6 Nations Rugby Tournament

[kiltedinUSMC]

There is a Rugby Tournament right here down in San Diego. I am going to down there tommorow.

[Phil]

Looks like the wooden spoon for Scotland but well done Wales. I hope you go on to win it. Ireland had a great comeback but just didn't quite make it.

[davecolorado72]

Well, Ireland had a good accounting for themselves in Paris but fell short again. Disappointing...but encouraging for the rest of the tournament. Don't see France losing though. Better them than the Brits tho.

Will all their injuries maybe the Italians can stuff em.

[McClef]

In this tournament there are 3 "Brit" teams - did you mean one of them or all of them?

[Phil]

I think he meant England - common mistake as you will know only too well. For the sake of others equally confused our present setup here is the United Kingdom of Great Britain (Brits) and Northern Ireland, hence UK on our passports. England, Wales and Scotland make up Britain, Northern Ireland doesn't and the Irish Republic (south) is a completely independant and separate country. To add to the confusion they also include some Northern Irish players from time to time. Most foreigners when they refer to England really mean the British Isles and most English people when referring to Britain and the British are really only referring to themselves. Confusing isn't it?

[davecolorado72]

Without getting into a policy debate, I guess I like to think of each 'nation' as their own entity, regardless of any outside influences from other nations.

Just my opinion on things.

Otherwise it would be the "4 nations" tourney....Britain, Italy, France, and Ireland.

[McClef]

No problem Dave.

You may well think of yourself as a Coloradan first and American second, so it is over here - the Brits occupy the island of Great Britain and comprise of Welsh Scots and English who live in and move around - you get Scots in Wales and English in Scotland etc etc.

We have a common National Anthem for events when the whole Kingdom is being represented and our own individual anthems for when it is the constituent country being represented as for example in Rugby.

The Northern Ireland chap thinking of himself as British is due to the six counties of the Province of Ulster that voted to remain within the United Kingdom rather than go with the rest of Ireland. But you can bet your bottom dollar he thinks of himself as an Ulsterman first. Of course there are others who see themselves as Irish first and indeed, in Rugby, because they do not field their own team in this tournament, many will support Ireland as an all inclusive representative team.

What you will also find is that rivalries can go out of the window - when England was the only UK team in the World Cup, everyone fell behind them and the flags of St George fluttered everywhere, including Wales and Scotland!