Six Nations rugby Friday anyone?

That has to go down as the best last day in the six nations contest. Despite what may be said about kicking off at the same time, the games and excitement today was fantastic and makes you realise that the end result is not the most important thing. Sure Ireland were delighted in picking up the trophy - but I doubt they will be any more pleased than the Welsh or English sides - or more drunk for that matter.
 
UKRob said:
That has to go down as the best last day in the six nations contest. Despite what may be said about kicking off at the same time, the games and excitement today was fantastic and makes you realise that the end result is not the most important thing. Sure Ireland were delighted in picking up the trophy - but I doubt they will be any more pleased than the Welsh or English sides - or more drunk for that matter.
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Totally agree. Today was an absolute roller-coaster ride. Sport at it's best.
 
Just come back from the (England) match, so not sure if I'll make any sense - but wow! What a day - fantastic match(es). A little but gutted we didn't win the tournament, but now could anyone be disappointed with the entertainment? Best advert for rugby in a long time.
 
Fantastic day!

Ireland are the well-deserved champions.

Special mention to Wales for starting the day off with a truly fantastic performance and England for taking it to the wire with a stellar performance.

Bad luck folks, but just remember 'You'll never beat the Irish!'...
 
It was a cracking day of rugby, and about collapsing the maul at the end well Ireland probably felt the same way against Wales. Rob, truck and trailer is blocking the ball carrier from the tackler so that is before the maul has formed. As Jamie says if the forwards don't engage then the ball carrier can be tackled and if the ball goes to ground a ruck would be formed. Once there is a maul the team with the ball will keep it at the front if going for a try or work it to the back to release it to the backs. The problem is whether the ball is in or out of the ruck when the guy at the back holding onto a team mate's shirt with one arm. There could be a change of guidance for the referee to call 'use it' or 'ball out' in that situation. To me it's not a major problem and I love to a see a rolling maul as it's very hard to do well and gives an opportunity for forwards to have the limelight.

Congratulations to Ireland, they were the best team at controlling games and the 56 points conceded is pretty amazing.
 
The Mackem Shaver said:
It was a cracking day of rugby, and about collapsing the maul at the end well Ireland probably felt the same way against Wales. Rob, truck and trailer is blocking the ball carrier from the tackler so that is before the maul has formed. As Jamie says if the forwards don't engage then the ball carrier can be tackled and if the ball goes to ground a ruck would be formed. Once there is a maul the team with the ball will keep it at the front if going for a try or work it to the back to release it to the backs. The problem is whether the ball is in or out of the ruck when the guy at the back holding onto a team mate's shirt with one arm. There could be a change of guidance for the referee to call 'use it' or 'ball out' in that situation. To me it's not a major problem and I love to a see a rolling maul as it's very hard to do well and gives an opportunity for forwards to have the limelight.

Congratulations to Ireland, they were the best team at controlling games and the 56 points conceded is pretty amazing.
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About the maul - there was a really good example of what I think is wrong that led to a try for Ireland yesterday. The rear man holds the ball with his other arm holding a team-mates shirt - no attempt for other players to bind and there appears to be no way that the opposition can legally get to him.

It seems to be wrong according to the laws but referees are not penalising it - so maybe my lack of understanding is the problem.
 
I didn't see the first two games - I did though get updates from Radio 5 Live Football who seemed to be under the impression that teamsheet updates from Ross County vs Inverness Cally Thistle or whoever took precedence over the rugby. Much as I like Five Live it does annoy me they way football seems to take precedence over just about everything else. That's one rant over.

So fair play to Ireland. They were the best team, marginally. Well done wales - 40 mins of blasting away the Italians made it into a real three way tussle.

It's too early for this England team. I thought they got too impatient with 20 mins to go. I was fuming when Mike Brown took a quick tap when 3 points were virtually a given. And then we turned it over and France went up the other end and scored. So we shipped a net 8 points with that decision. They'll learn and there is talent all through that team. Get the inside centre position sorted out and I reckon we'll win the 2019 World Cup. In fact next time I pass a betting shop I'm going to dump £20 on that very prediction.

Bring on the World Cup - England's group is a tough old one. One of Eng, Wales or Australia will not get out of it....
 
UKRob said:
About the maul - there was a really good example of what I think is wrong that led to a try for Ireland yesterday. The rear man holds the ball with his other arm holding a team-mates shirt - no attempt for other players to bind and there appears to be no way that the opposition can legally get to him.

It seems to be wrong according to the laws but referees are not penalising it - so maybe my lack of understanding is the problem.
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The laws seem clear to me once the maul is formed you have to enter from the back foot or your offside. It's not obstruction if there are people in front of the ball carrier, otherwise it would be impossible to get the ball to the backs, obstruction is only a factor before the maul is formed. The defending team can win the ball through a turnover at the tackle or they can stop the maul advancing and the referee will call use it and if the attacking team can't use the ball the defending team get the scrum. Once a rolling maul gets momentum it is very hard to stop so the defending team has to work hard at the breakdown to stop it in the first place but it can be stopped by getting enough defenders in driving the attackers' body positions upwards.

Once the ball is out of the maul the ball carrier can be tackled as normal and obstruction comes back into play. I think your objection is that the rear most player is not binding properly so the ball is out (it doesn't matter if other players are binding onto him). There is a similar issue with rucks where the ball is at the back foot and the scrum half can take an age to play it but in recent years referees have been stricter on calling for them to use the ball. Like a lot of rules in rugby it is down to interpretation and referees could make a decision either way e.g. tackler not releasing the player or not releasing the ball in the tackle.
 
Mackem, I know I'm in danger of doing this to death, but the point you make was covered in post 103 - the part that states players can overcome the obstruction by two or more players binding round the ball. I must have it completely wrong, but you see too many instances of a lone carrier with no attempt at binding.
 
UKRob said:
Mackem, I know I'm in danger of doing this to death, but the point you make was covered in post 103 - the part that states players can overcome the obstruction by two or more players binding round the ball. I must have it completely wrong, but you see too many instances of a lone carrier with no attempt at binding.
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The relevant bit of that is 'This is when a player acts as a screen, blocking tacklers from reaching the ball carrier.' This refers to before the maul is formed to stop players getting two blokes in front of them to block the tackler. If the first defender in gets you to ground even if you have players binding on behind you then it's a ruck and not a maul and it stops the whole scenario. When the balls with the guy at the back he is still part of the maul and there are no tacklers to be obstructed, if you tackled him you would bring down the maul. All you can do is stop the maul advancing so they have to play the ball or in theory you could go through the maul from an onside position and challenge to rip the ball from the ball carrier.
 
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