I considered writing a proper Six Nations preview for this weekend’s match, but as it’s Ireland v Italy, decided not to bother. This means that I have probably jinxed Ireland. Italy by 5.
You can have the teams for the internationals, though.
Scotland v Georgia
Scotland: 15. Blair Kinghorn, 14. Darcy Graham, 13. Chris Harris, 12. James Lang, 11. Duhan van der Merwe, 10. Adam Hastings, 9. Ali Price, 1. Rory Sutherland, 2. Fraser Brown (capt), 3. Zander Fagerson, 4. Ben Toolis, 5. Scott Cummings, 6. Jamie Ritchie, 7. Hamish Watson, 8. Matt Fagerson.
Replacements: 16. Stuart McInally, 17. Oli Kebble, 18. Simon Berghan, 19. Rob Harley, 20. Nick Haining, 21. Cornell du Preez, 22. George Horne, 23. Finn Russell.
Georgia: 15. Soso Matiashvili, 14. Akaki Tabutsadze, 13. Deme Tapladze, 12. Merab Sharikadze (capt), 11. Sandro Todua, 10. Tedo Abzhandadze, 9. Vasil Lobzhanidze, 1. Mikheil Nariashvili, 2. Jaba Bregvadze, 3. Lexo Kaulashvili, 4. Nodar Cheishvili, 5. Grigol Kerdikoshvili, 6. Otar Giorgadze, 7. Beka Saghinadze, 8. Beka Gorgadze.
Replacements: 16. Shalva Mamukashvili, 17. Guram Gogichashvili, 18. Giorgi Melikidze, 19. Giorgi Javakhia, 20. Giorgi Tkhilaishvili, 21. Gela APrasidze, 22. Giorgi Kveseladze, 23. Tamaz Mchedlidze.
That’s a very Giorgi-heavy bench.
Ireland v Italy
Ireland: 15. Jacob Stockdale, 14. Andrew Conway, 13. Garry Ringrose, 12. Bundee Aki, 11. Hugo Keenan, 10. Jonathan Sexton (C), 9. Conor Murray; 1. Cian Healy, 2. Rob Herring, 3. Andrew Porter, 4. Tadhg Beirne, 5. James Ryan, 6. Caelan Doris, 7. Will Connors, 8. CJ Stander
Replacements: 16. Dave Heffernan, 17. Ed Byrne, 18. Finlay Bealham, 19. Ultan Dillane, 20. Peter O’Mahony, 21. Jamison Gibson-Park, 22. Ross Byrne, 23. Robbie Henshaw
Italy: 15. Jayden Hayward, 14. Edoardo Padovani, 13. Luca Morisi, 12. Carlo Canna, 11. Mattia Bellini, 10. Paolo Garbisi, 9. Marcello Violi; 1. Danilo Fischetti, 2. Luca Bigi (C), 3. Giosuè Zilocchi, 4. Marco Lazzaroni, 5. Niccolò Cannone, 6. Sebastian Negri, 7. Braam Steyn, 8. Jake Polledri
Replacements: 16. Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17. Simone Ferrari, 18. Pietro Ceccarelli, 19. David Sisi, 20. Johan Meyer, 21. Maxime Mbanda, 22. Callum Braley, 23. Federico Mori
France v Wales
France: Anthony Bouthier; Teddy Thomas, Vrimi Vakatawa, Gael Fickou, Vincent Rattez; Romain Ntamack, Antoine Dupont; Cyril Baille, Julien Marchand, Mohamed Haouas; Bernard Le Roux, Damien Willemse; François Cros, Charles Ollivon (capt), Gregory Aldritt.
Reps: Camille Chat, Jean-Baptiste Gros, Demba Bamba, Romain Taofifenua, Dylan Cretin, Baptiste Serin, Arthur Vincent, Thomas Ramos.
Wales: Leigh Halfpenny; George North, Jonathan Davies, Nick Tompkins, Josh Adams; Dan Biggar, Rhys Webb; Rhys Carre, Ryan Elias, Samson Lee, Cory Hill, Alun Wyn Jones (capt), Aaron Wainwright, Justin Tipuric, Taulupe Faletau.
Reps: Sam Parry, Nicky Smith, Dillon Lewis, Seb Davies, James Davies, Gareth Davies, Rhys Patchell, Louis Rees-Zammit.
On the telly
Friday 23rd October
| Pumas v Stormers | 17:55 | Sky Sports Mix |
| Scotland v Georgia | 19:30 | ITV4 |
| Leinster v Zebre | 19:35 | Premier Sports 1 |
| Treviso v Scarlets | 20:15 | S4C / Premier Sports 2 |
Saturday 24th October
| Lions v Cheetahs | 15:25 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Ireland v Italy | 15:30 | ITV / STV |
| Ospreys v Glasgow | 17:30 | Premier Sports 2 |
| Bulls v Sharks | 17:55 | Sky Sport Arena |
| Exeter v Wasps | 18:00 | BT Sport 1 |
| Ireland v Italy (women) | 18:30 | iPlayer |
| France v Wales | 20:00 | S4C / ITV4 |
Sunday 25th October
| Scotland v France (women) | 14:20 | BBC Sport website / BBC Alba |
| Ulster v Dragons | 15:00 | Premier Sports 1 |
| Edinburgh v Connacht | 19:35 | Premier Sports 1 |
Monday 26th October
| Munster v Cardiff | 20:15 | Premier Sports 1 |
Ovally Balls 
BB
ah, yes – Exeter to get a haircut…………………….
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As I understand it the teams were splint into two pools and ranked according to how they finished in their respective leagues, Tier 1 teams were pitched against Tier 4, with Tiers 2 and 3 facing off. No teams from the same leagues play each other.
Four games each against two opponents, home and away, top 4 from each pool go on to 1/4 finals, with placing 5 to 8 dropping down to the wee cup.
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“splint”?
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Congratulations to your daughter. She’s done you, your family and, most important, herself proud. Well done.
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Mrs BB also sends her congrats, and I’ll raise a glass of the good stuff* later.
*In this case, Old Pulteney 12 yr old.
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@ticht
I was thinking a PhD might be a good bet right now as the job market is very challenging. I remember people who graduated in the early 90s having similar problems. They all seem fine now so there’s reason for hope.
She’s obviously very bright and talented and will be an excellent candidate for a lot of academic departments. If she does an industrial PhD now it won’t stop her going into clinical stuff after (it’s all great experience) so she shouldn’t be too concerned about going down a dead end. I know quite a few departments where someone with her life experience and qualifications might well fit in. Things like human factors in engineering, behavioural stuff in the circular economy, and also in digital transformation in industry. Only sticking point is funding as I’m not sure if they have any for this stuff right now but you never know.
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Ticht
– i got confused when I read that Exeter play Glasgow and Toulouse; Glasgow play Exeter and Lyon and Lyon play Gloucester and Ulster etc…………………
I’m 70 you know……………………
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I was a Woolworths (UK) fan. And like Woolworths (SA) as well,. though they’re different things. Still, this made me laugh:
“The student asked to remain anonymous because they did not want to “receive hate” from disappointed Woolworths fans hoping for the return of pick ’n’ mix selections.”
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It’s at times like this when I wish I had trump family access to drugz.
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Times of insomnia?
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Thaum – yes
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It’s very annoying. Seems to happen at least once a week at the moment.
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Today is a sad day.
Bobby Ball RIP
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Some people on my Facebook feed are inconsolable
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I posted that video on the Facebook condolences page for Bobby and got this reply:
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Someone else said
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“You’ve got me skin”
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Today is a sad day (Cont’d)
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I’ve just read that this minute, Trisk.
Sad news.
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Bad day for the Labour Party, Corbyn himself is saying the problem is overstated by political opponents.
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Aha, the great Chek Schism.
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Am reading the report now, Ticht. It’s worth reading: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/investigation-into-antisemitism-in-the-labour-party.pdf
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I wonder if Owen Jones covered any of this in his new book?
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Corbyn suspended from the party. I suspect a good many of his couple-of-hundred-thousand supporters may withdraw their support.
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@craigs
He doesn’t strike me as a rugby fan so I doubt he knows about Chek’s epic flounce.
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Just when I thought 2020 couldn’t get any worse, the Labour Party blows itself up. Just what we needed. Nice.
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OT – doesn’t this support his overall position though (not his personal animosity with Ticht) about the Labour Party?
It’s pretty damning tbh.
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Also, just want to offer my Anglo solidarity with Flair if he’s reading and France in general.
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Almost finished the report. It’s mostly about process. It’s a little confusing at times – the Leader’s Office shouldn’t have intervened to speed up the Livingstone case, for instance, which is the reverse of what many are claiming at present. It’s clear that the processes improved somewhat after Formby took office in 2018.
Reducing it to the ‘Is Corbyn an anti-Semite?’ question that got asked on the BBC earlier is a nonsense.
One would hope that Labour can sort this out by following the schedule set down by the EHRC. There’s nothing wrong with their suggestions.
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Just sent this to Doreen Lawrence in reply to one of her circulars from the Labour party:-
“How about starting by declaring Israel a Fascist state that practices ethnic cleansing against minorities ? Then you might get some support from me for some of your other policies. Otherwise, fuck off. ”
regards,
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Craigs, it doesn’t really but he’ll think it will. I recommend reading it.
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Tomp – OK I’ve read some of it and maybe disagree with you in that it does point to unlawful harassment and therefore an antisemitic culture in some parts of the Labour Party. Not just process.
I also read Corbyn’s statement on Facebook. Pretty dumb and insensitive tbh.
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Read all of it.
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OK ok. I will.
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OT,
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That’s made me smile. Well, as much as I can do on such a tragic day (my Facebook feed is still filling up with mourning Oldhamers).
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Anyway I was going to post a video earlier of Cannon and Ball playing on the Wheeltappers in the 1970s. Unfortunately it was far too racist for me to post even ironically. However I did stumble across this performance by Tony Christie…with harmonies by Bernard Manning…and a photo of Enoch Powell on the wall
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As well as Clem Atlee and Harold Wilson…
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There’s a moment of treasure out there somewhere of Tony Christie singing and dancing on a Des O’Connor show (I think) which almost cracked my ribs with painful laughter.
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Someone has to
England: 15 George Furbank, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Tom Curry, 5 Jonny Hill 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Ben Earl, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Ollie Lawrence, 23 Ollie Thorley
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Sanguine. But would love Joe Simmons to play.
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Who they playing?
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Italy
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Would have preferred Ben Spencer over Youngs, but ok otherwise.
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Looks weak.
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Last Bobby Ball reference of the day, I promise. But it is at least rugby related
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Refit – me too but he isn’t in the squad so from that perspective I’m sanguine.
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@OT, my ex was a big fan / had a crush for Bobby Ball back in those days when we watched things together on the telly, as you did in those more innocent times.
To this day when I want to put on a ‘listen to me, I’m talking’ voice with my son Thomas I might kick off the sentence with ‘Tomoso Cannoso’, which I picked up from one of Bobby’s funnier skits back then.
@Rugby, RIP JJ. Scored some of the best Lionz tries ever on those hard tracks in SA. What a winger.
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Due to editorial differences my next atl will be on substack. For a reasonable price.
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