The Italians

Not so long ago it seems everyone wanted them dropped from the league. Seems to me they are doing alright.

This can only be a good thing, for the league and for the 6N if Italy find their feet in professional rugby.

Not everyone wanted them dropped from the league either, it had to be said. They needed to improve and it seems they have.

They're not doing too badly. If they can make the play-offs two years in a row then yeah they're doing alright. Treviso improved last season and look as if they're continuing on from that. Italians need to learn they can actually play some rugby instead of looking to spoil so often.

At least the inclusion of SA sides has, if anything, improved the Italian teams!

Dragons narrow loss to Benetton suddenly doesn’t seem too bad. But I’d prefer not celebrating losses!

They looked sharp v Scarlets yesterday. In the first half they just mirrored the scarlets and gave as good as they got. The red card was one of those ones where you feel it’s harsh for the game but by the letter of the law it was justified. It was a flying charge to Lee’s head while he was lying on the floor. Don’t think it was malice. Just wanted to vigoroulsy clear out. Earlier in the game Jake Ball flew into a ruck and shoulder charged but I guess because he only hit the guy in the side it was deemed to be only a penalty.

The Oracle wrote:Dragons narrow loss to Benetton suddenly doesn’t seem too bad. But I’d prefer not celebrating losses!

They looked sharp v Scarlets yesterday. In the first half they just mirrored the scarlets and gave as good as they got. The red card was one of those ones where you feel it’s harsh for the game but by the letter of the law it was justified. It was a flying charge to Lee’s head while he was lying on the floor. Don’t think it was malice. Just wanted to vigoroulsy clear out. Earlier in the game Jake Ball flew into a ruck and shoulder charged but I guess because he only hit the guy in the side it was deemed to be only a penalty.

I though the yellow card in the 2nd half was wrong, Scarlets player was basically on his knees. Also, thought the red card could have been just a yellow, Tom Shanklin thought so as well. Thought i can see why it was a red as this was just a cheap shot to a prone player..

Yeah that’s what I mean. It instantly felt harsh but the directives on shoulder charges and contact to the head, etc. mean it was a red in the eyes of the law.

A year ago there were a lot of calls for them to be thrown out of the league.

VinceWLB wrote:

The Oracle wrote:Dragons narrow loss to Benetton suddenly doesn’t seem too bad. But I’d prefer not celebrating losses!

They looked sharp v Scarlets yesterday. In the first half they just mirrored the scarlets and gave as good as they got. The red card was one of those ones where you feel it’s harsh for the game but by the letter of the law it was justified. It was a flying charge to Lee’s head while he was lying on the floor. Don’t think it was malice. Just wanted to vigoroulsy clear out. Earlier in the game Jake Ball flew into a ruck and shoulder charged but I guess because he only hit the guy in the side it was deemed to be only a penalty.

I though the yellow card in the 2nd half was wrong, Scarlets player was basically on his knees. Also, thought the red card could have been just a yellow, Tom Shanklin thought so as well. Thought i can see why it was a red as this was just a cheap shot to a prone player..

Shanklin talks an awful amount of rubbish these days, he should stick to the 'banter'

It was a premeditated, forearm to the face with his entire bodyweight behind it. Clear red card.

Stupid thing to do

It was , the issue we have now is that there are dozens of incidents like this per game - players flying to the ruck really needs clamping down on.

munkian wrote:It was , the issue we have now is that  there are dozens of incidents like this per game - players flying to the ruck really needs clamping down on.

Not all of them try to catch someone's head though. That's the distinction between a penalty / yellow / red.

But yes, it's not refereed properly at all: see Nigel Owens' failure to penalise keiran read at the weekend 1 second before he yellow carded Willie Le Roux.

Its a real bugbear of mine, that and taking out players beyond the ruck.

Yes, I'm looking at you Ireland.

The Italians are looking much better overall bar the stupid entrance to the ruck (why not take out the standing man who is there for the taking?). Treviso are no pushovers and it is a shame that they are not swapped with Zebre for a tad more parity between the conferences. Certainly better than the South Africans at the moment.

The academy's are bearing fruit at club level. Italy may be a few more seasons off from getting back into the top 10. The young guys coming through will need more time to bed in as internationals.

RugbyFan100 wrote:It was a premeditated, forearm to the face with his entire bodyweight behind it. Clear red card.

Stupid thing to do

The Leicester game Spencer was sent off for a high tackle. It was clearly a red under rules but one could have sympathy for the player as he was trying to make a tackle and got it wrong. I have no sympathy for Herbst. I am not sure whether he was actually trying to hit Lee's head but he was certainly not engaged in anything within the laws of the game.

Has fat b'stard had his hearing yet for assault on a prone player ?

My hope is they can follow Scotland of getting one up to playoff standard (almost and then build the international from there).

Both teams play good fast rugby which is nice to see as they look balanced. Treviso seem to have kicked on from last year and I hope they make the quarters in Europe.

Do we know if the Italian union have been offered ownership of the league if they get their house in order.

U20s seem to be holding their own so the pipeline is starting to be of a good enough level.

Their NIQ seem decent too

When can we say Allan is a good out half. Seems to be much better kicker (Not great but good compared to the past)