Very Dull Weekend

What dull stuff was served up by the Home Nations in Saturday's matches. Ireland clinically finished off a toothless Welsh team whilst Scotland and England played out a very dull bore draw.

Ireland v Wales
Wales proved toothless in attack and defence against a solid Irish team at Croke Park. The Welsh side looked tired and several players should be dropped. You can't have 70% possession and get stuffed that badly. Sure - Byrne's yellow card was harsh but Wales conceded a penalty in their own 22m area a couple of minutes later which was a definite yellow. Lets look at the Welsh Pluses and Minuses:

Plus points:
Bradley Davies - growing in confidence match by match. Wales best ball carrier!
Gareth Delve - a good solid return to the shirt. Encouraging.
Jamie Roberts - his best performance this season. Several powerful runs.
Lee Byrne - I thought he had his best six nations performance whilst he was on the field. Solid kicking, took lots of high balls.

Minus points:
Line Out - what a shambles. Gone back 10 years
Defence - terrible. Weak tackling and poor positioning.
Martyn Williams - retire Martyn whilst we still remember the good times.
Stephen Jones - Surely we have a better fly half? Aimless kicking and unimaginative in attack.

For Ireland - O'Leary and O'Connell were supreme and completely outplayed the Welsh. Earls and Bowe do not have the dancing feet of the Welsh wingers but are strong and powerful in attack. Other than Delve, Ireland's back row had so much additional power it was embarrassing. You have to look at Wales and question how many would get in the Ireland team? Bradley Davies might shade O'Callaghan, Adam Jones over John Hayes. Roberts we know works well with O'Driscoll - so would replace D'Arcy but other than that no one good enough. Lots of rebuilding to do and it has to start with the coaches. Robyn McBride always struggled as Welsh hooker and the forwards aren't going anywhere right now. Some bravery required.
Wales still have to face Italy - thank god - its at home. Biggar in for Jones, Philips on bench at least although Richie Rees has done nothing wrong behind a beaten pack. I would stick with Delve, bring Ryan Jones back at 6, and blood Warburton at 7.

Scotland v England
A draw probably a fair result. Another poor English performance. Jonny had another lamentable game with the ball in hand and other than his goal kicking, he wouldn't make a 3rd XV. Care was much more solid but the English backs lack, pace, invention, and talent. Flutey has become invisible. Armitage runs from trouble, Monye is too stupid, Tait, too slow. England's front row handled the Scots well and had very strong 2nd row but the back row also very worrying. Haskell has gone backwards. Worsley offered nothing. A long hard lesson needs to be learned if England are to progress. Johnson seems to manage like an American Football coach. All set plays and game plans. Its not working and ends up as very dull stuff to watch.

For Scotland, a brave performance considering the small talent pool and injury ravaged squad. Barclay and Beattie were the pickof the forwards on display. Parks again very solid. But at the end of the day, it was dull turgid stuff turned out by both teams. The All Blacks will hardly be scared of facing any of these teams and the future for British Rugby looks bleak at the moment.

France v Italy
One sided rout as expected. France are a delight to watch after the turgid b**llocks served up by the home countries. Lets hope they win a grand slam. For Italy, they have a chance to win two matches by defeating the wounded dragon. In some ways that might be good for Wales and the tournament. Lets hope things get better next week - they can hardly get worse....