Eire 34 - Scotland 13!

[Nervous Jock]

What six nations are involved in this?

Scotland, France, Ireland, Wales, Italy and the forces of evil

[McClef]

What six nations are involved in this?

As an additional clue the missing named country is south of Scotland and east of Wales!

[Nervous Jock]

As an additional clue the missing named country is south of Scotland and east of Wales!

I spend too much time on Welsh rugby sites

[Ayin McFye]

LOL! It sounds like the "Name that shall not be said...cannot be said" from the 13th Warrior.

Thou shall not speak the name "E*****D" or "evil" tides shall arise.

(To anyone that is offended, I'm just kidding, it's all in fun!)

[McClef]

Yes it's all in good fun - some of our finest contributors live in E*****d. :butt:

[Nervous Jock]

Yes it's all in good fun - some of our finest contributors live in E*****d. :butt:

Been on the SA again chief??

[Corkonian]

There's no such country as "Eire", mate. It's "Ireland". Look it up on the map, in the UN, in the EU, any international organisation or treaty you care to mention. Ireland - not "Eire", not "the Republic of Ireland", not "the Irish Republic", not "The Republic". Ireland, Ireland, Ireland, Ireland. One word. In English. Got it?

We particularly resent being referred to as Eire - only the British do it, mostly the well-meaning but basically ignorant ones. Eire is only used on our stamps and coinage - and that is only because the redneck Gaeilgeoir culture hegemonists who staff our Civil Service thought it would be a good idea to pretend, yes pretend, that we live in a Celtic paradise where everyone speaks Irish/Gaelic. In reality, fewer than 5% choose to speak it.

Ok, rant over. Sorry. It was a pretty good game for us, scoring two tries off so little possession in the 1st half. But guys, you gifted us our 1st and 5th tries, with silly pre-schoolboy errors, and although our 3rd try was really well executed with the cross-field kick, it was also made rather easy for us - where was the defence? If Horan hadn't been there to score it, Bowe was right behind him and would have scored it instead (and got a hat-trick in the process). That's a 2-on-zero attacking formation!

So I hardly rate any of those three tries in terms of an Irish return to form; only the 2nd and 4th tries, which came from brilliant movement and handling, made me feel that this Irish team are maybe getting their act together again.

Strokosch was the only Scottish player to really impress me - he has fantastic power as a ball carrier. Patterson was an improvement on Parks. And I think you need Cussiter back again in place of Blair. More than anything else, you need 5 backs who can cut through defences at least some of the time, with all that possession. Don't be downhearted; it can come good for Scotland yet; you're no worse now than we were in the World Cup 6 months back. But it requires bringing in some of your "A" talent and a change of tactics. Oh yeah, and a re-learning of the utter basics...like sticking to your wing, and expecting the inside move off the scrum!

[McClef]

Been on the SA again chief??

What on earth could make you think that? I only drink any Brains' brew occasionally!

There's no such country as "Eire", mate. It's "Ireland". Look it up on the map, in the UN, in the EU, any international organisation or treaty you care to mention. Ireland - not "Eire", not "the Republic of Ireland", not "the Irish Republic", not "The Republic". Ireland, Ireland, Ireland, Ireland. One word. In English. Got it?

We particularly resent being referred to as Eire - only the British do it, mostly the well-meaning but basically ignorant ones. Eire is only used on our stamps and coinage - and that is only because the redneck Gaeilgeoir culture hegemonists who staff our Civil Service thought it would be a good idea to pretend, yes pretend, that we live in a Celtic paradise where everyone speaks Irish/Gaelic. In reality, fewer than 5% choose to speak it.

It's a more complex situation than that as all Irish stuff can be.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89ire

True you won't hear it spoken much in Cork, just as you won't hear much Welsh spoken where I live, but when there are two official languages, irrespective of proportionality, there will be usage that spills from the minority language into the majority one. Not just banknotes and stamps but place names, and in Ireland car registration plates, etc etc.

And on the latter, where the name of the county is shown, it's always in Gaelic - the English clue is only given in the letters of the registration.

Our Canadian brethren can testify to how much French they see, even if they don't use it and don't live in Quebec.

Not everyone is an expert on subtle nuances of meaning and difference between what Gaelic usage and English usage represents. And it's not "only the British" - we would tend to use "Republic of Ireland" or "Irish Republic" these days just as we use "Northern Ireland" rather than "Ulster" or "The Six Counties."

The fact remains that the island of Ireland is still divided between two nations so differentiations between the two in how they are described are inevitable.

[Phil]

And it's not "only the British" - we would tend to use "Republic of Ireland" or "Irish Republic" these days just as we use "Northern Ireland" rather than "Ulster" or "The Six Counties."

When I was growing up it was always called the "Free State" or "The South". You only saw Eire on the stamps and the money. Ireland is confusing (at least while Northern Ireland remains partitioned) and in any case the team has players from both sides of the border.

[Ayin McFye]

There's no such country as "Eire", mate. It's "Ireland". Look it up on the map, in the UN, in the EU, any international organisation or treaty you care to mention. Ireland - not "Eire", not "the Republic of Ireland", not "the Irish Republic", not "The Republic". Ireland, Ireland, Ireland, Ireland. One word. In English. Got it?

We particularly resent being referred to as Eire - only the British do it, mostly the well-meaning but basically ignorant ones. Eire is only used on our stamps and coinage - and that is only because the redneck Gaeilgeoir culture hegemonists who staff our Civil Service thought it would be a good idea to pretend, yes pretend, that we live in a Celtic paradise where everyone speaks Irish/Gaelic. In reality, fewer than 5% choose to speak it.

Wow, thanks for joining XMarksthescot. It's truly a pleasure to meet you.