- John Beattie
- 26 Jan 07, 06:00 PM
Glasgow - Are rugby fans more aggressive toward each other now? Especially this silly nonsense between small-minded Scots and equally small-minded English fans?
Do I sense that in some of the postings here, and do I see it and hear it at weekends?
Do we really dislike each other because someone, a long time ago, drew a line in the ground, called it a border, and persuaded us all that those across it were different?
When I was a kid I went to Murrayfield to watch the internationals. I think I can say, hand on heart, that I looked forward to the (then) Five Nations like an excited child anticipating a first bike for Christmas.
Continue reading "Do we need nationalistic rivalry?"
- Bruce Pope
- 26 Jan 07, 05:00 PM
Cardiff - Apparently, Gavin Henson has into the Wales number 15 shirt for the Six Nations opener against Ireland on Sunday week.
Wales have requested he has a run-out at full-back this weekend for the , as national coach Gareth Jenkins seems to be running out of backs.
Wings Shane Williams and Mark Jones are crocked, full-back Lee Byrne and centre Sonny Parker are very crocked, fellow midfield man Tom Shanklin is struggling with a thigh strain, while hanging over him.
I don't think full-back is Henson's ideal position, especially if you look back at the 2005 vintage at inside centre which, in harness with Shanklin, was so integral to .
Continue reading "Will Henson get his groove back?"
- Jim Stokes
- 26 Jan 07, 03:34 PM
Belfast - The rugby posts are up at Croke Park … but nobody has seen them yet, except the players of course.
The general public are being kept in the dark until the gates of the Gaelic Athletic Association's 83,000 capacity emporium in the suburbs of north Dublin are opened for the visit of on 11 February.
It has been a bit of an emotional roller-coaster ride for the GAA and one can understand their nervousness after 123 years preserving and cultivating national pastimes with Croke Park the citadel. One may wonder today as to what constitutes a national past time in Ireland, but I won’t go into that!
Continue reading "Stoker from Croker"
- Claire Stocks
- 26 Jan 07, 01:01 PM
London - Folks, if you are out and about with a digital camera or camera phone this weekend, you may want to enter our to win tickets to Six Nations games.
First up, are tickets to the England v Scotland opener at Twickenham (3 Feb KO 1600 GMT) and also Sunday's sizzler which pitches Wales versus Ireland (KO 1500 GMT).
Get your entries in by midnight on Tuesday 30th - for inspiration.
We will be running our competition throughout this year's tournament.
- Martin Conaghan - Â鶹Éç Scotland Sport journalist
- 26 Jan 07, 09:06 AM
I work as a producer on Â鶹Éç Sport's website in Glasgow. I have to admit my main passion is Scottish football, but I also have a big interest in blogging.
So I'll be approaching this year's Six Nations from the perspective of an armchair spectator who can't tell the difference between a fly-half and drop-kick...
Outside of the Â鶹Éç, I spend far too much time on the internet, usually searching for obscure websites and seeking out absurd facts, so expect some rugby ephemera in the coming weeks.
I'm also going to side with the bookies for my championship tip, and anger my fellow countrymen and colleagues by picking Ireland for the trophy.
- Dewi Hughes - Â鶹Éç Wales Sport journalist
- 26 Jan 07, 08:54 AM
Having endured a five-year winless streak with , rugby union has never really brought me much happiness.
My losing aura obviously rubbed off on the Wales national team too, as the infamous on my 12th birthday in 1988 was the first international I attended.
Since then, I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen Wales win - so it was an easy choice to join the two seasons ago rather risk spoiling the hopes of a nation by going to the stadium.
However, the sport has given the most bizarre experience of my journalism career to date… sitting with some of Wales' finest rugby hacks listening to Mike Ruddock going through his full repertoire of Beatles hits on guitar!
I got my taste of journalism with a short stint with the , (covering my beloved Bangor City FC) before then making a potentially hazardous switch to Caernarfon to join the .
I joined the Â鶹Éç Sport website in Cardiff in 2000 and have been writing on all aspects of Welsh sport ever since.
- Rob Hodgetts
- 26 Jan 07, 08:46 AM
London - Ok, so who fancies a gentle Friday warm-up argument then? You know, just to get the banter fine-tuned for the weekend.
England coach Brian Ashton names his starting XV on Monday for the Scotland opener, and it seems highly likely that will be named to start at inside centre. Inadvertently, I've found myself quite excited about this.
But I don't want to turn this into a Farrell debate, more a general, philosophical head-scratch on the England backline.
Continue reading "Backs to basics for England"
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Wales 27-18 England
