changes in world rugby

With France being bottom of the 6N does this mean the strength of world rugby us changing is this just a one off

It changes every year... I don't think that it ever lasts long. One year a team will have a bad run, no matter how good they are... They inevitably sort it out and get back to their best.

its really unusual for france to have such a bad 6N (or 5nations for that matter)
france know when and how to turn it on. rwc runners up. 6 nations champions. many of their players experienced. the fact they are challenging italia and scotland for a spoon shouldnt bother the rest of us. france will build to the next rwc (in the land of their favourite enemy) by smashing all-comers next year.

france are doing some very strange things this year but their strength in depth cannot be doubted. strength in depth is always the key.

france are not giving up, they are aiming for another rwc final. lets take advantege while we can. they will be back.

But some last longer than others at the bottom for couple of years it was Wales, Scotland and Italy but since 2005 Wales have been at the top there or there abouts, and since then its been Scotland and Italy fighting not to have wooden spoon. But over the past couple years Scotland and Italy are competing with Ireland and France more beating them

And as for rebuilding Wales did that and got to the semi finals of the world cup and then won the 6nations and have been solid since, yea they had that long run of games with out a win but come 6nations their pretty solid, so have England got it right with the coming through of talent and the right tactics, where fir the past couple years France haven't been France, yea they got to the world cup final and played out standing but even in the tournament they wasn't the solid France of the past

Having won back-to-back grandslams in 1997 & 1998, France came last in the 1999 Five Nations, winning just one game, they then came second in the 2000 Six Nations and went on to be the most succesful side in the championship over the next ten years, winning the title 5 times with 3 slams.

Yea but not even a change in coach has changed them yet so rebuilding should wait in my eyes just bring some form back some conference into things first before rebuilding or totally get rid of the old and in with the new rebuild from bottom

I wasn't addressing what their issues are or how they should remedy them, just your opening comment about what France being bottom means regarding any possible trend.

welshboii15 wrote:With France being bottom of the 6N does this mean the strength of world rugby us changing is this just a one off

Welshy. Thers a bit more to World rugby than the 6 Nations, maybe France are just paying more attention to their June committments in the Antipodes.

Apart from the world cup there's nothing more important to England Wales Ireland Scotland France and Italy, each year is about preparing for the 6 nations which leads on to a world cup so lets be serious June is just as importand as July its not importart at all

welshboii15 wrote:But some last longer than others at the bottom for couple of years it was Wales, Scotland and Italy but since 2005 Wales have been at the top there or there abouts, and since then its been Scotland and Italy fighting not to have wooden spoon. But over the past couple years Scotland and Italy are competing with Ireland and France more beating them

Since 2005 Wales have had the 3 grand slams but also come 5th twice and 4th three times, beaten by Italy in Rome in 2007 the year before a grand slam. Not having a pop at Wales, just pointing out that all of the sides have regular and interlaced ups and downs, that's always been the case and I imagine it always will be, there's not much to be read into it.

But that's what im asking is this leading to changes in rugby or is this just a slip up I know we won't really know until next year but its good to get other opinions peace together what I wanted to know

If France keep flooding their club teams with foreginers they may have to get used to being bottom of the 6n....

Like I heard 10 or so of their clubs fly halfs are from over seas that's not helping them

welshboii15 wrote:Apart from the world cup there's nothing more important to England Wales Ireland Scotland France and Italy, each year is about preparing for the 6 nations which leads on to a world cup so lets be serious June is just as importand as July its not importart at all

Thats probably true, watching Wales playing against Australia last June, I think playing rugby was the furthest thing from their minds.

Every team will have a blip now and again.... The 97 all blacks are often held up as the greatest team in pro rugby history.... The 98 all blacks failed to win a game in the 3N that year.

I doubt the French will continue to suffer... Looks like its more to do with the coaching and selections rather than the players themselves.

If you're asking about changes in world rugby well probably not. In the last 25 years 5 teams have dominated world rugby and appeared in all the rwc finals, with 4 teams appearing in 3 finals each... I doubt in the next 25 years that will change at all.

Have a look at Ireland for instance... Their last decade has been blessed with players like BOD, Sexton, O'Gara, Heaslip, Ferris, O'Connell, Kearney, Bowe etc but the best they achieved was 2 QFs and a Pool exit. Guys like BOD are not just once in a generation player nor Ireland.... More likely once in every 25 years.

Once he's gone Ireland will struggle to remain as competitive as they were/are. They could wait decades for the next BOD to emerge.

In the end it's all about 2 things.... Applied funding and demographics. Outside those top 5 nations teams will always struggle to compete.

I agree with what has been said in both last comments, but the big thing in rugby goes back to club rugby and as good as the French clubs are is that through their talent or is it to do with the over sea players that's stopping the French players getting the game time they need to improve as a nation. Look at the best nations in the world new Zealand, Australia, south Africa, England, Ireland and even Scotland have clicked onto what's best where all their best players are heading back to home clubs where the French clubs are filling their teams full with over seas players, as for the welsh team the reason I think they won 3 6 nations in 8 or so years was because the best players were at home clubs but now their in France England etc the welsh team is suffering im June and and other games because they haven't always got the selection of the best players

welshboii15 wrote:I agree with what has been said in both last comments, but the big thing in rugby goes back to club rugby and as good as the French clubs are is that through their talent or is it to do with the over sea players that's stopping the French players getting the game time they need to improve as a nation. Look at the best nations in the world new Zealand, Australia, south Africa, England, Ireland and even Scotland have clicked onto what's best where all their best players are heading back to home clubs where the French clubs are filling their teams full with over seas players, as for the welsh team the reason I think they won 3 6 nations in 8 or so years was because the best players were at home clubs but now their in France England etc the welsh team is suffering im June and and other games because they haven't always got the selection of the best players

That suggests to me that they really arent the best players. you only select the players that want to play,committ and win for your team, this doesnt just apply to International rugby, it also applies to the small town/suburban club selecting the team to play the following saturday after training on Thursday night.

Changes...? The 'flagbearers of inconsistency' -world cup finalists of two years ago after poor pool results that played well in the AI's and are now languishing at the bottom of the 6N?

What has changed exactly? If anything theyve reconfirmed the status quo perfectly.

aucklandlaurie wrote:

welshboii15 wrote:Apart from the world cup there's nothing more important to England Wales Ireland Scotland France and Italy, each year is about preparing for the 6 nations which leads on to a world cup so lets be serious June is just as importand as July its not importart at all

Thats probably true, watching Wales playing against Australia last June, I think playing rugby was the furthest thing from their minds.

Yeah a bit like the stomping the NZ team had in England aye hahahahaha they had more scored against them than the three tests Wales played Australia in. With young NZ players going for the $$$ rather than the 2nd ever country to wear all black there may possibly be a change.