OvallyBalls can now reveal that our operatives have made secret recordings of discussions that took place some years ago. Names may have been changed to protect the not-that-innocent.
Wrigel Nay: Right, chaps, this salary cap is a bit awkward, eh what? If we are to DOMINATE the Premiership and the European Cup, we need you players. And obviously you won’t play as well if you’re not millionaires.
Basil ‘Bog’ Brush: Well, y’need the motivation. I coulda gone inta footba’, and got my money for nothing, and my chicks for free. In rugby, I have t’ make a lo’ o’ no-arms tackles, and tha’ stings a bi’ sometimes.
Maro Match (melodiously): Uhmm, I’ve got lots of arms; I’m like an octopus, mate. Uhmm, but every extra 100 grand grows another arm. Plus, it’s fodder for my political campaign chest.
The Puny Voles: We’ve got our private doctors and personal massage therapists to pay for. It’s not cheap being injured all the time. We are reduced to pretending to go on Z-list sleb programmes to survive. And it’s boring, so the finest Dom is in order.
Maro Match (melodiously): Uhmm, Classic Dom?
The Puny Voles: Nah, mate, Dom Pérignon.
Wrigel Nay: Don’t worry, chaps, I have a plan. You set up some limited companies, and we ‘invest’ in them in lieu of salary.
[Collective sound of gum-guard-sucking.]
Wrigel Nay: I’ll have my people contact your people to explain it all. [Drones on until everyone falls asleep.]
On the telly this week
Friday 8th November
| Connacht 11 – 42 Leinster | 19:35 | TG4 / Premier Sports 2 |
| Edinburgh 20 – 17 Dragons | 19:35 | Premier Sports 1 |
| Sale 28 – 18 Wasps | 19:45 | BT Sport 1 |
Saturday 9th November
| France 10 – 20 England (women) | 13:10 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Gloucester 12 – 21 Saracens | 15:00 | BT Sport 2 |
| Zebre 7 – 31 Glasgow | 15:00 | Free Sports |
| Ospreys 14 – 16 Kings | 15:00 | Premier Sports 1 |
| Cardiff 30 – 17 Cheetahs | 17:15 | Premier Sports 1* / S4C |
| Munster 22 – 16 Ulster | 17:15 | Premier Sports 1* |
| Scarlets 20 – 11 Treviso | 19:35 | Premier Sports 1 |
*Both of these cannot be right. But that’s what the site says.
Sunday 3rd November
| Exeter 17 – 22 Bristol | 15:00 | BT Sport 2 |
Ovally Balls 
I’ve looked at a GIS map this morning. Think that’s me out of ideas for GIS day ‘celebrations’.
LikeLike
LikeLike
Shaun Edwards confirmed as France defence coach.
LikeLike
Yos – Hmmmm, I wonder how well his approach will go down there.
LikeLike
@craigs
I heard that he’s already planning to fall out with Xavier Garbajosa.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I assume that the Beeb license fee helps keep the World service afloat ? In the grander scheme of things, that should be enough. Whilst I do feel that certain unsympathetic coverage is questionable, knocking the Beeb is a bit like saying the NHS is a bit shit, so we should privatise it, and I could tell a tale or two about healthcare in the US, NPR is a wonderful organisation, the Beeb it is not.
Other things I don’t fancy- France with a tight defence. Nice one Shaun.
LikeLike
A more consistent France with a tight defence. Nice.
LikeLike
May never happen as the coaches will get about 5 minutes with the team, mind.
LikeLike
I can feel an Allo Allo meets Our Friends in the North inspired atl brewing.
LikeLike
Sean: Tordez votre casquette quand vous parlez à vos meilleurs!
French player: Je n’ai pas de casquette Monsieur Edwards
(It’s a Brass reference)
LikeLiked by 1 person
@OT
Aaah… Brass – brilliant……SBD
LikeLike
@Chimpie
You are right on both counts: France with a tight defence are to be feared; France national team coaches have too little time to achieve much at all
I would add (having watched and admired Edwards’ work with Wales for many years): you cannot have both. You can drill the Gats/Edward* defence and, if the players dont rebel under the physical strain, you will compete with anyone. But there is a sacrifice. To do the RL style defence properly, you must build your game around it. Completely. And, the sacrifice is, on attack, everything is laborious as players are set to defend above all else (or it doesn;t work).
Ok, someone, throw the ABs at me. They defend superbly and attack even better. But, they do not devote their game to defence at all expense (as Edwards dictates). The ABs concede a lot of tries but back themselves to get (a lot) more. Didn’t work vs England but thats the exception, not the rule. The Edwards game is built to enable hardworking, but limited, teams to punch above their weight.
As for his role with France, I concur with you Chimpie, they won’t listen. Even if they do, the gameplan will stifle their brightest lights (Ntamack, Penaud, Aldritt, Dupond and so on).
*or, the Schmidt/Farrell
LikeLike
Oh my, I have my pants down waiting for a thorough TomP’ ing.
Or even a double STATATAK with my foolish The ABs concede a lot of tries but back themselves to get (a lot) more
LikeLike
‘@Chimpie
You are right’
But of course.
LikeLike
“Oh my, I have my pants down waiting for a thorough TomP’ ing.”
Easy, Tiger
LikeLiked by 1 person
Saffers are the new reference point, utna.
4 tries conceded in 7 games and lots scored.
The Edwards defence worked cos of fitness as well. Gatz was mad for that. France’ll have a lot more players who are more talented but would they be fit enough to play the system?
LikeLike
Shaun gets too much credit for his “watertight” defence. France scored almost at will against Wales, both during the 6N and the RWC.
France defence is not the problem (ahem… except against England?). The problem is access to the players and poor coaches, besides Noves who never got a chance to work for enough time.
Galthié ‘s good though, but that won’t be enough.
LikeLike
@utna @tomp
I think what utna has described there is South Africa’s approach. How did SA do in the world cup?
– lost vs NZ
– beat Namibia
– battered Italy & Canada
– beat Japan
– squeezed past Wales
– beat England largely through a) suffocating defence and b) scrum penalties early on. The tries came later as England lost their composure and discipline (according to Squidge anyway).
Squidge also pointed out that the team that have England’s number are Wales who play a similar way.
LikeLike
George Ford rumoured to be on his way to Leeds Rhinos.
According to The Sun that is.
LikeLike
50% winning record *this year alone.
*0% in the previous three.
LikeLike
Gregor Townsend is the one that has Eddie’s number.
LikeLike
@yosoy
yeah but Squidge said it so it must be true.
LikeLike
What a frustrating day, I couldn’t find my torx head drivers, so had to go to the shop to get replacements. twenty five quid.
Then just as I got home I remembered what else I’d gone for, so off back to the shop I went.
Now I can’t find my box of drill bits, I remember thinking that I must remember the fact that I’d put the box somewhere different from where I’ve kept it for the last ten years, but who knows where this new location is.
In the end as I was putting up trinket shelves on plaster board I just punched the holes through with a couple of screwdrivers, the stuck the fixings through the hole.
Still no eye deer where the feckin drill bits are, but there are a lot of them, SDS+ bits, wood bits, metal, everything you could ever want, if you can find them.
LikeLike
Look at all these lovely drill bits and torx heads!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Grrrrrr…
LikeLike
It’s kind of annoying that you can’t wire up an oven without specialist screwdrivers, I mean I understand why, but it’s still annoying when you’ve lost or lent your gear out and don’t have it when you need it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ticht – just use cutlery.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha! A flash of inspiration just as I posted that last one and I’ve found the box of drill bits, so that’s good.
No prizes for guessing what was sitting right on top of the flippin box.
Eedjit.
LikeLike
Craigs, I would but I don’t have torx head cutlery
LikeLike
Ticht – if you mash fork prongs into the hole you could get enough grip.
LikeLike
Or you can actually use allen keys in torx screws. Not recommended every time but it does work.
LikeLike
@OT
Eddie says England were just tired in the Final, no other reason they lost:
“It was one of those days. Sometimes they start the game brilliantly and things come off for them.
“We start the game a little bit off, lacking a tiny bit of energy because we’d played four big games in a row. That’s the reality of it – we just came unstuck.”
Er, 4 in a row? With an extra week off in the middle and not playing France? Yes, Eddie.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Iks-Displeasing Prog Band In Guardian Review Shock!
or perhaps…..
An Actual PROG Band In Guardian Review Shock!
or even…
Gig That BB Attended Gets Guardian Review Shock (And Not Too Sniffy A Review Either!)!
And no, I didn’t write it.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/nov/13/marillion-review-royal-concert-hall-glasgow
LikeLike
Love the pictures at the top of this article…
Especially the way the guy’s heading the ba’! Just a shame they don’t say how many internationals Scotland have played, even just as a counterpoint figure to England’s.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/nov/13/before-england-1000th-story-first-full-international-football-scotland
LikeLike
“Shaun gets too much credit for his “watertight” defence. France scored almost at will against Wales, both during the 6N and the RWC.”
You wait till Shaun tells the French find out about playing for more than 40 minutes against Wales. It’ll blow your minds.
LikeLike
I’d pay to see the first bollocking of the French team by Sean and the reaction from the players.
LikeLike
*Shaun.
LikeLike
DeeBee, so Eddie is saying he didn’t condition his players properly, despite having a game off.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reckon the French players are more likely to listen to Shaun The Sheep…….
LikeLike
When I were a lad, the French would more likely burn a British sheep rather than listen to it.
LikeLike
The new Shaun the Sheep, Farmageddon, is one of the great film titles
LikeLiked by 1 person
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-11-12-boks-welsh-wizard-laid-a-foundation-for-rwc-glory/
LikeLike
For Thaum :-
LikeLike
Letter from America:- Just saying.
https://qz.com/1741113/no-refugees-were-resettled-in-the-us-in-october-2019/
LikeLike
For Avs:-
LikeLike
TomP, I think we could both agree that the best Welsh player besides AWJ has been Vahaa twice.
The French played 80 minutes at the RWC, and Wales hardly threatened their line, did they?
Unless Shaun has recently learnt how to get his team going on the spot from a defensive position to an attacking one, I honestly don’t see what he brings to the party.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“I think we could both agree that the best Welsh player besides AWJ has been Vahaa twice.”
Not really. Team game etc but Vaha’s just a part of the problem for the French squad.
“The French played 80 minutes at the RWC,”
And scored 0 points in the second half, which is strange for a team that could score tries “almost at will”. They were a man down for 30 minutes but still it’s possible to score when short. And only 3 points in Paris in the 6 Nations. Plus the way France fell away v Argentina and Tonga, games that were won after excellent first half performances.
Check out the way Wales defended v England in the 6 Nations against the way France “defended” against England a couple of weeks before. One team knew what it was doing and made it more and more difficult for the English, the other was wearing blue who were clueless and just waved the English through and conceded 40 points without England having to work particularly hard for the win.
The main reason Wales beat France in the 6 Nations and in the RWC and have beaten 8 out of the last 9 times they’ve met is that they’re a better and a better-coached team. Luckier probably, with not quite so many talented individuals definitely, but a better team and Edwards was a big part of that.
I hope he can achieve something like the same success with France that he has with Wales. Even to make France a little more competitive with the Big European 3 of England, Ireland and Wales would be some achievement, mind.
LikeLike
i hope they pick Raka on the wing, too!
LikeLike
That Big European 3 will of course have a say themselves in how competitive France are with them. Have to thhink Ireland have been doing their bit in the last year and I fully expect Wales to follow suit though maybe they could do something amazing instead. Signs less encouraging from England who didn’t look like they would get on board, but perhaps the World Cup final was the start of something…
LikeLike
Tomp – do you buy into Gatland’s warning about a fallow period after he leaves? Or is that just him being him?
LikeLike