Well, unless you’re French, Welsh or Scottish….
International rugby on the telly this weekend
Friday 30th August
| France v Italy | 20:10 | Premier Sports 1 |
Saturday 31st August
| Wales v Ireland | 14:30 | Channel 4 |
| Georgia v Scotland | 17:00 | Premier Sports 2 |
870 thoughts on “Oh, woe is us!”
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Ovally Balls 
That’s a really nice try
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@Ticht – shit, missed that mucking about with equipment. Did it look Cup-threatening?
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Gatland confirms that Cory Hill has a fracture and won’t be available until game 2 or 3 of the RWC.
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Hang on, Hamish still on pitch. Okay?
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Thaum, he seems to be fine now
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Another good try, although Georgia made it easy.
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@Ticht – phew!
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Although, mind you, you *are* in our pool….
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Competent so far from us…
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Spake too soon
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I think you’ve been good. Couple of early errors but built a very handy lead early.
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Good maul defence from us
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I need to get another beer but I can’t leave the game
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@Yols, think Amos will creep past Lane because of the versatility angle. Samson looks like the game has left him behind a bit, so Brown might get the nod and a good lashing about discipline. The Carre lad should be targeting the next big cup.
Ball is clearly a better option than Brad, which pours mock on the strength in depth angle. Beard looks like a freshman who’ll get chewed up and spat out by some locks, but technically he is better than the other two so what can you do other than take him.
Centre is a real headache. Watkin was all over the place today and Scott always seems to be a spoon short from a full cutlery set. But if I imagine JD2 or Mr. Glue getting injured then Scott seems a safer pick but I’d prefer Watkin. Nurse, the screens.
Tomos must have leapfrogged Aled, who I would leave behind. I would also be looking at Wainwright as cover for 8 and let Navidi be Hooper with better hair. Taking Shingler would be a mistake, even if it is lineout risk.
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Strange old world when an injury to Cory Hill is a massive blow.
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Hamish made a very rare error there
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I think he had a kick charged down early on, but that apart Finn has been very very good
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@ Ilks
I don’t think Amos versatility plays that much in his favour as there are so many others who can shift around and play different positions. With Liam, Halfpenny and Patchell, you have 3 players who have started a test match at 15 (two of those in Lions tests), Adams has also played enough club rugby at 15 to fit there in a pinch v Uruguay or Georgia. Amos wouldn’t cover 13 as well as North would (who has started test matches there), nor Lane who is a monster. For me, he’s #32, unlucky to miss out but he doesn’t offer what Lane does with the ball.
Third tighthead… well, this is the ultimate Hobson’s choice. Lee used to be a decent scrummager and there’s more hope of him getting little victories via cheating due to his experience but he offers absolutely zero outside the tight. Conversely, Brown’s tight game is undoubtedly the most technically inferior I have ever seen from a Welsh test prop (I am going to gif that maul from early 2nd half). Yeah, he gets around the park for a big man, but he’s not exceptional at any facet of the game. He’s Pro14 impact sub level, truth be told.
If we can get away with taking 5 props, then that’s what I’d do. It honestly feels like a waste of a spot.
Ball>Bradley, absolutely. With Hill’s untimely injury, we have to take 4 locks now and they pick themselves.
Tomos should be above Aled forever now. Can we just pick Webb? Fuck the rules. I’d pick Scott Williams every day of the week above Watkin. I don’t think 3 centres is enough, really, but North and Lane can both move in one for tier 2 games.
I think I’ve come around to the idea that Shingler can’t go. He’s off the pace too much. If it was 2018 Shingler I’d be okay with it – more than okay, but I think I’d be tempted to go with a lighter mix in the back row and take Cubby. Obviously, he is back row number 5 and doesn’t start any of the big games. Hopefully Hill can get an elixir and provide 6 cover when needed. I think I’d be fine with Cubby coming off the bench at 60 if we had Navidi/Wainwright, Moriarty, Tipuric starting. Not ideal, but I could live with it.
I am expecting an unexpected selection or two, though.
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Ooooh, very nice try, almost violent in its pace
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Good period of pressure from Georgia 🇬🇪
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Ol’ Peter Wright not happy with the ref for that Georgian try…
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Peter Wright is never happy
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Is that you, BB?
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Maybe should have just written “Peter Wright not happy”…….
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Yup. Dunno why my name appeared.
My secret is out!
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That is about as Scottish Borders a name as it gets 😀
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Oh Darcy ya wee beauty
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Aye……
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D’you want me to erase all traces of your name, BB?
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Thaum – it might be better to do so, thanks.
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Edited because of Oops.
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Oops.
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Boot to the puss for Darcybut that was totally accidental
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TomP – I know, tell me about it. Horrible creep that he was.
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Fixed, BB!
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Thanks, Thaum.
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TomP – edited your post also, sorry. Protecting people’s identities is important.
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BB on the streets today:
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Job done, enjoyable game.
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I’ll take that
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@Thaum – there might be one of BB’s posts a couple of pages back as well (unless we have someone new posting).
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Clyde – I never even noticed that! I saw that (for some reason) my avatar hadn’t appeared, but not that my name had!
That’ll teach me to clear my cache….
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Thaum – it’s the Isuzu post.
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Thanks, CMW – found and fixed.
I somehow managed to miss that, even though I’d responded to it.
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Mickey Mouse International Cricket Update:
The Czechs shocked hosts Romania earlier. Turkey’s woes continued as they were bowled out for 32, which Austria knocked off in 2.4 overs.
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@TomP – think I might become a Turkey supporter.
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Sounds a bit too much like the kind of jobs Ticht was on about the other day though…
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Didn’t think either side were up to much earlier on. Ireland got their points very cheaply in the first half and didn’t really do much else other than win the scrums. Wales poor with the ball for a long time though they did have a lot of it and missed a load of tackles. Pleased Patchell went well though I felt a bit sorry for Jarrod as he got the short straw in terms of scrum halves to play with. Aled Davies has surely had enough chances and isn’t going to cut it. Disappointed with Watkin and though I still think he will end up doing better than Scott Williams in the long run I guess selection could go either way. Didn’t think Shingler was as bad as people are making out, some of his carries were OK and he pinched a lineout, though agree that he isn’t back to where he needs to be.
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Early highlights of the Scotland game below. Not great quality pictures, and only has Radio Scotland commentary with TV pictures (and they weren’t even in Tbilisi!).
I can sort of see why Peter Wright was annoyed with the ref at the Georgia try though – he seemed to wait ages before blowing up for the try. On the replay it did look as though the player grounded it, but there were loads of players around and on top of him – why not just go to the TMO to confirm?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/rugby-union/49539422
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Rules (Laws if you must) question of sorts: in the long series of scrums on Wales’ line in the second half one of them was a Wales put-in awarded after an Ireland player dropped the ball a couple of metres out from the line. It crossed the line and a Wales player touched it down. The 22 dropout would obviously have been much better for Wales than the scrum, but the scrum was given (and in these situations I think always is so I’m sure the ref was right). Why?
I’ve wondered about this quite often having found myself supporting teams with crap scrums quite a lot over the years.
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