Six Nations Rugby - Times Online - WBLG

Beeb boobs on first Six Nations weekend

There were a couple of teams who played a blinder in the opening round of matches in this year's Six Nations Championship, but the BBC was not among them. Very little went right for the corporation's sport department in its coverage from Dublin, London and Edinburgh.

The worst was from Twickenham where the director's injudicious choice of camera angle led to a bewildering selection of pictures which often gave the viewer no real feel for where we were on the field.

New Zealand exit - good riddance to bad sports

New Zealand have to face reality now. They are not world champions and may never be again. The game is outgrowing them. That is the stark prospect facing the All Blacks as they return home not to a heroes welcome and an open top bus ride in Auckland but to derision, scorn and a quick exit from the airport - that's if they are allowed through passport control. There is nothing more satisfying in a rugby sense than seeing New Zealand get their come-uppance, not even Australia's scrum collapsing like a souffle fresh out of the oven in Marseille and an inspired England victory.

Top five rugby totty

Six packs and skill is a lethal combination. And that's just what these ladies went for when choosing their other half...

Top five bad boys at the Rugby World Cup

Rugby is a tough sport played by tough men (and occasionally tough women) but this lot take "hard" to a new level...

Ireland facing daunting task

It has been difficult not to smile at France’s sporting plight over the past fortnight, first losing to Argentina in the Rugby World Cup and then at home to Scotland in the Euro 2008 qualifiers. It was not that long ago that the Scots struggled to draw with the Faroe Islands while the French were champions du monde. If France get knocked out of their own World Cup by losing to Ireland then national humiliation would be complete.

For a grumpy old man, I do enjoy the craic

Arriving at Bordeaux airport on Wednesday ahead of a six weeks of rugby, I was standing by the luggage carousel waiting for my suitcase. It duly appeared but with an accompanying tag on which BOD was clearly marked in capital letters. I wondered whether and how I had got Brian O’Driscoll’s bag, a player whose moniker and exploits have famously been produced on tee-shirts proclaiming ’In BOD We Trust’. The Ireland team was arriving at the same time so it was feasible.