Six Nations : Round 1

The most prestigious rugby tournament for the northern atmosphere has started last saturday. Six european countries will battle out to become the best team of the northern region. I managed to watch all of the matches this weekend and i must say that this time around, it's really exciting to watch the game, because there's not much kicking in the game, unlike the world cup where all the teams were playing the kicking game... which i find quite boring. they all played a high-paced, skilled physical game which was what rugby is all about. it's all about your skills.





last saturday, France met Scotland at Stade De france, England versus wales in the millenium stadium in cardiff and Ireland fought with Italy in a stadium somewhere in Italy. I watched france beat scotland 16-9. Both teams were levelled at 9-9, not until the very last minute when france scored a try and a conversion. i was really impressed with the scots fighting spirit! they really fight like there;s no tomorrow, kinda reminded me of the movie braveheart. However, i don't think the french were playing like their normal game. they seems to be more laidback and defended most of the time. they saved their star players for the last minute and it worked! Frederick Michalak is so awesome..

the next game... england versus wales ended up with the welsh having their first victory on home soil over england in 12 years (9-11).. I didn't really watch the whole match as i didn't know they have delayed telecast for the match. But england's defeat didn't came as a shock as they were not really on form, not since winning the world cup. it's their 7th defeats in 12 matches since the world cup. anyway, wales is a very strong team, so, it's not so bad la considering that u just lost 3 points to the welsh.

the last game, Italy vs Ireland (17-28): former whipping-boys (italy) gave a big fight with ireland eventhough everyone was expecting the irish to not have any problems finishing off italy. I was really impressed with the way italy played. they were fast and played with high skills and tactics. they improved tremendously this time, giving ireland a real headache. they almost won the match if not for a lousy kicker and few fumbles here and there. in the end, the more experienced team won at a price of loosing their most influential player, the "jonah lomu" of the irish rugby, that is Brian O Driscoll. O driscoll suffered a hamstring injury and will probably be out of the 2nd round.

the 2nd round will be held next weekend. wales will travel to flamino stadium in italy, Ireland meet scotland at murrayfield and france versus england in twickenham. The most interesting match will definitely between england and france. both teams are my favourites, but i'd like to see france win coz england have allready won the world cup... so, kasi can la kat france pulak!