If you live in the United States, it’s easier than ever to catch the action because BBC America is covering a match each week. Setanta Sports is also covering the competition in the US as the network enters its last month on the air in the United States, but BBC America is available to a lot more US households as it is not a paid subscription channel.

If you’d rather give yourself a bit more control over the tournament’s outcome, you can play it yourself with the BBC’s online Six Nations game. The game is a very simple one you can play with your Web browser, but it is surprisingly addictive. Beware–you may be surprised to find yourself spending hours enjoying the various “drills” and trying to top your score in the simulated matches.  Don’t say we didn’t warn you!

While you wait for the tournament to start tomorrow, here are some highlights from its last two incarnations:

2009:

2008:

A less gruesome incident in a Heineken Cup match last week, however, reminds us that the next area of “dirty” play meriting disciplinary attention may be a much less violent one.

Defending Heineken Cup champions Leinster picked up a bonus-point win over Brive Saturday by a comfortable 27-10 margin, but it wasn’t easy going all the way through. In the 37th minute, Leinster were ahead only 7-0 when center Gordon D’Arcy chipped ahead near the sideline. His kick was likely a bit too long as it was easily caught on the full for a mark by the opposition … but not before D’Arcy was floored face-first after bumping into the arm of a Brive player whie pursuing his kick.

A penalty kick was awarded to Leinster with the choice to be taken from either the spot where the kick was taken or where it landed, as is appropriate for a late tackle or charge on a kicker. The only problem was that, as a frustrated Brive captain indicated in vain, it didn’t look much like anyone actually tried to stop D’arcy. He may have touched an arm, but … well, we’ll let the words of a Setanta Sports television commentator, who was covering the match for the Irish network, speak for themselves: “They’ve been done. They’ve been conned by experienced Mr. D’Arcy there.”

Now, we can’t read D’Arcy’s mind, but discussion on a Leinster supporter forum compared him to Michael Phelps.

One might argue that a little bit of gamesmanshaip to draw a penalty is part of the sport, and that it doesn’t hurt an opposition player the way eye-gouging and other serious offenses do. On the other hand, though, one might argue that penalty “simulation” might need the type of increased attention from disciplinary bodies that it is beginning to receive in soccer/football.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t track down footage of the D’Arcy incident available online for you, but we can offer a glimpse of what rugby union could start to look like if simulated foul play isn’t dealt with proactively:

To be fair, the Leinster-Brive Match wasn’t all flops. Here are some more exciting moments from the match to restore your faith in the sport:

The Americans’ competition will be tough, as they have been placed in a pool that includes Australia, Ireland, Italy, and a to-be-named European side. For now, though, we may as well just enjoy the full match footage of this past Saturday’s qualifer, courtest of the USA Rugby Ustream Channel:

First Half:

Second Half:

Considering that logic, the format of July’s two biggest three-match series in rugby league and rugby union might seem a bit odd to Americans. The British and Irish Lions tour culminates in a best-of-three test match series against the hosting nation, and the State of Origin interstate series is a best-of-three as well. This year, both series were “clinched” after two matches. On the Lions’ tour, South Africa won two in a row against the visitors while Queensland won the first two Origin matches against New South Wales. That left the final matches of both series with the derogatory “dead rubber” title. Competitors and fans were left with two matches that meant nothing to the series outcome.

One might ask: “Why bother playing them if they don’t matter?” The dead rubbers don’t matter to the series, sure, but have a look at these clips from the third matches of the two series and see if you think they didn’t matter:

British and Irish Lions match three:

State of Origin match three:

Dead rubbers indeed!

That “A” is a key letter in the team name, as it indicates that the side is Ireland’s second side and not the “true” side. That might imply that their matches don’t mean as much, but you wouldn’t so from looking at the Irish side as they won the tournament final 49-22 over their English counterparts, the England Saxons.

The contest between these representative sides brings to mind the broad variety in the names so many nations provide for their second-tier side. It can cause a bit of confusion, particularly given that at the club level many sides choose to refer to their first side as an “A” side and can thus misinterpret the “A” designator’s meaning at the national level. To help out any confused parties, here’s a list of prominent national second-level sides in rugby union with a brief explanation of each:

• “A” sides: In addition to Ireland, a number of other nations refer to their second side as the “A” side. Scotland, France, Italy, Wales, and Australia have all fielded “A” sides in recent years, though the latter two of these countries are not presently fielding an “A” side.
• England Saxons: The Saxons used to be referred to as England “A” (and previously as England “B,” to add to the confusion), but have been known as the Saxons since 2006.
• Junior All Blacks: Though the term “Junior All Blacks” might suggest an age-grade side, the Junior All Blacks are New Zealand’s second-grade side and do not have any age association.
• New Zealand Māori: Not technically a second-level side, New Zealand Māori can be mentioned on this list as a similar and unique national rugby union side. Players for the side are New Zealanders with at least one-sixteenth Māori heritage. Although the Junior All Blacks are New Zealand’s actual second-level side, the New Zealand Māori outfit has sometimes functioned as something similar to a second-tier New Zealand side by occasionally participating in tournaments such as the Churchill Cup and the Pacific Nations Cup in the Junior All Blacks’ stead.
• Emerging Springboks: Like the Junior All Blacks, the Emerging Springboks might sound like an age-grade side, but they are South Africa’s second-level representatives. Given that they earned a draw against the touring all-star British and Irish Lions yesterday, some might say they’ve already emerged!
• Argentina Jaguars: Like the Saxons, the Jaguars have a dedicated nickname that differs from their first-grade counterparts the Pumas.

In rugby league, officially-named second-tier national sides are featured less frequently, though there are some interesting representative sides such as:

• New Zealand Māori, which has the same eligibility requirements as the union version of the side,
• Indigenous Dreamtime, an Australian counterpart to the NZ Māori whose players are all at least one-sixteenth aboriginal in heritage, and the
• Prime Minister’s XIII, a side picked each year by the Australian Prime Minister to play against Papua New Guinea.

Hopefully that will help you keep track of all the monikers given to these second-string sides, which provide as much excitement as their first-grade versions in tournaments all over the globe each year.

Are any “A” sides missing from the list? Post a comment if so.

• The sides were locked at twenty-six points apiece after regulation, so two ten-minute extra periods were played.
• With the draw unbroken after extra time, the number of tries scored in the match was the next tiebreaker. This was moot, however, as each side had scored two tries during the match.
• each side nominated five kickers to attempt one placekick at goal each from the 22-meter line in front of the posts.
• After each side made four goals, the kicking competition went into “sudden-death” mode (wherein the first side to miss a goal loses, so long as the other side made a goal in the same round) with a new set of kickers. In the third round of this segment, Cardiff flanker Martyn Williams pushed an attempt wide to end the marathon and send Leicester into the final to be played in a couple of weeks.

The format was unpopular with many given that it forced players specializing in things other than goalkicking to do as much with the match at stake, but it was still exciting. Aside from the tense finish, the match also served to answer a few fans’ curiosity regarding how a tie is resolved in a knockout match after extra time.

Or did it? Actually, even though the format seen last weekend is used in the Heineken Cup, the format will be reconsidered next year. Further, other competitions don’t do it the same way, so seeing the shoot-out last weekend actually tells very little about how the matter is settled throughout the sport.

If you’ve read this far, we assume you’re interested in hearing how all of the competitions settle a draw in playoff situations where a winner must be determined, so here’s a partial list of competitions and their tiebreaking methods:

• The Guinness Premiership (England’s top domestic competition) has a similar format as the Heineken Cup, but the kicks vary in placement by round with some in front of the posts, some 15 meters from the left and right touch lines, and some 5 meters from each touch line.
• In the Super 14 (featuring top sides from New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa), two formats are used, on for the semifinals and one for the finals. In the semis, the sides play two ten-minute extra time periods, after which the deadlock is broken by number of tries scored in the semifinal. After that, though, the similarities with the Heineken Cup and Guiness Premiership end, as the winner is decided by who finished higher during the regular season. The final works the same for the most part, except that the championship is shared as a draw after two periods of extra time if the scored are still level.
• The Magners League (featuring top sides from Ireland, Wales, and Scotland) doesn’t have to deal with the issue, as they don’t have knockout matches and determine their winner after the regular schedule. This year, in fact, Munster clinched the title two matches left to play
• We couldn’t find a clear statement of the American Super League’s format, but we know from the 2008 final that “sudden-death” extra time is played after two extra time periods until one side scores to win.
• The tiebreaker methods used in the Top 14 (France’s top domestic competion) and Super 10 (Italy’s top domestic competition) elude Armchair Playmaker’s limited translation resources. Readers who are more adept at French and Italian are encouraged to chime in!

How do they handle it in rugby league? We’ll spare you the details, but note that for most competitions a “golden point” sudden-death period is either played after 80 minutes (as is done in the National Rugby League in every match) or after two short two extra time periods. The golden point seems to work pretty well–in fact, Leicester seems to support the idea after suffering through the alternative.

Hopefully, that satisfies your curiosity about how a draw is avoided when a draw will not do. Meanwhile, here are a few views of last weekend’s historic moment:

Here’s how the cameras caught it:

And here’s how it looked from at least one spot in the crowd:

We’re not sure it’s fair to focus on a missed goal from a player of Martyn Williams’ stature, especially considering that he probably never expected to be kicking at goal that day, so we’ll end here with a cheerier moment from early in Williams’ standout career (this one from more than a decade ago, before he ever donned a Cardiff shirt):

So far, Ireland has won all four of their Six Nations matches so far and scored 46 more points than their opponents in those matches, while Wales has won three of the four matches and scored 21 more points than their opponents. If Ireland loses this weekend, the tournament is decided by total points difference throughout the tournament. For example, if Wales wins by 12 this weekend, both sides will have won four of five matches, and Ireland will have a points difference of 34 points, while Wales will have a points difference of 33 points. In that case, a beaten Ireland walks off the ground with the tournament trophy.

In Cardiff.

Awkward…

A similar situation happened last season, when Wales beat France on the last weekend of the Six Nations for an unbeaten “Grand Slam” tournament victory, but Wales had only needed to lose by less than 20 points to win the tournament.

Of course, one could argue that this setup is fine, as Wales can still control their fate by putting a 13-point (or more) beating on Ireland (just as Ireland can render the issue moot by beating Wales), but it’s a little bit strange to walk out on the ground with the scoreboard effectively reading “Ireland 13, Wales 0″ as far the Six Nations tournament stakes are concerned. Also, the general practice of points differential as a tie-breaker might encourage teams to pour on the points against weaker opponents when a match have already been decided. That seems to be against the spirit of the sport.

Why not make head-to-head matches the first tiebreaker instead? In other words, if two teams each win four of the five matches (or some similar, but less likely combination of equal win-loss records at the top of the table), the first tiebreaker could be head-to-head results–namely which team won when they played one another. Points differential could be the next tiebreaker, such as if three teams all went 4-1 in the tournament and each had beaten only one of the other two teams (for example, if France beat Ireland, Ireland beat Wales, and Wales beat France, but all three sides had won their other matches). Making head-to-head results the primary tiebreaker wouldn’t make score differential unimportant, but it would make it a lot harder to lose a match to a team, then walk off with the tournament trophy while your victorious opponent claims the runners-up crown.

Of course, Armchair Playmaker won’t advocate tipping the scales against Ireland on a day when even the fountains at the U.S. White House are dyed green, but head-to-head might be the way to go as a general practice.

That said, we have a sneaking suspicion that the Six Nations organizers are looking to Armchair Playmaker for insight on how to run their operation. So let’s look at some Irish rugby highlights from recents years to commemorate their likely Six Nations win:

Watch more NETLOG videos on AOL Video

Considering the possibilty of such a momentous event, we’ll recap the tour in the form of Jed Thian’s short and comedic Alternative Rugby Commentary preview videos (Caution: Rude language and profanity):

First, Scotland fell:

Next, Ireland succumbed:

Last weekend, NZ topped Wales:

Now, only England stands in the way. We’ll see what happens:

The ritual nearly inspired Munster to repeat their classic 1978 upset of New Zealand. This time, they led New Zealand until the All Blacks pulled ahead in the last four minutes to win 18-16. To be fair, the New Zealand side included several new and lesser-seen faces, but the match was a thriller nonetheless. Here’s a look at that haka that started it all:

While we’re at it, here are a few highlights from the match:

Here’s one try from that 1978 match:

And last of all, to give some idea of the cultural significance of that historic day in 1978, you can also see a video of that same try re-enacted with LEGO blocks:

In rugby union, though, Law 10.2(c) tells us that knocking, throwing, or placing the ball out of play can get you in trouble, as we see in the punishment doled out to Tommy Bowe in the clip of highlights below (incident happens just after 1:30 has elapsed in the clip, and the replays and deliberations last until about four minutes in):