#some of the comments about other companions inspired by in game dialog

[nocanonhere]

Happy Wyll's Week! Day 4/7

-There Is Hope Yet (SFW, but has more kissing): Tav (Aiya) cant help but tease Wyll about how big of a flirt he is. Anything to brighten the mood. (there is some angst here though) (centered around my Tav, Aiya. Elf-Dragon Sorceress)

He’s certainly attended more parties in the time frame of this journey than he would have expected.

They have a long way to go, but cleansing Moonrise Towers was the beginning of the road to victory. Jaheira encouraged them all, after their proper burials of the Harpers they’d lost, to have a drink and socialize. They were all to be allies from this point forward.

And here he is again, not participating.

The water sloshes against the docks quietly. He wonders just how much life is left in there; if anything of the aquatic variety survived this curse. He wonders how long it will be before the land heals. Halsin seems to have dropped a weight off his shoulders. He was practically glowing about having saved Thaniel and Oliver. Wyll has witnessed many things unheard of, but the personification of nature being present in those children was going to stand out in his mind forever.

They had been a step behind Gortash and Orin, and his father had been infected. What Wyll feared had arrived. With the Duke under mind control, the time clock for their necessary intervention had been cut by a third.

He has a drink in his hand, and another bottle set by his feet. He had hoped a little wine would ease the anxiety swirling in his stomach.

He had hoped for a lot of things. He knows he is the one always toting to never give up, because nothing was over till it was over. But now, he wonders if his opportunity to reconcile with his father had been decimated.

He hears steps, and is in a bad enough mood that he feels annoyed about having been disturbed. He just wants a few moment to himself. How hard can that be?

“Wyll,”

His annoyance evaporates and is replaced with something else. That feeling she generates in him every time they have a moment together.

Perhaps he doesn’t mind, if it’s her.

He turns around to greet her, plastering a half smile on his face for appearances. She doesn’t seem to be buying it.

She seems stiff, and when she’s at his side, he can see her hands pressing into her lower back.

She notices him watching, and shakes her head. “If we make it out of this, I know I’ll have to live with the life-long injuries I’ve gotten on this little trip. I swear I’ll never recover.”

He hums in agreement. “I’m certain I did something to my right shoulder that will haunt me terribly in ten years or so. Maybe less.”

“From this or from your Frontier days?”

“Both,” he shrugs.

It goes quiet then. He wasn’t really in the most festive of moods, and it didn’t want to bring anyone else down with him. He admires everyone so much, especially when they chose to celebrate in the darkness. Grief was forever, but true joy was temporary. It was important to create it where they could.

But he’s not feeling so chatty. And this doesn’t feel like one of their moments where they just sit and enjoy the silence.

“Wyll, I’m sorry.”

He snaps his head to the side then, not expecting that and not understanding what in the world she could be apologizing to him for.

“Whatever for?” he asks, crouching down to set down the wine bottle.

“That we couldn’t make it to your father in time,” she answers. Her hands are still on her back, but her head has fallen forward. She had taken her hair out of her standard braid, so the tresses were blocking her face.

Water droplets started hitting the dock, and for a moment, Wyll foolishly thought that rain had returned to the land, but quickly realized it was Aiya.

She was crying.

“Aiya,” he breathes. He’s a little unsure what to do, he’s never seen her quite like this. ���You have nothing to apologize for. It’s not your fault. None of this is your fault.”

“I know, but” she strains. “I promised you we would save him.”

“And there may still be time yet,” he assures, walking over to her and gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

But that touch only seems to make her worse. She shuffles her shoulder and steps away, prompting Wyll to remove his hand. Something painful grips his throat for a moment, before he clears it.

“My apologies,” he said, bowing his head slightly. “I should have asked if that was okay.”

“No, Wyll. It’s fine. I just-

She lifts her head, and when her hair falls away, Wyll can see the moisture on her face, and the tears brimming in her eyes.

She begins to sniffle. “Sorry. I just don’t…like being touched when I’m upset. It makes me even more…upset.”

“Of course,” he nods gently. “I will make note of that and act accordingly in the future.”

She lifts her hands and wipes at her face, pressing her palms into her closed eyes hard enough to blur her vision.

The tears seemed to have stopped falling, but the sniffles are still there.

“Would you like to sit?” he offers, gesturing to the edge of the dock. She nods and gets closer to him, both of them sitting down and dangling their feet over the edge.

Oddly enough, he finds that the brooding feels better with company. More evidence giving weight to the age-old adage about misery.

Or maybe it’s less misery and more so that he’s just happy to have time with her, even if it isn’t as pleasant as their other shared moments. They had not touched or kissed since their dance, and he did not ask her why. He wondered, of course. But things had become incredibly busy and bloody once they had to defend the portal for Halsin the following day.  

In the meantime, he hadn’t been able to find any items worth gifting. The flowers here were mainly things she used for ingredients, so he wasnt sure if those would suffice as a romantic gift. He thought about writing her something nice, a poem perhaps. But he wasn’t sure what to say just yet. He didn’t want to record one he already knew. He wanted to be original for her.

“So,” she begins, trying to make conversation to lighten the moment. “Any recommendations for places to visit in Baldurs Gate? Giving that it will be left standing.”

“Oh absolutely,” he answers, smiling. “I used to sneak off to…well, I probably wasn’t sneaking; my father probably knew. But I would go to a lounge in the lower city near the harbor. I would go with my friends Nasina and Yudi. Yudi’s dad was a high ranking Fist before he was forcibly retired. Him and my father still remained friends. And Nasina was the daughter of our seamstress, Kali.”

He sighed. “We were no more than sixteen, and Yudi was the one who started dragging me there anyway. But it was like a tavern, and the age ranges were close enough to ours. It mainly seemed to be younger students. But the barkeeper clocked our ages the second we sat at the bar, telling us to take these waters and go somewhere else.”

She laughs, and he smiles at the memory.

“It’s the music that I enjoyed the most. Some people would play and sing for fun. Some for coin. I ended up there on the stage more than once singing quite off key with my friends. Lots of good memories in that place. If it’s still standing, I would like to take you there. And this time, we can get a bit crocked.”

He looks at her, and it seems that she has calmed down some. “That sounds great,” she says. Then she cocks her head. “Did you have a lot of friends, before?”

“Truthfully, only a few friends. The rest of the nobles in my age group were acquaintances because of family and money. I may have been popular, but Yudi and Nasina were my crew.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. The popularity part. You’re quite the catch. And quite the flirt.”

“Hah,” he laughs. “That last bit isn’t exactly true.”

“Oh please,” she moans, rolling her head with it. “You have been the biggest flirt on this journey!”

“How so?”

She opens her mouth in shock. “How…how so? You’ve complimented literally everyone in this camp.”

“People should be appreciated.”

“Yeah, but when Lae’zel tried to make good on it, you backed out.”

He sits forward quickly. “She told you about that?”

“Of course she did,” she bubbles with laugher. “Don’t be upset with her. She didn’t mean anything by it. There are quite a few discrepancies between social conduct here and among the Githyanki. But then there’s Shadowheart. Who shot you down very quickly.”

“Yes, but I wasn’t making an attempt, exactly. She’s just…beautiful.”

“Then Karlach-

He interrupts her. “Now, even you know.”

She bites her bottom lip before laughing again. “Yes. Yeah, that one is completely understandable,” she says, staring off in the distance before snapping back to the moment.

“You called Halsin a thick hunk.”

“Was that a lie?”

“Then there was that comment about Astarion’s tongue.”

“Which you all took out of context.”

“You made that joke to Gale about his magical touch.”

“Now that was meant to be suggestive, yes,” he points.

“You’ll probably start complimenting Jaheira in a moment, since she’ll be joining us.”

“Have you seen her?”

“Wyll!” she laughs. “The point is, whether you mean to or not, many things that you say and do come off as flirtatious. And I refuse to believe teenage Wyll wasn’t making the ladies swoon with his words. Maybe some of the gentleman too.”

He doesn’t have a defense. Not at all. So he just banters. “You think you have all the answers, don’t you?”

“No,” she wheezes out, still full of giggles. “Tell me I’m wrong. How many did you recite poetry to?”

“A few.”

“Exactly, Wyll.”

He shakes his head. “But I truly wasn’t that bad. A few recitations here and there, and of course there were the dances, but there was someone in particular I was interested in at the time. And I was serious about showing her.”

“Ooooh,” she teases. “What’s her name?”

“Uh, well. It was Nasina.”

“And did Nasina know this?”

“Well, yes. We were together, after all.”

“Ah,” she says, nodding slowly. “You were going to omit that little fact.”

He grimaces. “I didn’t mean to. We were friends, over everything. And together only for a short amount of time before we resumed our friendship. ”

“Relax. I’m teasing,” she assures. “But that’s really cute.”

He looks at her, and shakes his head in disbelief. “I’m glad you find it so.”

She looks away, smile still on her face. He thinks he’d let her pick and prod at him all she wanted if it made her laugh.

“And what about you?” he asks. “I understanding Elven lifespans are measured differently, as are Dragonborns. But what was the equivalent of your teen years like?”

By the way her smile falters, he knows he asked the wrong question. He tries to regroup the moment quickly.

“Of course, you don’t have to answer.”

“Oh, it’s fine,” she sighs, shrugging. “But it was…hard, I suppose. I didn’t exactly get a proper coming-of-age experience. Or life, really. But I did have a few friends. I left quite some time ago, though. I haven’t kept up with anyone.”

He nods, ruminating on her words. He still knows so little about her. About her home, her family, her upbringing. But from the small things he’s gathered, like her aversion to talking about it, he supposes it’s not something she really wants to discuss.

When he thought of home, it was painful because he missed it. But it seems when she thought of hers, it was painful just because it was painful.

“And what about now?” he asks. “I mean, I know you weren’t in Baldur’s Gate when you were captured. But where you were, did you have friends there? Or any family?”

Or a partner, perhaps?

“Not really,” she says, not elaborating. “Sorry. It’s probably so rude to not really answer any of your questions when you freely answered mine.”

“That is not an issue,” he adds. “Although I do hope to learn you, in time.”

She looks at him in exasperation. “That. That right there.”

He looks the other way, sees nothing, then turns back to her. “What?”

“What you just said!” she points, then smiles. “You cannot just say things like that.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean it like that,” he tries to convince. “Or, I didn’t mean it in a flirtatious way.”

His explanations only send her back to laughing.

“Gods,” she sighs. “This has been a day.”

He nods. “That it has. You should rest.”

“I should.”

It goes quiet again, and the expression on her face becomes curious.

“I should,” she says again, and Wyll notices her eyes flick down momentarily. He exhales.

“Now who’s being the flirt?” he asks.

She leans closer then, looking up at him. “I’ve been spending too much time around you, I suppose.”

They linger there, neither moving any closer. But Wyll feels the air charge, rolling with tension.

“May I kiss you?” she asks.

He doesn’t answer her verbally, but he does close the gap and press his lips to hers, gently.

They separate and do it again. Then again. Then again.

He wants to keep going, desperately. But the moment was boiling to a temperature he wasn’t braced to reach yet. He was still committed to working this process slowly.

There is a soft, searching look in her eyes. The same one she gave him after their first kiss, the night of their dance. He hates to pull away from her again, but it’s for the best.

“Would you like me to walk you back?”

“Oh, no. That’s okay,” she answers him quickly, agreeing to end the moment. “I’ve done enough this evening. First the crying, then the laughing. Then that.”

And when she’s to her feet, she sways just a bit.

“Aiya,” he begins, smile beginning to bloom on his face.

“It’s Karlach’s fault,” she says, confirming his suspicions. “She’s an enabler. I’m not drunk. Honestly. I think the exhaustion, plus the healing potions, then the wine was a bad trio. No, it absolutely was a bad trio.”

“You probably are just tired,” he stands, grabbing the two bottles he brought back with him. He’s going to return them to their storage because he no longer needs them for what he brought them out there for. The anxiety that had been eating him earlier had been blanketed with her presence, her jokes.

Her kisses.

“But knowing that you are under the influence, I will walk you back for safety purposes.”

“We have killed everything even remotely within this radius.”

“Just go with it,” he encourages, holding out his free arm for her to grab onto.

“My lady,” he nods.

They start walking back, footsteps cutting through the silence, and laughter ringing through the air.

[tagfer]

you should analyze it! i'm curious

urff okay so. I’ll do it. Here’s some overanalysis on how Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon’s story caused almost all of its major characters to become nothing but jokes compared to their original Sun and Moon characterizations.

With full disclaimers, I actually enjoyed playing Ultra Sun. As far as enjoyment goes, it was probably more fun than Sun and Moon. Story? So much worse.

[Massive USUM spoilers! Of all sorts!]

Also a secondary note: I may have missed a thing or two, so if I have incorrect info, please let me know.

Looker & Anabel (and in a way, Nanu) get their postgame removed. Altogether. None of it happens. Looker shows up early to foreshadow Episode RR, but that’s it. Then postgame, there’s a like, ten line cutscene where Anabel introduces herself as a member of interpol and says she’s going to the Battle Tree, and Looker remarks that she’s not that strong. Yeah, let’s put the dude without any pokemon on guard duty for his boss who also used to run a huge battle facility in another universe.

Compare and contrast to SuMo, where the three of them got an entire story. A very horrifying story, but well written, where it’s explained the consequences of falling through a wormhole turns you into a magnet for extraterrestrial beings who will likely kill you, but not out of malice, and that despite her higher rank than Nanu or Looker, that she’s only being used as bait for those creatures. And it explains Looker and Nanu’s past, showing that Looker was a member of interpol years before the quirky guy we meet in Platinum. And that they had a friend/colleague actually die in front of them, and how they both hold immense guilt for that. Oh and that Anabel is likely from a different universe.

But these characters didn’t have destroyed characterization as much as they don’t get any whatsoever because Looker and Anabel get a mass of maybe 20 lines total, only one of which has anything to do with Episode RR.

I included these first because I’ve previously written plenty about Anabel and Looker, and I absolutely loved their plot, so seeing it absolutely absent is the biggest disappointment of USUM for me.

Lillie loses so much that it’s sad. Let’s be honest, Sun and Moon’s plot is really the story of Lillie. How she can grow from a timid girl afraid of the world to realizing that she has her own strength and can determine her own future.

When you first meet her, she’s afraid of birds. By time the climax happens, she’s traveled to another universe to deliver a Why You Suck speech to her abusive mother (and gets one of the best intense musical numbers in the game!). Early in the game, she idolizes your strength, but over the course of it learns she has her own strength and that just because she isn’t the strongest out there doesn’t mean she can’t overcome her own trials and obstacles. She even has some of the best symbolism in the Pokemon games, ever; discarding her old clothes that signify her mother’s control over her and using ones she picked, saying that she’s now going to take control of her life. And she does.

By the end, it’s emotionally impacting when she takes charge to leave Alola on her own journey.

In USUM, the story has shifted. She’s no longer the main character, you are. Which is classic for a Pokemon game, but compared to the games released a year ago it makes everything hollow. It goes from a story where you’re helping your friend who has family issues that spiral deeply out of control to you being the Chosen One who has to defeat Evil Teams and Lillie is just kind of a companion much like previous “friends”.

Her character arc and foreshadowing plays out perfectly in SuMo where as in USUM it falls flat. In Sun and Moon, the entire reason you visit the Ultra Deep Sea is to finish Lillie’s character arc. During their first confrontation, Lillie (symbolically wearing her first outfit) was not strong enough / did not believe in herself enough to confront Lusamine for everything, but she decides that that’s what she needs to do, and that’s what forces her development and drives the plot. In USUM, she never gets to confront her mother at all. And the plot is driven forward partly by Lillie/Gladion’s want to save Lusamine, but mostly because the Ultra Recon Squad needs more help defeating Necrozma.

This makes all her personal growth so much more shallow. Her motivation is to help you instead of you helping her.

Her becoming a Pokemon trainer in Episode RR isn’t foreshadowed at all either (as far as I know) and rather just comes a surprise when you’re forced into a double battle.

Gladion and Type: Null lose a bunch too. In Sun and Moon, he’s a soft kid who tries to hide his gentleness under a facade of badass edgelord. His escape from Aether Paradise, while obviously inspired by his mistreatment, included saving a Type: Null, because he knew it was in pain. He slowly grows and learns the power of friendship. He even names his Type: Full friend.

After the game, he takes over Aether Paradise in order to make sure everything goes right. Which could be seen as unsatisfying but it’s clear he has grown to the point to accept responsibility.

It looks like it was going to be this way in USUM, but it turns out he just gets a Silver complex. He just wants to be the strongest there is. He implies he kidnapped Type: Null not because he wanted to save it, but because he wanted to train it as the Beast Killer it was meant to be, to the point he even points out its concept as a Beast Killer and attempts to follow Lusamine into Ultra Megalopolis.

Even his leaving Alola is just merely a lust for power instead of Lillie’s search for independence. Wicke even comments that Gladion wants to beat trainers like you and Hau. And he does come back for championship title defense matches (a month after you complete the story). That’s it. He didn’t go on a journey, he went on a training mission. His personal growth has really been traded for a Silver complex, of hollow growth but unending lust of power.

Lusamine is a disaster and arguably gets a worse redemption than she did in Sun and Moon despite having a full redemption in USUM.

SuMo Lusamine is by far one of my favorite villains - both in Pokemon and in general. This is cause despite the fact it clearly isn’t, she totally believed what she did was completely justified. She didn’t see herself as a villain at all. And that’s what makes a good villain. She wasn’t just “oh I’m evil, I want to control the world/etc.” Which Pokemon has a lot of.

Her obsession with beauty (and mistreatment of Lillie and Gladion) was the culmination of years of sanity slippage caused by Nihilego and the loss of Mohn. She even more or less forgets the reason she was looking into Nihilego and instead focuses on Nihilego’s beauty. So while it doesn’t justify what she did, we’re at very least given an explanation as to why she is the person she is.

…

In USUM, so much of this changed it’s… unbelievable. Other than the appearance of Nihilego at Aether Paradise, Nihilego plays no role as far as we know. She suffers little sanity slippage other than delusions of grandeur of helping/defeating Necrozma on her own. She also hopes on seeing Mohn.

She’s still obsessed with beauty. She still treats her kids as ornaments. She still uses Guzma. She still experiments on living creatures, freezes living creatures, and creates chimeras. (And Type: Null gets a special note here because her focus was now Necrozma and not Ultra Beasts - but she was still okay with creating a Beast Killer.)

She also gets no real redemption. Despite all that she did, she suffers no consequence. Lillie never gets to really call her out. Nor does Gladion. She seems to repair her relationship with her children near immediately. Nobody comments that she’s got a giant office full of cryogenicly frozen pokemon, and how she openly announces that her goal was to save Alola from Necrozma to keep that collection. She doesn’t get anything. In fact, you, her, Lillie, and Guzma share a laugh at Faba’s expense right in front of one of her pods, with others also plainly visible.

Post Episode RR, talking to her reveals that you made her rethink her views on beauty. Or something. Honestly, it sounds like the kind of lie you’d feed a kid, but it’s more likely bad and forced character development.

In Sun and Moon, she even remarks to Lillie, who had just stood up to her and then saved her despite Lusamine lunging to kill her, “When did you start becoming beautiful?” Which is a perfect line for her character and Lillie, acknowledging Lillie has grown (and completing Lillie’s arc and foreshadowing). Afterwards, Lillie’s speech to you implies she’s got a chance of redemption - while she doesn’t understand what she did wrong, Lillie is attempting to explain to her, and even though you were a constant disruption to her problems she attempted to visit your championship party. With her trip to Bill to hopefully help her problem of (most likely long-term) neurotoxin poisoning and Lillie’s patience, she could eventually come around and realize what she did was wrong and try to make amends for what she’s done.

Instead, in USUM, she seems to be instantly forgiven for everything. Lusamine deserved better than that.

I will always understand why people hate her. I get it. And trust me, I have strong feelings about what she did too. But she’s still my favorite villain and I will be personally suing Game Freak for what they did to her.

Hau gets a BW Cheren complex where one or two lines of dialog from a character make him rethink everything an in the process lose the major part of his personality that made him noteworthy. Cheren lost his goals, and Hau lost his carefreeness. He’s still a sweet kid and everything, and I’m proud that he actually achieved some more goals in USUM than in SuMo, but his (and Hala’s) changes seem so forced, like they were shoehorned in.

At least for Cheren, he got a game two years later showing how he had developed. We’re probably not gonna get that for Hau.

Guzma is one of the only ones that get a bump. But that’s only because his involvement in the story was hardly affected - he was still Lusamine’s faithful servant, even though she had massively changed.

But because change in the story was minimized for him, his inclusion in Episode RR actually helped his character. And afterwards, he says he’s still looking after his crew. So while the growth was minimal, it was there.

Colress is the only other one I can think of who got better, too, but that’s only because he only had like seven lines in Sun and Moon. This time, it’s shown that… well, he hasn’t changed at all, still being but a selfish, hedonistic scientist who will double cross anyone who asks for his help.

And this is more than proven true when he confronts Ghetsis. Although he didn’t try to hide it in B2W2, he full on says he hates Ghetsis. He was only using him for funding and science.

This is not a real shock.

Like I love Colress’ passion but y’know. Everyone who’s asked for his help got it but also got double-crossed. Oh, and now his technology is reaching scary advanced levels.

[MASSIVE SPOILERS BELOW.]

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Mohn. If you were hoping for a happy ending for the Aether family, I’m here to tell you you’ll be sorely, viscerally unsatisfied. While in SuMo he got nothing, somehow, they made it worse for USUM.

Because they finally meet him.

And they choose to let him live his life not knowing he has a wife, children, and friends who have all been looking for him for like, a decade.

Despite the plots of both SuMo and USUM being set into action by his disappearance, he gets no resolution. 

He fucking comments on how nice Aether Paradise is! And they decide to not be like “oh hey yeah you kinda were a major part of it.”

[ultrasfcb-blog]

Six Nations 2018: Sexton, Murray, Bastareaud - Rugby Union Weekly

Six Nations 2018: Sexton, Murray, Bastareaud - Rugby Union Weekly

Six Nations 2018: Sexton, Murray, Bastareaud – Rugby Union Weekly

Eire received solely the third Grand Slam of their historical past as they claimed all of the prizes on supply within the 2018 Six Nations Championship.

Wales had been the perfect of the remainder, whereas Scotland secured three victories for the second successive season to take third – however what number of inexperienced shirts had been they in a position to preserve out of the Rugby Union Weekly podcast’s crew of the match?

A usually unpredictable France facet simply completed forward of final yr’s champions England, who slumped to fifth, and Italy collected a 13th picket spoon. Which of those nations failed to supply a single participant for the line-up?

Former England and British and Irish Lions wing Ugo Monye and BBC commentator and reporter Chris Jones have chosen their beginning XV. Take a look at their picks beneath…

Full-back – Matteo Minozzi (Italy)

UM: 4 tries in Italy’s previous 4 video games, the primary Italian participant to do this. It has been a superb breakthrough season for the 21-year-old in a shedding trigger. He is likely one of the causes head coach Conor O’Shea is so optimistic about Italy’s future.

Proper wing – Keith Earls (Eire)

CJ: Eire coach Joe Schmidt named Earls on the podcast as a participant bang in type earlier than the match, and whereas Jacob Stockdale has been ripping up bushes, the Munsterman has been all class on the opposite wing. A relentless risk going ahead and able to very important defensive performs, akin to his determined tap-tackle on Elliot Daly in opposition to England.

Outdoors centre – Garry Ringrose (Eire)

UM: I do know he solely performed two matches, however he was unbelievably good in opposition to Scotland – dominating the beforehand excellent Huw Jones – earlier than scoring a attempt within the Grand Slam recreation at Twickenham. He’s an distinctive expertise, reiterating the power in depth Eire have constructed.

Inside centre – Mathieu Bastareaud (France)

CJ: A person who was within the headlines for the improper causes earlier than the match confirmed on the pitch why successive France coaches carry on returning to this distinctive and gifted centre. He was a power of nature in opposition to Italy and England, is powerful over the ball and typically unstoppable going ahead. Hadleigh Parkes deserves a point out after a high quality debut Six Nations for Wales, as does the persistently wonderful Owen Farrell.

Left wing – Jacob Stockdale (Eire)

Jacob Stockdale scored a record-breaking seventh attempt of the marketing campaign.

UM: Seven tries from the person who’s having an unimaginable debut season in worldwide rugby. He has not misplaced a recreation in an Eire shirt, has smashed the Six Nations try-scoring document – and now has a Grand Slam.

Fly-half – Johnny Sexton (Eire)

Was this the defining second of the 2018 Six Nations?

UM: He may very well be within the crew for that drop-goal in Paris alone, which arrange Eire’s Grand Slam marketing campaign. The shortage of a Slam was beforehand a gap on his CV however that has now been deservedly stuffed by one of many modern-day greats.

Scrum-half – Conor Murray (Eire)

CJ: Murray must be on this crew alongside his companion in crime Sexton at half-back. Composed, authoritative, correct – and Murray even stepped as much as kick some essential objectives when required. World class.

Free-head prop – Rob Evans (Wales)

CJ: A part of a Wales and Scarlets entrance row beginning to excel with the ball in hand in addition to on the set-piece. Simply edges out Eire’s Cian Healy.

Hooker – Rory Greatest (Eire)

UM: Guilhem Guirado has been wonderful for France as a hooker and captain, however we can’t omit the Grand Slam-winning skipper. He’s a pillar for Eire on and off the sphere.

Tight-head prop – Tadhg Furlong (Eire)

UM: Now we have had a operating debate on the podcast about whether or not this man will go down as one of many nice tight-head props of all time – he’s actually top-of-the-line on the earth in the mean time. He completed the championship with a man-of-the-match show at Twickenham, which included a pleasant ball to Bundee Aki to arrange Stander’s essential attempt.

Second row – James Ryan (Eire)

CJ: Whereas the Grand Slam is the crowning glory for the likes of Greatest, Murray and Sexton, Ryan is a part of a brand new breed of Irish gamers who’ve appeared to the manor born at Check stage and turn into accustomed to profitable. The 21-year-old has the potential to be a lock for the ages.

Second row – Alun Wyn Jones (Wales)

Out of superlatives for Alun Wyn Jones

CJ: 117 caps and counting, Jones continues to be an inspirational lock and chief for Wales, with a usually relentless shift in opposition to France. He’s absolutely now in each dialog in the case of all-time Wales greats. His second row companion Cory Hill has additionally proved himself, whereas Eire’s Iain Henderson was excellent in opposition to England.

Blind-side flanker – John Barclay (Scotland)

Six Nations: Scotland 25-13 England highlights

CJ: Scotland weren’t fairly in a position to kick on from their stirring Calcutta Cup triumph, shedding in Dublin and scraping previous Italy, however their skipper has stood out on the flank. Sensible in victory in opposition to England; an actual chief of males. Sebastian Negri has additionally been excellent for Italy, as has Aaron Shingler for Wales.

Open-side flanker – Dan Leavy (Eire)

UM: With a lot deal with the breakdown this Six Nations, Leavy has been excellent for Eire within the unfastened and the tight, filling in fantastically for the injured Sean O’Brien – one other indicator of the rising Irish depth. Hamish Watson additionally deserves a point out for his work on the ground.

Quantity eight – CJ Stander (Eire)

CJ: A relentless presence behind the scrum for the champions, he capped his marketing campaign with a decisive attempt in opposition to England. His tally of 96 carries throughout the match was the second most ever. The earlier greatest was 104 in 2017 which was set by… CJ Stander.

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Six Nations 2018: Sexton, Murray, Bastareaud - Rugby Union Weekly

Six Nations 2018: Sexton, Murray, Bastareaud - Rugby Union Weekly

Six Nations 2018: Sexton, Murray, Bastareaud – Rugby Union Weekly

Eire received solely the third Grand Slam of their historical past as they claimed all of the prizes on supply within the 2018 Six Nations Championship.

Wales had been the perfect of the remainder, whereas Scotland secured three victories for the second successive season to take third – however what number of inexperienced shirts had been they in a position to preserve out of the Rugby Union Weekly podcast’s crew of the match?

A usually unpredictable France facet simply completed forward of final yr’s champions England, who slumped to fifth, and Italy collected a 13th picket spoon. Which of those nations failed to supply a single participant for the line-up?

Former England and British and Irish Lions wing Ugo Monye and BBC commentator and reporter Chris Jones have chosen their beginning XV. Take a look at their picks beneath…

Full-back – Matteo Minozzi (Italy)

UM: 4 tries in Italy’s previous 4 video games, the primary Italian participant to do this. It has been a superb breakthrough season for the 21-year-old in a shedding trigger. He is likely one of the causes head coach Conor O’Shea is so optimistic about Italy’s future.

Proper wing – Keith Earls (Eire)

CJ: Eire coach Joe Schmidt named Earls on the podcast as a participant bang in type earlier than the match, and whereas Jacob Stockdale has been ripping up bushes, the Munsterman has been all class on the opposite wing. A relentless risk going ahead and able to very important defensive performs, akin to his determined tap-tackle on Elliot Daly in opposition to England.

Outdoors centre – Garry Ringrose (Eire)

UM: I do know he solely performed two matches, however he was unbelievably good in opposition to Scotland – dominating the beforehand excellent Huw Jones – earlier than scoring a attempt within the Grand Slam recreation at Twickenham. He’s an distinctive expertise, reiterating the power in depth Eire have constructed.

Inside centre – Mathieu Bastareaud (France)

CJ: A person who was within the headlines for the improper causes earlier than the match confirmed on the pitch why successive France coaches carry on returning to this distinctive and gifted centre. He was a power of nature in opposition to Italy and England, is powerful over the ball and typically unstoppable going ahead. Hadleigh Parkes deserves a point out after a high quality debut Six Nations for Wales, as does the persistently wonderful Owen Farrell.

Left wing – Jacob Stockdale (Eire)

Jacob Stockdale scored a record-breaking seventh attempt of the marketing campaign.

UM: Seven tries from the person who’s having an unimaginable debut season in worldwide rugby. He has not misplaced a recreation in an Eire shirt, has smashed the Six Nations try-scoring document – and now has a Grand Slam.

Fly-half – Johnny Sexton (Eire)

Was this the defining second of the 2018 Six Nations?

UM: He may very well be within the crew for that drop-goal in Paris alone, which arrange Eire’s Grand Slam marketing campaign. The shortage of a Slam was beforehand a gap on his CV however that has now been deservedly stuffed by one of many modern-day greats.

Scrum-half – Conor Murray (Eire)

CJ: Murray must be on this crew alongside his companion in crime Sexton at half-back. Composed, authoritative, correct – and Murray even stepped as much as kick some essential objectives when required. World class.

Free-head prop – Rob Evans (Wales)

CJ: A part of a Wales and Scarlets entrance row beginning to excel with the ball in hand in addition to on the set-piece. Simply edges out Eire’s Cian Healy.

Hooker – Rory Greatest (Eire)

UM: Guilhem Guirado has been wonderful for France as a hooker and captain, however we can’t omit the Grand Slam-winning skipper. He’s a pillar for Eire on and off the sphere.

Tight-head prop – Tadhg Furlong (Eire)

UM: Now we have had a operating debate on the podcast about whether or not this man will go down as one of many nice tight-head props of all time – he’s actually top-of-the-line on the earth in the mean time. He completed the championship with a man-of-the-match show at Twickenham, which included a pleasant ball to Bundee Aki to arrange Stander’s essential attempt.

Second row – James Ryan (Eire)

CJ: Whereas the Grand Slam is the crowning glory for the likes of Greatest, Murray and Sexton, Ryan is a part of a brand new breed of Irish gamers who’ve appeared to the manor born at Check stage and turn into accustomed to profitable. The 21-year-old has the potential to be a lock for the ages.

Second row – Alun Wyn Jones (Wales)

Out of superlatives for Alun Wyn Jones

CJ: 117 caps and counting, Jones continues to be an inspirational lock and chief for Wales, with a usually relentless shift in opposition to France. He’s absolutely now in each dialog in the case of all-time Wales greats. His second row companion Cory Hill has additionally proved himself, whereas Eire’s Iain Henderson was excellent in opposition to England.

Blind-side flanker – John Barclay (Scotland)

Six Nations: Scotland 25-13 England highlights

CJ: Scotland weren’t fairly in a position to kick on from their stirring Calcutta Cup triumph, shedding in Dublin and scraping previous Italy, however their skipper has stood out on the flank. Sensible in victory in opposition to England; an actual chief of males. Sebastian Negri has additionally been excellent for Italy, as has Aaron Shingler for Wales.

Open-side flanker – Dan Leavy (Eire)

UM: With a lot deal with the breakdown this Six Nations, Leavy has been excellent for Eire within the unfastened and the tight, filling in fantastically for the injured Sean O’Brien – one other indicator of the rising Irish depth. Hamish Watson additionally deserves a point out for his work on the ground.

Quantity eight – CJ Stander (Eire)

CJ: A relentless presence behind the scrum for the champions, he capped his marketing campaign with a decisive attempt in opposition to England. His tally of 96 carries throughout the match was the second most ever. The earlier greatest was 104 in 2017 which was set by… CJ Stander.

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