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History victory of Italy. Italy beat Australia 28-27. It took us 18 games to win one 🤦🏻‍♂️ After so many wooden spoons we can go for the Fork service now:-) Why not talk about it😂

So, we’re off again, and Scotland disappoint straight away. Congrats to the Welsh, who played a good tight game today. Scotland, as usual, threw it away with too many simple errors.

A bit of Rugby background. The six nations has kicked off, Ireland, England, France, Scotland, Wales, Italy. In Ireland's opening match against France, we were leading for 70 of the 80 minutes until France scored a try to go one point up. In rugby the game doesn't finish until the ball goes out of play after the time goes over 80 minutes, so Ireland had to keep the ball in play, and they did for 40 phases, it's also possible that the ref (the best referee in rugby) was feeling kind-hearted. Having said all that, Ireland could have played all day in Paris and not scored a try. The French defense, especially for a young international team, was very tight. The highlights, Sexton's cross-field kick to Earls at about 4:15 The main event, a 42 metre drop-kick at about 6:28, then the commentators' responses. Mon Dieu! Not to take pleasure in France's loss but Irish wins in Paris are rare enough. Looking forward to the finale against England on St. Patrick's day, pubs will be busy here that day. By the way, if anyone wants to join me, I'm aiming to be in the bar in the cigar lounge at the Conde de Villanueva for Ireland vs Wales on Saturday Feb 24th at 9:15am. Good fun last year.

I know several members are addicted to Rugby League, and just wanted to post this tragic accident clip along with the link to the actual video. Our thoughts and prayers go out to him. Rugby player Alex McKinnon paralyzed after landing on neck Australian professional rugby league player Alex McKinnon has been diagnosed as a quadriplegic after landing on his neck during a game. McKinnon, who plays for the Newcastle Knights, was tackled during a game and as you can see in the very graphic video above, he flips and lands hard right on the back of his neck. McKinnon broke two vertebrae during the game last Monday and was placed in a coma, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. The 22-year-old awoke on Sunday to learn that doctors believe that the accident has left him a quadriplegic. Still, his colleagues and family members won’t be deterred by the news. The chief executive of his team Matthew Gidly said, “Alex is in the first phase of his recovery and we hope his progress continues.” McKinnon’s parents have stayed at his bedside. McKinnon has already started physical therapy and Nine Network reported that the rehabilitation may help McKinnon improve his condition, since his spinal cord was not severed. Allegedly, McKinnon’s first words when he woke up was to ask for a lemonade, though he was not permitted to actually swallow it – the beverage was dabbed on his lips instead, reports the Herald. McKinnon has already undergone an emergency surgery and another surgery to insert a steel plate and bone graft over his damaged vertebrae to protect his spinal cord. <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.liveleak.com/ll_embed?f=16a5306c08cc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Final score Ireland 30 - 22. If you like your rugby physical, I've never seen a more determined second half and that was with Wales down 30 - 3, five minutes in. O' Driscoll's pass is well worth a look, plus this back heel from Simon Zebo that I've never seen in a game of rugby before. His first 6 nations game for Ireland. One of the best games I've seen in a long time. Just great stuff. After this, Ireland face England next week.