Something resembling first-choice teams have been named. Let’s hope they all survive the weekend.
International rugby on the telly this weekend
Friday 6th September
| Scotland v Georgia | 19:30 | Premier Sports 1 |
| England v Italy | 19:45 | Sky Sports Action / Sky Sports Main Event |
Saturday 7th September
| New Zealand v Tonga | 3:35 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Australia v Samoa | 10:30 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Ireland v Wales | 14:00 | Channel 4 / RTÉ Two |
Ovally Balls 
Jurassic world 2 is even dumber than the first one which is some achievement
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Pro, I was hoping AB would stick around a little longer, the comedy would have been worth it. A car crash of a team meets a car crash of a player.
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Well, that backfired a bit.
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I found this very sad to read. For someone so pro-remain I’m really struggling to comprehend the thought process behind it.
It’s pure Brexit.
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“would any of our Welsh supporters know if S4C is showing the Os v Edinburgh preseason match next week?”
I would certainly hope not.
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“I much preferred watching Scotland Ireland matches in the 1990s”
So did I even though I would have preferred Ireland to win them. Some entertaining games from memory.
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Hosting a so called ‘sleepover ‘
Kidz have been munching sugar. I’m sure this will all go fine.
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‘It’s pure Brexit.’
It’s a subtle form of psychological warfare pro’s been subjecting us to over the years.
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I’ve been selected to go and play cricket in Pocklington tomorrow and don’t have a passport at all.
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Last week I had to go to Lancashire, also without a passport, to get beaten by a team captained by a man called Stanley Accrington.
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It could have been worse, CMW, it could have been a man called Austin Healy
or Ford Granada
or Vic Nasal Spray
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Or Ford Prefect.
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Copied as far as I could from the Sunday Times without paying for a subscription
Amber Rudd today announces that she is resigning from the cabinet and quitting the Conservative Party over Boris Johnson’s “purge” of the party and his “failure” to pursue a deal with the EU.
In a move that will rock the government, the work and pensions secretary says she is quitting because there is “no evidence” Johnson is really seeking a deal with the European Union – despite claims that it is his priority.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Rudd also attacked the prime minister’s decision to kick out 21 senior Tories last week – including the former chancellors Ken Clarke and Philip Hammond and Churchill’s grandson Sir Nicholas Soames – as an “assault on decency and democracy”.
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Counter to that, you have to view Momentum’s moves to deselect non-Corbyn supporters from the Labour ranks.
Both parties have abandoned all pretence of a “broad church” membership
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Well done Ireland. NAILED ON WORLD CHAMPIONS!! *
* As are Wales.
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I went to the Southern Model Show today with my dad and son. Loads of planes, cars, boats, submarines and drones. Loads of geeks as well.
It was actually pretty cool. I bought a plane but am too scared to fly it.
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Well done Ireland on going top of the world, it’s a great achievement! A lot of people have been sticking their noses up at the rankings recently because the ‘right’ countries haven’t been topping it, but it seems more of a result of Ireland and Wales become consistent teams as opposed to ‘boom or bust’ type.
I didn’t get to watch the match, but it sounds like Wales were convincingly beaten. I was on a plane journey recently that had highlights of the 2019 6N, made me realise it was a bit of a lucky Grand Slam and perhaps these warm ups are us being found out. I hope I’m wrong…
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We’re a strong team but can be a bit dodgy away from home. Not sure if it is being found out as everyone’s losing games here and there. And every World Cup winner needs a bit of luck.
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That airline sounds great, by the way.
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@FBC – a bit lucky in Paris I suppose, but really the GS was pretty well earned if not all that spectacular. Getting to number one was certainly lucky in a sense in that the fixtures leading up to it fell in a certain way – played all the better sides in that run at home etc. That said Wales did get to the point where they had beaten everyone bar NZ the last time they played them so that’s surely always going to get you somewhere near the top of the rankings.
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We’re in a bad way, Ticht. Can’t see any good road out of it. Everything just feels fundamentally broken.
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@Ticht – has anyone actually been deselected by the Labour Party? People certainly were in the past. Even if some are there is clearly a difference between this being done from below to it being done from above. Or do you think all constituency parties should have to stick with the same candidate until they die/retire? I know she’s standing down finally, but there has to be a case for constituency parties getting rid of the likes of Kate Hoey given her views and voting for example. There are also lots of MPs who are known to have engaged in what a lot of people would see as dubious behaviour be that regarding expenses or other stuff and it’s hard to see why it should be a job for life no matter how they behave.
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Labour have asked that all their MPs apply for reselection by their local parties. No-one is being deselected by central office.
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For me there is a case for limiting the time a person can serve as an MP to a certain number of terms.
Either that or allowing other local members of the party to challenge them at local level for the right to stand as candidate in a GE.
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“I found this very sad to read. For someone so pro-remain I’m really struggling to comprehend the thought process behind it.
It’s pure Brexit.”
Not at all. Much the opposite.
As a migrant, with a child who has claim to three different national identities, I love the fact that humans are moving around the world more than ever before. Unlike Brexiters, I am firmly opposed to restricting this.
My point is that many fans seem to see ‘their’ national team through a nostalgic, rose tinted lens.
Rather than being ‘local’ players most national teams are now in fact ‘eligible’ players based on very generous rules that reflect the increased human mobility of recent decades.
My issue is with cynical project players.
I welcome players representing other countries if they moved there for reasons other than being a professional rugby player looking to earn more money and achieve international honours that would be harder to achieve in their home country.
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Pro – as long as when Ada grows up in the Netherlands but plays soccer for Turkey you don’t support Turkey right?
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@Craigs – it’s who she plays Rugby League for that counts surely?
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As someone who has recently started supporting Turkey at cricket I would certainly be happy to also support them at RL and look forward to the updates in twenty years time or so.
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Turkey already have male and female national RL teams, and Kadikoy Bulls play in the Balkans Super League.
Both teams are playing Greece today, I believe.
The men’s team are decent.
The Turkish fullback Jansin Turgat has played for Hull and Salford. Tragically he fell from from a multistorey carpark in Ibiza in May and is now severely injured.
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@Pro – great stuff (apart from the last bit of course).
I certainly wouldn’t have started supporting them if they didn’t have a team.
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CMW – didn’t know they had a league team tbh.
Not sure how one ‘falls from a multistorey carpark’ though.
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@Craigs – being thrown off by Michael Caine is more traditional, but I don’t see why someone can’t fall from one.
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@Craigsman
Suicide attempt….
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Result from Vancouver:
USA 20 (3T) Canada 15 (2T)
USA squad to be named this evening.
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I would be concerned that RL in Turkey might be largely an amateur affair and poor Ada might find her surname a heavy burden.
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That’s horrible pro. Hope he’s OK.
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Well done Ireland for making it to the top. Surprisingly brutal game yesterday, considering it was a friendly days before the teams leave for Japan. Thoroughly enjoyed the Irish commentators comments about Toner not being picked.
Love a bit of running rugby meself, but can also appreciate a well played tight game, with rock solid well organised defences, and two packs hammering each other in an effort to work a bit of space for the outside backs. Loose free flowing super rugby sometimes looks more like a game of draughts to me, Six nations slugfest more like a game of chess.
Roy just turned down the chance to be Englands next Ashes superhero then.
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IKEA on a Sunday. Why, why, WHY???
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🎵Forgive me IKEA I just couldn’t take anymore 🎵
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Magnus Bradbury will fly out to Japan with the Scotland squad as provisional cover for Jamie Ritchie.
Ritchie will stay in Scotland for further assessment on a facial injury. A decision will be taken later as to whether or not he will join the squad, whereupon Bradbury will have to leave
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Evening all! Saw a fair amount of the Ireland-Wales match and it was pretty physical for friendly. What pisses me off about Iteland being ranked Number 1, is that the Boks have played that ‘direct’ rugby for years and got nowhere close.
The mighty Golden Lions came up short in the Currie Cup final yesterday, losing by 2 points to the Cheetahs, who’ve played some very good rugby of late. Can the Cheetahs take this kind of form into the Pro14? Would be nice. Ulster’s favourite son, Ruan Pienaar was a key cog for them.
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@CMW, there are a lot of questions in there, I wasn’t ignoring them, just taking a bit of time to think about them.
“has anyone actually been deselected by the Labour Party? People certainly were in the past. Even if some are there is clearly a difference between this being done from below to it being done from above.”
Momentum was set up by the guy who ran JC’s leadership campaign, the leadership seem to me to be comfortable with the group, there is absolutely nothing wrong in that of course, but given the history I find it extraordinary to suggest that Momentum are acting without the consent of the leadership, and if that is indeed the case then there is purely a semantic difference between one party carrying out deselection from above and one from below.
Hove has an MP who is being targeted for deselection and the reason is his vocal opposition to Corbyn.
I canvassed for Nancy Platts at a general election once, she has since become leader of the Labour group on Brighton and Hove city council. She had previously worked with Corbyn as a liaison officer for the Unions. Platts had the support of Momentum.
I also had the pleasure of working with a Labour councillor on a community project, she was brilliant, real old skool Labour left, the reason she was never selected for a general election contest was her opposition to Trident and her membership of CND, along with her very left of centre politics. (the ironing is that she lost her seat to the Green party as a protest against the Iraq war, a war she had been walking the streets in protest against)
My point here is that yes, it has happened in the past and it is happening now, I don’t like it from either wing of the party, even though I definitely identify with the Left of the party.
The reason I don’t like it is because the British electorate is far more conservative than I’d like, I don’t think there has ever been a Labour prime minister from the left of the party and only one has won re-election, if Labour are going to win, they need someone who is, unfortunately, more like Blair than Corbyn. I know Labour did much better than expected in 2017 against a clown car Tory party with seven years of austerity under their belt, but they still lost.
“Or do you think all constituency parties should have to stick with the same candidate until they die/retire? I know she’s standing down finally, but there has to be a case for constituency parties getting rid of the likes of Kate Hoey given her views and voting for example. There are also lots of MPs who are known to have engaged in what a lot of people would see as dubious behaviour be that regarding expenses or other stuff and it’s hard to see why it should be a job for life no matter how they behave.”
I completely agree that constituency parties should be able to select who they want, but it’s also not quite as straightforward as that. We have Caroline Lucas as our MP, she is a major player who is very popular among her constituents, and is someone who has attracted many voters from other parties. Replacing her with anyone else would seriously jeopardise the chances of the party holding on to the seat, even if she severely pissed off other senior members of the local and national parties that would be the case.
I’m not in favour of a limit on number of terms someone can hold the post, and that is the same for any post – would we rather have had another four years from Obama or what we have in the White House just now?
There should be some kind of reselection process though, yes.
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Labour did deselect from above at one point. It’s how Alan Johnson got into Parliament at the 1997 election I think. Fella he replaced got a peerage out of it.
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As Refit said, all Labour Party MPs are subject to re-selection by their CLPs. I don’t think mine will have any trouble; he’s been excellent both locally and nationally. I’ve actually no fricking idea if Momentum supports him or not.
I keep reading all these awful things about Momentum on-line, but I’ve never personally witnessed their awfulness. There may be and probably are Momentum members in my CLP, but they don’t particularly make themselves obvious. I’m not a supporter of theirs, but from what I’ve seen, what they do well is the social media stuff that I for one would be absolutely useless at, not being a fan of that sort of thing. But it does seem to be a big factor in election-winning these days.
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And now the result for which you have been waiting…
Otago 35 – 27 Taranaki
Otago retain the Ranfurly Shield and look forward to their next defence of it (home games only, unless the holders decide to ‘take it on the road’) against Waikato on 29th Sept. Should be a goodie as it was Waikato they took it off last year, both teams depleted by RWC commitments and the Mooloos (Waikato) seeking revenge.
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I notionally support Otago, but Mooloos is a great name.
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*Real Cricket Update*
Had got to about fifteen this afternoon by pushing twos through gaps when I got smacked in the chops by a ball thrown in from the boundary that bounced horribly and was missed by the keeper. Thankfully all teeth intact, bit of a swollen jaw though. I’d already decided that I was well enough in to open up a bit so got on with it and then hit six or seven fours on my way to 50 and retirement. Now I have people queueing up to punch me in the face before I next go out to bat.
WIXI were 101/3 off 21 overs when I retired, but only made 162 off 40 in the end, our most destructive player out first ball for the second week in a row and things getting rather bogged down. Probably the thirty runs he should have scored short. We put in a pretty decent effort in the field to try to defend it, a new fast bowler who came along as a mate of one of our newer players took three wickets. Might have won the game by bringing him back late on, but it had got quite dark and there were various juniors batting for the opposition. He took it very well when I told him it wasn’t going to happen as I’d rather lose which makes him absolutely the right sort of person so hopefully we’ll see him again. Pocklington won eight wickets down with three overs to spare, most of their runs scored by Derek Nasal Spray and Barry Cortina.
*Real Cricket Update ends*
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Ouch, CMW. Rough old game , that real cricket. Back in the day, I got told at one point by my boss to give up cricket, as we played home games on an artificial pitch with a ridge at one end, and I would regularly turn up for work on a Monday with a black eye or bruised cheek, being the drop the bat on it opener. Customers/clients thought I had been fighting regularly, apparently, but boss, being a cricketer, could tell from the usual seam imprint that I was telling the truth.
Ticht, the whole Labour thing is heartbreaking. As usual, Corby is too “traditional” Labour to win an election, so everyone thinks that we need a Blair ( how did that go last time ? ) or similar. Thats why we(you) have Boris now. Me, I would rather have Boris, who is obviously a snake, than a Blair, who managed to pretend otherwise for a good few years, and even convinced me to vote for him. I left the country because of that poisonous DFS, I currently live in an area where it frequently stays at 10 below zero for days at a time in the winter, and there are people living in tents and under an old railway bridge in town. Very little healthcare provision, altho as the “Communist ” State, Connecticut does have way more emergency welfare than any other State. I have seen the future, and if you wish to have a happy retirement, invest all your spare cash in private cancer care and elderly care companies, because thats whats billion dollar business here. Work 70 hours a week for 50+ years, so that you can die broke after paying 20k a month for healthcare for your last couple of years. Ask Jeremy Hunt for advice on where best to invest.
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@sunbeamtim
Insert “I didn’t realise you’d moved to Oldham” joke here.
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USA RWC XXXI
FORWARDS
David Ainu’u (Toulouse, FR), Eric Fry (Vannes, FR), Olive Kilifi (Seattle Seawolves), Titi Lamositele (Saracens, UK), Paul Mullen (Houston SaberCats), Dylan Fawsitt (Rugby United New York), James Hilterbrand (Manly Marlins, AU), Joe Taufete’e (Worcester Warriors, UK), Nate Brakeley (Rugby United New York), Nick Civetta (Doncaster Knights, UK), Ben Landry (Ealing Trailfinders, UK), Greg Peterson (Bordeaux Bègles, FR), Hanco Germishuys (Glendale Raptors), Tony Lamborn (Melbourne Rebels, AU), Ben Pinkelman (USA Sevens), John Quill (Rugby United New York), Malon Al-Jiboori (Glendale Raptors), Cam Dolan (NOLA Gold),
BACKS
Nate Augspurger (San Diego Legion), Shaun Davies (Glendale Raptors), Ruben de Haas (Free State Cheetahs, SA), AJ MacGinty (Sale Sharks, UK), Will Magie (Glendale Raptors), Bryce Campbell (London Irish, UK), Paul Lasike (Harlequins, UK), Thretton Palamo (Houston SaberCats), Marcel Brache (Western Force, AU), Martin Iosefo (USA Sevens), Blaine Scully (Unattached), Mike Te’o (San Diego Legion), Will Hooley (Bedford Blues, UK)
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