Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: lovejoy on May 02, 2013, 10:29:19 AM
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As confirmed http://www.espnscrum.com/2015-rugby-world-cup/rugby/story/181883.html (http://www.espnscrum.com/2015-rugby-world-cup/rugby/story/181883.html).
Villa Park, Kingsholm and the Amex. Lovely stuff.
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I know some won't like this but I'm a fan of rugby so good stuff. One thing is though, what happens to our home games at this stage?
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So we've agreed to let these cauliflower-eared, fart-lighting posh kids dig our pitch up in September 2015?
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Very good news but then I'm a big rugby fan
Surprised though they didn't choose the Britannia where the fans are much more conversant with rugby
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Good stuff. If the ground staff have the pitch looking the same in May 2016 as they do in August 2015, they deserve knighthoods.
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I don't follow rugby at all, but I'm sure Birmingham doesnt have a Rugby team so they'll naturally be less fans in this area. Like Richard says above would have made more sense to have it elsewhere. The pitch is going to get cut up so could have an effect on the way we play afterwards.
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A bunch of thuggish Hooray Henrys cutting up our lovely perfect pitch! Dear oh dear!
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I don't follow rugby at all, but I'm sure Birmingham doesnt have a Rugby team so they'll naturally be less fans in this area. Like Richard says above would have made more sense to have it elsewhere. The pitch is going to get cut up so could have an effect on the way we play afterwards.
I think Richard's comment was tongue in cheek regarding Stoke's 'robust' style.
Villa Park will be full for the matches, just like the other grounds. Never underestimate how seriously rugby fans take their sport. It also costs more to watch England rugby than England football at their respective national grounds. You think Villa shirts are expensive? I wanted to buy my girlfriend a Worcester Warriors top (bear in mind they're the equivalent of say, Fulham league wise) and they're around the fifty quid mark.
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Yes, it was definitely tongue in cheek regarding Stoke's style!!!
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I don't follow rugby at all, but I'm sure Birmingham doesnt have a Rugby team so they'll naturally be less fans in this area. Like Richard says above would have made more sense to have it elsewhere. The pitch is going to get cut up so could have an effect on the way we play afterwards.
I think Richard's comment was tongue in cheek regarding Stoke's 'robust' style.
Villa Park will be full for the matches, just like the other grounds. Never underestimate how seriously rugby fans take their sport. It also costs more to watch England rugby than England football at their respective national grounds. You think Villa shirts are expensive? I wanted to buy my girlfriend a Worcester Warriors top (bear in mind they're the equivalent of say, Fulham league wise) and they're around the fifty quid mark.
Compare the build quality though, I have no idea for replica shirts, they may cut some corners but the actual match shirts are far better than football equivalents.
Birmingham does have a rugby team, Moseley are in the championship (much like football that's the 2nd division) and have done a decent job staying in that league despite having nothing like the finances of the other sides in there.
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I don't think the pitch will fare any worse than it would for a couple of extra cup games - unless it happens to piss it down for each game we host.
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I don't follow rugby at all, but I'm sure Birmingham doesnt have a Rugby team so they'll naturally be less fans in this area. Like Richard says above would have made more sense to have it elsewhere. The pitch is going to get cut up so could have an effect on the way we play afterwards.
I think Richard's comment was tongue in cheek regarding Stoke's 'robust' style.
Villa Park will be full for the matches, just like the other grounds. Never underestimate how seriously rugby fans take their sport. It also costs more to watch England rugby than England football at their respective national grounds. You think Villa shirts are expensive? I wanted to buy my girlfriend a Worcester Warriors top (bear in mind they're the equivalent of say, Fulham league wise) and they're around the fifty quid mark.
Compare the build quality though, I have no idea for replica shirts, they may cut some corners but the actual match shirts are far better than football equivalents.
Birmingham does have a rugby team, Moseley are in the championship (much like football that's the 2nd division) and have done a decent job staying in that league despite having nothing like the finances of the other sides in there.
I think all the replica stuff for rubgy union is expensive. One word of warning about attending though - unless they ban alcohol from the stands like they do at the football, everybody around you will be up and down throughout the game going to buy ale. Highly irritating.
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Make them all wear slippers, the hairy-arsed oafs.
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Birmingham does have a rugby team, Moseley are in the championship (much like football that's the 2nd division) and have done a decent job staying in that league despite having nothing like the finances of the other sides in there.
Don't forget that Birmingham & Solihull R.F.C. are in National 2 (North)
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I know some won't like this but I'm a fan of rugby so good stuff. One thing is though, what happens to our home games at this stage?
it's 2 matches on one weekend, so we'll be away i expect.
i don't like rugby, but it's good for the city, it will bring visitors in.
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South Africa vs Samoa and Australia vs Play off winner. Not bad.
A lot of fans from Glos will make the trip I suspect.
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We'll have to have those pitch markings, making us look like some strange northern ground. It will definitely fuck the pitch up.
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I bloody love a bit of the ol' egg chasing (and I'll do my best to get to one or both of these games) but the pitch'll get torn to shreds, especially if the weather has been bad.
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Will we get more money for it than Take That bunged us?
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Will we get more money for it than Take That bunged us?
And does anyone know how the payments to Villa work for this? Does the club get a flat fee for the use of the stadium? A cut of the ticket sales? Both?
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Potential fixture pile up?
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Potential fixture pile up?
And a scrum for tickets.We'll have to have those pitch markings, making us look like some strange northern ground. It will definitely fuck the pitch up.
We have the Messi of Groundsmen. It will still look the best there is.
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I don't follow rugby at all, but I'm sure Birmingham doesnt have a Rugby team so they'll naturally be less fans in this area. Like Richard says above would have made more sense to have it elsewhere. The pitch is going to get cut up so could have an effect on the way we play afterwards.
Rugby doesn't seem like football, where there's a strong interest in the national team fuelled by interest in local teams.
I might be wrong but I get the impression that the vast majority of people who follow international rugby don't care about the club game as they do with football.
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I wonder if the crowd will be allowed to swill beer while watching the game in the stands?
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Yes, it was definitely tongue in cheek regarding Stoke's style!!!
Haha, see if I had the slightest knowledge on rubgy I would have got that. Stoke Dragons could be the Manchester United of Rugby for all I knew!
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I don't follow rugby at all, but I'm sure Birmingham doesnt have a Rugby team so they'll naturally be less fans in this area. Like Richard says above would have made more sense to have it elsewhere. The pitch is going to get cut up so could have an effect on the way we play afterwards.
Rugby doesn't seem like football, where there's a strong interest in the national team fuelled by interest in local teams.
I might be wrong but I get the impression that the vast majority of people who follow international rugby don't care about the club game as they do with football.
Domestic rugby arguably only exists as a training ground/match practice for the international sides. While there are loads of passionate and dedicated fans of domestic sides there are far far more people (like me) who play on the weekends but only ever watch 6 Nations or world cup matches.
That said, in my opinion in recent years the rugby played domestically is actually a lot more entertaining than the internationals. Because the stakes are so much higher in international rugby its become a lot more percentage based/teams playing not to lose, rather than playing to win. In the Premiership, on the other hand, they've fiddled with the points system - 4 points for a win, 2 for a draw, scoring 4 or more tries in a game gets you a point (even if you lose) and losing by 7 points or less also nets you a point. That means theres always a huge incentive to run in as many tries as possible, even if your getting battered. It also stops the boring-as-f*ck kicking game that won england the world cup.
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I wonder if the crowd will be allowed to swill beer while watching the game in the stands?
yes like they do at concerts - its only football where alcohol in site of the pitch is banned
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I wonder if the crowd will be allowed to swill beer while watching the game in the stands?
yes like they do at concerts - its only football where alcohol in site of the pitch is banned
And proffessional boxing
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A cheap version of that padded pantomime "sport" they play in the States, designed for sub-normal homophobic toffs who like nothing more than sticking their fingers up each other's bums. Can't they play in Aston Park instead?
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If you have a free weekend I'd get to Worcester or Glos for a premier league match, it is actually pretty enjoyable. Last matches of the season on saturday though.
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If you have a free weekend I'd get to Worcester or Glos for a premier league match, it is actually pretty enjoyable. Last matches of the season on saturday though.
Worcester or Gloucester isn't proper rugby.
I pine for the days of Lydney playing away at Tredegar on a wet Wednesday night in February
Either that or Lydney 3rds versus Drybrook 2nds.
That's proper rugby.
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Birmingham does have a rugby team, Moseley are in the championship (much like football that's the 2nd division) and have done a decent job staying in that league despite having nothing like the finances of the other sides in there.
Don't forget that Birmingham & Solihull R.F.C. are in National 2 (North)
Don't count them as a birmingham team seeing as their ground is in solihull.
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If you have a free weekend I'd get to Worcester or Glos for a premier league match, it is actually pretty enjoyable. Last matches of the season on saturday though.
In my experience, the total lack of anything resembling an atmosphere at Worcester games (compared to VP) is more than made up for by the masses of booze and posh totty
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Rugby is shite.
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Birmingham does have a rugby team, Moseley are in the championship (much like football that's the 2nd division) and have done a decent job staying in that league despite having nothing like the finances of the other sides in there.
Don't forget that Birmingham & Solihull R.F.C. are in National 2 (North)
Don't count them as a birmingham team seeing as their ground is in solihull.
And their old ground wasn't in Birmingham.
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Good.
Still can't believe we turned down the Olympics.
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I don't follow rugby at all, but I'm sure Birmingham doesnt have a Rugby team so they'll naturally be less fans in this area. Like Richard says above would have made more sense to have it elsewhere. The pitch is going to get cut up so could have an effect on the way we play afterwards.
Rugby doesn't seem like football, where there's a strong interest in the national team fuelled by interest in local teams.
I might be wrong but I get the impression that the vast majority of people who follow international rugby don't care about the club game as they do with football.
That's pretty correct with regards my liking of rugby. I do follow club rugby a bit, but it's the international game I follow properly. That is almost the polar opposite of my football supporting.
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Good.
Still can't believe we turned down the Olympics.
Wasn't it due to the fact they were scheduling stadium expansion for that time? They can't hold up the organising of a major international event. They had to give a 'yes' or 'no' answer, not a 'maybe'.
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Athletics, Rugby and assorted other minority sports - isn't it West Ham's responsibility to dig their new pitch up to host these games now?
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I don't follow rugby at all, but I'm sure Birmingham doesnt have a Rugby team so they'll naturally be less fans in this area. Like Richard says above would have made more sense to have it elsewhere. The pitch is going to get cut up so could have an effect on the way we play afterwards.
Rugby doesn't seem like football, where there's a strong interest in the national team fuelled by interest in local teams.
I might be wrong but I get the impression that the vast majority of people who follow international rugby don't care about the club game as they do with football.
From my experience domestic rugby support is less tribal than football. You do still get fans like in football but there's a far higher percentage of people who are much closer to neutral, and people liking 2-3 sides is fairly common.
You also don't get the segregation you do in football, I can't think of a single rugby game I've been to where I haven't been in with fans from both teams.
Aside from that the TV coverage, historically, was all about the international and maybe the cup final. Seeing much outside of that was pretty rare, which will have affected the casual support.
Finally rugby does have a smaller following and a lot of the people who would go to games are involved with amateur teams who play on a saturday afternoon. Rugby has started to move games around a little in the last 4-5 years but it's still primarily a saturday afternoon game. For internationals people are more willing to miss their game than they are for a domestic game.
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Good.
Still can't believe we turned down the Olympics.
Wasn't it due to the fact they were scheduling stadium expansion for that time? They can't hold up the organising of a major international event. They had to give a 'yes' or 'no' answer, not a 'maybe'.
Apparently not.
Question Nine: Do you regret turning down the chance of Olympic Football now that no development is taking place at Villa Park this summer?
No. We held preliminary discussions with LOCOG about the possibility of hosting some games, (none of which were to feature Team GB), in the Olympic football tournament in 2008 and early 2009, but took the decision that the requirements of LOCOG around exclusive access to Villa Park and the potential disruption that would cause to our preparations for the start of the 2012-13 season, as well as our non-matchday business (such as conferences and weddings) during the summer, meant that hosting such games was not in the best interests of Aston Villa.This decision was never made in light of firm plans for development work to be taking place at the stadium this summer. We hope and expect that the Olympics will be a fantastic success for the country, and will be cheering on all of the British athletes involved in the games.
Paul Faulkner, Chief Executive
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Swansea share their stadium with a rugby team and their pitch has always been in good condition.
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As does the Aviva in Dublin. 2 games shouldn't cause any problems really.
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2 hours 37 minutes. Longer than I thought.
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Will they let them bring pints out into the stands??
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It's not even the good version of Rugby and we're letting them turn our pitch into a mudpile, like Wigan's ground....
At least we'll get a bit of dosh from it I suppose.
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Fine by me. Anything that increases exposure and brings in money can't be bad. I doubt two games will cause that much damage to the pitch.
Only disappointment is we haven't got any of the Home Nations' matches. It might prove difficult to fill the ground. Depending on who Villa are playing, I might go to the Springboks-Samoa game if it's reasonably priced and any of the Barton's Mafia fancy joining me?
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Fine by me. Anything that increases exposure and brings in money can't be bad. I doubt two games will cause that much damage to the pitch.
Only disappointment is we haven't got any of the Home Nations' matches. It might prove difficult to fill the ground. Depending on who Villa are playing, I might go to the Springboks-Samoa game if it's reasonably priced and any of the Barton's Mafia fancy joining me?
Don't think there will be any difficulty selling out games that involve South Africa and Australia.
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Rugby is shite.
Its a long walk to Wigan
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Wasn't it Doug who invented the line down and scrum out ?
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William Webb Ellis was like a son to him.
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Fine by me. Anything that increases exposure and brings in money can't be bad. I doubt two games will cause that much damage to the pitch.
Only disappointment is we haven't got any of the Home Nations' matches. It might prove difficult to fill the ground. Depending on who Villa are playing, I might go to the Springboks-Samoa game if it's reasonably priced and any of the Barton's Mafia fancy joining me?
I've only been to the bartons three times but, if I go i'll join you.
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I don't follow rugby at all, but I'm sure Birmingham doesnt have a Rugby team so they'll naturally be less fans in this area. Like Richard says above would have made more sense to have it elsewhere. The pitch is going to get cut up so could have an effect on the way we play afterwards.
I think Richard's comment was tongue in cheek regarding Stoke's 'robust' style.
Villa Park will be full for the matches, just like the other grounds. Never underestimate how seriously rugby fans take their sport. It also costs more to watch England rugby than England football at their respective national grounds. You think Villa shirts are expensive? I wanted to buy my girlfriend a Worcester Warriors top (bear in mind they're the equivalent of say, Fulham league wise) and they're around the fifty quid mark.
They are better quality than any football top you can get though.
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Birmingham does have a rugby team, Moseley are in the championship (much like football that's the 2nd division) and have done a decent job staying in that league despite having nothing like the finances of the other sides in there.
Don't forget that Birmingham & Solihull R.F.C. are in National 2 (North)
Don't count them as a birmingham team seeing as their ground is in solihull.
Moseley ?
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2 hours 37 minutes. Longer than I thought.
Ha!
Anyway, rugby is rubbish, 15 coppers playing British bulldog against 15 lawyers. And there is something seriously wrong with a sport where you need to pass back to go forward. We could easily sit and debate the best ten, nay 100 goals ever from now until the end of time but try the same for rugby and beyond the Gareth Thomas one for the Barbarians, you're struggling. I am not a fan.
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Anyway, rugby is rubbish, 15 coppers playing British bulldog against 15 lawyers
And then shaving each others' pubes off in the bar afterwards and mooning at lorry drivers from the back seat of the coach. And calling each other "guys" all the time.
Rugger Bummers
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2 hours 37 minutes. Longer than I thought.
Ha!
Anyway, rugby is rubbish, 15 coppers playing British bulldog against 15 lawyers. And there is something seriously wrong with a sport where you need to pass back to go forward. We could easily sit and debate the best ten, nay 100 goals ever from now until the end of time but try the same for rugby and beyond the Gareth Thomas one for the Barbarians, you're struggling. I am not a fan.
You could debate the best try this season for hours, much like you can in football, but to have that debate requires an understanding of the game. Some goals in football will be clearly great goals (lowton vs stoke for example) but there are a lot of other goals that look better and better as you understand the game more (Weimann's vs Sunderland for example is a wonderful example of how a front 3 can create space for each other). Rugby is the same. A guy running from his own half and going past 2-3 players will always look impressive but a catch and drive from a lineout only appeals to someone who can see exactly what's going on.
As for passing backwards I don't really understand why the detractors of the game have such a problem with that. the value it brings is that the player without the ball is the important one, timing your run and getting the angle right is far more important than the pass (aside from the pass needs to be in basically the right area). The nature of rugby forces the focus onto the recipient, in football there's a lot of focus on a player being an 'excellent passer' without considering the part the other players have to play in allowing that.
All that said I totally understand why people don't like rugby, I just wish the class stereotyping would go away, it's been a long time since the sport stopped being entirely for the middle class but a lot of people seem to want to keep the stereotype alive.
Dan - Moseley are the only major side in Birmingham - the 'not a Birmingham club' comment was in regards to Birmingham and Solihull (the bees as they have been for the last 4 years as they are technically not the same club as they were before, think rangers) who have always been based in Solihull since they formed in the 80s.
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I just wish the class stereotyping would go away, it's been a long time since the sport stopped being entirely for the middle class but a lot of people seem to want to keep the stereotype alive
True, it's no longer an entirely middle class sport. Only 9 of the 23-man England squad that played Wales in the 6 Nations went to public school.
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Christ, we have a major sporting event at our great stadium, huge exposure. Can't we be happy at this rather than turning it into a rant how sh*t you think Rugby is?
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I don't mind cities like Leeds and Leicester, which have a rugby history, getting more games than The Home of World Football. But what the fuck has Milton Keynes done to warrant more games, apart from being closer to London?
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Christ, we have a major sporting event at our great stadium, huge exposure. Can't we be happy at this rather than turning it into a rant how sh*t you think Rugby is?
No, because it's shit.
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Christ, we have a major sporting event at our great stadium, huge exposure. Can't we be happy at this rather than turning it into a rant how sh*t you think Rugby is?
I was happier when Take That played at Villa Park
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I don't mind cities like Leeds and Leicester, which have a rugby history, getting more games than The Home of World Football. But what the fuck has Milton Keynes done to warrant more games, apart from being closer to London?
That's mainly due to it's proximity to Northampton. Franklin's Gardens (northampton saints ground) is only 13k so not really big enough for the world cup but Northampton is one of biggest rugby support areas in the country so they needed somewhere fairly near.
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Not a great fan of rugby generally, partly because I was forced to play it at school for several years, where any mention of that working class game "soccer" was not tolerated. The headmaster used to read out the "football" results at assembly on Monday mornings. Stuck up twat.
Most of the people I know who are "fans" of rugby have never even played the game.
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im happy with this if a), they dont shag up our pitch, and b) decent beer is shipped in for it, found to be successful, and then left for us to enjoy
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im happy with this if a), they dont shag up our pitch, and b) decent beer is shipped in for it, found to be successful, and then left for us to enjoy
If the weather is ok the pitch will be fine.
If the weather is shit in september the pitch will take a beating regardless.
We have an excellent groundsman who I'd trust to keep the pitch in good condition.
The only thing that really damages the pitch anyway is the scrum which won't play much part in the aussie game (it'll be too one-sided I suspect) so really only samoa vs the saffers is a 'threat'.
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Christ, we have a major sporting event at our great stadium, huge exposure. Can't we be happy at this rather than turning it into a rant how sh*t you think Rugby is?
You could have 10 Rugby World Cup Finals at VP and I would trade every single one them for staging just one more FA Cup semi final like we used to. Football is great, Rugby is sh*t.
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Football is easily the greatest game in the world but that doesn't mean you can't appreciate other sports too, including rugby. However, I think the rules are just too complicated for it ever to reach a global audience and develop beyond being basically an Anglo Saxon sport ( plus France and recently Argentina & Italy).
As people have mentioned above, rugby is like cricket in that both sports are geared towards the national team rather than clubs, which in my experience makes the game less tribal. I have only ever been to 4or 5 rugby games and enjoyed them all ( drinking in your seat in the stands makes for a pleasant experience) but despite seeing a Heineken cup semi final and the Premiership final I never felt that the result was the most important thing in the world for the fans involved. It is possibly the healthier for it but for me it definitely lacks the intensity of football.
If we can cope with the wear and tear on the pitch I am happy with a couple of games at Villa Park.
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If it was Rugby League I'd be there but the 15-a-side game really is boring by comparison.
Still it's good for the club to be part of it all.
The staff that serve the beer down there are going to have to speed up their act a bit though!
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Boks playing Samoa.
Trying to get my mind around SA playing at Villa Park, need to work out Nkosi Sikelel Afrika to the tune of Holte enders in the sky.
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I am liable to take in a game.