The Rugby Thread

[dtaai-maai]

^^Well played by the Taffs. The French were abysmal - to use pharvey's turn of phrase, they were the surrender monkeys this time. But that was because of the pressure that the Welsh pack and the backs' tackling put them under.

Not a classic (a bit slippery underfoot by the look of things), but a good game to watch. And it's always a pleasure to see those French heads drop.
(With my apologies to nos amis francais on the forum... )



Eng v Ireland tomorrow should be a tough game. Let's hope the weather's good. An England win and the Championship's wide open.

[JimmyGreaves]

Ireland win and the triple crown me hopes!

[pharvey]

Poor against the Pizza People , dire against the Paddies, Alain Rolland selected as referee and Alun Wyn-Jones a last minute injury......... not looking good for God's Own against the Surrender Monkeys

But ouch, what a display - OK, the not-so-gallant Gauls weren't at their best, but the Welsh Dragon breathed fire once more....... a completely different side that took to the field on the Emerald Isle a fortnight ago (and were completely mullered ). A superb all-round team performance (in my completely unbiased opinion), with stand out performances from new-comers Rhys Webb and Jake Ball. Webb's quick service from scrum half certainly bringing a dimension to Wales' play missing from the tournament so far.

So, we have our hopes of a Championship back on track? Not quite, and results in other games need to go our way...... this is where I find myself on dodgy/unfamiliar ground today......... I'm going to have to hope for a win over the clover loving Celts for Beelzebub's XV at "Twickers" (rah,rah)

As for the Sweaties....... well, with only 6 points from their opening 2 games and looking pretty clueless to boot, there does not seem to be much light at the end of the tunnel. Away to the Azzurri this afternoon, a big improvement is needed to avoid defeat.

[dtaai-maai]

this is where I find myself on dodgy/unfamiliar ground today......... I'm going to have to hope for a win over the clover loving Celts for Beelzebub's XV at "Twickers" (rah,rah)

rah, rah...

I can picture you in the car park at Twickers in your peaked cap and Barbour jacket, perched on the tailgate of your Range Rover, opening a bottle of champers for the little ladies...

"COME ON, BOYOS - err CHAPS!!"

[dtaai-maai]

Eng v Ireland tomorrow should be a tough game. Let's hope the weather's good. An England win and the Championship's wide open.

Well, it certainly was a tough game! And thanks to a dry day, a good pitch, total commitment by both teams and a real will to win, it was a great game to watch.

Both full-backs had an outstanding game. The Irish pack edged the scrums, but England stood up well and edged the loose play. All very tight, good defense all round, some cracking tackles and not too many errors. O'Driscoll showed he is still a warrior - I wonder if he'll change his mind and play another year?

I was knackered but happy at the final whistle - I reckon we just about deserved the win. With Wales at Twickenham and then Italy, we have a decent chance of sneaking the Championship. What a shame we threw away that game against the French!

Incidentally, I thought Craig Joubert had a good game too.

[redzonerocker]

^^^
Yep, all i can say is that was a proper game of rugby, respect to both sides

Very closely contested in all departments & could have went either way, fortunately it went ours
It was one of those games that neither side deserved to lose.


As for the Wales v France game, why the surprise about the result?
You don't become a bad side after a couple of under par performances.

The Welsh played as a unit, didn't make errors like they had done in the two previous games & stuck to their game plan.
I think maybe the French went into the game a bit over confident.
They got out muscled in every department, made errors, forced & unforced, totally lost discipline & ended up taking a bit of a thumping.
At times they were so ragged it was embarrassing.

The French had no leaders whereas the welsh had 15

[pharvey]

A cracking weekend of rugby - Beelzebub and his minions sneak past the Paddies in a pulsating match, the Sweaties edging the Azzurri with a last minute drop goal. Congrats all round.....

Standings after Round 3: -

Round 4 Gypsy-like Predictions......

With God's Own no doubt securing victory at Hell's HQ in a fortnight's time, and the Garlic Munchers struggling against our resurgent Celtic cousins north of the border, the championship trophy may well be staying where it belongs come the end of Round 5!!

[pharvey]

After finally managing to log on to Superbru (no excuses - picks made BB !!), the top 3 after Round 3 are Big Boy, Redzonerocker & Lindosfan - Dai_L being relegated to 7th after a 4.5 point adjustment.

Also, congrats to BB on the Yellow Cap this weekend, the only one of us having faith in a win for the Sweaties!!

Next Round's fixtures: -

Saturday March 8th : Ireland vs Italy (Aviva Stadium, Dublin - KO 14:30 GMT)
Saturday March 8th : Scotland vs France (Murrayfield, Edinburgh - KO 17:00 GMT)

Sunday March 9th : England vs Wales (Twickenham - KO 15:00 15:00 GMT)

Best of luck to all .......... with the obvious exception of Beelzebub's XV!!

[EDIT] On a separate note, www.cricfree.tv have added a fair few channels (16 odd) and for me at least the streaming (from Spain for now) has been nigh on perfect. The rugby has been shown on Bein Sports (Channel 12).

[pharvey]

So Beelzebub and his clan have admitted defeat early and are selling off the soon-to-be redundant Grand Slam and Triple Crown merchandise on the cheap I see......

Capture1.JPG (60.58 KiB) Viewed 971 times

3 Days and counting........

[richard]

Well Mr. Harvey here's one for you..............................




A very tall man walks into a bar, and a lady recognizes him as an International Welsh Rugby player.

They start to talk and eventually go back

to his place.

They start to kiss, and the man takes off

his shirt.

On his arm, he has a tattoo that says REEBOK.
"What's that for?" the lady questions.

"Oh, I have this so that when I'm on TV,

people will see my tattoo, and Reebok

pays me."


Then the man takes off his trousers, and

on his leg, he has a tattoo that says NIKE.


'What's that ?' the lady asks...

"Just like the Reebok tattoo, I get paid when this tattoo is seen on TV."

Then the man drops his underwear and on

his penis he has a tattoo that says AIDS.


The lady screams: "Don't tell me you have AIDS!"

The man replies: "No, no...!!! CALM DOWN!!!

>>




>>



>>










It will say ADIDAS in a minute."

[dtaai-maai]

What a sweet performance by England.
Good play all round and a comfortable win, which would have been a lot more comfortable but for some silly penalties near the halfway line beautifully put away by Leigh TwoFarthings.

Triple Crown, thank you very much!

[richard]

Good game and that result certainly puts me in line for the 'wooden spoon'

[pharvey]

Had to work some cr@ppy hours over the weekend, so after avoiding the score for a couple of days, have finally seen the rugby.

Dear God, why oh why oh why........ not even Richard's welcome attempts at humour could bring a smile to the face after that display

However (with a lump in the throat)..... Congrats to Beelzebub's Babes on the win and the Triple Crown (bugger.... ). The Rose wearing rah rah gang played well and certainly deserved the win - another very disappointing display from those who should be kings however..

Whilst the Lillywhites look to be moving positively towards the 2015 RWC, we Boyos in Red have some serious thinking to do if we are to get through the group stages. A new Flyhalf and a change to the tactics wouldn't go amiss to start with. The unfortunate injury to Halfpenny could well see Hook make a welcome return against the Sweaties..... although only to the bench I suspect.

Very unlucky for the Sweaties against the Surrender Monkeys, I actually mistakenly picked them for the win in the Superbru League, but came very close to picking up some unexpected (but much needed) points!!

After the Paddies' thumping of Italy, something needs to go drastically wrong if they are not going to take the Championship this year....... a fitting send off for BOD methinks.

So, Ireland to take the Championship on points difference over England, Wales to steal 3rd place from France on points difference........ assuming of course we can overcome our Celtic cousins in Cardiff this Saturday!!

As for the Forum League, congrats to BB (AGAIN ) on the Yellow Cap

BB leading from RZR in 2nd and Hutchy10 in 3rd. The Welsh contingent keeping Richard company way down at the bottom of the pile.....

Here's to some great rugby (and a Pizza People win ) this weekend.

[Big Boy]

As for the Forum League, congrats to BB (AGAIN ) on the Yellow Cap

My lucky pin is available for hire

[richard]

As for the Forum League, congrats to BB (AGAIN ) on the Yellow Cap

My lucky pin is available for hire

I'm not the one to tell you BB but someone will probably suggest you stick it up your......

My bloody pin is obviously bent so it goes in the bin and that will be closely followed by the wooden spoon knowing my luck