Average England Hold On
England managed to notch up a win this morning over a willing, committed, but ultimately outclassed Italian team. The final score of 23-19 was a little misleading as the English spent most of the game in control of the result, but without total control over how they were going to get there.
The game started with a hiss and a roar as the poms scored with their first touch of the ball. They won a lineout and fed the ball quickly to Johnny Wilkinson, who did a great impression of himself circa 2003 as he chipped over the defense, recovered the ball, and then flung it wide to a flying Paul Sackey who was never going to be stopped. Wilkinson converted and they were up 7-0 inside of 4 minutes. Unfortunately, this proved to be the high point in a low quality game. The other two tries in the game came from charge downs, and aside from that, it was three penalties to Wilkinson against four to Bortolussi.
After their fast start, England reverted into what served them so well in last year’s World Cup. Cheat as much as you can before the referee stops you, tackle like demons, and don’t make big mistakes on attack. Alain Rollard’s maintained a fictional offside line, which allowed them to snuff out any potential attack that Italy had up their sleeves, and also any potential there was for an entertaining game of rugby.
Italy, to their credit, defended very well, but the brand of rugby the English were playing didn’t ask a great deal of their defenses, and unfortunately they aren’t yet good enough to be able to exploit the “playing-not-to-lose” approached employed today by their opponents. However, they only have a short time left before they are no longer able to claim moral victories, and will have to start claiming real ones. Against teams other than Scotland.
Fantasywise, Wilkinson had a great day with a total of 29.5 points (including kicking points). In fact, all six front line goal kickers were in the top 10, which just goes to show how important these guys are in the world of fantasy rugby. Vincent Clerc continued his great run of form with 24 points (3 tries, 3 BD, 70m line breaks, 1 PC) for the second week in a row. Cedric Heymans also got in on the act with 20 points (1 try, 1 assist, 3 BD, 70m line breaks, 1 KTF and 1 TO Lost) as France just held on 26-21 over a spirited Irish team in Paris. Shane Williams proved the difference in Wales’ 30-15 win over Scotland as he generated 19 points (2 tries, 5 BD, 30m line breaks, 1 TO won) while Chris Paterson accounted for all of Scotland’s scoring with 5 penalties totaling 18 points (2 Easy Pen, 3 Long Pen).
Other news...
Friday, 18 April 2008The End Game - By JP_Rocks
With the season winding down over the next few weeks, there are some very tough decisions to be made, all of which come down to where you sit on the ladder. Those at the top have the luxury of being able to plan for the future while those in a more precarious position need to think about mortgaging the future to give themselves the best chance to win now.
Monday, 17 March 2008Stephen Brett Breaks Shoulder, Hearts of Fantasy Owners - By JP_Rocks
There was only one thing that owners of Stephen Brett were saying on Saturday night, and it sure as heck wasn’t “giggity giggity goo”. Brett was helped off early during the Crusaders win over the Cheetahs with a suspected dislocated shoulder, and unfortunately, those suspicions turned out to be accurate. The early prognosis is that he will miss 4 to 6 weeks, which provides a bit of a quandary for his fantasy owners. If they are in good shape at the moment, they may try and stick out the rest of the season with Brett on the bench in the hopes that he will be able to return in time for the fantasy playoffs. However, if Brett was one of the only players keeping your fantasy team above water, or even worse, if you are currently drowning in your league, you may need to try and trade him now for some short term help. Obviously, you will struggle to get more than 50 cents on the dollar for him, but if you can get a solid player that has underperformed so far, such as Lote Tuqiri or Drew Mitchell, or pick up an unproven player who has shown potential, such as Peter Playford or Tonderai Chavanga, they may provide enough offence to get you to the semis where you then get to lament having given up on Brett.
Monday, 10 March 2008Its Dan's world, everyone else just lives in it - By Kenobi
Any Dan Carter owners whinging about his sub par 10 point round (8 in general play and 2 off the boot) should spare a thought for owners of Ma'a Nonu who's -8 performance caused by his lack of discipline (and sudden loss of motor skills), dug a hole too big for many teams to claw their way out of, but that comes with the territory with players like Nonu, Some weeks he is unstoppable and some times you get to see the side of Ma'a that keeps him out of All Black contention.
Tuesday, 4 March 2008Navigating the bye weeks - by Kenobi
The ultimate rugby season aint a sprit... its a marathon, and its often the middle rounds that make the difference between qualifying for the finals and an early exit. The best owners will already be looking ahead to the bye weeks and planning on how they are going to field a team while their best players enjoy a well deserved week off.
Tuesday, 26 February 2008Sportsighted Stockmarket by JP_Rocks
Well, its two weeks into the season, and at least a couple of you are looking at your teams wondering what the hell went wrong. A workmate of mine is a perfect case of this: he is a genuine rugby fan and knows a bit about it, had all the ins and outs of the sportsighted.com competition explained to him, and he hand picked his team during the draft. To top it off, he took at least three or four players that I had lined up on my wish list and would have taken in either the same or the next round that he picked them in.
Sunday, 24 February 2008You asked for it: Improved trades
With a vastly improved trades system including notifications and trading history, as well as the ability to chat with your league opponents through the fixtures page, you may well have noticed a number of technology enhancements this week on Sportsighted.com.
Wednesday, 20 February 2008ELV’s: Rugby’s Savior or an Offensive Term for Little People?
Now that round one is finished, we can all start talking about the experimental law variations (ELVs) and their effect on the game with a little experience under our belts. The sports media outlets have regaled us with tales of try feasts in pre-season games and statistics showing that the ball was in play up to 30% more compared to games played under the standard laws of the games. Those sources tried to imply that the reason for the try feasts was all this extra time the players had at their disposal, and that these new laws, while still not perfect around the contentious tackle area, were going to improve the product of rugby far beyond what we have become accustomed to over the last few years.
Thursday, 14 February 2008Post Draft Bargains
So you're draft is over and you're happy with your squad, but feel like you need something extra? the post drat ritual of picking through the left overs for the "Next Big Star" often separates the champion fantasy teams from the also rans. Check out our list of unknown potential stars for this year that you may have never heard of but are probably available to strengthen your bench.
Monday, 4 February 2008Six Nations fantasy leaders
James Hook starred for the Dragons picking up 26.5 fantasy points and leads the league after round 1:
Tuesday, 22 January 2008Sitting, Waiting, Wishing for Super 14
Its been a long time since the rugby season ended last year. I know that because my group of mates and I are having to come up with more and more convoluted ways to entertain ourselves. At the end of footy season, you suddenly have to start making plans to see your mates which don't simply entail "come round and watch the game tonight, we'll have a few beers, and end up doing some drunk wrestling moves in the back yard".