Rugby Union

Finals all progressing nicely here. Gonna be fun this weekend, enjoy your rugby!

French rugby the force to beat in Europe now. The new summer championship is gonna be juicy for rugby fans next month!

Bloody hell, a shock to read this. He didn't look that old! He'll be greatly remembered in Scotland at least, and Tom English with a very nice piece about him here

FORWARDS

LH Prop:

• Rhys Barratt*

• Rhys Carre

• Nicky Smith

• Gareth Thomas

Hooker:

• Liam Belcher

• Ryan Elias

• Dewi Lake

• Evan Lloyd

TH Prop:

• Kerion Assiratti

• Dillon Lewis

• Sam Wainwright

• Ben Warren*

Second Row:

• Adam Beard

• Ben Carter

• Dafydd Jenkins

• Freddie Thomas

• Teddy Williams

Back Row:

• James Botham

• Olly Cracknell

• Kane James*

• Harrison Keddie*

• Alex Mann

• Jac Morgan

• Tommy Reffell

• Aaron Wainwright

Utility forward:

• Taine Plumtree

• Ryan Woodman*

BACKS

Scrum Half

• Ellis Bevan

• Kieran Hardy

• Reuben Morgan-Williams

• Tomos Williams

Fly Half

• Sam Costelow

• Dan Edwards

• Jarrod Evans

Centre

• Bryn Bradley*

• Joe Hawkins

• Louie Hennessey

• Eddie James

• Max Llewellyn

• Joe Roberts

• Ben Thomas

Wing

• Josh Adams

• Mason Grady

• Gabriel Hamer-Webb

• Ellis Mee

• Tom Rogers

Fullback

• Blair Murray

• Louis Rees-Zammit

Posting this for the headline alone, enjoy!

Yesterday was the annual Blood, Sweat, and Beers tourney, a round-robin tournament between the D3 teams of Rocky Mountain Rugby. The good guys (Boulder RFC) won with a record of 2 wins, 1 draw. Post-tourney activities included a kangaroo court and attempting to drink beer out of the trophy.

Shout out to the Littleton Scots for being great hosts!

Lotsa tries at the moment, come learn the reason why! (I thank the 50:22 rule mostly - forces the back three to cover more ground and therefore more gaps in the front line for breaks)

The women are under way for sure. France thumping Italy, and England thrashing Ireland. So not great surprises, but this was a thriller, worth watching the highlights at least!

A good read here about the nature of professional rugby union. Who is it for? What do punters want to see?

I don't tend to watch the Women's game enough, but this was a nice read. I'll be checking out the Scotland side at least this w6n - which is less than a week away!

He was very good. Feels a distant memory now, but the women's 6 nations is right around the corner

Atmosphere is good. Segregation is bad. Fuck away ends!

I'd love to see this, never mind North America, Los Pumas have earned it

Well, fuck. Monday and still feeling a bit miffed at this one. That's why we love the six nations though, no other tournament comes close

That's right ladies and gentleman, the time is nearly upon us. The time of reckoning, of glory, of triumph, and defeat. Tomorrow we crown our 2026 Men's 6 Nations winner. And with the table being tight this year we have 3 contenders, each with a different route.

First we have France, topping table with 16 points, topping the table on points difference. Head to head results don't matter, PD is the first tie breaker, then tries scored. Their mission is clear: beat England. If Scotland pick up a winning bonus point victory earlier, they also must. The PD isn't likely to affect things. So win, preferably a BP win

Second we have Scotland, also on 16 points, but a PD of -58 to France. A win will put them top of the table first match, they then need England to win. A tall order, and many Scots will feel robbed after winning 4 matches, and beating France if that happens. A bonus point win will force France to seek out a BP win themselves. But, Ireland are on a 12 match winning streak. It's in Dublin. And Ireland are also technically still in this

Ireland then need a win, to put them on 18/19 point finish. Meaning they then need England to beat France also. If they don't get the BP then France can win with a double BP loss even. If Ireland do get a BP, then France must win

And then there is the other trophy to be awarded. 🥄🥄🥄

If Wales win with a BP they are then on 6 pts matching England currently. However their points difference is actually 100 today, so Wales need to win by 50 and England lose by 50. I could see France storming it, and England bottling it. But Italy aren't rolling over for 50. Meaning Wales are all but assured the spoon already

There also exists Italies highest ever finish possibly. If they BP win, they finish on 14, same as Ireland today, and so if Scotland smash Ireland, and Italy smash Wales. Points difference means 3rd is a possibility, but it does take fairly big wins both ways.

So there we have it! Scotland in with a real chance this weekend for the first time ever. Ireland still in it. Both needing then England to do the business. France in the driving seat. A growing Welsh team taking on an ascendant Italy. All to play for, I can't wait.

As always, predictions, reactions, and shitposts all appreciated

Some Le Crunch preview for us today. And as a Scot, if we somehow overturn Ireland on Saturday - my English side will be actually acknowledged for a change.

But still not singing Swing Low!

And if not, come Wales, and England for the spoon!

Not long to wait now. All three matches looking excellent!

Ireland won't just bow down. And England haven't looked capable of taking on France. But damn do I want to see next Saturday already!

Ooh, a conundrum here: are England disrespecting Italy or not? 9 is a masive amount suggesting England got it wrong for 3 rounds essentially. But England also have a habit of resting plenty for this fixture. But we just had a rest week

Either way, I hope Italy give a good game. I-tal-ia!

Will add more later. Friday night kick off has caught me short! Reactions, predictions, and shitposts all appreciated

Edit: more!

Friday night we saw Wales put up a physical and skilled affair vs Ireland, but fall short still. Their hunt goes on, the wooden spoon battle next week sure to now be a doozy. But today we see Scotland take on France, two of the best broken field playing teams in the world in a great weather Edinburgh battling for the championship - cannot wait! Then this evening we get Italy vs England. And this is a definite banana skin for England with an ascendant Italy genuinely having a shot at a misfiring English side with widescale changes. Expect drama. Expect tries. Expect cards, handbags, and ropey TMO calls!

All part of the majesty that is the greatest championship in the world: Six Nations round 4

A day to go til 6n is back, and here's a good preview of the Scotland v Franve match. Cannot wait! Gonna do my kicktipp now

Strange for me, but we'll get used to it I'm sure. Wales alt should yellow though, more yellow needed

Big article for the rugby community here on a Monday. Moody was an animal around the pitch, let's see him doing all he can for MND too

The next two weeks would be a good time for the England players to do similar for their head coach.

Won't someone please think of the coaches! Italy vs England to be spicy next weekend

First weekend with no rest week, squad depth to be tested, injuries rates on the lower ranked to be keenly felt this weekend.

England vs Ireland first up, both on a win and a loss and both needing this to keep their championship hopes alive! Dublin will be buzzing, with Irish expectations that England are now vulberable, but for anyone who watched Squidge this week: England are far from it!

Then Wales vs Scotland for the Saturday evening match. And the smart money is on Scotland here, but Wales will have watched that Scotland v Italy match and will he targetting this match now. Wales haven't had a 6n win in years now, it has to happen at some stage, and Scotland's record in Cardiff is abysmal. Banana skin for Scotland for sure

Then we have France vs Italy and this should see France rotating and Italy looking to minimise championship points imo. Would be a high scoring affair I suspect, with both teams getting it wide and putting those backs in plenty, but the weather says otherwise! Bucketing it down in Paris, and how did Italy do in similar conditions 2 weeks ago? A close affair here, let's see if Italy can defy the pundits?

As always, pics, reactions, predictions all appreciated. And do your kicktipp!