2023 Six Nations

[Ovals]

I’m getting excited.

I’m really looking forward to Sundays match.

I shall be locating my family tartan in support ….

Done. Although I’ve blatted my normal avatar now oops.

I think we'll get three good (Senior) matches this weekend, there's a lot at stake all around.

Really?
Tbh the level of publicity and enagement from anyone outside rugby for this 6N is virtually zero.
It's all a bit Meh

TBF - I'd probably feel like that if I supported Wales

[robmatic]

So it’s
5 vs 6
3 vs 4
2 vs 1

That’s a pretty good weekend.

For the neutral, this is pretty ideal.

[sturginho]

Italia
15 Tommaso ALLAN (Harlequins, 69 caps)
14 Edoardo PADOVANI (Benetton Rugby, 43 caps)
13 Juan Ignacio BREX (Benetton Rugby, 21 caps)
12 Tommaso MENONCELLO (Benetton Rugby, 9 caps)
11 Pierre BRUNO (Zebre Parma, 10 caps)
10 Paolo GARBISI (Montpellier, 22 caps)
9 Stephen VARNEY (Gloucester Rugby, 19 caps)
8 Lorenzo CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 6 caps)
7 Michele LAMARO (Benetton Rugby, 24 caps) – capitano
6 Sebastian NEGRI (Benetton Rugby, 43 caps)
5 Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby, 39 caps)
4 Niccolò CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 28 caps)
3 Simone FERRARI (Benetton Rugby, 43 caps)
2 Giacomo NICOTERA (Benetton Rugby, 10 caps)
1 Danilo FISCHETTI (London Irish, 28 caps)

A disposizione
16 Luca BIGI (Zebre Parma 45 caps)
17 Federico ZANI (Benetton Rugby, 19 caps)
18 Marco RICCIONI (Saracens Rugby, 19 caps)
19 Edoardo IACHIZZI (Vannes, 3 caps)
20 Giovanni PETTINELLI (Benetton Rugby, 10 caps)
21 Manuel ZULIANI (Benetton Rugby, 8 caps)
22 Alessandro FUSCO (Zebre Parma, 8 caps)
23 Luca MORISI (London Irish, 42 caps)

[Biffer]

Italia
15 Tommaso ALLAN (Harlequins, 69 caps)
14 Edoardo PADOVANI (Benetton Rugby, 43 caps)
13 Juan Ignacio BREX (Benetton Rugby, 21 caps)
12 Tommaso MENONCELLO (Benetton Rugby, 9 caps)
11 Pierre BRUNO (Zebre Parma, 10 caps)
10 Paolo GARBISI (Montpellier, 22 caps)
9 Stephen VARNEY (Gloucester Rugby, 19 caps)
8 Lorenzo CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 6 caps)
7 Michele LAMARO (Benetton Rugby, 24 caps) – capitano
6 Sebastian NEGRI (Benetton Rugby, 43 caps)
5 Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby, 39 caps)
4 Niccolò CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 28 caps)
3 Simone FERRARI (Benetton Rugby, 43 caps)
2 Giacomo NICOTERA (Benetton Rugby, 10 caps)
1 Danilo FISCHETTI (London Irish, 28 caps)

A disposizione
16 Luca BIGI (Zebre Parma 45 caps)
17 Federico ZANI (Benetton Rugby, 19 caps)
18 Marco RICCIONI (Saracens Rugby, 19 caps)
19 Edoardo IACHIZZI (Vannes, 3 caps)
20 Giovanni PETTINELLI (Benetton Rugby, 10 caps)
21 Manuel ZULIANI (Benetton Rugby, 8 caps)
22 Alessandro FUSCO (Zebre Parma, 8 caps)
23 Luca MORISI (London Irish, 42 caps)

Capuozzo is a big loss, but that 10-12-13 axis is still pretty tasty

[Slick]

Stuart Hogg's 100th cap on Saturday, hope he gets a hugely rousing reception.

IMO, greatest player of this generation of Scotland players and in the top 5 of all time.

[SaintK]

Stuart Hogg's 100th cap on Saturday, hope he gets a hugely rousing reception.

IMO, greatest player of this generation of Scotland players and in the top 5 of all time.

Really? Who are the other four?

[SaintK]

France looking weak

[Tichtheid]

Stuart Hogg's 100th cap on Saturday, hope he gets a hugely rousing reception.

IMO, greatest player of this generation of Scotland players and in the top 5 of all time.

Really? Who are the other four?

Not even top five from Hawick

That was joke, mind you, Hawick has had a great deal of success, 58 Scotland internationals and 13 Lions, from a town of fewer than fifteen thousand people.

My top players of all time would include (it has to be players I've seen as I don't know about the older ones) Gary Armstrong, Andy Irvine, Jim Renwick (Hawick), Gavin Hastings, Finlay Calder, David Leslie, John Rutherford, Colin Deans (Hawick), Iain Milne.

I think Hoggy (Hawick) will join the list, as will Darcy Graham (Hawick) if we can keep him fit.

edit, oh, Finn too

[JM2K6]

Stuart Hogg's 100th cap on Saturday, hope he gets a hugely rousing reception.

IMO, greatest player of this generation of Scotland players and in the top 5 of all time.

Really? Who are the other four?

Not even top five from Hawick

That was joke, mind you, Hawick has had a great deal of success, 58 Scotland internationals and 13 Lions, from a town of fewer than fifteen thousand people.

My top players of all time would include (it has to be players I've seen as I don't know about the older ones) Gary Armstrong, Andy Irvine, Jim Renwick (Hawick), Gavin Hastings, Finlay Calder, David Leslie, John Rutherford, Colin Deans (Hawick), Iain Milne.

I think Hoggy will join the list, as will Darcy Graham if we can keep him fit.

edit, oh, Finn too

wee tam being robbed blind here

[inactionman]

Stuart Hogg's 100th cap on Saturday, hope he gets a hugely rousing reception.

IMO, greatest player of this generation of Scotland players and in the top 5 of all time.

Really? Who are the other four?

Not even top five from Hawick

That was joke, mind you, Hawick has had a great deal of success, 58 Scotland internationals and 13 Lions, from a town of fewer than fifteen thousand people.

My top players of all time would include (it has to be players I've seen as I don't know about the older ones) Gary Armstrong, Andy Irvine, Jim Renwick (Hawick), Gavin Hastings, Finlay Calder, David Leslie, John Rutherford, Colin Deans (Hawick), Iain Milne.

I think Hoggy (Hawick) will join the list, as will Darcy Graham (Hawick) if we can keep him fit.

edit, oh, Finn too

I recall David Sole being a pain in England's arse for a good few years, and he captained a world XV.

[Tichtheid]

Really? Who are the other four?

Not even top five from Hawick

That was joke, mind you, Hawick has had a great deal of success, 58 Scotland internationals and 13 Lions, from a town of fewer than fifteen thousand people.

My top players of all time would include (it has to be players I've seen as I don't know about the older ones) Gary Armstrong, Andy Irvine, Jim Renwick (Hawick), Gavin Hastings, Finlay Calder, David Leslie, John Rutherford, Colin Deans (Hawick), Iain Milne.

I think Hoggy will join the list, as will Darcy Graham if we can keep him fit.

edit, oh, Finn too

wee tam being robbed blind here

Smith?

He's certainly worthy of inclusion.

I played with David Sole at club level, he is the best rugby player I've ever seen that close up, his hand skills were as good as any International back and the only player that used to beat him in the shuttle runs was our international winger Alex Moore

[JM2K6]

Not even top five from Hawick

That was joke, mind you, Hawick has had a great deal of success, 58 Scotland internationals and 13 Lions, from a town of fewer than fifteen thousand people.

My top players of all time would include (it has to be players I've seen as I don't know about the older ones) Gary Armstrong, Andy Irvine, Jim Renwick (Hawick), Gavin Hastings, Finlay Calder, David Leslie, John Rutherford, Colin Deans (Hawick), Iain Milne.

I think Hoggy will join the list, as will Darcy Graham if we can keep him fit.

edit, oh, Finn too

wee tam being robbed blind here

Smith?

He's certainly worthy of inclusion.

I played with David Sole at club level, he is the best rugby player I've ever seen that close up, his hand skills were as good as any International back and the only player that used to beat him in the shuttle runs was our international winger Alex Moore

Yup, Smith. Incredible player - and his Lions exploits are legendary. Obviously that plus his time at Saints makes him more popular with English fans but I think he's in the conversation for sure.

Anyone who's played with/against proper top class internationals in any capacity always has the same things to say about the sheer gulf between them and mere mortals Must be pretty humbling.

[Tichtheid]

Anyone who's played with/against proper top class internationals in any capacity always has the same things to say about the sheer gulf between them and mere mortals Must be pretty humbling.

The story goes that Gavin Henson was the one that had a similar impact on top class internationals, in a "How the fuck does he do that?" kind of way.

[Slick]

Stuart Hogg's 100th cap on Saturday, hope he gets a hugely rousing reception.

IMO, greatest player of this generation of Scotland players and in the top 5 of all time.

Really? Who are the other four?

Not even top five from Hawick

That was joke, mind you, Hawick has had a great deal of success, 58 Scotland internationals and 13 Lions, from a town of fewer than fifteen thousand people.

My top players of all time would include (it has to be players I've seen as I don't know about the older ones) Gary Armstrong, Andy Irvine, Jim Renwick (Hawick), Gavin Hastings, Finlay Calder, David Leslie, John Rutherford, Colin Deans (Hawick), Iain Milne.

I think Hoggy (Hawick) will join the list, as will Darcy Graham (Hawick) if we can keep him fit.

edit, oh, Finn too

It's obviously very subjective and agree you have to have seen them, but my list is very similar to yours.

Hoggy will end up being our most capped ever, already top scorer (obviously more games played these days), captain, British Lion, so I'm comfortable with him slipping into the top 5.

Finn will get there I would think.

That Hawick stat is incredible!

[Slick]

Anyone who's played with/against proper top class internationals in any capacity always has the same things to say about the sheer gulf between them and mere mortals Must be pretty humbling.

The story goes that Gavin Henson was the one that had a similar impact on top class internationals, in a "How the fuck does he do that?" kind of way.

I gave up on my international ambitions when I played against Townsend in a trial match, the realisation of the difference between an OK player and a top player hit me like a brick wall!

Actually, that's not true, I only gave up my international ambitions at about 40

[clydecloggie]

The story goes that Gavin Henson was the one that had a similar impact on top class internationals, in a "How the fuck does he do that?" kind of way.

I gave up on my international ambitions when I played against Townsend in a trial match, the realisation of the difference between an OK player and a top player hit me like a brick wall!

Actually, that's not true, I only gave up my international ambitions at about 40

Even very good club players are poles apart from most players. The lines they run and ability to read in attack and defence is vastly different to us mere mortals

That's the main difference for me - really good players are a few steps ahead of the others in their thinking, it's as if they can predict the future.

[Slick]

The story goes that Gavin Henson was the one that had a similar impact on top class internationals, in a "How the fuck does he do that?" kind of way.

I gave up on my international ambitions when I played against Townsend in a trial match, the realisation of the difference between an OK player and a top player hit me like a brick wall!

Actually, that's not true, I only gave up my international ambitions at about 40

Even very good club players are poles apart from most players. The lines they run and ability to read in attack and defence is vastly different to us mere mortals

Even more pronounced these days I think. I invited a guy who played centre and was in the wider Ealing squad to play for our touch team in London a few years ago as we were short - he was a PT at the gym. I couldn't believe the skills and the speed on the guy, had never seen anything like it up close.

[PCPhil]

Different sport but I was good all round athlete at school. One guy in the same year was an amazing 400m runner. Like seconds faster than anyone in the county. He ran in his UK age group final and finished only 5th. That’s when you realise that the absolute top one’s in any sport are…. well, just on a different planet.

[Tichtheid]

Even more pronounced these days I think. I invited a guy who played centre and was in the wider Ealing squad to play for our touch team in London a few years ago as we were short - he was a PT at the gym. I couldn't believe the skills and the speed on the guy, had never seen anything like it up close.

Given that becoming a professional is very selective anyway, and in most cases you are on a pathway from mid teens to get there, once you have spent years on conditioning and skilling up in a professional environment it becomes a whole different kettle of ball games.

Imagine someone like Dupont or Ringrose or Lukhanyo Am rocking up for a social game of touch!

[JM2K6]

Even more pronounced these days I think. I invited a guy who played centre and was in the wider Ealing squad to play for our touch team in London a few years ago as we were short - he was a PT at the gym. I couldn't believe the skills and the speed on the guy, had never seen anything like it up close.

Given that becoming a professional is very selective anyway, and in most cases you are on a pathway from mid teens to get there, once you have spent years on conditioning and skilling up in a professional environment it becomes a whole different kettle of ball games.

Imagine someone like Dupont or Ringrose or Lukhanyo Am rocking up for a social game of touch!

Well, there was that one time when a local kid was invited to play touch with the Lions down in NZ and tore it up.

It was a very young TJ Perenara, but...

[Slick]

Different sport but I was good all round athlete at school. One guy in the same year was an amazing 400m runner. Like seconds faster than anyone in the county. He ran in his UK age group final and finished only 5th. That’s when you realise that the absolute top one’s in any sport are…. well, just on a different planet.

Yup, top sprinters against quick rugby players is no contest. Used to play touch on the Meadows in Edinburgh with Dougy Walker and it was insane seeing him just cruise round people I considered rapid. Also played against Derek Redmond back in the day and seeing him in full flight was special.

[Tichtheid]

Different sport but I was good all round athlete at school. One guy in the same year was an amazing 400m runner. Like seconds faster than anyone in the county. He ran in his UK age group final and finished only 5th. That’s when you realise that the absolute top one’s in any sport are…. well, just on a different planet.

Yup, top sprinters against quick rugby players is no contest. Used to play touch on the Meadows in Edinburgh with Dougy Walker and it was insane seeing him just cruise round people I considered rapid. Also played against Derek Redmond back in the day and seeing him in full flight was special.

I've just done a very quick calculation in my head based on Bolt's record of 9.54 seconds v Thom Evans' best of 11.2.

Evans was no slouch, but I think he'd be at least 15m behind Bolt in a length of the pitch race.

Bolt's top speed was 12.42m/s in the 60-80m section.

That is quite nippy

[laurent]

Different sport but I was good all round athlete at school. One guy in the same year was an amazing 400m runner. Like seconds faster than anyone in the county. He ran in his UK age group final and finished only 5th. That’s when you realise that the absolute top one’s in any sport are…. well, just on a different planet.

Yup, top sprinters against quick rugby players is no contest. Used to play touch on the Meadows in Edinburgh with Dougy Walker and it was insane seeing him just cruise round people I considered rapid. Also played against Derek Redmond back in the day and seeing him in full flight was special.

I've just done a very quick calculation in my head based on Bolt's record of 9.54 seconds v Thom Evans' best of 11.2.

Evans was no slouch, but I think he'd be at least 15m behind Bolt in a length of the pitch race.

Best French winger was a bit faster at 10 s 34 (Sébastien Carat) still around 8 m behind

[PCPhil]

Yup, top sprinters against quick rugby players is no contest. Used to play touch on the Meadows in Edinburgh with Dougy Walker and it was insane seeing him just cruise round people I considered rapid. Also played against Derek Redmond back in the day and seeing him in full flight was special.

I've just done a very quick calculation in my head based on Bolt's record of 9.54 seconds v Thom Evans' best of 11.2.

Evans was no slouch, but I think he'd be at least 15m behind Bolt in a length of the pitch race.

Best French winger was a bit faster at 10 s 34 (Sébastien Carat) still around 8 m behind

Achieved that record in 1939 on French-German border if I recall (apologies, just bantz)

[Yr Alban]

Anyone who's played with/against proper top class internationals in any capacity always has the same things to say about the sheer gulf between them and mere mortals Must be pretty humbling.

The story goes that Gavin Henson was the one that had a similar impact on top class internationals, in a "How the fuck does he do that?" kind of way.

I gave up on my international ambitions when I played against Townsend in a trial match, the realisation of the difference between an OK player and a top player hit me like a brick wall!

Actually, that's not true, I only gave up my international ambitions at about 40

A mate of mine played v Toony at club level and told me he’d never met a more arrogant player, but that he could back it up - nobody could lay a hand on him. (He also used to go out at school with a girl who was in my year at med school. She is Geoff Cross’s sister, which tells you something about how small a world Scottish rugby is).

[TheFrog]

The story goes that Gavin Henson was the one that had a similar impact on top class internationals, in a "How the fuck does he do that?" kind of way.

I gave up on my international ambitions when I played against Townsend in a trial match, the realisation of the difference between an OK player and a top player hit me like a brick wall!

Actually, that's not true, I only gave up my international ambitions at about 40

A mate of mine played v Toony at club level and told me he’d never met a more arrogant player, but that he could back it up - nobody could lay a hand on him. (He also used to go out at school with a girl who was in my year at med school. She is Geoff Cross’s sister, which tells you something about how small a world Scottish rugby is).

What you are saying is that this poaching in Scottish rugby in recent years is to fight inbreeding?

[Yr Alban]

I gave up on my international ambitions when I played against Townsend in a trial match, the realisation of the difference between an OK player and a top player hit me like a brick wall!

Actually, that's not true, I only gave up my international ambitions at about 40

A mate of mine played v Toony at club level and told me he’d never met a more arrogant player, but that he could back it up - nobody could lay a hand on him. (He also used to go out at school with a girl who was in my year at med school. She is Geoff Cross’s sister, which tells you something about how small a world Scottish rugby is).

What you are saying is that this poaching in Scottish rugby in recent years is to fight inbreeding?

Hey, I'm just saying that the Borders isn't a densely populated area...

[dpedin]

A mate of mine played v Toony at club level and told me he’d never met a more arrogant player, but that he could back it up - nobody could lay a hand on him. (He also used to go out at school with a girl who was in my year at med school. She is Geoff Cross’s sister, which tells you something about how small a world Scottish rugby is).

What you are saying is that this poaching in Scottish rugby in recent years is to fight inbreeding?

Hey, I'm just saying that the Borders isn't a densely populated area...

Worked with colleague from Borders who says Hogg is also a bit of an arrogant so and so. However she had nothing but gushing praise for Darcy Graham who she thought was wonderful and down to earth - a nice young man! I suspect a bit of mothering a wee child vibes though!

PS 110k pop in whole of borders region, defo not densely populated!

[fishfoodie]

Nice to see Henshaw back after a long timeout

[Jim Lahey]

Nice to see Henshaw back after a long timeout

Harsh on big Stu, who has been good this campaign but Henshaw is a level above. He'll need to be sharp to wipe out Huw Jones and Finn's attacking threats.

[Ymx]

What are the times for the games tonight?

Assume they will be on iPlayer

[Ymx]

Found it. Here we go

[laurent]

What are the times for the games tonight?

Assume they will be on iPlayer

9 PM CET for the calves - tadpoles

[Ymx]

Ireland up 14-0 v Scotland already

[sturginho]

Try in the corner for Italy

[Hellraiser]

Nice to see Henshaw back after a long timeout

Harsh on big Stu, who has been good this campaign but Henshaw is a level above. He'll need to be sharp to wipe out Huw Jones and Finn's attacking threats.

Stu has a calf problem and didn't train last week.

[sturginho]

Handbags

[fishfoodie]

0 - 28 now in Scotland

[sturginho]

Penalty try

Gallorini is a monster and he's only 18

[Slick]

0 - 28 now in Scotland

Ahh, was just about to get the 2nd half, don’t think I’ll bother