Eloise's Thoughts and Fancies

If I thought season one of Shadow and Bone was ambitious, shoving two books into one, season two mixes in parts of three and plays with the plot from the original material too. We can all think of shows that have tried that and struggled, if not fallen flat on their faces. Equally, there are shows that have made a success of that - adapting a story requires changes for the medium, yes, but in the case of TV for the episode and season length too. Fortunately Shadow and Bone fits into the second group. There are some changes that we'll have to see how they play out but, by and large, they within this season. The characters remain recognisably the characters we had in the books (sometimes that’s not great, Bardugo was learning her craft when she wrote Shadow and Bone the series, particularly the first book, and it shows if you look at the books she wrote later and the characters in them) but, at the same time, in some ways it is good - we’ve got a lot going on here, fairly simpl...

This year I’d the first year we’ve got every nation with some level of professionalism. Even sides like Wales, which could be fully professional, are going through a transition stage, with some of their players not willing or able to swap to the professional contracts, so it will probably be a number of years until we’ve got a fully professional elite women's game, but we’re definitely moving that way. We’re also seeing a lot of teams in transition as players retire after last years RWC, coaching teams are changed too, and there are the inevitable injuries, perhaps made somewhat worse than usual by the RWC - several teams were missing players from injuries sustained in New Zealand. On to the games. Wales v Ireland This was a game characterised by three things really. Physically the Welsh, particularly the forwards, but honestly all over the pitch were just bigger and stronger than their opponents. The first scrum went back like they’d packed against a scrum machine but there w...

As usual, I’m going to pick my team of the tournament with a few simple guidelines I pick by units, not individuals. It will be the whole Welsh front row (ha, not this year) for example, rather than a French tighthead, an Italian hooker and a Scottish loosehead. I pick players who have played the vast majority of the games, at least four, and while I might bend the rules in the front row, played really means started them. (Because front row players are often subbed so close to half time I’m happier about bending the rules there.) This year, we have a Grand Slam winner, so I will default to picking them, if they satisfy rules one and two, unless there’s a compelling reason not to. Whoever they faced, head to head, they did enough for their team to be better on the day. However, picking Irish players in all the positions has a problem. Ireland rotated a load of players for their game against Italy. Then their game against Scotland looked more like a battlefield than a rugby match -...

So, the final round of games and we have to see if Scotland have strength in depth, if Wales have improved over the championship in a really tough test and whether France or Ireland will win the title this year. Scotland v Italy This was world number 5 against the world number 14. On paper, it’s no contest. But Scotland were missing their first choices locks, both of them, and their first choice 10 and 15. That’s a lot of experience and playmaking to be missing. Despite that, Scotland ran out what the scoreboard will tell you is comfortable winners. A 26-14 bonus point win is comfortable, right? Yes, except Scotland nicked the ball with the clock in the red and Italy about 3m from their try line, then ran the length of the pitch to stretch it out to a 12-point margin of victory and score the fourth try. If that hadn’t happened, if Italy had scored instead as they were threatening to do, this would be a very different write up. As a neutral I’m not sure that Italy winning would have...

Match Thoughts A weekend with so many promising looking matches in advance. How would it actually play out? Italy v Wales While this match was for the wooden spoon, we had Wales looking for revenge after last year, looking for signs that their new plans were working and looking for their first win of the second Gatland era. On the other side we had an Italian side who were the favourites, deservedly so, for the first time ever in a 6N match, and having pushed both the Irish and French - that’s the top two sides in the world rankings remember - really close and looking to continue their progress. As a Welsh fan what happened was a great result. This is not the final, polished, article. But, in most aspects of the game, Wales have clearly progressed. Their defence, which has been getting better throughout the tournament, took another step up and really harried the Italians. When it broke, it scrambled back and resisted well if there was space. Not a huge tick, but a step forward stil...