Wizzard's Blog

I didn’t see the game, apparently we won. On our current form I don’t see us getting past the quarter finals.

Why do we always over hype our national teams?

The final weekend of the 6 nations finished on a high.

France were back to their old selves when they demolished the Italians, I don’t think they broke a sweat.

Some glimpses of brilliance from England, however there were moments when I was thinking “here we go again.”

The Ireland – Wales game was fantastic, why can’t they ever be decided before the final minute? It was inevitable that a drop goal would come in the final 10 minutes with there only being 2 points in it. When the Irish conceded a penalty in the dying seconds, my heart was in my mouth, I thought Ireland had blown it.

I really feel sorry for Steven Jones missing that penalty by inches.

Congratulations Ireland, you nearly gave your supporters a heart attack at the end.

We have reached that point again, the final weekend of the 6 nations.

Will Ireland finally get the grand slam they have longed for or will the mightly Welsh dragons spoil the party?

Will the real French team find the correct stadium and play?

Can the English build on the thumping of France and regain some pride amongst the home nations and bring home the Calcutta Cup?

Lets make it a great closing weekend, to what has been really a damp squib of a year with only a few sparks of greatness.

England 34 – 10 France

What can I say? We saw glimpses of the old England, we kept our discipline for most of the game, the quick score at the beginning of the game seemed to knock the stuffing out of the French. I would have though they would have more fight than that, especially the performance they put in against Wales two weeks ago.

It was a long time in coming from England, we saw our potential against Ireland and we built upon it today. It did fizzle out for a while in the second half, some more glimpses towards the end of the game of how England can play.

Are we finally building a platform to go forward? Only time will tell.

This was a great game, the first half was a little sluggish, even though Scotland were dominating it.

The second half was just amazing, both sides showing what they are capable of. I thought at one point, Scotland were going to dash the Irish hopes of a Grand Slam.

Good to see Ronan O Gara shaking off his kicking gremlins against England, congratulations on becoming the highest ever points scorer in the history of the tournament.

Chris Paterson trusty as ever with the boot.

I hope Wales v Ireland will be a cracker.

Wales what on earth are you doing? Sure you won 20-15, it should have been a more comfortable scoreline. Italy gave you a real scare.

You guys need to snap out of the malaise, what happen 2 weeks ago in France should be a distant memory. I think some of you thought you were still in France.

Not to totally put a downer on the Welsh. Mallet do you actually have a clue how to take Italy forward? Sure you’ve got a good reputation on the International circuit, so bring something to Italian side so they can actually win more often than once in a blue moon.

Pull out some results or pack your bags, I’m sure the Italian fans are getting fed up of losing.

Due to my computer problems this is a rather delayed review of the France v Wales match at Stade Francais.

France v Wales

21-16

A good game, however France where there for the taking, they did look tired after three-quarters of their players had already played a domestic fixture.

Too many little mistakes by Wales let France in. They seemed to gain a second wind in the last quarter of the match.

Some brilliance from the usual suspects on the Welsh side. Good to see Gavin Henson back in the side from the bench, he was involved in a key moment that could have sealed the game for Wales, but alas it wasn’t to be.

There are some glimpses of the old France showing.

Brilliant goal kicking by the French Scrum Half, I’ve never seen a scrum half take penalties and conversions before, looked a little strange, but he was well upto the task.

I’ll say it again, France were there for the taking.

Wales v England

23-15

A better performance from England, some ill discipline throughout the match meant lots of penalties including a couple of sin-binnings which could have easily been avoided again, like they could have been last week.

Wales were a little cagey in the 1st half, but they held their nerve to dominate the 2nd Half.

Wales are still looking good value to win the Grand Slam again.

France v Scotland

22-13

A lot better showng from Scotland this week, lots of mistakes from both sides. Scotland’s errors coming at crucial times during the play.

For the first 15 minutes France didn’t seem very assured, early pressure from Scotland.

The game ended very scrappily.