Jump to content

Rugby!


Karizma

Recommended Posts

I think us beating Scotland is pretty much a given ¬_¬

I had forgotten that Ireland are still on for the Triple Crown since their first two games were Italy and France. So that makes Wales vs. Ireland even better. I still hope Wales win though.

We've got:

Ireland v Wales (I'll go for Wales).

Scotland v England (Possibly England. Not quite sure :shifty:)

France v Italy (If Italy win, I'll eat my own penis).

England v Ireland (England. Unless Ireland beat Wales, in which case Ireland ¬_¬)

Italy v Scotland (Italy)

Wales v France

That'd leave Wales 2pts ahead of France, with France needing a massive, massive win to the tune of something like 40-0 (which they simply won't get) to finish top.

If Ireland beat Wales, it'd make that final match a lot more interesting from the 'who'll finish top?' point of view as France, Wales, Ireland and England will all be level on points into the final game. But it'd fuck the Grand Slam up, and I really want Wales to win that this year.

Of course, if the latter DOES happen, and the final weekend sees the top four all level on points, and the two zero-pointers playing each other, that'd be interesting too. But it still won't be Grand Slam interesting :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

IAceI, you may not like League but league is a simple game played by simple people, union is a complex game played by wankers.

And for the most part, the league lads n union dandys usually played each other at high school, league lads winning at the XIII code and union losing at the XV code...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 11 months later...

I had a comment about the six nations to make which I was going to make in Reil's thread but I didn't think it would be very nice to hijack it for non-betting purposes. So we can use this for general chit chat about it. Anyway...my comment -

The Scottish rugby team is an embarassment. :( I don't know what Hadden was thinking in leaving out Strokotsch, Chris Paterson(only decent kicker we have. and he is very, very decent at it) and Thom Evans especially. If being the top try scorer in the Magners League isn't enough to get Evans in the squad, this little nugget from wikipedia should:

Thom was a member of pop band Twen2y4Se7en and toured as a support act with McFly, Peter Andre and Westlife throughout 2004.

I don't really know or care if this is true or not. It's still brilliant!

So yeah...they're an embarassment.

Edited by metalman
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ben Foden was in Pop Idol, too. There's clearly a link between rugby and singing/dancing/ice skating. :shifty:

Chris Patterson is a fucking machine, when it comes to kicking he's simply awesome. Definitely missed Nathan Hindes in the second row yesterday, too. Scotland weren't terrible, they just made way too many mistakes. Sure, they never looked like winning, but they were playing Wales. They're not going to be challenging the Three Nations any time soon, realistically, but they weren't 'embarrassing', in context. Way too many handling errors though, the passing wasn't bad on the whole, it was the catching and carrying into contact that was the problem. Based on the way the two teams played in the first round, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Scotland beat England.

As for Wales, Stephen Jones might be a better fly-half than Hook in terms of leadership and control of the game, but he's a shocking kicker. It's fine in games against Scotland and Italy, but when they play Ireland and France they'll probably need those points. So, so, so glad to see Jamie Roberts in at #12 instead of that fuckwit male model Gavin 'Duke Nukem' Henson, though. And man of the match to boot. Looking forward immensely to Chabal vs. Alun Wynn Jones. Unstoppable force vs. Immovable object. ¬_¬

England looked pathetic, to be honest. It's almost as if they're scared to play rugby. They seem to have an 'if we have the ball, we might fuck up, so it's best to give it away and try and steal it back nearer their 22' mentality, which will be hilarious to see in action against France. Medard and Heymans will love it, as will I.

Italy... dear old Italy. It's such a shame, because they have some great players - Bergamasco is even one of them, just not at scrum-half! Mallet deserves all the shit he gets for that. He can pretend all he wants that he 'had few other options', but if Fabio Capello suddenly found himself without a goalkeeper, he wouldn't put Wayne Rooney in goal and gimp the strikeforce too. But both Bergamascos, Castrogiovani, Dellape and of course Parisse are all great. Just a shame that, as with Scotland, a few great players don't make a great rugby team. The other thing that pisses me off about Italy is the lack of Italians (ok, so not 'lack' exactly ¬_¬)! If your team sucks, you invest in your clubs and facilities, not go and get a crack team of genealogists to track down good players with Italian grandparents/ancestors/cats.

Gonzalo Canale - Argentinian

Paul Griffen - Kiwi

Kaine Robertson - Kiwi

Luke McClean - Aussie

Carlo Del Fava - Springbok

Carlos Nieto - Argentinian

Martin Castrogiovani - Argentinian

Santiago Dellapé - Argentinian

Jean-François Montaurio - French

Sergio Parisse - Argentinian

I wouldn't mind, but when most of your points are scored by Kaine Richardson and Luke McClean, can you really call yourself an Italian rugby union squad? They didn't even bother with Italian-sounding names. At least the glory-hunting Argentinians bothered to put some effort in! :P

I know, it's the same in football. But football is a mess anyway. :shifty:

Oh, and am I the only one bored of the tedious hymn concert before Irish home matches? First the song for the President walking onto the pitch, then the Northern Irish anthem, then the Irish anthem, then the opponent's anthem... just get on with the fucking game. I know the shaking of the hands and all that is traditional, but do we really need to do it to a four-song soundtrack, when two would suffice perfectly well?

Edited by Farmer Reil
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ireland looked excellent at the weekend. They weren't perfect but they did the basics really well which we struggled to do towards the end of Eddie's reign.

We soaked up the French forwards and then when the time was right, moved the ball out wide. It was basic rugby done really well, and when you have people like Brian, Gordon, Ronan and Paddy Wallace (who had an overshadowed game because Gordon came off the bench to score a try) running on to the ball things will end well.

The forwards did well. Jerry Flannery had a fine game at hooker. Paul was superb and Jamie Heaslip was godly with his side-step; awesome stuff.

I'm very please. Now I'm hopeful we are able to do that against Italy and really impress.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

It's not something I've seen mentioned alot on EWB, but I'm hoping there are some rugby league fans on here? Rugby is probably my second sport behind football, but snooker runs it close! I'm a Wigan fan myself, so obviously I'm very happy after last season's Super League win, and I'm very much looking forward to the World Club Challenge against St George/Illawarra in a few weeks.

But anyways the rugby season is upon us yet again, the Challenge Cup has already started, Round 2 matches are due to be played today. The highlight fixture has to be the RAF vs British Army at Aldershot this afternoon. :P The Northern Rail Cup starts today too, Toulouse v Dewsbury play this afternoon, and then a whole host of fixtures tomorrow including Batley v Leigh, London Skolars v Widnes and Whitehaven v Workington.

But the big one starts next weekend, the Super League is back and it is starting this year with a Millenium Magic weekend in Cardiff. Now me and my brother, and a few other people too are not fans of the Magic weekend concept. It seems pointless sending fans all around the UK, mainly Cariff and Edinburgh, to watch a round of fixtures, and doing it in February this year is beyond stupid. Who in there right mind would want to go all the way to Cardiff, and sit in a freezing stadium and watch 4 consecutive rugby matches? I'd much rather stay at home and watch all the games on Sky, and trust me I have been to both Cardiff and Edinburgh weekends and not enjoyed either.

It seems to me that it would be a better idea to do the Magic Weekend in the Summer, and have it at Old Trafford in the football off-season? This way all the teams and fans don't have to travel far (apart from Harlequins and Catalans), the weather will be warmer, it will be cheaper for the fans and it would generally be a better atmospheric event. Anyways that's my little rant over. So if any rugby league fans are on the board, come post in here throughout the season and we'll have some good banter.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I personally find Union boring for the most part but have loved League since I was a kid.

Glad to see Wigan back on top in England, great club.

Australia is up to the pre-season stage and my Rabbitohs have the only pre-season game worth anything coming up next weekend. Hopefully George Burgess gets a run to add a bit of extra spice to this year's charity shield :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Full strength Ross ready to rumble

859837-ben-ross-rugby-league-sharks.jpg

Ben Ross recovering from neck surgery

After two long years out of the NRL, South Sydney prop Ben Ross says he is finally back to full strength heading into his comeback game against Newtown at Redfern on Saturday.

The former Queensland State of Origin front-rower hasn't been sighted on the field since suffering a serious neck injury playing for Cronulla in the opening round of the 2009 competition.

Though Ross signed with the Rabbitohs for 2010, he didn't make it back onto the field, but he never doubted he would eventually play again.

He will captain a youthful South Sydney side against NSW Cup outfit Newtown in the Return To Redfern fixture.

"I never lost sight of what I wanted to achieve and I've finally got that day after two years," Ross told AAP on Friday. "It's probably a bit longer than what I expected, but (I'm) back to full strength. It's been two long years and I just can't wait to get back out there and play again. We've got three trials ahead and I'll be trying to get as much time as I can in those to prove my worth to Langy (Souths coach John Lang)."

The Redfern fixture represents the Souths debut of big English forward George Burgess, the younger brother of Rabbitohs and England star Sam Burgess.

At 194cm and 120kg, 18-year-old George is Sam's little brother in age alone.

"He looks like he's the goods, he's only 18 and plenty of time ahead of him before he really has to hit his straps," Ross said.

With the younger Burgess and Ross swelling the Rabbitohs pack's ranks, the stand-in skipper acknowledged Souths had plenty of forward firepower in their arsenal this year.

"It's probably a good thing for us that we have got some depth," Ross said. "In the past we copped a fair few injuries, if that was to happen we know we've got a little bit more depth, a bit more back-up in case things do go wrong."

The Souths side named for Saturday includes a handful of players with first grade experience in backs Shaune Corrigan, Chris McQueen and Junior Vaivai.

Anthony Mundine's cousin Matt was named at five-eighth and former North Sydney back Greg Florimo's son Jay was selected on the bench.

Starting fullback Malcolm Webster is the cousin of Gold Coast star Preston Campbell and Greg Inglis, who moved to the Rabbitohs from Melbourne in December but is still on the injured list.

Ben Ross probably should have given up the game but full credit to the guy for getting to this point, :)

Souths win trial as Ross returns to action

2010GeorgeBurgessSignsDetail-3900c792-bfde-43cd-801b-0b6f03fadde6.jpg

George Burgess......not bad for an englishman

Ben Ross made a successful return to rugby league after almost two years and English player George Burgess endured a boiling initiation in South Sydney's 10-4 trial win over Newtown at Redfern Oval on Saturday.

Queensland Origin prop Ross, out of action for almost two years after suffering a broken neck playing for Cronulla in the opening round of the 2009 NRL competition, logged around 45 minutes in two separate stints.

Fellow prop Burgess, the 18-year-old younger brother of Souths and Great Britain forward Sam Burgess, got through around 55 minutes in two shifts in a match that started in hellish 41 degree heat.

Ross got into the action straight away, hitting the ball up from the kick-off.

"That was the plan. We aimed to get the kick-off and we knew they would kick to my side, who wouldn't?" Ross told reporters. "They said to me run at the first guy you see, don't worry about stepping, just run at the biggest guy and test it out. That's what I did. He put a massive shoulder on me and it was `welcome back', it was good. I was happy with all the time I got, it was enjoyable."

Ross gave Burgess a huge compliment, saying the Englishman's performance was "astonishing" for an 18-year-old.

Souths coach John Lang was just as pleased.

"The game did what we wanted it to do, get Benny (Ross) back in and gave young George (Burgess) his first run with the boys," he told reporters."I thought for his (Ross') first gallop, he did pretty well. It will take a while to get his timing, but I thought it was a good hit-out. It was a good step for George to get out and play with those boys, he's never played with any of them before, to play in those conditions, it was tough conditions for your first game."

Burgess, who came off in the final quarter after suffering cramp, couldn't recall ever playing in conditions hotter than 20 degrees.

"It was a big shock," Burgess told reporters.

It was a typical trial with numerous mistakes.

Souths dominated territorially and had two tries disallowed in the second quarter and bombed a number of others with poor execution.

Winger Chris McQueen, who was returning from two knee reconstructions, scored the Rabbitohs' first try, with replacement James Roberts getting their second to set up a 10-0 halftime lead.

Both teams made plenty of changes with Newtown scoring a try through back Sione Taka, notching a try for the NSW Cup side in the third quarter.

Nice to see George get some quality game time and great to see Benny Ross's first game back go so well :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. To learn more, see our Privacy Policy