Six Nations (RBS 6 Nations) Rugby 2010 Live On The Internet

The Six Nations Rugby tournament is probably the second biggest Rugby competition after the Rugby World Cup. Played between northern hemisphere national teams from England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France and Italy. The 6 Nations was previously known as the 5 Nations (England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France) and originally as the Home Nations (England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland) starting way back in 1883.

Involving some of the oldest grudge matches in Rugby the 6 Nations seems to thrive on exciting, physical Rugby. As well as the 6 Nations title itself there are also several smaller prizes played during the course of the Six Nations the most famous of which being the Calcutta Cup played between England and Scotland.

England suprised many times with their performances in the 2007 Rugby World Cup coming from a bad start to reach the final, since then things have been very topsy turvy for the English team, now led by Martin Johnson. Ireland secured a grand slam last year so must start as favourites for this years Six Nations. I'm sure that both France and Wales will be very keen to make amends for not matching expectations last year though.

When it comes to watching your 6 Nations Rugby live on the internet the BBC are leading the way as always, providing high quality streamed content. You can find out more details on the BBC's 6 Nations Coverage by following the link. The Six Nations has a huge following all over the world, especially in the southern hemisphere (maybe they admire our kicking game in secret) so there will no doubt be countless other places online showing the Six Nations matches live. Check out the live sports schedule on the day of games.

(It's not too late to watch the Six Nations Live in person - there are still plenty of Six Nations Tickets Available, just follow the link)

Six Nations 2010 Schedule

Sat 6th Feb 14:30 Ireland 29 - 11 Italy
Sat 6th Feb 17:00 England 30 - 17 Wales
Sun 7th Feb 15:00 Scotland 9 - 18 France
Sat 13th Feb 14:00 Wales 31 - 24 Scotland
Sat 13th Feb 17:30 France 33 - 10 Ireland
Sun 14th Feb 15:30 Italy 17 - 12 England
Fri 26th Feb 20:00 Wales 20 - 26 France
Sat 27th Feb 14:30 Italy 16 - 12 Scotland
Sat 27th Feb 16:00 England 16 -20 Ireland
Sat 13th Mar 14:30 Ireland v Wales
Sat 13th Mar 17:00 Scotland v England
Sun 14th Mar 15:30 France v Italy
Sat 20th Mar 14:30 Wales v Italy
Sat 20th Mar 17:00 Ireland v Scotland
Sat 20th Mar 20:45 France v England

Six Nations Week 1 Roundup

What a brilliant weekend of Rugby, I've got to admit that there was far more ball in hand rugby than what I was expecting. Of course just like every first weekend of the Six Nations there were plenty of errors in each game but it all looks good for some free flowing rugby later on in the tournament. In the games Ireland were a little stodgy against Italy who themselves battled hard. England were impressive against Wales although even the most die hard English fan would have to admit the game was won when Wales were rightly down to 14 men. The importance of discipline in the international game shone through once again. The final game of the weekend saw France looking dangerous against a solid Scottish team. It was nice to see France on their game from the very beginning of the Six Nations. Player of the weekend had to be Mathieu Bastareaud, the 18 stone French center. He looked unstoppable and his second try against Scotland was awesome.

Six Nations Week 2 Roundup

Another weekend of superb Rugby action. I'll get what was by far the worst game of the weekend out of the way first, England vs Italy. After the excitement of Saturday and Englands improved form against Wales the previous week this one was a shocker. Italy were much improved but even so nothing could hide the total lack of ambition from an England team that were happy to kick the ball in a completely aimless fashion time after time. France vs Ireland on the other hand was full of fast paced ball in hand Rugby. Well I say ball in hand but in Ireland's case it was much more ball falling out of hand, I don't think I can recall so many knock-ons from one team in a game. France were in top form and have surely got to be favourites for a grand slam with England being the only other possible Grand Slam nation. Bastareaud was in ominous form once again, showing a little more to his game including setting up a try and some hard hitting tackling. Ireland were below par for them but I doubt that even a top Ireland performance would have been good enough to beat a top French performance at the moment. That only leaves the game of the weekend and perhaps the best game the Six Nations has ever seen, Wales vs Scotland? It didn't stop from the first minute, both teams full of ambition and Scotland playing out of their skins to build a sizable lead. Right up until the last 10 minutes. What followed can not be portrayed properly through words, the only thing I can do is recommend in the strongest possible way that you find the highlights of this game and watch it! (BBC iPlayer will have it). One of the best 10 minutes of rugby I can ever remember watching and a prefect advert for the 6 Nations. Not so much a player of the week this week, more a team of the week and I'm going to give that to Wales and Scotland jointly, if you didn't see it then you really need to watch that game :)

Six Nations Week 3 Roundup

The third week of Six Nations produced a mixed bag of rugby. The highlight had to be the Wales vs France game on the Friday, France put themselves into a great position with a commanding lead in the first half but then seemed to completely relax in the second half. This gave Wales the chance to play themselves into the game, a chance they weren't shy in taking. It couldn't possibly happen again could it? When Shane Williams went over for only minutes to go I bet there were plenty of Welsh fans that believed it could happen! Alas France held on for a deserved win by kicking the ball straight out from the restart (a lesson their for Scotland maybe?). The second game saw Scotland play Italy. In a game that both teams see as their best chance for winning a game in the Six Nations this was always going to be a tight affair. Penalties were the order of the day with both side exchanging blows. It all game time to a frantic last few minutes in which Italy held on to secure a rare win in the Six Nations, the home crowd went nuts. To be fair to Italy their home form has been building and I don't think many people would have been too shocked to see them win. Scotland always have a chance at home against England to avoid the wooden spoon. Talking of England, another sack of old shite. By far the most boring game of the weekend as they played out a dull as dishwater, take no chances game, against Ireland. Ireland won the game 3 tries to one and even though they had limited chances they looked to run the ball and take each one. A complete contrast to the English "pass sideways" or punt it play. It'll be a good day when England finally wake up to the actually standard of rugby they are inflicting on their fans! When it comes to player of the week I'm going to give it to the Welsh wing Shane Williams, the little man was an inspiration again against the French.