Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Off Topic => Sports Arena => Topic started by: UK Redsox on September 03, 2019, 01:27:35 PM
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Hopefully this will mean the start of the return of Hartpury to their proper place in the rugby union hierarchy from the false level partially created by their arrangement with Gloucester
https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/gloucester-rugby-announces-leave-hartpury-3279183
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I crossed the Wye, Severn and Avon today to watch Lydney play Keynsham.
After a decent first half, leading 9-3, our set pieces fell apart in the second period and we lost 21-12
It’s depressing to watch Lyd playing at this low a level
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The not so mightily Lyd won their first game of the season today, a 20-12 victory over Newent.
Still difficult to comprehend that our 1st XV now play Newent. I used to play for our 3rd XV against their 1sts
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Have just got back from a charity quiz at Northampton. Really good fun, with one player from the side on each table. We had Saints captain Alex Waller on ours, and he was a really nice lad. Came second out of about 50 teams. We'd probably have won, but the round on rugby was our undoing as none of us knew very much about it, including Alex.
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Bristol looking pretty impressive at the start against Bath.
Nathan Hughes looks like being a great signing
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Bath in front now though and it was an excellent try from Mercer (who looks determined to show he should be in Japan).
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Turned into a bit of a romp for Bristol in the end
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Bristol played some great rugby in the last 20, they've benefited massively from not losing many players to the world cup. That said the Bath defending was shocking at times.
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Bristol played some great rugby in the last 20, they've benefited massively from not losing many players to the world cup. That said the Bath defending was shocking at times.
The World Cup could make this years premiership interesting.
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Bristol played some great rugby in the last 20, they've benefited massively from not losing many players to the world cup. That said the Bath defending was shocking at times.
The World Cup could make this years premiership interesting.
I agree, I think Sarries and Chiefs will be fine and make the playoffs pretty easily, I suspect saints will join them (on the basis that the 2nd half of last season they were really strong and they have some exceptional young players filling in whilst the internationals get back) but after that things could be really messy. I think Tigers might really struggle again because they haven't really addressed the problems from last year and they've got a lot of players who haven't had pre-season with them.
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An old fashioned West Country derby in wet and heavy contains at the Rec tonight.
Bath looking to hang on against Exeter
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In the latest round of evidence that Rugby is better run than football ...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/50300756
short version, sarries docked 35 points for repeatedly ignoring the salary cap and setting up fake companies to pay well over the normal amounts to their better players.
I can't see it being enough to see them go down but they're definitely going to be in the battle at the bottom now.
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Hartley has announced his retirement, I think that was inevitable after the injuries, shame he didn't get a last world cup but pleased for him that he got to captain England. I know he had disciplinary issues but his commitment and desire were fantastic and he's always come across as a good guy, he was also a far better player than he gets credit for and was a much better captain than anyone else since Johnno.
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He's a top lad. Going to get him along to a Villa match this season.
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Just seen on the news that he spent 50 weeks of his career being banned for fighting, gouging and biting.
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It was across 6 bans:
2 weeks for swinging a punch (in retaliation for being punched, other guy got 1 week).
3 weeks for an elbow (which was fair).
4 weeks for a headbutt (which made the Dublin one on Savage look aggressive).
then you get the big ones:
8 weeks for biting Sean o'Brian's Stephen Ferris' finger because he'd grabbed him by the mouth to pull him out of a ruck (o'Brian was a different ban for 6 weeks that I forgot about).
11 weeks for saying fucking cheat whilst looking at Tom Youngs but in hearing range of Wayne Barnes who decided it was aimed at him.
26 weeks for a eye-gouge, which was perfectly fair.
For me the 11 weeks was bullshit, without having any certainty of who it was aimed at (and Hartley admitting it was said to Youngs because of something he'd done in the scrum just before it happened) giving a ban which forced him out of the lions tour was completely unnecessary and then the 8 weeks was far too long given the circumstances so I reckon 15-16 of those weeks were entirely on reputation rather than punishing the 'crime'.
Really I just hope that's not what the press decide to focus on when talking about his retirement, he's doesn't deserve that.
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Ah the dark arts of the front row.
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I think he is one of those players that you want on your team but otherwise you’d hate him. Jones alluded to the fact that he was not the best English hooker but he was needed in the team because of his leadership qualities (Farrell appears to be a similar character).
Pretty sure that all people inside the game would say the same
Full disclosure: I’m a saints fan.
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Saracens are not going to contest the penalties
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/50457698
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Saracens are not going to contest the penalties
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/50457698
I have a suspicion that someone has pointed out that they're bang to rights after years or warnings and the specific rule allows for a much harsher penalty than they got (including automatic relegation and having titles stripped). They'll stay up with this so just take a season where their only aim is to push for the top 6 and come back stronger next year. Appealing would've been very stupid and unnecessarily risky.
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Could have a huge impact on 6N with Sarries players opting to stick with club rugby to ensure Premiership status over England & 6N.
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Could have a huge impact on 6N with Sarries players opting to stick with club rugby to ensure Premiership status over England & 6N.
There used to be a rule where teams could be punished if their players didn't report for England without good reason (i.e. injury or international retirement). I don't know if it still exists and I don't know England would enforce it even it does in this case but I'd personally consider those players unavailable for selection for longer than just the 6N if they went down this route. The key now is to build towards the next world cup anyway so spreading a few caps around wouldn't be a bad thing, even if we lose a few more games.
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Sale v La Rochelle has just seen one of the most stupid red cards ever so La Rochelle are currently down to 13.
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And here is the red card from earlier - https://www.rugbydump.com/news/watch-red-card-for-crazy-eye-gouge-on-england-star-in-champions-cup?fbclid=IwAR2_5uJJGRoAu0v33EBVVO8PeNUKudrrqEocDsOY50AS-9dq6YSZPly07ek
Moving on, the Gloucester game has been great so far, 2 very good sides smashing the shit out of each other.
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I posted too soon, literally seconds later Montpellier decided to out do La Rochelle in the self-destruction stakes and had a lock given a red for a series of elbows to the face in a maul, most of them were fairly tame and would've been overlooked so on about the 4th attempt he made sure of the red card. Truly pathetic.
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Forget to mention this on Saturday, this is pure filth from Finn Russell -
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Last weekend....... Lydney 71, Crediton 9
It's been a long time since we gave anyone a hammering like that :)
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Saints are playing some great rugby against Leicester. It’s slightly odd seeing seasoned England internationals being taught a lesson by a load of Saints players that have recently graduated from their development side.
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Saints are playing some great rugby against Leicester. It’s slightly odd seeing seasoned England internationals being taught a lesson by a load of Saints players that have recently graduated from their development side.
Missed this one because I was at warriors vs sale (which was decided by a red card). I've heard Saints were very good today though.
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Off to the Saints game today, will report back from the egg ball later.
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Off to the Saints game today, will report back from the egg ball later.
I watched most of the game on BT Sport. Weird game, Saints looked threatening but made too many mistakes in attacking positions. Conversely Leinster were absolutely ruthless.
Saints are a joy to watch, a combination of youthful naivety and a manager that encourages the team to play an expansive game.
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Off to the Saints game today, will report back from the egg ball later.
I watched most of the game on BT Sport. Weird game, Saints looked threatening but made too many mistakes in attacking positions. Conversely Leinster were absolutely ruthless.
Saints are a joy to watch, a combination of youthful naivety and a manager that encourages the team to play an expansive game.
yeah, they're probably a year away from being able to compete with teams like Leinster when the latter are 'on it'. The saints backline yesterday was interesting, lots of very good players in there but Alex Mitchell, Grayson (but he did make the bench), Dingwall, Furbank and Sleightholme all left out for various reasons. Personally Sleights would be on the bench almost every week, Furbank would start ahead of Tuala and Mitchell would also make the bench. That means no place for Dingwall though, which is a great shame because he's quality.
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Weird game, didn’t feel like a 30 point hammering. Saints defence was shite first half but they should still have gone into the break ahead. After the break they had loads of the ball in attacking positions but made too many errors. Then Leinster ran riot.
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Impressive second half from Gloucester in the Severn derby.
That Zammo kid on the wing looks quite a prospect.
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Impressive second half from Gloucester in the Severn derby.
That Zammo kid on the wing looks quite a prospect.
He's got some gas. Glaws were frustrating last night, first half was some of the most wasteful rugby I've seen in years but then Mills got a yellow for Warriors and suddenly glaws started looking like a professional team in the 22.
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Sounds like Saracens saga is about to take a huge turn.....
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Sounds like Saracens saga is about to take a huge turn.....
Liam Williams is probably leaving in the next couple of weeks and I wouldn't be surprised in 3-4 more follow, Calum Clark and Michael Rhodes are definitely on their way and I've hear da rumour that they're trying to shift Kruis asap as well.
After the ridiculous response of taking it to appeal, etc after the initial punishment I'm glad they're now actually taking this seriously. A little humility will go a long way to rebuilding their reputation but I still think their victories in the last 3-4 years all have to be viewed as flawed from now on because this is something that has been reached quickly or by accident. There were whispers of them being warned about their salary expenditure 8-9 years ago and they just kept making big money signings and adding to an already massive squad.
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It is good that they might get a proper punishment felt kind of hollow that they were still likely to finish around the lower European qualifier places & be ready to go again next season - there will be some DoR’s looking at recruitment strategies for next season with a few proven stars on the market.
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I don't follow domestic rugby that much so what I don't understand is how it took so long to question how Saracens were winning trophy after trophy by having a big squad of well-paid, valuable star players in excess of what most other clubs had without breaking the salary cap.
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I don't follow domestic rugby that much so what I don't understand is how it took so long to question how Saracens were winning trophy after trophy by having a big squad of well-paid, valuable star players in excess of what most other clubs had without breaking the salary cap.
The simple answer is that they had a wage that was inline with the cap but in addition many were registered as co-owners of companies with the chairman and they got profits from those, one of the main arguments was over how those profits were generated with evidence showing it related to performance bonuses and image rights, both of which are supposed to be included within the cap. The rumour I've seen (and I don't know how accurate it is) is that the overspend when everything is accounted for was something about 30%. If that's correct then the 35 point deduction and fine was incredibly lenient. I think that would account for some of the comments from other clubs at the time as well.
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The simple answer is that they had a wage that was inline with the cap but in addition many were registered as co-owners of companies with the chairman and they got profits from those, one of the main arguments was over how those profits were generated with evidence showing it related to performance bonuses and image rights, both of which are supposed to be included within the cap. The rumour I've seen (and I don't know how accurate it is) is that the overspend when everything is accounted for was something about 30%. If that's correct then the 35 point deduction and fine was incredibly lenient. I think that would account for some of the comments from other clubs at the time as well.
I see. Ta.
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Guardian reckon they are £2m over for this season and are getting another 35 pt penalty.
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Guardian reckon they are £2m over for this season and are getting another 35 pt penalty.
That pretty much lines up with the 30% I'd heard. I think they're fucked if I'm honest, premiership rugby has to show it's teeth given the apparent lack of effort from Sarries to react to the first deduction.
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Will be interesting where the top players end up now relegation is certain.
Get a couple down Worcester :D
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The worry is how it could affect the England team. Saracens clearly have players who will be integral to the England set up moving forward. Is it feasible for them to move to other English clubs? Or will it be a case of them moving abroad and the RFU suspending its rules around non domestic players not being eligible for these players?
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The worry is how it could affect the England team. Saracens clearly have players who will be integral to the England set up moving forward. Is it feasible for them to move to other English clubs? Or will it be a case of them moving abroad and the RFU suspending its rules around non domestic players not being eligible for these players?
I think it may help rather than hinder, for all their club success the brand of rugby Sarries play won't bring you world cups. I suspect a few of the older ones (Kruis for example) may decide to move for the money rather than take a pay cut, which is fair and I suspect a few will try to follow the leadof Wilson and arrange a season away on loan. It's the younger players who are breaking through that are most interesting. Kpoku has already moved to saints for next year, it will be interesting to see if the likes of Lozowski, Earl and Malins agree to put their international ambitions on hold for a year to get them back up.
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The more that i read about this, the more i think that Saracens got off lightly. If it’s correct that they’re still refusing to allow a full review of their finances, I’d have relegated them another couple of divisions.
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The more that i read about this, the more i think that Saracens got off lightly. If it’s correct that they’re still refusing to allow a full review of their finances, I’d have relegated them another couple of divisions.
The refusal to co-operate with the league and the complete lack of evidence of them doing anything to address this season was why this came up now rather than the end of the season. They've let Williams go and are looking to move Rhodes, Clark and Kruis on as well but that only really started after chairmen from other clubs started pointing out that the first punishment had seen no effort to fix the problems and instead just threats to withhold England players, withdraw from the league or take the league to arbitration. I thought Wray was a twat long before all of this started but his last few months before he stepped down showed him up as an entitled arsehole who thought he was wealthy enough and the team were important enough to be able to ignore the rules.
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Just back from the Northampton v London Irish game, where Saints missed the chance to go top in quite spectacular style, throwing it away dramatically in the last 50 seconds. Not helped by some of the worst officiating in professional sport I've ever seen.
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Just back from the Northampton v London Irish game, where Saints missed the chance to go top in quite spectacular style, throwing it away dramatically in the last 50 seconds. Not helped by some of the worst officiating in professional sport I've ever seen.
Couple of really odd decisions, i can't work out how the exiles 9 only got a yellow but then he gave the saints lock a red. I also thought he was very lenient with persistent penalties in the Irish 22.
Too many key players away for saints though really, and losing 2 backs in the first half and ending with a 9 on the wing won't have helped.
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That first yellow was a disgrace. Happened right in front of the ref, when the London Irish player after the whistle had gone, picked the Saints player up and shoved his head into the ground. Then for the Saints red, he was watching an inconclusive video replay from behind, and sent him off anyway. Saints were really, really shit though. Hardly won any of their own line outs, and missed two simple penalty attempts.
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RFU cut their funding of The Championship in half
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/feb/11/championship-clubs-rfu-brutal-slash-funding
After the RFU saying that the division needed to be professional, they now seem to be trying to end professional rugby outside the Premiership.
A real shame for the players and management at these clubs........apart from everyone at that fake club in Hartpury, they can go swivel
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https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/feb/12/rugby-union-championship-justin-blanchet-canada-bedford-blues
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RFU cut their funding of The Championship in half
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/feb/11/championship-clubs-rfu-brutal-slash-funding
After the RFU saying that the division needed to be professional, they now seem to be trying to end professional rugby outside the Premiership.
A real shame for the players and management at these clubs........apart from everyone at that fake club in Hartpury, they can go swivel
Sounds like a dickish move. Both codes of rugby don't seem to give the slightest shit about teams outside the elite and would happily get rid of promotion and relegation altogether. The boring twats.
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It's difficult. With teams needing, realistically, 35-40 first team players the fanbase isn't really there to support more than about 14-16 professional teams.
Withdrawing funding isn't great though andcwill cause problems for a number of clubs.
Rugby in general has finance problems though, the grass roots game is struggling all over the country with clubs finding it hard to keep facilities in good condition without grants or large donations.
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One of the problems for the Championship clubs is that some of the teams are not traditional well-supported clubs, eg Ampthill (who appear to play in a field) and the aforementioned Hartpury (spit).
I'm not sure what the supporter base is like at Ealing, but they're another club that appear to be way above their natural level.
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I think that a ring-fenced Premiership will be the ultimate outcome. However, if the RFU do decide that, they should invite four* more teams to join and split the league into two conferences with a proper playoff system
(eg Nottingham, Leeds, Newcastle and Bedford)
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Has anything been said by European Rugby regarding a punishment for Saracens ?
Should they be banned from European competition for a few years after they regain their position in the Premiership ?
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Has anything been said by European Rugby regarding a punishment for Saracens ?
Should they be banned from European competition for a few years after they regain their position in the Premiership ?
Technically I don’t think they have broken any European rules as the wage cap is an English agreement only. Not 100% positive on this so please correct me if I’m wrong.
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I think that's right, there's no regulation that they can be punished with. However there is a rule that participating teams have to be in the top league so they'll miss next season. Winning the championship does come with qualification though so it'll only be 1 season away in all likelihood.
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Lydney 42 - Bridgwater 0 (abandoned after 60 mins)
This game should never have started because pitch and weather were terrible.
However, conditions were not much worse after an hour than they were at the start.
Therefore we lost out on scoring another 20 or 30 points that could be important if the title or playoff spot comes down to points difference.
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However, after the game, conditions did get much worse
https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/three-sports-clubs-lydney-urgently-3862174
(https://i2-prod.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/article3854113.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/2_lyds3JPG.jpg)
Three sports clubs in the Forest of Dean have been left in a desperate situation after the River Lyd banks burst.
Situated along the river bank are Lydney Cricket Club, Lydney Rugby Club and Lydney Town AFC, which were all badly affected.
The rugby club has so far raised £7,000 towards their total aim of £20,000 in a bid to repair the water logged club house.
Their chairman Duncan Sleeman, 48, said: "We lost about 15 to 20 fridges and freezers, cookers and dishwashers. Our rugby tackle equipment is 90 per cent destroyed.
"Also there's the loss of revenue as we won't be able to use the club house for the foreseeable future."
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(https://i.ibb.co/wQvmZNs/IMG-3596.jpg) (https://ibb.co/wQvmZNs)
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Jonny May returns to Gloucester.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/52254725
Potential problems with contracts when the season resumes
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/52257511
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Jonny May returns to Gloucester.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/52254725
Potential problems with contracts when the season resumes
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/52257511
Football has the same problem with contracts, for me that's the biggest plus for the idea of voiding the season. However that presents a particularly difficult problem for rugby because they've already granted promotion to Newcastle and there is no chance next season starts with Sarries in the premiership.
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How are Saracens funding all these contract extensions within the salary rules?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/53443359
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Who knows with Sarries.
In case anyone missed it the league resumes on 14/08 with a lot of squad changes all through the league. A few transfers stand out, Kvesic back to Worcester is a big one, Manu to Sale is bigger and Radradra to Bristol is massive. More important than all of those though is the truly batshit crazy signing of Ashley Johnson to Moseley.
At the top end of the league I'd say, aside from the Sale and Bristol signings mentioned, Saints have strengthened their weaknesses and lost players where they have depth (although Reinach is a huge loss) so are probably better for it and Exeter, in my opinion, are weakened by the changes. Everyone else hasn't really changed much despite a lot of players moving around.
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I suspect that a number of the Saracens international players will be sent out on loan next season (if that's allowed).
They won't need all of them to cruise the Championship and it'll save them a bit of money
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I suspect that a number of the Saracens international players will be sent out on loan next season (if that's allowed).
They won't need all of them to cruise the Championship and it'll save them a bit of money
4-5 of the fringe players have gone out, I don't think the international players are allowed because of the central contracts
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No promotion or relegation? What a load of absolute shite. Hope every single club that votes for that goes bust.
Premiership: RFU considers ring-fencing top flight - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/53608795
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No promotion or relegation? What a load of absolute shite. Hope every single club that votes for that goes bust.
Premiership: RFU considers ring-fencing top flight - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/53608795
Bring it in as soon as this season ends and I'd vote for it. Sarries stuck in the championship for 4 years would be fucking great.
More seriously I'm not totally against the idea. The gap between the premiership and championship is fucking massive, I'd be in favour of changes which mean teams that are promoted don't feel the need to fill their squad with journeymen in the hopes they can cling on for a year or 2. How you do that I'm not sure but I'm ok with them trialling things to see what works. I'm also ok with them reducing the number of games slightly because on eof the reasons for that divide is that the bigger clubs have managed to A and B squads that are 45-50 player, championship clubs struggle for those numbers.
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No promotion or relegation? What a load of absolute shite. Hope every single club that votes for that goes bust.
Premiership: RFU considers ring-fencing top flight - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/53608795
They tried to bring this in years ago.
As soon as Gosforth/Newcastle made it back to the top level I think that Rob Andrew and others tried to pull up the drawbridge.
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first game ina very long time tonight, will be really interesting to see how the rule changes are handled and which teams have prepared best for it.
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hard to tell the real impact of the new rules after that game. Both teams were ok without doing anything special and the main point of difference was the most ill-judged cross-field kick from the Sale 10 I think I've ever seen in the professional game.
I don't think I can fairly describe just how poor it was.
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Watching Sarries-Wasps idly while doing odd jobs. Farrell just had yet another rush of blood to the head and gone in with an atrocious tackle on a Wasp. First time I've ever seen a ref run in instantly to stop a player from being beaten half to death by absolutely furious team-mates of the guy he just totally poleaxed. Red card, obviously.
I recognise it's an instant reaction, but he has to be binned from the England team. He just doesn't learn.
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That is a hell of a win for Wasps.
The turnaround in their season has been very impressive.
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Watching Sarries-Wasps idly while doing odd jobs. Farrell just had yet another rush of blood to the head and gone in with an atrocious tackle on a Wasp. First time I've ever seen a ref run in instantly to stop a player from being beaten half to death by absolutely furious team-mates of the guy he just totally poleaxed. Red card, obviously.
I recognise it's an instant reaction, but he has to be binned from the England team. He just doesn't learn.
I'm sure I'm on record here for saying I don't like Farrell very much. It's never been about talent though, he's always seconds away from being a nasty fucker for no reason. Today he showed himself up to everyone, fucking awful attempt at a tackle.
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Watching Sarries-Wasps idly while doing odd jobs. Farrell just had yet another rush of blood to the head and gone in with an atrocious tackle on a Wasp. First time I've ever seen a ref run in instantly to stop a player from being beaten half to death by absolutely furious team-mates of the guy he just totally poleaxed. Red card, obviously.
I recognise it's an instant reaction, but he has to be binned from the England team. He just doesn't learn.
I'm sure I'm on record here for saying I don't like Farrell very much. It's never been about talent though, he's always seconds away from being a nasty fucker for no reason. Today he showed himself up to everyone, fucking awful attempt at a tackle.
Farrell plays on the edge but to suggest he shouldn't play for England is a bit extreme. The kid is quality & Eddie Jones knows that.
Great result for Ulster beating Edinburgh!
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I know it was a snap reaction- but how / when will he learn ? He just about knocked a teenagers head clean off his shoulders, in a game that doesn't change anything for Saracens season, that wasn't particularly niggly. There was a solid defensice line in front of the Wasp, and he charged in from the back. To me, it appears that being the super-talented son of a League legend has meant that he has never faced any real consequences for his complete inability to keep his cool on the pitch and tackle properly. So, perhaps a season forced to watch England from the sidelines would help focus his attention on how important it is to have a minimum amount of care towards fellow pros.
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Rather than an England ban I just hope they go with a meaningful ban in all formats. 6-8 weeks for me. Maybe missing the only important game Sarries have left will be a bit of a wake up call. I can also see him acting like a right prick in the championship and doing that sort of shit to part-timers.
I think it's definitely related to his dad but more importantly to league where the big collision and wrap if you can approach to tackling is the norm. I add him never changing to the list of reasons why Sarries are a bunch of c**ts because he's been there long enough to have had this shit coached out of him but they'd rather play on the edge.
I'm not against big tackles, I love watching Lawes smash fly-halves, but it needs to be legal hits.
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5 match ban for Farrell.
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5 match ban for Farrell.
Came on to post that, I think he's very lucky, "reckless but not intentional" - I'm not sure I agree with that.
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As was alluded to on here the other day, if he'd been punished severely for this sort of thing earlier in his career it would have been in everyone's best interests. There's no doubt he's been indulged.
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As was alluded to on here the other day, if he'd been punished severely for this sort of thing earlier in his career it would have been in everyone's best interests. There's no doubt he's been indulged.
Sadly mostly by his dad who will have encouraged him to lead with his shoulder because it's common in rugby league. Sarries have failed in forcing it out of his game and his ability has meant he gets soft touch treatment far too often.
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https://www.rugbydump.com/news/disciplinary-panel-manipulated-as-farrells-reduced-ban-raises-serious-questions
So the length of the ban halved from a much more realistic 10 weeks based on testimonials from his club manager, his international manager and a random charity that he's worked with. Does the idea that he's a twat because he's indulged and enabled need any further evidence?
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https://www.rugbydump.com/news/disciplinary-panel-manipulated-as-farrells-reduced-ban-raises-serious-questions
So the length of the ban halved from a much more realistic 10 weeks based on testimonials from his club manager, his international manager and a random charity that he's worked with. Does the idea that he's a twat because he's indulged and enabled need any further evidence?
"He's just not that sort of player" - despite the multitude of occasions when he has proven that he is indeed that sort of player but didn't get so much as a card for it because his Dad is the coach and he's the captain / number 10(12) of England.
Again, when the ref knows he has to run in straightaway to prevent serious reprisals from the opposition (which I've never seen before, normally just the ref hanging ineffectually tootling on his whistle until the argy-bargy dies down), when Farrell hangs around pitch-side after the red card to get the photo op in and further offers a 1-on-1 session with the lad, he has fucked up to an extraordinary degree which merits an extraordinary punishment.
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The good behaviour is applicable for anyone that gets hauled in front of the panel, so he hasn't been treated any differently to anyone else.
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I've mentioned on here a few times that I've been loosely involved with a club again for a couple of years, today we had the fantastic news that we've been voted as club of the year - https://www.premiershiprugby.com/news/erdington-rfc-announced-as-winner-of-gallagher-rugby-club-of-the-season-award - My part is tiny, I've played a few games and helped out with training the kids a few times but the people running it deserve massive credit.
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Wayne's tested positive and has been replaced as ref of the Premiership Final
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/54658504
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I've mentioned on here a few times that I've been loosely involved with a club again for a couple of years, today we had the fantastic news that we've been voted as club of the year - https://www.premiershiprugby.com/news/erdington-rfc-announced-as-winner-of-gallagher-rugby-club-of-the-season-award - My part is tiny, I've played a few games and helped out with training the kids a few times but the people running it deserve massive credit.
Nice work Paul, from my experience rugby clubs are special places, so to be top of the tree is impressive stuff.
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2020-21 English domestic leagues below The Championship have been scrapped
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Cipriani leaves Gloucester with immediate effect.
Adam Hastings is joining for next season
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I wonder where Danny will go?
Perhaps abroad, as he won't be in Eddie's future plans, being unable to hoof the ball far enough!
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Cipriani will go to America I think, they're trying to really push the game over there (and it's working with far more players going in rugby at school age) and he's the sort of player you'd give a fortune to to make the game 'sexy'.
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I guess this clears things up a bit - https://www.rugbypass.com/news/gloucester-explain-why-cipriani-was-allowed-to-quit-kingsholm-skivington/
Reading between the lines I'd guess Hastings was already lined up and Cips was on his way in the summer so they've had a chat and agreed to let him go early which is why everything was announced at once.
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Ta for that.
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Wasps vs montpellier on BT2, wasps just got a 3rd try to go 19-14 ahead and it's a stunner, exceptional offload in midfield to slice them open.
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Great day of rugby, Leinster V Northampton was a good game with some fantastic tries coming from nowhere. That served as an appetiser for an absolute belter of a game in Gloucester V Ulster. Yellow cards, bonus points all round, penalty tries and a match winning score in the 85th minute. Games this these 2 are what makes the sport so good to watch.
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I finished watching the Gloucester match this morning. Great game, but wouldn't have been so nail-biting if Zammo was more willing to pass
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Start of The Championship delayed until at least March
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/55394549
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With the amount of 28-0s in the last round of the european games I can't say that surprises me much.
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Crazy finish to the Glos Sale game.
Harris goes off for a HIA but no TMO review of the tackle. A Sale scrum penalty when the Glos pack was mullering them and dropping it. Then the Sale coach/water carrier hackles the ball over the hoardings to stop a quick, late line out, and from the ensuing melee (involving a Marlon Yarde head butt) Sale get the penalty to win the match.
Bizarre.
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Willi Heinz has signed for Worcester for next season.
Follows on from them signing Will Chudley earlier in the month.
Not exactly long term options at scrum half.
Do Worcester have a star young 9 waiting ?
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Will Chudley has a few years in him and was a very good signing, not sure I see the point of adding Heinz.
The only players I've heard of coming through at Worcester are a 10 and 12 (Fin Smith who looks an excellent fly-half and Seb Atkinson).
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Willi Heinz has signed for Worcester for next season.
Follows on from them signing Will Chudley earlier in the month.
Not exactly long term options at scrum half.
Do Worcester have a star young 9 waiting ?
Think it’s more plugging a gap with Houggard I presume off, perhaps the other way of Heinz??
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Great to see Saracens lose their first game in the Championship.
I really hope that they fail to get promoted
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Quins vs Saints has been brilliant, 4 tries after 16 minutes and both teams just going for it with ball in hand, not one for a fan of solid defence.
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There's a brilliant report on the Sarries game against Pirates by Kitson on the Graun website.
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Just read it DCDC. And the RFU stopped them from live streaming the game after slashing funding for Championship clubs by 75%. The ground would have been chukka full if crowds fad been allowed - bit like how VP would have been this season if we'd been allowed in.
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2nd half from Northampton today was some of the best rugby I've seen for years, ran Worcester into the ground with pace and precision, England really need rto be looking at this team because the backbone is a bunch of young English players with the pace and skills to easily adapt to internationals. Mitchell was top class at 9 and Sleightholme is too good a finisher to not get a look in soon.
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Looks like I watched the wrong game!
Wasps, who had a two-man advantage at one stage, managed to throw away the game against Sale right at the end.
They look horribly short of confidence atm.
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Looks like I watched the wrong game!
Wasps, who had a two-man advantage at one stage, managed to throw away the game against Sale right at the end.
They look horribly short of confidence atm.
Never mind Wasps played against 13 at one stage - Sale had 4 players yellow carded in the 2nd half and played 2 separate periods with 13. Wasps were clueless in how to play with a 2 man advantage. And don't anyone tell me Robson should be starting for England. When Robson should have been putting box kicks in behind the Sale backs he insisted on passing and then when he should have passed, he kicked. Even Austin Healey noticed ! Sale won without Faf De Klerk being in the squad.
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Robson wasn't the problem, their issues are back row and 10, Gopperth in particular was terrible yesterday. In the back row they have no leaders without Willis.
For England my choice at 9 would be to pick Randall and Mitchell and give them a couple of years to fight for the starting shirt.
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Not sure where else to put this but tonight was the first contact (for 20 minutes) rugby training in over a year and the first training of any sort since about July (for me). The club decided on sink or swim so about 2-3 miles of running in the legs, 20 minutes solid of hitting tackle bags and a half hour game of touch and I'm going to feel every single bit of it tomorrow. I hadn't realised how much I'd missed it though, best day I've had for months.
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Not sure where else to put this but tonight was the first contact (for 20 minutes) rugby training in over a year and the first training of any sort since about July (for me). The club decided on sink or swim so about 2-3 miles of running in the legs, 20 minutes solid of hitting tackle bags and a half hour game of touch and I'm going to feel every single bit of it tomorrow. I hadn't realised how much I'd missed it though, best day I've had for months.
You have my sympathy,my admiration and I’m jealous as hell having retired at 51 ,4 years ago.... I still miss it like mad
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How old are you, Paul-e?
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How old are you, Paul-e?
41, that's why it hurts so much to be honest.
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I hope your recovery is going well.
I heard a rumour somewhere that if you could up your pace a bit, you might be in to replace Big Billy...
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Been some good games today, Exeter/Leinster earlier and Saints/Ulster now have been superb.
This one is a great display of contrasting styles, Ulster are all about the set piece whilst Saints are just cutting them up in the loose.
Earlier it was just 2 top class sides smashing the shit out of each other, with Leinster just edging it.
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Been some good games today, Exeter/Leinster earlier and Saints/Ulster now have been superb.
This one is a great display of contrasting styles, Ulster are all about the set piece whilst Saints are just cutting them up in the loose.
Earlier it was just 2 top class sides smashing the shit out of each other, with Leinster just edging it.
Great games but wasn’t’t the refereeing of the saints v ulster game a bit random/shit across the board?
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Been some good games today, Exeter/Leinster earlier and Saints/Ulster now have been superb.
This one is a great display of contrasting styles, Ulster are all about the set piece whilst Saints are just cutting them up in the loose.
Earlier it was just 2 top class sides smashing the shit out of each other, with Leinster just edging it.
Great games but wasn’t’t the refereeing of the saints v ulster game a bit random/shit across the board?
I was really trying not to complain about the saints ref but I think it was some of the worst I've ever seen. 2 of the Ulster tries came after they'd had 3-4 phases in a row of illegal rucks that he was just ignoring, going in off your feet every now and then can be unavoidable but when they were in the 22 they did it almost every time and he just ignored it.
What really summed it up though was at one point in the first half where he gave penalty for a saints player going in at the side and Waller asked who and when and he just refused to answer him, just repeating that he'd given the penalty 2-3 times in a row. I went back and checked and I couldn't work out what the offence was either. The other one that bothered me was the number of times where the Ulster line out maul involved a big pack pushing saints back whilst the ball carrier rest a couple of fingers on someone and was clearly disconnected but he just ignored it. That's truck and trailer and has been treated as maul over (and a penalty for offside) for over 20 years and yet they had 3-4 examples of it.
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From the Bath/London Irish game on Friday there was 1 clip that should be required viewing for every back in world rugby - https://twitter.com/GrantConstable/status/1381607104352489474?s=20 - don't go high on a number 8 as a back, it's really fucking stupid.
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From the Bath/London Irish game on Friday there was 1 clip that should be required viewing for every back in world rugby - https://twitter.com/GrantConstable/status/1381607104352489474?s=20 - don't go high on a number 8 as a back, it's really fucking stupid.
Looking at that, does that not count as a shoulder charge in some way ? Because to my eyes it looks distinctly like the 8 changed direction (albeit slightly), and leaned his shoulder in and hit the face of the 10. Or does the simple possession of the ball change the rules entirely ?
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Looks like borderline foul play by the eight to me.
I know that it was his ball carrying arm, but it appears that the elbow was lifted just before contact.
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nah, nothing wrong with that at all, keep your forearm or elbow out of the way as best you can and don't jump into it and you're ok. dipping into tackles to ride them is human nature and I don't see anything beyond that.
It looks bad because the difference in weight and the god awful tackle attempt meant the kid got wiped out but any ref worth their salt would chalk it off as a 'rugby incident' and let the game flow.
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half an hour in to the first premiership game of the weekend and Alex Mitchell is on fire, how he's played in the last few games he could easily force himself into the lions squad, his pace and ball carrying is an extra dimension that none of the others in the mix are bringing.
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Bristol vs Exeter tonight, both teams going for it but Exeter edging it and now Bristol seem to have forgotten how to do the basics, poor handling and passing in the 2nd half has stifled them completely.
Exeter edged the first hour almost entirely because Sam Simmonds is an incredible player, they have good players all around him but he is every bit as important to them as Grealish is to Villa, everything good goes through him. He went off injured just after the hour and now they're still playing well but just look blunt compared to earlier.
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The first half of that game was the most intense English club rugby match I've seen for ages. The battle at the breakdown was amazing.
As you said, Simmonds was outstanding in the first half.
Brilliant to watch!!
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The comments about the Maupay red card made me realised i hadn't posted on here about how much a c**t Mike Brown is.
https://www.rugbydump.com/news/watch-the-face-stamp-which-may-end-mike-browns-harlequins-career-early/
I've never been much of a fan anyway but that is fucking vile, I'd ban the twat for at least 20 weeks.
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Care was interviewed on telly, saying that he thought Brown's good disciplinary record might mitigate the ban.
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Six week ban for Brown, so that's him done at Quins
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/may/12/mike-brown-harlequins-career-over-after-six-week-ban-for-stamping-rugby-union
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Six week ban for Brown, so that's him done at Quins
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/may/12/mike-brown-harlequins-career-over-after-six-week-ban-for-stamping-rugby-union
I think he's got off lightly there, it was clearly intentional.
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Six week ban for Brown, so that's him done at Quins
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/may/12/mike-brown-harlequins-career-over-after-six-week-ban-for-stamping-rugby-union
I think he's got off lightly there, it was clearly intentional.
I don’t think it was.
Had to be a red card, but it’s one of those you can look at it two ways.
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Wow
Quins 28-0 down at ht to win 36-43 full time
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Bristol implosion
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Exeter v Sale
Another good game
Exeter look good
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I think Exeter will win the final pretty easily now, Bristol should've won it, they're the best team in the league by quite a way but you can't account for a collapse like that.
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I think Exeter will win the final pretty easily now, Bristol should've won it, they're the best team in the league by quite a way but you can't account for a collapse like that.
Didn’t see the Bristol game.
Saw they were 28-0 up and thought why bother.
It then became a wtf moment when I saw they were in extra time 😂
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I think Exeter will win the final pretty easily now, Bristol should've won it, they're the best team in the league by quite a way but you can't account for a collapse like that.
Didn’t see the Bristol game.
Saw they were 28-0 up and thought why bother.
It then became a wtf moment when I saw they were in extra time 😂
I saw about 25 minutes and expected them to put on a cricket score, no idea how they lost from there.
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It was a fantastic reversal at Bristol.
Harlequins are brilliant to watch when they get it right.
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Although I attended two pre-season games, today was my first proper Rugby match in over 18 months.
Lydney 42, Old Patesians 29 in the awkwardly named South West 1 West
You know you’re getting old when you’re friends with the grandfathers of some of the players :-\
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Well, this looks like nonsense
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/sep/07/world-12s-rugby-union-tournament-to-launch-in-2022-with-hope-of-emulating-ipl
“World 12s is a natural evolution for rugby union,” chairman Ian Ritchie said.
No...no, it's not
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Result from yesterday……
Sidmouth 0, Lydney 0
As far as I can tell from my records, this is our first scoreless game for 40 years.
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Played my first game with 'normal' rules for 18months yesterday and I have 2 thoughts, the 50-22 law is good but doesn't have massive impact at my level (but I think will play a big part at top club and international standard) and goal line drop-outs make the game better.
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We’ve had a few goal line drop outs so far. However, the Ref fecked up on one by awarding a GLDO when the ball was kicked dead in goal.
I didn’t know that the 50/22 rule was in effect yet. I haven’t seen an occurrence in the games I’ve watched live.
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We’ve had a few goal line drop outs so far. However, the Ref fecked up on one by awarding a GLDO when the ball was kicked dead in goal.
I didn’t know that the 50/22 rule was in effect yet. I haven’t seen an occurrence in the games I’ve watched live.
The real impact you'll see from 50-22 is that I can see teams playing with, effectively, 1 'open' winger and 2 full backs at times. We had 3 in our game yesterday but 2 were due to incredibly lucky bounces and I don't think any were intentional.
The GLDOs will speed games up though, 5m scrums are the messiest version of them and see more resets and penalties than scrums anywhere else on the pitch. I've benefitted with tries from them a fair few times and at lower levels I think they were less troublesome but at the top level they needed to be addressed and doing that in a way that encourages counter-attacking rugby is fine by me.
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Maybe a cheeky bet on Sarries winning the league?
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Maybe a cheeky bet on Sarries winning the league?
Not sure, Bristol started brilliantly but didn't react when sarries switched to a rush defence. Bristol also really missed Afoa in the front row (who was supposed to start but pulled out yesterday lunchtime. Sale are my outside tip to top the table, not sure once it gets to the playoffs.
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Hopefully Saracens won’t win. They should have had to play a full Championship season before being allowed back into the top flight.
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Decent day today:
Leicester looked much better than they have for a few years and after slagging Jones off for calling him up in the 6N I have to be honest and say George Martin was superb.
Northampton were very good against Gloucester, Mitchell has become a top quality 9, Grayson will be an England player before long and Furbank is too good to not get more chances as well.
Massive win for Worcester, I think taking the pressure of relegation away for them will really help.
I said earlier that Sale are my outside bet to top the table and I stick by that, they have a strong squad and are good at grinding out wins without playing well, which seems to have happened again today.
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Good to see Barnesey on Rugby Tonight.
He’s up there with Nige in terms of ability to explain refereeing. With the added bonus on sounding a bit like me :)
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Entertaining game between Bristol and Bath tonight.
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Good game tonight between Sale and Quins, there's been a few mistakes that have stopped it being a classic but it's still great to watch.
Quirke is a great talent, he's the player the press have been trying to pretend Ben Youngs is for years, quick and strong around the fringes (Youngs does this bit well) and always looking for a gap but also gets the ball out quickly and accurately and sees runs early (all of this is what lets Yougns down and makes us so slow at recycling the ball).
I don't think I'd have him in the England squad for the Autumn though, give him a few more months and then bring him in for the 6N so some of the other inexperienced 9s can get some experience.
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Went to Sandy Park yesterday for the Chiefs Irish game, have to say Irish were very good, the opening 10 minutes of each half they blew Exeter away and did the simple things really well all game.
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Went to Sandy Park yesterday for the Chiefs Irish game, have to say Irish were very good, the opening 10 minutes of each half they blew Exeter away and did the simple things really well all game.
Irish have done exactly the right thing over the 2 years of no relegation and taken last and this as a free hit to bring through youth players, buuild out the squad and develop a play style. Given the difference is resources between them and most of the rest it's been very impressive.
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Nice to get one over Saracens today at Sandy Park.
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Good win for Worcester over Wasps today, building some momentum now.
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Nice to get one over Saracens today at Sandy Park.
Indeed.
I still think that it was wrong that Saracens were allowed back up after winning a shortened Championship season
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Nice to get one over Saracens today at Sandy Park.
Indeed.
I still think that it was wrong that Saracens were allowed back up after winning a shortened Championship season
Agreed, as funny as the massive points deduction and relegation was they've kept most othe same squad and come back as if it was a minor inconvenience. Given the issue stemmed from repeated breaches of the wage cap allowing thme to compete for the title for a number of years it'd have been nice for them to struggle for a few years.
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Lydney 8, Newent 3 on Saturday was just about as bad as the scoreline suggests.
Highlight was our goal line stand for the last four or so minutes
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Salary cap changes seem to be hitting Exeter hard
Jonny Hill leaving for Sale
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Leicester are being investigated into historical salary cap issues. Ironic if they get the same treatment as Saracens just as they’re getting good again.
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Leicester are being investigated into historical salary cap issues. Ironic if they get the same treatment as Saracens just as they’re getting good again.
Makes sense, they've had a very big squad at times until they massively stripped back about 3 years ago. At one point them and sarries both had 20+ full internationals on the books.
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Article about rugby at lower levels
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/jan/11/does-the-future-look-bleak-for-recreational-rugby-union-in-england-breakdown
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I think there's a 'band' of clubs that are in real danger, specifically the ones that have traditionally run with 3 or 4 mens squads alongside colts, womens and various youth levels. Those clubs have seen numbers at 3s and 4s level drop massively in the last few years. That leads to a huge loss of income for the clubs and many of them have finances that relied on them being able to field so many teams.
On top of that there appears to be a big drop in the number of players that play every week with lots of players at the lower levels managing 1 game in 3 or 4 just t keep them involved. This means larger squads but less games and that can result in people drifting away.
All that said colts and youth level rugby is, in my experience, doing as well as it ever has and, crucially, the spread of players (in terms of wealth) is better than it ever has been but the limitations as they get older see a lot of players leaving the game in their late teens or early 20s, especially if they pick up a knock or 2 that impacts on their work.
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We've just restarted our Women's team and are now playing youth games as 'Friday Night Lights'.
However, the Glos adult men's leagues are having to be padded out with second teams from clubs higher up the pyramid.
The thing I don't understand is the lack of games being played.
One side (Stroud) dropped out of our league, leaving only 22 games in the season. This creates far too many blank weekends.
I'm not advocating going back to the days of playing 40 games per season, but somewhere around 32 should be aimed for when setting up the league structure
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A 36-19 victory over Sidmouth yesterday made it nine wins in a row for the Mighty Lyd and moved us up to third place in 'South West One West'
Next week we're away to Chew Valley, who were the last team to beat us.
As mentioned previously, it's a pretty low level of rugby compared to where we used to be, but this is the best I've seen Lyd play for several years
(https://i.ibb.co/mbW681C/table.jpg) (https://ibb.co/5GHBFtW)
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Good to see Worcester win for a change last night, think it’s fair to say listening to Diamond that there will be some big changes in the summer & a big South African dominated pack will be in place.
Intrigued to watch the development of Finn Smith over next couple of years, being first choice 10 this season at 19 is great experience
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I really wasn't sure how 2 legged games would work in rugby. On the back of 45minutes of this quins game I think it's incredible and encourages teams to take more risks and be really positive.
On the game itself the 3rd try for Quins by Marchant might be the try of the season, the break from Smith to create it is up there with 'that' one by Robinson against Wales.
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Brilliant game between saints and quins tonight, 32-31 home win for saints but could've gone either way and noth of them went all out for the win.
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In the latest round of evidence that Rugby is better run than football ...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/50300756
short version, sarries docked 35 points for repeatedly ignoring the salary cap and setting up fake companies to pay well over the normal amounts to their better players.
I can't see it being enough to see them go down but they're definitely going to be in the battle at the bottom now.
Saracens should not have been allowed back up after winning a shortened season.
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In the latest round of evidence that Rugby is better run than football ...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/50300756
short version, sarries docked 35 points for repeatedly ignoring the salary cap and setting up fake companies to pay well over the normal amounts to their better players.
I can't see it being enough to see them go down but they're definitely going to be in the battle at the bottom now.
Saracens should not have been allowed back up after winning a shortened season.
I agree but because of the way things are structured it would've been very difficult to do anything more.
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Worcester winning a trophy, wonders will never cease! Quite how with 20 odd penalties against & 3/4 10 yard march backs I’ll never know.
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Felt sorry for Paddy Jackson at the end.
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Felt sorry for Paddy Jackson at the end.
I had a moment of sympathy, and then remembered who it was and thought 'fuck him' instead.
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Why's that?
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Why's that?
Google about his rape trial. He was found not guilty but whilst there was enough doubt to get that verdict it doesn't stop it being clear that he's an absolute shit.
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Thanks -I knew nothing about this.
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Paul-e, I followed your recommendation re Jackson and hope he never knocks one over again!
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Exciting finish in both rugby finals, today.
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For anyone in the Gloucestershire area this afternoon, it’s the annual Forest v Barnes charity match at Lydney.
https://twitter.com/waynebarnesref/status/1532667185688203266?s=21&t=Z1PNk_OVQFFZGXwgZsW4-Q
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While Barnesey only made a cameo appearance in the game, Christophe Ridley played nearly the whole match at outside half. He looked a decent player
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Big win for saints to guarantee 4th place but sarries have taken the piss with their team against Gloucester, picking a reserve squad for a game that could've had an impact on the top 4 is bullshit.
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Saracens taking the piss ? Who’d have thunk it ?
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Sadly Sarries get through to the final and are probably favourites regardless of who wins the 2nd match.
2nd semi is a belting game so far, saints will be gutted they're not 10 points up though, have had a few near misses so far.
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My next neighbour is Dan Cole, he offered me tickets for the Leicester game today but I couldn't go.
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My next neighbour is Dan Cole, he offered me tickets for the Leicester game today but I couldn't go.
I've got tickets for the final next week so I'm really hoping saints make it. should be in the bag already really.
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I was at a Jubilee party with Dylan Hartley last week as well, just to complete my cauliflower-eared Top Trumps of ex-England egg chasers. He's moving to Dubai soon.
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Ref gifted the game to Tigers in the end with a shocking yellow card decision and then gave them a scrum for knock-on to a ball that landed a yard behind where he touched it which gave them the platform for a drop goal to take the game out of reach.
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Decent game so far here, the yellow card had a big impact.
Atmosphere is great, i reckon at least 75% cheering for tigers. Farrell got a massive boo.
Sitting almost right on halfway , great view of it from here.
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My egg-chasing credentials are taking a hammering today. Second game that I clean forgot about :-[
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Tigers win and, on balance it was a fair result. Sarries failed with their kicking game and offered nothing else.
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Fuck off Saracens
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Have I understood this correctly then? in rugby union, the team that finishes first in the Premiership do not necessarily become champions? The champions could be the team that finishes in second, third or fourth place?
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Have I understood this correctly then? in rugby union, the team that finishes first in the Premiership do not necessarily become champions? The champions could be the team that finishes in second, third or fourth place?
Yes, same in Rugby League as well. Keeps teams playing to the end of the league season knowing that they still have a chance at winning the Premiership,
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Have I understood this correctly then? in rugby union, the team that finishes first in the Premiership do not necessarily become champions? The champions could be the team that finishes in second, third or fourth place?
Yes, same in Rugby League as well. Keeps teams playing to the end of the league season knowing that they still have a chance at winning the Premiership,
It may well do that, but it's ridiculous.
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Have I understood this correctly then? in rugby union, the team that finishes first in the Premiership do not necessarily become champions? The champions could be the team that finishes in second, third or fourth place?
Yes, same in Rugby League as well. Keeps teams playing to the end of the league season knowing that they still have a chance at winning the Premiership,
It may well do that, but it's ridiculous.
Isn't it in part due to the fact that internationals and domestic games can run simultaneously eg: six nations - so the strongest side can be weakest at certain points in the calendar ?
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Have I understood this correctly then? in rugby union, the team that finishes first in the Premiership do not necessarily become champions? The champions could be the team that finishes in second, third or fourth place?
Yes, same in Rugby League as well. Keeps teams playing to the end of the league season knowing that they still have a chance at winning the Premiership,
It may well do that, but it's ridiculous.
Isn't it in part due to the fact that internationals and domestic games can run simultaneously eg: six nations - so the strongest side can be weakest at certain points in the calendar ?
Is it any more ridiculous than a team finishing 6th or 7th in football are able to win the play offs and get promotion \
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Play-offs for promotion between teams finishing 3rd-7th are one thing, but play offs to decide who are champions is absurd. Mind you, I can kind of get some of what LSVilla just said (about players missing league games for internationals).
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Play-offs for promotion between teams finishing 3rd-7th are one thing, but play offs to decide who are champions is absurd. Mind you, I can kind of get some of what LSVilla just said (about players missing league games for internationals).
Agree one of the few things Football get right and Rugby get very wrong.
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Anyone but Saracens!! Well done Leicester
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Play-offs for promotion between teams finishing 3rd-7th are one thing, but play offs to decide who are champions is absurd. Mind you, I can kind of get some of what LSVilla just said (about players missing league games for internationals).
I’ve long been an advocate of the top English club level of Rugby Union having two conferences of 8 teams, with playoffs to decide the winner.
However, the Premiership do everything they can to keep other clubs out, so it’ll never happen.
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Anyone but Saracens!! Well done Leicester
Agreed. Saracens should not have been allowed back into the Premiership after the shortened season
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Have I understood this correctly then? in rugby union, the team that finishes first in the Premiership do not necessarily become champions? The champions could be the team that finishes in second, third or fourth place?
Similar principle in football with the Champions League I guess, or teams getting promoted from the Championship who finished 6th.
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Play-offs for promotion between teams finishing 3rd-7th are one thing, but play offs to decide who are champions is absurd. Mind you, I can kind of get some of what LSVilla just said (about players missing league games for internationals).
I’ve long been an advocate of the top English club level of Rugby Union having two conferences of 8 teams, with playoffs to decide the winner.
However, the Premiership do everything they can to keep other clubs out, so it’ll never happen.
Bit harsh seeing we're in the middle of them increasing to 14 teams.
On the playoffs, I think it's the right thing for the sport because of the impact of international games, it's a good example of a compromise that stops the club vs country issues that can arise.
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They might say that they’re going to increase to 14, but it doesn’t happen.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/60590815
Shame that London Irish moved in with Brentford, that would have been an ideal ground share for Ealing
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They might say that they’re going to increase to 14, but it doesn’t happen.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/60590815
Shame that London Irish moved in with Brentford, that would have been an ideal ground share for Ealing
I think Doncaster would've been fine had they won, their application was cloe enough that it would've been possible to resolve it. Ealing's ground just isn't up to standard and there's no way they could've fixed it in time. I don't think it's fair to suggest the rules have been setup to create a closed door in any way, it's more that teams need to be able to, financially, hold their own in the league, as well as having the facilities needed to broadcast, etc.
I suspect what will happen this year is the minimum capacity rule will be changed to a figure that most championship clubs can achieve with temporary faciilities and Ealing will work to sort the other issues. I'd be suprised if they don't come up next season.
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Leinster scrum-half Nick McCarthy comes out as gay.
https://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2022/0620/1305939-leinster-scrum-half-nick-mccarthy-comes-out-as-gay/
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They might say that they’re going to increase to 14, but it doesn’t happen.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/60590815
Shame that London Irish moved in with Brentford, that would have been an ideal ground share for Ealing
I think Doncaster would've been fine had they won, their application was cloe enough that it would've been possible to resolve it. Ealing's ground just isn't up to standard and there's no way they could've fixed it in time. I don't think it's fair to suggest the rules have been setup to create a closed door in any way, it's more that teams need to be able to, financially, hold their own in the league, as well as having the facilities needed to broadcast, etc.
I suspect what will happen this year is the minimum capacity rule will be changed to a figure that most championship clubs can achieve with temporary faciilities and Ealing will work to sort the other issues. I'd be suprised if they don't come up next season.
That works both ways though Paul. If there is no relegation don't reinvent the wheel just to put Sarries up. Hope you are keeping well by the way.
Stuart - New Assistant Head Coach of the Minis at Stourbridge
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They might say that they’re going to increase to 14, but it doesn’t happen.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/60590815
Shame that London Irish moved in with Brentford, that would have been an ideal ground share for Ealing
I think Doncaster would've been fine had they won, their application was cloe enough that it would've been possible to resolve it. Ealing's ground just isn't up to standard and there's no way they could've fixed it in time. I don't think it's fair to suggest the rules have been setup to create a closed door in any way, it's more that teams need to be able to, financially, hold their own in the league, as well as having the facilities needed to broadcast, etc.
I suspect what will happen this year is the minimum capacity rule will be changed to a figure that most championship clubs can achieve with temporary faciilities and Ealing will work to sort the other issues. I'd be suprised if they don't come up next season.
That works both ways though Paul. If there is no relegation don't reinvent the wheel just to put Sarries up. Hope you are keeping well by the way.
Stuart - New Assistant Head Coach of the Minis at Stourbridge
You'll never get an argument from me on that, letting sarries come back up in the way they did was pathetic.
On the subject of sarries and ground regulations I thinl there is now enough evidence to make a decision to ban 5g pitches in top flight and european rugby.
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Exeter Rugby's re-branding exercise is complete and now features Rylan in the club crest/badge rather than a native American, all the bars in Sandy Park have also been re-named.
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Exeter Rugby's re-branding exercise is complete and now features Rylan in the club crest/badge rather than a native American, all the bars in Sandy Park have also been re-named.
My initial thought was that it was Genghis Khan.
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Exeter Rugby's re-branding exercise is complete and now features Rylan in the club crest/badge rather than a native American, all the bars in Sandy Park have also been re-named.
What was the background to this Jon? Was it along the lines of the Washington NFL stuff?
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Exeter Rugby's re-branding exercise is complete and now features Rylan in the club crest/badge rather than a native American, all the bars in Sandy Park have also been re-named.
What was the background to this Jon? Was it along the lines of the Washington NFL stuff?
Yep, pretty much exactly that.
From a selfish point of view if it means the fans stop doing the tomahawk chop bollocks for half the game every week then I'm just sad they didn't change things years ago.
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They might say that they’re going to increase to 14, but it doesn’t happen.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/60590815
Shame that London Irish moved in with Brentford, that would have been an ideal ground share for Ealing
I think Doncaster would've been fine had they won, their application was cloe enough that it would've been possible to resolve it. Ealing's ground just isn't up to standard and there's no way they could've fixed it in time. I don't think it's fair to suggest the rules have been setup to create a closed door in any way, it's more that teams need to be able to, financially, hold their own in the league, as well as having the facilities needed to broadcast, etc.
I suspect what will happen this year is the minimum capacity rule will be changed to a figure that most championship clubs can achieve with temporary faciilities and Ealing will work to sort the other issues. I'd be suprised if they don't come up next season.
That works both ways though Paul. If there is no relegation don't reinvent the wheel just to put Sarries up. Hope you are keeping well by the way.
Stuart - New Assistant Head Coach of the Minis at Stourbridge
You'll never get an argument from me on that, letting sarries come back up in the way they did was pathetic.
On the subject of sarries and ground regulations I thinl there is now enough evidence to make a decision to ban 5g pitches in top flight and european rugby.
Disagree. Not because you are wrong but because we have one now!
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Fixtures came out yesterday for the kids I coach. A few new ones in the calendar but Moseley should be most fun. If no other reason than my old mucka Adam Balding runs things there now. I can see a Gloucester scout turn up to watch Spencer at last. I know you always rate your own kids but my youngest lad is frightening. He has already played some regional stuff and knocked back Worcester for playing with them. Hey, I might get some free tickets to Kingsholm!
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On the subject of sarries and ground regulations I thinl there is now enough evidence to make a decision to ban 5g pitches in top flight and european rugby.
Disagree. Not because you are wrong but because we have one now!
I'm just not convinced they're as safe as they're claimed to be, with plenty of players reporting burns and there being a suggestion of upper body injuries being increased on them. On top of that there's evidence of improved home performances for almost every team that installs one.
At lower levels I can see there's a financial argument and that they help ensure the pitch is in playable condition but they don't hold up at the top levels which is why, for now, I'd just like to see them banned in top flight and european rugby.
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The one at Bournville for example is used for stuff year round and seems to play alright but nobody has wanged my body through it.
We are doing U8's this year for the coaching so still a year until full contact but am helping a bit with U9's as well. Spacial awareness for the younger ones and safe tackle and set piece for the older ones.
As it goes one under my tutelage is Oscar, Shaun Perry's lad.
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My mate is one of the main sponsors of Coventry Rugby, and they've got a 5G pitch. He says it's absolutely transformed the club in a number of ways.
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I'm still suffering from a toe injury sustained about 20 years ago on the old crappy all-weather pitches that they used to have at the University of Birmingham
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Worcester Warriors in talks with the taxman over the threat of a winding-up petition over an unpaid tax bill. Club say they are on the brink of new funding, but have suffered unavoidable delays due to Covid.
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Worcester doesn’t sound too clever at all….seems the owners have been shall we say moving land assets around….hopefully Diamond is part of a consortium to keep it together or can see a stampede out of the door….vultures will be circling for VanderMerve, Hill etc
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I've been told 3rd or 4th hand that Tuesday or Wednesday will see something big about Worcester. I wish I had more details.
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Can’t see it being good news
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Not good news players and staff have been told they won't be paid on time this week, throwing doubt on whether they will be able take their place in the Premiership this season.
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Heard a bit more, I'd now expect them to announce going into administration very soon and for a takeover to be announced not long after. Again, I'm not getting anything direct (I know someone who knows a player in the 2nd team and through them a few back office staff) so I'm very much treating this as rumour, and a lot of it is already in the press, but from what I can make out the failure to pay wages today was the final hurdle to push everything through and it's now pretty out of the hands of the current owners. However there will still be some mess because of the way the club and land are owned. They expect a bunch of players to leave but that they will have agreements in place to start the season and will be able to field a team for the season, but will be very young and likely to be out of their depth.
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Heard a bit more, I'd now expect them to announce going into administration very soon and for a takeover to be announced not long after. Again, I'm not getting anything direct (I know someone who knows a player in the 2nd team and through them a few back office staff) so I'm very much treating this as rumour, and a lot of it is already in the press, but from what I can make out the failure to pay wages today was the final hurdle to push everything through and it's now pretty out of the hands of the current owners. However there will still be some mess because of the way the club and land are owned. They expect a bunch of players to leave but that they will have agreements in place to start the season and will be able to field a team for the season, but will be very young and likely to be out of their depth.
The flippant bit being as opposed to most years being old and out of depth most weeks!
It’s always bad when administration occurs and bills etc are unpaid, particularly when you consider other non rugby businesses will be impacted & no doubt more job losses as a result.
If the good players (vdMerve / Sutherland etc) have had any sense the feelers will have been out already and deals in pipeline…that’s fine, where it is sad is that the club will likely lose a bunch of good younger players like Ollie Lawrence / Ted Hill / Fin Smith who were the future.
How the Premiership deal with it will be interesting too as they have already announced no relegation this season so they have to find a way to punish because I’m sure Worcs aren’t the only team on the edge, long been reported that Wasps are vulnerable….if they see a precedent without consequence it might encourage them the same way.
Hopefully if new owners come in they can retain Diamond.
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Heard a bit more, I'd now expect them to announce going into administration very soon and for a takeover to be announced not long after. Again, I'm not getting anything direct (I know someone who knows a player in the 2nd team and through them a few back office staff) so I'm very much treating this as rumour, and a lot of it is already in the press, but from what I can make out the failure to pay wages today was the final hurdle to push everything through and it's now pretty out of the hands of the current owners. However there will still be some mess because of the way the club and land are owned. They expect a bunch of players to leave but that they will have agreements in place to start the season and will be able to field a team for the season, but will be very young and likely to be out of their depth.
The flippant bit being as opposed to most years being old and out of depth most weeks!
It’s always bad when administration occurs and bills etc are unpaid, particularly when you consider other non rugby businesses will be impacted & no doubt more job losses as a result.
If the good players (vdMerve / Sutherland etc) have had any sense the feelers will have been out already and deals in pipeline…that’s fine, where it is sad is that the club will likely lose a bunch of good younger players like Ollie Lawrence / Ted Hill / Fin Smith who were the future.
How the Premiership deal with it will be interesting too as they have already announced no relegation this season so they have to find a way to punish because I’m sure Worcs aren’t the only team on the edge, long been reported that Wasps are vulnerable….if they see a precedent without consequence it might encourage them the same way.
Hopefully if new owners come in they can retain Diamond.
Fairly strong rumours that Finn Smith has already agreed to move to Saints and Kyle Hatherell is moving to France but there are transfer fees coming in for both. That might explain the twitter rumours recently that the staff and players will be paid later today.
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Incredible comeback by Glawster from 0-20 down at half time to win the game. Capped off with some epic defence when it looked certain that Wasps would drive over to win.
Yesterday, the Mighty Lyd scored a late try (by Scotland Rugby League international Joe McClean) to win the Forest of Dean derby at Drybrook.
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Looks like things are starting to come to a head regarding the finances of Wasps and Worcester.
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Re Worcester things are certainly looking grim, the RFU have set a deadline for 5pm on Monday for the club to provide evidence they have the required insurance cover in place, the funds to meet the payroll and a meaningful plan to lift the club out of this crisis, failure to do this would mean suspension from all competitions.
I would imagine there is going to be a mass protest, at tomorrow's home match against Newcastle, which does go ahead.
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Doesn’t sound like there is going to be a positive resolution unless someone comes out of the wings at the last minute….Steve Diamond press conference today was pretty direct and pointed, if it does go down the admin route and someone takes over really hope Diamond is still at the helm. Punishments from Prem Rugby have to be strong, relegation etc or I’m sure it won’t just be Worcester & Wasps taking that option.
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Worcester is really weird, the person who told me things were going to happen is absolutely certain tha a takeover is possible and there are people ready to step in, but it's just being stalled and he has no idea why.
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Warriors won 39-5, which under the circumstances, is a superb effort from everyone.
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Is that person talking about the Jim O’Toole bid who says it’s ready to go once admin is declared-hoping for NSWE type bid coming from nowhere but suspect it might well get to that 5pm deadline with nothing happening.
Can’t fault the players today, certainly not downed tools
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Is that person talking about the Jim O’Toole bid who says it’s ready to go once admin is declared-hoping for NSWE type bid coming from nowhere but suspect it might well get to that 5pm deadline with nothing happening.
Can’t fault the players today, certainly not downed tools
I don't think so but I haven't spoken to him directly, it's a bit chinese whispers but my aunt and her family are friends with the family of one of the players whose on the fringes of the first team. The chain of messages I've seen are that the players have been told that a takeover will happen and shouldn't need them to go into administration but they were also told tyhat there'd be a major announcement a few weeks back and all that happened was some people got paid but nothing more siginificant.
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Is that person talking about the Jim O’Toole bid who says it’s ready to go once admin is declared-hoping for NSWE type bid coming from nowhere but suspect it might well get to that 5pm deadline with nothing happening.
Can’t fault the players today, certainly not downed tools
I don't think so but I haven't spoken to him directly, it's a bit chinese whispers but my aunt and her family are friends with the family of one of the players whose on the fringes of the first team. The chain of messages I've seen are that the players have been told that a takeover will happen and shouldn't need them to go into administration but they were also told tyhat there'd be a major announcement a few weeks back and all that happened was some people got paid but nothing more siginificant.
The tune of Diamond and some of the players has changed last week or so, openly criticising the two cowboy owners….think they are sick of lies and promises
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Worcester suspended by the RFU after failing to provide proof of insurance and funding.
Time for a Worcester/Wasps merger ?
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Worcester into administration
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Worcester suspended by the RFU after failing to provide proof of insurance and funding.
Time for a Worcester/Wasps merger ?
They could merge part of each name into one, and call the combined team ‘Wasps’ or ‘Worcester.’
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Is that person talking about the Jim O’Toole bid who says it’s ready to go once admin is declared-hoping for NSWE type bid coming from nowhere but suspect it might well get to that 5pm deadline with nothing happening.
Can’t fault the players today, certainly not downed tools
I don't think so but I haven't spoken to him directly, it's a bit chinese whispers but my aunt and her family are friends with the family of one of the players whose on the fringes of the first team. The chain of messages I've seen are that the players have been told that a takeover will happen and shouldn't need them to go into administration but they were also told tyhat there'd be a major announcement a few weeks back and all that happened was some people got paid but nothing more siginificant.
The tune of Diamond and some of the players has changed last week or so, openly criticising the two cowboy owners….think they are sick of lies and promises
Having had dealings with Steve Diamond whilst he was at Sale and having 2 friends who have known him for decades, he's not the kind of man to rile !
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I wouldn't be surprised if Diamond is leading the push for the owners to sell. Of all the coaches in the league he'd be top of the list for me in this situation, if anyone can keep the squad onside it's him. A view supported by the fantastic performance and result at the weekend.
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I wouldn't be surprised if Diamond is leading the push for the owners to sell. Of all the coaches in the league he'd be top of the list for me in this situation, if anyone can keep the squad onside it's him. A view supported by the fantastic performance and result at the weekend.
Hopefully he will be part of any consortium that comes forward now it’s in admin - he has kept his powder dry through the process, strikes me as someone who will have been working with someone in the background.
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I feel very sorry for all connected with it but it has pissed on my plans for Saturday! The killer with Worcester is the land. When I coach junior games there they own land with about 13 pitches on a subways trot under the M5. Those are worth millions. The current owners will want their pound of flesh on that before any sale is agreed.
It also isn't quite as easy as other clubs swooping in for their players. The salary cap was downed this year. Good because more kids are getting a game but it also means the wage bill at each club is spoken for already if they don't want to get in the shit. It isn't as simple as it would be in football where a club perishes and someone new swoops in the next day to pick them up.
Bath scout there this weekend for Spencer and a team mate by way of an aside.
Newcastle will be the next in the toilet because their income and crowds means it would take them 20 years on a shoestring to pay the loan back from Covid stuff but it happens at all levels.
We don't have a veterans pitch at our club after a financial to do anymore. We get a kit and away travel. They take 20 times that cost each home game in the bar. I will never understand sports finance at times!
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I caught a bit of an interview today that seemed to indicate that Worcester will get a buyer pretty quickly.
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I believe the players were paid in August, if they don’t get paid in September there is a 14 day period before they can leave for free….listening to Ollie Lawrence on the RugbyPod it seems he and a few others will look to go on loan to tick over whilst this is sorted…hopefully it will
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The buyers want the land though mate to try to make ends meet quickly by flogging it and these owners won't sell it for a song.
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I read somewhere that the caretaker and his wife have been evicted from their club accomodation.
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The buyers want the land though mate to try to make ends meet quickly by flogging it and these owners won't sell it for a song.
that’s for the administrators to pick apart, hopefully that land ends up in its rightful place….all feels very dodgy Joe they have run it
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Matters are also confused by them having two businesses. The one in administration is not where the salaries come from. The basic rule is that they have advice from the RPA that, as they weren't paid this month, they can exercise a 14 day notice to leave period based on breach of contract. I just don't know where they are all going to go though. Gloucester is only up the road and they are doing alright financially so a couple might end up there but it will be tight. Keep in mind they have a squad of 40 players and that is before you consider the salaried more junior players. They are fucked unless they can flog the juniors pitch land to a property developer or someone like that. I was a bit surprised the other day to hear just how much Gloucester take on a match day at circa £500k. Nice gesture from Glaws as well. If Worcester season ticket holders want a rugby fix then you fill in an online form and Gloucester will flog you tickets at 25% of the normal price. And if you are in that neck of the woods about now we have an open training session and meet and greet with the players after in lieu of the game.
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The Mighty Lyd are at home against Chew Valley this afternoon in a top of the table clash.
Hopefully some of the Lyd/Forest based Glawster fans will come down to our game instead
EDIT - Chew Valley were a bit useful and we got thumped.
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Matters are also confused by them having two businesses. The one in administration is not where the salaries come from. The basic rule is that they have advice from the RPA that, as they weren't paid this month, they can exercise a 14 day notice to leave period based on breach of contract. I just don't know where they are all going to go though. Gloucester is only up the road and they are doing alright financially so a couple might end up there but it will be tight. Keep in mind they have a squad of 40 players and that is before you consider the salaried more junior players. They are fucked unless they can flog the juniors pitch land to a property developer or someone like that. I was a bit surprised the other day to hear just how much Gloucester take on a match day at circa £500k. Nice gesture from Glaws as well. If Worcester season ticket holders want a rugby fix then you fill in an online form and Gloucester will flog you tickets at 25% of the normal price. And if you are in that neck of the woods about now we have an open training session and meet and greet with the players after in lieu of the game.
Indeed, it is a good gesture. Not something they needed to do.
The owners blaming players for not taking huge pay cuts & fans for not turning up every week to watch largely losing rugby is more than a bit rich….cowboys & see you next Tuesdays of the highest order the pair of them
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As it's not bene posted yet \worcester are now effectively dead, no staff, no players and relegation confirmed by the RFU. Letting it get to this point when there were offers on the table in the summer is pathetic and shows that their only priority was to grab as much money on the way out as they could.
Fingers crossed the adminstrators can work something out and they can get a decent number of the players back to at least give themselves a chance to play out the season and have a realistic chance of holding their own next year in the championship.
Moving across the midlands it sounds like Wasps have found some extra investment to sort their problems out so it will be interesting to see what the league/RFU do there, I can't imagine they'll want to put 2 clubs out of the league with no one obvious to come up and replace them. There are talks for a couple of the welsh teams to join but that would still leave the league as 13 when the aim is to get it up to 14 next summer.
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You wonder if it had been Wasps going to the wall first then RFU / PR might have intervened a bit more vigorously….not sure they were bothered about losing little old Worcester.
Horrible for the employees & players….those two charlatans have got what they want
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Paul
I'm not convinced that the RFU does really want the league up to 14 clubs. They could have done that for this season but found an excuse not to.
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Paul
I'm not convinced that the RFU does really want the league up to 14 clubs. They could have done that for this season but found an excuse not to.
Not really, Ealing were miles away from the requirements to join the league, not just on capacity but on loads of technical issues around the ability to be televised, have the replays shown, etc. I get that it's really frustrating for them to not be allowed up but even if you ignore the size of the ground they have to be able to support the games being managed and officiated to a high enough standard as to create a level playing field.
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Ealing got stuffed by London Irish moving in with Brentford. That would have been an ideal groundshare for them
What about Doncaster ?
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Ealing got stuffed by London Irish moving in with Brentford. That would have been an ideal groundshare for them
What about Doncaster ?
That’s a long way for Ealing to go ;)
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Ealing got stuffed by London Irish moving in with Brentford. That would have been an ideal groundshare for them
What about Doncaster ?
I think they have fewer issues but the capacity is still a long way off.
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Worcester suspended and relegated, but can appeal.
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Not much for them to appeal until they get a takeover, they have no players and even if the players agreed to play for free they're uninsured which would block them even at grassroots level. If they can get back on their fee a year in the championship is probably what they'd need anyway because they'll not get the full squad back.
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I shall be watching most of Worcesters team this afternoon. Unfortunately they will be turning out for that bunch of wankers from Avon.
Still no word as yet on whether the Worcester kids can fulfil their fixtures with us at Stour in a couple of weeks time. Very sad to be honest.
4 more for Spencer last weekend by the way against Telford. We took him off at half time much to his chagrin as it wasn't fair on them. He cheered up when I accidentally let him join tackle practice with the U10's.
Shrewsbury at home this Sunday.
It sounds like the land stuff has been factored in at Worcester as part of the latest negotiations though so may be some hope in that.
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Just watched Leicester v Sale. Sale were 11 points down at one time in the 1st half and came back with 21 unanswered points to win by 10. Tigers' first home defeat since June 2021. Raffi Quirke came on half time to play a major role in Sale's win in both attack and defence. Did nothing to change my view that he should be England's starting 9 at next year's World Cup. And Ford hasn't played yet this season !
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Just watched Leicester v Sale. Sale were 11 points down at one time in the 1st half and came back with 21 unanswered points to win by 10. Tigers' first home defeat since June 2021. Raffi Quirke came on half time to play a major role in Sale's win in both attack and defence. Did nothing to change my view that he should be England's starting 9 at next year's World Cup. And Ford hasn't played yet this season !
At 9 I'd start with Mitchell to get the tempo really high and then have Quirke to come off the bench after about 50-55mins to pick gaps in tired fringe defences. Happy with Randall and Van Poorvliet as cover as well. How Youngs and Care are still being included I couldn't tell you.
I like this Sale team though, really should be challenging for the top 4 but then, I said that last year as well and they just never got going.
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Glawster made hard going of beating the new Bath/Worcester combo outfit.
Turned down a couple of kickable pens at the end, which lead to them having to withstand a close to 30 phase attack from Bath
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Just watched Leicester v Sale. Sale were 11 points down at one time in the 1st half and came back with 21 unanswered points to win by 10. Tigers' first home defeat since June 2021. Raffi Quirke came on half time to play a major role in Sale's win in both attack and defence. Did nothing to change my view that he should be England's starting 9 at next year's World Cup. And Ford hasn't played yet this season !
At 9 I'd start with Mitchell to get the tempo really high and then have Quirke to come off the bench after about 50-55mins to pick gaps in tired fringe defences. Happy with Randall and Van Poorvliet as cover as well. How Youngs and Care are still being included I couldn't tell you.
I like this Sale team though, really should be challenging for the top 4 but then, I said that last year as well and they just never got going.
I can't disagree too much with your view. Sanderson doing a good job in nurturing good local talent, rather than them going to other clubs. Big point in question is Dan Kelly, allowed to leave, starred for the Ireland U20's in 2020 prior to the pandemic, then signed by Tigers as he's at Loughborough University and got a cap in 2021 summer v Canada during the Lions tour - Mind you, I'm biased, he came through the ranks at my club, Rochdale RUFC ! He's been out after getting injured in the Premiership semi final and having an operation immediately afterwards.
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Wasps have now announced they're going into administration.
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Sad news, was there on Sunday with my lad - more to follow the same way guaranteed given the shitstorm that's happening with the economy I'm afraid :-(
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Be interesting to see RFU & PRL attitude to Wasps issues as opposed to those Worcester had….one of their key teams against one that was perhaps more expendable
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Sad news, was there on Sunday with my lad - more to follow the same way guaranteed given the shitstorm that's happening with the economy I'm afraid :-(
Newcastle next I suspect.
A bit gutted on this one because there was a fair bit of noise that they thought they'd worked it out with new investment but clearly that's not had the impact they needed.
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Wasps Holdings Limited now in Administration and the club relegated
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/63244504
Unclear yet what will happen to the company that holds the stadium lease. Arena Coventry Limited have filed notice of intention to appoint liquidators.
This gives them a couple of weeks to sort out the stadium situation
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Wasps: Rugby Club’s debts totalled £95m
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/63874443
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Struggling for Refs here in Gloucestershire.
Second time in a few weeks that we’ve had a Gloucestershire South league game called off due to no official being available
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Looks like Gloucester think they have no chance against Leinster no matter what side they put out, so it’s very much a reserve line up.
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Great news for Wasps, they've been approved to play in the championship next season and will be ground-sharing with Solihull Moors. Still a long way for them to go and a lot of problems to solve but it's a bit step in the right direction. Now we need to see things get sorted at Worcester as well.
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I hope that they give Jersey or Ealing a chance of playing in the Premiership.
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Richard Wigglesworth retiring from playing to take over as Leicester interim head coach
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I hope that they give Jersey or Ealing a chance of playing in the Premiership.
i understand that Ealing are going to be given a shot at it.
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I hope that they give Jersey or Ealing a chance of playing in the Premiership.
i understand that Ealing are going to be given a shot at it.
They will be, the rules have been changed. From this season clubs need a capacity of at least 500 (which they have) along with planning permission, designs, contractors and proof of funds to build a 10,001 capacity stadium by the start of 24/25 season.
The reason is that grounds of more than 10k capacity have far higher H&S and facility requirements to be certified as suitable venues and that certification is required by the league. The weird thing is the crowd size isn't really what matters, it's just the simplest way to ensure the club has to have everything in place for media, etc.
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Just read an article about Ollie Woodburn, Exeter wing.
Didn’t realise he’s only 31!!
I’d have guessed late 30’s he seems to have been about forever.
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Just read an article about Ollie Woodburn, Exeter wing.
Didn’t realise he’s only 31!!
I’d have guessed late 30’s he seems to have been about forever.
He's one of those strange players who look too good to not get capped but not good enough to stand out in a position with so much competition so he stacks up loads of club appearances and tries and feels like he's been around forever (Mikey Haywood is the other promenent one right now who is a similar age and has a simlar number of appearances). Coming through as 20 year olds helps because in rugby it's much more common for players to breakthrough a little later than we're used to as football fans, with a fair few players only breaking through at 23-24.
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You would have thought he would have had a chance given Eddie's selection policy!
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You would have thought he would have had a chance given Eddie's selection policy!
He's the sort of player Jones would've called up and given 1 cap to if there was a rumour of him having an irish/welsh/scottish grandparent
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He's gone, he's gone, Paul!!
Calm down...
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This doesn't really fit in this thread but the RFU have announced changes for age group and amateur rugby setting the tackle height at the waist.
I understand the idea but I honestly believe this will lead to more harm than good. Aside from it basically removing choke tackles and mauls from the game it also massively increases the risk of people with poor tackle technique getting caught with their head on the wrong side. At lower levels of the sport I suspect that's already more common, and more dangerous, than tackling a little more upright. It will also speed the game up by encouraging offloading and upright running (the statement from the RFU specifically calls out ball carriers being encouraged to avoid dipping into tackles) and I'm not sure many lower league forwards will be happy about that.
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I think their intentions are correct, but I can see more neck injuries to tacklers due to poor technique
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Well just back from a weekend away in Bordeaux, coupled with an away win. What is not to like!
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Interesting seeing some of the Rugby Tonight discussion on the proposed new tackle laws (including a contribution from my fellow graduate of Whitecross Comprehensive, Wayne Barnes).
One if the main aims is to get the tackler’s head away from the ball-carrier’s head.
However, this does make the tackler’s head more likely to contact the ball-carrier’s knee
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Interesting seeing some of the Rugby Tonight discussion on the proposed new tackle laws (including a contribution from my fellow graduate of Whitecross Comprehensive, Wayne Barnes).
One if the main aims is to get the tackler’s head away from the ball-carrier’s head.
However, this does make the tackler’s head more likely to contact the ball-carrier’s knee
The regional unions (I've heard this direct from a Greater Birmingham rep) have been told that right now the interpretation of th elaw and the intent from the RFU aren't lined up, they see the waist as the belly button and below rather than hips as it's been seen. That's less of a problem but it still removes the option to target the ball in the tackle and is still hard to do if you get stepped (at community level).
From the same meeting apparently there was a lot of anger across the entire country that this will drive people away from the game and destroy a lot of smaller clubs, which I think is fair from what I've seen in various chat groups, etc.
I'll be amazed if they don't row back further and end up agreeing with a chest/armpit height and some review on how much the carrier can dip into contact. That way choke tackles, tackling the ball and pinning the arms to stop offloads are all still legal and you avoid the massive spike to knee/hip to head injuries that will come if this goes through as is. It also fulfils the criteria for the change of reducing head-on-head impacts.
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Worcester Warriors have been bought.
https://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/23293523.worcester-warriors-next-atlas-rfu-confirm-stance/
To be honest I don’t know much about this, whether good or bad
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Worcester Warriors have been bought.
https://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/23293523.worcester-warriors-next-atlas-rfu-confirm-stance/
To be honest I don’t know much about this, whether good or bad
I think it's great news that both Wasps and Worcester are on their way back but I do have concerns over where they're going to slot in. Both of them have no players or staff so there's going to be a big challenge for them to get that in place but that's not even the primary concern, with the RFU financial assurances being the big hurdle, the deadline of just over a week to gain RFU approval is very tight.
I think Wasps will be fine and will be announced as joining the championship and confirm that they plan to initially play at Solihull Moors (a short term fix that will work but would stop them from being promoted under the same rules that blocked Ealing and Doncaster). I suspect a year to rebuild and then a 2nd to try to push for promotion will be the aim, which gives them time to work out a long-term home.
Worcester are on the opposite side of the problem. They have all the facilities but are going to struggle with the financial burden that comes with it. The solution for the new owners is to sell off some of the property to both get a cash injection and reduces overheads but the RFU are currently blocking that. If there's no reconciliation I wouldn't be surprised to see Worcester apply for the Celtic league (whatever it's called now) but that creates a lot of other problems.
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/64502475
Looks like Worcester Warriors is dead…Wasps moving to Sixways and new Worcester to be Sixways Rugby partnering with Stourbridge.
Seems new owners are as good as the old ones :-(
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/64502475
Looks like Worcester Warriors is dead…Wasps moving to Sixways and new Worcester to be Sixways Rugby partnering with Stourbridge.
Seems new owners are as good as the old ones :-(
I bet that means a housing development on Stourbridge Rugby then
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I don’t think so, the suggestion seems to be the first team play at Sixways only…hopefully this all gets blocked but suggest it won’t, especially if it gives a home to Wasps who the RFU & Prem Rugby want around
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Sixways seem to be distancing themselves from the Wasps link.
I don’t think that Stourbridge have said anything about leaving their ground, although the Sixways owner said that’s the plan.
Looks like the Sixways owners are buying themselves a spot in the fourth (maybe fifth if Stourbridge get relegated) tier, rather than starting at the bottom.
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Worcester can fuck off. We had a meeting on Friday but the presentation left a lot to be desired. The first team are up for it as they get better facilities and paid more. The rest of us don't.
I coach the U8's at Stourbridge. Essentially they want to use us as a springboard not to start at the bottom. The clubhouse will go down the tubes if the firsts are playing 25 miles away and our fans won't drive down there to watch it. At the minute there is lots of carping about the investment it will bring but we don't need the money and it is short term thinking.
We have circa 30 kids in every age group but can't find players? Bollocks. We have too many teams in fact. We started up in 1876 and didn't do so to be Worcester's puppet. Keep in mind the first team are going to relegated (old gits like me have offered to help out to finish the season) but that puts us one division above Worcester RFC. Why not partner with them? Stourbridge members will vote this down.
As for the tackling laws they seem farcical. I have to do a day's course on this Sunday week but my kids hit proper contact for the first time next season. We will of course be spending a lot of time on tackle technique in training but with the best will in the world aiming at the legs when someone is running straight at you will lead to injuries. The notion you ask an 8 year old ball carrier to step is daft. My lad will just run over what is in front of him for example. I could go on for days about this crap but probably ought to do some work!
Will keep you posted re Stourbridge.
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Good luck to Stourbridge….hope they stand their ground and likewise all other local clubs do….these two cowboys feel as dodgy as the last two ****s and the short term highlight for a few Stourbridge first teamers could quickly see everything go bust again.
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As a fairweather Worcester fan, I hope the Stourbridge thing falls through. Stourbridge are a club in their own right with decent facilities and they're just being used. As for Warriors...well, I'm sure the Sixways retail park will be a roaring success.
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Looks like Wasps will be playing at Sixways next season.
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Good on Exeter - https://twitter.com/ExeterChiefs/status/1628327213480247296?s=20
Obviously it remains to be seen how much the reductions will be but at least they're moving things in the right way to support their fans, maybe football clubs can learn something from them.
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Good on Exeter - https://twitter.com/ExeterChiefs/status/1628327213480247296?s=20
Obviously it remains to be seen how much the reductions will be but at least they're moving things in the right way to support their fans, maybe football clubs can learn something from them.
£900 for a season in West Stand Centre which are the best seats in the house at Sandy Park, a match day ticket there is £80 a game, a season ticket buys you 15 games. That's a 20% reduction on last season so fair play to Exeter.
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Only posting on here to bump the fact that today has been an oddly good day for me, Villa Win, Bears in control and Saints see off Sarries to keep themselves in the mix for the playoffs.
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What do we think of Woodburn’s sending off for Chiefs v Tigers on Sunday? Games gone soft if you can’t make a tackle there.
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2 things:
1. It says more about Dickson as a ref than it does about the laws, etc. He seems to make decisions like this far too often and, if I'm being particularly honest it always seems convenient that Quins generally benefit when he does it.
2. The law he used to justify the decision was applied in a way that I've never seen before and, I suspect, a way that all refs will be warned away from before long.
For more context the law he used is in place to stop defenders falling on top of a tackle/ruck and making it impossible for there to be a fair contest.
The biggest problem for me though is the lack of understanding that the laws contain an 'in the act of scoring a try' clause (and a defending counter-clause) which should've been applied. For example diving over a tackle is illegal unless you are reaching for the line but to counter that if some does dive for the line you aren't considered to be tackling them in the air so you can make contact and try to push them into touch. The same should've applied here, whether his actions would've been seen as illegal anywhere else on the pitch is irrelevant when it's done to push someone out of play in the corner like he did.
tl;dr - it was a bullshit decision that adds to a list of very poor calls Dickson has made in the last few years.
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Watching the game tonight and I don't think it'll be long before these artificial pitches get banned, far too many players wandering round (early in the second half) with skin missing from their knees and elbows.
On the game, Mitchell is exceptional, if he's not the starting 9 for the world cup then Borthwick needs to give his head a shake. Finn Smith has to be in the picture after the world cup as well, very good young 10.
Saints 5th try was special, not many teams can rip a team apart as efficiently as that.
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Karl Dickson showing his incompetence again, missed Farrell being a foot out of play, just when sarries needed a bit of help to get back in control.
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RFU have withdrawn their offer to Wasps of a place in the 2023-24 Championship season. Wasps will be placed at the bottom of the playing pyramid in English Rugby.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/65634760
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RFU have withdrawn their offer to Wasps of a place in the 2023-24 Championship season. Wasps will be placed at the bottom of the playing pyramid in English Rugby.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/65634760
At a quick check I think this means they'll be in the same league as my club.
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So much weird stuff in domestic rugby…the bit about the Wasps owner lending the new Worcester shysters mmm sorry owners £1m+ to complete the takeover and presumably grease the wheels to Wasps having Sixways…all feels grubby!
Can’t help but feel rfu and Prem Rugby were v happy to lose Worcester…Wasps was collateral damage and they will be v happy to lose Irish as well.
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RFU have withdrawn their offer to Wasps of a place in the 2023-24 Championship season. Wasps will be placed at the bottom of the playing pyramid in English Rugby.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/65634760
At a quick check I think this means they'll be in the same league as my club.
Who’s your club, mate.
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RFU have withdrawn their offer to Wasps of a place in the 2023-24 Championship season. Wasps will be placed at the bottom of the playing pyramid in English Rugby.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/65634760
At a quick check I think this means they'll be in the same league as my club.
Who’s your club, mate.
Erdington.
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RFU have withdrawn their offer to Wasps of a place in the 2023-24 Championship season. Wasps will be placed at the bottom of the playing pyramid in English Rugby.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/65634760
At a quick check I think this means they'll be in the same league as my club.
Who’s your club, mate.
Erdington.
Ahh.
I’m Woodrush.
via Old Dix (early 80’s) B’ham City Officials (late 80’s) Old Griffs (91-99)
I don’t play these days. Used to play the odd vets game but had a chap die on the pitch while I was watching, he was 57 the same age as me at the time. I played one more game just to put any fears to bed the stopped. That was 6 years ago. I wanted to play on my 60th, but covid put a stop to that.
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The first SEVEN pages of today's edition of L'Indépendant Catalan are dedicated to USAP, Perpignan's union club, who have been utter shite all season. They beat Grenoble (D2) n a play off to save their sorry skin and now it's all 'phenomenal', "W'em proud to be Catalan" ('"We don't speak it though")
We'll done but you'd think they'd won the Brennus Shield.
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The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) says there are no plans "to invest in rugby outside of Ireland" amid links to London Irish.
London Irish filed for administration on Wednesday after being suspended from the Premiership.
It has been reported that the IRFU has been in exploratory discussions with the Rugby Football Union (RFU), English rugby's governing body, about investing in Irish to preserve the stricken club.
The RFU has been contacted for comment.
A IRFU spokesperson said: "The RFU has informally kept the IRFU updated on the situation at London Irish.
"Naturally the IRFU is saddened by what has happened at the club and hope that the club's difficulties can be resolved sometime in the future."
The IRFU has four teams in the United Rugby Championship, made up of the four provinces of Leinster, Munster, Ulster and Connacht.
The provinces feed Ireland's national team, and any investment in London Irish could provide an additional pathway for Irish talent in academies to break into the senior game.
The RFU would have to approve any IRFU involvement in London Irish.
London Irish were suspended from the Premiership after missing a deadline to pay players and staff or complete a takeover.
Former Ireland head coach Declan Kidney is director of rugby at the club and ex-Ulster and Ireland coach Les Kiss is the current head coach.
There are also a number of Irish players at the club.
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The RFU should just give London Irish’s spot to Ealing Trailfinders. The team could also take Irish’s place at Brentford’s ground (it’s just the other side of the M4).
However, this will all make too much sense to be acceptable to the RFU
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The RFU should just give London Irish’s spot to Ealing Trailfinders. The team could also take Irish’s place at Brentford’s ground (it’s just the other side of the M4).
However, this will all make too much sense to be acceptable to the RFU
That’s working to the assumption that they want x number of teams in the Prem, I believe they were happy to lose Worcester, wasps & Irish to bring the number of teams / games down and less to share income.
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The RFU should just give London Irish’s spot to Ealing Trailfinders. The team could also take Irish’s place at Brentford’s ground (it’s just the other side of the M4).
However, this will all make too much sense to be acceptable to the RFU
That’s working to the assumption that they want x number of teams in the Prem, I believe they were happy to lose Worcester, wasps & Irish to bring the number of teams / games down and less to share income.
I'd be surprised if that was the case, the RFU were pushing for 14 teams a few years back (and we'd have started last season with that if Ealings ground had been better), to flip on that and aim for 10 would be odd. However I think the commercial side of things means they might have to scale down for a while just to protect the game in this country. You can see the problems all through the system as well, with loads of community clubs struggling for players and finding it hard to maintain their grounds.
The problem for the premiership teams is that trying to compete with the spending power of French teams and the structural benefits of the Irish provinces (and the cheating from Sarries) led to them pushing things to the limit, covid/no crowds and then the energy/cost-of-living crisis coming so close together has nudged a lot of teams over the edge or at least to the brink.
The sport desperately needs some good news so a better than expected world cup would be welcome in a few months. Without that kind of big boost I think the problems will linger for a few years yet. The RFU in particular really needs a reality check, many of the regional unions are reporting the problems but getting nothing much back from the RFU that actually helps and their attitude towards Wasps and Worcester all along has been, at best, unhelpful.
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RFU have withdrawn their offer to Wasps of a place in the 2023-24 Championship season. Wasps will be placed at the bottom of the playing pyramid in English Rugby.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/65634760
At a quick check I think this means they'll be in the same league as my club.
Who’s your club, mate.
Erdington.
You are on our potential fixture list for next season. Committee agreement required of course.
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In the firsts we are losing 4 home matches next season. The restless natives kind of won in the end at Stourbridge but in part that is because they pinched half of the team and sold out to Wasps so bigger fish to flog to people. Minis and Juniors still flourishing though and I am looking after U9's this. First round of contact so should be good fun. We also have a West Country tour I sorted so that should be a good giggle. Nothing signed on the tour yet but I don't see why it won't happen.
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RFU have withdrawn their offer to Wasps of a place in the 2023-24 Championship season. Wasps will be placed at the bottom of the playing pyramid in English Rugby.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/65634760
At a quick check I think this means they'll be in the same league as my club.
Who’s your club, mate.
Erdington.
You are on our potential fixture list for next season. Committee agreement required of course.
If it happens then I'm afraid this year you'll still have to deal with the shipping container facilities, hopefully work will start on the proper clubhouse early next year though so we're aiming to have that ready for the start of 24/25 season.
I doubt I'll be playing though, broke my shoulder a couple of years back and it's just not recovering properly so I can't tackle on that side without being in pain for days afterwards. I think I'll probably be making the switch to touch at some point this year.
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Sorry to hear that, Paul.
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RFU have withdrawn their offer to Wasps of a place in the 2023-24 Championship season. Wasps will be placed at the bottom of the playing pyramid in English Rugby.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/65634760
At a quick check I think this means they'll be in the same league as my club.
Who’s your club, mate.
Erdington.
You are on our potential fixture list for next season. Committee agreement required of course.
If it happens then I'm afraid this year you'll still have to deal with the shipping container facilities, hopefully work will start on the proper clubhouse early next year though so we're aiming to have that ready for the start of 24/25 season.
I doubt I'll be playing though, broke my shoulder a couple of years back and it's just not recovering properly so I can't tackle on that side without being in pain for days afterwards. I think I'll probably be making the switch to touch at some point this year.
Sorry to hear about your injury Paul. Would you mind me picking your brains some point about your clubhouse? The cricket club I'm involved in are looking to do something and could do with knowing about costs and grants etc.
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Sorry to hear about your injury Paul. Would you mind me picking your brains some point about your clubhouse? The cricket club I'm involved in are looking to do something and could do with knowing about costs and grants etc.
I have very little to do with any of the running of the club but if you DM me some details I can have a chat with a few people and put you in touch with someone. The main avenue for funding for us was the charity we set up to combat knife crime by getting vulnerable to gangs to take up the sport instead so I'm not sure how that would translate to other circumstances but I'm sure a few of the guys running things would be happy to chat with you.
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Poor Euro fixtures for Glos - away in Tblisi in December anyone?
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Poor Euro fixtures for Glos - away in Tblisi in December anyone?
I'd prefer that to the home to Toulon in Dec and away at Munster in January that Saints have to face.
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RFU have withdrawn their offer to Wasps of a place in the 2023-24 Championship season. Wasps will be placed at the bottom of the playing pyramid in English Rugby.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/65634760
At a quick check I think this means they'll be in the same league as my club.
Who’s your club, mate.
Erdington.
You are on our potential fixture list for next season. Committee agreement required of course.
If it happens then I'm afraid this year you'll still have to deal with the shipping container facilities, hopefully work will start on the proper clubhouse early next year though so we're aiming to have that ready for the start of 24/25 season.
I doubt I'll be playing though, broke my shoulder a couple of years back and it's just not recovering properly so I can't tackle on that side without being in pain for days afterwards. I think I'll probably be making the switch to touch at some point this year.
Sorry to hear about your injury Paul. Would you mind me picking your brains some point about your clubhouse? The cricket club I'm involved in are looking to do something and could do with knowing about costs and grants etc.
Quick suggestion Tom. Yours sounds exactly like the sort of project my missus runs on behalf of the lottery.
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RFU have withdrawn their offer to Wasps of a place in the 2023-24 Championship season. Wasps will be placed at the bottom of the playing pyramid in English Rugby.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/65634760
At a quick check I think this means they'll be in the same league as my club.
Who’s your club, mate.
Erdington.
You are on our potential fixture list for next season. Committee agreement required of course.
If it happens then I'm afraid this year you'll still have to deal with the shipping container facilities, hopefully work will start on the proper clubhouse early next year though so we're aiming to have that ready for the start of 24/25 season.
I doubt I'll be playing though, broke my shoulder a couple of years back and it's just not recovering properly so I can't tackle on that side without being in pain for days afterwards. I think I'll probably be making the switch to touch at some point this year.
I am fucked if I am playing mate. I was talking about who my nippers might be up against. I destroyed my ribs on one side last season when the coaches got a free hit at each other. I did get two against the coaches from South Wales though.
Sorry to hear of your injury. I still know how to play but my knees don't do what my head suggests anymore.
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Poor Euro fixtures for Glos - away in Tblisi in December anyone?
If the Villa can do any away on the Thursday in that neck of the woods I am in!
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It’s rare that I can be bothered to drive 19 miles to watch Glawster, let alone head behind the iron curtain
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Restructuring of Welsh domestic rugby
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/66613532
Welsh rugby's top men's domestic competition will be replaced and the number of teams reduced from 13 to 10 from the 2024-25 season by a "finishing school" for rising talent.
The existing Indigo Welsh Premiership clubs can each apply for one of those 10 slots.
Criteria for the Elite Domestic Competition (EDC) have yet to be finalised.
But north Wales will be represented by RGC with nine teams from south Wales.
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Looks like a good idea to me, always bad when teams get lost/pushed out but their league has been on the brink of collapse for years.
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First training session for my under 9's tomorrow. Be interesting to see how the small quick kids that scored loads in tag rugby will get on with someone lamping them.
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Exmouth 40 - Lydney 36.
We lost to a converted try in added time.
Given we had several debutants, including the captain, that’s not a bad result
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First training session for my under 9's tomorrow. Be interesting to see how the small quick kids that scored loads in tag rugby will get on with someone lamping them.
I don’t think that you’re supposed to hit the kids ;)
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After losing in injury time last week, we (the Mighty Lyd) won in injury time against Ivybridge this week.
Down 3-22 at Half Time (and playing shit), we got it back to 22-22, slipped behind again 22-32 before scoring two tries in the last couple of minutes to win it 34-32 with a conversion from the touchline
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So the owner of the club that was Wasps is also now the owner of the club that was Worcester
The two pairs of chancers that have owned Worcester over last 3 years are clowns of the highest order…the administrators don’t seem to have covered in glory either.
Will Worcester or Wasps or Worcester Wasps ever see the last the of day?
With 3 Prem clubs gone you wonder if any others will follow
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Newcastle are the only other side that are on thin ice but I think they'll be fine.
I fully expect some phoenix club to emerge from Worcester/Wasps and find their way up the leagues pretty quickly.
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Looks like Jersey are the next club to fall
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Looks like Jersey are the next club to fall
I never considered the impact at lower levels but Jersey were always a tough one with a very small ground and some hefty travel costs, it's always felt like a club that needed a lot of investment to stay alive.
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I had no idea that Jersey's finances had been so ropey for years.
I assumed that they had some mega-rich benefactor.
The RFU slashing the funding for the Championship looks like it was the beginning of the end for it as a professional league
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I had no idea that Jersey's finances had been so ropey for years.
I assumed that they had some mega-rich benefactor.
The RFU slashing the funding for the Championship looks like it was the beginning of the end for it as a professional league
Yep, same here, I don't know how they've kept going for so long without that.
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Looks like Jersey had been receiving funding from the island's government.
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Former Premiership side Wasps are aiming to move to Kent and build a new stadium in the county.
The club went into administration a year ago and were removed from the Premiership as a result.
It would be a fourth home for Wasps, who spent most of their existence in London before moves to High Wycombe in 2002 and Coventry in 2014.
The club are "actively engaged with Sevenoaks District Council to identify a suitable location".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/67193921
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The RFU will do all they can to fast-track Wasps, London Irish and (maybe) Worcester back to at least a revamped second tier.
I know the parents of a lad who almost signed for Jersey. Luckily he opted for Coventry instead.
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The RFU will do all they can to fast-track Wasps, London Irish and (maybe) Worcester back to at least a revamped second tier.
I know the parents of a lad who almost signed for Jersey. Luckily he opted for Coventry instead.
2nd or 3rd tier I reckon, and I'd lean slightly to the latter because despite the name they're new clubs that need to build out squads, etc. If they come straight in at t2 they'll be eyeing immediate promotion despite being a long way off that, bring them in another level down and they have the time to develop the squad for 2-3 seasons before realistically looking at the top flight.
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Unless there is some deal for the wasps (& Worcester) owner to sell Worcester on in the making I can’t see Worcester being back….guess he can still use Sixways to bring wasps back.
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Unless there is some deal for the wasps (& Worcester) owner to sell Worcester on in the making I can’t see Worcester being back….guess he can still use Sixways to bring wasps back.
If they come back in at National 1, I might even go to Cinderford in the hope that they give Wasps a hammering.
First time I'll have ever wanted Zindyferrrd to win
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Chiefs sneak past Glawster 25-24 with the very last kick of the game.
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Good job for Glos that there’s no relegation.
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Good job for Glos that there’s no relegation.
Nah, not having a good season but they're nowhere near as bad as Newcastle.
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Ugo Monye racially abused after the game, I do hope they identify whoever it was there’s certainly enough cctv covering the area the incident took place in.
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Yep bloody shameful.
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Ugo Monye racially abused after the game, I do hope they identify whoever it was there’s certainly enough cctv covering the area the incident took place in.
Just as big a problem as the guy who abused him is the fact that no one pulled him up on it, that's what Monye seems most upset about.
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Yep that’s damning as well.
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Saints vs Quins tonight was a fantastic game. Furbank was at 10 and put in a masterclass performance, Freeman, Sleightholme, Murley, Green, Joseph and Hendy were all superb outside and collectively make the decision to take May, Daly and Malins as wingers to the world cup look like insanity.
In the forwards Dombrandt, Lawes, Pearson and Walker all had great games with Ludlam looking excellent for the first half before he went off injured and Cunningham-South came on and changed the game, very nearly turning it for Quins with his power.
I really hope England are watching how good this 2 sides are change lane to play with this sort of freedom and desire to play rather than the ultra-conservative stuff we've seen under Borthwick so far.
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Just noticed Leinster have Castore kits this season. They don't look that nice but they're better than Munster's awful Adidas one.
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I see Owen Farrell has made himself unavailable for selection for the 6 Nations in order to "prioritise his and his family's mental wellbeing."
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I see Owen Farrell has made himself unavailable for selection for the 6 Nations in order to "prioritise his and his family's mental wellbeing."
Probably the right call in a whole bunch of ways, I just hope that he doesn't automatically come back as captain when he decides he wants to. With 4 years until the world cup the next 18-24 months is exactly the time where "international experience" needs to take a backseat as a selection criteria. All 4 of the home nations have big rebuilding jobs to get started on so it's not even like anyone risks a battering in the 6N if they decide to hit reset.
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It certainly saves anyone having to make an actual decision in regards to selection at 10.
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I presume the 10 will come from George Ford and the two Smiths, Marcus and Fin.
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I see Owen Farrell has made himself unavailable for selection for the 6 Nations in order to "prioritise his and his family's mental wellbeing."
Probably the right call in a whole bunch of ways, I just hope that he doesn't automatically come back as captain when he decides he wants to. With 4 years until the world cup the next 18-24 months is exactly the time where "international experience" needs to take a backseat as a selection criteria. All 4 of the home nations have big rebuilding jobs to get started on so it's not even like anyone risks a battering in the 6N if they decide to hit reset.
His dad will probably be England coach by the next RWC
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Big win for Quins tonight and Cunningham-South is laying a claim for a call-up, he was excellent, I'd add Will Joseph as well.
That said the big one for me was Opoku-Fordjour making his debut for Sale. Played about 25minutes and looked superb, as a 19year old prop. I really liked the look of him for the U20s in the summer and really wanted to see how he'd get on in senior rugby and on that showing I think he's ready and could well have a breakout season from here.
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Glasgow vs Northampton tonight. Really good game so far but has just had a yellow card for something I don't think I've ever seen before. At the line out the 2 lifters pushed their jumper into the saints line and then couldn't keep hold of him so he came down right onto the head of the saints prop. Jumper got the yellow which feels really harsh, the lifter at the front was at fault for me.
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Saints win at home to Toulon, fucking superb result and Freeman was exceptional again, he has to be first choice 13 for england come the 6N, he's streets ahead of anyone else there.
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A really good game -I love watching Saints running the ball.
Can't someone talk Courtney Lawes out of retirement?
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Scarlets losing at home to Black Lion makes me think that Glos are better than they looked in Georgia last weekend
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I see Owen Farrell has made himself unavailable for selection for the 6 Nations in order to "prioritise his and his family's mental wellbeing."
Probably the right call in a whole bunch of ways, I just hope that he doesn't automatically come back as captain when he decides he wants to. With 4 years until the world cup the next 18-24 months is exactly the time where "international experience" needs to take a backseat as a selection criteria. All 4 of the home nations have big rebuilding jobs to get started on so it's not even like anyone risks a battering in the 6N if they decide to hit reset.
His dad will probably be England coach by the next RWC
His dad just signed a new deal with Ireland to see him through the 2027 RWC.
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Watching Ospreys v Cardiff. The pitch is a mudbath. Makes for a better spectacle and tests different skills. I'd ban the use of artificial pitches in professional rugby.
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now the bbc have lost pictures though....
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I see Owen Farrell has made himself unavailable for selection for the 6 Nations in order to "prioritise his and his family's mental wellbeing."
Probably the right call in a whole bunch of ways, I just hope that he doesn't automatically come back as captain when he decides he wants to. With 4 years until the world cup the next 18-24 months is exactly the time where "international experience" needs to take a backseat as a selection criteria. All 4 of the home nations have big rebuilding jobs to get started on so it's not even like anyone risks a battering in the 6N if they decide to hit reset.
His dad will probably be England coach by the next RWC
His dad just signed a new deal with Ireland to see him through the 2027 RWC.
I thought maybe Farrell could be tempted across with O’Gara going to Ireland.
I wonder if we’ll go for O’Gara now?
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Watching Ospreys v Cardiff. The pitch is a mudbath. Makes for a better spectacle and tests different skills. I'd ban the use of artificial pitches in professional rugby.
They're better at that level than any lower. Keeping them playable and safe (as advised when they're installed) is very expensive but if you cut corners they're horrible to play on.
I agree they should be banned though, a bunch of the saints players shared pictures of their burns after playing at Newcastle a few years ago and that alone would be enough evidence for me.
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Watching Ospreys v Cardiff. The pitch is a mudbath. Makes for a better spectacle and tests different skills. I'd ban the use of artificial pitches in professional rugby.
They're better at that level than any lower. Keeping them playable and safe (as advised when they're installed) is very expensive but if you cut corners they're horrible to play on.
I agree they should be banned though, a bunch of the saints players shared pictures of their burns after playing at Newcastle a few years ago and that alone would be enough evidence for me.
My nephew played on a 5G pitch before Christmas, looked like he'd come off a motorbike at 60 wearing just a pair of shorts.
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Watching Ospreys v Cardiff. The pitch is a mudbath. Makes for a better spectacle and tests different skills. I'd ban the use of artificial pitches in professional rugby.
They're better at that level than any lower. Keeping them playable and safe (as advised when they're installed) is very expensive but if you cut corners they're horrible to play on.
I agree they should be banned though, a bunch of the saints players shared pictures of their burns after playing at Newcastle a few years ago and that alone would be enough evidence for me.
My mate's on the board at Coventry Rugby. They've got an artificial pitch, and it's made a huge difference to them in terms of income, as they rent it out to all sorts of local groups, as well cutting the cost of maintaining a grass pitch.
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Watching Ospreys v Cardiff. The pitch is a mudbath. Makes for a better spectacle and tests different skills. I'd ban the use of artificial pitches in professional rugby.
They're better at that level than any lower. Keeping them playable and safe (as advised when they're installed) is very expensive but if you cut corners they're horrible to play on.
I agree they should be banned though, a bunch of the saints players shared pictures of their burns after playing at Newcastle a few years ago and that alone would be enough evidence for me.
My mate's on the board at Coventry Rugby. They've got an artificial pitch, and it's made a huge difference to them in terms of income, as they rent it out to all sorts of local groups, as well cutting the cost of maintaining a grass pitch.
A club their size is big enough to be able to take hold of those advantages and keep the pitch in a decent state (it's the best one of the 3 I've played on). The other 2 weren't as well maintained as they should be and were horrible to play on (but in both cases we'd been warned and wore extra protection against burns, they're the only 2 games where I've had my right knee as heavily strapped as my left often is).
Using it for other events (like 5-a-side) is a big benefit but wouldn't help most clubs outside the top 3-4 tiers.
Either way I still don't think they're safe, even when we played in coventry quite a few people had some nasty burns after the game.
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Exeter vs Northampton today might be the best match I've ever watched. Finished 36-42 to saints but it was 26-0 after half an hour and looked like Chiefs were going to dish out a battering.
Freeman, Mitchell, Dingwall and Pearson coming off the bench completely turned the game, Exeter just couldn't cope with the carrying power Saints had in the 2nd half.
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Just caught up with this today!
It must be the best comeback win since the Bristol-Quins game from a couple of years ago.
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Saints are home to Bayonne tonight and it's about the most 1sided game I've ever seen in the champions cup, not even half hour gone and Saints could have 6-7 tries but had one disallowed and had a couple of unlucky bounces.
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/67995451
LRZ quits Rugby for a shot at the NFL
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That’s quite a shock.
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The first knockout round in the champions cup has turned into a farce.
5 of the fixtures have already been played in the groups and 1 of the other 3 is Toulouse vs Racing92 who were in the same group but didn't play because they're from the same league. Worse still with a tiny bit of thought it was entirely predictable that it would work out like this.
I really hope they sort it out for next year and just have a home pot and away pot.
On the games, Toulouse were exceptional and are my favourites for the title, Bath did superbly to give them a game but the quality difference was incredible. Willis was incredible, England need to change the rules so he can be selected because he's far too good to ignore. For Bath Obano put in an excellent performance and Lawrence was destructive, I hope both get regular game time in the 6N.
Bayonne smashing Exeter showed just how good Saints were last week but maybe the pressure being completely off helped them. The Jenkins yellow was an incredibly poor decision.
Sarries put in their best performance of the season to come back after Lyon blew them away early on.
Quins were great but Ulster were shocking in defence.
Saints showed some real grit to beat Munster after going down to 14men, red card was very harsh for me. Fin Smith put in a masterclass and I can see him really pushing for England starts very soon.
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Bordeaux vs Quins has been an exceptional game so far, both sides have the quality to score from nothing and both teams have the moments of defensive fraglity to leak points.
Sadly the difference in the depth on the bench looks like it's going to see Bordeaux snatch it.
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Massive win for Quins courtesy of a fucking awful conversion from Lucu.