Today !!!

Gloucester V Leicester! West Country six toers versus the midland mutes!! Makes you wish that you could take them both on at a crossword competition!!
As usual I am being very brave behind a screen, and miles away from the players!!
All crap jokes aside, I think it should be fascinating;
How will Leicester deal with losing Ellis? How will Gloucester try to negate the Leicester pack?
Will Lamb bring control as well as unpredictability to his game, and will his partnership with Allen allow Gloucester to open the Leicester defence. Will the Six Toers miss Tindall? Will Blashaw receive a few high balls and a serious kicking early on?? It is exactly what I would do to him!
Will Jennings dominate the breakdown or can Hazell actually make an impression on the game??
Looking forward to it, and then to watch the Super 14 semis.
Lots of debate in NZ, (not sure they call it that because its a long word) about the benefits or not of the AB's conditioning programme! It certainly seems to have lessened the impact of their teams in the competition. Lots of worried talk coming out from the Silver cloud. Are the guys going to hit their peak at the World Cup, or has it put them all out of form and confidence?
Will be great to watch the Blues take on the Sharks, but especially to watch the Crusaders take on the Bulls at Loftus. How will the Bulls take out McCaw?! Is Carter at his best? Can the Crusaders pack win enough ball in the right field positions for their backs??
Should be gut wrenching stuff, which is always the best. And underlying it all will be the thoughts of the World Cup! Can the NZ boys deal with the hostile environment, and can the Boks thrive on it?? Loftus is one great place to silence them!!!

Having read Peter Winterbottom's greatest XV, I am thinking mine through. I know Zinzan and Ieuan are too! I will have mine up in a week or two, but I am just deciding who would be good enough to play alongside me!!!!

So Leicester to beat Gloucester, Blues to beat Sharks but Crusaders to fall against the Bulls!
Lets see how crap my predictions are...............!!!!

Greatest Team Ever !!!

This featured in the Sunday Times this weekend;
Peter Winterbottom's Greatest Team!!
Spot the obvious mistake!!

Full-back: Serge Blanco (France) Had something special and could make things happen. Unpredictable, fast and played with real panache.

Right-wing: John Kirwan (New Zealand) A great try-scorer. Big, athletic and aggressive, with all-round skills.

Outside-centre: Danie Gerber (South Africa) I played with him for the Barbarians and against him for England, and he was a different class. Very abrasive, with explosive pace and power.

Inside-centre: Will Carling (England) Never played a bad game for England – tough and a good defender.

Left-wing: Rory Underwood (England) A great finisher who would score where others would not.

Fly-half: Jonathan Davies (Wales) I could never catch the little sod. Electric pace, phenomenal sidestep, great kicking game and always had time on the ball. Complete package.

Scrum-half: Nick Farr-Jones (Australia) An outstanding character and competitor, who made the basics look easy and was always a threat on the break.

Loosehead prop: Jason Leonard (England) The rock of ages, a reliable, incredibly durable prop, who missed only a handful of tackles in his whole career.

Hooker: Sean Fitzpatrick (New Zealand) Played on the edge and had a mental toughness that others could not match. His lineout throwing and scrummaging were second-to-none and he was a strong ball-carrier.

Tighthead prop: Graham Price (Wales) Unbending, and even on the 1983 Lions whitewash in New Zealand never went backwards. An early prototype of the mobile prop.

Lock: Martin Johnson (England) A brooding giant who punched his weight. Outstanding all-rounder, great scrummager, good lineout technician and a fine tackler.

Lock: John Eales (Australia) Stole an early lineout off Wade Dooley in Sydney in 1991 and proceeded to win every lineout in the match as well as two World Cup winners’ medals.

Blindside flanker: Mike Teague (England) “Iron Mike” was player of the series on the 1989 Lions tour of Australia. Fearless.

No 8: Dean Richards (England) A freak of nature in two respects: incredible anticipation and phenomenal grappling strength.

Openside flanker: Michael Jones (New Zealand) An incredible athlete who was so fast to the breakdown, as well as being a brilliant support player.

Peter Winterbottom played openside flanker for England and the British & Irish Lions

Bank Holiday Waffle

I see that Justin Marshall will not be playing in the last few crucial matches for the Ospreys, because he wants to go and play in Japan for the 'Classic All Blacks' !!
Run that one by me again!!
Ospreys sign a player, who makes the decision that his International future is over, but they agree to a clause that he will be released to play in any game that he is invited that is 'close to International standard'!!
Crazy! the club has a chance to win the Magners title, but he heads off to Japan to play in some mickey mouse money making exercise and no doubt receive a nice payment!!
I am sure his club mates will think highly of him next season!!

Word is seeping out that the South Africans are beginning to fancy their chances of winning the World Cup! It might sound crazy, but they are my dark horses for the competition I have to admit.
They have a huge powerful pack, that can cause problems to any line out, they have a competitive and physical back row who will challenge at every breakdown, and a blitz defence with a very abbrasive midfield, with an astute kicking number 10. In my book, exactly hwat you need to beat the All Blacks.
The only other side who have the squad to beat the AB's are the French, but who the hell knows if they will turn up or not, I certainly don't and I suspect that they don't either!

I don't want to harp on about him, because I do think he was unfairly singled out for criticism (by me also) after the Irish game, but Andy Farrell was rather cruely exposed by Gloucester at the weekend. A firm fast pitch, and what did Gloucester do, they went wide at every opportunity and exposed the Saracens defence. It does make me wonder what will happen on the fast hard grounds in SA this summer.

The Heineken Cup has been saves, apparently!! Let's all wait to see how it will be portrayed in the press, as I for one can not see how it can have been saved without one side backing down, and how can that be covered up with spin at a good press conference??!! Neither side will want to be portrayed as the loser, so it should be fun to read !!!

Rugby Does not Build character, it reveals it!!

"Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence: in other words it is war minus the shooting." - George Orwell



Without being too heavy, I have always thought that the hardest, most physical games were the best. When the **** hits the fan, thats when you find out about yourself and your team mates. And when you come through it, face it and beat it, that is the best feeling!
I think we can safely say that all the touring sides this summer will need to spill a little blood, and it will be fascinating to see which of the young players is still fronting up at the end!!

Summer Tours

Having seen the Irish touring side, heard the thinking on the English touring squad, seen the Welsh leave behind 18 but take Henson (good for his tan), and just not caring about what the Scots are doing!!, I am amazed any of these tours are going ahead!
The use to the coaches is................what??!
Unearthing new exciting talent??
Giving youth a chance???
Gaining valuable experience????
Bollocks!!
They have all been arranged for money, by Unions that are still completely out of touch with the needs of players, but obsessed with the desire for money.
And heading that list, at the top of the pile, coming in first, lengths ahead of any other union in the incompetency stake handicap, is..... ENGLAND !!!!
Well Done the RFU !!!

Saints

I know there are Tigers, Saracens and Quins fans out there, and of course Leinster!!
But any Saints fans??
I wonder if Carlos Spencer will stay? I wonder if he has ever really wanted to be there? I hear all sorts of rumours, and I should be the last person to listen to those!! But some are from very good guys, and there have obvioulsy been some serious problems within the team. How much of it is a Kiwi rift is hard to tell, but I think Carlos has been as much a blessing as a curse!
Ben Cohen. What has happened to him as a player since the World Cup?? Will he stay? Who would be running to sign him at the moment??! Sadly I can not remember the last time he had me off my seat in excitement (actually to be fair I am not sure my wife can remember the last time I got off my chair in excitement!!!) He has become predictable, one paced and apparently uninterested. Very sad.
So Saints to bounce back straight away, but my guess would be not with a large Kiwi contingent!!

How to market World Cups!!!

I do not know about you guys, but I have just not managed to get into the Cricket World Cup at all. I know we have not done too well ,but it is more than that, the format is all wrong, too drawn out and there just did not seem to be any atmosphere at the grounds.
Now call me old fashioned, but of we were watching this, I think we might just have been a little keener!!!!

Jutge to ref England-Boks at RWC

BBC SPORT | Rugby Union | Jutge to ref England-Boks at RWC: "French referee Joel Jutge will take charge of England's crucial World Cup pool clash against South Africa in Paris on 14 September.
Jutge is the only French official named among a 12-man list of referees to officiate at the tournament. "

So in our crunch game of the World Cup, we get a French ref!!!!
What am I trying to say???!!! I mean surely after all these years the French and ourselves are now good neighbours!!!!
WE need all the help we can get in this match, and I am not convinced we will get it from one of our little war heroes from across the water!!!!!!!!!!

SA Tour

So no players from Leicester, Wasps or Bath for the first Test, and possibly the second! No problem.......... because of course that leaves..............!!!!!!!!!
Who on earth are we going to play in the forwards??? Or the backs for that matter!!!
Titteral?? Lund?? Easter?? Well that will have the Boks filling their shorts!!
I must say with all those players unavailable, it is just the tour you would want to hold your hand up for!! Pick me, pick me!! ( have any of you seen Shrek??!!)
On the face of it, a ****ing disaster!! Ashton must be furious, just what he needs before the World Cup, two tests and probably 100 points conceded!!!
But being the eternal optimist, at least we will find out who has balls and a spine and who doesn't in the young guns that he takes!!!
I know there are some rugby geniuses amongst you!! So come on, let me know your squad........!! Should make for some interesting reading!!!

Heineken Cup Final

So Boys, Wasps V Leicester !!
Leinsterfan - you are about as good as me with predictions!!
Chris, Confident are we??!!
Peter, what the **** are you on about??!!!

I must admit I was impressed by Leicester's passion / committment/ intensity. Goode even looked pumped up, and not by pies!!!
I still stick to my analysis of them however, and that applies to England, once the pack can not dominate, they falter as they just do not have the pace/ inventiveness/ creativity to play a fast ball game.
It should be a great final, especially as it pits two great mates against each other again!!
Corry V Dallaglio!!!
Just a little bit of edge here, and now especially as big Lawrence has been out of the spotlight for so long!! he will be desperate to put one over, put one on, give a bloody good kicking to his old 'mate'!!!
The clash of the backrows will not only be fasciniating, but it will be crucial. Wasps will need to play a fast, fluid, attacking game, whilst Leicester will once again want to control possession, the pace and territory to slowly strangle the life out of Wasps. And the breakdown is going to be crucial to that, absolutely crucial.
I will also be fascinited to see if McGeechan has the balls to stick with Cipriani, or whether he will fall back on the experience of King???!!
Whatever, it is not going to be a game for the weak!!!!

Leicester !

If you are watching the Semi-Final, hopefully you are seeing the same as me. It is a microcosm of exactly why England struggle at International level. The difference in how the two sides play is staggering. How many times do you see Ellis waiting over the ball at the breakdown, the eventual ball is agonisingly slow. The Scarlets on the other hand are whipping the ball away from the tackle area as quickly as possible, keeping pace in their game and giving themselves a regular chance of breaking a rapidly re-organising defence.
Leicester might well go onto win, partly due to the Scarlets lack of precision, but also the dominance that their pack has. But you can clearly see that the model might well work at club level, but as soon as a side can compete with the forwards as they do at International level , Leicester, and read here England, produce such slow ball that the backs have no chance.
If England are to climb back up on the International ladder, then they need to understand that you have to be able to recycle quick ball to give yourself the chance to attack defences, not just rely on the superiority of your forwards.
I am biased and I hope Leicester win, but it has been fascinating to see a side who contain so many of our International forwards highlighting so obviously why we struggle at the top level.

Something for the Weekend !!!!

Gets the blood pumping!!!

Paragraph of the week

I have to say that the following paragraph from Peter had me crying with laughter!!
It has to be the paragraph of the month so far, brilliant, so i had to put it up in case anyone had missed it in the comments on 'Ongoing Playground Fight';

Both have argued with so irrationally and in such a childish way that I'm just sick of the sight of Keith Barwell shooting his bloody gob off and gloating about how much money he's gonna make out of this and Francis Baron trying to pretend that he has a clue about this strange "rugby thing" while being as rude and condescending as possible.

Peter, keep it up!! I know you feel strongly on this one, as I think we all do, but I just had to say that I loved those few lines!!!

Heineken Weekend

Predictions??
What a surprise that Leinsterfan goes for the Welsh club!!!! You are so predictable!!
Having said that, I have a horrible feeling that you just might be right, although I am well aware that yours was not a cold hearted business decision, more of a desperate hope that an English side would lose!!!
It might just be too much for Leicester, fighting on three fronts as Chris rightly points out. I also think that the Scarlets have a good balance, and if they can gain some parity with the Leicester pack ( an ageing, tired Leicester pack), then I think they can pose to many attacking questions for the Leicester backs. Being completely biased, I obviously hope that is not the case, but I am just a little concerned!!

Peter,

That must have been a very old photo!! I have always been partial to wearing a Fez hat, especially when I just want to blend in around Earls Court!!!!

I am going to write a piece on Brian Moore and Eddy Butler in the next day or two, because their constant bickering really gets on my tits!!! Anyone else agree???

Chris and Disco Stu !!!!

Disco Stu,

great name by the way!! Do you still wear the white suit, open neck shirt with stick on hairy chest??? ( I do !!!)
Anyway enough of that shite.
Lawrence Dallaglio. I have not seen what he said,but if he has hinted that the players might have to strike, my honest reaction is how sad that the players are having to sort it out. It is rather like children having to organise their parents through a divorce, not quite what anyone would want, and a sad insight into how childish the RFU and the Clubs have become. It must be unbelievably frustrating for the players, who want to create not only great clubs, great success and a great following, but are having to do this against a back drop of continual bickering by the very men who are meant to be guiding the development and growth of the game. It must be very sad for fans to watch, read, listen to this bollocks, and I am sure many can not believe that grown men could behave so pathetically. Sadly I had almost nine years of dealing with the RFU as captain, so I am well versed in the tedium and mind numbing attitude of some of them, and it does leave you stunned!!!
Maybe a players strike would bring the whole thing to a head? Or maybe just a few more gins would be swilled and cigars puffed just a little harder!!

Chris,

Hipkiss. I have not seen him play, but I hear that some people rate him very highly.
I would certainly think he is worth taking on tour, and then we can see how he deals with the step up. That is always the big question. There are so many players who look good at club level, even at Heineken Cup level, but the International arena is just very special and so many just can not deal with the speed, intensity, pressure, emotion etc. And you just never know until the face it.
That said, I agree with you, if he is fronting up, taking on players and showing that he will stick his head above the parapit, then that is exactly what we need. Guys who are willing to put themselves on the line and play, make decisions, try to create, and bloody hit people in defence. That is what we need. Some guys with an edge, some steel, some mongrel. That's what I like, and we need to find some.
So hopefully Ashton will give him a go this summer, and I tell you it will be one hell of a teat against the Boks in Bloomfontein. Such a nice place!!!!

Ongoing Playground Fight

I see the PRA are trying to don the Ref's shirt and adjudicate in the fight between the RFU and the clubs, as an unbiased third party!
Interesting! sadly they can not be anywhere near unbiased, as for a start they are in business with the RFU on the Hospitality side! They are also highly beholdant to the RFU for that Hospitality deal, as without going into too much detail, they did not manage to deliver their part of the deal, and the RFU covered them for it!!!
So you can not call them unbiased!!!
So the saga continues, and what disapoints me the most is that there is no one with the stature, or balls, to stand up and sort this pathetic mess out.
As I said in my piece on Club V Country, it is not a highly complicated deal that needs to be done, and there is no doubt that there are idiots on both sides that do not want to sort it out, but surely, surely, there is someone who has the desire and character to smack some heads together and sort it out!
I was hoping that Rob Andrew might be the man. I am still hoping, although with slightly less conviction as the sordid episode is allowed to run and run.
Mabe on the lighter side, we could have another intelligent outburst from a front row forward to look forward to!!!!

Kicking Game

OK, I completed the game in 38.9 seconds! You only have to complete level 7, so come on Mike P, and others!!

Kicking Game

Can anyone get past level 7???!!!
Leinsterfan, come on..... how far can you get??!!

Club V Country

v




On the prompting of Chris, and Syd Millar, here are my views on the Club V Country debate!
Firstly I thought it was incredibly inappropriate for the head of the IRB to make such an outburst, especially considering it's content! How one sided, how ill informed, how amateur!
Maybe a balanced opinion, outlining both sides of the argument and the ensuing offer of a hand in conciliation? maybe that would have been a little more appropriate, respectable and impressive?
I think what Syd Millar did was only emphasise the problem, and accentuate for the viewing public the rift that still lies between the amateur game and the new professional era! In his own foolish way, and contrary to his intent I think it highlighted the issue brilliantly, but from completely the other side of the fence!!
My view is that the RFU have still not come to terms with the professional concept. On or off the pitch.
They resent players making money, they resent the clubs making money and having any power or control in the game, and their belief is still that they should have complete control and ultimately players should still play for honour.
I still believe players can play with and for honour and be paid, just look at Martin Johnson.
The RFU were told to sign their top 40 players when the game went professional. By me !!! They refused, and the rest is history.
The clubs are far from perfect, and a few of their owners make you feel very uneasy, especially if you were in business with them, but nonetheless they have poured huge amounts of money into the development of the English game and players, and it is only right that they should be acknowledged.
I still believe that the dream of every rugby player is to play for his country. I know it was mine, and I know because of my father being in the army that I had no great allegiance to any town, but even so I still believe the ultimate for any boy growing up in Leicester of Bath is still to play for England. It is the ultimate and is still the shop window that primarily drives revenue, fan base, and media coverage.
It has to be nurtured, developed and placed as the primary objective of every Union.
BUT
Since the game has gone professional the clubs have played an increasing role in all those elements, and rightly deserve a corresponding say in how the game on the professional stage is run, managed and developed. They also own the players! Quite a key ingredient!
I might be naive, but i believe the issue can easily be sorted out. The RFU needs to offer the clubs a proper financial package for the loan of their players for chunks of the season. A package that would enable the clubs to recruit an understudy, who the RFU could even insist is English? That would then enable the clubs to carry on during the Six Nations, November period etc, instead of being penalised for having English players in their squad.
I honestly think it is a simple business deal and not a highly complicated one at that, as some would have us believe, which is why I am staggered that it has taken this long. It makes me strongly suspect that certain personnel within the RFU are determined that it will never happen. Why? Who the hell knows, but I am sure ego is a major player!!! As always!!!

Kicking Game

I know this is sad, but probably quite appropriate for me then!! But I have got to level 7 !!!! Real pressure that!!!
Anyone care to try??
Let me know if you beat me and I will get practising!!!