Rugby Union 2013-14

[cheltenhamlion]

London Irish next. Could do with winning that as well and break out from the pack of shit at the bottom.

[lovejoy]

Thing is we are the pack of shit at the bottom!

[cheltenhamlion]

Touche

[paul_e]

London Irish next. Could do with winning that as well and break out from the pack of shit at the bottom.

Important win today, didn't play particularly well and defended really poorly for the Irish 3rd but a win is all that matters.  The table looks much nicer for glaws now than it did a couple of weeks ago.

[lovejoy]

Away win! Must say glad to see back of Burns, the way he's treated the club and supporters recently has been selfish in the extreme. Will Leicester get done for tapping him up? I should coco.

[paul_e]

Away win! Must say glad to see back of Burns, the way he's treated the club and supporters recently has been selfish in the extreme. Will Leicester get done for tapping him up? I should coco.

To give Burns some credit I think he's walking away because he should be England's first choice now but 18months of playing on the back foot behind the weakest pack in the league hasn't given him the platform he needed.  I'm surpirsed Leicester is his destination of choice though, Quins and Saints could both do with a new 10 (Quins because Evans is 33 and probably only has another year in him and Saints because Myler is highly questionable under pressure, both from the tee and in general play) and both have fantastically strong squads where he could shine.  I think Tigers are on the way down right now, they don't look the certainties for the playoffs that they've been for the last few years and it's happened because they've failed to trust the quality youngsters they had.  I think they're going to have a similar fate to Bath where they drift in midtable for a few seasons.

[lovejoy]

Maybe, but look at the signings Glos have made (Afoa and Hibberd) we won't be such a soft touch next season. Him leaving now leaves a big gap.
Also Leicester have clearly made him an offer in the autumn when they shouldn't speak to him, even indirectly, before 1 January. Interested to see if the RFU apply the rules to them or, like Saracens and the salary cap, the big establishment team get a free run.

[paul_e]

Maybe, but look at the signings Glos have made (Afoa and Hibberd) we won't be such a soft touch next season. Him leaving now leaves a big gap.
Also Leicester have clearly made him an offer in the autumn when they shouldn't speak to him, even indirectly, before 1 January. Interested to see if the RFU apply the rules to them or, like Saracens and the salary cap, the big establishment team get a free run.

it depends on his contract, if the finish date is in May they can have started talks on the 1st of December with the current rules.  Having no idea what it is they've got a pretty safe 'get out' clause if that is the case, if his contract ends on the first of June, which is supposedly the standard, then they've broken the rules, pretty clearly.  The May contract thing is why you start seeing a lot of agreements around mid-December.

[paul_e]

Brilliant weekend of games, Saints vs Quins tonight was muddy and error-strewn but was a truly excellent game despite all that.

Tomorrow sees Glaws at home to Sarries which will b fun and then Sunday we get Tigers at home to Bath.

Back to tonight, huge win for Saints, I've admitted before that I'm a big saints fan but seeing the resilience and quality in their side this year I think they'll take the title and I'm sure that they'll be a big force in europe net year, whatever competition it happens to be.  Lawes, Hartley and Burrell have all stepped up a level and are the best in their positions in England, Wood already was the best and 6-7 other players are right at the top of their game as well.  For England fans keep an eye out for Tom Collins, only 19 and has only broken through this year but he looks like he's going to be a bit special, excellent finisher and great skills, him and Elliott are massive prospects.

[lovejoy]

...and in the biggest surprise of 2014 Cockerill get away with accusing Sale of cheating.

Leicester truly above the law.

[paul_e]

...and in the biggest surprise of 2014 Cockerill get away with accusing Sale of cheating.

Leicester truly above the law.

Cockerill has done enough stupid stuff now that his position really should be untenable, but he's one of the Tigers old boys and thy have mates high up.  I'm just hoping that the team there continues getting weaker because, as I've said before, I still blame the 'jobs for the boys' culture that Leicester had built up entirely for the state we'd got to by the 2011 world cup, there is no way we should've been that poor.  I think that's also a big part of why, as a nation, we're struggling to find a style which suits the backs we should be building the team around, so instead we're trying to do everything up front.

[paul_e]

Glaws took a bit of a battering at home to sarries, didn't seem to ever think they stood a chance, was a pretty dire performance all told.  Sarries are a good side who have a great pack and offload well in the loose but Glaws gave them far too much respect at times.

[paul_e]

Bath carry the ball so well, 2 truly superb tries in a few minutes, Excellent from Abendanon and Watson for the first, even better from Eastmond and Ford for the 2nd.  I reckon their backline is going to be stripped completely in a few weeks, Ford, Eastmond and Watson all have to be called up.

[paul_e]

Another very good try, great finish from Joseph.

[bertlambshank]

Another very good try, great finish from Joseph.

Good game so far.