None of you will be able to contain your excitement at the prospect of the Leinster v Ulster Pro-Woo final on Saturday. The good news for Ulster is that Iain Henderson is fit and starting, and Johnny Sexton is starting on the pine. The bad news for Ulster is that John Cooney has been relegated to the bench in favour of one Alby Mathewson, who has apparently played for some non-European side called the All-Blacks. Oh, and the fact that they are playing Leinster.
On the telly
Saturday 12th September
| Reds v Rebels | 10:15 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Leinster v Ulster | 18:30 | TG4 / Premier Sports 1 |
Sunday 13th September
| Wasps v Bristol | 12:30 | BT Sport Extra |
| Leicester v Northampton | 14:00 | BT Sport 1 |
| London Irish v Worcester | 15:00 | BT Sport Extra |
| Sale v Bath | 15:00 | BT Sport Extra |
| Saracens v Exeter | 16:30 | BT Sport 1 |
Monday 14th September
| Gloucester v Harlequins | 19:45 | BT Sport 1 |
Ovally Balls 
“Well, I will be supporting Leinster against Saracens, and expect them to win it.”
I can’t pick a side I’d want to win from either, tbh. It will have been great being a Leinster supporter over the years, but the operating budgets of them and Sarries probably aren’t much different
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@Ticht, it is my main pension unfortunately. Under current agreements between Germany and the UK which were written when both countries were EU members, the number of years I worked in the UK are factored into the German pension calculation.
I moved to Germany in 1994, after working and paying into the UK state pension from 1974 – 1994. Those 20 years would automatically be included in the German pension calculation, and they matter a lot. E.g. the amount of money involved affected my decision to join my employer’s early retirement scheme, knowing we could just about get by financially.
If these agreements are torn up then we are up shit creek without a paddle financially, and will have think seriously about selling the flat and so on. The way things are going now I really fear we’ll get a slash and burn Brexit where treaties and agreements like this get incinerated without any thought of the human cost, and it is a real headache because officials in both countries are asking the same questions as the clock runs down to the end of the year.
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Now having got that off my chest, onto the big stuff. Hard bun Thauma, sorry Ulster didn’t make it.
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Shit, Iks, that is terrible. I hope it can be resolved
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Cheers Ticht. It is a weird kind of limbo because neither country’s pension administrators have a clue regarding how the Withdrawal Agreement affects existing agreements, and what might change from one day to the next.
My pension is due to start in Feb 2021, which is very bad timing looking at the current impasse and toxic rhetoric.
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Wzzzps thumping Brizzle 31-14 at half-time. I think if Sale South Africans beat Bath, that might be the Top 4 sorted with Exeter, Sale, Wasps and Bristol?
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Meanwhile the Scotland centre battle continues with Matt Scott vs Rory Hutchinson.
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Tiggers drop two mauls, resulting in two yellow cards and one penalty try for Saints. Still leading though.
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Iks – sorry to hear about that mate. It’s a total shit show.
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Tiggers survive having two men in the bin and in fact increase their lead at HT. 19-10.
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So we have Sale vs Bath, an important game in deciding who will end up in the Top 4, ‘behind the red button’ whatever that means on BT Sport, yet they have Tiggers vs Saints on their main channel. Seems odd.
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Saints prop scores from 150 metres out!
OK, not quite, but a good run and an excellent hand-off on Ben Youngs.
Now Saints have a player in the bin. That’s 4 yellow cards in this game, 3 for Leicester and 1 for Saints.
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Bigger audience for Leicester v Northampton. More fans than Bath, more season-ticket holders than Bath, more social media presence than Bath (Leicester 148,000 followers on Twitter, Northampton 120,000, Bath 115,000).
Sale are followed by the DCI and his dog, and a lot of family members in South Africa.
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That’s not a very good conspiracy theory.
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Smug dull programme loses presenter. Surprised the show’s still on.
Not literally, sadly.
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It’s not been the same since Bill Beaumont left.
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You just know that Beaumont revised for the show.
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Beaumont was on it as captain for 14 years.
Twatson’s been doing it for 16 now.
He does other work as well, according to wikipedia. Takes the coin of Sodexo where he “works” as an ambassador.
https://www.energyvoice.com/other-news/trainingtechnology/161945/matt-dawson-rugby-world-cup-winner-sodexo-ambassador/
He absolutely doesn’t work in the department responsible for this:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-47334760
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My least favourite QoS memory is Emlyn Hughes sucking up to Princess Anne
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Princess Anne is an incredible woman. 70 years old and she’s just been promoted to General by the Army and Air Chief Marshal by the Royal Air Force. She’s already an Admiral in the Royal Navy.
What a fine example of multi-tasking that is.
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Iks – there’s a vote on the second reading of the ‘break international law’ bill at 10 pm. Let’s hope enough Tories show some backbone.
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(Fat chance, probably.)
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I wouldn’t count on many of this lot doing the right thing [1]. We can but hope though
Hang in there Iks, hope it works out.
[1] In my opinion obviously.
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The Little One is coughing and the system for getting a Covid test beggars belief. Why has it been set up as some weird sort of competition? It’s like they think we’re trying to buy Glastonbury tickets or something.
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The prizes are fucking shit. Imaginary appointment in Mexborough anyone?
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There were forty-eight of those, but sadly (?) none of them were on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
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Tried to book a test a couple of weeks ago. Options were Newcastle or Dundee. Got kits sent out in the end. No idea how reliable they are but came back negative
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Parent of a child at school has tested positive for covid. Eek.
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No home tests available either or we’d have taken one as my understanding is you have to do the test on your child yourself in any case (more than likely I will bugger that up, but there we are). I just find it staggering that it’s luck of the draw – if you happen to log in or refresh at a lucky time you get a test, if not then you don’t even if you’ve been waiting much longer. Why would anyone devise such a system?
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The questions on the site are also not well put together if you’re booking for someone else i.e. it’s not clear who they are asking about on some screens. Wouldn’t have been hard to get that right.
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It seems as if I’ll need to update that dictionary definition of “world-beating” once again.
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” there’s a vote on the second reading of the ‘break international law’ bill at 10 pm. Let’s hope enough Tories show some backbone.”
According to The Times Radio, Tory MPs are being threatened with expulsion if they vote against the government on this
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Presume the lords can wang it into the stratosphere if it gets that far?
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*sigh*
politics
Just made the mistake of reading Jenkins on the graun. I never learn.
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Not really. This is what happened in January: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jan/22/government-condemned-for-rejecting-lords-child-refugee-dubs-amendment
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Ah, democracy, it simply doesn’t work
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Omnishamblesclusterfuck
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DNA watch
I’m doing some implicit bias training (for everyone). Apparently my DNA thinks I live in the Savanna.
DNA watch ends
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You can update your sports calendar, there is an exception to the “6 people only” rule , you can have up to 30 if you go grouse shooting or hunting.
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Democracy’s working fine for some, Chimpie. Depends where you’re standing or lying.
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Once the morality, good faith and right thing to do is sucked out of it, the sky is the limit for c*nts with power.
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Well those examples to try to get covid tests speak volumes about the world-beating Blah not meeting reality.
I suppose the Tories know that the numbers of blithely ignorant voters who don’t need to use the system are quite happy to believe the propaganda. Then they don’t give a fuck about those that do.
It’s cruel, it’s sick, but clever because the votes are in the bag for 4 years while the virus ravages communities they hold in contempt anyway.
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@OT, It pained me so when the mighty Wolves signed Emlyn up.
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Thats probably SavannaH, Georgia, Craigs, and frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.
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Ed Miliband is actually ripping Johnson a new arsehole in the debate.
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Iks’ Mighty Wolves beating Sheffield Utd 2-0 at half-time.
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Hah. Cippers hits a clearing kick and after a couple of lovely offloads a try was scored. Just a shame Cippers plays for Gloucester and it was Quins that scored the try.
Still, that was probably enough for Kitson to write another article about Cippers being picked for England.
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Dreams of Mexborough are but a dim and distant memory…
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Now he blows a 4 to 1 overlap by throwing a forward pass.
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And lo and behold the time-honoured method of lighting a fag has finally made a test slot come up and it’s booked for tomorrow. What a system. Only got it by checking other social media sites and finding out that 8pm was the best (only) chance for York. Other people have waited four days though. Pity the poor old buggers not used to using the internet. And the ones without computers at all, the illiterate etc.
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