Rugby union?

[Participant]

I don't understand why the video quality on the BBC Sport app is so utterly shocking.

Trying to watch the France Wales highlights and it's like the internet has just been invented.

 

[hellarda]

That England game was painful watching.

Vunipolas, Daly, and a couple others just not up to the task and should be dropped.

Curry's work rate was outstanding as per, and i really rate Wilson as a dark horse, doesn't have that much active involvement but is always up there with the work rate.

We need to bring in dombrandt etc.

Some serious attitude/selection changes needed imo. I don't think Jones needs to go, just needs to have the ***** to pick players based on performance and prem game time, not just pick the old boys club.

Also the ref didn't let the game flow at all which didn't help our momentum. Not an excuse as we should be able to adapt to how the game is being reff'd early on, and we didn't, but it did ruin the flow of the game. The speed at which he was giving advantages/calling mauls etc. Was just ruining the game.

France Wales on the other hand was absolutely cracking. Such a tense last few mins!

Much preferred how that was reff'd too. Much more flow and much more entertaining to watch. We were SCREAMING at the TV at the end.

Also can't stand Moore/Davies as commentating team. So much whingeing

Friday should be interesting!

 

[PlacidCasual]

Also can't stand Moore/Davies as commentating team. So much whingeing

Funnily I was the other way round I couldn't stand the ITV commentators too many basic errors in commentary. Delagllio and Murphy were painful but mostly Murphy, Lawrence would make a valid point and Murphy would be no Lawrence you're wrong Whereas listening to the BBC apat from Eddie's well known and accepted Welsh bias the team instantly felt more accomplished. But each to there own, it would be a dull World if we all liked the same things.

 

[Stu]

God another whistle happy French ref. Honestly I don’t enjoy international rugby anymore it’s about 1 match in 4 that is genuinely entertaining, I’ll have to get Super Rugby again.
England just can’t play a whistle happy ref for some reason add in their own poor decisions and this game was lost very early on.

I agree that Bundi Ali’s red was correct by the laws but I would have been happy with a yellow plainly no malice just small margins in the tackle.

This matches my thoughts exactly... all the England games this 6N have suffered from too many whistles and stop/start game play, except the game vs France. Also noticeable that the French referees are struggling to allow a game to flow.

There were certainly some questionable performances from a number of England players, but it felt like the team and (most of) the referees were reading from different scripts... for example stuff that was allowed previously is now be strictly penalised, but no one sent Eddie the memo, and the players were slow to adapt on the fly.

I also think we badly missed Underhill and someone like Laws/Launchbury/Kruis to make England rucks cleaner and avoid having to overstep to compete or safely secure the ball, and add some more stability to the scrum. England also need to grow confidence in keeping the ball in hand and kicking less... in the France v Wales, when France received the final kickoff and had to go the length of the pitch, I was thinking, if this was England then someone would kick the ball for territory even though there is only 90 seconds on the clock...

 

[gpuerrilla]

England should drop some standard team sheet starters including Farrell and agree there is far too much kicking. It wasnt a bad 6N a bit more evened out than usual, some poor ref decisions but even worse video assistant calls imo.

 

[simc1978]

Another cracking game tonight. Still not sure why France given the option of kicking the ball dead to win the game picked a different stratergy.

 

[ChrisD.]

Not sure I was watching Gloucester this evening.

 

[PlacidCasual]

It's started, I now have to avoid all rugby coverage until at least August.

I can't stand the Lions anymore Sky blow it out of all proportion and the BBC will be giving an ad infinitum Lions of the Week. Lions. Legends. Heroes, legends, lions. Lions, Heroes, legends. Legends, legends, lions, legends heroes....................................................... I think the only Tours I've liked were 1997 before the hype and 2009 which was a step back from the excess of the dissappointing 2005.

 

[One More Solo]

Funnily I was the other way round I couldn't stand the ITV commentators too many basic errors in commentary. Delagllio and Murphy were painful but mostly Murphy, Lawrence would make a valid point and Murphy would be no Lawrence you're wrong Whereas listening to the BBC apat from Eddie's well known and accepted Welsh bias the team instantly felt more accomplished. But each to there own, it would be a dull World if we all liked the same things.

The 2003 England squad achieved remarkable things but to a man (Woodward included) they make talking about rugby about as interesting as a 4 day Zoom conference on paint drying. Load of dull, corporate management guff clearly honed from years of keynote speaking about how the boardroom is like the rugby field.

ITV’s reliance on them makes their coverage unwatchable.

 

[gpuerrilla]

The 2003 England squad achieved remarkable things but to a man (Woodward included) they make talking about rugby about as interesting as a 4 day Zoom conference on paint drying. Load of dull, corporate management guff clearly honed from years of keynote speaking about how the boardroom is like the rugby field.

ITV’s reliance on them makes their coverage unwatchable.

did chuckle.

 

[Stu]

Another cracking game tonight. Still not sure why France given the option of kicking the ball dead to win the game picked a different stratergy.

Because it's France!

 

[Outcast440]

Chesting the ball forward (no arms touching ball), either deliberately or accidentally.

Is that a 'knock on'?

 

[gpuerrilla]

Dunno if you want a definitive answer watch the WAL v ENG game the ref and off field team done a great job!...

 

[PlacidCasual]

Chesting the ball forward (no arms touching ball), either deliberately or accidentally.

Is that a 'knock on'?

I think the chest is a knock on, head definitely isn't though.

 

[Stu]

Chest is not a knock on, but it raises an interesting debate if a player does it on purpose...

One of the Italy games, 5 metres from the try line, a forward totally missed catching the pass and the ball hit his chest or shoulder and defense team then went into touch 5 metres out, and ref gave a knock on and said it "didn't feel right giving Italy a lineout 5 metres out after they clearly messed up". Had it been any of the other 6N teams there would have been uproar... Italy do get a harsh deal at times.

 

[Outcast440]

ok, so hard to determine exactly, perhaps just up to the discretion of the ref in these kind of situations?

How about knocking forward deliberately to yourself, but just as the ball is about to hit the ground, the same player kicks it up, catches it , then carries on - knock on or not?

 

[Stu]

ok, so hard to determine exactly, perhaps just up to the discretion of the ref in these kind of situations?

How about knocking forward deliberately to yourself, but just as the ball is about to hit the ground, the same player kicks it up, catches it , then carries on - knock on or not?

Technically this would be a forward pass to yourself, I think. During recent discussion about the LRZ try Nigel Owens described a similar situation to what you describe here and said it would be a knock on... However, a ref may well allow it. A lot depends on the look of the situation and what advantage is gained.

TBH a "deliberate" knock on that you kick in a planned and controlled fashion simply sounds like a kick (no knock on element).

 

[Stu]

ok, so hard to determine exactly, perhaps just up to the discretion of the ref in these kind of situations?

How about knocking forward deliberately to yourself, but just as the ball is about to hit the ground, the same player kicks it up, catches it , then carries on - knock on or not?

In that moment, EVERYTHING is up to the discretion of the ref... If you play at local club level then you will be familiar with many ref decisions not even aligning with current laws. In my last game the ball bounced off the corner flag then I touched it down for a try, but the ref insisted the flag was in touch... But that rule was changed 5 years ago.

Sadly, I showed him the current law in the bar afterwards, saying from one ref to another helping each other, and he wasn't interested. Referees that don't keep up with laws and refuse to self reflect and do continuing development should be banned.

 

[Outcast440]

ok cheers, yep that's harsh

On another topic, I watched the Zebre v Bath game yesterday, there was one penalty (or conversion?) that Zebre took - ball hit the post then bounced back into play - I guess this could cause all sorts of offside/knock on issues etc...

 

[gpuerrilla]

Sadly, I showed him the current law in the bar afterwards, saying from one ref to another helping each other, and he wasn't interested. Referees that don't keep up with laws and refuse to self reflect and do continuing development should be banned.

Bit like these forums sometimes, although text often means the discussions are not taken with wit/banter/tone/sarcasm etc.