The Official *England to Grand Slam Glory 2013* Thread

[Duty281]

First topic message reminder :

“It is not enough that we do our best; sometimes we must do what is required.”
Winston Churchill

In just over 4 weeks, Stuart Lancaster's England will start their quest for Grand Slam glory. It has to be said that this is England's best chance since 2003 for a Grand Slam. Really, for the Northern Hemisphere's biggest Rugby nation not to have clinched a Grand Slam for 10 years is a poor return. That will surely change on the 16th March.

“My tastes are simple: I am easily satisfied with the best.”
Winston Churchill

This amount of optimism stems from a hugely encouraging 2012 for the English rugby team. 4 wins out of 5 in last year's Six Nations with a fairly new team, then a character-building tour to South Africa, running South Africa and Australia close at the home of Rugby, before ending the year by beating the World Champions and running in 3 tries against them. 2013 will be the year that it all comes together for England.

"The English have an extraordinary ability for flying into a great calm."
Alexander Woollcott

2013 for England will start with a game home to Scotland. Unless there's a downpour, Scotland have little hope. Expect England to rack up 25+ points and a multitude of tries against inferior opposition.

"Let not England forget her precedence of teaching nations how to live."
John Milton

Then, away to Ireland. Often, the Irish are seen as a bogey team for England but let's be rational. England are better in every department as they proved in 2012. I'll be looking for a very very good result from England in this game.

"You must hate a Frenchman as you do the devil."
Lord Nelson

The third game will be the biggest of the lot. Home to the French at Twickenham. Beaten by England in Paris in 2012, France will be beaten by England in London in 2013. No mistake though, this game will be the toughest challenge that England will face in the 2013 Six Nations. I expect England to just about edge out the French.

"We few. We happy few. We band of brothers."
William Shakespeare

On the 10th March, England will be on the home straight. Home to Italy, mere cannon fodder against the mighty mighty England. 4 wins out of 4, Grand Slam in sight.

"Ever the faith endures, England, my England."
W.E. Henley

The crowning glory will be against England's little brother, Wales. No doubt they'll be up for this game, they love a game against their bigger brother and the chance to upset the odds. What is it Wales, 7 losses out of 7 since last year's Grand Slam? After a tough 20 minutes, England's superiority and class will show. Grand Slam clinched.

“You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.”
Winston Churchill

[disneychilly]

Oakey I just rebutted Morgan's comment about him mentioning the norovirus as a reason England won so I'm not sure where you're coming from regarding trying to diminish England's performance.

England's level of performance doesn't vary as much as France's we all know that. I also didn't mean France would attain that level of play against England-I meant against any team in the 6N. Actually any team in general. You'll see that in the summer I reckon. England doesn't have the peaks and troughs France do and what I said was no means a slight on the team. However of course my perspective is one of a New Zealand who sees France reach more peaks against us than England does but also some quite embarrassing troughs. Playing England rarely turns into a romp.

[mystiroakey]

france are just more inconsitant than england- but they are no enigma IMO..

Just another side to us.. But then i say that as an england fan.. And i dont see france as a massive threat when we are playing well. I see wales,ireland and even scotland as more of an eginma to us...

[Luckless Pedestrian]

Ireland have France and England in Dublin. It could be their year.

[mystiroakey]

Ireland are the dark horses for me..

Under the radar but slowly playing better stuff

[gregortree]

Regarding the OP & the subsequent arguments, I think I'll place my GS Tshirts order now.
Bulk discount and early booker discounts available, so how many of us shall I put down for the order Qty ? We can all wear them to the Millenium for the 'final'.

[Luckless Pedestrian]

We'll roll out the red carpet for you, Gregor. And wave palm leaves.

[gregortree]

Thank you Luckless, can you get me a pair of tickets ?
There'll be a pint in it on me, so you have something to cry in.

(and where is the tongue in cheek icon when you need it ? )

[RubyGuby]

The Official *England to Grand Slam Glory 2012* Thread
by Duty281 on Mon 30 Jan 2012 - 21:41

.First topic message reminder :


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Suck in some of that English patriotism lads, because this brave, new and inventful England will win us our first Grand Slam since '03!

First game on Saturday is the Scots. Negative, boring Scotland. It doesn't look like any rain will be coming so we English will score tries to our hearts content. Easy 15 point win.

After that, a trip to Rome to take on Italy. Sure this is difficult if you're the French, but not if your England. Speaking of which, an easy 30+ point win will be recorded here.

Then the Welsh. Those cocky, overrated Welsh. A game on England's green and pleasant land will sort them out, just like last time. They'll have their excuses ready I'm sure (It wasn't a sending-off Ref!) but ultimately, another easy win for the brave English.

Then away to France. Ignore the loss at the last World Cup with an ageing squad, this England team are the real deal. Instead, think of Agincourt and Waterloo. When we stand tall, we'll make them regret the day that they took on England! 4/4.

Then the last leg of the trip. Home to the Irish on St. Patrick's Day. Doesn't mean a thing in England. It'll be close but the English will triumph as we so often do.

2012 Grand Slam achieved and a new dawn for English Rugby.


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Duty281


Posts: 3047
Join date: 2011-06-06
Location: England's Green and Pleasant Land

[Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler]

France may have a higher rating in the IRB rankings but that system has a 3 point weighting for home advantage, that makes England its "favourites" at home.
Indeed in both of their away fixtures they outrank their opponents by more than 3 points.
So if we are going by the rankings then England would be favourites in each of their games.

They certainly go in as one of the top seeds. But then its been pretty rare for the bookies favourite to win the title in recent years.

[dragonbreath]

france are just more inconsitant than england- but they are no enigma IMO..

Just another side to us.. But then i say that as an england fan.. And i dont see france as a massive threat when we are playing well. I see wales,ireland and even scotland as more of an eginma to us...

On what basis do you claim France to be inconsistant. Look at their record for Gods sake. Complete tosh. France at their worst are most often better than the rest of NH

[mystiroakey]

Not sure what to say tbh..

firstly no frances worst is allways worse than englands level and secondly yes i cant repeat what i am saying enough times. france are an inconsitant team,. However the point i made was that france are more inconsitant than england.. which i stand by and i would guess everyone else would as well

[dragonbreath]

if england play the way they can i agree with Duty- france will be second best,..

The problem is they play like that for one game every two years. Lancaster is a conservative coach and England will return to a pragmatic boring game plan.

[mystiroakey]

nah england have just moved on- we have clearly being playing each game as it comes.. and each situation,,

look at ireland last year.. we worked out we had dominance in the scrum and we pummled them with it.

look at the kiwi game.. we kept it tight and kicked well. But as soon as NZ went millitant on us- we hit em back in the same way.,.

SL is a clever man Dragon- its horses for courses..

[dragonbreath]

Not sure what to say tbh..

firstly no frances worst is allways worse than englands level and secondly yes i cant repeat what i am saying enough times. france are an inconsitant team,. However the point i made was that france are more inconsitant than england.. which i stand by and i would guess everyone else would as well

Repeating an inaccuracy does not prove your point. I bet you're a really loud shouter as well. Repitition and shouting, always the best way to prove a point.

[Luckless Pedestrian]

Glass houses, Dragonbreath. Gatland's (and thus Howley's) gameplan is hardly a thrill a minute.

[mystiroakey]

what the heck are you talking about dude!!

[tatterd]

"Then the Welsh. Those cocky, overrated Welsh. A game on England's green and pleasant land will sort them out, just like last time. They'll have their excuses ready I'm sure (It wasn't a sending-off Ref!) but ultimately, another easy win for the brave English"

Nicely dug out quote there from the OP's similarly themed thread from last year. His powers of Mystic Meg like prediction then were as appalling as they are now

[mystiroakey]

tattered duty does one of these threads for all sports in every comp.. He rarely gets it right. But he knows that..

[dragonbreath]

what the heck are you talking about dude!!

You're struggling so I will try and make it simple. France are not more inconsistant than England and you repeating it does not make it true, no matter how highly you value your own opinion. In the past 10 years France have won the Six Nations 5 times to England's 2. Is that simple enough for you?

[mystiroakey]

Dragon just relax yourself.

But no your completly wrong.. You have missed the point of the post and are snapping like a little frightened dog.

Now sit ...

[mystiroakey]

But i will try and explain. God knows you need that i suppose.

being consitent doesnt mean consistently good..
You can be consistantly average, you can be consistently bad.. Untill you understand what consitent means we are not gonna get anywhere. Frances performances levels are more inconsistent than englands.. Hopefully that may help ya.

[Effervescing Elephant]

I don't know what consitant means. I'm not entirely sure it exists to be honest.

[mystiroakey]

apoligies for the speliing mistakes Elephant

[Effervescing Elephant]

Pay me no heed Mystir, it just tickled me a bit. Childish sense of humour you see.

[mystiroakey]

No Dramas....

[AlastairW]

His powers of Mystic Meg like prediction then were as appalling as they are now

Lets face it, if you're comparing anything to Septic Peg's powers of prediction, that ain't a great or high bench mark!

[gregortree]

Mystir managed 3 different spellings in the one post.... I suspect he was gunning for the record.

I may need to start a special thread.
Here are some basic favourites of mine:

Won One - feel free to interchange at will.
or
Two, To, Too - many posters have no clue which is the correct one in the context.

Flair, Flare, FGS look them up in the OED.

Loose and Lose - ditto - Clue - one is a forward, the other a match outcome, only one rhymes with Moose

[mystiroakey]

Dude I went back to change the spelling 3 times!! and still messed it up!!!

[gregortree]

[Luckless Pedestrian]

I may need to start a special thread.
Here are some basic favourites of mine:

Won One - feel free to interchange at will.
or
Two, To, Too - many posters have no clue which is the correct one in the context.

Flair, Flare, FGS look them up in the OED.

Loose and Lose - ditto - Clue - one is a forward, the other a match outcome, only one rhymes with Moose

I swear I've seen the name Lee Bryne at least twice as often as I've seen the name Lee Byrne.

[gregortree]

ok, well typos are frogiveable

[Effervescing Elephant]

Dude I went back to change the spelling 3 times!! and still messed it up!!!

[dragonbreath]

But i will try and explain. God knows you need that i suppose.

being consitent doesnt mean consistently good..
You can be consistantly average, you can be consistently bad.. Untill you understand what consitent means we are not gonna get anywhere. Frances performances levels are more inconsistent than englands.. Hopefully that may help ya.

OK mate I understand now. You are either completely peed or stoned. Good for you wish I was, but I think you should perhaps have a rest because you are just writing jibberish.

[mystiroakey]

look dude.. bascially we were talking about highs and lows -not which team had the better 6nations record..

that has no bearing at all. Look at wales 3 gs's and loads of 4ths!!

very inconsitant . However france are inconsitant on another level- they are inconsitant game to game.. They can be a walk over or tough to beat. England on the other hand are normally allways tough to beat and not so many highs or lows recently..

but come here

[Duty281]

tattered duty does one of these threads for all sports in every comp.. He rarely gets it right. But he knows that..

I don't think I've ever got it right in fairness This year is different though. This year, England will get it right.

[Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler]

The Welsh are incompetent
The French are in-continent
The Irish are incoherent
The Scotts are inebriated
The Italians are in the wrong competition

[gregortree]

and...... The English are indomitable

(Incapable of being overcome, subdued,)

[Duty281]

and...... The English are indomitable

“The English are so filled with their own greatness and have won so many big victories that they have come to believe they cannot lose. In battle they are the most confident nation in the world."
Foreign Observer 1373

[gregortree]

exactly

[Luckless Pedestrian]

we were talking about highs and lows -not which team had the better 6nations record..

france are inconsitant on another level- they are inconsitant game to game.. They can be a walk over or tough to beat.

But their Six Nations record suggests they're hardly ever a walkover.

[mystiroakey]

how often is england a walk over- never is the answer

Forget wins and losses think performances.. England never get beat big..

But maybe I shouoldnt have said walk over. because your right they rarely lose. But the point is the performce level of france can change dramatically more than englands- Is that a fair point?

[Luckless Pedestrian]

Only just.

[mystiroakey]

[Taylorman]

It did when Levr... was coach. From a thrashing by NZ and loss to Tonga in pool play to a nearly won world cup final beating England and Wales on the way is about as inconsistent as you can get.

But they havnt been as inconsistent under St Andre, albeit he hasnt been there long.

Englands main problem will be how much they believe their win over NZ translates to tangible advantages over the others and also how other sides view them. Will they think it was a one off and think England will return to 'normal transmission' and come back closer to the pack or will they think theyre playing a side that can yet again put up another better than the AB's display?

Nobody really knows at this point but its safe to assume motivation is with the key stakeholders France Ireland and Wales to perform against England as though theyll repeat.

Interesting days ahead...

[Luckless Pedestrian]

[mystiroakey]

[gregortree]

NZ a one off ?
Kind of but that is only part of the bigger recent picture. England also played RSA away and home. Over the last 160 minutes of those tests, an almost scratch young England were one point, yes one point, (mainly one bagatelle crap shoot RSA try) behind no 2 in the IRB. Before going on to hump no1. Oddly no 3, Oz, gave England the sternest test in AI, but that was earlier in the AI curve. Overall a young and improving England have put in some impressive match ups against the top 3 over 4 matches. Looking ahead, improvement seems much more likely than decline.With the young guns queuing up and battling for selection the future is white.

[mystiroakey]

Well thats the point george- I watched every england game last year and in every game we were in the running. we played at a quite consitant level throughout. Infact we may have risen the quality in every game bar the oz game. Which was the first of a tour after a few months..

[Guest]

nah england have just moved on- we have clearly being playing each game as it comes.. and each situation,,

look at ireland last year.. we worked out we had dominance in the scrum and we pummled them with it.

look at the kiwi game.. we kept it tight and kicked well. But as soon as NZ went millitant on us- we hit em back in the same way.,.

SL is a clever man Dragon- its horses for courses..

Lets not forget the Kiwi game was beyond a fluke, norovirus did 99% of the job for England.

[mystiroakey]

Ahh View my laddie.. I suppose wales had that virus thing for the last 7 games an all

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