… because the Pro-Woo United Rugby Championship starts tonight! As per fucking usual, Ulster and Cardiff are scheduled to kick off at the same time, forcing a dual Premier Sports purchase. Bastards.
There is a plethora of other matches as well, so without further ado, let’s have a look at the fixtures.
In years gone by Sag and others (including me) used to slag off the John Lewis et al Christmas adverts. I saw this video by Limmy and thought of those times
It’s made up of Minor Counties players mostly, A lot of them have played for first-class counties in limited-overs matches. One lad had a test for England Under 19s. Their bowling is better by far than any other team and their fielding, on the whole, is excellent.
They still managed to lose to Italy, who the Czechs and the Finns beat. But it was a 9 am start so maybe that had something to do with it.
The Czechs have done ok. They beat Italy, which was a big surprise, and rolled over the Finns twice. Germany and the England XI have proven a big big step up for them.
Kiwi side tweaked for Saturday’s Test – George Bridge and Will Jordan dumped for their lack of aerial prowess, replaced by Sevu Reece and Rieko Ioane, with Anton Lienert-Brown returning to the midfield as Ioane shifts wider. Brad Weber and TJ Perenara swap places from starting/bench options. Pack sees Jacobson back in the starting XV after his late withdrawal last week. Sevu Reece in particular scares me. Weber is a bit quicker than TJP at the base, which scares me even more.
New Zealand
15 Jordie Barrett, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 David Havili, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Brad Weber, 8 Luke Jacobson, 7 Ardie Savea (captain), 6 Akira Ioane, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Joe Moody
Have to say, I’ve not seen long queues at any of the petrol stations around me. Might be some parts of Scotland that have been hit, not round the bits of Glasgow and surrounds I’m in.
I think the fuel shortage might be something felt more strongly in the southeast. There was a letter in the FT (can’t find it now) that suggested one of the reasons for the panic was the constant blocking of the M25 by the protesters, which I expect would disproportionately affect those in and around London.
I saw a thing in the G about why Scotland was better off: something to do with the central belt all being quite close together, so one driver could refuel many stations. You also have public transport, which is not good in these parts.
It was the Telegraph not FT. There’s been a lot of headlines in recent weeks (prior to the fuel issues) about HGV driver wages going up and up since Brexit. I know the bloke who used to run the Road Haulage Association so I might have a chat with him soon to see if there is an interesting insider’s perspective.
As published in today's Daily Telegraph. It is required reading. When you have read & understood this excellent letter you will know more about logistics & fuel shortages than any minister or adviser. pic.twitter.com/1EKXqF3h6d
“Fucking loads of fuel queues and/or empty stations around here. Also random empty supermarket shelves.”
Coventry will always look a bit of a mess, but they could sort this out by doing the same thing with the shelves as they do with the trollies. Pound coins and chains and all that.
Not having this notion of the Scots rising above it all. The Campbeltonians are terrible for buying up all the fuel at the petrol station as soon as they hear the road’s shut. Means people like me who really need to leave the place have to wait for the tanker to come through when it reopens before we can get away. To be fair some guy in a pub did once offer me a tank of fuel in these circumstances, but I was too pissed. Pub’s now a laundrette what with time being in reverse down that way so it won’t happen again.
thaum, there’s a natural decline because of age plus there were hardly any tests last year. Shortage.
OT, this line was in the FT:
Who will want these short-term visas, which expire on Christmas Eve? It is unlikely workers from the EU will queue up. As Tomasz Orynski, a Polish truck driver and journalist, told me: “Why would you want to go to Britain, jump all these hoops, face all this hostile environment, if you could go to Ireland or Holland and earn more, be respected, drive on nicer motorways with nice truck stops, and be a free European citizen, not a second-class citizen?”
Play-off time in the Euro Cricket thing. It’s an Australian system. Czechs racked up 144-4 in 10 overs against Italy, but Italy are 72-0 after 4 overs in reply.
I’m not sure about the “influx of European drivers “undercutting the UK drivers, in the letter the haulage companies chose to pay them less, they could have paid them the same or increased the wages. It wasn’t the European drivers who charged drivers for staying overnight at service stations, meaning the drivers on lower wages were parking up in laybys where security is a real issue, with their wagons being robbed becoming an occupational hazard.
TomP’s quote from the FT rings true to my ears, if I was in that position there is no chance I’d drive in the UK
if you could go to Ireland or Holland and earn more, be respected, drive on nicer motorways with nice truck stops
Not sure how far this applies to NL, but it’s something of a stretch in IE – though things are improving. A lot of our motorways were built without any service stations originally planned, but they are gradually appearing and aren’t too bad. Motorways tend (away from Dublin) to be 2-lane dual carriageways. Only the M50 and M1 get 3 lanes each direction.
Dipped what was an apparently decent chocolate chip biscuit into my hot chocolate earlier, only for it to fall apart in about a millisecond and form a sludge at the bottom of the cup.
Anyway, off to Thomond on Sat to see Munster vs Stormers.
Keith Earls at OC – not something I’m a big fan of.
Pack is pretty much as last week – Knox in for Ryan at TH. In the 3/4s, as well as Earls, both wingers change Daly and Nash in for Zebo/Conway (bench/out).
Ovally Balls 
No.
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Maybe.
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Definitely.
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Not
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end of
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I must say, I have enjoyed this little chat.
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In years gone by Sag and others (including me) used to slag off the John Lewis et al Christmas adverts. I saw this video by Limmy and thought of those times
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village cricket international edition. 12 minutes 12 seconds in:
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Also features an over going for 34.
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Disappointing to see the Czechs getting outclassed. Has whoever put the England XI together been a bit heavy handed?
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It’s made up of Minor Counties players mostly, A lot of them have played for first-class counties in limited-overs matches. One lad had a test for England Under 19s. Their bowling is better by far than any other team and their fielding, on the whole, is excellent.
They still managed to lose to Italy, who the Czechs and the Finns beat. But it was a 9 am start so maybe that had something to do with it.
The Czechs have done ok. They beat Italy, which was a big surprise, and rolled over the Finns twice. Germany and the England XI have proven a big big step up for them.
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Kiwi side tweaked for Saturday’s Test – George Bridge and Will Jordan dumped for their lack of aerial prowess, replaced by Sevu Reece and Rieko Ioane, with Anton Lienert-Brown returning to the midfield as Ioane shifts wider. Brad Weber and TJ Perenara swap places from starting/bench options. Pack sees Jacobson back in the starting XV after his late withdrawal last week. Sevu Reece in particular scares me. Weber is a bit quicker than TJP at the base, which scares me even more.
New Zealand
15 Jordie Barrett, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 David Havili, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Brad Weber, 8 Luke Jacobson, 7 Ardie Savea (captain), 6 Akira Ioane, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Joe Moody
Substitutes: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 George Bower, 18 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Ethan Blackadder, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Richie Mo’unga, 23 Damian McKenzie
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TomP, here’s one for the language fans.
A cover of a Gorillaz track in Middle Scots.
This is what the internet was invented for
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Dear all
Hope you are all well and safe.
Today I discovered this, I hope you enjoy it:
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oops – sorry Ticht – I didn’t mean to conflict with/detract from your post
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No worries, Slade, the more the merrier.
There was a morning dedicated to Tarantella on Radio 3 last week
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How about a spot of Serge G?
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Serge is so obviously kay-lied. I like the transition into the Pogues at the end.
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Ticht – I think I’ll have that piece played at my wake…………..
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To be fair to Serge it looked like it would be an upsetting experience for anyone.
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Number 1 no surprise. Number 2 might be – Donna Does Prog! (Sort Of). This might even bring The Mighty Iks out of hiding.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/sep/30/donna-summers-greatest-songs-ranked
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Courtesy of ProfessorPineapple:
Heart of stone etc.
Nigel Farage claims he was “hit by a van whilst stationary at a roundabout” while desperately hunting for petrol this morning.
The former Brexit Party leader tweeted: “The government tell us that the fuel crisis is easing…
“I went to 7 petrol stations this morning and there was no fuel at any of them.
“Was then hit by a van whilst stationary at a roundabout. Great start to the day!”
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White Van Driver Does Something Good Shock!
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Have to say, I’ve not seen long queues at any of the petrol stations around me. Might be some parts of Scotland that have been hit, not round the bits of Glasgow and surrounds I’m in.
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Nae queues here in embra that I’ve seen either BB. Maybe less of a supply issue, or we’re just all not getting inna panic.
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Not sure how much Grangemouth contributes to fuel supplies up here? Or does it do other stuff? (I have no idea either way).
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I think the fuel shortage might be something felt more strongly in the southeast. There was a letter in the FT (can’t find it now) that suggested one of the reasons for the panic was the constant blocking of the M25 by the protesters, which I expect would disproportionately affect those in and around London.
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no queues here in Occitania
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No fuel queues in my parts either.
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Fucking loads of fuel queues and/or empty stations around here. Also random empty supermarket shelves.
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I saw a thing in the G about why Scotland was better off: something to do with the central belt all being quite close together, so one driver could refuel many stations. You also have public transport, which is not good in these parts.
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It was the Telegraph not FT. There’s been a lot of headlines in recent weeks (prior to the fuel issues) about HGV driver wages going up and up since Brexit. I know the bloke who used to run the Road Haulage Association so I might have a chat with him soon to see if there is an interesting insider’s perspective.
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OT – I’ve also read some suggestions that the IR35 changes that came into effect at the end of March led to a whole lot of drivers quitting.
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@thauma
Wouldn’t surprise me.
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“Fucking loads of fuel queues and/or empty stations around here. Also random empty supermarket shelves.”
Coventry will always look a bit of a mess, but they could sort this out by doing the same thing with the shelves as they do with the trollies. Pound coins and chains and all that.
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Pleased to hear that Deebee doesn’t have any fuel queues in his parts.
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Not having this notion of the Scots rising above it all. The Campbeltonians are terrible for buying up all the fuel at the petrol station as soon as they hear the road’s shut. Means people like me who really need to leave the place have to wait for the tanker to come through when it reopens before we can get away. To be fair some guy in a pub did once offer me a tank of fuel in these circumstances, but I was too pissed. Pub’s now a laundrette what with time being in reverse down that way so it won’t happen again.
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thaum, there’s a natural decline because of age plus there were hardly any tests last year. Shortage.
OT, this line was in the FT:
Who will want these short-term visas, which expire on Christmas Eve? It is unlikely workers from the EU will queue up. As Tomasz Orynski, a Polish truck driver and journalist, told me: “Why would you want to go to Britain, jump all these hoops, face all this hostile environment, if you could go to Ireland or Holland and earn more, be respected, drive on nicer motorways with nice truck stops, and be a free European citizen, not a second-class citizen?”
Play-off time in the Euro Cricket thing. It’s an Australian system. Czechs racked up 144-4 in 10 overs against Italy, but Italy are 72-0 after 4 overs in reply.
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I’m not sure about the “influx of European drivers “undercutting the UK drivers, in the letter the haulage companies chose to pay them less, they could have paid them the same or increased the wages. It wasn’t the European drivers who charged drivers for staying overnight at service stations, meaning the drivers on lower wages were parking up in laybys where security is a real issue, with their wagons being robbed becoming an occupational hazard.
TomP’s quote from the FT rings true to my ears, if I was in that position there is no chance I’d drive in the UK
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hrmm, I could have edited that better, it’s a mess
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A stray comma cases catastrophe, just ask the writers of the US constitution.
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She should have gone for raving monster loony party tomp.
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*disaster of the day*
Dipped what was an apparently decent chocolate chip biscuit into my hot chocolate earlier, only for it to fall apart in about a millisecond and form a sludge at the bottom of the cup.
I found this disproportionately aggravating.
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Well, I wrecked the markup there…
Anyway, off to Thomond on Sat to see Munster vs Stormers.
Keith Earls at OC – not something I’m a big fan of.
Pack is pretty much as last week – Knox in for Ryan at TH. In the 3/4s, as well as Earls, both wingers change Daly and Nash in for Zebo/Conway (bench/out).
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Any significant rugby on this weekend? Outside of Irish age group matches.
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