posted Mar 17, 2008

I used to be a big football fan but got very disillusioned with the hostility between the fans, the general wussiness and cheating of the players and the whining dishonesty of blinkered management. Rugby is the complete antithesis of that and nowehere is it more eveident than in the six nations, it really is in my opinion the best sporting event of the year and I hope everybody involved in it, fans and players give it the respect it deserves. The argument that it is a preparatory event for a WC 4 years away is derogatory to the 6 nations and northern hemisphere rugby as a whole. Who knows who'll win it next year but lets not denegrate the importance of this great tournament- theres not enough games in a season to do that

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posted Mar 17, 2008

To question something doesn't mean to not want it to continue.

We can discuss my team knocking yours out of the League Cup on the football pages (a long time ago, I know, but one of our recent highlights).

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posted Mar 17, 2008

In response to some of the garbage written about us winning another Grand Slam, what planet is RowlandC from?
Get real, pal. There are other teams in rugby apart from your darling England. It might surprise you to know that a lot of us Welshmen were supporting you during the latter stages of the World Cup.
Rugby supporters support rugby as a sport. If your own team is doing well that's a huge bonus. Get your head out of your rear end and look around you, if you are a true rugby supporter you might enjoy it. For years we in Wales have been accused of being too parochial, (if you don't understand ask someone to explain it to you ), but even by our standards you take the biscuit. Unfortunately, it's comments like yours which have the effect of turning every other nation against the English.
ps;- a couple of my best friends are English. so I speak from a position of no bias whatsoever.

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posted Mar 17, 2008

Honest - I think a lot of sports fans agree with you re football and rugby.
Being a preparatory event for the WC may be derogatory, but it may also be a fact that needs facing up to.
That the Heineken League continued at the same time as the 6N games is a big issue - the Mangers League didn't). If your a club fan, do you really want most of your team disappearing when you are trying to win the league/qualify for Europe/avoid relegation?
I hope the 6N continues in some form as it has a lot of history, but if the quality is poor (although exciting) is it going to survive?

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posted Mar 17, 2008

The six nations is one of, if not, the sporting highlight of the year. It is very rare that all teams are going to be on the best form and even if they are, there can only be one winner of the tournament. A team, can only beat what is put in front of it and this year Wales done that exceptionally well. Whenever it looked like they might not win or were put under pressure they responded magnificently. S Africa beat a few average teams on the way to winning the World cup, England included, but they are still no1 in the World and World champions.

Wales can now lay claim to being No1 in Europe and are European (Grand Slam) Champions.

It doesn't mean any less to any Welsh fan whether all the other fans of all the other Nations think it was desrved or not or whether the tournament is now up to much or not. We won at that's that! I'm sure that if Wales won the world cup then that competitions wouldn't be up to much either, so it was a good job that we lost to Fiji in the last minutes of the game otherwise there'd be no decent International Rugby competition left.

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posted Mar 17, 2008

First of all I have to say congrats to Wales!!!Well done and well deserved - you'd have to be harsh to say Wales did not deserve the Grand Slam.

Watching how Wales lined themselves up in defence against France was like watching a rugby league team - its strong and effective - hence conceding just 2 tries throughout the tournament - Well Done Edwards!!! Spot on...

Also from the Ireland match the possession Wales kept with the ball at the end of the match was chamionship winning for itself. True grit.

What Wales now need to do for the time being IS drown themselves in the success the players and the coaches so worthy deserve, but remember what happened after the last Grand Slam in 2005. They are looking good at the moment, and I would love to see them take on the SH teams in the next few weeks. Unfortunately we have to wait until the summer for the SA tour. They need to take this 6N whitewash and use it for confidence, determination and momentum against the best teams of the world. I am a big NZ fan, and will not be happy with Wales until they are up there as a solid and persistent threat to the SH teams. This win should be a big boost for Wales to start focusing on achieving greater things for the next 2 years at least (notice I am avoiding talking about the World Cup - thats too far away to start talking about them being definite Semi finalists - at least!!).
Gatland says that they have not peaked yet - I hope so - now with no muck-ups from the WRU like the post-2005 celebrations, Gatland and Edwards can carry on with their jobs and create a truely solid and worthy rubgy team that will put Wales up there as one of the top 5 countries in the world.

Go get them WALES!

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posted Mar 17, 2008

After reading some of the comments on this site, it makes me realise even more that it is far better to beat a bad loser. Not much fun beating a good loser is there? I believe Wales were the best team in the 6 Nations and we are not finished yet!

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posted Mar 17, 2008

Why is it that whenever anyone other than England win, its only because mighty England didnt play as they should have?
Could i just remind any English fans, that when you were winning grand slams in the 90s your only real oppossition was France. Wales were awful as were Ireland and Scotland were on a downward spiral.
Has there ever been a five/six nations where all the teams have been good enough to win the championship?? The winners tend to be the winners because the other sides were not quite as good.
No one is saying that Wales are a world beating team, this is just a step in the right direction, earlier than expected.

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posted Mar 18, 2008

StaffsTaff:
'mighty England'? We haven't won the 6N for 5 years. France have been the dominant team team recently and were favourites this time - they are the ones who didn't play as they should have.
France (twice) and Scotland also won the Slam in the 90s, with Wales also taking the title. Englands recent 5/6N record is nothing special - 8 titles in 28 years. So we know we are not so mighty.
Your last sentence is spot on - I hope everyone in Welsh rubgy thinks the same so that you do become a lasting world force.
P.s. - why was the 1972 5N not completed?

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posted Mar 18, 2008

If you watch the Scrum V special from last Sunday on iplayer you can see that everyone there, fans, pundits and Warren Gatland (and Justin Marshall) were jubilant but entirely realistic about where this leaves Wales. Gatland has just found the way to nourish the talent that was already there, but the squad is still some way off being a really daunting prospect for the best teams. In a way the disasters after 2005 may be of some help, as everyone can see now that premature delusions of grandeur do more harm than good. It's also clear how doubly depressing it is to have a talented team achieve so much only to immediately lose it all. Hopefully that isn't going to happen this time.

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