Starbreaker

Yep that's a real gut punch. Him and Michael K Williams both gone in such a short space of time feels universally unfair. As others have said, loved him in Fringe, The Wire (obviously), Horizon etc. Also followed him on Facebook which is unusual for me; seemed like a really good guy. God fucking dammit.

What's Saka going to have to do to get a foul inside the French half here? Get decapitated?

Joe shoring up some real estate here. Smart.

I don't know if it's just me but for the second Wembley match on the BBC in a row the colour is really weird in the sunny areas. I keep getting surprised Diaz is collecting the ball as he appears to be momentarily bathed in the glow of a minor nuclear strike whenever he gets it.

I very much enjoyed the rolling during homing missile spam. I can practically hear you going "ohshitohshitohshitohshit!"

First two Great Enemies down within an hour thanks to my new Zweihander "Git pancaked" build - got it up to +6 after having a couple of cracks at Margit; the trick is once things are through my summons they're on minimal health thanks to War Cry. Got the Kitty Cat first time, Margit took I think about five goes but I got him down to low health each time so I wasn't hugely worried. Running around Stormveil with a greatsword may not be the best idea; might have to switch back to Twinblade + Shield until I can open up some sites of grace. EDIT: Oh, and two of the Margit deaths were because I fell off the bridge as I'm a klutz.

Right then. Ten hours in, which is about five hours further than I got with BB and about nine and a half hours further than DS3. Still haven't tackled any "proper" bosses but barring Caelid (which I might leave for a bit) I only have Castle Morne left to do south of Stormveil, which I'm attempting to put off because I'm a coward. Of the minibosses, the tactics are starting to drop into place a little bit - I had about five cracks at the Erdtree Avatar, and I forgot the immense satisfaction you get from thinking "I know how to avoid this", rolling through an attack at the last minute, and eventually whittling the boss down. That being said, I haven't settled on a build yet - I've got the Twinblade, but I'm using it with a shield unless I'm at a boss because I'm getting some joy parrying. I did pick up the Zweihander which I've got to +3; can't use it yet though as it makes me fat roll and I love my mobility. I really wish the Roundtable Hold event had kicked off so I could upgrade stuff further but I think I'm resigned to waiting to beat Margit before it happens. Do feel like I'm cheesing the bosses slightly - just using Lone Wolf Ashes to draw aggro and land some heavy attacks, normally by the time they die the boss is down at about a quarter health for me to bumble my way through. Still no spells. Do warrior-types use them at all or is that top arrow destined to be forever empty?

So I've played a fair bit of BB and a little of DSIII and I picked this up yesterday; as much as I'm enjoying it there seems even less direction than in most From games! I've got a half-decent twohander, but no armour to speak of, nor any real idea where to go - I've cleared a couple of little dungeons (a werewolf guy and that Pumpkin Head one; the Sword Cat Statue kept mashing me though so may save that for later). Does anyone have a few tips for getting...I dunno, stable? Should I be aiming for the main hub, farming, looking for weapons? Obviously I feel very squishy at the moment, and keep chopping and changing my stats.

Fantastic gesture from Josh Adams that.

Well, definitely didn't see that coming. Is the upset on?

Navidi and Faletau are having brilliant games.

Listening to Jonathan Davies does periodically remind me how much everyone else must get pissed off when Austin Healy commentates. Wales look up for this. By far the best half of rugby they've had so far. Cracking match for the neutral and God help me I might be edging towards wanting a Wales win.

You are of course entitled to your opinion. But even considering this is an gaming forum, I'm loathe to remember reading something I disagreed with more in the 18 years I've been here. What's next? Are you going to call Resi 4 a big pile of shit?

That was brilliant. This time yesterday I'd not even watched TSS, now I've finished that and just polished off Peacemaker whilst pretty much rocking a massive grin the entire time. I don't have a lot too add that's not already been said; Cena is great at both the comedy and the more dramatic elements. I don't know if it's outright stated but it's pretty clear Chris is suffering from a lifelong case of PTSD, right? Also, for those interested, the song PM, V and Dyebeard are listening to in the van just before is also by Wig Wam - it's one of my favourite cheesy songs and was actually Norway's entry for Eurovision 2005. Anyway, by far my favourite superhero series; only The Boys and Daredevil (S1) are in the same ballpark and I enjoyed this significantly more than both.

So far I have watched episode one once and the opening titles about fifty times.

Anyway, apologies for the triple post but what a great pair of games today. I know Ireland are everyone's second team but for the first time in my rugby-watching career I was absolutely cheering France on today - ever since that NZ autumn international I realised that in spite of my genetic generalised hatred of French rugby they're the real deal. When they can get the quick offloads they look upstoppable, that fast rugby is still something NH teams are still struggling to adapt to and this French side have got it down to a tee. Shame for Scotland, Wales played a shitload better than the corpse of a side that trotted out last week but still weren't great. I must admit after the initial two pens went over my English defeatism went 'oh here we go again, they're going to beat us and then roll over' but I'm thankful that wasn't the case. Wales probably edged it but after the first half hour or so Scotland seemed to run out of ideas - the backs didn't have the pazzaz, and it really shows when Russell is having an off day. Interesting match tomorrow. With the U20s and the minor disarray England have, it's probably the best chance Italy have had in a good few years (since Ruckgate). I still think we'll win but close. Thoughts on the championship? I reckon France to steamroll everyone, except England will spoil it and beat them messily, then France will win on bonus points or diff or something.

Ps I was wrong about Wales nicking it at 70+. By a whole 35 seconds or so.

How in the world was that not Irish obstruction?! The 4 looked at the scrum half and shifted his arse into him. Dunno what the ref and TMO were on about, touch judge had that one bang on.

@Matt Defis what's your opinion on the reffing so far? A load of Welsh fans on FB are harping on about how terrible it's been but I thought he'd been having a pretty solid game. Good match this. Can see Wales sneaking it on 70+.

Odd to see Russell making so many mistakes kicking from hand. One out on the full, one not finding touch and a chargedown (albeit on the advantage) in the first 20. Scotland looking pretty good value for money though!

Ha. I did see a comment today along the lines of "I know Wales start slowly, but I wasn't expecting them to start in reverse". As much schadenfreude as I took in it, it was more baffling than anything - there was no cohesive gameplan whatsoever, they never looked in any danger of being close to competing (despite Shane Williams' weird optimism 50 seconds in), and I think the scoreline flattered them if anything. Really odd. As for Eng, I think better game management won the day. My Dad was moaning about Scotland being "spoilers" as supposed to playing flair rugby, but I don't agree with that - they defended excellently, took the chances when presented with them, and exposed holes in our mid (bit worrying that). After spending years watching Scotland get routinely humped I much prefer a close contest, the squad look really cohesive and well drilled. I think France are going to win this year, possibly Ireland, but I'd love to see it go down to the last weekend with Scotland in the mix.

Sarries players being utterly obnoxious on the pitch as per. Nice to see nothing's changed.

It's pointless. There also appears to be none of the arbitrary handwriting from the media - like when the men's squad beat San Marino by a mere ten a few weeks ago - in the women's game.

I was just hunting around for interviews with my favourite player ever - Dennis Berkgamp, obviously - and I just came across the one with Ian Wright where you can see him visibly wilt a little every time he gets called "Den". Den. Den. Den. DEN! He's not heard me

I agree, and am also not following domestic rugby (Prem or Pro14, especially the latter) as much as I used to. As you and Matts have both said, there's an injury gap in the Welsh squad at the moment - apart from Priestland, Francis and a few more I can't place many of them - but the game plan doesn't look settled either way. Half way between free flowing passing and attritional play. At least the ping pong seems to have died down though. Interesting series and the most lucrative I can remember the NH being in a while. Anyone care to venture a few thoughts? Wales - see above England - we look in good nick I reckon, but EJ does have a thing for playing exciting, explosive new talent who then have absolutely no time to settle before he shifts the squad around again. I don't bemoan the exclusion of Ford or Vunipola in the slightest, with a little bit of sympathy for Ford probably, but we can't hang on past 'glories' and seem to be adapting well to running rugby; some of the midfield play is brilliant (as an Exeter fan I obviously reckon Slade should get a lot of credit for that, silly haircut notwithstanding) and Manu needs a solid round of applause and then to be quietly shuffled off before he gets knee/chest/hammy/shoulder/tennis elbow injuries every time he walks down the stairs. FB looks excellent and even I know Marcus Smith is gonna be our FH for the next seven years or so. Probably time to shuffle the SH round a bit too and a good showing of that yesterday. Ben Youngs deserves a bit of a break and not for Danny Care. Same problem with the forwards a little - as much as I love Joe Marler he must be about 45 by now (although tbf we did have our own injury problems on that front Scotland - in complete opposition to what I just said, the long timers are doing a fantastic job. Hogg and Russell together are basically unplayable, Watson and Fagerson have been great at the breakdown, the former especially. Inconsistency is still there and some clumsy mistakes in the backs make them look worse than they should but it's still probably the best pick of Scotland teams from the last 15 years of so. Real growth potential. Ireland - Honestly can't really comment on this one as I've seen very little of them, bar the NZ game. Pack looks good, Sexton is still kicking well despite having the aforementioned Vunipola effect of getting injured by a slight waft. They're an unknown quantity (because as much as I love Ireland I don't watch the league most of their players are in) France - Ntamack is such a stallion. Look at his lovely legs. Like England, they're getting the idea of SH running rugby, but unlike England, they've always had that nouse. Fikou is still in brilliant touch, his offloads are a thing of beauty. Italy - Signs of growth, especially against NZ, but without Parisse they still look a bit lost Now the much more fun bit, where I badly dissect the SH teams (again, despite knowing nothing about them) Aus - Nic White aside (I will fight anyone who disparages him), I don't remember seeing them play so poorly. No invention, caught on the back foot far too often, rumbled over in the forwards. I know they beat South Africa twice but Christ knows how. Plus their kit is terrible. SA - Still probably the best in the world, but it's really not a lot of fun to watch. Apart from Etzebeth leaping like a mammothfish, it's not the greatest spectacle is it? Bomb squad etc NZ - Hey! They're vulnerable boys! Let's get em!...until they settle their squad in the next year and then massacre everyone, obviously. Still, that quick offloading seems to be hitting a bit of a bump which is nice to see. 6N predictions specifically based on these games: 1. Eng 2. Fra 3. Ire 4. Wal 5. Sco 6. Ita Top five is obviously subject to massive change depending on who has a good game though. Sorry for the massive outpouring of rubbish; as someone who lives in Footballland this is my only vent for anything rugby.