A Win is a Win
The Welsh Dragon roared and gave the Irish travelling party the fright of its life. At some stage Wales will break their 15 match losing streak, but nobody want to be the team on the other side that day. Signs of recovery and green shoots from a very young Welsh team, but as far as Ireland is concerned, a win is a win is a win.
The Scottish thistle self flagellated in Twickenham, playing all the rugby, leaving kickable points behind and managing to lose by a single point. A frustrating trip home for the Scots, whilst Steve Borthwick got to smile again and could well be in the mix on the final day, albeit with a points difference mountain to climb.
France predictably dominated Italy, scoring a ridiculous number of tries at almost a point a minute. Italy got the backlash from France losing last time to England, but beware, they are not as bad a team as this looks.
New Leader
Big spreads can mean big swings, and swinging to the top of the table is Jennifer Millman, edging ahead of Midge McClernon and Andrew Callaghan.
“I suppose I’ve still not won anything?” queried Millman from her Tai Chi class. See below Jennifer.
| 1 | Jennifer Millman | 113 |
| 2 | Midge | 110 |
| 3 | Andrew Callaghan | 96 |
| 4 | Padraig Connell | 95 |
| 5 | Brian Williams | 94 |
| 6 | Des Reynolds | 94 |
| 7 | Shane Murphy | 94 |
| 8 | Brian Shalloe | 93 |
| 9 | Eoin Kelly | 93 |
| 10 | Johnnie Greene | 93 |
| 11 | Martin Doyle | 90 |
| 12 | Roso Keogan | 90 |
| 13 | Sean Mulhall | 90 |
Behind the leading trio follows Padraig Connell on 95, another long time entrant. “29 years? I must have been in it for at least 28” said Connell. “About time I won something”.
Prizes
This weekend we are pleased to present the Jones Group Welder of the Week Award for the best score of the weekend. This goes to Gary O’Keefe, engineer to the stars, with a very creditable 45 points.
“I’d given England a few too many points, and France not nearly enough, so delighted to get such a good score out of the weekend” said O’Keefe from underneath a datacentre. “Hope I can keep it going. I’m OK for welding courses by the way”.
| Weekend Leaders | ||
| 1 | Gary O’Keeffe | 45 |
| 2 | Seamus Reilly | 36 |
| 3 | Shane Minihane | 33 |
| 4 | Ciaran Finan | 30 |
| 5 | Padraig Connell | 30 |
| 6 | Eoin Kelly | 29 |
| 7 | Brian Williams | 28 |
| 8 | Edith Blennerhassett | 28 |
| 9 | Des Reynolds | 27 |
| 10 | Neil US Doyle | 27 |
The Designer Group Smart Operator Award goes to, well, nobody yet. Awarded for the best forecast of the Wales v Ireland game it is currently tied between Clive Reynolds, Dave O’Leary, Gary O’Keefe, Niall Durrad, Seamus Reilly, Shane McHale and Tim Mulcahy, who all scored a perfect 20
It will be decided next weekend by who gets Ireland v France the rightest.
The Chophouse Sandymount Special Award goes to Jennifer Millman for topping the table at this halfway point. Millman wins a voucher for dinner in the Chophouse in Sandymount.
“Really?” said Millman. “That sound very nice. I don’t have to wash up or anything do I?” No Jennifer, washing up is by others.
Team News
Worth reviewing the full team standings at this stage, its a tight run thing at the top.
| Team | Score |
| JJ Bowles | 77.8 |
| Team McNab | 74.5 |
| Something about Mary | 71.1 |
| Rock On | 62.3 |
| Leinster Lads | 58.8 |
| Williams Wolfpack | 58.6 |
| Tavira Two | 55.0 |
| B52s | 51.3 |
| Marchant Mayhem | 39.8 |
| Kenneda | 38.7 |
| Jascom | 38.5 |
| Reynolds Number | 18.3 |
| Project Control Freaks | 15.8 |
| Storm Kane | 14.7 |
| Scully Scrappers | 13.3 |
| Short & Sweet | -29.0 |
| The Macy Greys | -46.5 |
| Connolly Clan | -88.3 |
“I’m disgusted I was dropped this year” said Aongus D’Arcy, long time entrant who forgot to do it this year. “Looks like the lads are doing better without me” the former JJ Bowles team member added, not bitterly.
Together with Team McNab and Something About Mary its hard to see these three being caught by the chasing pack.
Next Weekend
Next 6 Nations weekend is in 2 weeks, when Ireland play France (+3), a match that could not be bigger for either side. Wales go to Murrayfield (+10) where no trophy is at stake but an enormous amount of pride is. England host Italy (+17) where the Azzurri will be looking to prove something. Your combined entries, averaged, in brackets.
In Remembrance
In what has been a very sad two weeks for many of our F6NF community, we have lost 4 previous members or close family thereof, and on behalf of all of us we’d like to pass on our condolences to the family and friends of Joan Lavery, Karen Scully, Conor Browne and Alva Fitzsimons.
May they rest in peace.
