Week Three!

In the week off, there have been many changes. The Scots suffered many injuries, Jerry Flannery was banned and Ronan O'Gara was dropped. There were also many threats to drop Jonny Wilkinson, but none of those threats came from sources that mattered. The only opinion that mattered was Martin Johnson, who didn't drop him.

Wales v. France

Ireland and England will be hoping for a Welsh victory, but they will be hard-pressed. Wales played very well two weekends ago, but only in the final ten minutes. Scotland dominated the majority of the game. France dominated the entire game against Ireland, especially the scrums. James Hook has been very good in the outside center slot so Wales will have a good center pairing along with Roberts.

The French team has been anything but guaranteed for the past few seasons, but the lack of consistency hasn't seemed to affect them. France should be able to win this one, although Wales will have home field advantage.

Italy v. Scotland

Italy has played relatively well this tournament so far, and Scotland just lost three key players. Chris Paterson is a needed player, but Dan Parks did extremely well against Wales, who only came into the game after he exited. The problem with both of these teams is their severe lack of offensive abilities. Italy has relied on Mirco Bergamasco's boot, who was not a kicker to my knowledge, but has stepped up well enough. Scotland normally relies on Paterson or Parks, and this game should be no different.

Given how well Scotland played last time out, they should be able to win.

England v. Ireland

This is the biggest game of the weekend. The loser of this game may well enough be out of contention all together. Except for 2008, Ireland has wont his game every year since 2004, regardless of whether the host city was Dublin or London. Ireland is still on a high from the past year's success, and I was hoping that Jonathan Sexton would get a chance at fly half. And I am extremely happy that he did. He has proven himself and maybe a change of pace is what the Irish need. In addition, the English have not seen Sexton very much and he could catch them off guard. His kicking has been very good all season and his attacking ability is also very good. Whether or not he is as good as O'Gara is yet to be determined, but he could be the spark that the Irish need after the loss to France.

England on the other hand just came off a sluggish win over Italy and will want to prove themselves. Wilkinson and the rest of the team will retain their spots, which will either work well or very poorly for the English. Overall, Ireland looks like the better team, despite the poor showing against France.

~Tyler

Week Two results

France v. Ireland

Week two's games told one story: France is the favorite to win. The French played a fantastic game all around, with very few mistakes outside of their lineout. Paul O'Connell was all over the French lineout ball, stealing heaps of ball seemingly at will. Unfortunately, Ireland could not do much else. O'Gara did not get much chance with the boot, and while he did not knock the ball on or turn it over with much frequency, he got caught too often with the ball and lost territory. His kicking game was good, as always. Brian O'Driscoll played well and did very well in his final pass for David Wallace's try, but didn't stamp his authority over the game. The normally fierce player of Rob Kearney was pulled off early with an injury, and Paddy Wallace was nothing in replacement. Cian Healy was awful, as was the scrum. Healy's side did even worse than Hayes' side, but both sides performed poorly. France dominated the scrum every single time, even more so when the Irish were down to 14 men.

Overall, only O'Connell's lineout skills and Tommy Bowe's amazing chases after a high kick proved well. Bowe hammered the receiver on numerous occasions and I am not quite sure where he picked up that physicality. Some of the time, he was appearing to play with skills similar to Doug Howlett! Nonetheless, Ireland was very poor in the scrums, poor on defense, decent on attack, but very poor on finishing. France was incredible in the scrums, good on attack, very good on finishing, and absolutely terrible in the lineouts.

Italy v. England

Jonny Wilkinson, where are you? The man is so fantastic and so consistent with his kicks, that it is hard to believe that he is even capable of missing a kick from time to time. But, he missed three. Fortunately for England, the five points via a Mathew Tait try proved the margin of victory. Now, I've been waving Tait's flag for a very long time, to no avail. Tait was fantastic for England at fullback during the World Cup in 2007, far better than Armitage has been (save his kicking game). Yet, Tait had not been in the squad for a few seasons. I'm glad to see him back, regardless of being put in a different position.

Anyway, England was able to scrape away a victory in this game. They were lucky, but Italy didn't really put up a huge fight when it came to tries. Italy is not known for their fancy footwork or long runs, but they need tries if they want to beat the top nations. Overall, Italy relied on their defense and Mirco Bergamasco's boot, while England would like to rely on Wilkinson's boot again in the future. It is very unlikely that Wilkinson would have another poor game with the boot, given his determination.

Wales v. Scotland

One of the truly great comebacks. Yet, it must be said that this was not a game won by the Welsh. Instead, it was thrown away by the Scots. Two yellow cards in the final ten minutes, and injuries to Tom Evans, Rory Lamont and Chris Paterson spelled defeat for them. The yellow cards were totally unnecessary. When Paterson was taken off, the Scots were ahead but looked worried without their key player. Yet, Dan Parks proved his critics wrong by taking ahold of the game and dominating in every facet of his game. He kicked magnificently. He tried his best to get the offense moving, but could not be awarded with a try. He was taken off the field with a knock and replaced by Phil Godman, who immediately committed a critical error and was given a yellow. I was worried when Godman was put on and am, apparently, the only non-fan of his. Edinburgh fans seem to worship the man, but I have never been overly impressed by him. Parks cannot be blamed at all for the loss. He was Man of the Match.

Wales, however, were slightly lazy for most of the game. Until the final ten minutes. A try from Lee Byrne jump started the team and Halfpenny crossed with a few minutes to go. Shane Williams eventually scored under the posts to win the game on full time.

Wales proved that they can beat any team on any day, yet they needed the boost of two yellow carded Scots before they got rolling. Scotland self destructed when they needed to hold together the most. The heavy injuries to the Scots will hurt them for the rest of the tournament, possibly even threatening their chances of beating Italy.

~Verdicts~

The way it looks right now, Italy has their best chance of recent years when it comes to beating Scotland in two weeks. France looks to defeat the Welsh at home and Ireland's ability to defeat England for a sixth time in seven years is shrinking. Dan Parks needs to be solid again for Scotland, Wales needs to play like they at the end for the entire 80 and Ireland should start Jonny Sexton.

~Tyler

Round One: COMPLETE

Ireland, England and France took the victories last weekend, but who can continue in week two? Only two of the three teams can have 2-0 records since Ireland and France meet in Paris.

The previous weekend gave typical results for Six Nations games. Ireland typically does poorly when they open the tournament against Italy, and they are being dubbed as "flat" for a 13 point victory. Ireland still played well enough, with a few passages of very good passing and running. However, the typically fantastic Rob Kearney was mediocre at best, and he is very often involved in Irish scores. Tommy Bowe got little ball, although he was very solid in defense. Brian O'Driscoll was also good, but it seemed that Gordon D'Arcy was the key offensive weapon (with the exception of Ronan O'Gara's boot). Italy looked very good defensively, but relatively poor and boring offensively. Except for a breaking run from Mirco Bergamasco, the Italian backline was sluggish. Robertson did pounce on a mistake from Kearney for the Italians' only try, but nothing was self-created.

France, on the other hand, used their beefy center of Bastareaud to subdue Scotland. Scotland typically has to ride the points from their golden boot, Chris Paterson, who just didn't get enough opportunities to pile up points. It is good to see Euan Murray coming back next weekend, but Scotland really lacks the strength in the backline to score many tries. France, on the other hand, have all the power and finesse to score try after try and it was really a slight underperformance from France in the fact that only two tries were scored.

England's winning margin was flattered by a Welsh yellow card, earned by Alun Wyn Jones, who has received harsh criticism. Very harsh, actually. Even the Welsh coach, Warren Gatland, hung him out to dry. England did score a heavy amount of points while up a man, and they should be able to pile on the points against Italy. Jonny Wilkinson was very strong in both attack and defense as well as with the boot and should keep up the good performance.

Round 2

Wales v. Scotland

Despite the poor opening weekend, Wales should be able to defeat the Scots. Scotland relies too heavily on Chris Paterson for points and the Welsh youngster, Leigh Halfpenny, is being given a start. Halfpenny is not only a good backup kicker, but he adds some needed speed to the team. Last weekend, the Welsh looked slow. Of all players, James Hook had the most energy and was even playing out of position at outside center. His try was very well worked and well deserved.

Wales to win.

France v. Ireland

This is one of, if not the most important match of the tournament. In many years past, the Ireland/France game has decided the Championship. The only downside: its in France. Ireland has not managed to beat France since 2000 when playing away from home. The two lonely victories came in Dublin. The key to an Irish victory will be early points. France has a knack for scoring late, so Ireland needs to get the score running early. However, the French crowd has a huge impact on their team, and if there are too many mistakes, they will turn on the players. Ireland must try to work for this advantage. Yet, the French were the best team of the past weekend and they have the historical advantage over the Irish.

France to win, with the difference within reach of a kick.

Italy v. England

England will want to pile on the points against the Italians. The only upside for Italy this year is that Mauro Bergamasco will be starting at flanker, not scrum half. Last year's terrible mistake gave the English a big advantage on the score table, but look for it to be less this year. Jonny Wilkinson knows how to get his backline moving, but he can only be as good as his team. Monye was quiet, Armitage was quiet. Tait was the great player that England has skipped over time and time again, and Flutey was injured. Still, Italy has no chance.

England to win

~Tyler

Six Nations 2010

This year's Six Nations offers a different mixture of players. The older and long-serving players of France are fewer this year, with players like Pelous long gone. Italy is being given some hope by some pundits, as is Scotland in their opening weekend. Jonny Wilkinson has returned as has Mathew Tait. Nontheless, Ireland and France are the two favorites.

Ireland v. Italy
The biggest headline: No Sergio Parisse. He is the best No. 8 in the world, and without him, their captain, Italy have very little chance. Ireland has been playing very well. They are coming off of an unbeaten year, with their two biggest clubs making it into the Quarter Finals of the Heineken Cup yet again. Ronan O'Gara has been given the start at fly half due to an injury to Sexton. However, there is a big problem with the kind of praise that Sexton has been receiving. Sexton played fantastically in last year's Heineken Cup and he played extremely well in the autumn tests, but this does not mean he is the number one Irish fly half. Two international games? Not enough ground to prove himself. O'Gara is and should be the starting fly half, especially since he has recovered his kicking game that abandoned him earlier this season. Not to say that Sexton is not the next Irish fly half, he is leagues above Paddy Wallace! But, he is not so deserving. Yet.

That said, Ireland should be able to defeat Italy, and maybe stake an early claim at first place on the table.

England v. Wales
Despite the fact that Shane Williams will be starting, and he always plays very well against England, the Welsh will have many problems. First of all, their clubs have been terrible so far this season. Only the Ospreys are doing anything right and, in my opinion, they should be winning every single game given the talent on their lineup. With a back three of Shane Williams, Lee Byrne and Tommy Bowe, the Ospreys should be scoring four tries a night, week in and week out. However, that is not the case.

I'm not too happy with this sudden abandonment of James Hook. The man has been fantastic for Wales and the Ospreys, not to mention filling in for the Lions, yet he has lost his spot to a kid, Dan Biggar. Biggar, to his credit, has been very good, but it seems that the management are shuffling Hook around the field just to keep him in the lineup. He is most effective at fly half, but at least Gatland has not put him at fullback!

England, on the other hand, are on a high. The Premiership has been strong this season, and Jonny Wilkinson is tearing apart the French league across the Channel. One man does not make a team, but England is always better when Wilkinson is on the field.

Weighing the options, Wales just look out of form and without talent this season. England to win.

Scotland v. France
I have heard a few whispers of an upset in the first weekend. To be honest, the opening weekend is the best chance to beat the French. France is probably the most dangerous team in the world from the simple fact that they are completely unpredictable, if not inconsistent. One week they can defeat the All Blacks, the next they make themselves look silly against England (who seems to own a key to the French defense, by the way).

Scotland has the defense, but they lack offense. There are not many finishers in their backline, and Chris Paterson can only kick goals if his team gets field position. Look for more forward drives than free running plays. France, however, is the epitome of free running rugby and Scotland will be tested, even more so than against Australia in the autumn.

Overall, France looks to win this one. Scotland can hang on to the hope that their defense shows up and plays big, which will help the French play into their hands. But the Scots cannot count on that.

Early tournament prediction: Ireland to repeat, but no Grand Slam (Triple Crown, yes)

~Tyler