From an England perspective, there’s nothing that overly worries me in any of the other squads. Some of Galthie’s selections are just bizarre. Ireland could be interesting to watch if Farrell actually gives some of the new blood a proper run in the team and doesn’t stick with his favourites, but we all know he won’t do that. We say it every year but if Scotland could actually find consistency then they should be fancying a top 3 finish.
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Early 6 Nations Predictions Post AI’s
- Thread starter OllyM97
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You're not worried about France?
I'd be surprised if they don't win the tournament tbh
I'd be surprised if they don't win the tournament tbh
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Ahem...
Hasn't lost a game in Europe this season. Why would he start now?
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There's now a non-zero chance we play a lad who works for Vodafone at loosehead at some point in the tournament, a couple games worth of injuries away.
I’m far more worried about Scotland in Murrayfield than France in Paris. Genuinely don’t rate Galthie as a coach, he gets by a lot of the time because they have awesome individual talent. He’s not in the same league as someone like Andy Farrell. 1 Grand Slam in 6 years with this French generation of players is a farcically poor return. They should have racked up minimum 3 Slams by now. Every year people lay it on thick about France and how awesome they are - they’ve only won one more title than Wales have since 2020!!.
If that Paris game is a Championship decider, I’d give us every chance of turning them over.
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When you frame it like that it highlights just how poor England have been at obtaining grandslams since 2003.
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We can’t all be Welsh mate. Some of us are just lucky I guess.
100%. The first 6N I ever watched was in 2005 so I’ve only ever seen England win 1 Grand Slam. 1 GS in 20 odd years is a terrible record given the resources that English rugby has. Good to see Borthwick setting his stall out and basically saying that a Grand Slam is the ambition. I think that the Murrayfield game will really tell us how good this team is and whether this current run of results is sustainable or whether we’re a middling team that’s been riding its luck and will soon get found out.
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Let’s see. I haven’t been his biggest fan, but he was within a point of getting us to an unlikely RWC final and has since built his own side which is on an upward trajectory. Perhaps he isn’t inspiring but if this squad has the potential to achieve something and I think he’s doing a good job of putting us in the position to make it happen.
As for the 6N, I think we can have reasonably realistic hopes for the title, but the ‘blues away’ format is the harder set of fixtures. I’m not sure we’re quite there yet, but I do expect to be there or thereabouts.
As @OllyM97 said, Murrayfield is the key game. Win it and I think we can go into the final game chasing a slam. Ireland certainly won’t be a formality, but I think playing them at home gives us a slight edge. Losing at Murrayfield isn’t necessarily tournament defining but it would be disappointing. I forgot who said it, but the quote ‘good teams don’t lose to Scotland’ is apt.
As for the 6N, I think we can have reasonably realistic hopes for the title, but the ‘blues away’ format is the harder set of fixtures. I’m not sure we’re quite there yet, but I do expect to be there or thereabouts.
As @OllyM97 said, Murrayfield is the key game. Win it and I think we can go into the final game chasing a slam. Ireland certainly won’t be a formality, but I think playing them at home gives us a slight edge. Losing at Murrayfield isn’t necessarily tournament defining but it would be disappointing. I forgot who said it, but the quote ‘good teams don’t lose to Scotland’ is apt.
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Ah I was more making a joke at the criticism of Galthie as HC as the reason England would win when Borthwick is less proven.
The criticism of Galthie above is harsh, when he took over France they were regularly finishing bottom half of the 6n (7 of the previous 10 years). He was never assigned to win Grand Slams immediately, doing so at his third attempt was on schedule, if I remember correctly 2021 was the year France lost two matches when they had possession and the lead with the clock in the red, he fixed a completely dysfunctional outfit.
Not having a second slam last year is a valid criticism but Ireland lost a weird game in Twickenham the year before to lose a GS when they were also head and shoulders the best team in the comp, it's just not an easy place to win against what were desperate but talented England teams - definitely a failure from Galthie's team but not cataclysmic and more down to the individuals on the pitch, they'd been given the tools to win. In 23 he had to deal with Ireland peaking in Dublin, that was a top three performance of Farrell's time as Ireland HC, and in 24 France were dragged around the country for home games because of the Olympics.
I can't even really blame Galthie for the World Cup QF loss, I was at that game and the back three lost all composure. Communication breakdowns and individual errors dealing with SA kicks lost that game (as well as one of the luckiest slapdowns I've ever seen from Etzebeth), two poor attempts fielding the ball coupled with brainfarts from Ramos stopped that being a two score win for France. Fielding hasn't been an issue for France under Galthie at all and it cost them the World Cup.
Meanwhile Borthwick has done very well to get himself out of hot water, he survived due to well timed outlier performances against SA and Ireland and has capitalised in thenlast three test windows, but he'll be judged over the next two years. He's a long way off having a grand slam and a championship in the cabinet like Galthie. England are on a great run and a grand slam will make it one of the most impressive in test rugby history but there's still questions, their most significant wins were against France, who squandered multiple tries through unforced errors, and NZ, who have since sacked their HC.
I don't think you can look at one of those coaches over the other and be confident they'd outperform the other in championship minutes.
I think it's a two team championship this year. Ireland are too injured and figuring things out, we need to maintain our status as "better than the rest" for the next two test windows (ie beat Scotland, Australia and Argentina) and use the autumn to launch a push for 2027 as a whole. Townsend is shite and whilst England will be nervous because of the hoodoo his Scotland team had over them for awhile, they're now at a level Townsend's Scotland simply can't beat, they'll get a lot of hype because of Glasgow but Glasgow have been very good before and it hasnt translated.
Borthwick is finally reaching the potential of the squad he's built whilst Galthie has spent the last two years looking at many different options, performances have suffered but there have been games where they've been World Class and have only lost to SA in Paris. Thinking Murrayfield will be a bigger challenge than Paris is a madness to me looking in from the outside.
I think I’m just scarred from our poor record at Murrayfield in the 6N era and the fact that they always turn up against us. @Leonormous Boozer is right, in terms of ability France away is a harder game than Scotland away. I’ve just got too many memories of awful England performances in Edinburgh to ever go there overly confident. Having said that, for the first time in a few years I do genuinely believe we’re a better team than them. We should be able to do what Ireland routinely do up there. Get in front, turn the screw and suffocate their attacking game.
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So who had Bielle-Carre, Scotland and Italy providing objectively the best 6 nations weekend of all time?
Looking at this thread, the only thing I got right was not rating Galthie as a coach!. Yeah they’ll probably win the Championship on points difference but one Grand Slam in 7 seasons with this generation of players - really?. What I will say is that, even though England have been an absolute shambles this tournament, I still think it’s been a great Championship. Sorry to our Welsh and Irish friends but, as a neutral, Scotland winning the Triple Crown and 4/5 - and Italy going 3/5 for the first time ever would be absolutely amazing for the tournament.
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Yeah it’s embarrassing for the French really. Even more silly if some point the finger at Edwards.
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Glad I kept my big stupid mouth shut, for once.
Hahahahaha
. What an utter trainwreck these were. Knew I should have kept my big gob shut. I’m sure I’ll get derided en masse by the forum and rightly so. The only thing that kinda saves it is the caveat about momentum changing quickly in the 6 Nations. Well it certainly did for England, and not in a good way.So on reflection, I was hopelessly wrong about England and Scotland. Ireland and Wales also exceeded my expectations. France were France and although Italy got two wins, I’d say it’s a better 4th place than i envisaged because they turned over England and pushed Ireland all the way.
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To be fair, anyone who predicted that was either a savant or an idiot! At least you had the heart to back your team, I did not.
I got Scotland, England and Italy completely wrong. Did think Wales had a chance v Italy but sat on the fence.
Was a bit closer with Ireland but didn't see the level of performance for either side in Twickenham.
I always disregard France's ability to fall apart, just blinded by how good their rugby is to watch for me.
I got Scotland, England and Italy completely wrong. Did think Wales had a chance v Italy but sat on the fence.
Was a bit closer with Ireland but didn't see the level of performance for either side in Twickenham.
I always disregard France's ability to fall apart, just blinded by how good their rugby is to watch for me.
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I predicted a Wales GS. 
