Your week-end programme, unfortunately mostly brought to you by internet providers and subscription television.
Italy/ Fiji : Saturday 1pm. Cancelled
England/Ireland: Saturday at 3pm
Wales / Georgia: Saturday at 5.15 pm
Scotland/France: Sunday at 4pm
But before that, right after breakfast, you’ll watch the most important game of the week-end, and it has nothing to do with the season.
No, it’s not Ireland at Twickenham, nor France at Murrayfield.
It’s much earlier in the day, and it’s Argentina vs Australia.
Can the Argentineans replicate last Saturday’s fantastic game when they stunned the All Blacks and won 25-15? Can they keep the same intensity and dismantle Australia as well? In the absence of South Africa, could they nick the Tri nations for the first time?
Most neutrals would hope so, but I’m not neutral. I desperately want a win for the South Americans.
Let’s see:
Mario Ledesma has stuck with the same players. Australia have beefed up their pack and recalled a couple of old horses. I doubt it will be enough. When Australia dispatched the ABs B team with not much to spare, Argentina crushed their A team. It suggests a gap in power and organization that Australia should not be able to fill, even in front of their fans. Both teams have great attacking power (often underestimated in Argentina’s case), but Australia’s pack might be on the back foot for long periods, particularly if Nic White is as slow as usual: he’ll be eaten alive by the ferocious Argentina back row.
Open the Malbec, it’s about time.
Argentina: 15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Rodrigo Bruni, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera (c), 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chapparo
Replacements: 16 Santiago Socino, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Santiago Grondona, 20 Facundo Isa, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Emiliano Boffelli, 23 Santiago Cordero
Australia: 15 Tom Banks, 14 Tom Wright, 13 Jordan Petaia, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Reece Hodge, 9 Nic White, 8 Harry Wilson, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Ned Hanigan, 5 Matt Philip, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements: 16 Folau Fainga’a, 17 Angus Bell, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Rob Valetini, 20 Liam Wright, 21 Jake Gordon, 22 Noah Lolesio, 23 Filipo Daugunu
Date: Saturday, November 21
Venue: McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle
Kick-off: 19:45 local (08:45 GMT)
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Angus Gardner (Australia)
TMO: Nic Berry (Australia)
England v Ireland
A bit after lunch, we’ll sit down on the couch (not too comfortably; we don’t want to fall asleep), and we’ll go to England. It’s basically Group A’s final as neither Wales nor Georgia threaten to top the group after their poor results last week.
England did not particularly set the world on fire vs Italy or Georgia, but they’re solid, experienced and well-rehearsed. They stubbornly follow their game plan to the point that they seem bewildered when it does not work. But it’s mightily efficient against most teams. Will it be enough vs Ireland? A better question would be: can Ireland win in Twickenham without Henderson, Furlong, Carbery, Larmour, Ringrose, Henshaw, Sexton? Irish coaches, like most, are conservative and have not really blooded new players.
For all the deserved praise and success that Ireland enjoy at club level, numbers simply dictate that they don’t have enough players to step in when the starters are injured. Not only will Ireland start with three inexperienced players in key positions (FB, FH, SH), but also with predictable centres and a pack that won’t impress England. And then the bench should make a big difference. There was an interesting analysis of the coming game by Irish legend, Shane Byrne, in Planet Rugby; he knows his stuff better than I do, but unlike him, I can’t see anything but a win for England.
Whose round is it now?
England: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Jonathan Joseph, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Tom Curry, 5 Joe Launchbury, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Jonny Hill, 20 Ben Earl, 21 Dan Robson, 22 George Ford, 23 Max Malins
Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Peter O’Mahony, 6 CJ Stander, 5 James Ryan (c), 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Andrew Porter, 2 Ronan Kelleher, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Will Connors, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Billy Burns, 23 Jacob Stockdale
Date: Saturday, November 21
Venue: Twickenham
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Pascal Gauzere (FFR)
Assistant Referees: Mathieu Raynal (FFR), Alex Ruiz (FFR)
TMO: Nigel Owens (WRU)
Wales v Georgia
Now, wake up please, if only for going to the bathroom. In a few minutes, Wales will take on Georgia.
It may look like a dead rubber to many, but it certainly is not. Both teams desperately need to stop the rot. Georgia’s lame defeats to Scotland and England highlight the gap between tier one and tier two nations: the Georgians will want to prove that they belong to a higher level, but it’s going to be hard. Several of their players play in France, but mostly in the bottom half of the Top 14 or in the ProD2. Expect a lot of naivety in defense and a serious lack of skills in attack.
Wales? According to Boris during PMQs, Wales want to avoid going from the Capitol to the Tarpeian rock, but how? Between Scylla and Charybdis, go with the proven and tested, or with the unknown? Oh Boris, shut up, please! Pivac’s rung the changes: no fewer than thirteen new players, some of them quite exciting. As a game it may not be a classic – such is the difference between the two teams – but at least it should bring back some smiles in Wales.
Time for the kebab.
Wales: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Johnny McNicholl, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Louis Rees-Zammit, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 James Botham, 5 Seb Davies, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Wyn Jones
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Leon Brown, 19 Cory Hill, 20 James Davies, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Jonah Holmes
Georgia: 15 Lasha Khmaladze, 14 Akaki Tabutsadze, 13 Giorgi Kveseladze, 12 Merab Sharikadze (c), 11 Sandro Todua, 10 Tedo Abzhandadze, 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 8 Beka Gorgadze, 7 Beka Saginadze, 6 Otar Giorgadze, 5 Kote Mikautadze, 4 Grigor Kerdikoshvili, 3 Beka Gigashvili, 2 Jaba Bregvadze, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili
Replacements: 16 Giorgi Chkoidze, 17 Guram Gogichashvili, 18 Lexo Kaulashvili, 19 Lasha Jaiani, 20 Giorgi Tkhilaishvili, 21 Gela Aprasidze, 22 Demur Tapladze, 23 Tamaz Mchedlidze
Date: Saturday, November 21
Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Kick-off: 17:15 GMT
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Andrew Brace, Frank Murphy
Television match official: Joy Neville
Scotland v France
Sunday in Scotland. Coronavember. In the old days pubs would’ve been closed. Just like now.
Thank dog for the rugby.
This is going to be an intriguing game, and since Fiji’s games were cancelled, it is in fact the final of the group B. Whoever wins gets to go to Twickenham. Unless, of course, Ireland have prevailed the day before, and Wales wake up from their torpor next week (as it is vs England, they may very well). So strike that, it’s just another game.
Shaun Galthié has named a strong team and with the exception of Ntamack, Bouthier and Cros, it’s the team that dispatched Ireland and Wales rather easily. Shaun Servat and Shaun Ibanez will be happy with their pack, as is Shaun Ghezal with his work at the line out. Shaun Shaun Edwards is not so happy with his pupils as they keep leaking tries, but the other Shauns don’t mind, as they score more tries than their opponents. Speaking of which, Scotland seem a bit weakened with the absence of Finn and his deputy Hastings. But they’ve got a great pack, an outstanding back row (Richie would be the first on my list), and in Hogg the best counter-attacker in Europe (bar Cheslin Kolbe, of course).
I wish I could elaborate but teams have not been announced, so I’ll just predict a wonderful game with plenty of tries.
Shaun Shaun may sulk. I don’t mind.
Oops, here is France. As predicted a couple of days ago.
France : 15. Ramos; 14. Thomas, 13. Vakatawa, 12. Fickou, 11. Rattez ; 10. Jalibert, 9. Dupo,t ; 7.Ollivon (cap.), 8. Alldritt, 6. Cretin ; 5. Taofifenua, 4. Le Roux ; 3. Bamba, 2. Chat, 1. Gros.Bench : 16. Marchand, 17. Baille, 18. Haouas, 19. Willemse, 20. Woki, 21. Couilloud, 22. Carbonel 23. Vincent.
As prognosticated by Flair99
Onna telly this week
Friday 20th November
| Harlequins v Exeter | 19:45 | BT Sport 1 |
| Sale v Northampton | 20:00 | BT Sport Extra |
Saturday 21st November
| Argentina v Australia | 08:45 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Bulls v Pumas | 11:55 | Sky Sports Arena |
| England v France (women) | 12:00 | BBC Two |
| Bath v Newcastle | 12:30 | BT Sport Extra |
| Cheetahs v Griquas | 14:25 | Sky Sports Arena |
| England v Ireland | 15:00 | Channel 4 / Amazon Prime |
| Leicester v Gloucester | 15:00 | BT Sport Extra |
| Worcester v London Irish | 15:00 | BT Sport Extra |
| Wales v Georgia | 17:15 | S4C / Amazon Prime |
Sunday 22nd November
| Wasps v Bristol | 13:00 | BT Sport 1 |
| Zebre v Connacht | 14:30 | FreeSports |
| Scotland v France | 15:00 | Amazon Prime |
| Ospreys v Treviso | 15:00 | Premier Sports 2 |
| Leinster v Cardiff | 17:15 | S4C / Premier Sports 1 |
| Ulster v Scarlets | 19:35 | Premier Sports 1 |
Monday 23rd November
| Dragons v Edinburgh | 18:00 | Premier Sports 2 |
| Glasgow v Munster | 20:15 | Premier Sports 2 |
Ovally Balls 
Aus lose another penalty lineout deep inside the Pumas 22. Another penalty and yellow for Montoya the hooker. Aus pack has been on top anyway, so this is going to be even more difficult. And with a man advantage they kick the goal! Not understanding the thinking myself.
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Penalty straight from the restart and the Pumas will kick for posts. Sanchez hooks it!
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Niggly game
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More handbags. All a bit pathetic. Penalty reversed though. Sanchez for the corner. Aus never close to 10 back for the free kick, but get the scrum from a knock on. Apparently raining a bit now too.
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15-6 after another Hodge penalty. Rain coming down hard now. Can’t see a route back for the Pumas, they’ve been second best most of the evening.
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Memories of this ground
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Bah! First promising move by the Pumas and they knock it on.
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9-15 with a penalty! 17 minutes left.
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Great clip Ticht!
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Penalty Pumas! Well! Just in the last few minutes (since I wrote them off) the Pumas have found a bit of a spring in their step! 12-15 withc13 still to go!
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15 all
Mon Poomas
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Knock on and offside penalty! Even Phil Kearns admits it! 15-15 into the last 10! But more amazingly, Rod Kafer is a 1990 World Cup winner! Germany’s favourite son!
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Thanks for the previews, TomP ‘n Flair.
Tell the Mister PF are closer to smooth jazz than Prog, Thauma.
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Feck! Penalty Aus. 40 out, but Hodge could chuck it over with his distance! He’s pushed it wide! 2 minutes left….
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You’ve not really listened to the Floyd much, have you Iks?
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You noticed my jaunty step, BB?
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Aus have an overlap and kick it dead! 22 siren gone, last play! Turnover! Pumas hack it downfield and Aus forced to take it out! A draw! So close to getting a boot on it too!
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I listen to them loads – not noticed any difference to my jaunty steps.
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Almost knicked it at the end, well done Poomas. Wallabies had the better of that. Aussies look to have a pack nowadays, need to sort the lineout.
Bit unfair on Argentina to have 4 games in 4 weeks.Who made the schedule ?
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In fairness, I had a mate who always had DSOTM playing on the stereo. I liked it well enough.
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Pumas play the Kiwis again next week. Sheer madness! The Wobblies turned down several kickable penalties in the 1st half, which could have cost them in the end.
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‘Cos you are a born jaunty stepper, BB.
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Cold, overcast with intermittent drizzle and rain in Joburg. Think I’ll listen to Wish You Were Here.
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who made the playing schedule?- the dark forces, that’s who.
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Quins were aggressive, chaotic and defiant in the first half but lost focus as the game progressed; exemplified by one of the props giving away soft penalties and their hooker ( SA?) spending too much time trying to upset an opposing player (often Kirsten) rather than playing rugby. Stupid.
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Thought Smith was surprisingly subdued too, Slade, he kicked well but didn’t look sparky at all.
On the scheduling, I have to say that it is unbelievably unfair on Argentina, let alone dangerous for the players too. Half of them look like they are carrying minor injuries already, a week off could make all the difference. Ice bath tonite then.
Love Newcastle, its a city I could happily live in.
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Newie NSW, not Newcastle UK, just to be clear.
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alast thing from last night’s game at Quins was that Exeter committed more players to the breakdown than usual – compliment to Quins but Quins were too slow to exploit that out wide.
Smith was poor.
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Slade, I agree on Smith not being great last night, but fair play to him, it’s unusual to see him being ineffective in a game.
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Sladey, Looking at the team lists, I can tell you that Baldwin, the starting hooker for Quins, is Welsh. But bitten by a South African lion.
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Iks – you made the mister choke on his food.
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I got stuck in a car on a 2 hour journey with a Kenny G fan once, and it twisted me Thauma.
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You did so well to survive, MrIks. I may have throttled the bastard.
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When I say I may have throttled him, I’m not suggesting any kind of potential restraint, just ruminating over potential murder methodologies. Not so much murder either as a mercy killing. Poor sod.
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The only thing in his favour was that he wasn’t a Michael Bolton fan.
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I have now inflicted Bolton’s strangled cat version of When a Man Loves a Woman on myself. Why? Why? What an idiot!
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So I predicted Oz forwards would be on the back foot for long periods and that Nic White had better speed up his game if he didn’t want to be eaten alive.
What more do you want as a proof that Rennies reads this blog?
I never thought I’d say it but Oz scrum was dominant and Nic White had a good game. But my, so many poor choices, the line out a shambles, the knock ons at critical times, the unnecessary niggles (not that Argentina are blameless, far from it).
It seemed that Argentina had no gas left after last week heroics, and the loss of their SH (Bertranou in for Cubelli) was a major factor too.
Don’t know how they’ll cope with just 5 days rest. Kremer, who was immense vs the ABs, probably suffers from a commotion, Imhoff and the FB left injured, both Boffeli and Sanchez seemed unable to kick at the end. It will be hard vs the ABs.
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BTW, I’d be grateful to any of you who could recommend a link to Eng/Ireland. The game isn’t shown here. Need to know how much more egg will land on my face.
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TomP’s Bulls beating (up) the Pumas in Pretoria in one of the worst matches I’ve seen this year. The one highlight is referee Aimee Barrett-Theron, who has a great demeanor. 30 men looking like sheepish schoolboys every time she blasts her whistle. No backchat, no swearing, no histrionics.
Duane Vermeulen got passed at by the Pumas 9 when he was guilty of lazy running. She penalised Vermeulen, but quickly said to the gobby 9 “giving it to you this time, but don’t milk it.” Simple, clear and brooking no argument.
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I believe that’ll be tomp’s Super Rugby Unlocked Champions the Bulls, Deebee.
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Lordy, Deebs.
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Only watched the last 20 minutes as was on a beer buying mission earlier. She was quite good, old Aimee.
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Iksy, lucky you weren’t in a car with a prog fan. It’d’ve been a 10-hour journey.
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@Flair – try here, when the time comes: https://www.vipleague.lc/rugby-sports-stream
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Bulls’ 4th Super Rugby title. No other SA team has won a single one.
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Flair, from the outset Argentina looked off the pace, mentally as much as physically. Beating the All Blacks last week was a monumental effort and clawing their way back to draw against a fresh side who’d beaten the All Blacks a few weeks earlier was ultimately a good result.
I can’t see them being able to put 23 fit and focused blokes on the park next week though. Terrible scheduling.
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TomP, The first three were brilliant wins, this one has all the gloss of a bald man’s locks.
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Especially pleased for Pretoria boy Jacques van Rooyen. He suffered heartache 3 times, I think, with the Great Bottlers of Joburg. Rocks up at Loftus and finally tastes sweet Super Rugby success.
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Flair, if you haven’t used vip before, you just need to be handy with the mouse, clicking off all the stupid adverts that open a new window everytime you click on something. Usually a very good stream. sometimes you have to hunt around a bit for a hidden small x, as the big one you click on to clear screen opens another advert.
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Flair
I use Vip as well thanks to Refit’s recommebd.
I have Norton installed and it gives all sorts of warnings about dangerous sites/pages. I click through them all as well as the pop-up pages and get there in about 10 clicks.
Quality is good.
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