England-France is title decider - Chabal

France forward Sebastien Chabal believes the winner of his side's match against England on 26 February will go on to lift the Six Nations title.

Both teams have won their opening two games and will square up at Twickenham.

"I believe the winner of the next round will win the Six Nations," said the 33-year-old Chabal. "So we will try to do our best and get a result in England.

"We saw them against Italy, they played great rugby, moved the ball and were strong. But Italy didn't play well."

England produced an impressive performance against the Italians at Twickenham, running in eight tries in a 59-13 victory, with Chris Ashton scoring four times.

Martin Johnson's side have scored a total of 85 points with 32 against from their first two games, while France have statistics of 59 points for and 43 points against following their latest victory, a narrow 25-22 success against France in Dublin


full story and source - bbc website - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/9397616.stm

do you agree? Could Wales beat the French after they have in turn beaten the English? Could the Irish have a say still yet?

I dont see a grandslam this year to be honest. I think that England or Wales will turn France over but i also feel that Ireland will beat England at the Aviva. England to win the championship on points due to their total stuffing of Italy.

Like eirebilly i dont see anyone winning a GS this season, the WC is on the horizon an teams will have to pace themselves.
chabal may think that the French dont have it in them to win this 6N's and is therefore talking this game up for his teams sake, no league is ever won 'til the fat thingy..........

ospreylian wrote:Like eirebilly i dont see anyone winning a GS this season, the WC is on the horizon an teams will have to pace themselves.
chabal may think that the French dont have it in them to win this 6N's and is therefore talking this game up for his teams sake, no league is ever won 'til the fat thingy..........

England's world cup triumph and preceeding GS would seem to blow that theory out of the water. Momentum, not pacing is the key to world cup success. This requires winning and this is achieved by having good strength in depth to cover injuries. Losing games can dent confidence.

I am realy fed up with these post that the winner between England v France will be the over all winner(Grand Slam)winners. I dont think any one will win the Grand Slam,i think it will come down to who as the most points at the end of the tournament.

welcome to the board majesticimperialman
I think the majority on here could be right, i dont think there will be a GS either.
Ireland will be tricky opposition

England are in the box seat point wise. Ireland and Scotland have shown the frailties in the French defence, that coupled with Englands attack i feel that England will beat France. I still stand by my views that Ireland will beat England at home and that England will win the championship on points with Ireland taking the tripple crown.

majesticimperialman wrote:i think it will come down to who as the most points at the end of the tournament.

Well d'uh.....

Venue: Twickenham Date: Saturday, 26 February 2011 Kick-off: 1700 GMT

England and France put their unbeaten records on the line at Twickenham, in what may well turn out to be the championship decider.

England start as favourites after impressing against Wales and Italy, but France should be a very different proposition. Marc Lievremont's side, lest we forget, won the Grand Slam last year and have not lost a Six Nations match since their last visit to London in 2009.

The French have not been at their fluent best in this campaign and were outscored by three tries to one in their narrow win over Ireland last time out. But they are winning which, as England team manager Martin Johnson likes to point out, is more important than the performance itself.

England were both victorious and stylish in their last Twickenham outing, running in eight tries as they thumped Italy 59-13. Chris Ashton scored four of them and now has six tries in this year's championship, as many as England scored in the whole of last year's competition.

France, who have conceded six tries in their opening two matches, will have their work cut out to keep England's rampant backs quiet. But they have match-winners of their own - not least their recalled scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili, who kicked all 18 points the last time France won at Twickenham in 2005.

Should be a cracking game, for match more match stats leading upto this encounter Click Here BBC Sport

England by 12

Aw chabal, for some reason I feel sorry for him... I think he isn't as tough as he looks (much tougher than me, I'm sure), and I think the oppo raise their game against him. I feel Eng are his Achilles heel, and I can see him going off injured, or crying at some point... so glad they picked him, the poor lost little soul!

Welcome to the board Shonun
We have a live chat box for the 6 nations tomorrow (which should be a cracking game) and the footy, hope to see you there

"I believe the winner of the next round will win the Six Nations"

Yep! Unlucky you frog eating Bar Steward.

While it wasnt the open,try fest that all had hoped for,it was still totally absorbing to watch.Two very good teams going at it hammer and tong,yes there was errors but in conditions like those you are always going to get them.England should have won more comfortably,they should have turned possesion and territorial advantage into more points but lets not complain.Scotland will come South and just get in the way as usual and from what ive seen of Ireland so far i reckon its Englands slam to lose.If we get it right and it all clicks into place i can see England doing a cricket score on one of two left to play(hope its Scotland!).

First half: started well, but after 15 minutes or so it all went horribly wrong. Chucked the ball about too much and panicked a little. France should have gone into half-time with a lead but couldn't.

Second half was I though an excellent reaction, they played simpler rugby, dominated territory and possession. Very pleased with the way they managed to turn the game around, shows they're learning.

Would have been nice had they showed a touch more composure at times, they could easily have scored another couple of tries if they had, but still an encouraging win IMO.

Sheridan should have been on the bench at best, bit of tunnel vision from ashton, not enough aggression in contact, and poor handling - on the other hand, Easter continues to surprise, the attacking intention was plain to see (if misguided at times), and how good is it to see Wilkinson coming off the bench? Hopefully the team can kick on from here, and the next 2 matches are under clearer skies. Looking forward to sizing up the opposition tomorrow... I'm going for a Scotland win, they are overdue a performance.

Scottrf wrote:"I believe the winner of the next round will win the Six Nations"

Yep! Unlucky you frog eating Bar Steward.

Really, was there any need for that?