Wales v Ireland - The buffering one
With 70 minutes on the clock, I found myself bemoaning Wales' lack of self control, whilst I simultaneously jumped up and down, trying to keep the expletives to a whisper - albeit a shouty whisper. Pot kettle....
For those of you who have followed my Six Nations journey to this point, I opted against the casino for Saturday morning's 7am KO. Instead leveraging the Hola VPN service to stream the game on my ageing laptop. Upside, I watched the game in the comfort of my bed. Downside, buffering. A word that hasn't been met with a positive reaction since the internet begun. Coverage wasn't all bad, loving the work of Paul O'Connell on comms - impartial, insightful and relevant.
Fair to say that my previous offering paid more than mere lip service to George North's involvement, or distinct lack of, against the Scots. I loved the metaphorical two fingers that he stuck up to me with his two tries, and overall impact against the Irish. Get him back on that list, Warren. Side thought, sad to see Tommy Bowe depart on the cart. I thought his pedigree from the 09 and 2013 tours might have given him some credit in the Bank of Gatland.
Match reflections - proper game. Fast and furious, with Stander and Warburton both giving it the full Vin Diesel. The defence of both teams personified the respective architects. Imagine a game of chess between the two Wigan champions, pawns flying everywhere, knights refusing to make the sideways shuffle that they had previously deemed obligatory. Now imagine Vin Diesel playing chess - not relevant.
Post match, Ireland would have done well to cross into the opposing changing room to understand how to deal with the frustration of missed opportunity. The positivity to shun the posts in search of a maximum, was integral to Ireland's historic win over the All Blacks in the autumn. On this occasion, the approach didn't yield the same success. Nearly did, Barnsey pulling them up on a technicality, as Rory Best looked set to cross for a score that may well have flipped the outcome.
Wales' accuracy in the vicinity of the whitewash has come under much scrutiny in the previous two rounds. So it was a pleasure, and perhaps more so a relief to see them cross three times on Friday night (Saturday morning). Ok - one was from a charge down! In fact, if Wales had been more proficient in converting chance into points in the previous two rounds, it wouldn't be too difficult to build a case that Wales could be heading to Paris in search of a Grand Slam. Keep dreaming boy!
Instead, it is England that will have that opportunity, when they head to Dublin, next weekend. Their seven tries against the in form Scots providing perfect evidence of the killer instinct that separates the champion from the also ran.
On Lions watch, I thought Sam Warburton was the stand(er) out back row, in a game where all of the loose forwards would be considered genuine contenders for squad selection. Ireland's stand off was another to stand out, despite having his involvement limited by spells in both the head bin and the sin bin. Dan Biggar was evidently looking to take the ball flatter than usual, as Wales look to evolve their attack. Where Biggar looked on the edge of his comfort zone, Sexton provided a master class. Great exponent of the EA Rugby 08 style wrap around play as well.
And finally - front rowers, Barnsey, and the groundsman - loving the lack of scrum resets. More of that please.
For those of you who have followed my Six Nations journey to this point, I opted against the casino for Saturday morning's 7am KO. Instead leveraging the Hola VPN service to stream the game on my ageing laptop. Upside, I watched the game in the comfort of my bed. Downside, buffering. A word that hasn't been met with a positive reaction since the internet begun. Coverage wasn't all bad, loving the work of Paul O'Connell on comms - impartial, insightful and relevant.
Fair to say that my previous offering paid more than mere lip service to George North's involvement, or distinct lack of, against the Scots. I loved the metaphorical two fingers that he stuck up to me with his two tries, and overall impact against the Irish. Get him back on that list, Warren. Side thought, sad to see Tommy Bowe depart on the cart. I thought his pedigree from the 09 and 2013 tours might have given him some credit in the Bank of Gatland.Match reflections - proper game. Fast and furious, with Stander and Warburton both giving it the full Vin Diesel. The defence of both teams personified the respective architects. Imagine a game of chess between the two Wigan champions, pawns flying everywhere, knights refusing to make the sideways shuffle that they had previously deemed obligatory. Now imagine Vin Diesel playing chess - not relevant.
Post match, Ireland would have done well to cross into the opposing changing room to understand how to deal with the frustration of missed opportunity. The positivity to shun the posts in search of a maximum, was integral to Ireland's historic win over the All Blacks in the autumn. On this occasion, the approach didn't yield the same success. Nearly did, Barnsey pulling them up on a technicality, as Rory Best looked set to cross for a score that may well have flipped the outcome.
Wales' accuracy in the vicinity of the whitewash has come under much scrutiny in the previous two rounds. So it was a pleasure, and perhaps more so a relief to see them cross three times on Friday night (Saturday morning). Ok - one was from a charge down! In fact, if Wales had been more proficient in converting chance into points in the previous two rounds, it wouldn't be too difficult to build a case that Wales could be heading to Paris in search of a Grand Slam. Keep dreaming boy!
Instead, it is England that will have that opportunity, when they head to Dublin, next weekend. Their seven tries against the in form Scots providing perfect evidence of the killer instinct that separates the champion from the also ran.
On Lions watch, I thought Sam Warburton was the stand(er) out back row, in a game where all of the loose forwards would be considered genuine contenders for squad selection. Ireland's stand off was another to stand out, despite having his involvement limited by spells in both the head bin and the sin bin. Dan Biggar was evidently looking to take the ball flatter than usual, as Wales look to evolve their attack. Where Biggar looked on the edge of his comfort zone, Sexton provided a master class. Great exponent of the EA Rugby 08 style wrap around play as well.
And finally - front rowers, Barnsey, and the groundsman - loving the lack of scrum resets. More of that please.
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