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 |

Genuinely shocked.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh my dog BB, that is Kathleen McInnes to Amos Lee’s left – one of my favourite singers
LikeLike
Scarlets nick it with am 81st minute penalty by Dan Jones. Not sure if the penalty was the right decision. Scarlets should have won easily after spending a load of time in the Bennetton 22 in the second half without doing much and chipping and grubbering and kicking far too much.
LikeLike
Arf. Burgess Meredith auditioning brit accents on the Hollywood backlot.
LikeLike
@TomP – kicking far too little if you factor in kicking it between the posts which there were plenty of chances to do.
LikeLike
Gerry got his pal Alison over to do a bit of Bob for this one. Love how Danny’s always just lost in the song.
So what’s the Mark Knopfler connection to this song?
LikeLike
Did MK play on the song, BB? I guess that would be too simplistic
I have no idea otherwise
LikeLike
The song is from Slow Train Coming (his first ‘Christian’ album) and Knopfler played on that album.
LikeLike
He’s on a fair bit of Bob’s Dog stuff isn’t he?
LikeLike
Iks, In the whole documentary Bob Hope turns up and Burgess gets him with a couple of cracking jokes before Bob waltzes into a taxi with Burgess’s money.
Also, Burgess smokes a gasper with a long Penguin-style cigarette holder. Is that a reference to an earlier performance?
LikeLike
I kind of like that Dylan went on the dog trip.
I don’t know why I like that fact that he did, but I do
LikeLike
CMW – he produced ‘Infidels’, which was apparently his first ‘secular’ album after the 3 ‘Christian’ ones (thanks Wiki!). Don’t know if he appeared on any more as I can’t be bothered looking through the 150* albums or so that Dylan has made.
*That figure may be a slight exaggeration.
LikeLike
Mind you, his best song for ages, and it’s right up there with anything else he ever did, was on the album after the three religious albums.
Having said that, it’s still full of iconography
LikeLike
BBeed instead of Deebeed
LikeLike
@BB – We were writing at the same time before. I don’t think Knopfler was into the God thing at all and was a bit taken aback by it. But yes he still ended up producing Infidels which is OK and probably the last of Dylan’s albums that I (sort of) like.
LikeLike
Mick Taylor also played on Jokerman, as did Sly and Robbie. Must have been great to pick and choose who you wanted to play on a song or album.
Mind you, I suppose if most people were asked to play on a Dylan album, they’d probably say ‘yes’!
LikeLiked by 1 person
@Ticht – I sort of bracket Jokerman with Changing of the Guards, perhaps because one’s the last big song before the God stuff (though arguably part of it I suppose) and the other is the first (only?) one after it. They somehow seem to belong together to me anyway. I prefer CotG by quite a long way though.
LikeLike
@CMW what I love and appreciate most about Dylan, apart from the fact that he and Johhny Cash, along with Lemmy, oversaw my transition from boy to plooky youth to very young man, what I enjoy most about him is that if you ask 100 people what are his top five songs you’d get about 80 people giving completely different top fives, 10 being about the same and the remaining 10 claiming Dylan is shite.
LikeLike
Idiot Wind, btw
just in case anyone is interested
LikeLike
Simon and Carbunkle too, they brought me up, along with many others
LikeLike
Wait a minute, Like a Rolling Stone is probably my number one,
Until I think of something else
LikeLike
LikeLike
Tangled Up In Blue for me.
LikeLike
avs, yeah, but I mean apart from that one
LikeLike
I have a crush on this young lady:
LikeLike
I had a premonition that ugly things would happen here last night. I wasn’t wrong. ;-)
LikeLiked by 3 people
er……………………….Girl from the North Country and Boots of Spanish Leather…………for now……………………..
LikeLike
Foxy out for the season, apparently. Knee op.
LikeLike
@Yos – dsappointing for Scarlets who at least in terms of managing to win some games have had a decent start to the season and should have hopes of doing well in the half of the Pro14 they’re in.
Think I read somewhere that Liam Williams is out for most of the season too so the Wales backline may not be all that come February.
LikeLike
@CMDubya
The Turks are reasonably well served with experienced 13 cover with Steff Hughes, Fonotia and Asquith – plus they’re only in the small cup this year.
Corey Baldwin is officially going well (although playing wing). Wouldn’t surprise me if Pivac fast tracks him in Foxy’s absence.
LikeLike
I assume we’re all firmly behind Bristol this afternoon?
LikeLike
Oops. Not a great tap and go there Brizz.
LikeLike
Nope. Fellow Borderer playing for Chiefs.
LikeLike
Pretty (s)crappy start. Knock ons, reset scrums and dodgy lineouts and then a glorious intercept and trundle by a Bristol fatty. Then more knock ons.
LikeLike
Much better scrum and clearance by Bristol. Their TH has quite the chops! Cuddly Kirsten viciously taken out by a Kiwi and they go for glory. Sam Simmonds eventually over for the 5 points.
LikeLike
Conversion good. 7-0 to BB’s brutes.
LikeLike
Deebee – Ex-All Black John Afoa, with the chops.
LikeLike
Bristol cock up another pass, Exeter boot it to the corner where Bristol take it out. They defend the maul superbly, forcing Exeter out and clear to the 22 from the lineout. Exeter bash it up but get pinged for the carrier being isolated and holding on.
LikeLike
Bristol have some seriously ugly bastards in their team.
LikeLike
Too easy! Exeter pinch the lineout, roar downfield with slick hands to the 5m before Nick White snipes over from close range. 14-0
LikeLike
Thanks Refit – no commentary here. He’s aged a little. Bristol wing slices through but no support. Recycles, but a phase later they get pinged anyway.
LikeLike
One of my mates is at the Paris derby. Very jealous.
LikeLike
Something happened whilst I was lighting the braai and Exeter got 3 more. 17-0. This is a hammering, made worse by Bristol’s inability to hold onto the ball and get any phases going at all.
LikeLike
Bristol get a penalty whilst I feed the dogs and kick to the corner. Another penalty for offsides, rinse and repeat. They try a smartarse move off the top of the lineout andcock it up. Evil Exeter march into the change rooms 17-0 up.
LikeLike
In other news, Tigers are currently getting thumped by London Irish, 22-6, with about 15 mins left to play.
LikeLike
Bristol finally give up on the idea of scoring tries and take 3 points. They’ve been better early on this half but still too lateral and lacking penetration.
LikeLike
C’mon the Irish!
LikeLike
Refit – shurely you mean ex-Ulster player, John Afoa.
LikeLiked by 1 person
LIR have won 36-11. Tigers wretched start to the season continues.
LikeLike
Hmph, I don’t like LI for obvious reasons. But I also dislike Leicester.
Let the Tigers be wretched, for we are going to see them play Cardiff on the mister’s birthday, and it would be a nice surprise for him if Cardiff won.
LikeLike