the triple crown

[liam2me]

if any fucker considers this a success then they really should take a look at the outside world. the competition is the SIX nations not the 4 nations, so it is NOT a success only winning 3 out of 5 games without winning the other 2 and championship. rant over

[Rolo Feen]

the one guarantee of winning it though is knowing we beat england....

[CHANCE]

if any fucker considers this a success then they really should take a look at the outside world. the competition is the SIX nations not the 4 nations, so it is NOT a success only winning 3 out of 5 games without winning the other 2 and championship. rant over

here liam, you think we have any chance of winning the thing,if france beat the welsh. Twould be unreal if we could do it.

[liam2me]

usually i would say it depends on what france showed up on the day, but this year wales are in such disarray i don't think france will have any problems with them.

saying that, if ireland can just click for the game against england, and england play like they have done so far thid 6N then we could put up a big score on them

its all ifs and buts though

[Johnnyc]

if any fucker considers this a success then they really should take a look at the outside world. the competition is the SIX nations not the 4 nations, so it is NOT a success only winning 3 out of 5 games without winning the other 2 and championship. rant over

If we win the triple crown we'd have won 4 games. Anyway the 6 nations has been pretty wide open this year wtih a few shocks and exciting games all round. It might not have been consistentbut what can you do. Ireland without playing that well have an outside chance of winning the 6 nations as well as a triple crown. Who's to say Wales won't put in a massive performance next Saturday. I know they have been poor but they are playing for pride. France have yet to produce an eighty minute display.

I think its all to play for yet.

[Sir Denis Eton-Hogg]

If we win the triple crown we'd have won 4 games. Anyway the 6 nations has been pretty wide open this year wtih a few shocks and exciting games all round. It might not have been consistentbut what can you do. Ireland without playing that well have an outside chance of winning the 6 nations as well as a triple crown. Who's to say Wales won't put in a massive performance next Saturday. I know they have been poor but they are playing for pride. France have yet to produce an eighty minute display.

I think its all to play for yet.


Yes it is and England can still win it if Wales beat France.

[west cork rebel]

Yes it is and England can still win it if Wales beat France.

and if England beat us

[Rebel Yell]

From our point of view, its great that ours is the last game next week in that we'll know exactly what we have to do to win the title....more likely will be pl,aying for second place alright, but I agree that it's so wide open that the French could fcuk up against Wales!!!! Mind you, the Welsh would have to play well above themselves and the French a fair few notches below their best!!!

A Triple Crown and second place would not be a bad return though considering the pessimism which prevailed before the season began!!!

[POL]

Good result yesterday in Paris, England will be fired up now, bones will be broken before they let these losers beat them in their backyard next week

[Lamps]

was it my imagination or did i see some sort of physical actual real life trophy or shield saying triple crown in the rte studio?
is this a piss take or has an actual trophy been comissioned?

[POL]

was it my imagination or did i see some sort of physical actual real life trophy or shield saying triple crown in the rte studio?
is this a piss take or has an actual trophy been comissioned?

yeah, they got one for this year, no more imaginary triple crowns for these boys, only the best will do for the goys loike

[Lamps]

yeah, they got one for this year, no more imaginary triple crowns for these boys, only the best will do for the goys loike

what a laugh it would be to see drico larging it up in twickers with that thing.
the charity shield carries more prestige.

[Langer Dan]

usually i would say it depends on what france showed up on the day, but this year wales are in such disarray i don't think france will have any problems with them.

saying that, if ireland can just click for the game against england, and england play like they have done so far thid 6N then we could put up a big score on them

its all ifs and buts though

RTE panel word for word.

as for the triple crown not being a successful season, are you high?

[liam2me]

RTE panel word for word.

as for the triple crown not being a successful season, are you high?
considering i'm in london and don't have RTE then how can i know what they said?

ok so your telling me that winning 3 of 5 games is a success?

next year if we lose to italy in rome and france yet win the triple crown and come 2nd or 3rd that would be a success?

no wonder irish rugby is being held back when people consider it a success.

its like englands cricketers winning the ashes, they've only beaten 1 team yet its hailed as the biggest achievment they can get, no wonder they've lost all thier games since

[Proinsias]

considering i'm in london and don't have RTE then how can i know what they said?

ok so your telling me that winning 3 of 5 games is a success?

next year if we lose to italy in rome and france yet win the triple crown and come 2nd or 3rd that would be a success?

no wonder irish rugby is being held back when people consider it a success.

its like englands cricketers winning the ashes, they've only beaten 1 team yet its hailed as the biggest achievment they can get, no wonder they've lost all thier games since
If we win the Triple Crown, that'll make it 4 wins out of 5.


Which would be the 4th season out of the last 6 that we've won 4 out of 5 matches.

[liam2me]

If we win the Triple Crown, that'll make it 4 wins out of 5.


Which would be the 4th season out of the last 6 that we've won 4 out of 5 matches.
yes but we lose 2 games and we could still win the triple crown, would that be a success?

[Fat Tom]

If we win the Triple Crown, that'll make it 4 wins out of 5.


Which would be the 4th season out of the last 6 that we've won 4 out of 5 matches.

Considering 2 out of the 4 consisted of the worst Scottish teams in History and the Italians every year it didn't take much did it.

[The Full Ham]

yer all very excited about a triple crown...i would'nt even be excited about that. England could well put 20 points on the Goiyes next weekend. Don't ever underestimate Ireland's ability to flop on the big or in this case "semi big" occasion.

Irish Rugby will always let you down.

[Proinsias]

yes but we lose 2 games and we could still win the triple crown, would that be a success?
What was the second match?

I recall us losing to France, but the second one?

To lose two matches and still win the triple crown, you must have lost to Italy.

If I recall correctly, we won that game.

It would also make it beating England (who are still the reigning world champions) 4 times out of the last 5. (Or 5 out of 7 if you prefer)


Which is pretty much unprecedented historically.

[Proinsias]

yer all very excited about a triple crown...i would'nt even be excited about that. England could well put 20 points on the Goiyes next weekend. Don't ever underestimate Ireland's ability to flop on the big or in this case "semi big" occasion.

Irish Rugby will always let you down.
England could well put 20 points on Ireland.


Ireland could well put 20 points on England next weekend.

Who knows?

How confident would you be that England are going to win? Enough to bet on them? Then you'd be happy on two counts, Ireland have lost in rugby (yipee!) and you've won a bet....

[Langer Dan]

What was the second match?

I recall us losing to France, but the second one?

To lose two matches and still win the triple crown, you must have lost to Italy.

If I recall correctly, we won that game.

It would also make it beating England (who are still the reigning world champions) 4 times out of the last 5. (Or 5 out of 7 if you prefer)


Which is pretty much unprecedented historically.

no but according to the ever reliable liam2me, we can win the triple crown by losing to england, what a spaz.

[liam2me]

What was the second match?

I recall us losing to France, but the second one?

To lose two matches and still win the triple crown, you must have lost to Italy.

If I recall correctly, we won that game.

It would also make it beating England (who are still the reigning world champions) 4 times out of the last 5. (Or 5 out of 7 if you prefer)


Which is pretty much unprecedented historically.
i'm not talking about this year specifically. what i'm saying is, on any given year we could beat the home nations, win the triple crown but lose to france and italy, that could put us between 2nd and 4th yet some people would call that a success. the triple crown is worthless and has been since france became a major power. the competition is the SIX nations not the FOUR nations, coming anywhere but first is not worth a damn. settling for a triple crown without winning the competition is just making excuses for not being good enough

[liam2me]

no but according to the ever reliable liam2me, we can win the triple crown by losing to england, what a spaz.
you need to grow up mate

[Proinsias]

i'm not talking about this year specifically. what i'm saying is, on any given year we could beat the home nations, win the triple crown but lose to france and italy, that could put us between 2nd and 4th yet some people would call that a success. the triple crown is worthless and has been since france became a major power. the competition is the SIX nations not the FOUR nations, coming anywhere but first is not worth a damn. settling for a triple crown without winning the competition is just making excuses for not being good enough
Rubbish.

It's something we've only achieved 5-6 times in the 120 years of competition. To have 2 in 3 years would be a major achievement.

We're not gongi to win the grand slam this year, neither are France though. We can end the 6 nations as joint top on points though, losing out only on points scored difference.

Which would have counted as a joint championship win a few years back.

[pudgee]

To be honest, I'll be very surprised if Ireland lose to England next week. England aren't just in a position where they can pull up their bootstraps and go out 'fired up' next weekend. I actually felt sorry for Corry in the post-match interview last weekend, and Robinson genuinely doesn't seem to understand where he's going wrong.

I only hope EOS has the courage to start O Callaghan, who, if nothing else (and of course, he'd do much more), would irritate Grewcock and get him binned again. I love watching that prick walk off.

[Lamps]

To be honest, I'll be very surprised if Ireland lose to England next week. England aren't just in a position where they can pull up their bootstraps and go out 'fired up' next weekend. I actually felt sorry for Corry in the post-match interview last weekend, and Robinson genuinely doesn't seem to understand where he's going wrong.

I only hope EOS has the courage to start O Callaghan, who, if nothing else (and of course, he'd do much more), would irritate Grewcock and get him binned again. I love watching that prick walk off.

well put your money down, ireland are 15/8

[boxoid]

To be honest, I'll be very surprised if Ireland lose to England next week. England aren't just in a position where they can pull up their bootstraps and go out 'fired up' next weekend. I actually felt sorry for Corry in the post-match interview last weekend, and Robinson genuinely doesn't seem to understand where he's going wrong.

I only hope EOS has the courage to start O Callaghan, who, if nothing else (and of course, he'd do much more), would irritate Grewcock and get him binned again. I love watching that prick walk off.

i would have to agree with ya,
and the patriot in me hopes they win.... not like some of the blue shirts hooligans here who want them to lose to prove a point....
sad

[pudgee]

i would have to agree with ya,
and the patriot in me hopes they win.... not like some of the blue shirts hooligans here who want them to lose to prove a point....
sad
A few people have been saying they should bring in Mike Catt as an emergency measure, as they desparately need a creative option outside Hodgson. Whatcha think?

[boxoid]

A few people have been saying they should bring in Mike Catt as an emergency measure, as they desparately need a creative option outside Hodgson. Whatcha think?

for all i care they can bring back bill beaumont...i hope we will still beat them.

[Proinsias]

A few people have been saying they should bring in Mike Catt as an emergency measure, as they desparately need a creative option outside Hodgson. Whatcha think?
Hopefully.

One tackle from BOD and the bits of string that hold Mike Catt together will break...

Although he now plays for London Irish, so I'd prefer for him to at least get another half an hour play for them this year, which wouldn't happen if he plays for England!

[raZor]

To be honest, I'll be very surprised if Ireland lose to England next week. England aren't just in a position where they can pull up their bootstraps and go out 'fired up' next weekend. I actually felt sorry for Corry in the post-match interview last weekend, and Robinson genuinely doesn't seem to understand where he's going wrong.

I only hope EOS has the courage to start O Callaghan, who, if nothing else (and of course, he'd do much more), would irritate Grewcock and get him binned again. I love watching that prick walk off.


same team again was picked should be a great battle for Paul O Connell

[Rebelred]

England team to face Ireland at Twickenham:


T Voyce (Wasps); M Cueto (Sale), J Noon (Newcastle), S Abbott (Wasps), B Cohen (Northampton); A Goode (Leicester), H Ellis (Leicester); A Sheridan (Sale), L Mears (Bath), M Stevens (Bath); S Borthwick (Bath), S Shaw (Wasps); J Worsley (Wasps), L Moody (Leicester), M Corry (Leicester, capt).



England coach Andy Robinson has made seven changes for the RBS Six Nations match against Ireland on Saturday.

Josh Lewsey, Mike Tindall, Matt Dawson, Steve Thompson, Julian White and Danny Grewcock have been axed, while Charlie Hodgson is out with a hamstring injury.

Wasps duo Tom Voyce and Stuart Abbott, and the Leicester pair of Andy Goode and Harry Ellis, come into the backs.

Andrew Sheridan and Lee Mears win front-row places, while Simon Shaw is recalled in the second row.

Robinson has rung the changes after Sunday's 31-6 defeat by France in Paris, England's worst in the competition for 20 years.

Five of the six dropped players - Tindall, Dawson, Thompson, White and Grewcock - are on the bench, but Lewsey is not even in the 22.

The Wasps player has suffered a dramatic loss of form and his defensive error gifted France a try after just 43 seconds in Paris on Sunday.

Newcastle fly-half Dave Walder has been drafted into the 22 as back-up to Goode.

Matt Stevens moves from his preferred loose-head position to the tight-head, with Sheridan reclaiming the number one shirt in place of White.

But Robinson has not tampered with his back-row combination of Joe Worsley, Lewis Moody and captain Martin Corry, even though it has been criticised for lacking balance.

The chairman of the Rugby Football Union, Martyn Thomas, on Tuesday told BBC Sport: "Our back row has not been sufficiently aggressive".

Lawrence Dallaglio is among the substitutes for a fifth successive Six Nations game.

England have not scored a try in their last two matches and Robinson will hope the addition of Abbott can spark the midfield.

The Cape Town-born player has not started a match for 21 months but is regarded as being more creative than Tindall.

England are striving to avoid their third championship defeat in a row - which would equal last season's performance - but they also still have an outside chance of winning the tournament.

[pudgee]

I reckon putting Goode in is a mistake, and I wasn't especially impressed with Voyce in the last game.
The rest? Much of a muchness, really.

[Sound]

Panic stations from Robinson! If he's dropping Lewsey than he really cannot see what's wrong. I've never tipped Ireland in Twickenham before but this could be it.

Get on!!

[pudgee]

Come on Wales!

[Rebelred]

what odds a Wales Ireland double???

[afeencalleddan]

what odds a Wales Ireland double???

About 16/1 at the moment.

[Johnnyc]

About 16/1 at the moment.

It would be worth a fiver surely even though Wales are playing so poor. If they have any pride they'll produce a big performance which will give them some chance. Hopefully Ireland will do the business too.

[Proinsias]

England team to face Ireland at Twickenham:


T Voyce (Wasps); M Cueto (Sale), J Noon (Newcastle), S Abbott (Wasps), B Cohen (Northampton); A Goode (Leicester), H Ellis (Leicester); A Sheridan (Sale), L Mears (Bath), M Stevens (Bath); S Borthwick (Bath), S Shaw (Wasps); J Worsley (Wasps), L Moody (Leicester), M Corry (Leicester, capt).



England coach Andy Robinson has made seven changes for the RBS Six Nations match against Ireland on Saturday.

Josh Lewsey, Mike Tindall, Matt Dawson, Steve Thompson, Julian White and Danny Grewcock have been axed, while Charlie Hodgson is out with a hamstring injury.

Wasps duo Tom Voyce and Stuart Abbott, and the Leicester pair of Andy Goode and Harry Ellis, come into the backs.

Andrew Sheridan and Lee Mears win front-row places, while Simon Shaw is recalled in the second row.

Robinson has rung the changes after Sunday's 31-6 defeat by France in Paris, England's worst in the competition for 20 years.

Five of the six dropped players - Tindall, Dawson, Thompson, White and Grewcock - are on the bench, but Lewsey is not even in the 22.

The Wasps player has suffered a dramatic loss of form and his defensive error gifted France a try after just 43 seconds in Paris on Sunday.

Newcastle fly-half Dave Walder has been drafted into the 22 as back-up to Goode.

Matt Stevens moves from his preferred loose-head position to the tight-head, with Sheridan reclaiming the number one shirt in place of White.

But Robinson has not tampered with his back-row combination of Joe Worsley, Lewis Moody and captain Martin Corry, even though it has been criticised for lacking balance.

The chairman of the Rugby Football Union, Martyn Thomas, on Tuesday told BBC Sport: "Our back row has not been sufficiently aggressive".

Lawrence Dallaglio is among the substitutes for a fifth successive Six Nations game.

England have not scored a try in their last two matches and Robinson will hope the addition of Abbott can spark the midfield.

The Cape Town-born player has not started a match for 21 months but is regarded as being more creative than Tindall.

England are striving to avoid their third championship defeat in a row - which would equal last season's performance - but they also still have an outside chance of winning the tournament.

Abbott is a good player, but not a great one (maybe, given time, but not yet)

Ellis has been distinctly unimpressive this season and Goode is, er, good but steady. Hodgson is a far better player, so that's good for Ireland.

Pity Grewcock is gone, he was a definite 3 points, but at least we'll get the three from Moody. That's not a great backrow, very big but a little too bulky. if they play a slower paced game, they'll be effective, otherwise we'll come out on top there.

Shaw is a good player, but fairly average. Good lineout though, that's probably why he's been drafted in.

Sheridan got the shite kicked out of him by Munster earlier in the season (twice), I prefer to see him than White, who I rate fairly highly.
Matt Stevens V horan is going to be interesting, and I'd say Stevens could have a good day at the scrum.

Glad to see the back of Lewsey too, if he had a good game he could have threatened. Nice to see Cohen is still in, he's been shite since the world cup, although he has been improving recently.



One of the weakest English teams Ireland has faced.

[pudgee]

Actually, yeah, good point on Sheridan - he was absolutely hammered in the Thomond game. Odd choice.

Still trying to decide whether to go to the pub at 1 on Saturday and stay there, or just camp on the sofa.

[Langer Dan]

To be honest, I'll be very surprised if Ireland lose to England next week. England aren't just in a position where they can pull up their bootstraps and go out 'fired up' next weekend. I actually felt sorry for Corry in the post-match interview last weekend, and Robinson genuinely doesn't seem to understand where he's going wrong.

I only hope EOS has the courage to start O Callaghan, who, if nothing else (and of course, he'd do much more), would irritate Grewcock and get him binned again. I love watching that prick walk off.

First the Ashes now this.

You sir are a disgrace.

[Proinsias]

Not a good sign when your captain writes something like this just a few days before your next match:

We're not good enough and must get better bloody quickly

Martin Corry
Monday March 13, 2006
The Guardian

That performance was unacceptable. We were poor yesterday and every player knows it. It is just not good enough to make so many mistakes. When you put this result alongside our defeat by Scotland at Murrayfield a fortnight ago it feels even more galling. We have got to get better and bloody quickly, starting against Ireland at Twickenham.

Let's face it, we do not look much like 2007 World Cup contenders. That tournament is going to come around very swiftly and we have not got many games left in which to show our true colours. Last month we thought we were reasonably close to the sort of level we need to be at next year but suddenly we seem to be worryingly far away. We have got to hold our hands up and say that, at the moment, we are just not good enough.

There are not many positives you can cling to at low moments like this. At least this side are not shy of hard work and we have one more game in which to make partial amends. But we are all aware, barring a bizarre sequence of events, that the championship has gone. Thank goodness we have got one more chance to put things right. It will not redeem what has gone before but at least it gives us an opportunity to get a bit of pride back.

It will not be easy. Trust me, yesterday's events hurt like hell; this has to rank among my most disappointing experiences as a captain. We thought we were coming over with a realistic chance of winning but that was not the side that beat Wales and ground out a win against Italy. We have had two very poor games in succession and we are only performing in fits and starts. We need to start getting a lot more consistent and we have not got a lot of time to find solutions. We cannot look for excuses, even though there was gastro-enteritis in the camp before the game - it was a bug, not food poisoning - and Matt Dawson was particularly ill yesterday morning.

He could have thrown in the towel and said 'I'm not right' but he was desperate to play. I do not know where the bug came from but it was not the reason we lost. There were just too many basic mistakes; all of us on the field have to accept that. It is not down to the coaches; it is the players' fault.

It is no good trying to put a false gloss on it. Yes, we had an awful start. But let's be honest: we still had 79 minutes to put things right and we utterly failed to do so. We spoke beforehand about having a good first 20 minutes, shutting the crowd up and putting doubt into French minds. Had we done so, maybe things would have turned out very differently. Instead we did the exact opposite and they simply fed off our errors.

The only moment when we started to feel encouraged was just before half-time when we started getting penalties at the scrum and I felt they were tiring. There were gaps appearing all over the place but, even on the front foot, we could not capitalise. We would make half a break and then there would be a knock-on and suddenly it is scrum down, French ball. You just cannot do that and expect to win. They've got talented players who thrive off turnover ball and we gave them plenty of opportunities. They are not a great French side but in broken-field situations they are still very dangerous. Whichever way you look at it, we let ourselves and our country down.

[BangorFeen]

I've a lot of time for Corry to be honest. He was England's best player against Frnace. The way he went out to face the media on Sunday was admirable. A true captain

[pudgee]

First the Ashes now this.

You sir are a disgrace.
I believe the correct term is 'changed'.