Watching the second half + extras of that match yesterday has reconfirmed my faith in rugby.
Reasons to dislike Wendyball:
– Nothing ever happens. Mostly aimless passing.
– Only one way to score.
– Diving & other histrionics.
– A certain sector of the fans.
At one point during the extra time period, the commentator said something about the tension you’re feeling watching this at home. Tension? I was practically catatonic.
Obviously I was glad Italy ‘won’, but I did feel sorry for the lads missing the penalty kicks, particularly Rashford, who has been admirable off the pitch over the last 18 months. (What a howler of a miss, though!)
And if you do have to have a penalty shoot-out, it’s obviously much better when you end up with prop forwards trying to kick a goal.
I suppose you have to have a dog in the fight, Thauma.
I didn’t watch any of it, but was nervous in my guts about an English win. This England team and manager are likeable, but that hardly justifies their elevation to sainthood because they are good lads going about their business while being decent human beings.
I’ve said it here before that I’m tired and upset about so many things going backwards, so that any hard-won progress gained in my lifetime was just a thin layer of sand over the cesspit. I was hardly shocked that the spectres of racism and hooliganism are resurfacing under the governance of Johnson’s tories. Just sleeping dogs, stirred awake by their masters.
You’re right about the racism. In times of plenty people and societies are more benevolent and accepting, but in challenging times or hard times, tribalism of all sorts rears it’s ugly head, poked and spurred on by the worst of political opportunists.
I suppose you have to have a dog in the fight, Thauma.
Hm, maybe. When NI qualified for the Euros (was it?) last time, I was somewhat amused, but not interested enough to watch any of the matches. Perhaps if there’d been a realistic chance of winning, I might have been more interested, but I doubt it. I find footie really tedious to watch.
I mean, I’m obviously missing something that tens of millions of people around the world find fascinating. I do not see why it’s called the beautiful game. Rugby is beautiful to me.
Trisk, about kicking penalties first. It’s not exactly rocket science. I played football at a decent regional level a long time ago . We sometimes had to take penalty kicks to untie cup games. We all knew it was better to kick first as it put pressure on the opposition. It rarely failed. Unlike the pros though, the best penalty kickers would always go first. More pressure on the opposition.
Thaum, record the game with at least half an hour delay and then watch it FF. That’s how I watched the final. Finished watching at the same time as the poor souls who went through the whole thing.
It does gets rid of the histrionics, the HTs, the bloody video. Slow down back to normal speed when the ball reaches the limit of the box.
Et voilà.
And of course, turn the sound off.
They do it in the Czech league that my 2nd team, FK Meteor, play in, flair, when there’s a drawn game. The winners of the shoot out get 2 league points and losers 1. They do the same in that, best penalty taker up first, which is what England did yesterday with Kane.
England didn’t have many regular penalty takers in their side at the end of 120 minutes, though there were a few players who’d scored in shoot outs before. God knows how pressured they must have felt.
So i looked up how many penalties England’s xi had taken as pros & suddenly I understand:
flair, my dad did something similar in 2018 during the World Cup. He had to pop out for something or other at half time and delayed the game. Unfortunately, there was a massive roar when we were watching on catch up that told us that England had scored.
thaum, the Italian goal was scruffy but the England goal was outstanding skill, fast break, two terrific passes and a really first-class finish by Shaw.
We were having dinner outside at a pub in Yorkshire. After the England goal, a Scot – a member of staff – walked out of the pub and informed us that ‘unfortunately’ it was an England goal.
Tomp, I can’t do the recording and FF thing when France play. Too many fireworks when it goes well. When France took the lead vs Sw, I was having dinner and I heard loud blasts outside. But then, when the game was supposed to be over, deadly silence. That’s when I started watching. Even after France scored their third, I knew something had gone tits up later.
My experience is that you cannot train for penalties. It’s useless. The only difficulty ( at least at my level, where goalies weren’t that good) is the pressure. There is no pressure outside a real game.
Penalties are rare, usually important, therefore the best kicker always takes them ( unless the game’s already over, and then there is no pressure, even for an inexperienced kicker).
I think the commentary would have been vastly improved with that Yorkshireman as opposed to whoever we had down here! Would it have been Sky? We get shed loads of sports from them. So just over an hour to the 2nd France-Aus Test! I wonder if the Aussies will be better organised? I wonder if France can do better at scrum time? I wonder if I support Aus, whether France will win this time? I wonder, wonder I do.
Miles from goal, defenders covering, yellow card. It looked horrible and was horribly cynical but not a red card. Jorginho’s “tackle” on Grealish has more of a case.
Iks – been thinking about your post (uh oh) and I wholeheartedly agree with you on the majority of it. It is weird that the manager and players are being venerated for being baseline good human beings. It’s just that England has had to put up with so much bs for so long from the football World that it’s a fucking huge surprise that they aren’t a bunch of synts.
It’ll be a good thing long term because these guys should have long careers and hopefully inspire the next generation. Also, they will hopefully set standards for the fans too.
On the racism, what’s heartened me is the condemnation it has received. For example, the reaction to Rashford’s mural being vandalised. I don’t think it will ever go away unfortunately but we have the means to shine a bright light on it and show it for what it is. For that reason, I’m not sure we’ve gone backwards (I couldbe wrong).
In the early 90s I was watching Oldham vs Sunderland and Gary Bennett of Sunderland committed a nasty foul in front of us. I looked behind me and saw my head of year at school on his feet making aggressive monkey noises aimed at Bennett with the rest of the mob* (we were sat in the family stand).
I don’t think that would happen now.
*This is the same group of people that would go teary eyed in admiration when talking about the great Roger Palmer.
OT, happened at Tottenham v Chelsea a couple of years ago and some racist was thrown out of Molineux for abusing Rio Ferdinand earlier this year. It’s right that it’s less prevalent in the grounds but it’s still there.
People have got to call it out when it happens but that’s a hard thing to do. Much respect to people who do it and to the players who do so.
Tomp/OT – it’s very hard to measure ‘progress’. Listening to David Baddiel talk about this subject is pretty depressing. However, wider visibility and condemnation is progress imo.
It was a very different game in so many ways then. Every division 2 club seemed to have one black player and he always played on the wing (with notable exceptions like Bright & Wright at Palace, and Bennett at Sunderland of course). I can’t remember the name of the player or the team so I’ll call him “John Smith” but in the write-up of the opposition in the matchday programme one sentence started “Black John Smith plays on the left wing”.
In one of the Reggie Perrin books i remember a conversation around how the black player (as mentioned, usually only one) was a black bastard if he played badly, but our black lad (I’m paraphrasing) if he played well. So progress has been slow since the 70s. But it’s far better than no progress or denial.
Ovally Balls 
Watching the second half + extras of that match yesterday has reconfirmed my faith in rugby.
Reasons to dislike Wendyball:
– Nothing ever happens. Mostly aimless passing.
– Only one way to score.
– Diving & other histrionics.
– A certain sector of the fans.
At one point during the extra time period, the commentator said something about the tension you’re feeling watching this at home. Tension? I was practically catatonic.
Obviously I was glad Italy ‘won’, but I did feel sorry for the lads missing the penalty kicks, particularly Rashford, who has been admirable off the pitch over the last 18 months. (What a howler of a miss, though!)
And if you do have to have a penalty shoot-out, it’s obviously much better when you end up with prop forwards trying to kick a goal.
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I suppose you have to have a dog in the fight, Thauma.
I didn’t watch any of it, but was nervous in my guts about an English win. This England team and manager are likeable, but that hardly justifies their elevation to sainthood because they are good lads going about their business while being decent human beings.
I’ve said it here before that I’m tired and upset about so many things going backwards, so that any hard-won progress gained in my lifetime was just a thin layer of sand over the cesspit. I was hardly shocked that the spectres of racism and hooliganism are resurfacing under the governance of Johnson’s tories. Just sleeping dogs, stirred awake by their masters.
But there we are.
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it’s obviously much better when you end up with prop forwards trying to kick a goal.
Although not everyone would agree. I never tire of this:
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And in other news, looking at that Boks A team I reckon Gats is praying for an even more rampant covid outbreak between now and the first test.
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Evening MrIks!
You’re right about the racism. In times of plenty people and societies are more benevolent and accepting, but in challenging times or hard times, tribalism of all sorts rears it’s ugly head, poked and spurred on by the worst of political opportunists.
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Deebs – it was a good effort!
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This is a glorious article. I didn’t realise Guinness was cheaper in Yates Wine Lodge – explains why my Great Granny used to go there
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Nice to see you back Mr Iks, even if it is to comment on the dismal state of things.
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I suppose you have to have a dog in the fight, Thauma.
Hm, maybe. When NI qualified for the Euros (was it?) last time, I was somewhat amused, but not interested enough to watch any of the matches. Perhaps if there’d been a realistic chance of winning, I might have been more interested, but I doubt it. I find footie really tedious to watch.
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I mean, I’m obviously missing something that tens of millions of people around the world find fascinating. I do not see why it’s called the beautiful game. Rugby is beautiful to me.
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Northern Ireland were in the 2nd best game of the 2010s, thaum.
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The beauty is in the simplicity I think. Almost anyone can play it anywhere whereas rugby, for instance, needs a little more effort to play.
Plus, marketing.
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Trisk, about kicking penalties first. It’s not exactly rocket science. I played football at a decent regional level a long time ago . We sometimes had to take penalty kicks to untie cup games. We all knew it was better to kick first as it put pressure on the opposition. It rarely failed. Unlike the pros though, the best penalty kickers would always go first. More pressure on the opposition.
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Thaum, record the game with at least half an hour delay and then watch it FF. That’s how I watched the final. Finished watching at the same time as the poor souls who went through the whole thing.
It does gets rid of the histrionics, the HTs, the bloody video. Slow down back to normal speed when the ball reaches the limit of the box.
Et voilà.
And of course, turn the sound off.
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TomP – well, while I was watching it, I thought, I could do that! (And of course I played a bit as a kid.)
The main skill I saw was in keeping the ball in play near the touch-line. And a few overhead kicks.
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Flair – good advice, but still exceeds my level of interest!
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They do it in the Czech league that my 2nd team, FK Meteor, play in, flair, when there’s a drawn game. The winners of the shoot out get 2 league points and losers 1. They do the same in that, best penalty taker up first, which is what England did yesterday with Kane.
England didn’t have many regular penalty takers in their side at the end of 120 minutes, though there were a few players who’d scored in shoot outs before. God knows how pressured they must have felt.
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flair, my dad did something similar in 2018 during the World Cup. He had to pop out for something or other at half time and delayed the game. Unfortunately, there was a massive roar when we were watching on catch up that told us that England had scored.
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thaum, the Italian goal was scruffy but the England goal was outstanding skill, fast break, two terrific passes and a really first-class finish by Shaw.
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Didn’t see the first half; was enjoying myself having dinner! Heard the reaction though.
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Come to think of it, didn’t see the Italian goal either as I was out for a fag.
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We were having dinner outside at a pub in Yorkshire. After the England goal, a Scot – a member of staff – walked out of the pub and informed us that ‘unfortunately’ it was an England goal.
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Tomp, I can’t do the recording and FF thing when France play. Too many fireworks when it goes well. When France took the lead vs Sw, I was having dinner and I heard loud blasts outside. But then, when the game was supposed to be over, deadly silence. That’s when I started watching. Even after France scored their third, I knew something had gone tits up later.
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My experience is that you cannot train for penalties. It’s useless. The only difficulty ( at least at my level, where goalies weren’t that good) is the pressure. There is no pressure outside a real game.
Penalties are rare, usually important, therefore the best kicker always takes them ( unless the game’s already over, and then there is no pressure, even for an inexperienced kicker).
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The English goal was a beauty. Fantastic finish.
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Just found a post by Expro on 2020/05/12 at 7:32 am in the bin that I’ve released into the wild.
He has this shocking thing to say, amongst other things:
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Here is the link to his post: https://ovallyballs.sport.blog/2021/07/02/testing-testing/comment-page-17/#comment-54858
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05/12? No, it was yesterday!
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Hmm, and 2020? Don’t know what the hell I c&ped that from.
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RTFP, self. Probably his first post on OB.
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Somehow I can predict we’re going to hear …. “the dirty get…gettim off!” – followed by “I can’t spake!”
I’ll have to dig out the Irish equivalent from a hurling game in Tipperary featuring a club called Aherlow.
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I think the commentary would have been vastly improved with that Yorkshireman as opposed to whoever we had down here! Would it have been Sky? We get shed loads of sports from them. So just over an hour to the 2nd France-Aus Test! I wonder if the Aussies will be better organised? I wonder if France can do better at scrum time? I wonder if I support Aus, whether France will win this time? I wonder, wonder I do.
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I was a bit surprised when that guy didn’t get sent off for that. Probably because I don’t know the laws/rools. What are the laws/rools?
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Miles from goal, defenders covering, yellow card. It looked horrible and was horribly cynical but not a red card. Jorginho’s “tackle” on Grealish has more of a case.
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Iks – been thinking about your post (uh oh) and I wholeheartedly agree with you on the majority of it. It is weird that the manager and players are being venerated for being baseline good human beings. It’s just that England has had to put up with so much bs for so long from the football World that it’s a fucking huge surprise that they aren’t a bunch of synts.
It’ll be a good thing long term because these guys should have long careers and hopefully inspire the next generation. Also, they will hopefully set standards for the fans too.
On the racism, what’s heartened me is the condemnation it has received. For example, the reaction to Rashford’s mural being vandalised. I don’t think it will ever go away unfortunately but we have the means to shine a bright light on it and show it for what it is. For that reason, I’m not sure we’ve gone backwards (I couldbe wrong).
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Cheers Tomp.
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In the early 90s I was watching Oldham vs Sunderland and Gary Bennett of Sunderland committed a nasty foul in front of us. I looked behind me and saw my head of year at school on his feet making aggressive monkey noises aimed at Bennett with the rest of the mob* (we were sat in the family stand).
I don’t think that would happen now.
*This is the same group of people that would go teary eyed in admiration when talking about the great Roger Palmer.
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France’s record in the last 10 years v the Big 2 Southern Hemisphere teams + Australia:
NZ – played 12, lost 12
SA – played 6, lost 6
Aus – played 7, won 2, lost 5
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OT, happened at Tottenham v Chelsea a couple of years ago and some racist was thrown out of Molineux for abusing Rio Ferdinand earlier this year. It’s right that it’s less prevalent in the grounds but it’s still there.
People have got to call it out when it happens but that’s a hard thing to do. Much respect to people who do it and to the players who do so.
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Aussie score a nice try, but may have been knocked on way before.
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Ah, one phase before. Shame it was a good finish. Aussie trying to play really fast. France bashing but about to go 6 up with their second penalty.
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Tomp/OT – it’s very hard to measure ‘progress’. Listening to David Baddiel talk about this subject is pretty depressing. However, wider visibility and condemnation is progress imo.
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@tomp
It was a very different game in so many ways then. Every division 2 club seemed to have one black player and he always played on the wing (with notable exceptions like Bright & Wright at Palace, and Bennett at Sunderland of course). I can’t remember the name of the player or the team so I’ll call him “John Smith” but in the write-up of the opposition in the matchday programme one sentence started “Black John Smith plays on the left wing”.
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A one-two with Cameron Woki sees Penaud score after some mayhem from both teams. Aussie not protecting the ball.
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Missed the bloody try with a client calling. France doing ok but a bit lucky not to have conceded a try yet.
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In one of the Reggie Perrin books i remember a conversation around how the black player (as mentioned, usually only one) was a black bastard if he played badly, but our black lad (I’m paraphrasing) if he played well. So progress has been slow since the 70s. But it’s far better than no progress or denial.
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Aussie pack going quite well ball in hand but France are handling the back line set moves easily enough.
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France’s 1st up tackling has been lousy so far.
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I see from Thauma’s link that Pro is in Turkey with the missus. Glad the move worked out.
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