Six Nations: Full Contact Season 2 Review - Is It RUBBISH?

[@Natedawg38]

It was pretty bad. For an irish fan there's 40 relevant minutes at most and even those are not amazing. Peter likes gardening. Peter loves Ireland. Andy wants the team to win. The microphone looks like a wet cat. Caelan can drive. Peter loves Ireland. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong! (Throws blackboard into corner of the room) I do hope they try again though. Something like the lions documentary was class.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

I admit I did like seeing Peter in his garden

[@michaelmccarthy9411]

Not to mention any names but there is one country that stands out for its celebrity obsession and even arrogance!

[@keithcrane469]

Maybe it begins with E

[@Zveebo]

@@keithcrane469 Eire? 🤔

[@michaelmccarthy9411]

@keithcrane469 inspired guess!

[@machinwx]

Has to be France, right ? Galthié keeps thinking he speaks like a philosopher or a poet but he just sounds slightly weird and rather self conceited.

[@bluessj9k]

​@@keithcrane469 I think it ends with ngland, rhymes with in-land

[@iansinclair7581]

Watched the first two episodes yesterday. What a difference between the two series. Did the same people make the second series? One thing I don’t want is to see a WAG photographing the sky during a match. England come across as a bunch of arrogant schoolboys who have not grown up. If the Italians watch this before their match with England then they will not need any more motivation.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah playing golf, lazing round the pools didn't paint them in the best light prior to the Italy game

[@celticmist42]

Absolute rubbish, England and English players as the centre of the rugby universe. The top two teams Ireland and France get 25% of the attention. And for the rest, no wonder there won't be a third season. There is no target audience and I disagree, it was not enjoyable. i started fast forwarding from the first episode. Whomever produced this (presuming English) got it all wrong, nothing redeeming about it. My recommendation. Don't bother watching!

[@liamwilliams6651]

Its fairly shit. Every second scene is a forced conversation between a player and their missus. Wife: How do you feel about the match this weekend? Player: Nervous, but want to be involved. Wife: Do you think you'll be picked? Player: I dont know but I really want to be involved, its a massive game. (They're playing Italy) And because its so forced and awkward it honestly looks like their relationships are on a knife edge and divorce is inevitable 😂 And then Ireland somehow managed even less screen time than they had in season 1 despite supposedly giving more access this time.

[@crispybug]

Living With Lions ‘97 set a standard that has never been equalled

[@mikerichards2257]

Filing it under “you watched it so I don’t have to”. Thank you for your service. Never finished the first series and not intending to start this one.

[@toegreene]

From an Irish fan it was awful, it seemed like an England fan documentary, Ireland and France they only showed their losses with snippets in the last episode. It was awful to watch no balance at all, glad they binned it, whoever is responsible for making it should never be allowed to make another.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah when we got to episode three and "oh, England again" I figured they must have had big access issues.... otherwise it doesn't make much sense

[@briancd37]

Absolutely! All England! They made it feel like Ireland won by the skin of their teeth. Waste of time if you are not English.

[@machinwx]

@@TwoCentsRugby Idk about other countries but in France their is a real culture of privacy regarding what happened outside the pitch... The fact journalist / cameras can have access behind the scene has been a topic of debate for a long time, even regarding very established TV channels & journalists here. So I can imagine that when Netflix arrives, nobody is quite ready to trust them. Somehow, I'm not to sad about it. I guess it helps the players mental state not to feel that every single aspect of their life becomes a product.

[@tjrugbymuscle]

Only 1 episode in, what you said is 100% spot on and rugby’s biggest issue - their messaging. Not enough nerdy detail for hardcore fans to care, not enough personality allowed to be expressed for non-rugby fans to care. I had a sort of lightbulb moment when one of the first lines from Ugo Monye was “Rugby has never been as hot as it is right now… it’s commercially very appealing” - not only is it absolutely delusional, but it’s very telling, all the England/World Rugby seem to care about is the commercial value for sponsors… that’s who this was made for I guess

[@machinwx]

It's probably kind of scripted, I wouldn't put all the blame on Ugo Monye for that...

[@StanWilks]

Just as you start to get into it, a forced and staged conversation between player and girlfriend occurs. It was like rugby meets Made in Chelsea.

[@bencook127]

Living with lions got this right nearly 30 years ago

[@ChewableDrake]

It was better than season 1 more rugby. whatever positive impression Genge had on the view of english players it was utterly wiped out by Smith who came across as an arrogant dickhead.

[@douglaswright2143]

The first "Living with Lions" documentary from the South Africa tour shortly after the game went professional remains for me the best "behind the scenes" sporting documentary. This is slop.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah that one was a proper rugby doco

[@SmcdMcd-d2k]

I think people need to stop referring to South Africa documentaries for this. It’s not viable for Netflix to go after a documentary for South African rugby mainly because a population of 60 million people only less than 2 million people have Netflix accounts so if they’re not going to get it with a European tournament where there’s, arguably over 50% of the population that they’re not gonna get it down there I do agree though with the content I think Teams just didn’t want to participate

[@TwoCentsRugby]

They made another Lions Tour doco for the next one too - it was the Australia tour - it was pretty good

[@DoddyIshamel]

​@SmcdMcd-d2k it was a Lions tour of South Africa....

[@k0bra3eak40]

​@@SmcdMcd-d2kLiving With Lions isn't a SA docu, it's a Lions doc from their SA tour back then

[@Zveebo]

I quite enjoyed season one for what it was. This one felt less well done. Weirdly dominated by England, and they just weren’t that interesting - definitely cringe in a lot of places. I really like Marcus Smith on the field, but this kind of made me actively dislike him, which wasn’t great. Meanwhile Ugo Moyne is never a good inclusion on any media… Like you, I enjoyed Negri, Kinghorn, O’Mahony and a few others because they are pretty unusual and engaging characters with fairly interesting personalities. And there definitely were a few interesting behind the scenes moments. But they were kind of the exception here. Feels like a missed opportunity to improve from season one.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah hearing DVDM talk about getting the feel that he's a real confidence player, not some robot was really cool. But like you say, for every bit like that... there was a lot of crap

[@freetimefoster]

The whole series already?! That's commitment!

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah I figured I'd watch the whole thing before giving my "two cents" 😅

[@bencook127]

It was like watching a documentary on Rome, only for it to mostly talk about Julius Caesar, while Cleopatra and Mark Anthony discuss their feelings and Justinian (randomly) is speaking in quotes that are meant to be philosophical but ultimately are just boring and generic. Oh and Cu chulain is here as well i guess.

[@noval791]

I tried to watch the first episode and had to turn it off, Marcus Smith came across very arrogant and it was too hard to watch. As I flicked through the other episodes I thought it was totally England focused you’d think they won the 6 Nations!

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah it's a shame there wasn't more of Ireland and France

[@camiloguzman9049]

First season was ok and I wanted to see the second one but I could not even see the full first episode. Total rubbish. It just confirmed my suspicion that Markus Smith is an idiot.

[@eugenedreyer4805]

I don’t think the reality format suits team sports on the whole. Chasing the Sun focused on the team and its coaches as a whole and was much more successful as a result.

[@jimsquire-chestnuts8381]

Watch at 1.5 speed until the cringe makes you turn it off. For me it was “he has the best hair in the sport, he’s the complete package” If I was making a character assassination documentary on Smith I couldn’t have done a better job.

[@joelyons886]

Brutal it was like one team and everything that they did and the only mention of anyone else was when THAT team played them, ffs man the top 2 teams got SFA time all in all it was painful watch.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah it was almost like Ireland didn't bloody exist most of the thing

[@joelyons886]

​@@TwoCentsRugby the biggest game of the first 3 rounds was Ireland v France the head to head of the two previous winners of the last 2 6N and both slam winners! All in all it was a mish mash of disjointed snippets made more for TikToc and snippets to keep 5-15 seconds attention of younger people

[@petesbigpants99]

​@@joelyons886 totally agree buddy, it's as if the producers didn't understand the actual tournament...or even care about the previous one....though as an Irish man I'm not surprised it was mostly all England...just like the majority of the media 😢

[@douglaswright2143]

You can just imagine the bean counters deciding that the market was England so they rolled out the immature public school boys trying to act like stars. Everything in England (not just rugby) seems so contrived and stage managed at the moment, and this was no exception, more a prime example. Slop is a good phrase for this. On the positive side, this has raised my anti-English blood pressure!

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah I don't know if fancy cars, greasy American agents etc was the best look.... maybe I'm just a grumpy old man

[@douglaswright2143]

@ I'm almost your dad's age!

[@scottybot2003]

From what ive heard on other podcasts and interviews some teams gave little to no access to the film crews. The teams that did give access are featured heavily as thats most of the footage that was collected. It was worse season 1 but apparently season 2 some teams just locked out the film crew from key oportunities to capture training or gameday stuff. It is a problem.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah it has to be the case for there to be such a disparity in coverage - and the side that won barely getting covered

[@johnkinsella4802]

I heard for season one more irish lads gave alot of time, invited Netflix into their homes but ended up on the editing room floor without a look in, not surprised they didn't get as much access this time

[@99RML]

Wow KZbin let you say Negri 😲

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah I figured I'd risk it! I let the vid sit in evaluation for a bit before publishing to make sure it'd clear - seems to be ok!

[@foxliam10]

You’d think England won with the focus on them. I found it really meh and stopped watching after 3 episodes

[@davidwalker2402]

I thought this one seems to be dedicated to England and that was more about M Smith who only played one game but obviously loves to show off his cars . I blame Netflix for this badly researched. Ireland hardly featured in it after their momentous achievement.

[@brianodriscoll2725]

The living with the lions documentary is the only time rugby has ever let the fans see unfiltered behind the scenes access. Ever since then it’s just sanitised nonsense. Rugby seems to hate any personality or conflict . I’ve heard chasing the sun is good too but it’s legit impossible to watch outside of sa.

[@machinwx]

Or maybe the players don't like doing this type of stuff ? And after all why should they ? It's not what they signed for.

[@Zveebo]

@@brianodriscoll2725 It’s fine, but it’s very much edited and setup to present South Africa in as positive a light as possible. Nobody is going to give unfiltered access these days, sadly.

[@siyashosha6241]

Season 2 is even worse than season 1 which was rubbish. Looks like the Englisg team reality TV show

[@conorphelan7242]

I’ve watched all 8 episodes and while I thought it was good I was really disappointed that Ireland and France barely featured at all. Italy, England and Wales featured in all the episodes and got the lions share of the coverage 🍀

[@onlookervb]

Just watched it , was even worse then last year. Italy parts were about the only interesting thing. Way too focused on England and apart from Joe marler they were all super cringe. Ireland and France may as well not have been in it. Really didnt like how they focused on one game per round made it feel all over the place. And ill give him a pass because they were clearly trying to make it drama between forde and smith but smith really came across as a bell end. And poor ugo monye came out looking like an idiot but it felt completely scripted so ill give him a pass

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah Italy and Quesada come out of this doco looking really good actually

[@iansinclair7581]

@@onlookervb Monye is an idiot.

[@barryb90]

Lad, not once did they delve inside the history of the game or the competition in either season. It literally entices no one to watch the game. Anyone whoever who has never watched Rugby is none the wiser after it.

[@twitterking1]

you trying so hard not to say the show was trash. 😅

[@TwoCentsRugby]

I still enjoyed parts of it 😅 But the fact it's not coming back is maybe not a shocker

[@CaesarPortugal]

Started watching the first episode and got as far as Marcus Smith talking about what car he was going to buy, the Monye turned up with his 'envy of the world' comment and I turned it off. I read a lot about the 'Scotland episode' so I went back and watched that. It was - meh.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah I liked the angle on Duhan - mental game is a thing, not a robot etc. But for sure the "envy" thing... eesh.....

[@solinvictus1234]

It feel like if someone in England having seen the first season talked to netflix to get more England in the second season....if you know what i mean ($)

[@kevindevane6175]

This show was supposed to be about the 6 Nations. All the games, the players involved and the buzz that goes with it. What we got is an unholy mess. I enjoyed season 1 (recommend it) and there really was room to improve and expand on it but this was so disappointing.

[@Thudsrayz]

Forced myself to watch first series. Actually had a few laughs, particularly with Crowley and co in Italy. Those guys sounded like my under 15s coaches disgruntled about everything 😂 But yeah, wasn't exactly counting the days to series 2. Will give it a watch at some stage

[@malcolm9650]

I enjoyed it, oor Finn is always good for a laugh. England were acting a bit like football players showing of cars etc which is not a good look.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Kinghorn and his missus seemed pretty cool. Also Duhan's story was actually pretty interesting about the mental side of the game

[@malcolm9650]

@TwoCentsRugby 100% mate

[@DaveNGarrett61]

Gave up after the first couple of season 1 episodes. Purile lowest common denominator Stuff. Not for the rugby purist.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah I guess they were aiming casual...

[@siyashosha6241]

After watching Chasing the Sun 1 and 2, I was really looking forward to watching something similar from other nations...what a let down this 6 Nations doccie has been. No passion, no depth, no emotion...not engaging at all. Closest thing to Chasing the Sun I've seen is the 2009 Lions Tour with Ian Mcgeechan...now that gave me goose bumps, Mcgeechan, Garland, Shaun Edwards and O'Connell...all their speeches and passion...out of this world.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah agree - those old Lions docos were awesome

[@keithcrane469]

As an Englishman i have to say that Nutrition (in the England camp) should be taken more seriously. I definitely feel we would win more if we behaved as if we were Athletes because that is what they are. Homemade chocolate bars and sausages are not great cornerstones of athletic performance.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Looked good though some of that food 😅

[@sternshadowdude2]

Maybe they should have picked just one team to focus on for the season like what Hard Knocks does for the NFL.

[@k0bra3eak40]

Italy was great, Wales was fascinating to see how dire the behind the scenes is in the Welsh camp. England was very bland, Ireland and France almost non-existent

[@Olriktheinfamous]

France got a poor coverage, if you want to hear French moaning about how anglosphere does not value them, it’s perfect 😅

[@TheMatthewLoder]

I tried to watch season 1 after Chasing the Sun 2 last year, i think i got through 2 episodes and just couldn't be bothered with how little access it felt like you had

[@neilmontgomery3470]

I didn't particularly think the first season was great, so I don't think I'll bother with this one.

[@bobbler42]

“…and featuring Eddie Jones as Günther Steiner…”

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Eddie might have made the show more watchable 😅

[@IrishInsomniac76]

Shite. A whole lot of England footage which i expect is because they got more access but i skipped through a lot. Not upset there wont be a third season.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah it's a shame they didn't have more balance between the sides...

[@SingularSuperNinja]

I feel the same as I felt about seaosn 1. Who is this for? If it is to recruit new fans then its crap because they dont explain anything about the game whatsoever. If it is for a big fan then the access and insight is very surface level and not very interesting. Very poor series. Was disappointed last year, this year I expected it sadly.

[@conchronic]

It was not a bad watch, but as you say, England heavy , looks like ireland gave quite limited access and as i ireland fan not as engaging

[@Amandla-Awethu]

Nowhere near Chasing the Sun, which for me is the best rugby doccie ever. Netflix would have had a bigger budget, more teams to follow and presumably sufficient access to have made it much better, but didn’t.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah I get the feeling Chasing the Sun had much better buy in from the Boks - from the lack of Irish/French content I'm assuming they didn't want the cameras in there

[@Ophelia771]

I guess it is much easier to deal with one team instead of 6. Much of the players will know they won't be featured so I guess they don't care at all. I think the producers done a bad job in the first place if they didn't sell a good end vision to head coaches to allow access to all areas at the very beginning. Coaches too would be aware of the disruption it might cause to prep.

[@marcopais5587]

Such a lost opportunity for rugby

[@SE7VENprod]

I think its funny people complain that we dont have personalities in rugby then you get a personality in Marcus Smith or Fin Russel and people complain. Alot of how the people in full contact that come off porly i feel is just directors and editing creating drama as you said.

[@Zveebo]

It has to be an actual *likeable* personality. Coming across like an arrogant image-obsessed egotist isn’t really what people were looking for, I think.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah there's a weird state of wanting stars but also preferring team players who don't act like stars. The editing is always the thing with reality TV aye... they have to spice things up there

[@dimitardobrev3296]

I plan to watch it, just keeping my expectations low so i can enjoy it for what it is.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah man I enjoyed in that way - but I can see why it hasn't found a wider fanbase

[@Onnyji]

Yes, just boring the matches are covered in like 1 minute but the pre match stuff is dragged out and everyone being overly nice

[@toegreene]

Oh yeah, and the Marcus smith has the best hair in world rugby comment, what Rugby fan wants to hear bs like that. I disliked him enough before that now even more 😂

[@TauCeti973]

It is terrible. I really tried to look at it, but it was just shallow Netflix crap

[@denisekeville-ul3fp]

Its 6 nations...whats with all the focus on England. Granted they may have had more access to them but i dont think its done them any favours, definitely cringe moments and I'm only on episode 2.

[@jonfallis305]

full contact series 1 is rubbish vs tour de france documentary but i am a rugby fan and the cycling was a new world to me, so maybe reason why?

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah maybe? I really liked Drive to Survive - I watched several seasons. After that I thought "now I'm gonna really watch some F1" when the new season came along... and Red Bull flogged everyone so I didn't get past about 3 races....

[@jonfallis305]

@TwoCentsRugby thanks, try the tour de france series

[@Thudsrayz]

Fwiw, I'm a die hard rugby and cycling fan and love the tour de france Netflix docos. Not impressed with the 6N docs

[@niallohigginsno]

Rubbish series in the main - fed up with girlfriends and no sense of the rugby. First view of ireland was england beating them - it felt like england were the champions to focus upon. Really poor series - nothing insightful.

[@johnmaguire1952]

Absolute rubbish. 6 nations me arse it was the England show. Ireland the champions only appear in episode 3 and the storming game in Marseille wasn't even shown. And the shite with Smith at the start with his free car and his puke inducing pr company. If this is the future of rugby kill me now.

[@andydevereux2195]

Yes , embarrassing scripted reality show

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Some of the conversations were indeed very awkward

[@andydevereux2195]

Very dissappounted personally , couldve been so much better ​@TwoCentsRugby

[@Whyareyouheer]

It’s absolutely shite nothing like what it’s about at all tame and lame shite

[@patrickenright3874]

Rubbish