The East Terrace Predicts Round Five of the Six Nations
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Action from Rugby Challenge 2006 |
Rugby Challenge 2006
Format: PS2
Publisher: Ubisoft
Well, here we are, at the end of our highly scientific attempt to predict this year’s Six Nations via rugby video games. Not surprisingly, we’ve been pretty rubbish. We’ve used games from the 80s and games from the 90s and had little luck at the bookies.
So, to finish off our experiment, we have predicted the final round of the Six Nations with a modern game. Can the technology of 2006 beat the predications of games from 1988 and the like? Or are today’s programmers just as unlikely to make an accurate rugby game as those from days gone by?
Potential flaws with the program
For reasons unknown to us, modern games do not seem to allow you to pit the computer against the computer in a simulated game. We were able to do this on the likes of World Class Rugby, International Rugby Simulator and Rugby World Cup ’95, but we can’t do it on a game coming out in 2006? These modern game designers, lazy.
So once again we had to bring the human element into play this week and have human controlled matches. Meaning the results are, to a certain extent, b******.
Also we must take into account the most famous flaw of Rugby Challenge 2006: the near impossibility to force a turnover. It means that a team can easily go through over a dozen phases without even looking like losing the ball. Hold the ball long enough and you’ll score. Get it back from the kick-off, hold on, and you’ll score. For this reason it wouldn’t be a huge shock it we saw some big wins or big comebacks. Its hard to get the ball back if you kick it away.
Finally, this is the first game in our series to have the current squads from the modern era. With a bit of roster editing we could have, to a large extent, got the teams exactly right in terms of personnel for the real games this Saturday. But we really couldn’t be bothered to do that. We wanted to get to the pub. So we took the default teams. Sorry.
England v Ireland
England were on course for our digital championship if they could win this game. They started very badly, however. Not unlike their flesh and blood counterparts in Paris last week, the English freeze at the start and with barely a minute gone, Brian
O’Driscoll grabs an early try after non-existent English tackling in midfield. O’Gara slots the extra points.
Another sloppy kick-off from England sees Ireland build good field position. Our human players are having too much fun with the ‘charge tackle’ feature and a sting of penalty kicks results, mostly in favour of the Irish. One of which is well taken by O’Gara to give the Irish a 10-0 lead in the driving digital rain.
Then, with seconds left in the first-half, O’Gara loses the ball on the English line and the men in white go through eight phases and 100 metres to score at the opposite end through Harry Ellis. It means England go into the break just 10-7 down.
The second-half sees some heroic Irish defence, including a potentially illegal try-saving tackle from Geordan Murphy, but eventually the constant pressure tells. O’Driscoll bounces off Cueto out wide and the English take the lead at 12-10.
England regain the ball from the kick-off and, after about a dozen phases, get a near identical try in the same corner, again from Cueto. Again Hodgson misses the conversion.
From the next restart we see a hilarious off the ball tackle from Borthwick for no reason whatsoever as Ireland challenge the kick-off. O’Gara takes a wonderful kick to make the score just 19-13 to the English going into the closing stages.
Finally, with Ireland attempting to run the ball from their own line in a last ditch effort to sneak the game, Borthwick reads a pass from O’Kelly so sweetly he intercepts and glides in under the posts with not a defender in sight. We don’t quite believe it either!
Although the conversion hits the post, England wins our match 24-13.
Final Score: England 24 Ireland 13
Scorers:
For England, Cueto (2) Borthwick, Ellis (tries); Hodgson (2 con)
For Ireland, O’Driscoll (1T); O’Gara (1PG, 1 con.)
Wales v France
The big hitting continues in this match as Wales open up by dishing out a string of highly illegal and highly early off the ball tackles. Shane Williams in particular is running around like a raging bull. However, Frederic Michalak seems unable to convert anything for France.
All the early game is pure French pressure and then, from nowhere and completely against the run of play, Mark Taylor of Wales goes 80 metres after a French dropped ball, just escaping the clutches of the covering fullback to put Wales up 5-0. It is highly amusing to see the defenders chasing him en masse like a herd of school kids. Good, intelligent programming.
The conversion is missed as Stephen Jones struggles to cope with a mysterious 15km/h swirling wind inside the closed confines of the Millennium Stadium. Strange.
It means Wales go into the imaginary changing room 5-0 to the good despite having almost no possession.
France start the second-half like a team possessed and, after battering the Welsh line for a few minutes, they get their chance when one of the Welsh midfield gets injured by running into a goal post. Jauzion takes the opportunity to glide in unopposed under the sticks. The conversion is good.
Aurelien Rougerie adds another straight from the kick-off and, suddenly, Wales, despite France failing to add the extra points, seem out on their feet.
Soon after prop Adam Jones attempts a 50m drop kick, but only succeeds in giving the ball back to the French, who promptly add a score through De Villiers.
From here it all goes horribly wrong for the Welsh and, in total, they concede 31 unanswered points in the second part of the game. Adam Jones finishes the match for Wales by comically running into the posts (is there some symbolism for the real Welsh season here) and conceding a late score.
Final score: Wales 5 France 31
Scorers
For Wales, Taylor (1T)
For France, De Villiers, Jauzion, Betsen, Traille, Rougerie (tries) ; Michalak (3 con)
Italy v Scotland
Italy start badly with a three-yard kick-off. Not even a schoolboy error is that bad. Scotland use the subsequent scrum well and build excellent field position. They come away with a penalty after the latest late/early/rough set of tackles in this round of fixtures. It seems about the only thing Rugby Challenge will ping you for. The sequence is then almost repeated in exactly the same way as Paterson kicks another penalty for another identical infringement.
The first half is all Scotland and Jacobsen crashes over near the end of the first period and Paterson adds a sweet touchline conversion.
However, with the last play of the half, what looks a certain try for Italy is called back for a forward pass. Seeing what has gone so far in this round, it is a harsh call. Again the Italians suffer at the whistle.
The first twenty minutes of the second half has Italy on the back foot, heroically defending the line from a constant onslaught of Scots. Then, in one of the tries of our digital season, Italy turnover the ball on their own line and break 80 metres downfield with some fluid inter passing. Two phases later and Paul Griffen squeezes in the right-hand corner. Simon Picone adds a beautiful conversion and suddenly its 13-7.
The match then degenerates into a free for all and, after some end-to-end stuff, Manuel Dallan falls over for the Italians three minutes from the end. The conversion is added and Italy need just run out the clock at 14-13 up.
Italy do exactly that and a bit more. Deep into injury time they add a drop goal from the boot of fly-half Picone to seal the match. Sweet, dramatic stuff from the Italians.
Final score: Italy 17 Scotland 13
Scorers
For Italy, Griffen, Dallan (tries); Picone (2 con, 1DG)
For Scotland, Jacobsen (try); Paterson (1 con, 2 PG.)
Round Five Results
England 24 Ireland 13
Wales 5 France 31
Italy 17 Scotland 13
Potential problems with our computer system
Well, if your view of an average rugby game involves frequent possesion bouts of about twenty phases followed by a try, followed by another twenty phases and a try, there isn’t much of a problem here. Similarly, the only offence in this game seems to be late/early tackles.
So what should you bet on for the Round Four of the Six Nations?
Well, take what you want from our little previews. In the Twickenham clash we fancy a flutter on O’Driscoll and Borthwick as first and last try scorers respectively.
From the Welsh game we might flutter on the points margin to France of around 26 points. We may also go for the first try from a welsh winger, just for some good odds.
Finally, betting on an Italian win could be good punt. Italy are surely due something soon and have beaten Scotland twice in the Six Nations before. Furthermore, are Scotland content, and exhausted, with shaking up the big boys back at Murrayfield this season? So we will go for an Italian win and the first try from a Scottish winger.
How does our final prediction table look?
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pt | |
| England | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 121 | 41 | 8 |
| France | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 73 | 61 | 8 |
| Wales/West Germany | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 41 | 89 | 6 |
| Italy/Russia | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 35 | 60 | 4 |
| Scotland | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 66 | 40 | 2 |
| Ireland | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 32 | 77 | 2 |
England claim our first ever East Terrace Predication Six Nations as a result of their huge points difference. Only a defeat to Russia/Italy in International Rugby Simulator blew their grad slam ambitions. Italy shock us all with mid-table respectability and the real Wales would be more than happy with such a position in this year’s table. Ireland failed to produce the goods in the digital world, not surprising looking at some of the older games we used, and Scotland must thank the computer gods for the freak result on Jonah Lomu Rugby . France, meanwhile, must rue their horrific collapse against the English in round four. The title had been in their hands.
The East Terrace will be bringing you details of our ‘trophy presentation’ to Andy Robinson next week, so keep checking back.
Finally, thanks to the many of you who wrote to us with comments on our predication features, we very much appreciated it.
Check back next week to see how The East Terrace fared with betting on some of the predictions we forecast.
If you have any experience with Rugby Challenge 2006, or want to comment on our predictions, please email us at webmaster@theeastterrace.com