Mama Mia!
How low can France go? Only two last minute refereeing decisions have given them any points so far in the Championship. A technical “No Try” against Scotland and a charge down of Italy’s last minute penalty, which went unnoticed by the referee and TMO, have gifted them a win and a draw. Shorn of talisman Dupont (who was busy scoring tries in Vancouver against the Irish 7s) and currently Gregory Alldritt through injury, they are a shadow of their World Cup selves. Playing away in Cardiff next time, Wales must fancy their chances.
A smaller than usual contingent of travelling Welsh fans did their best with their rendition of Land of my Fathers at Lansdowne Road on Saturday, but ultimately had little to sing about as their lads put up a valiant defense against a clinical Ireland. Farrell’s lads will be looking forward to getting a job done in Twickenham in 2 weeks, can Steve Borthwick’s troop put it up to them?
Scotland, but for that late lamented try against France, could have been looking at a Grand Slam in Dublin on the final weekend, especially with a fit again Blair Kinghorn filling out their back 3. Can Italy pick themselves up and surprise the Scots in Rome?
So close and yet so far
Weekend Winners
This weekend’s Mercury Engineering’s Brightest Spark Award goes to Ruan Mare with an impressive 33 points.
“This is brilliant, you can win prizes?” said an astonished Mare from his workstation in Sandyford. “I heard there was a Soldering and Crimping course on offer, can you put me down for that?”
| Weekend Leaders | ||
| 1 | Ruan Mare | 33 |
| 2 | Aengus D’Arcy | 23 |
| 3 | Colin O’Riordan | 20 |
| 4 | Alan O Brien | 19 |
| 5 | Natasha Gow | 19 |
| 6 | Gerry O’Reilly | 18 |
| 7 | Kieran Kelly | 18 |
| 8 | Sean Corrigan | 18 |
| 9 | Siobhan Scully | 17 |
| 10 | Brendan Boyle | 16 |
| 11 | Joe Leddin | 16 |
| 12 | Neil V | 16 |
France/Italy’s nil point game stirred up the scoring, with several old timers rising up the table. “I don’t think I’ve ever been in a top 10 at any stage under any condition, so I’m delighted with that” said Brendan Boyle, graphic design consultant to the stars. ” I suspect I may have peaked though”.
Dornan Engineering’s Top Woman Award goes to Natasha Gow, who scored a neat 19 points. “I don’t want any sort of engineering course thanks very much, I’ll just take the money” said Gow.
Team Performance
The Tavira Two continue to top the table in the team event – worth €500.
“Early days yet” said team captain Tom Dillon. “Its all about wining the collisions and getting go forward ball. Something like that anyway.”
| Team | Score |
| Tavira 2 | 47.0 |
| Williamsville | 43.5 |
| McNabbed | 36.5 |
| Reynolds Number | 28.7 |
| Rum Pointless | 27.0 |
| Busted flush | 19.0 |
| LA Rockets | 10.8 |
| Kennad | 10.0 |
| Duffy | 7.8 |
| JJ Bowles on tour | 2.8 |
| WalMarDun | 1.5 |
| Wrong Direction | -5.0 |
| Malahidians | -5.3 |
| Jascom | -5.7 |
| Thacks | -8.0 |
| Brendans Bombers | -10.7 |
| Leinster Ladyboys | -13.0 |
| Moor Hausen | -26.5 |
| Connolly Clan | -31.7 |
| Obyrne Orbits | -40.5 |
| Kaned | -55.0 |
Williamsville are in close contention, with McNabbed, Reynolds Number and Rum Pointless chasing hard.
