This is a thread about the 2020 Six Nations, formerly the Five Nations

Panda Killa

prawnsambo wrote: »

You're forgetting there's also a triple crown on the line.

Not to mention the Millennium Trophy...

swiwi_

[Deleted User] wrote: »

On paper maybe the best weekend of the tournament coming up.

Wales v France has a lot to offer in terms of telling us where both teams are. France grand slam hopes on the line and Wales championships hope similarly in question.

Scotland travel to Italy with two losses - both teams need a win quite badly.

And then Ireland travel to Twickenham. Same as Wales v France - a grand slam and championship on the line.

All important and likely competitive fixtures.

On paper.

In reality I think the home teams win comfortably enough, except the Italians who ship a 4TBP defeat to the Scots.

If France win though, I reckon they get the grand slam.

molloyjh

This weekend is going to be fascinating. We'll learn a lot about where each team really is and we could see it being anything from a 2 to 4 horse race going into the last 2 rounds.

Are France really improving or will their away form show us we're potentially looking at another false dawn? A win puts them in course for a GS but a loss could mean they're still a ways off.

Will Wales show the kind of form they showed against Italy or Ireland? Are they contenders at all or not?

Will England right the ship with their first home game and show themselves to be the Champions in waiting or a limited side without the 1 or 2 key players like Billy V and Tuilagi?

Will Ireland continue their upward curve and will it be enough to deal with England? Like France, have we seen a bounce off the back of 2 home games or can they back up their improvements on the road?

Can Italy build on a decent showing vs France to get their first win in the competition in what feels like forever or are they destined to carry on losing?

Can Scotland avoid the wooden spoon and limp through the tournament yet again or is it curtains for them?

Every side has something to prove and something to play for. This weekend will be huge for each team individually as well as for the Championship as a whole. A France win takes Wales out of the running, as an Ireland win does England. But 2 home wins in those games keeps all 4 teams alive and kicking. In all reality the wooden spoon gets decided this weekend too.

It's a big one. And I cant feckin' wait!

swiwi_

Or the biggest question of all - how many "?" can molloyjh fit into a single post...

molloyjh

swiwi_ wrote: »

Or the biggest question of all - how many "?" can molloyjh fit into a single post...

Is that a challenge?????????????

Dr. Bre

If wales and England win then its all to play for with 2 games left. Bonus points could be huge

molloyjh

Dr. Bre wrote: »

If wales and England win then its all to play for with 2 games left. Bonus points could be huge

Yeah we could end up with a 2015 style Super Saturday all over again.

That BP against Wales was huge

Interested Observer

Deleted User wrote: »

That BP against Wales was huge

Yep and it's a huge blow to them to ship a 5-0 loss. We were pretty much done after round 1 last year after England put a BP on us. They're 4 points behind us and they've already played Italy. I don't think 4-1 in favour of England this weekend would be a disaster, but we obviously have to beat one of them or France.

Dubinusa

England are playing poorly. The squad seems unsettled! I wonder if Jones can turn it around!
It's also a good chance for us to sneak a win. I can't recall England being this poor. They look out of sorts.
It's a strange 6nations so far! Wales look like an average side. Scotland were hard done by at the Aviva, Hogg will never forget. France are looking better. England don't look like anything from the rwc. And us, the jury is out!
Facinating tournament.

Squidgy Black

I think England are a bit of a tricky one to judge, and I certainly wouldn't be reading too much into what the English press are peddling about the team. They were taken by surprise at how well the French played, and nobody can really learn anything from the game against the Scots because of the conditions, and the Scots almost turned it around against us too.

penybont exile

All to play for ..... France & England are the favs as they have two of the three 'historically tougher' games at home .......

Ireland's BP against Wales is only going to come in handy if they win in London or Paris [not easy]
France win in Cardiff ... they are in a strong position.
England beat Ireland & Wales then they probably win assuming no GS for France.
Wales beat France & England [not easy] then they will be in a really good position for the last day ..... assuming no Triple Crown

.... shaping up well .....

Bridge93

Are people forgetting how poor england were in 2018 in both the six nations and tour to south africa? This talk of them being in awful form and as bad as they've been in a long time is extremely premature.

They got blown away by a brilliant france first half performance yet still got a bonus point. People forget how s**t we were in Paris in the first game of 2018 we just didnt have to play a decent french side.

The scotland game is a total write off. No one should be reading anything into it. The conditions were as bad as i can remember for an international. They ground out a win in the worst possible conditions.

We've won two games at home and should've lost one of them. They've won 1 and lost one playing away from home. They have nothing to be getting concerned about yet. If they lose to us they may need to look at themselves. They're comfortably favourites

Dubinusa

Bridge93 wrote: »

Are people forgetting how poor england were in 2018 in both the six nations and tour to south africa? This talk of them being in awful form and as bad as they've been in a long time is extremely premature.

They got blown away by a brilliant france first half performance yet still got a bonus point. People forget how s**t we were in Paris in the first game of 2018 we just didnt have to play a decent french side.

The scotland game is a total write off. No one should be reading anything into it. The conditions were as bad as i can remember for an international. They ground out a win in the worst possible conditions.

We've won two games at home and should've lost one of them. They've won 1 and lost one playing away from home. They have nothing to be getting concerned about yet. If they lose to us they may need to look at themselves. They're comfortably favourites

Sure. They are favorite's. But they are not playing like the side that made to to the world cup final? They seem lost atm, it's a great time to play them!

stephen_n

Very hard to read into the first two games for England. Against France they made a huge amount of unforced errors, which France capitalized well on. They are lacking the go forward ball of Billy V and Tualagi in those opening games, so having Manu back should give them a boost. Being at home will also bring out a bit more in them. Their backrow is not balanced at all, wether that’s something we can exploit, only time will tell. Very interesting that Gusscot said on OTB that England have lost more games when Billy V started, than they won. Wouldn’t have thought that at all.

penybont exile

penybont exile wrote: »

All to play for ..... France & England are the favs as they have two of the three 'historically tougher' games at home .......

Ireland's BP against Wales is only going to come in handy if they win in London or Paris [not easy]
France win in Cardiff ... they are in a strong position.
England beat Ireland & Wales then they probably win assuming no GS for France.
Wales beat France & England [not easy] then they will be in a really good position for the last day ..... assuming no Triple Crown

.... shaping up well .....

My probabilities could be way off but given the odds the paddy power are giving, Ireland have a 68% chance of winning at least one of England or France right now.

penybont exile

Deleted User wrote: »

My probabilities could be way off but given the odds the paddy power are giving, Ireland have a 68% chance of winning at least one of England or France right now.

68% ...... looks promising ......... my gut tells me that is too optimistic .........

molloyjh

At this stage I think England have to be favourites. You'd have to imagine they'll win their remaining games. And a final day trip to Rome knowing what they'll have to do will def help.

Dog Botherer

molloyjh wrote: »

At this stage I think England have to be favourites. You'd have to imagine they'll win their remaining games. And a final day trip to Rome knowing what they'll have to do will def help.

i'd say England are almost as likely to lose to Ireland and Wales as they are to win. they've shown nothing so far and are missing their best player, and might be missing Tuilagi on top of that.

i don't think there's a clear favourite, personally i think it's a tossup between Ireland, France, and England. England really have to win this weekend, their season depends on it really.

stephen_n

Dog Botherer wrote: »

i'd say England are almost as likely to lose to Ireland and Wales as they are to win. they've shown nothing so far and are missing their best player, and might be missing Tuilagi on top of that.

i don't think there's a clear favourite, personally i think it's a tossup between Ireland, France, and England. England really have to win this weekend, their season depends on it really.

I wouldn’t write Wales off, a win this weekend and they’re back in there.

Dog Botherer

stephen_n wrote: »

I wouldn’t write Wales off, a win this weekend and they’re back in there.

it’d have to be a pretty good win. they strolled over an awful Italy side and looked very poor against us.

molloyjh

stephen_n wrote: »

I wouldn’t write Wales off, a win this weekend and they’re back in there.

They're away to England in round 3 so I think they're the most likely of the 4 remaining contenders to fall away. They could do us all a favour by beating France this weekend though.

Squidgy Black

molloyjh wrote: »

They're away to England in round 3 so I think they're the most likely of the 4 remaining contenders to fall away. They could do us all a favour by beating France this weekend though.

Are we not the ones away to England in round 3 this weekend?

stephen_n

Dog Botherer wrote: »

it’d have to be a pretty good win. they strolled over an awful Italy side and looked very poor against us.

They’re at home to an as yet untested French side in terms of playing away from home. France are a young exiting team, but French teams often struggle away from home, the lack of experience won’t help with that. Besides that I’d expect a big response from the Welsh in front of their own fans.

molloyjh wrote: »

They're away to England in round 3 so I think they're the most likely of the 4 remaining contenders to fall away. They could do us all a favour by beating France this weekend though.

The poster included us though and we are away to England and France. I’d fancy Wales to get 5 points against Scotland and four against France. That would leave the England game as pivotal for them. If England beat us and Wales they’re going to win it anyway I’d say. Unless France beat Wales of course, but I just don’t see that happening. Bonus points could have a major impact on deciding the championship this year though.

irelandrover

molloyjh wrote: »

At this stage I think England have to be favourites. You'd have to imagine they'll win their remaining games. And a final day trip to Rome knowing what they'll have to do will def help.

Isn't the Ireland France game the last match? So England wont know what they need going into the Italy game.

molloyjh

Squidgy Black wrote: »

Are we not the ones away to England in round 3 this weekend?

Typo. Round 4.

irelandrover wrote: »

Isn't the Ireland France game the last match? So England wont know what they need going into the Italy game.

Not exactly, but by then they'd know points and PD situation so they'd know if the TBP alone would do it or what kind of level PD they'd need to build up.

Interested Observer

irelandrover wrote: »

Isn't the Ireland France game the last match? So England wont know what they need going into the Italy game.

They're going to get 5 points from that game so it's almost an irrelevance.

Interested Observer

Mako Vunipola out of the game at the weekend apparently for personal reasons, has travelled back to Tonga.

We're gonna win the world cup Grand Slam

prawnsambo

Deleted User wrote: »

We're gonna win the world cup Grand Slam

Tuilagi and Slade are in the 33 man squad.