Ireland six nations champions!

[Peg Leg]

Ahem..... Just clear my throat here..... Ahem.... What G man just said.

[simonokeeffe]

as pants as Scotland are at least their backline play professional rugby (in top flight leagues)

doubt Georgia would chip in much in terms of tv money

and Scottish rugby would go even further down the swanny, and drag Pro12 with it

[kermischocolate]

It's all hypothetical but if Italy/Scotland knew they ran the risk of relegation from the 6 nations would we have seen more efforts in the matches last weekend?

Think it's unfair to claim Italy and Scotland lack effort.

Both teams played until the final minute (see Italy's last try, Scotland's almost try) but were outclassed by their respective opposition.

[MylesNaGapoleen]

the last two years has produced sensational drama on the last day....I wouldn't go with bonus points....mainly because of the home/away thing on alternate years.

making a try 7 points might be a smarter way to go. 3 penalties to make up 1 try - a no brainer.

as an aside....am really dissapointed argentina didn't join a 7N...can you imagine going to barcelona (their likely home base for a 7N) in feb/march for a game?

In some senses I agree that we shouldn't have bonus points, but the drama of the last day shouldn't overshadow some of the poor fare on show for the other 80% of the tournament - give it a try see if it has an effect

7 points for a try would be a desperate idea imo - you would see far more cynical penalties as the punishment would be relatively so much less (bit like when there was a glut of penalties changed to free kicks - just resulted in contionuous cynical play

Not sure if Argentina were ever in the running for a spot in Europe (SA would make far more sense) but game v Argentina in Barcelona wouldn't attract me at all - no Argentinians there!

I do think the possibility of relegation/promotion (and its never going to be straight out relegation) should be put in place - the likles of Georgia/Russia etc need to have a pathway to the top level; (bit like Ireland at cricket). There is a bit of a danger that the smaller countries will focus all attention on 7s now its in the Olympics rather than on the real game

You want to improve the standard of play and encourage more open expansive play - start by consistent refereeing of the ruck and particularly off side line - would reolve a huge number of issues imo

fair points however I think a 7 point try might be more feasible than refereeing becoming more consistent. just contrast barnes with owens (who I rate as a ref)...the chasm is very wide.

I don't see the promotion/relegation thing working....in the same way as the bonus point wouldn't work because of the home/away fixtures in alternate years. in other words...bonus points / relegation would only make sense if there were home and away fixtures each year - that's not going to happen anytime soon.

as an aside. argentina formally requested to join the six nations quite a while ago...
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2007/n ... unionteam1

[Golf Man]

fair points however I think a 7 point try might be more feasible than refereeing becoming more consistent. just contrast barnes with owens (who I rate as a ref)...the chasm is very wide.

I don't see the promotion/relegation thing working....in the same way as the bonus point wouldn't work because of the home/away fixtures in alternate years. in other words...bonus points / relegation would only make sense if there were home and away fixtures each year - that's not going to happen anytime soon.

as an aside. argentina formally requested to join the six nations quite a while ago...
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2007/n ... unionteam1

never knew Argentina wenmt that far - possibly part of the plan to force IRB into action.

Its an unfortunate truth that we probably won't see more consistency in refereeing - I do think more proactive use of the TMo rather than reactive would help

The 6N obv isn't going to a H&A strategy. I can;'t see 6N ever accepting a promotion relegation thing - they arte obviously under no compulsion to do so. I do think they should lok to grow the game though (evenb though this is World Rugby's job) and offer a playoff to the likes of Georgia v the bottom team (no real difference to us having to qualify for the World Cup a few years ago) - that said money will talk and its hard to see it changing. Possibly more likely to see an 8/10 team tournament with two groups and semi final/final - althopugh that's donkeys years away and hard to see as well

[berniemac67]

the last two years has produced sensational drama on the last day....I wouldn't go with bonus points....mainly because of the home/away thing on alternate years.

making a try 7 points might be a smarter way to go. 3 penalties to make up 1 try - a no brainer.

as an aside....am really dissapointed argentina didn't join a 7N...can you imagine going to barcelona (their likely home base for a 7N) in feb/march for a game?

In some senses I agree that we shouldn't have bonus points, but the drama of the last day shouldn't overshadow some of the poor fare on show for the other 80% of the tournament - give it a try see if it has an effect

I disagree with your description of the other 80% of the tournament. I thought the last day was rather fake and "super rugby". Would we have seen the try-fest of last Saturday if any of the top three had been facing each other? I doubt it.

I would take Ireland v England this year as our best performance by some way, and despite my strong feelings about Wayne Barnes I think Wales v Ireland beat most other matches out of sight.

If last Saturday is what we aspire to then I fear for the future of this game.

[MylesNaGapoleen]

fair points however I think a 7 point try might be more feasible than refereeing becoming more consistent. just contrast barnes with owens (who I rate as a ref)...the chasm is very wide.

I don't see the promotion/relegation thing working....in the same way as the bonus point wouldn't work because of the home/away fixtures in alternate years. in other words...bonus points / relegation would only make sense if there were home and away fixtures each year - that's not going to happen anytime soon.

as an aside. argentina formally requested to join the six nations quite a while ago...
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2007/n ... unionteam1

never knew Argentina wenmt that far - possibly part of the plan to force IRB into action.

Its an unfortunate truth that we probably won't see more consistency in refereeing - I do think more proactive use of the TMo rather than reactive would help

The 6N obv isn't going to a H&A strategy. I can;'t see 6N ever accepting a promotion relegation thing - they arte obviously under no compulsion to do so. I do think they should lok to grow the game though (evenb though this is World Rugby's job) and offer a playoff to the likes of Georgia v the bottom team (no real difference to us having to qualify for the World Cup a few years ago) - that said money will talk and its hard to see it changing. Possibly more likely to see an 8/10 team tournament with two groups and semi final/final - althopugh that's donkeys years away and hard to see as well

leaving the 6N aside....I would love to see a 6N winner v TriNations winner match each year. granted, there is large gap between both comps...but...would be fun to see.

[Golf Man]

I disagree with your description of the other 80% of the tournament. I thought the last day was rather fake and "super rugby". Would we have seen the try-fest of last Saturday if any of the top three had been facing each other? I doubt it.

I would take Ireland v England this year as our best performance by some way, and despite my strong feelings about Wayne Barnes I think Wales v Ireland beat most other matches out of sight.

If last Saturday is what we aspire to then I fear for the future of this game.

Not saying that the games themselves were great (akthough England v France was v entertaining in itelsef) but it can't be argued that it wasn't dramatic. The Wales and Ireland games in themselves weren't great viewing but obviously the championship being at stake made a huge difference. Of course you wouldn't have seen the try fest if two of eth top3 were playing each other but you also wouldn't have seen the try fest if Wales had beaten Italy by 10 points. No interest in days like last Saturday every 6N weekend - but great that we can switch to that when needed as it was on Saturday

I'd agree that England was our best performance but don't think it can be denied that we will need more to really do something in the World Cup

[All Blacks nil]

Sorry duplicate post

[All Blacks nil]

The final word must go to our pal, DC

Does it really matter?
At this stage Munster would be lucky to get a single player on our B and I Cup team - and I include gingers living on former glories in that.

[Dave Cahill]

The final word must go to our pal, DC

Does it really matter?
At this stage Munster would be lucky to get a single player on our B and I Cup team - and I include gingers living on former glories in that.

Mea Culpa. I thought that because he was so utterly shite for Munster he was past it. I was wrong. Obviously he was saving his energies for what was important to him, the Irish team. I am happy to admit that and apologise to Paul. Paul - you aren't past it - you've just realised that Munster aren't worth the effort.

Good luck next weeken...



oh.

[BlueArmyOriginal]

The final word must go to our pal, DC

Does it really matter?
At this stage Munster would be lucky to get a single player on our B and I Cup team - and I include gingers living on former glories in that.

Mea Culpa. I thought that because he was so utterly shite for Munster he was past it. I was wrong. Obviously he was saving his energies for what was important to him, the Irish team. I am happy to admit that and apologise to Paul. Paul - you aren't past it - you've just realised that Munster aren't worth the effort.

Good luck next weeken...



oh.

Now THAT, ladies and Gentlemen, is how you deal with a WUM!

[offshorerules]

+1

[Xanthippe]

The final word must go to our pal, DC

Does it really matter?
At this stage Munster would be lucky to get a single player on our B and I Cup team - and I include gingers living on former glories in that.

Mea Culpa. I thought that because he was so utterly shite for Munster he was past it. I was wrong. Obviously he was saving his energies for what was important to him, the Irish team. I am happy to admit that and apologise to Paul. Paul - you aren't past it - you've just realised that Munster aren't worth the effort.

Good luck next weeken...



oh.

Xan♥'s DC

[nelly the elephant]

Get a ROOM the lot of yiz!

[dropkick]

If there was promotion/relegation you could end up with the tournament becoming unbalanced. For instance if Georgia is somewhere between Italy/Scotland and Romania's level - which they probably are - then you could end up with a situation of them being promoted one year and relegated the next year. They would be a yo yo team going up and down every year.

That would cause some problems because depending on the luck of the fixture list, 2 or 3 teams might have to travel to Georgia every second year while 2 or 3 teams have them at home every second year. On top of that either Georgia would have to play either 2 home games every second year (disadvantaged) or 3 home games every second year (an advantage) depending on the fixture list.

[StrangeButBlue]

It would be possible (improbable) to bring in Georgia and Romania into an 8 nations played over 5 weekends.
Split 8 countries into 2 tiers.
Top tier 4 countries (Ire,Wal,Fra,Eng) play 5 games: each other once (3) + 1 home game vs T2 side + 1 Away vs T2 Side
Tier2 4 countries play 5 games: each other once (3) + 1 home game vs T1 side + 1 Away vs T1 Side.
Every four years each team will have played a team from a different tier home and away. If the T2 side wins the combined home + away match the teams swap tiers for the next 4 year cycle. (Unless Scotland beat England twice, then the competition is disbanded with a new completely different format started - maybe call it...the Nations of 6).
only 4 teams can win grand slam or championship at the start of each year but it would make every game interesting.
Oh - and bring in bonus points - fixture could be set up where no-one would get georgia and romania in the same year but still, bonus points are fairer and also give losing teams something to measure themselves against.

[Twist]

Would a promotion-relegation play-off not be the best way to deal with it? Gives Georgia a chance and likely avoids the yo-yo problem

[Donny B.]

http://balls.ie/rugby/257978-nigel-owens-bonus-points/

For once me and Nigel are in complete agreement.

[simonokeeffe]

POC named RBS player of the tournament, narrowly edged out Ritchie McCaw