That was fun! I only caught the second half though, but it was really tense!
Was very entertaining, canât say I was entirely neutral but I enjoyed that.
Well Scotland scraped home but what about Italy lost big time again. I would like to see them play Georgia or even Romania to see who is the better team. I think they would be hard pressed to beat either team.
Prolly right Dave, but Italy has a certain glamour and a reasonable amount of money compared to ex Soviet Bloc countries. I know it shouldnât be about that, but it is unfortunately.
@ICHM, what European country do you think would be more competitive, and be a good fit, in the 6 nations?
Unfortunately Italy do not seem to play either team. Yes Italy are more glamour but they do not seem to threaten the mainstream teams. Maybe a B league consisting of Italy Georgia Romania Spain and Germany or Russia.
The problem is; no Italy isnât competitive but, without regular competition at this level itâs never likely to be.
Correct. But how long has it been now?
I just noticed itâs been 18 years and they have been wooden spooners for 12 of those 18.
I reckon a B league to qualify for the sixth place might make sense, although when will it take place? You donât want the players to be out of international leagues for another month
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Could you run it at the same time as the 6 Nations to qualify for the following year? Then have the team that comes last each year having to requalify the following year.
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That could work 
I agree, would give some much needed exposure to the other nations and probably be an entertaining series in itâs own right.
And perhaps more importantly, valuable practice.
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Georgia.
But if you go outside Europe, Fiji.
Or Argentina
They are already part of the rugby championship with NZ etcâŚ
Fiji, Samoa and Tonga need something like being included into a 6 nations style tournament.
A lot of the âup and comingâ countries are really 7s based. Georgia is by far the most advanced 15s side in Europe. Russia will get there, but in 10 years time.
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Maybe there could be a similar second stream tournament to feed the southern hemisphere competition?
The top tier nations would have to fund it.
When Samoa were here in the Autumn I donât think any of the players were paid and they couldnât afford the hotel bills.
i am not sure how many of the top tier have funds sloshing about (apart from England and maybe NZ).
Even the recent South Africa v Wales game was after the properly sanctioned Autumn internationals and was only played as a money spinner as both Unions needed the money.
I do wonder how long this having to play in Wales thing will last for the Welsh players and how long the WRU can support ÂŁ400K salaries.
Very sad news
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