Will Scotland benefit from playing at home? Will Ireland be able to achieve what the world’s number one team were unable to do playing at Twickenham? Answers on a postcard. Or below the line.
International rugby on the telly this weekend
Saturday 24th August
- Scotland v France 13:10 Premier Sports 2
- England v Ireland 14:15 (kick-off 15:00) Sky Sports Action & Sky Sports Main Event
Ovally Balls 
I’d love it if Sag had retired to a beach in Asia.
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Reckon Sag is in Yharnam though. Happens to us all.
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“This one’s for the golfers out there.
The article’s mince, but the comments are good and I think will strike a chord with our fairway friends…
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/25/scottish-golf-biggest-handicap-its-elitist-cubs-change-is-in-the-air”
I find McKenna’s articles a bit hit and miss, BB, which is fine, and perhaps things are very different in Glasgow but we have something like 21 golf courses/clubs in East Lothian and I bet at least half are municipal, and even those that aren’t probably charge a fraction of the green fees down here in Sussex on far inferior courses – Muirfield excepted of course, but I wouldn’t want to be a member of a club that wouldn’t have Groucho anyway, to paraphrase.
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Ticht – that’s what I took from the comments. I know a couple of people who are golfers and I don’t think either would be members clubs like ones mentioned in the article.
There does seem to be a fairly big Edinburgh based golfing group judging by BTL!
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Refit, sorry I did not see Kearney’s stiff arm on Curry in real time and Kruis’s incident was probably easier to spot but two wrongs don’t make a right.
Both Kearney and Kruis should be cited, as Barrett and Gabrillagues rightly were for similar offences. But what’s the point of the TMOs if Barrett is free to play in the WC, Gabrillagues sidelined for 6 weeks and the two others Scot free?
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@Flair – I didn’t see the Curry one either.
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Difficult one for Kruis, he is obviously going for a charge down, tries to pull out, and makes a real hash of it. Enough for a red card, generally, I would have thought. Kearney, looks like a plain old clothesline. What was he thinking? Both of them could be missing early games.
Barrett is a lucky boy for only getting three weeks, if he only gets three, so should have Gabrillagues, whose offence looked plain stupid, whereas Barrett’s had an air of malevolence about it, in my humble. Unless he got double for nutting his own player as well.
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@Refit – ah, that explains it!
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Me and Kitson in agreement:
England’s chariot running like a dream heading into the World Cup
He ups the ante with some top 70s and 80s music references.
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Greetings all.
I am back from a sunny week in Cornwall with my family.
Flying alone (from Dusseldorf, so first a long train ride) with Ada was challenging, but successful.
Thoughts on the rugby (caught up yesterday)
England look ruthless, powerful and clinical. Scary.
What Kruis did was just as bad as what Kerevi did to 1/2P.
Both England and Scotland are far, far better with home advantage.
Not a surprise that a top international player has been caught doping.
Finally they conducted a test shortly after a national team training camp. If they turned up unannounced at more training camps I reckon they’d catch more players on the hot sauce. It’s rather obvious that some guys are bulking up and leaning down to a suspicious extent.
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“It’s rather obvious that some guys are bulking up and leaning down to a suspicious extent.”
Karl
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@Expro – Glad your trip went well.
There’s a magnitude of difference between what Kruis did and what Kerevi did. Kruis had a soft arm* on the chest/neck/chin. Kerevi was a flying shoulder to 1/2p’s head.
*Albeit rather a large arm.
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I don’t see kruis’ as more than a yellow
Hard to see for Kearney’s without better angles, but at least a yellow
But that’s probably my bias
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Any news on Mako’s hamstring?
I thought there was very little in the Kruis incident. Looked like Byrne milked a brushing contact to me. Kearney should have seen red though. I know that comes across as a very rose-tinted view, which would be most unlike me (ahem) but never mind.
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Ha, just reviewed Gabrillagues clearout. My mistake, He nutted 2 Scots, and kneed his own player in the head.
Says banned substance, Pro, might be recreational.
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Do complaints need to be made for citings? In which case, Jones and Schmidt may well agree to leave well alone, quid pro quo.
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Match appointed citing commissioner decides who/what is cited, else we’d only be ganging up on the All Blacks/Saracens/Leinster etc. every week.
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Kwagga Smith in Elstadt out of the Bok 31.
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@Tomp – thought you were playing Cluedo for a minute there.
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Cheers for the uploads of the late hits. Kearney’s looked like the worse of the two, but both were tempting fate rather stupidly regarding citing risks.
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@Yosoy, good summary. I suspect the Patch isn’t quite right. Wildly guessing but perhaps confidence or even depression problems. Kicking is so fundamental to Wales’ game I reckon Gats is having sleepless nights about playing Jarrod in high-pressure games.
It is a pity Amos is so brittle, he’s played pretty well for Wales and would be a shoo-in for the utility back if his career wasn’t so stop-start. I don’t know much about Lane, but my feeling is he is another Holmes, Tom James type – Horse-lite.
As always it the second row that gives me the gyps. Cory needs some game time, for all his shortcomings he is a better partner to AWJ than Ball or Brad because he is a bit more smart and versatile. You can see Gats rushing Beard along because I don’t think he sees what he needs in the other two.
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Looks like Navidi is going to captain Wales on Saturday. A very likeable player and one of my favourites. I’m chuffed for him.
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Kitson’s swanning along after Saturday. His Cippers obsessions exorcised in just one game.
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Citing commissioner looks through the match, but the teams can also put through incidents for examination by them
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Good for Navidi. Even when I was sceptical about his selection he was a player you could really like and support.
I wonder if as part of these warm up games the NH coaches are exchanging information about the teams they will select well in advance of match day selection. Wales seem happy to help Ireland get back on the horse while looking at their own fringe players.
With hindsight the Wales vs Eng warm-ups look a bit pre-cooked regarding Big Cup preparation. I don’t mean that the players aren’t going for it, just that the coaches might have mapped out their preparation plans with each other in advance.
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@Ilks
I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if both Jarrod and Patchell go because neither are quite what’s needed, but they might be on a given day. Patchell has had long-term issues with concussion and his confidence has been affected by it after both absences. He does, though, have an excellent kicking game, so you can see why they might take a chance. He’s also the best Welsh 10 in the opposition 22: none of the others can turn a 3 on 3 like he can, although Jarrod is pretty close. Jarrod is also a tough nut physically (even though he doesn’t look it) and while he does make mistakes, he’ll try and try again. There’s a good case to take both.
Amos is the safer choice but Lane would be a carbon copy replacement for North. He’s a brute and Gatland obviously likes that. Both will get a chance this weekend.
Lock is always a worry outside the skipper. Ball isn’t – for me – test match quality. He’s a trier but he doesn’t excel at anything. At least Hill and Beard have big up sides to their game. Both are decent to good line out forwards, Hill has a great engine and Beard an excellent maul defender already. Horses for courses is probably the best solution.
There’ll probably be one or two selections that stump us. There usually are.
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@Iks – I’ve heard that Gats and Schmidt have an agreement for the Wales/Ireland matches, over team selection.
I’ve heard the term “making business decisions”, regarding player performance for the England/Wales games. Players with a bit of their mind on staying fit for the WC (even if not consciously).
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I really hope we take Patch and Jarrod. If we are going for it then bloody go for it, rather than scrape by game by game based on an attritional approach. The Webb thing is really annoying – only Wales etc.
With Amos and Lane then hopefully it can be pencilled in in the training camps then confirmed in the games coming up.
Agree about Ball. I’m not happy when he is contention for a first team place. He might bring more ballast to the scrum, but beyond that he comes over like a goat endlessly running into a post. Agree Beard and Cory offer more. Let’s not think about what happens if AWJ gets knobbled.
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“but beyond that he comes over like a goat endlessly running into a post.”
Well, if it’s good enough for the Hask, it should be good enough for any old goat….
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Must be a delicate balance for the coaches, and they must glean from each other what’s going on so these warm-ups do the trick.
Having said that the Eng vs Ire game’s scoreline was brutal – Ireland have a bit of a mountain to climb after that, no matter how disjointed Wales might be next up.
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Iks – fortunately AWJ seems indestructible.
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To be fair Hask did well there, just some bad luck on the trajectory.
Ball would have been bent into the horizontal, placing his beard on his boots. Still, he might have placed the ball back so a try was still possible.
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Thaum, he’s had a few injuries over the years. Got knackered against you mob in March, for instance.
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Has he? Obviously I haven’t been paying attention properly.
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Lane looks a super player on attack. Not sure about his defence but he’s played a bit at centre so one hopes not just a big fast lad with no brains.
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@Tomp
Lane’s defence is definitely his weak point. I’ve seen him struggle a fair bit with kicks in behind in particular. He’s a really good attacker, though. Nice feet for a big man etc.
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El Rayo Del Sol – I don’t really understand banning for recreational substances. Where’s the advantage? Fine them instead imo.
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Pretty sure it was an AWJ injurya few years ago that meant we got to see Andrew Coombs play for Wales and do remarkably well all things considered.
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Dunno, Craigs, quick line at halftime may give an unfair advantage. Think a bit of weed in the system shouldn’t be a hanging offence, mind.
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El Rayo – I don’t think it should be either. It would make more sense to me for it to get you dropped rather than banned.
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Isn’t there a bit of folklore about the French team being secretly given amphetamines prior to a game against the all blacks? In the 60s or 70s.
El Rayo – I mean generally. Weed and cocaine can’t be performance enhancing over the long term. Awj always looks fucked on something though so maybe I’m wrong.
Cmw – this.
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Craigs – 80s I think though quite possibly also earlier.
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Obviously in my system if you’re so good that you’re worth your place no matter how stoned etc you are then you still get to play. Life’s not fair.
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Lunchtime touch rugby season is back today. The only drugz I’ll be taking is Voltarol for my knees. And anti-inflammatories. And maybe some amphetamines.
Are Jelly Babies a drug?
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Think Finn had been on the weed at times on Saturday, gazing off in the other direction as the ball was passed to him.
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‘Are Jelly Babies a drug?’
Yes they are.
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My completely infallible view of where the home nations are in terms of the warm ups
England. World Champions elect. In spite of what Eddie says.
Wales. Runners up. Prob’ly
Ireland. Doooooooomed. Will be struggling to beat an egg.
Scotland. Same old inconsistency. Probably beat Ireland. Then lose to Samoa & Japan.
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Maynards purply wine gums definitely were, but they were withdrawn from the mix.
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Purple wine gums are the best
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@chimpie
Thinking about Pool A, it probably is a three horse race with Ireland still big favourites, even if their glory has faded a bit. This isn’t a classic Samoa team and I can’t see them winning more than one, but they could still duff someone up enough to scupper their chances in another game.
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