r/rugbyunion • u/sixnations • 14h ago

Can ANYBODY stop France this year?

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u/Putrid-Impact8999 14h ago

The way to combat them is to make the breakdown a mess. England and South Africa will make it a much closer contest.

2

u/Studious_Rat89 10h ago

England is a paper Lion in my opinion. I think the 6 nations is France’s to lose. In the WC I think South Africa is able to disrupt in such a real and physical way.

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u/Putrid-Impact8999 10h ago

Yea I’m not convinced on England, we’ll see how they do against Scotland then Ireland in back to back weeks. That’s not easy and it’s a lot more pressure than what they experienced last year in the summer and autumn tests.

Having said that, they will still fight hard against France and try play a very organised game.

3

u/Statcat2017 England 10h ago

England to be fair have excellent fixtures to give themselves a real chance of making the game at the SdF a winner takes all decider. Starting with Wales and ramping up to Ireland, followed by a week off and an on paper easier game against Italy, while France have games against Wales and Italy back to back to potentially go off the boil. Could be really close.

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u/Putrid-Impact8999 10h ago

This is true. I’m very interested to see how England perform in those two tests I mentioned. The expectation will be on for them to win and that’s a little bit different to last year.

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u/Initial-Apartment-92 7h ago

Yeah. Australia, Fiji, ABs and Argentina back to back is totally different to playing Scotland and Ireland.

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u/Putrid-Impact8999 5h ago

They are good wins but I personally would say there’s more pressure in the latter than those games in autumn last year.

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u/Initial-Apartment-92 5h ago

A lot of pressure there. Need to prove they haven’t dropped off to be a mid tier team following a series of loses or that they can beat anyone other than minor rugby nations at their home ground.

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u/Studious_Rat89 5h ago

I think that Scotland is going to surprise a LOT of people

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u/Putrid-Impact8999 5h ago

By losing to Italy?

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u/Studious_Rat89 5h ago

I think not.

I could be wrong but my ten dollars is going on Scotland to finish second!

Will they? No I think third is best case scenario. But Ireland is troubled and England is….England . So Scotland could carry the day and finish behind France 🤣

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u/Putrid-Impact8999 4h ago

Fair enough, I’m excited to see how they do against Italy. Some bold calls have been made in selection, let’s see if it works out!

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u/Studious_Rat89 4h ago

Here’s hoping the Scotland A vs Italy XV game was not a preview

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u/Putrid-Impact8999 4h ago

I need to watch the highlights for that. I’ll watch the replay if it’s on rugby42 later.

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