6 Nations 2016

[valley commando]

Nearly Christmas and soon after the 6 Nations, so how about some predictions.
Mine are -:

1st Wales
2nd France
3rd England
4th Ireland
5th Italy
6th Scotland

If we get lucky with injuries I can see another Grand Slam, also fancy Noves to turn France around, can't see much more than a cigarette paper between England and Ireland, with the usual suspects Scotland and Italy trying not to finish last.
Week 1 France to win at home and away wins for England and Wales.
Week 2 Home wins for France and Wales and an away win for England
Week 3 3 home wins for Wales, Italy and England
Week 4 Wales and France away wins and a home win for Ireland
Week 5 3 home wins, Wales, Ireland and France

Wales 10 points
France 8 points
England 6 points
Ireland 4 points
Italy 2 points
Scotland 0 points

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

Wales are so supremely 'talented' that I can't see them winning any fewer than 7 games this six nations.

England and France should both be a mess so I would anticipate both falling 3rd and 4th, or 4th and 3rd..
Scotland are much improved and could finish anywhere between 3rd and 5th - very possible that they could push France or England into 5th

This really should be Ireland or Wales' tournament, not sure why you think Ireland will only win 2 given the instability of the other teams.

 

[Tony Manx]

International rugby is a joke

I agree!!

 

[AzaMatt]

I dont think it will be all plain sailing for us. as im assuming we'll thrust our injured players straight back into the team once they are deemed fit and they will under-perform (understandably) due to lack of game time. its just sad that we will be without scott williams, a williams-davies partnership would work well with webb and biggar

 

[McTallshort]

Nearly Christmas and soon after the 6 Nations, so how about some predictions.
Mine are -:

1st Wales
2nd France
3rd England
4th Ireland
5th Italy
6th Scotland

If we get lucky with injuries I can see another Grand Slam, also fancy Noves to turn France around, can't see much more than a cigarette paper between England and Ireland, with the usual suspects Scotland and Italy trying not to finish last.
Week 1 France to win at home and away wins for England and Wales.
Week 2 Home wins for France and Wales and an away win for England
Week 3 3 home wins for Wales, Italy and England
Week 4 Wales and France away wins and a home win for Ireland
Week 5 3 home wins, Wales, Ireland and France

Wales 10 points
France 8 points
England 6 points
Ireland 4 points
Italy 2 points
Scotland 0 points

Love it when valley trys to be objective

 

[FrenchFan]

Nearly Christmas and soon after the 6 Nations, so how about some predictions.
Mine are -:

1st Wales
2nd France
3rd England
4th Ireland
5th Italy
6th Scotland

Wales may very well win it but not a chance of France finishing 2nd

More like 5th with one win over Italy. Les Bleus are going to hit rock bottom. The fun ain't over yet.

And there's not much Noves can do about it. His appointment is just a sham courtesy of the union.

Match made in hell. They're taking each other for a ride.

 

[Duck a l'Orange]

I'd be happy if England came 3rd or above really.

With Jones coming in and England in pretty poor state I can't see us as ***le contenders. If we revert to the kind of team we saw under Lancaster- play it safe- and fix our set piece, it won't go too badly.

As it is however, I'm hoping Eddie will mix things up, bring in his own style and systems that will take time to implement. An unfamiliar game plan combined with new players (fingers crossed) in a number of positions means that I'm not expecting us to go too well.

I reckon it will be:
1) Wales
2) Ireland
3) England
4) France
5) Scotland
6) Italy
Though 3, 4 and 5 are pretty much interchangeable, as long as France has new coach headaches as well.

 

[The Jones Boy]

I'm expecting England to run hot as they look to impress their new coach.
England are not poor, they have a wealth of talent and I expect them to run hot and push Wales, Ireland and France.
England could win this charming anachronism.
Ireland will be strong again under Schmidt's direction.
Wales have talent but what about injuries in their midfield?
Scotland? Is Joubert reffing any of their games?
Are they introducing bonus points yet?

 

[Patolski]

1st England
The rest don't matter
Wales relegated due to lack of funds and all the good players leaving and becoming "French" as they're cheaper to poach than pants South africans and Fijians.

 

[AzaMatt]

I'm expecting England to run hot as they look to impress their new coach.
England are not poor, they have a wealth of talent and I expect them to run hot and push Wales, Ireland and France.
England could win this charming anachronism.
Ireland will be strong again under Schmidt's direction.
Wales have talent but what about injuries in their midfield?
Scotland? Is Joubert reffing any of their games?
Are they introducing bonus points yet?

Out first choice centre partnership are fit and well at the moment, hopefully they don't pick up any knocks before then

 

[Saint4805]

I don't see Scotland beating anyone other than Italy and possibly France if they play to their capabilities and the French haven't got their act together. Also expect them to give England a good game in the first test at Murrayfield.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

4 wins for Ireland, England and Wales... Don't care who wins on points really, apart from brief bragging rights.

 

[iINDOMINUSxx]

Nearly Christmas and soon after the 6 Nations, so how about some predictions.
Mine are -:

1st Wales
2nd France
3rd England
4th Ireland
5th Italy
6th Scotland

If we get lucky with injuries I can see another Grand Slam, also fancy Noves to turn France around, can't see much more than a cigarette paper between England and Ireland, with the usual suspects Scotland and Italy trying not to finish last.
Week 1 France to win at home and away wins for England and Wales.
Week 2 Home wins for France and Wales and an away win for England
Week 3 3 home wins for Wales, Italy and England
Week 4 Wales and France away wins and a home win for Ireland
Week 5 3 home wins, Wales, Ireland and France

Wales 10 points
France 8 points
England 6 points
Ireland 4 points
Italy 2 points
Scotland 0 points

Bit harsh mate considering we have improved in the world cup, though admit our defence can be much better. Still Italy doesn't look like they will beat us again when they not got a coach yet and lost Parisse and Castrogiovanni i believe.

 

[dullonien]

I hope Scotland can kick on from their unlucky WC bid.

I can't see Wales winning a grand slam this time. Whilst some injured players are back (notably JD2), I fear we're short in the back 3, with 1/2p and Liam Williams still injured, North and Cuthbert still out of form, and otherwise a lack of experience, we might struggle to score the amount of try's we should.

The pack should be pretty much good to go though. Lee should be improved from the WC now that he's actually fit, which should give us a boost. It'll be interesting if Gats will continue with Melon/James or start pushing the youngsters there; and it'll be interesting to see if Tips will be given a proper chance now that the next 4 yr cycle has begun.

Really tough to judge this 6 nations. The safe money would be on Wales or Ireland as they are the most settled, but England or France could click straight away under their new coaching regimes, as Wales did in '08. We did have an unstoppable Shane Williams to help us though, and I don't think England or France have that calibre of player at the top of their game atm. There's also the question of how much did Argentina's thumping of Ireland take out of their self belief not to mention the form of some of their key players (Sexton) / retirements.

 

[McTallshort]

Bit harsh mate considering we have improved in the world cup, though admit our defence can be much better. Still Italy doesn't look like they will beat us again when they not got a coach yet and lost Parisse and Castrogiovanni i believe.

Played one good game against Australia, if Japan had been given a fair turnaround they would not have made the quarter final although the should beat Italy.

 

[AzaMatt]

Played one good game against Australia, if Japan had been given a fair turnaround they would not have made the quarter final although the should beat Italy.

i agree with this, japan looked tired against scotland. i firmly believe japan would have comfortably won if they had a full turn around. its odd with scotland as you look at some their players playing for their clubs and they are phenomenal, just at international level they do not seem to click.

 

[Saint4805]

i agree with this, japan looked tired against scotland. i firmly believe japan would have comfortably won if they had a full turn around. its odd with scotland as you look at some their players playing for their clubs and they are phenomenal, just at international level they do not seem to click.

Not sure about the comfortably won part. It would have been an intriguing game all things being equal.

I think many people are expecting us to be in a wooden spoon battle with Italy and don't fully realise how much we have improved since WP Nel and Hardie have been added to the side. We also have Alex Dunbar who missed last year's 6N and the WC and if we can avoid daft referee decisions (not just Joubert but Russell's ridiculous two week ban last year) we are going to give the other nations a run for their money. The key is being able to start turning performances into wins.

 

[iINDOMINUSxx]

i agree with this, japan looked tired against scotland. i firmly believe japan would have comfortably won if they had a full turn around. its odd with scotland as you look at some their players playing for their clubs and they are phenomenal, just at international level they do not seem to click.

Wouldn't say it would be a comfortable win for Japan, but i do feel it would had been a close match which could have went either way. The problem with Scotland is i think we are unlucky aswell i do think we can do alot better with our defence even though its been the best defence we have for a long time. Also one major problem we have is discipline, we give away some stupid penalty's. if we can fix all this aswell as giving a consistent performance throughout the game then we can compete in the six nations.

 

[AzaMatt]

Wouldn't say it would be a comfortable win for Japan, but i do feel it would had been a close match which could have went either way. The problem with Scotland is i think we are unlucky aswell i do think we can do alot better with our defence even though its been the best defence we have for a long time. Also one major problem we have is discipline, we give away some stupid penalty's. if we can fix all this aswell as giving a consistent performance throughout the game then we can compete in the six nations.

maybe that was a slight exaggeration but i do think japan would have won, if they played anything like they did against south africa. as you said though scotlands defence and dicipline seems to be their downfall. if they can sort that out they'll do well as they have the potential to score tries. visser has been playing well for quins from what ive seen.

 

[Saint4805]

maybe that was a slight exaggeration but i do think japan would have won, if they played anything like they did against south africa. as you said though scotlands defence and dicipline seems to be their downfall. if they can sort that out they'll do well as they have the potential to score tries. visser has been playing well for quins from what ive seen.

It's your opinion but we'll never know. The performance against SA was sensational but we just don't know if they would have sustained it with a fairer turnaround. I doubt Visser will make the starting 15 if everyone is fit. Seymour is probably our best winger and Maitland is better defensively than Visser and being a kiwi doesn't hurt with Vern in charge Can't wait to see Hardie in action in the 6N - he's a hell of a player.