Rugby

[Joy Nktonga]

Thanks for that friendly tip!

Caught the NZ - France game on a replay earlier. Very good indeed and well worth a watch if anyone catches one of the many reruns throughout the weekend.

[actwithoutwords]

Anyone watching the Lions today? I'm not bothered really by the Lions circus, but against my better judgement I'm really enjoying this. Rob Kearney is having an absolute belter and the Lions look excellent all over the pitch, the scrum in particular has been much improved. SA capable of scoring at any moment though, and there isn't enough space on the scoreboard given the Lions' dominance.

Also, Burger surpassed himself after only 30 seconds today. What a comedy cunt he is.

[actwithoutwords]

Fuck. The injuries have killed the Lions here.


Oh for fuck sake Ronan.

[wheatgod]

Cunt. Cunts.

[aaaaaaaaaargh!]

Rob Kearney is having an absolute belter

"Robnoxious" was brilliant on Saturday, I don't think I've ever seen him play better.  I was amazed at the time that Burger didn't get a straight red for the gouge and now I've come back into civilisation I can see the media here is saying a similar thing.  8 weeks is no sort of deterrent from doing that sort of thing seeing as the SA season is effectively over, the authorities have been appallingly weak here.  Alan Quinlan got 12 weeks for a gouge - there just seems to be no consistency at all, players should be getting huge bans for gouging, not slaps on the wrist.

Meanwhile, the defence of Burger by his coach is, frankly, astonishing:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/jun/29/schalk-burger-gouging-springboks-lions

De Villiers should be reprimanded heavily for this, you can't have a coach of a national rugby team defending something like eye gouging.  The SA media is killing him for this and rightly so. 

Was a frustrating match to watch ultimately, even if it was a fantastic spectacle.  The Lions just couldn't really put the match to bed, and ultimately South Africa's rough house tactics won the day.  I know the Lions weren't exactly angels (O'Driscoll's charge was the only thing I could remember, but I was quite pissed by the second half), but it just seemed like the officials couldn't put the lid on it, they were very weak.

[aaaaaaaaaargh!]

Meh, I don't care if hardly any of you buggers like rugby (either flavour), today was an exciting day:

Rugby League World Cup to be held in the UK in 2013

England win right to host 2015 Rugby Union World Cup

Well, I'm excited anyway!

[wheatgod]

Its motherfucking rugby o' clock! Hurrah!

[Old Thrashbarg]

Good to see Leeds stuffing Hull KR tonight in the first of the SL play-off games. Less good to see Chev Walker (someone who I have very little time for generally) suffering an horrendous leg break. Thank fuck his sock covered up an even more gruesome image than that which was shown.

[Gulftastic]

Good to see Leeds stuffing Hull KR tonight in the first of the SL play-off games. Less good to see Chev Walker (someone who I have very little time for generally) suffering an horrendous leg break. Thank fuck his sock covered up an even more gruesome image than that which was shown.

More or less right in front of us, and it was bloody horrible. Nobody noticed it straight away, but then horror spread up the Southstand as you noticed his leg bent in a way it wasn't supposed to. I had to turn away.

I hope he's OK. I saw him make his debut for Leeds, I wore an afro wig in his honour at the 2003 CC Cup final and he was part of our 2004 Chamionship team. Good luck Chev!

[mikeyg27]

Yeah, that was grim. Sky only showed one replay and that was enough.

[Old Thrashbarg]

I think they showed a couple whilst they were trying to work out what had happened and then ceased after it was evident that the bottom half of his tibia was no longer attached to the top.

[mikeyg27]

I went to see Australia vs New Zealand in the Gillette Four Nations game at The Stoop tonight. It was the best game I've seen all year, and possibly the best game I've ever seen live. The idea that England have to play these two sides after their mediocrity against France last night is genuinely concerning.

[Old Thrashbarg]

Certainly the best game I've seen this year too and it's probably up there with my favourites of all time. Enthralling from the first whistle to the last. If that's what they can serve up with one warm-up game between them after a fairly long time off, I dread to think what they'll be like next week with this game under their belts. Although I do expect that the game will have taken a toll, with a level of brutality in defence that you very rarely see at all, let alone non-stop for 80 minutes.

I think it says it all about the strength in depth over here when you have NRL reserve graders coming in for NZ, smashing the Aussie pack about like they were nobodies and showing no fear at all. Even our experienced, been-there,-done-that pack look worried every time they line up against Civ and co.

[dr beat]

I was at the Stoop last night as well, and can only echo the opinion about what a good game it was - I suppose the result will benefit England, but I'm not too confident about next week.  I think it could be close for most of the game but I can see the Aussies running away with it in the final quarter.

But anyway, great atmos last night and I was encouraged by the attendance as well, seemed almost capacity to me.  My mate had claimed they were only expecting 8k, and there seemed to be bugger all advertising for the game around London.

[mikeyg27]

But anyway, great atmos last night and I was encouraged by the attendance as well, seemed almost capacity to me.  My mate had claimed they were only expecting 8k, and there seemed to be bugger all advertising for the game around London.

This has been a bugbear of mine ever since the grounds for the 4N were announced. They got 16,000 when they held this game at Loftus Rd in 2004 (which I think was pretty much capacity as well, due to the video screen taking up a lot of space) so really they should've been aiming for c.20,000. There's no shortage of Aussies and Kiwis in London (they got over 6k for the Quins-Manly friendly) and judging by the people sitting next to me (and by me bumping into an old schoolmate of mine at the bus stop who happened to be going as well, a mate who's mocked me for my preference of League whilst pussying out whenever I've invited him to one of our training sessions) I think Union fans would be more interested in this sort of game than a typical Quins RL game.

Anyway, the crowd last night was over 12,300 and it created a fantastic atmosphere - with the exception being the group of Kiwis in the South Stand who kept trying to start a mexican wave and couldn't seem to comprehend that people would rather be watching the rather-good game. Having just got back from the NFL game at Wembley where I had to endure a seemingly never-ending Mexican wave, it's fair to say that I think they can FUCK RIGHT OFF.

Also, I'd quite like Tomkins and Eastmond to play next week - at the very least I don't see them backing down.

[dr beat]

Aye, these are the two best teams in the game at the moment but the publicity was nonexistent.  As you say mikeyg, it was a match-up which was likely to arouse the curiosity of the casual spectator.  I noticed around the time of the challenge cup there were a fair few posters in Tube stations advertising that match, but I didn't see anything for this game. 

I'd look forward to seeing Eastmond play, as I've thoroughly enjoyed watching him this season - one of those players who always looks like something will happen when he gets the ball.  I just hope we can keep him in RL, I've heard there are rumours of Sale being interested.  I'm wondering if the RFL ever might consider central contracts for England players?

[Old Thrashbarg]

r.e. central contracts: they did for Radlinski and Cunningham, sort of, from what I remember.

Not really sure what team I'd go with next week. We've got plenty of versatility and options, but none of them look particularly appealing. I'd like Smith at fullback, for example, but that probably means Eastmond at centre, against Hodges or Inglis. Whilst Eastmond is fine defensively, he won't have ever faced anyone quite like those two. Or Briscoe could go to centre and Fox could come onto the wing. He'd be absolutely peppered though, and wouldn't stand a change against Morris.

Similarly with Tomkins coming in at half. He deserves a spot ahead of McGuire, really, but does he have the ability/temperament to take control of a game? Because Myler doesn't and two halves, neither of which could boss their players about, would not be a good thing. Ideally Myler would make way for Tomkins, but he didn't really do anything wrong and doesn't deserve to lose his spot. Not that Smith would even dream of dropping his own player at club level and risk alienating him and ruining his confidence before the forthcoming season.

In the pack, we're not too far off. Peacock, Morely, Graham and Carvell as the props is just about as good as what the Aussies can offer. Roby will do a job from hooker (I really don't think we need two in the 17, with quick PTBs being at a premium against the Australians, and Moore not really being up to the required standard) and Ellis, Burgess, Sinfield (even given his usual relative anonymity on the international stage) all being sound defensively. Probably not quite the penetration required going forwards, but that's not too much of a problem. Not sure who I'd go with on the bench to cover the back row. Wilkin, maybe?

I just can't see a combination of backs that will do anything other than get dominated though. The difference between the two sets is enormous, in every area. Whether it's pace, power, strength, size or skill, every one of the Aussies is superior, far superior, to what we can offer. And, whilst it's not exactly a massive call, I expect that's where we'll be taken apart.

One last point, which fuckwits decided that the best time to show this game was on a Saturday afternoon at 2:30pm? The same time when, for as long as I can remember, thousands of amateur players have their games. Madness. I'm probably not going to be able to see the game live unless our game is cancelled, both situations being a negative for the RFL.

[mikeyg27]

One last point, which fuckwits decided that the best time to show this game was on a Saturday afternoon at 2:30pm? The same time when, for as long as I can remember, thousands of amateur players have their games. Madness. I'm probably not going to be able to see the game live unless our game is cancelled, both situations being a negative for the RFL.

I would imagine the BBC had something to do with it, because this is the one England game they're showing this year. Whilst I agree that it's stupid alienating a large portion of your potential audience like this, Saturday afternoon might still be the best time to draw in a lot of casual observers and noobs to the TV, and they're hardly likely to bump Strictly Come Dancing for an evening game, are they?

[Old Thrashbarg]

True, although I'm sure some compromise could've been found. BBC2 maybe? Or showing it on Sunday? It just seems such a counter-productive decision, guaranteeing that a huge number of certain viewers won't be watching.

[mikeyg27]

Back in the days when I played Union, any games we had on International days were early kick-offs, allowing us to all watch the games in the bar afterwards. I don't see why the RFL and BARLA couldn't have had dialogues about arranging something like this, perhaps even pushing the kick-off of the International back another hour or so.

[thepuffpastryhangman]

Wales v Australia tickets arrived today. Dunno what  Adam 'most improved player last year' Jones and Lee Byrne's chances are. Quite exciting none-the-less. I've only seen 'us' (I'm as Welsh as Kevin Peitersen) twice, the tragic draw with Italy in Cardiff three seasons ago and the even worse loss to Scotland in Edinburgh a year later. Anyway, Wales v Australia, friendly or not, followed by Forest v Leicester the weekend after represents quite a sporty treat for us. That's it really, a nothing post, just a share.

[actwithoutwords]

Wasn't sure where to ask this, but has anyone seen aaaaaaaaaargh! about? Is he alright? Taking a break? Lost forever?

[thepuffpastryhangman]

tppprediction 14 -21

[dr beat]

Just got in and have just seen heard the England RL result - thats fantastic news, I really did fear we were going to get hammered! Anyone see it?

[mikeyg27]

Indeed I did. England were a bit lucky, but it was earned luck (if you know what I mean). Completely dominated them in the forwards, it turns out that Sinfield is an international class hooker, a much better kicking game (most of the luck was used on the Kiwis screwing up returning kicks, and Bryson Goodwin committed an absolute howler for Fox's 2nd try) and the backs didn't screw up (special bigging up for Fox, who I thought would be the weak link). My biggest worry about the game was that at about the 60min mark it occurred to me that neither side would have the energy to beat Australia next week.

[Old Thrashbarg]

Just got in and have just seen heard the England RL result - thats fantastic news, I really did fear we were going to get hammered! Anyone see it?

Yeah, not a great game really, and I can't see anything other than a trouncing by the Aussies next week. But it was certainly an improvement on the last couple of weeks.

Thinking back on it now, I can't remember too many good performances from either team. The main things that stand out in my memory are a lot of errors, especially from kicks, from New Zealand and England capitalising on a couple of them. That apart, we didn't really create anything and the backs were largely anonymous. The pack was solid and wasn't really troubled by the Kiwi forwards, but it didn't really get the team moving forwards as it needs to next week.

Defensively, it was much better. Apart from a shocker from Fox for their first try, it was a fairly comfortable performance, with not too many breaks/missed tackles. I just can't help but feel that we caught NZ on a poor day though, and it seemed more a case of them not performing rather than England doing anything special.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Bwaawawaoargh!

[CaledonianGonzo]

Heartbreaking

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

So err...why didn't Scotland put the ball into touch from the restart?

[actwithoutwords]

Ireland weren't that bad, and yet France were vastly superior all over the pitch. Dispiriting. A complete battering. Didn't see that coming. Still reckon France will lose a match though.

Worrying news about Evans from the Scotland match. Hope he's ok.