being warned over conduct for being drung and disorderly, he's now got charged for drink driving...). Things going to get better? Team due to be announced on 11 Jan IIRC.

Ireland - new captain. Didn't - as usual - live up to real potential, though played well, but never well enough.

Wales - despite all the hype, their records on paper aren't that great. Great against lesser teams, but again and again fail against SH teams. How will they fare without their magic little man? They just never seem to be more than the sum of their parts - and on that alone they should be much better than they are.

Scotland - New bread coming through as far as I can see. Patterson - going going gone - but the young guys look to me to be much sharper and more professional about things. Is that just me or can anyone over the border confirm this?

Italy - Mallet gone. What next?

Can't really add anything to your analysis, but based on the performances in the WC, I reckon it will be between the Irish, French and Welsh for the title. I don't think there will be a Grand Slam this year, the better teams are quite evenly matched.
Interesting to see how the new England set up will perform. I hope to be pleasantly surprised, but recent injuries/indiscretions have put a bit of a spanner in the works. I wish we had a really inspiring FH, but all we have is a series of uninpsiring clones with varying degrees of kicking ability.
Who was the young FH who was voted best young player of the year or something? Is he in the set-up?

Edit: it's George Ford, plays for Leicester Tigers. Still only 18, unfortunately.

Not that I am biased at all, but I think Wales will win this year

RC Zug will be heading to Edinburgh for the Scotland/France match at the end of February.

Should be a good weekend.

cheers
SC

As much as it pains me to agree..........i agree.


I think France will start strong, but then end up with an 'epic fail'.


cheers
SC

It's a bit unpredictable at the moment which is why I feel that Wales who are the only ones not to have major changes to deal with within the team are favourites

England, Italy, France have new coaches, Ireland need to start replacing the older players and O'Driscoll is out for the tournament anyway and Scotland generally weren't very good at the world cup. On the other hand these changes could have a major positiv impact on the teams so it should be interesting

Oh, RFU have announced there are still tickets available for Italy-England on the 11th Feb. I am sorely tempted......

Wales or Ireland to win. Resurgent Welsh and the always mighty Ireland are so good for the game right now. It's exciting stuff , Celtic flair and grit.

England is in decline , and will be for the next two years.

France, always unpredictable. That's good for the game.

Itlay / Scotland - always a coin flip for the bottom spots. I see no reason for any change this year.

Not sure we can go much lower than the last RWC... tbh I think it is going to be stable for now...

I really don't know much about Lancaster, or many of the players he has brought in. First impressions appear good, no-nonsense etc. Much as I respect Johnson as a player, I think he came into the job at the wrong time; he was his 1st coaching position and he is way too close to a lot of the players. That doesn't really bode well as it showed in NZ.

Lancaster has been coaching Saxons for a while, IIRC, and they've been doing pretty well. TBH that's more experience than MJ had.

What's more Lancaster has had exposure to mananagement of a national team (even if "B") and specifically many of the players who are now in the EP squad.

CW was moaning saying "he's lucky to be where he is", based on the fact that he's got not EP experience, but to be honest I think coaching the Saxons is a more suitable role - coaching a national team is not the same as coaching an EP team - you need to get them to work much faster and don't have a whole season to get it right. Again, that's why I think the Saxon's experience will stand him in good stead.

I looking forward to the Eng v Ireland game on the 17th March...oh yea it's paddy's day....

I know . Question is, Paddy Reilly's in Fribourg, or Paddy Reilly's in Zürich?

REC PAS SH = Recreational Water-Closet Pi$$ And Sh*t Sixteen Hours ?? It has taken me almost a hour to figure out what all the abr. stand for There should be a index for all the abr. in EF

Aside from the typo, if you know rugby, you don't need the index

We can only hope

I really hope England conduct themselves in a professional manner after their deplorable behaviour during the RWC.

They need to deliver a polished performance both on and off the field to regain the respect of all Rugby Nations.

Don't you mean PSA?

I do, and that was the typo (in my original post - which I only spotted when Cannut posted).

But I think you prove my point nicely that even with typos, someone who is into rugby player doesn't need an index.

~24 hrs to go... nerves kicking in...