Today I am starting the new Rugby Blog feature where I want to share with you blogs that I think are worth reading, the reasons why and whether they are good enough to subscribe to the RSS feed.

The first blog to kick off the series is The Welsh Rugby Blog.  This is a great site all-in-all and is run by a guy I know as rugbynick on twitter.  The best thing about the blog is that he is a genuine Rugby Union fan and always writes from the heart.

As I write this his latest post is about the Welsh rugby team vs Italy for 2009 6 Nations as Warren Gatland has announced today that he has cut 10 players from his team. Some are shocked by that and think the disruption is not a good thing for the team, some are saying that it is only Italy and Gatland is focusing on the upcoming Ireland match and some are pleased that they are building the experience of the Welsh Rugby Squad.

It is a great post because he puts a fair point across on his blog and it is relevant to what is happening today.

Another great feature of the blog is when he has a rant.  Just click on the rants category and you’ll see there are one or two which show the tourment of not just being a Welsh Rugby fan but a Rugby Fan in general.

Finally the blog covers many areas of the Welsh Rugby Team’s journey through the different Championships including the World Cup and Rugby 7’s. It also looks at the domestic League and the Heinekin Cup. So yes, as a Welsh Rugby Fan,  it is worth Subscribing to the RSS feed and getting every update in your feed reader so you can engage with another Rugby Fan and enter into a bit of Banter along the way.

So as a Rugby Blog, this is a deffinate Thumbs Up!

Wayne

Technorati Tags: 6 Nations Rugby, Rugby Blog, Rugby Squad

Well we have just finished round 3 of the RBS 6 Nations Rugby Championship and the competition now is between Ireland and Wales.  Their’s is the last match of the championship on Saturday 21st March at 5.30pm and it is looking to be a real showdown.

The 6 Nations is meant to be one of the best competitions in Rugby Union and following on from my previous update, here is my 30 second review of the games;

The first game this weekend was between Wales and France in Paris.  It was a bit of a ground breaker in that it was the first ever 6 Nations Rugby Match on a Friday.  This took some getting used to but as soon as it kicked off the time did not matter and it proved to be the best match of the weekend.

The 13 - 13 scoreline at half time was pretty fair but Wales needed to live up to their coaches hype from last week saying that Wales had such great balance in the team that they could grind out a victory if needed.  In the reality of the match it was France who had the players that were able to grind out the win with the likes of Chabal and the French Centre, whose name escapes me, putting in some massive hits.  France dominated the second half and the game finished 21 - 16 to France.  It was a great game to watch, being a neutral on this one, and the only place where we saw some promise for northern hemisphere rugby this weekend.  You can see the full match report on the bbc website 2009 Six Nations page.

The second game of the 6 Nations Rugby weekend came in the form of Scotland v Italy.  Scotland had lost the last couple of encounters and many were saying Frank Hadden’s job was on the line if they lost again.  Thankfully for him Scotland came out with the right attitude and took the game to Italy.  To be honest it was not as inspiring as the game the night before and both teams have a long way to go to be real contenders for the championship and should really be concentrating on the future making sure they bring on the young players so they are ready for a good run in the World Cup.

Apart from Hadden’s job being on the line this was seen as the wooden spoon decider which is why I was really surprised to read today that Hadden now believes Scotland are back in the race.  You can see that story and all the others from the weekend in the Rugby Squad chat room but for the Scotland v Italy match report go to the bbc’s 2009 Six Nations page. Scotland were victors 26 - 16.

The final 6 Nations Rugby Match was Ireland v England at Croke Park and to be honest it was on the same level as the Scotland v Italy match.  Now those who know me know that I am blindly passionate about Englands chances in every game they play and this game was no different.  I predicted England to win and believed that they were actually going to play well, sort out their discipline problem and surprise everyone.

I was wrong.  Yes I can see that they are playing safe rugby and stopping the opposition from scoring needed to be the first thing they had to address after the Autumn Internationals.  They have now done that reasonably well in the last two games but why are they having a such a problem with their discipline? I don’t get it.  These are professional players who play week in and week out for their club and don’t play like that.  It is ridiculous.  Vickery being carded was a rubbish decision but Danny Care.  My word, it would be a 2 hour rant if I started, but the guy is not up to playing International Rugby and thats that.  Haskell has said today that the players should be singled out and punished and in my opinion Care should be at the top of the list. Johnson also had a few things to say about the problem here.

Ireland were under par but the better team on the day and ran out 14 -13 winners.  The full match report can be seen on the bbc 2009 Six Nations page.

So there was only one game that would raise the eyebrows of our Southern Hemisphere friends this weekend and I don’t think South Africa are going to be worried about the Lions Tour either right now.  There are two weekends left and they all have to raise their game to be seen as having a chance of bringing home the William Webb Ellis Trophy after the next World Cup.

Would love to see your views on the weekend’s games.  Did I miss something or should I be right to be worried about the level the teams are playing at?

Wayne

PS: Don’t forget the Rugby Squad Room is updated daily with all the 6 Nations News.

Technorati Tags: 6 Nations Rugby, Rugby Squad

The second half of the RBS 6 Nations Rugby Championship kicks off later today and in honour of the Amazing players that are taking part I have created a dedicated mini site for each of the teams.

The video sites shows clips of recent games as well as some great historical moments in the Beautiful Game!  So get on over to your teams site and let the passion build as we enter another Awesome weekend of 6 Nations Rugby!

England Rugby Team

The England Rugby Team Video site shows some of the best moments from the 2002/3 season when England won the World Cup along with some great clips from recent 6 Nations Clashes.

Welsh Rugby Team

The Welsh Rugby Team are entering this years Championship as favourites and trying to gain back to back Grand Slams.  This dedicated Mini site shows some of their great Rugby moments including the amazing 70’s era.

France Rugby Team

The France Rugby Team Videos are amazing.  The typical French flair and extravagance along with the Official Video of “The Best of French Rugby Fights”

Ireland Rugby Team

The Ireland Rugby Team Videos will bring out the passion in our Irish friends.  The videos include The top 10 Irish Tries, several tribute videos and clips from some of the most successful games ever.

Scotland Rugby Team

This video site is dedicated to the Scotland Rugby Team and includes many great clips from the Awesome early 90’s, Emotional crowds singing the best Rugby Anthem ever, The Flower of Scotland, and many more.

Italy Rugby Team

This is the Italy Rugby Team Video site and it has many Great Videos on there including them starring in a Dolce Gabbana Advert to clips of their World Cup campaigns.

I hope you enjoy your trip down memory lane and I’ll see you the other side of the weekend after (prediction time!) a Welsh win in Paris, an English win in Ireland and an Italian win over Scotland, what do you think?

Either way have a great weekend and enjoy the Rugby

Wayne

Technorati Tags: 6 Nations Rugby, Rugby Squad, Rugby TV, YouTube 6 Nations Rugby Videos

Well the 6 Nations Rugby Union Championship is well underway and there have been several ups and downs even though we are only two weeks into the competition.

I have been twittering away and joining up with other rugby fans over on twitter, sharing all the news stories in the Rugby Squad Chat Room and enjoying this years 6 Nations more than ever.

In case you have missed anything and need to catch up, here is my review of the 6 Nations so far, in 30 seconds (ish)

There has been one great try from Harinordoquy in the French v Ireland game on the opening weekend, some stupid tackles by Scotland against Wales where the players only succeeded by knocking themselves out and England have gone from completely useless to showing some potential for the next World Cup.

The best game so far has to have been Ireland v France, I was on the edge of my seat and I’m not from either country.  Ireland then went out against the Italians and played like it was a warm up match allowing Italy to dictate the pace and spoil every ball they could.  Exactly what you would expect from the Italians, so well done to them.

France went on to play Scotland and the game was a competition to see which team could make the most mistakes, Scotland just won that area of the game and to be honest they might have won the whole thing if they could have just held onto the ball a bit more.

England played Italy to start and there were no surprises in that result, however the worst player selection ever took place by picking Bergamasco at scrum half which gifted England a couple of tries.  England then went onto play Wales and one player in particular decided to put his pants on the outside, play like Superman and pretty much stop the whole of the Welsh team in their tracks single handily.  Joe Worsley is certainly up there with the outstanding performances of the tournament so far.

Wales have been playing as expected and seem to be getting over their “oh sh*t, we’re favourites!” complex and have really stepped up to the mark.  Many people do have them down as favourites for the championship but my money is on Ireland.  There is something about them and the way O’Driscoll is playing, almost like a man on a mission to captain the Lions that makes me believe they will be at the top of the board at the end of this 6 Nations Rugby Competition.

So there you have it.  No 6 Nations matches this weekend which has given us a bit of time to catch up so we will be bringing you some Rugby Union Blogs and more videos in the Rugby TV section this week, while we kill a bit of time waiting for Wales to play France next Friday night, which by the way, is a particular strange time to play the game don’t you think?

For all the results so far see the bbc.co.uk website – Rugby Union results

For the world rankings of your team see the irb.com website – IRB World Rankings

Would love to hear your views on who will win and the competition so far, comment below and let’s see who votes with their heart or their head.  (If I was going with my heart it would most certainly be England!)

Wayne

Technorati Tags: 6 Nations Rugby, Rugby Squad

Go straight to the 6 Nations Rugby video mini site!

With the 6 Nations Rugby Championship starting tomorrow we have brought you the first of our “Rugby TV” posts.

We have compiled (from YouTube) all the best clips from the last few years of the 6 Nations and put them together on a video mini site for you.

There are some awesome videos on there, just follow this link to the 6 Nations Rugby video site and use the tags on the left to find the videos you want to see, then sit back  and enjoy the clips while you get ready for kick off!

Come on England! Who are you supporting?

Wayne

PS: Don’t forget to join me on twitter for Rugby news and banter, find me @Rugby_No6

Technorati Tags: 6 Nations Rugby, Free Videos to Watch, Rugby Squad, Rugby TV