Last round we saw a spirited Wales drift off the 2nd half vs a still yet to peak Ireland. England steal a win over yet another misfiring Scotland. And France stomp on Italy. Leaving Ireland top of the table, followed closely by France

So isn’t it fitting that it’s our first game this weekend? Miss this one at your peril, expect big tackles, trick plays, and drama to the final whistle. Following up is the always spirited Wales vs a Scotland team that should be doing better. With pressure on both coaches: a mist win for both teams! Then Sunday we see if Italy really can kick on and at least give England a scare at Twickenham, but England technically still in contention so don’t expect an upset here

Saturday

1415 Ireland vs France
1645 Scotland vs Wales

Sunday

1500 England vs Italy

As always; predictions in the comments, reactions more than welcomed, and your post round thoughts appreciated

    • steeznson@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      1 day ago

      That 2nd half was grim. 21 unanswered points.

      Repeat of last year at the Millenium Stadium.

      I think Toonie needs to go if Franco is willing to step up.

      Edit: And our forwards… oh my days our forwards were woeful. Just had to add that.

      • Olap@lemmy.worldOPMEnglish
        3·
        23 hours ago

        Forwards were fine enough first half. Wales quit kicking second and so we were feeding off scraps. Toonie failed to get a second half message on field that would have actually helped though, like adapting ruck defense or width/speed of the line, or actually listening to the ref! He has had his day IMO too

        • Serpent@feddit.ukEnglish
          3·
          6 hours ago

          How much do you think the final result was down to Scotland taking their foot off the gas rather than Wales coming into the game more?

          I heard some analysis the other day that Scotland are typically scoring their points in the first half.

          • Olap@lemmy.worldOPMEnglish
            3·
            5 hours ago

            Our last 20 has been consistently poor, our bench lags behind the big hitters for sure. And I think Wales played their way into that for sure. Stopped stupid kicks, managed the ref better, and attacked our lineouts. Cherry going off the sliding doors moment for me, the lineout is so important with current rules - we can’t be losing as many as we did, and conceding as many pens.

            Not sure if we can fix that for Paris next week either

            • Serpent@feddit.ukEnglish
              2·
              48 minutes ago

              Good to hear your perspective as a Scot.

              I think I remember you said you were going to Paris to watch it? Enjoy!