Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Off Topic => Sports Arena => Topic started by: UK Redsox on July 24, 2018, 12:01:10 PM
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I see that Bristol Rugby are now "Bristol Bears".
When did that happen..... why did that happen ?
Have they named themselves after the defunct American Football team from the Cotswolds ?
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Most of the sides have done it to be fair, there's only really Gloucester and Bath who haven't gone that route. Saracens, Wasps, Saints, Chiefs, Tigers, Sharks and Falcons are all pretty recognisable (the last 2 are probably the least well known).
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We (The Mighty Lyd) have unofficially been 'The Tinplaters', 'The Severnsiders' and 'The Elvereaters'
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First game of the season, Bristol v bath, not much in it, Bath look a bit unprepared, Bristol came out the blocks hard. Homer butchered one of the simplest finishes you'll ever see to stop Bath taking the lead, Cokanasiga pulled off a brilliant tackle to save one at the other end. Better game than the 6-0 scoreline suggests.
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I watched the second half of the Bristol v Bath game and was impressed with the home team. However, Bath's handling was terrible at times.
Meanwhile down in Level 6 of the league structure (Tribute South West 1 West), the worst Lydney side that I've ever seen lost at home to the worst Launceston side I've ever seen.
If we'd have been this crap 25 years ago, I'd have been a 1st XV regular.
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Big game from Cipriani.
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Most of the sides have done it to be fair, there's only really Gloucester and Bath who haven't gone that route. Saracens, Wasps, Saints, Chiefs, Tigers, Sharks and Falcons are all pretty recognisable (the last 2 are probably the least well known).
Saracens and Wasps haven't either unless I've missed something
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Most of the sides have done it to be fair, there's only really Gloucester and Bath who haven't gone that route. Saracens, Wasps, Saints, Chiefs, Tigers, Sharks and Falcons are all pretty recognisable (the last 2 are probably the least well known).
Saracens and Wasps haven't either unless I've missed something
Well given they were london wasps and something saracens (i can't remember what) I'd say they're the definition of it.
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Most of the sides have done it to be fair, there's only really Gloucester and Bath who haven't gone that route. Saracens, Wasps, Saints, Chiefs, Tigers, Sharks and Falcons are all pretty recognisable (the last 2 are probably the least well known).
Saracens and Wasps haven't either unless I've missed something
Well given they were london wasps and something saracens (i can't remember what) I'd say they're the definition of it.
Yes, I remember 'London' Wasps. To be honest I actually thought it was a media thing so people knew where they came from :-[ as with 'Manchester' Sale.
I'll have to Google Sarries
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I see that Bristol Rugby are now "Bristol Bears".
When did that happen..... why did that happen ?
Have they named themselves after the defunct American Football team from the Cotswolds ?
Ah, the Cotswold Bears.
<Obi Wan>Now there's a name I've not heard in a long, long time</Obi Wan>
I was at the game at Stroud RFC in the mid-eighties where they disbanded at half-time after going about 70-0 down. Can't even remember who they were playing...
In more recent news, bought myself and son number one season tickets to Saracens this season. Support your local team and all that. Bit rusty and fortunate against Newcastle on Sunday but an away bonus point against a play-off team is a good start. And as far as I know, they've always just been "Saracens" and based in North London.
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Big game from Cipriani.
It was and there are still all the Saffers to come in yet (plus Heinz and Marshall back from injury. Gloucester look strong this season.
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Big game from Cipriani.
It was and there are still all the Saffers to come in yet (plus Heinz and Marshall back from injury. Gloucester look strong this season.
Last year I thought the club were in desperate need of a proper playmaker at 10 and a wrecking ball forward to get them on the front foot. Cipriani is a perfect answer for the former and Kriel could be an inspired signing. I think they'll have a great season. Saints will be very good as well though and I think getting a game against them out of the way early whilst they're still settling will be an advantage.
The good thing this year is that I don't think there's a particularly weak team in the league. Glaws, Bath, Saints, Tigers, Chiefs, Wasps and Sarries all look top 4 standard and 1 will end up missing out of the champions cup let alone the play offs.
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Bath away on Saturday evening.
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Lydney v Thornbury tomorrow. Fecking Thornbury playing our 1st XV :o ....this season is going to be ridiculous
We used to play games on TV and give the best teams in the country a run for their money
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Saints vs quins tonight, 9-3 at half time but that's half the story. Saints have been massively frustrating, a huge number of handling errors, mostly in good areas. Could've had 25+ on the board with a little more concentration.
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Saints vs quins tonight, 9-3 at half time but that's half the story. Saints have been massively frustrating, a huge number of handling errors, mostly in good areas. Could've had 25+ on the board with a little more concentration.
Good win for Saints in the end, I'm sticking with my prediction that there's a very good team in there, they just need a bit more work on the handling skills (because they're playing an offloading game that requires a lot more practice) and get the familiarity of playing together. There were 3-4 moves that were superb. Mallinder came on after about 20 minutes and had a great game, he's still my outside bet for the England 15 shirt for the world cup. Marcus Smith was excellent and will be a top player but he's not quite there yet, he needs to focus on his game management.
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Saints vs quins tonight, 9-3 at half time but that's half the story. Saints have been massively frustrating, a huge number of handling errors, mostly in good areas. Could've had 25+ on the board with a little more concentration.
Good win for Saints in the end, I'm sticking with my prediction that there's a very good team in there, they just need a bit more work on the handling skills (because they're playing an offloading game that requires a lot more practice) and get the familiarity of playing together. There were 3-4 moves that were superb. Mallinder came on after about 20 minutes and had a great game, he's still my outside bet for the England 15 shirt for the world cup. Marcus Smith was excellent and will be a top player but he's not quite there yet, he needs to focus on his game management.
Harry Mallinder seems to have been around for ages, but, he's only around 21.
Marcus Smith will be a fantastic player, I agree, not quite there, but he's only 19. I'd really like it to see him get a few international minutes
Edit: Mallinder is 22. 6'5" & 17 stone according to Wiki
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Saints vs quins tonight, 9-3 at half time but that's half the story. Saints have been massively frustrating, a huge number of handling errors, mostly in good areas. Could've had 25+ on the board with a little more concentration.
Good win for Saints in the end, I'm sticking with my prediction that there's a very good team in there, they just need a bit more work on the handling skills (because they're playing an offloading game that requires a lot more practice) and get the familiarity of playing together. There were 3-4 moves that were superb. Mallinder came on after about 20 minutes and had a great game, he's still my outside bet for the England 15 shirt for the world cup. Marcus Smith was excellent and will be a top player but he's not quite there yet, he needs to focus on his game management.
Harry Mallinder seems to have been around for ages, but, he's only around 21.
Marcus Smith will be a fantastic player, I agree, not quite there, but he's only 19. I'd really like it to see him get a few international minutes
Edit: Mallinder is 22. 6'5" & 17 stone according to Wiki
Smith will be an England regular, that's undoubted but, for me, he's behind Cipriani and Farrell right now (and probably Ford as well). I'd give him some minutes in a few games but I'd be focused on those 2 in the build-up to the world cup and then I'd move on from Cips over the following year or 2 building towards 2023.
Mallinder's biggest problem has been his versatility. As you've posted he's big and strong (and quick) but he's also got great hands (the offload for the held-up Reinach try last night was sublime) and a great kicking game. Put all of that lot together and he can play anywhere from 9 out, and has over the last 2 seasons. If he can nail down a spot (probably 15 but he's really a 12 for me) over this season he brings something England don't have in anyone else right now. If nothing else I'd have him on the bench because he gives you cover all across the backline.
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Not sure how to feel about Saturday. We chucked away a game that we had won but managed to conjure a try from nothing to snatch a draw at the end. Very odd.
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Be interesting to see how Bristol go against Gloucester on Friday.
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Be interesting to see how Bristol go against Gloucester on Friday.
I was very impressed with Bristol on Saturday. They totally outplayed us at the breakdown, and looked very dangerous whenever they got wide. Would have been an extremely tight game without the sending off.
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Be interesting to see how Bristol go against Gloucester on Friday.
I was very impressed with Bristol on Saturday. They totally outplayed us at the breakdown, and looked very dangerous whenever they got wide. Would have been an extremely tight game without the sending off.
I'm really impressed with Bristol, they've done a great job of building a squad to compete at this level. I don't know if it'll be enough but they've given it a really good go.
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No Farrell or Lozowski available for Sarries at Saints today, so Goode playing 10. Liam Williams comes in at full-back so no big loss there but it's been a while since Alex ran the show, and Tompkins is potentially lightweight at 13.
Virtually full strength pack including first start for Billy though, so we should still be competitive.
Shame it's not on TV.
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Bristol can't chuck it around like that if they want to do any5hing this season. The Gloucester pack destroyed them second half.
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No Farrell or Lozowski available for Sarries at Saints today, so Goode playing 10. Liam Williams comes in at full-back so no big loss there but it's been a while since Alex ran the show, and Tompkins is potentially lightweight at 13.
Virtually full strength pack including first start for Billy though, so we should still be competitive.
Shame it's not on TV.
Agree with the last bit, Saints vs Sarries is always a great match (even if you've smashed the shit out of us the last few times). Saints are slowly sorting themselves out now though and I still think they'll be a very strong side in the 2nd half of the season.
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Saracens away on Sunday so it will be interesting to see how Gloucester hold up to that challenge.
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Saracens away on Sunday so it will be interesting to see how Gloucester hold up to that challenge.
I will be there. Probably getting very wet.
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Worcester have been taken over by a new consortium. The money man behind it seems ok but the guy fronting it is as dodgy as fuck. He was at Swindon for a while and the fans there fucking hate him. I'm a bit worried for them.
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That has to be one of the worst couple of minutes in sport for Freddie Burns there. Misses a kick in front of the posts then is over the line and loses the ball before he grounds it. Unbelievable.
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Yes he’s had a shocker there.
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Burns was bad but the ref should be ashamed blowing up early in that position, fucking disgusting decision.
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What's going on with the English clubs? Has anyone had a good result this weekend?
Is our resource spread too thin or are we just not that good at the moment. Looking at the england team I suspect that we are just a bit shit at the moment.
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Bath should have comfortably won that game.
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What's going on with the English clubs? Has anyone had a good result this weekend?
Is our resource spread too thin or are we just not that good at the moment. Looking at the england team I suspect that we are just a bit shit at the moment.
It's a bit of everything.
Compared to French sides we can't compete on wages so we're shopping a level below them for SH players.
Compared to Irish sides we have too many teams to spread the players across. A lot of people use the argument of the number of registered players but that's a bit of a red herring, International quality players in any sport isn't directly linked to the number of players available so what you get is English rugby has international class players spread over 10-11 sides, whereas Ireland has 3 (Connacht are the poor relations).
The Scottish, Welsh and Italian (and others) sides aren't really in the picture at club level.
It's also worth noting who the English sides have played so far. Wasps got smashed by Leinster, who are favourites for the whole thing, Saints lost to Clermont who have no business not being in the champions cup and should win the challenge pretty easily I think. Exeter drew with a Munster side who'll be upset to not make the semi final. Bath and Leicester had, in my opinion, poor results, bath will know they had that game for the taking and Exeter quite clearly missed the drive that Simmonds gives them, his injury could derail them a bit.
However, Bristol, Quins ans Sale all picked up fairly routine wins, Worcester are currently on top against Stade and Tomorrow sees Gloucester and Sarries in games they could both win and Newcastle with a tough game against the other big French side. I really wouldn't e surprised if we end the weekend with 6 wins and 6 defeats. The problem is that most of our 'big' teams had really tough opening fixtures so it looks worse than it is. Next weekend is much 'weaker' so things could look very different.
On top of all of that I think the English clubs suffer a little from differences in refereeing, Exeter and Bath were both clearly getting really frustrated with some of the decisions that went quite harshly against them.
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Agree with virtually everything Paul has said so won't quote it, but have some additional points to add.
Wasps had the hardest opening game imaginable and have a major injury crisis, so it was always going to be a tough assignment for them. I think they have a consolidation season ahead and will come strong again next.
Bath should have won that game well before the Burns brainfarts. I think Blackadder made a serious error in sending an understrength side to Allianz a fortnight ago, they needed to be ready for the higher intensity and they weren't, when Toulouse came at them hard in the second half they couldn't cope. If it was last week I could understand but resting players two weeks out I don't get.
Exeter's game is pressure based and depends on opponents making less mistakes than them. They are an almighty force in the Prem but there's no X Factor at next level up. Which is almost exactly how Munster play atm, so no surprise they cancelled one another out.
I didn't see the other games so can't comment.
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Well there we go 3 wins for English sides today, Gloucester and Sarries played really well and both rightfully won. I haven't seen anything from the Newcastle game but a win away at Toulon is massive.
All together it makes the results look much more reasonable and probably highlights the relative strengths of the leagues.
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I don't think Saracens played well at all, but there were a lot of injuries and you take any away win in this competition.
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I don't think Saracens played well at all, but there were a lot of injuries and you take any away win in this competition.
I thought it was a really professional performance, you never looked in any danger. Just didn't get the 3-4 tries you'd normally have expected.
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Gloucester did their best to throw it away but were excellent in the first 60. Have to win at home though as I don't fancy us getting much at Exeter or Munster.
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The Mighty Lyd actually won a game today, 10-8 over Bridgwater. A prime example of the dire standard of rugby that we now play at, with an equally abysmal refereeing performance
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Gloucester ruined Leicester. An excellent performance.
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Gloucester ruined Leicester. An excellent performance.
I watched most of that game and also Bristol v Exeter yesterday.
I missed the Mighty Lyd willing another game (home against Cullompton) because I went to Wales v Tonga
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I've caught up on most of the games from the weekend now, just watched the highlights for all but Saints (I've watched the full game for them) but wanted to do a bit of a recap because it was a great round of games, I love the domestic game during the international windows because you get to see loads of younger players and the games are much more exciting because the big clubs have so many players unavailable.
Saints had a fantastic win over Wasps and played some brilliant rugby, the 2nd try was superb, fantastic break from Naiyaravoro (who is a beast and I'm calling him Taqele from now on) and a brilliant from Dingwall who, from the little I've seen of him with Saints and England U20s, is definitely going to get England caps at 13. From there the 4th saints try was another fantastic break from Taqele who made the Wasps fullback look like a complete mug.
Bristol/Exeter was a great game, the first Bristol try is special, Exeter won with a penalty try in overtime that I thought was very harsh.
Sarries/Sale tighter game than you'd expect because of all the internationals being away, Sarries were England like in their lack of discipline but Lewington is a fantastic winger who makes a huge difference, he scored a fantastic try and then their forwards were strong enough to carry them to the win.
Glaws/Tigers as above was a fantastic performance, 2 world class tries by Thorley (another fantastic winger, we've got so many of them at the moment), the 2nd is probably try of the season. Cips was a fantastic signing, he reads the game so well and just makes good decisions all the time (which is bizarre because off the field he fucks up all the time).
Bath/Worcs was a funny one, by all accounts the warriors played pretty well but they seem to lose the forward battle every week so they just don't get their backs into the game, I think they're in big trouble. Bath were decent, but never had to be more than that.
Finally, Quins/Falcons, Quins were good, Marchant is a class act at 13 (and really should get a look in with England) and Smith is a fantastic kicker (but is still a long way from ready to play for England). Falcons have fallen apart, away from home they have absolutely no threat and they're not gonig to be able to defend their way to victories. I think they'll pick up but I suspect the bottom 4 is now set and we'll start to see the midtable sides opening a gap over the next few rounds.
To sum up, Thorley, Lewington and Marchant have all got to be on the cusp of England places, Dingwall will probably break through after the world cup and Joe Cokanasiga should watch Taqele Naiyaravoro because he can become exactly the same destructive force (he's not far short of it already but he needs to back himself more).
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I don't know what he has been up to whilst injured but Thorley looks a couple of yards quicker than he used to.
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Interesting game on BT tonight, Worcester vs Quins. Both are in pretty poor form in the league which is making it pretty even.
The most important thing though is that Quins have given a league debut to Cadan Murley. I've heard of him but hadn't seen him play until tonight, on 20minutes of evidence (and word of mouth) I reckon this kid will be an England player by 2020 6N, he's a bit special. Has the busy style of Nowell but with a bit more pace, his defence will be the key to how quickly he gets senior caps but it's supposed to be very strong (he hasn't been tested yet in the game).
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A third successive win for The Mighty Lyd sees us moving towards mid-table mediocrity
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Gloucester walloped Worcester. Thorley is very impressive.
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Saints on the other hand continue to not quite click. We're in danger of being pulled into the relegation fight as it stands, which is ridiculous with the squad we have.
Glaws look nailed on for the playoffs for me, 3rd best team in the league I'd say and then there's a whole bunch of sides that are pretty even. I think Tigers might be in trouble though, they seem to be in free fall and the pack looks very weak (for them).
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I was surprised at just how tight it was at the bottom. Could be a shock team for the drop. Kriel doesn't half carry well by the way.
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What a win for Gloucester and Thorley was superb again.
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What a win for Gloucester and Thorley was superb again.
He'll be in the England squad for the 6N if he keeps this up, he's not just scoring tries, his all round game is exceptional at the moment.
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He is a strong bugger for a winger. He hits in contact like a flanker.
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He is a strong bugger for a winger. He hits in contact like a flanker.
That's why I think he'll get capped pretty soon, tackles and carries into contact like a back row (and is decent at the ruck as well) but has the pace to burn people on the outside.
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He is a strong bugger for a winger. He hits in contact like a flanker.
That's why I think he'll get capped pretty soon, tackles and carries into contact like a back row (and is decent at the ruck as well) but has the pace to burn people on the outside.
Not sure where the pace came from either. He definitely wasn't that quick when he broke through into the first team. A more than adequate replacement for Johnny May for us.
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BBC article on the fake rugby team near me
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/46487517
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Just got in from the Sale v Saracens game that Sale deservedly won. Billy Vunipola had an adequate game for his first game back and did well to score the early try for Saracens. Eddie Jones and Steve Borthwick will have been concerned to say the least to see Mako Vunipola concede 3 scrum penalties, 2 of them on Saracens' own put-in. Owen Farrell was slightly unlucky to get his yellow card, it may have been given as Chris Ashton had made a line break only stopped by Farrell's clumsy attempt at tackling him. The other yellow card issued to Tolofua of Saracens was well deserved for a cynical cheap shot that I was amazed that the referee had to view on the big screen when it occurred right in front of him. I was surprised at the number of times Farrell received the ball stood still and just passed it on without any attempt at a line break. Saracens paid Sale a big complement by fielding what was their strongest 15.
Faf de Klerk is a joy to watch and Sale have done well to get him signed up on a long contract when I think any of the other teams in the Premiership would have loved to have signed him. He is everywhere and keeps the Sale forwards on the front foot with quick ball and sniping when the opposition have it. Sale have now won 5 in a row and time will tell whether they have the depth of squad to maintain a top 6 or even top 4 finish.
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From the tv pictures i think the Farrell one was a yellow. The Tolofua one was the easiest yellow the ref will ever give.
Solomona scored a stunning try, the passing was excellent and then his running line was perfection, made the sarries backline look like amateurs.
Sam James was superb as was Tom Curry. I agree it was promising from Billy V but Mako was poor and Wigglesworth was both shit and a complete bellend, totally outclassed by de klerk.
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I didn't realise that Neath were in such a mess.
One of the great Welsh teams of the pre-Regional era
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/46947567
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I went to watch Lydney v Teignmouth this afternoon.
We won 42-3 but the rugby at this level is bloody terrible.
Our second team from when I played would absolutely hammer this first team and I’d fancy the chances of our old third xv
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I didn't realise that Neath were in such a mess.
One of the great Welsh teams of the pre-Regional era
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/46947567
Blimey, bit of a shock, I thought Neath had merged with another club.
Always loved their top
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Proposed merger of Ospreys/Scarlets to create space for a North Wales regional team
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-47453568
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Very quick reverse ferret on the merger plan
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/47461662
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Only got round to watching it last night but Gloucester gave Quins a right pounding.
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If anyone is interested tigers v saints is currently 3-20 and saints are putting in a truly sublime attacking display, if Reinach doesn't get named premiership player of the season then I'll be amazed, tonight he's been simply wonderful.
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Saints seem to be on the up. A combination of good /new coaching and a batch of academy players are making them the team with momentum in the level below Saracens and Exeter.
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Saints seem to be on the up. A combination of good /new coaching and a batch of academy players are making them the team with momentum in the level below Saracens and Exeter.
They were too inconsistent in the first half of the season to make the play offs but I think they'll be top 6 and should be right in the mix for the playoffs next season.
The academy is the root of it, the backs in particular are great, they could currently name a back line of: Mitchell(9), Grayson(10), Mallinder(12), Hutchinson(13), Coliins(11), Sleightholme(14) and Furbank(15) who've all come through in the last few years and then they've still got Dingwall to press for a place in the centres and 2-3 others who are probably another year away. They're not quite so impressive in the forwards but there's still Painter, Moon and Ludlam who've all come through this year and Ma'asi and Onojaife who will follow them in the next year or 2.
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The Mightly Lyd won again on Saturday, defeating Devonport Services 29-10. They were a team that we played regularly in the pre-league days but I don't think that we've played them since.
With three games to go, we're now safe from the threat of relegation and look like achieving solid mid-table mediocrity.
In fact, looking at the remaining games (Coney Hill, Keynsham & Launceston), I think that we'll end up Played 26, Won 13, Lost 13
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Seeing as UKR likes to bring Lyd into this I'm going to add a mention for my lot.
I've been back playing for Erdington for a few months, we're in the Birmingham merit league for now with the club only having reformed last year but we're having a decent year
http://gbmt.pitchero.com/match-info/tables?
Probably a bit too soon for us to look at promotion anyway because we struggle to get more than 16-17 players, particularly for away games. If anyone fancies giving rugby a go though we have a decent setup, with Mens, Touch, U12s, U9s and U7s teams all up and running. We train on Tuesday night for kids and seniors (and touch training is Wednesday and Sunday I believe) and then Games for the seniors on Saturday afternoon and games/training for the kids on a Sunday morning. Feel free to give me a shout if anyone is interested.
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Great to see clubs still forming/re-forming.
We've lost a few clubs down here in recent years and I think that the best chance of survival for some teams in Gloucester would be to merge.
However, local passions/rivalries run hot, so I suspect that some clubs (eg the aforementioned Coney Hill) might fold rather than merge.
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Great to see clubs still forming/re-forming.
We've lost a few clubs down here in recent years and I think that the best chance of survival for some teams in Gloucester would be to merge.
However, local passions/rivalries run hot, so I suspect that some clubs (eg the aforementioned Coney Hill) might fold rather than merge.
in Birmingham teams are doing pretty well but a lot of the bigger clubs are struggling to maintain a 3rd or 4th team, not because of lack of numbers as such but rather because a lot of players can do 1 week in 2/3/4 and it's hard to build a club around that. We have a single team and have about 35-40 players on the books but plenty of them can only make 4-5 games a year so we need that many just to get a 15 out every week (after illness and injuries, and hang-overs). On top of that you have the age old issue of cliques forming and that driving players away who may or may not end up at a new club.
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Full highlights from Friday night
The 3 saints tries are superb, they spent 40 minutes carving Leicester up with breaks like the first 2 and the third is a superb offload/pass from Taqele.
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Great to see clubs still forming/re-forming.
We've lost a few clubs down here in recent years and I think that the best chance of survival for some teams in Gloucester would be to merge.
However, local passions/rivalries run hot, so I suspect that some clubs (eg the aforementioned Coney Hill) might fold rather than merge.
in Birmingham teams are doing pretty well but a lot of the bigger clubs are struggling to maintain a 3rd or 4th team, not because of lack of numbers as such but rather because a lot of players can do 1 week in 2/3/4 and it's hard to build a club around that. We have a single team and have about 35-40 players on the books but plenty of them can only make 4-5 games a year so we need that many just to get a 15 out every week (after illness and injuries, and hang-overs). On top of that you have the age old issue of cliques forming and that driving players away who may or may not end up at a new club.
We (Lydney) are running two sides these days but we only used to run three senior sides anyway.
A lot of 2nd/3rd team calibre players played for one of the local village sides instead. Most of the villages were running three or four sides when I was playing (late 80s and 90s)
These days, fielding a regular 2nd XV is a struggle for us
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Newcastle playing into the form of last season, think they might just pull it off.
However, I will add that they deserve to go down purely on the back of that Stripey + Tartan top they wore vrs Sale ;
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I’ve disliked Newcastle ever since they were first promoted to the Premiership and Rob Andrew proposed scrapping relegation
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I agree on that but in general I quite like the fact that there's a north-east team in the league, it means there's a good spread now.
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Coney Hill 10 - Lydney 82
Win the last two games of the season and we could finish in the top half of the table. Incredible turn around after we seemed to be heading for another relegation.
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We took a beating at home to the league leaders (and now winners) but the game wasn't as one sided as a 7-56 score suggests, they had a fly-half and centre with bags of pace and just got around us because we didn't have the legs to stop them. If we'd have been a bit more aggressive at the breakdown and stopped them getting quick ball early on I think it could've been a very different game.
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clermont v saints is a great game but clancy is giving saints fuck all.
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The annual Polly/Wayne Barnes charity match will take place at Lydney on 5th May
Eddie Jones will be one of the coaches
https://twitter.com/pollybarnes_/status/1113177657695506435
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Exeter thrashing Leicester 😀
Would love to see them get relegated.
Meanwhile, the Mighty Lyd had another comfortable win. This time 31-7 against Keynsham.
Just one game left in the season, away at Launceston; which I can’t see us winning.
Only 26 games in the season, which is a ridiculously low number. We used to play over 40 games each year.
Whilst in some ways I’ve missed going to Villa’s away games it’s been great to have a season watching more local rugby in person
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Exeter thrashing Leicester 😀
Would love to see them get relegated.
Meanwhile, the Mighty Lyd had another comfortable win. This time 31-7 against Keynsham.
Just one game left in the season, away at Launceston; which I can’t see us winning.
Only 26 games in the season, which is a ridiculously low number. We used to play over 40 games each year.
Whilst in some ways I’ve missed going to Villa’s away games it’s been great to have a season watching more local rugby in person
The one saving grace for Tigers is that newcastle and Worcester both got nothing as well, this was always a tough weekend for all 3.
Next week was always the big one, Tigers away at Falcons whilst Worcester are home to Sale, 2 home wins there and Tigers will be deep in the shit.
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If Leicester get relegated I would piss my trousers. Another fine win for Glaws yesterday. This season is on. Going to Worcester away with Charlie for the same price as a Leeds ticket.
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If Leicester get relegated I would piss my trousers. Another fine win for Glaws yesterday. This season is on. Going to Worcester away with Charlie for the same price as a Leeds ticket.
Glaws looked very good yesterday, saints will get there but they need a bit longer.
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The South African grunt is making a huge difference for Glaws. Getting a bit worried about mounting injuries though.
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Premier League finances
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/apr/08/exeter-in-the-black-premiership-rugby-losses-year-to-june-2018
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Get in Glaws! Patched up backs and kids all over the shop. And still get a bonus point win despite being 17 down inside 20 minutes.
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Get in Glaws! Patched up backs and kids all over the shop. And still get a bonus point win despite being 17 down inside 20 minutes.
The Cipriani pass for Hohneck to score is a thing of beauty, I'll add some highlights for it when they go up tomorrow.
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Wayne Barnes was good on co-commentary I should add. Very interesting to have a refs perspective on things.
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Hmmm, they've changed the highlights page so linking to individual videos is a bit messy so just a general link - https://www.premiershiprugby.com/videos/match-highlights/
There's some great tries in there and the boos for Billy V are pretty clear. I can't believe Sarries didn't have the sense to leave him out for the week.
Saints beating Quins has left the the battle for the top 4 looking really interesting now.
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Wayne Barnes was good on co-commentary I should add. Very interesting to have a refs perspective on things.
Doesn't sound as Forest as he should ;)
I'm also hoping that once Nigel hangs up his boots, he'll become a regular commentator
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Gloucester are in after the weekend and Newcastle down. Our game at Worcester should be fun. If there arent 10 tries I am Chinese!
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Good news that Worcester are safe for another year - with the outgoings of Adams, Heem Te’o & Singleton there are definite big holes to fill - was initially underwhelmed with recruitment thus far however with WC & 6N taking out huge chunks of next season & a raft of players suddenly coming to the market after WC I’m hoping that it might be solid recruitment with the potential to sprinkle a bit of stardust if required after Christmas
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Good news that Worcester are safe for another year - with the outgoings of Adams, Heem Te’o & Singleton there are definite big holes to fill - was initially underwhelmed with recruitment thus far however with WC & 6N taking out huge chunks of next season & a raft of players suddenly coming to the market after WC I’m hoping that it might be solid recruitment with the potential to sprinkle a bit of stardust if required after Christmas
Melani Nanai is a very strong replacement for Adams as a finisher.
Ted Hill is the jewel in the crown and will be a regular next year.
Kitchener is a good signing, you've been really weak in there for a couple of years.
Will Butler looks like a very good young centre so it will be interesting to see if he can step up with T'eo leaving.
Singleton is a massive loss.
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Good news that Worcester are safe for another year - with the outgoings of Adams, Heem Te’o & Singleton there are definite big holes to fill - was initially underwhelmed with recruitment thus far however with WC & 6N taking out huge chunks of next season & a raft of players suddenly coming to the market after WC I’m hoping that it might be solid recruitment with the potential to sprinkle a bit of stardust if required after Christmas
Melani Nanai is a very strong replacement for Adams as a finisher.
Ted Hill is the jewel in the crown and will be a regular next year.
Kitchener is a good signing, you've been really weak in there for a couple of years.
Will Butler looks like a very good young centre so it will be interesting to see if he can step up with T'eo leaving.
Singleton is a massive loss.
Personally think Annet is better player than Singleton but needs to stay fit, hopefully Moulds is a solid replacement because for everything Taufette brings with the ball his line out throwing is poor.
Agree in Kitchener, really hope another 2nd row is still to be announced or we might get a few games of the Kitchener brothers in tandem.
Like Butler & Lawrence in centre.
Really looking forward to seeing Nanai
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Singleton isn't exceptional at anything but he's got no great weaknesses and is consistent and reliable, having a player like that in the front row is a massive advantage.
I'm less convinced by Lawrence but he could be decent, I suspect Butler will be hard for you to keep hold of after a year or 2 and he'll be talked about for England within that timeframe.
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I am not sure who Gloucester are bringing in next season. I have normally heard a few names by now. Not that they look particularly weak at the moment anyway mind. Perhaps a big name winger will be the prize they are after.
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I am not sure who Gloucester are bringing in next season. I have normally heard a few names by now. Not that they look particularly weak at the moment anyway mind. Perhaps a big name winger will be the prize they are after.
Joe Simpson in and Ben Vellacott going the other way is the big one. Also picked up Ford-Robinson from Saints who's a decent looking prop but has a couple of weaknesses.
To answer the 2nd part I think Goneva and Sinoti Sinoti could both be looked at by a few teams, both at the end of their careers but could be worthwhile for a year.
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I take it back. I knew about Simpson as a back up scrum half months ago! Perhaps we will go Saffer again in the Summer. I love watching Mostert and Kriel but we dont have any in the backs.
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Play offs at the weekend. I can't see past the two home teams to be fair.
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Agree - they’re vastly superior teams and scarily could improve further next year with Daly and hogg joining them
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Looking forward to next Saturday now should be a cracking game at Twickenham.
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Great game today. Saracens just kept on knocking and eventually found a way. Poor game management at the end cost the Chiefs, poor line out and an awful restart. I was sat right in front of the Newell injury, looked and sounded very nasty.
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I was watching the cricket and clean forgot about Exeter v Saracens :(
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Cipriani got player of the season.
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Paddy Jackson in at London Irish.
Cleared of rape charges, yet, two sponsors have dropped out.
Don't know a great deal on what happened, but, surely if he's been found 'Not Guilty' then that should be it.
Are the sponsors right in punishing the club?
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In a word, no. Well withing their rights too, of course, and I understand why the have done, but it's not particularly edifying as a society to vilify people who were found "not guilty" and to exert pressure to prevent them finding employment in their chosen field.
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This is a really difficult one because, the defence was, pretty much, that she was a bit of a goer and she was drunk and couldn't remember all the details of the night. I can't remember the full details but I did fol.low this one at the time and the way she was treated in the hearing was pretty horrific, with the defence focusing on how she was phrasing things and suggesting they showed she was making it up. There was a bit where he said she was on top and the defence then used that as evidence that she can't have been raped because of the position. To sum up the whole thing was dodgy as hell and a statement afterwards saying that he never intended to upset her (to paraphrase it) doesn't do much to counter a lot of the shit that came out earlier.
On that basis I think it's perfectly fair for a sponsor to decide they're uncomfortable with maintaining the relationship. I understand the counter argument that he was found not guilty and should be treated as such but for me the whole thing left a bad taste and I'm not surprised that holds true for marketing execs at diageo as well.
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Reminds me of the Ched Evans saga -yes, he's not guilty of the rape charge, but.....
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Reminds me of the Ched Evans saga -yes, he's not guilty of the rape charge, but.....
... but that's mainly because his girlfriends family paid witnesses to come forward and tell everyone that she was a slag?
The point, in both cases, is that you've had a group of sportsmen 'taking turns' on a woman and then discrediting her when she says that she didn't want them to. Proving it either way is near impossible but the trend of raking up anything the 'victim' has ever done as proof that she was 'gagging for it' and therefore can't have been raped is a massive problem.
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I agree.
The point I was making was that Evans got off on the main charge, but that didn't affect the fact that his reputation was rightly damaged because of the way he had behaved both during and after the incident.