The Six Nations so far... | Women's Six Nations 2024

We're two weeks into a superb Women's Six Nations where it feels anything could happen. So, we sat down and looked over all six teams, all six games so far, in a bumper review of the tourney so far...
To support former England coach Gary Street's recovery from complications during a heart bypass operation, please click this link- www.gofundme.com/f/help-stree...
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TEAM BY TEAM
00:55 England
14:47 Wales
32:34 Scotland
41:00 ish France
43:42 Italy
48:00 Ireland

[@jennifer68]

Thank you for actually covering women’s rugby and thank you for your respect for women’s rugby overall, it is appreciated x ❤

[@deeps2169]

Hit the notification harder than Sadia Kabeya

[@AshleyMooney-ip6kx]

Thanks so much for covering the womens games it's brilliant to see such in depth coverage.

[@user-xu4rs5hp4n]

loving the long form content, especially if it gets us more wrugby stuff!! thank you for the hard work Robbie and Will :)

[@lauramagnier2009]

I was at Ireland v Italy and it was so exciting! Thanks for doing a deep dive into the Women's game. Some fantastic players!

[@kellsisCOD]

Love the format of these, you get your insight across really well and (hopefully) this style of video means you guys have more time to produce the player/team/tactic deep dives which are super interesting as well. Thanks for putting out such great content, hoping this is less full on for you guys work-wise (plz look after yourselves boys)

[@Catmouflage]

Thanks for covering the W6N guys, it was fascinating to get such in-depth coverage, and it was a bit disappointing to realise the wider youtube rugbysphere was giving it no coverage at all

[@Shenderson3003]

From what I've seen from the new Celtic league, Ireland and Scotland are on the right path for becoming competitive sides. Both play similar brands to their respective men's sides, but also have their own identities. Something that's becoming even more prominent as time goes on

[@Shenderson3003]

It's also worth mentioning that having this new level of professionalism will help the teams become better conditioned long-term. Something that we're already seeing take affect in this year's 6 nations

[@samreeves9870]

My biggest complaint about France is that they seem to be abandoning their kicking game that worked so well, which is dangerous against teams like Scotland or England. If Queyroi doesn't work for this, maybe Vernier could fill in when necessary

[@saoirsedeltufo7436]

Slightly disappointed Gwen Pyrs didn't get a mention - she's an absolutely incredible scrummager, one of the most underrated players in the 6N and I think has been a significant reason why Wales have been so much better over the last couple of years

[@WillOwen9]

Rest assured we are Gwenllian Pyrs stans here at Squidge Towers

[@charlottescott7150]

Great overview again thank you Will and Robbie

[@Wolfsong27FlyHalfFullHeart]

We all know how this gonna end England with another grand slam in I don’t know how many in a row unless France kicking game improves then find a way to counter the English line out because we’re spamming that line out constantly

[@jobat_]

14:10 gave me a giggle

[@johnsmith-ky5qg]

Even if it meant that the Roses would win by even bigger margins I really hope they don't go down the territory over possession tactical plan. To me it is a bit like the saying in legal matters..."Possession is 9/10ths of the battle". It really doesn't matter if you play 70% of the game in your own half if the 30% you have the ball and are scoring points!

[@johnx9774]

With regard to England I don't agree with the assertion that Mitchell wants them to play more territory. Listening to him talk he wants them to play more like the black ferns ie possession, striking from anywhere on the field, playing a less structured game. Though I have to say they always could do that. Personally that is why I prefer the womens game nowadays, I hate constant kicking the ball away and I didn't want Mitchell as a coach because I don't want them to play more like the blokes. England had a brand that made them the best in the world by far and but for a terrible tackle they would have won the world cup. That's not to say they shouldn't evolve.

[@hankb]

[@user-se7es6uc8v]

A coach that takes over a team that is totally successful and decides to change things may well come a cropper.

[@barendvanzyl6342]

Thanks for covering. Are you going to make a video about Chasing the Sun?

[@ccrooper88]

Hi mate, was great to meet you at the GlOspreys game earlier, i was the chap in the green shirt! Sorry you didn't come away with the result, but not sorry. I felt the real difference between the 2 halves was Varneys kicking game- it just seemed off in the first half but then everything he kicked in the second was absolutely nailed. Any chance of a Squidge special on the game?

[@jean-michel.a]

Merci. Great to cover women rugby. In this video, very little time dedicated to France, the only team with two head coaches on a par, one man and one woman, the only female head coach of the tournament if I am not wrong. Anyway, keep it up on women rugby.

[@rittherugger160]

As a one time coach of Women there is a reason that to go for Territory is a decision of lesser value than Possession. Women, as a rule, cannot kick as far as men. That means that the value of Territory you will potentially gain will automatically be less. Don't take me wrong. It's why I like the Women's game.

[@matthewyoung1091]

Are you seeing a change in this year's tournament? Maybe not in abs distance but it seems like more teams have developed multiple players with Trémoulière-like ambition for tactical kicks

[@rittherugger160]

@@matthewyoung1091 Tactical kicks are not kicks intended to gain territory.

[@matthewyoung1091]

​@@rittherugger160that's an interesting distinction I hadn't thought of before. So "tactical" kicks should refer to kick passes, contestable bombs, etc but not say splitting back field players so they're in a terrible position to kick to touch themselves? In the past I'd probably just used "tactical kicking" as another way of saying "really smart" and maybe the implication that its payoff would come in the next phase rather than immediately

[@rittherugger160]

@@matthewyoung1091 "The next phase" is about as immediate as you can expect at any time. Kicking for Territory is delayed gratification because you are counting on the other team to make a mistake before you can hope to reach a satisfactory outcome.

[@Crutypus]

I don't think you can be so definitive as to call it a rule. It's mostly down to coaching and the mentality these girls have. You see it in women's football, maybe they can't make long pings across the field as easy as the men but they can get close and it's not very different from other aspects of the game. From my experience little boys playing rugby will have a kickaround any free minute they get before and after training, even the forwards. They treat it as one of the most fun aspect of the game and as a result they get used to being able to use it. Little girls tend do treat it as a heavy responsability and something you only use if you don't have a choice. As a result the "women can't kick" narrative has become a self fulfilling prophecy, although it seems to me like it's gradually changing as the years go by and the game becomes professional. Women's teams usually had one player that's here just cause she can kick not so bad, nowadays you get 2-3 players that can kick pretty well and soon enough it will be 6 or 7 like any men's team.

[@user-qc3yk2gd5p]

Middleton believed strongly in the territory game. ‘Play it in their half’. And he used the players who could achieve it. Once it was Daley-Mclean, Reed and Scarratt; now it’s Scarratt, Aitchison, Harrison, Kildunne and Rowland - all nurtured by him.

[@timcowell2626]

You touch on territory but fail to mention the quality of Aitchison's out of hand kicking for England. Also the speed of England's passing, off-loading and the quality that England can bring off the bench. Never mind the amount of time England have played with at least one woman down.

[@DJYoue]

Really liking this discussion format, very smart takes on the games so far, really looking forward to your views on the past weekend!

[@michaelbaker7499]

Time 38:44, that's a penalty to France, and shame on the ref for missing it. It was blatant and she was right there. It's shit like this that annoys me more, and - in my opinion - is hurting the game more and is worse than accidentally head collisions. This is a professional foul and so you should get a yellow card.

[@brodericki4281]

Hit it hard than Frank Lomani hit Josh Cannom

[@stevebennett6701]

confused by aupiki red cards.

[@yannisleroux9942]

Love the Huguet figurine

[@clementbatut4053]

I like watching woman rugby but as long as england is that dominant, i'm not that interested in the 6 nations, never à good thing when year after year you know the winner before the tournament even begins. The éléphant in the room is england is a fully pro team against amateurs and semi pros at best.

[@treecko7424]

Other unions need to professionalise their teams then. It's not England's fault that they've managed their women's game the best and they're dominant as a result

[@saoirsedeltufo7436]

I sort of agree, but the impetus is on the other sides to professionalise and improve. And the 6N is still excellent even with England dominating

[@dulls8475]

We cant help it if the other teams wont buy an elephant.

[@jasonsen3367]

The other nations have turned professional. You could always sort of see it as a four team tournament, as the battle between Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Italy is a fascinating one, with the bonus of an always tense clash between England and France at the end of the tournament.

[@clementbatut4053]

Allright so let me clarify because i've obviously been misunderstood. I don't ask for england to go back to amateurism, i'm merely saying that currently the woman's six nations isn't à fair competition, not only do we know beforehand who the winner will be but also that they are way more likely than not to get à grand slam. At WC the gap seems to get smaller because even semi pro or amateurs manage to get à proper training but they just cannot do it every year for the 6 nations, and it shows. Frankly i just don't really see where the controvery is, it's all quite obvious.

[@user-mf5mr6vv6v]

Yall make women's rugby cool

[@WillOwen9]

Women’s rugby makes women’s rugby cool! But I’m glad you think so

[@itistrue101]

Anyone got some figures on the finances of the womens game... its as bad as the WNBA?

[@BadgerUKvideo]

I'm guessing it'd be roughly the same as men's in the 90's.

[@itistrue101]

@@BadgerUKvideo prefer no guesses. But then who was donating millions to the mens game in the 90's - clearly not the women's game.

[@BadgerUKvideo]

@@itistrue101 Shame on the guesses thing. Maybe you'll get lucky. Who was paying the men's game millions in the 90's?

[@itistrue101]

@@BadgerUKvideo Really you don't know? you say same as the mens in the 90's but don't know how it went pro and the money behind it. Lets see, regularly selling out stadiums (even when amateur) , massive sponsorship deals, pay TV media (Mr Murdoch) deals just for starts. This is very basic stuff... rugby went pro from massive outside interest, very different.

[@BadgerUKvideo]

@@itistrue101 All I remember was the money was very low and some international teams who were yet to professionalise lost their jobs when they played tournaments. Not to complain though. It was a different time. Different sport.

[@Ranyanya]

This 6 Nations was again... very boring to watch. Even England and France are uninteresting to watch at the moment...