That’s what I get for venturing a rugby opinion on a rugby Notablog: roped into writing about some rugby stuff rather than wittering nonsense. Well, it may still be nonsense, but there we go. Teams haven’t been announced as of this writing, but without further ado some ‘ predictions’:
Leinster vs Saracens
What I said previously: “I can see Sarries giving the Blue Evil a run for their money at the weekend, possibly even sneaking it”.
I’ll stand by this. It’s suitably vague for me to claim a win whichever way it goes. And whichever way it goes, evil wins. Salary cap busters and relegation fodder Sarries, with their strong squad – albeit minus a finally-sanctioned Faz – vs the giant-squad-sized Pro-14 champs-for-life Blue Meanies. Who would bet against Leinster at home? However home advantage may not count for much in a crowdless stadium, and impending relegation doesn’t seem to have dented the Londoners’ squad or resolve significantly so far.
Ones to watch
Leinster: Sexton was relegated to the bench for last week’s ProWoo final in favour of Byrne which seemed to do Leinster no harm whatsoever.
Saracens: Fez is serving his ban but watch him anyway. Very carefully.
ASM Clermont Auvergne vs. Racing 92
What I said previously: “No idea about Racing vs Clermont”.
Still no clue really: not been following the Top 14 at all of late. Finn plays for Racing, though, and he keeps doing funky stuff which hits YouTube highlights when not taking a strop with Scotland management. They’re probably pretty good overall, as *taps in search quickly* they are top of the T14 at the moment! Okay, only two games into the season, but still top – and won both of them.
ASM are third, having won one less game, but are at home (got beaten by Bayonne last time out, however), and they don’t lose at home that often. And they play in yellow. Are crowds allowed in for this one? I don’t even know that.
Ones to watch
Racing 92: Finn! Watch him dance; see him spin!
ASM: err *hastily types in search* Oooh, Damian Penaud! He’s pretty handy.
Toulouse vs. Ulster
What I said previously: “Step too far for Ulster, vs Toulouse”.
Facing Toulouse at their home ground is a hell of a challenge, and while Ulster have made big strides in recent years under Dan McFarland, this may be one a bit too large. Still, should be able to make a fight of it, coming from behind to squeak past Wmbra in the ProWoo QF (boo!) before being pipped by Leinster in the final.
Toulouse are one of the big names in Europe with actual cup wins and stuff, and a squad stuffed with talent, both home-grown (current France half-backs) and foreign (including Cheslin Kolbe). There have been no cup wins since 2010 and I’m sure they’ll be wanting their name on the cup once again.
Ones to watch
Ulster: Marcell Coetzee. Not flashy but very solid.
Toulouse: Romain Ntamack. The silky hair and dreamy eyes.
Exeter Chiefs vs. Northampton Saints
What I said previously: “Exeter will biff Northampton”.
Probably true. The cultural appropriators have been winning a lot even when putting out B teams (yes, I know they got done by Sarries last weekend), whereas Northampton’s form has gone off a cliff a bit. Exeter are a well-known quantity now, but teams still don’t know how to stop them when they get into the oppo 22. They combine a beastly pack with some incisive backs and are a contender for the whole log this year, one suspects. Northampton were riding high in 2019 and early 2020 but their freewheeling style seems to have hit a bumpy patch, and they lost to basement-dwellers Tiggers last outing. Can only see one winner here.
Ones to watch
Exeter: There’s no I in team.
Northampton: The ref needs to heed Big Dan Biggar’s advice.
As predicted by Chimpie
On the telly
Friday 18th September
| Bristol v Dragons | 19:45 | BT Sport 2 |
Saturday 19th September
| Reds v Brumbies | 09:45 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Bordeaux v Edinburgh | 12:30 | BT Sport 3 |
| Leinster v Saracens | 15:00 | BT Sport 3 |
| Clermont v Racing 92 | 17:45 | BT Sport 3 |
| Toulon v Scarlets | 20:15 | S4C / BT Sport 3 |
Sunday 20th September
| Toulouse v Ulster | 12:30 | Channel 4 / BT Sport 3 |
| Leicester v Castres | 15:00 | BT Sport 3 |
| Exeter v Northampton | 17:30 | BT Sport 3 |
Monday 21st September
| Sale v Harlequins | 19:45 | BT Sport 1 |
Ovally Balls 
GLOUCESTER RUGBY
Matt Banahan, 14. Ollie Thorley, 13. Chris Harris, 12. Billy Twelvetrees, 11. Jonny May, 10. Lloyd Evans, 9. Willi Heinz; 1. Val Rapava-Ruskin, 2. Jack Singleton, 3. Fraser Balmain, 4. Matt Garvey, 5. Matias Alemanno, 6. Jake Polledri, 7. Lewis Ludlow ©, 8. Ruan Ackermann
REPLACEMENTS
Henry Walker, 17. Corne Fourie, 18. Jack Stanley, 19. Ed Slater, 20. Jordy Reid, 21. Joe Simpson, 22. Tom Seabrook, 23. Louis Rees-Zammit.
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Twenty years ago today.
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ticht, The FT are finally on the drugs case:
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Glaws Gloucestering again, Bath running out comfortable winners by 11 points after Glaws were 17 points up with 20 odd minutes to go.
Beadle must be fuming.
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I know. And Cipriani didn’t even give Bath any of their tries either!
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Ooh! A Prague team onna telly! Sadly for TomP, not his beloved Bohemians but the Slavia bunch. At least it isn’t Sparta…*
*This could be the other way about.
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They’re bad, BB. But not evil.
Couple of good names – Masopust is the big end of winter festival when Czechs kill and then roast a big over an open fire. Some of the most horrific scenes of drunkenness I’ve witnessed were on Masopust.
And I know someone called David Zima, but he’s not the defender playing here but an official at the Ministry of Agriculture. Zima means both winter and cold. Je my zima means I’m called. Je zima is It’s winter.
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Je my zima means I’m cold
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That last paragraph was like something out of Masopust.
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Just because….
As part of an occasional ongoing series (or when I can be arsed), albums released on this day.
Nice start – The Band by The Band.
Could have picked any track, but might as well go with this.
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And of course there had to be a prog album in there somewhere.
Camel – Breathless, 1978.
This song is a bit 70’s funk-lite, but the solo at the end!
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CMW, aye. Just the thought of what I once witnessed in the town of Telc sends me all peculiar.
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That festival would go down a treat in large swathes of South Africa, TomP, for all the wrong reasons. Depending on how you pronounce it.
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thanks to Trisk for pointing this out:
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Only £299.99
https://intelligencesquared.com/events/how-to-lead-a-masterclass-with-sir-clive-woodward-online/
Plus VAT.
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That Tony Collins clip shows how the evolution of the play-the-ball in RL was a natural progression from the tackled player heeling the ball backwards in a scrum as per the 1871 rules.
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Yes, interesting how what was a “progression” was actually a “reversion”.
I’ve not really watched a lot of RL since it disappeared off BBC (Challenge cup excepted) – but IIRC at the play-the-ball the opposition could “strike” when the ball was placed down (or was that just “dark arts”?)
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@trisk
Trying to nick the ball at the play-the-ball was outlawed sometime in the mid-90s. They were trying to clean it up – you might remember players could also tap it forward to themselves and it didn’t have to go to the acting half back, but they banned that as well. Shame as it was the fatties favourite way of scoring a try if they were tackled near the opposition line – tap it forward, pick it up, and drive over for a try.
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and Tony Collins stuff is interesting – places the evolution / events in their social context.
The podcast on the “funny business” around Holbeck RL and Hunslet AFC and the start of Leeds City FC (foreunners of Leeds United) is very interesting .
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Yeah – still can recall Colin Dixon doing that in some game or other for Salford….”pick and go”
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Pro Howevermany try of the season, there must be, oh, twenty seconds of action from this showpiece video, and they left half the move on the cutting room floor.
https://www.pro14.rugby/latest/award/graham-wins-eir-sport-try-of-the-season-award
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” what was a “progression” was actually a “reversion”. ”
Thankfully there’s nothing else we might say that about in this glorious day and age of ours.
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There are seasons in every country when noise and impudence pass current for worth; and in popular commotions especially, the clamours of interested and factious men are often mistaken for patriotism.”
Publius letter II, Alexander Hamilton, October 1778.
I just watched PMQ
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Trisk, you can watch some excellent rugby league with the help of a proxy server and a new south wales post code. I get extended highlights and full match replays on the NRL website, and also channel 9, which gives access to on demand three games a week.
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Deebee, interesting quote from founding father Alexander Hamilton there, who was one of the most corrupt pieces of work around at the time. His personal policies managed to rob thousands of Revolutionary war veterans of there land in a tax scam that enabled him and his buddies to clean up hundreds of thousands of acres of cleared land, particularly thru Pennsylvania, at a tiny fraction of the market value . Plus ca change.
BB, the Band an interesting tie in to more of my current reading material about the Civil War and the downfall of the South, and the more I read, the more horrified I get at how history gets slanted by the victors, who were by no means pure in their intentions or their actions, before, during and after the war, particularly with respect to their economics intentions, which seemed to follow Alexander Hamiltons lead, intentionally impoverishing the poor non- slaveholding Southerner, and emancipated slaves, and using dubious Federal laws that allowed northern industrialists to seize huge areas of farmland and what remained of the industrial infrastructure, to be administrated by them for the common good, and usually sold to them at cents in the dollar value after a short period of time.
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Quiet day, time for a music link. Not usually my cup of tea, but I love the way this song starts to the beat of the tractor, and I do like Brad , who seems a nice progressive kind of guy.
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Pro14 fixtures announced, at least the first half of them.
Lots of Monday night rugby https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/54251136
Leinster have had a word and will play Edinburgh at home again, despite them doing so last season, they’re obviously running scared.
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Craig’s, are you going to be getting a Kentish passport? (Or is it a passport of Kent?)
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Tomp – I’d need an HGV license first. Also, as a company man, I will no problems.
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*have
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Tommy DeVito RIP. His face at 1.30 on this video as the drummer screws up is brilliant
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Arf.
Valli’s high octave singing of lyrics, rather than harmonies, were a big turn-off for me. Probably one the reasons why December ’63 and Silver Star confounded me in a good way.
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Albums released today….
A Ticht favourite, Hot Buttered Soul.
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From 10 years later, Blondie and Parallel Lines.
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And tonight’s prog (metal) offering…
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Nice job, BB.
Good lord, 29 years ago, this album was released .
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Aargh, NO! It cannot be 29 years!
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28 years since this song changed my life forever:
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It looks very very likely that I’ll be a Dublin resident in February. It’ll be interesting living in a culture that has no concept of a Rugby World Cup semi-final.
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Good anniversary-ing BB and SBT
Rob Howley to Rugby Canada in assistant role
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Tomp – that’s good, hunt down that scoundrel FD.
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FD is very easy to find. He’s an academic so his email address is on the university website.
Anyway it’s Gerry Marsden’s 78th birthday. Many happy returns to the professional scouser’s professional scouser
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Gavin Williamson’s twitter account is quite fun to follow, if only to laugh at how much of a twat he is:
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I was talking to my academic colleagues yesterday. They confirmed that universities are currently a covid-related disaster.
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Craigs, I think there is a story there we need to be told.
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@SBT – The story of Craigs, Gavin Williamson, Scarborough and ‘The Department’? There’s a thriller in it without a doubt.
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You surely can’t mean the Take That thing as you must realise the thing to do there is to feign indifference for long enough that Craigs ends up debasing himself by feeling he has to tell us without being asked.
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CMW – I think ‘The Department’ could be new reality TV show on E4.
Craig’s sets out a series of tasks to a load of useless tossers and they have to get Craig’s points for their teams. The team with the lowest Craig’s points has one member sacked.
The ultimate prize is to work for Craig’s as an understudy for £100 a year.
I can already feel a Brian Cox presented after show being added on after.
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He’s making us wait, CMW. The suspense is killing me. I need to know, and i need to know now.
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He’ll ntell us when he can’t help himself any longer. Should have let him suffer too.
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