Wasps v Bristol and Exeter v Bath in play-off drama, The Blackness v the Wobblies, and round two of the new Pro-14 season.
And John Cooney inexplicably left out of the Ireland squad.
Here be the weekend fixtures.
On the telly
Friday 9th October
| Sharks v Lions | 5:55 | YouTube / Sky Sports |
| Dragons v Zebre | 20:15 | Premier Sports 2 |
Saturday 10th October
| Wasps v Bristol | 13:30 | BT Sport 1 |
| Cheetahs v Pumas | 15:25 | Sky Sports Mix |
| Exeter v Bath | 16:30 | BT Sport 1 |
| Ospreys v Ulster | 17:15 | Premier Sports 2 |
| Treviso v Leinster | 17:15 | Premier Sports 1 |
| Bulls v Griquas | 17:55 | Sky Sports Mix |
| Cardiff v Connacht | 19:35 | S4C / Premier Sports 2 |
| Munster v Edinburgh | 19:35 | Premier Sports 1 |
Sunday 11th October
| New Zealand v Australia | 04:00 | Sky Sports Main Event |
| Glasgow v Scarlets | 17:15 | Premier Sports 1 |
Ovally Balls 
Get your gnomes out then TomP.
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Well these gnomes don’t look particularly German, or Czech, or even Vietnamese. They do look a bit peckish though.
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Zombie gnomes! Love it.
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TomP is writing the book as I type.
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Cardiff v Connacht looks like the most likely game I might get to watch. Not terribly enthused.
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@B – They don’t look especially Non-German either.
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UnGerman maybe.
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Thinking of buying some zombie gnomes & sticking them in my neighbour’s garden. He is fond of that type of thing (although perhaps not the zombie version).
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Like the Zebre kit. Reminds me of the ‘artwork’ in the clubs I used to go when underage.
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Should probably have said it’s fantastIks.
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Or marvelliks.
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Drags of a try.
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Misheard lyrics: I always thought that the Presley song went I call it a drag … I can’t walk out.
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” fantastIks”
This puts me in mind of a children’s picture book called “Stanley’s Stick” by John Hegley. It’s really very good.
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Stanley’s Stick sounds a bit dodgy for a children’s book.
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Old Man Roberts playing well tonight
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Ticht – yep; he’ll probably break himself shortly.
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It’s about a boy called Stanley who has a stick.
It plays with the sounds of words in a way you don’t normally get in these kind of books. Can’t find a version on Youtube that’s read particularly well, but would definitely recommend it to anyone with children who are still on picture books. Apart from anything else it’s more fun to read than the great majority.
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Bolloks, went for a beer and missed the second try
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Two of my favourite children’s books:
https://www.sarahnicholls.com/william-the-dragon/ (for young children)
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/michael-maguire/most-powerful-horse-in-world.htm (for slightly older ones)
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This one is great too, but you’ll have to take my word for it as I can’t find anything with an actual précis.
Short one is: Ernie gets a chemistry set. Things go KABOOM!
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Iks’ dragons going well.
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Hells bells, I had a hard time getting that link right. It’s okay now.
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Well timed comment, that
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You’ll know the town of Kralupy nad Vlatovou. Just north of Prague. There’s a lady I teach who lives there. She’s an Indonesianist, translates and teaches the language. Her husband is Javanese. So, she said the usual stuff that we all know by now. Germans love them. Sell them cheap. Then we moved on to whether. she … No, of course not but a near neighbour of hers:
‘… has tens of them in his garden. He also has a New Zealand flag on a flagpole. I’ve never seen him or indeed anyone despite passing by the garden every day. I can’t even say that it’s a “him”. The garden’s not overgrown so someone must be doing something.’
Spy? An Australian trying to give NZ a bad name?
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thaum, just started watching the game. The Zebre shirt reminds me of a Fiorucci top I had when I was about 15. A gorgeous thing it was.
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TomP – I got into the clubs at the tender age of 16 (21 was the legal age) by posing as an ‘artist’. We were given sheets of paper and some fluorescent spray cans. The Zebre kits would have been one of my better efforts.
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Doc playing well, as he did for the Stormers earlier in the year. Jordan Williams looking a solid pro. Nice.
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There was a lovely bouncer (huge skinhead) called Ray who looked after us.
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Really annoys me how commentators mis-pronounce Zebre. Surely it’s not too hard to learn how to pronounce one of fourteen clubs’ names?
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Poor defence by Tompkins.
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Thaum, 21 was the age for clubs in Edinburgh when I first moved to “the big city”. A lot of pubs were 21 and over only too, I guess it was to do away with the chance of someone being 17.
However, I always managed to get into said places, the long dyed hair I sported was akin to the needful at the Goth or Biker pubs and clubs I went to.
The Burke and Hare* near the art college was a dire place, they had strippers in the afternoon. They did have good pub rock bands in the evening, but you always felt you had to wipe your feet on the way out
*Named after the graverobbers who supplied the medical school with cadavers for research, dug up after burial. When they ran short they started murdering folk for the pennies the doctors would pay at the university.
It is argued that Burke and Hare, or their victims, were influences as to why Edinburgh’s medical school became so good.
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Not sure who I want to win this match – Wasps are the most local side, but then Refit. So just hoping to enjoy it!
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Le Bourgeois by name, le bourgeois by nature….
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Ye dogs, there’s even a Graun MBM on the semi-final! We are truly blessed that they’ve remembered!
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Wasps dropping like, er, flies.
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What the hell was that free kick for ? Mis strike by Thacker ??? SInce when is that a thing?
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Yay! Bristol on the scoreboard with a try!
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Missed first 10 minutes. Turn on TV, Wzzps score try. (Sorry Refit). Injury to Wzzps player, I pop up to loo. Come back down and Brizzle have scored try. May have to go up to loo more often….
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Scrum penalties too. Bollocks. Ball was out to play, and Afoa lost his footing, didn’t drop it on purpose. That should just be left to play on.
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That was a good try. (Sorry, Refit.)
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Throw wasn’t straight, but tbh it was no less straight than a couple of Wasps throws. Add in the penalty before the last try that Healy pointed out should have gone the other way, and Briz are getting destroyed by the refereeing.
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Yay! Bristol score again.
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Damn, Wasps winning it on defence.
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How can you allow a try, while the ref is still explaining his decision?
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Boo! Bristol fucked by the ref again.
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Thats plain wrong, Carly.
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Come on Briz, moral victory yours, now make a game of it.
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Right ref, next cynical yellow here needs to be a yellow.
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Oh dog, that’s really torn it.
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