Only two games this weekend, with Ireland treating Italy like a Welsh prop’s face and England facing their sort of nemesis in Cardiff. France and Scotland have had their game postponed as a result of an outbreak of lurgies in the French camp which was due to Galthié being a messiah very naughty boy. Craigsman, of course, would never do this.
Italy vs Ireland – Rome
Gonna be a spanking. I was going to leave it there but to be honest I should explain why. Ireland will be hurting after a disappointing run against Wales and France and will be keen to get back on track by putting a lot of points on Italy (who last won against them in 2013). Ireland also have an almost full strength squad too. They are just missing Cooney who, for some reason isn’t included. No one apart from Big Faz knows why this is and it really needs to be a talking point on the notablog. Has anyone mentioned that? Someone should mention that.
Italy will score one or two tries but are always a few years behind the curve and they don’t have the players. I can see them holding out for the first quarter before the floodgates open and we can all talk about whether they should make way for Georgia.
13 – 45 to Ireland
Wales vs England – Cardiff
I’m not sure about this one. Have Wales been spawny this year or have they been tenacious when behind and fought back valiantly to win? I think it’s both. You have to be good enough to capitalise on your luck and some of the tries have been great. They have fielded a team with a mix of old and new heads and seem to be finally getting to grips with Pivac’s style of play. If they can get it right and build an early score, then it will be tough night for the Saes.
England seem to be wobbling a bit. With Eddie emphasizing defence and several players out of form they haven’t set the world on fire recently. That said, they should be tough to beat and I’m hoping that they will have a bit more confidence about them this week. Expect a lot of kicking and muscle which hopefully will see them home in a tight game. Some might complain about this, but not me.
30 – 22 to Wales or 20 – 15 to England
France vs Scotland – Paris(ish)
So this has been postponed. What a bunch of les muppets, eh (who I hope will fully recover)? I can’t even ask ‘which France will turn up’ just to sound like a knob. Ah well, let’s pretend that it’s going ahead and look into my crystal ball…
I reckon France at a canter. They are looking very good at the moment and will likely stuff the Scots up their holes. There will be some nice stuff from the visitors but ultimately France are becoming more and more evil every year. It started with some strange glasses, then came a blunt talking defence coach and a change of culture a few thought would be unpalatable and then selection of form players and a sensible game plan going forwards. Who’d have thunk it? Witchcraft, I tell you.
I could be wrong. No good ever comes from a postponed game. None at all.
35 – 15 to France
As foretold by Britney Spears
Onna telly this week
Friday 26th February
| Treviso v Connacht | 17:30 | Premier Sports 2 |
| Sale v Exeter | 19:45 | BT Sport 1 |
| Cardiff v Munster | 20:00 | S4C / Premier Sports 2 |
| Ulster v Ospreys | 20:00 | Premier Sports 1 |
Saturday 27th February
| Edinburgh v Scarlets | 12:00 | Premier Sports 1 |
| Bristol v Leicester | 13:00 | BT Sport Extra |
| Italy v Ireland | 14:15 | ITV |
| Newcastle v Harlequins | 15:00 | BT Sport Extra |
| Wasps v London Irish | 15:00 | BT Sport Extra |
| Gloucester v Worcester | 15:15 | BT Sport Extra |
| Wales v England | 16:45 | BBC1 / S4C |
| Zebre v Dragons | 17:15 | Premier Sports 1 |
Sunday 28th February
| Northampton v Bath | 13:00 | BT Sport 2 |
| Leinster v Glasgow | 17:30 | Premier Sports 1 |
Ovally Balls 
BB, I find it funny that Josh McKay, from the South Island no less, is not Scottish- Qualified, but Sione Tuipulotu is.
Rory Darge is one of the brightest prospects in the back row, I’d have liked to have kept both him and Connor Boyle at Edinburgh, but I can see the sense in moving him over. Likewise with Ally Miller, he has played well this season, Cockerill insisted he bulk up in order to get game time and he has done that. I think they will both do well with Glasgow.
For us Cockers is insisting that our new signings do not mean there will be a change of style, so it’box kick, pick and go forty times, which should take us from the half way to about our ten metre line, then we give it to Darcy or Blair, now that we can’t give it to Duhan our options are more limited.
Who the hell would go to watch that every week?
It was one thing when we had some kind of success with it, before having our pants pulled down when we came up against proper teams at the business end of things, but to go and watch that turgid bollocks week in week out is not something I’m terribly interested in.
I’ll still tune in of course – that’s the curse of being a sports fan.
Onna nuther matter, I think we’ll have to ditch plans for France and the RWC, which is a shame, the finances are needed elsewhere unfortunately.
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BB, Schickerling’s a really good player. Would be a fine signing for Glasgow.
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Seriously thinking now about France ’23. A mate of mine has converted an old farmhouse into a small hotel and restaurant in the south of France, in a town called Aurignac about an hour from Toulouse. I can taste the wine already!
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Not sure if this has been mentioned, but I picked up something about Izzy Folou being left out of the Catalan Dragons squad this season?
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Risbah taking India into a position of dominance here. Great support from Washington.
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Party at Deebee’s mate’s house in 2023!
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Risbah just reversed swept Jimmy Anderson (with the new ball!) over slips fro four. He’s on 93.
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250 up, still with four wickets in hand. It’s India vs New Zealand for the World Championship!
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Pant goes to his 100, off 115 balls, with a mighty six, slog swept over mid-on. He’s batted on a different wicket to everyone else. Strange how that sometimes happens: everyone struggles on a surface, except one player who makes it look easy. Washington Sundar is playing a great cameo role as his back up too.
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Thauma, my mate is a drinking machine. I can’t keep up with him for a night, never mind the two to three day benders he enjoys going on when he gets the chance.
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It’s been a pretty special innings with some amazing shots as well as a good bit of luck at times. It’s a shame for the game that the umpire didn’t give him out leg before when he probably should have (an umpire’s call that was very much on the ‘out’ side of things) as it really would have set things up to be close. Should be a stroll for India now.
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His luck’s run out now, but he’s pretty much won the game.
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He did play very sensibly for quite a while at the start as well, it was like two innings.
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Second fifty can’t have been off much more than 30 balls if that.
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CMW, that ‘Umpire’s Call’ was so marginal. Looked more hitting stumps than iffy to me. Very lucky, but I suppose you have to ride your luck. Sundar is proving to be a gem of a find for India too, closing in on a third 50 in 3 or 4 Tests batting down the order.
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Cricket talk kills blog. Never saw it coming…
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Ticht, just go to France for a holiday somewhere near where you used to live and watch it in the bars. 2007 I spent most of the World Cup in the Armagnac region. Had scored a cheap ticket on the ferry for the Samoa game in Nantes, and headed down to Toulouse, but couldn’t afford tickets. Stayed with friends west of Mont de Marsan, and did a tour of little cafes for virtually every game left. Wasn’t hard to find a little circuit of rugby mad watering holes with great atmosphere, and a couple of coffees and a nice local snifter in good company was an ideal way to enjoy the full experience. For what its worth ( and I’m sure you know this), it was a lot easier to find rugby mad bars there than finding a good rugby pub in a strange town in UK.
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Deebs – s’okay; we’ll sic Lara and Claw and Tcod on him.
Armagnac, mmm!
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Pascal Gauzere simply was the victim of a superior mirage over the weekend. We can all relax and move on now.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/mar/05/ship-hovering-above-sea-cornwall-optical-illusion
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Just to explain, when you get progressively warmer wingers (LRZ) pouring cold water on English ambition, they appear to hover above the ground, Refraction bends light downwards towards the colder region (England players and fans) and gives the appearance of hovering or going forwards.
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‘your’
Exeter team to face a resurgent Bath:
15 Stuart Hogg,14 Facundo Cordero,13 Ian Whitten,12 Ollie Devoto,11 Tom O’Flaherty
10 Joe Simmonds (capt),9 Jack Maunder
1 Alec Hepburn, 2 Jack Innard, 3 Harry Williams
4 Jonny Gray, 5 Sam Skinner
6 Dave Ewers, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 8 Sam Simmonds
16 Elvis Taione, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Sean Lonsdale, 20 Jannes Kirsten, 21 Stu Townsend
22 Harvey Skinner, 23 Tom Hendrickson
The mighty Tomas Francis returns!…….oh, and Hogg and Gray as well.
Strong bench, featuring a return for Kirsten and a rare sighting of Taione.
Innard earned his starting slot last week, following Yeandle’s suspension.
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A. Bath/Exeter is an early start and
B. BT aren’t televising it.
!!fume!!
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I’m (going) loopy – game is tomorrow.
BBC website is wrong……………….
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ha! – they’ve corrected it now!
reaches for wine glass…………
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New thread on its way.
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New post is here
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