Domestic and European Rugby Union

[UK Redsox]

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

[paul_e]

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.

[paul_e]

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.

[paul_e]

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.

[dcdavecollett]

A really good game -I love watching Saints running the ball.

Can't someone talk Courtney Lawes out of retirement?

[UK Redsox]

Scarlets losing at home to Black Lion makes me think that Glos are better than they looked in Georgia last weekend

[Jon Crofts]

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.

[charlatan]

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.

[charlatan]

now the bbc have lost pictures though....

[nigel]

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?

[paul_e]

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.

[Jon Crofts]

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.

[Risso]

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.

[paul_e]

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.

[paul_e]

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.