MARLER ESCAPES PUNISHMENT

Wow not long after Browngate where Mike Brown escaped punishment for kicking Connor Murray in the face, now we have Joe Marler "getting away with it" as James once sang. Even Joe must have thought that he would struggle to survive both a punch on Evans and the gypsy jibe on Samson Lee. But the Six Nations Disciplinary Committee cleared him of all charges so his only sanction is England moving him to the bench, and that is for tactical game plan reasons only. In fact, Eddie " Win at all costs" Jones went on the offensive yesterday claiming Wales were trying to derail his Grand Slam plans when they merely expressed surprise at the surprising decision. If Joe "Teflon" Marler scores the winning try tomorrow to secure the Grand Slam then eyebrows will be raised and bottoms squirmed from World Rugby to the RFU.

PLAYER NEEDS 11 STITCHES IN APPENDAGE INJURY

A rugby league player says his appendage was nearly torn off in a game last month. Haydn Peacock suffered the partial dismemberment while playing for French team AS Carcassonne last month. The intimate injury happened when a player from St Esteve Catalans Dragons grabbed his groin. Haydn needed 11 stitches, which is quite impressive.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/35801847/rugby-players-penis-almost-torn-off-in-tackle

Ouch...

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ENGLAND AT U20 LEVEL?

Having discussed the damaging impact of increasing English and French club money on the international game, it is worth a look at the U20 Six Nations table after four weeks. Unlike last year, when England followed up their U20 RWC victory with the Six Nations Championship, Wales sit on top, having won 4 from 4, France are second, having won 3 and lost just one game, Scotland and Ireland are next with 2 wins, 2 losses followed by England and Italy propping up the table with only 1 win and zero wins respectively. England have had a dreadful season, losing to Scotland for the first time at this level, and also conceding 40 points to Wales, the first time they have lost to Wales in England. I am not sure whether you can blame the structure, as it was good enough for a clean sweep last season, or the coaching team, although there are changes afoot. Some blame the fact that despite fewer professional clubs in the Celtic nations, the lack of foreign stars in the Pro 12, allows U20 players to get more game time at a higher level, whereas in England a lot of them get farmed out on loan to Championship clubs like Bedford and Jersey. It maybe that last year's crop were golden, which will benefit England's adult team over the next few years, but, with the system & resources (especially playing numbers) that England have, you don't really expect them to have this problem.

England, jubilant after last year's U20 Six Nations victory

SIX NATIONS REVIEW WEEK 4: ENGLAND WIN WITH WEEK TO SPARE

England won the Six Nations 2016 yesterday, without having to play their last match next Saturday against France. Following their close win on Saturday against Wales, which won them the Triple Crown, and Scotland's impressive victory yesterday against the French, nobody can now overhaul England's current points total of 8. They therefore have just the Grand Slam to go for, a feat they last achieved in 2003.

Shouldn't Dylan be holding the trophy Chris?

England's performance in the first half against Wales was so dominant that they should have been further ahead on the scoreboard than 16-0 at halfway, having has two tries disallowed by the ref. As it was, even with a Wales chargedown try against the run of play early in the second half, the scoreline of 25-7 looked definitive until Wales staged a late comeback, scoring two tries whilst Dan Cole was in the bin. Whilst, the first half was all England, who dominated the Welsh in all areas - scrums, line outs, contact area, etc, the second half belonged to Mr Joubert, making his first appearance on UK soil since, well, you know what. He looked nervous all day and understandably overused the TMO, which didn't allow the game to flow at all. He also failed to manage the scrum properly. I have never seen a scrum wheel so often beyond 360 degrees without penalty (to either side), with the ref just saying "ball out". It was a mess, and England benefited from this free for all in the second half, when Wales started to gain dominance up front, and Cole & Marler disrupted illegally 3-4 times in a row without a card being shown. Cole was eventually binned late on, resulting in the late Wales tries when England only had 14 on the pitch, but he should have gone earlier. The Welsh bench surprisingly had more of an impact than their English counterparts, with Tipuric and Charteris especially effective in the last 15 mins. Many thought that North offloaded before hitting touch after Tuilagi's great tackle on the whistle, and that play should have been allowed to continue, but touch judge raised his flag, so Mr Joubert had no option. There were two class moments, worth the £90 ticket price alone, the first being Itoje's break and pass for Watson's try (he looks a great prospect), and the second, Jonathan Davies' try scoring pass for George North (although his miss pass at the end of the game to put North away again was almost as good).

England deserved the victory and the Championship, with their forwards dominating every other team, and Farrell kicking everything (reminds you of Jonny). They also managed to gain quick ball (unlike in the RWC) and allowed the likes of Watson, Brown and Joseph to show what they are capable of given the ball in space. However, having only beaten Scotland by 6 points, Ireland by 11 points and Wales by 4 points, they still remain work in progress and messrs. Hansen and Cheika will not be quaking in their boots. Only a convincing win in Paris will start to gain the attention of the Southern Hemisphere.