** 6 Nations 2014**

[TheMightyTen]

You can tell from the noises coming from the Welsh camp that they and in particular Gatland are scared of this one, they've been very careful not to give a single bit of ammunition for the England coaching setup to seize on, in fact they've almost gone out of their way to be sickly nice about England. I suspect Gatland realised from the Lions tour that in Farrell and Rowntree England have two coaches that know how to motivate a team in the right way.

There are going to be some huge collisions today and I suspect both sides will go into the final round denuded of some of their first choice players.

 

[K1LLSW1TCH]

This should be a good one, I heard that Johnathan Davies is coming straight back into the side? Not really sure what to make of that, he's a very good player but against England at Twickenham so soon after injury... Hopefully it doesn't come back to haunt us.

 

[TheMightyTen]

I think it says a lot about how the respective coaches feel about this as Gatland has brought Davies straight back in but Lancaster has sent Tuilagi back to Leicester to get more game time.

Although I don't feel it personally as a fan (I'm bricking myself about today ) I think there is a quiet confidence in this England team that for a change isn't seated in arrogance but a genuine belief in their abilities and that of their team mates.

 

[platypus]

Great take by Care! What a blistering start.

 

[platypus]

Nice to see England breaking the line so much early on, and great shame about the penalty.

 

[Dis86]

Enjoying this one! Fierce tackling from the Welsh!

Referee providing entertainment too

 

[rotters]

Enjoying this, both place kickers are top notch. Shame kicking out of hand has been awful. Free running game, making the welsh tackle a lot....

 

[Dis86]

Least they're getting some kicking practice in now!

 

[platypus]

Shame that English indiscipline has let the welsh keep in touch, bah.

 

[cm1179]

joey barton comes across as alright

 

[McBain]

England in indiscipline shocker... been our problem for as long as I can remember.

And again .... sigh.

 

[cm1179]

out of play. great tackle.

 

[gpuerrilla]

Cracking game, if england were more disciplined the score would have made wales look average tbh.

 

[TheMightyTen]

A very powerful and energetic display from England, a complete reverse of last year. Wales have been out thought and yet again England have played with endeavour.

It's a team that is growing to a point that I think the big Southern Hemisphere three will be taking notice.

The Championship is now Ireland's barring a shock display from the French next Saturday.

 

[gpuerrilla]

The welsh winning train's momentum had to come to an end eventually. England have been rebuilding since the wilkinson era if they keep improving they will go back to being expected to win which I'm not too fond of as it adds pressure.

To be honest I'm never that impressed by France I think they are overrated. Ireland, Wales, England are the top three - pretty close for who will come out tops each year.

 

[K1LLSW1TCH]

France are very hot and cold, obviously not helped by the shocking choice of half backs at the moment. They have far better players available but seem reluctant to pick them. :/

 

[TheMightyTen]

The welsh winning train's momentum had to come to an end eventually....

More like one dimensional Warrenball has been found out for what it is by two teams who can adapt to what's in front of them and play in various dimensions.

 

[gpuerrilla]

Haha ^ well I would also look at the talent pool, each team has to replace the old faithful performers. Take a look at Ireland losing BOD. Not a massive difference losing one or two guys but eventually it makes a difference.

 

[PlacidCasual]

England have grown significantly since last year. The squad is largely settled but their is just enugh compettition for paces to remain healthly. Last year they were throughly unable to change their tactics to what was in front of them but now they are the team capable of streching their style to suit. The offloading game has really begun to grow, A year ago it was non-existant an now it's coming along nicely. Wales looked frnkly pedestrian apart froma 10 minute phase in the secod half and the scoreboard flattered them I felt bad for JD as he plainly was off the pace.

Wales struggle if they can't get physical dominance and Preistland stands to deep to move the point of attack. But worst of all for a team like Wales they only implemented half of the thier kick and chase policy, sadly it was the kick part. No team can give that much posession away to such a good opposition and expect to prosper. Wales are capable of better than this but I think they need a better plan B.

 

[PlacidCasual]

Whoops double post.