Week 4 – All Change

Real Rugby Weekend

There was nothing wishy washy about this weekend’s matches, no boring kicking games, no need for referees to spice things up.  It was the real thing, with both of the two biggest playing nations reasserting themselves.

Italy finally followed through with a brave victory against Scotland in Rome, fighting back all the way from going two tries down early on to hold onto a 2 point win.  They have progressed steadily since last year, and Rome will no longer be the safe 5 pointer to go to that it has been.  Enjoy your pre-match Paddy’s day pizza or pasta next year, but expect some indigestion.

The annual clash of old enemies England and Ireland lived up to more than expectation, England shooting out of the blocks and harassing Ireland in a way no-one has been able to all season.  Their blitz defence upset Ireland’s rhythm, who apart from a couple of try breaks could not settle.  No quarter given or asked for, a real test match ensued, England deserving their victory.

In Cardiff the next day the Welsh hung on until around the 60 minute mark, when the French bench overpowered the youth of Wales with some devastating moves, despite brave defence by the boys in red.

Move of the Championship, even though it didn’t quite lead to a try, had to be Nolann Le Garrec’s 40 m reverse pass.  Move over Antoine.

Top of the Heap

More importantly, who has taken the lead at the top of the F6NF?  Its none other than Damien Coffey on 92 points, well know project manager of anything from Datacentres to Irish Pubs.

“These are very giddy heights” said a shocked Coffey from his Winnebago in Westport.  “We’re after coming away for a few days to recover from the shock.  I don’t suppose there’s a prize?”

Dominic O’Kelly, a seasoned campaigner, is chasing hard on 85, with very surprisingly Eifion Lewis on 83.

“I suppose its taken me about 10 years to start having more reasonable expectations of Wales.  They can’t win the Grand Slam every year, old Gats is getting a bit long in the tooth for that, so I’ve played down my occasional flashes of optimism and reverted to my more usual pessimistic self” said Lewis from his converted Miner’s hut in the valleys.  “Although I do have Wales to beat Italy next week which may be stretching things a bit”

Points make Prizes

The winner of the Linesight Fiendishly Clever Award goes this week to Nigel Sherlock for scoring the weekend’s top mark, with 48 points.

“Delighted” said Sherlock when doorstepped by the F6NF’s reporter.  “I knew I has a good weekend in me, I just need to work on my consistency”

Sherlock wins a photovoltaic powered calculator which serves as an emergency battery backup for his laptop, or alternatively €100 in hard cash.

Close on his heels was John “No Cigar” Kelly, who doesn’t mind as being from Cork he’s busy celebrating wining an Oscar anyway.

The Hanley Pepper Structurally Sound Award goes to Neil Stone-Wigg, who scored a perfect 20 for the England v Ireland match.

“I put emotion to one side and reckoned that England couldn’t be bad all season, and would show up against Ireland” said Stone-Wigg from his jacuzzi.

He wins a free structural survey of his primary residence to help point out what work needs doing that he wasn’t aware of until now.

Team Table

The team award, of €500, is drawing close, and disrupters this week are Rum Pointless, who have knocked the Tavira Two off the top spot.

“Everyone knows that Canadians know more about this game than those guys from Limerick” said softly spoken John McCann from his lilo in the Cayman Islands.  “Would you be able to pay my winnings into my offshore account?”

Its not over yet though, with Williamsville, masterminded by Matt Williams, hot on their heels.

Next Weekend

So we move to the final weekend, with a day of fascinating games to look forward to next Saturday.  We’ve had some violent changes in position this year, so anything could happen.  Tune in again next week to see who become the F6NF Champion 2024.