Chimpie, I’m not going to calm down. Blatant theft! May as well stick him in the Tower with the Cullinan diamond that you Brits won’t return. First they came for the Elgin Marbles, and I was silent for I am not a marble. Then they came for the Cullinan Diamond, and I was silent for whilst I shine bright like a diamond*, I’m not actually one, or a cubic zirconium for that matter. Then they came for our doctors and nurses, and I was silent because I was unable to afford medical treatment for my throat ailment due to the UK plunder of our medical professionals, whilst simultaneously sending gunboats into the channel to forcefully turn back migrants from lands desperate for a better life after being ransacked by the UK for the last 300 years. Then they came for our rugby players and I said “FUCK THAT YOU SKANKY BASTARDS! PRODUCE YOUR OWN!
TomP – He may not have been in line for a Bok cap right now, but he’s not that far down the pecking order – Bongi Mbonambi and Scarra Ntubeni are both 30 already and Ntubeni is a fringe Bok anyway, then you’ve got Malcolm Marx (27) and Joseph Dweba (25) as the other two currently in the Bok squad. Johan Grobbelaar (23) got a call up to the extended squad earlier this year and I’d say that Richardson is probably at his level in the pecking order. May not have been in line for the next World Cup, but certainly the one after that. Still bloody theft.
Ticht, I’m beginning to think that Scotland are the Man City of global rugby – just hoover up all the talent, even when it’s not needed, so that nobody else can have it. For shame!
I think it was ticht that posted the budget of the French Top 14 clubs, the SRU ‘s budget (to run all rugby in Scotland) didn’t even make the top 3 from memory.
I wouldn’t put him at Grobelaar’s level, Deebs. You’ve still got Akker as well, the one whose brother’s Scottish. I like Joe van Zyl too. Plus the boy Wessels played at hooker for the Bulls on Saturday. Your cupboard ain’t bare.
When I was 17 I played a Colts (Under 19s) match against London Scottish. Our club had a good pipeline to LS – one of their first teamers at the time was 3 years ahead of me at school for instance and a team-mate was playing for the Scottish Exiles – and this was a regular fixture.
Anyway, we did ok and won the game. Afterwards, this bloke came up to me and said he was from the Scottish Exiles committee or something and asked me if I had any Scottish heritage. I said no, of course, but was quite proud that my fairly ordinary performance had attracted the attention of a selector. Went back to the changing room and mentioned it to a couple of my team-mates. They burst out laughing and said he asks everyone that and that I shouldn’t think I was going to be wear the thistle any time soon.
If they were Man City they’d have a load of what would otherwise be Springbok starters as well as some they don’t need. Anyway it’s all about Newcastle Utd from now on isn’t it?
charge them a commission for the tight head you rustle up .
This is making me giggle because of the Gethin Woodland Park that we’ve driven past many times, and which has always conjured up images of a prop foraging in the woods.
Okay, I think Gethin was a looseheid, but the principle remains the same.
As for yesterday’s rant, I am glad I decided not to publish in the heat of the moment. I may save some bits for Friday, but in any case today’s events (and probably tomorrow’s) will render a good bit of it obsolete anyway.
Regarding Dylan Richardson, I see his father is from Edinburgh, I played with a pair of Richardson brothers at Edinburgh Accies, there was a Jeremy who I knew quite well, he went on to captain the club and gain a full international cap, against South Africa.
I think his older brother was Charlie, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
I wonder if there is a connection?
Now that the dust has settled, would it be an appropriate time to mention that loosehead Nathan McBeth is to leave DeeBee’s Lions and pursue his rugby career in Scotland?
It’s unclear if he will be aligned to Glasgow or Edinburgh as yet.
ticht, Charlie Richardson? Notorious South London gangster as well as an Edinburgh Academicals stalwart. Might be worth checking out Richardson enforcer Mad Frankie Fraser’s family. Must be a Scottish connection there.
I feel a bit sorry for Sebastian, he might have had the benefit of playing with Scots and becoming a good player.
For a small country we’ve done ok at rugby, the Borders is the only area where rugby is possibly the most popular sport, the region has a population of just over 100k, yet it invented 7s, it has the oldest league in the sport, the national leagues are coming up for fifty years old. The first international match was played in Edinburgh, we’ve maintained a top ten(ish) place despite the SRU shooting itself in the foot several times at the advent of professionalism and despite not so much an uncaring national press, more of an actual hostile one against rugby.
Winning world cups and grand slams is just vulgar, really.
Beefed up the pack a bit and a 6/2 split. It is the bulls after all.
Sheil gets a start which is interesting. Velacott has looked good a the broken play & fast stuff but think his game management needs a bit of work. That could be a decent centre pairing there.
Bulls team:
David Kriel (Betway Centurion), Madosh Tambwe (Pretoria), Cornal Hendricks (Northam), Harold Vorster (Northam), Kurt-Lee Arendse (Betway Centurion), Chris Smith (Harlequins), Embrose Papier (FNB Tuks); Lizo Gqoboka (ABE Midas Naka Bulle), Bismarck du Plessis (Betway Centurion), Robert Hunt (Harlequins), Janko Swanepoel (Pretoria), Ruan Nortje (ABE Midas Naka Bulle), Marcell Coetzee (CAPT, ABE Midas Naka Bulle), Arno Botha (ABE Midas Naka Bulle), Muller Uys (FNB Tuks)
Replacements: Schalk Erasmus (Tuine), Simphiwe Matanzima (ABE Midas Naka Bulle), Jacques van Rooyen (Tuine), Walt Steenkamp (Betway Centurion), Elrigh Louw (FNB Tuks) Marco Jansen van Vuren (Pretoria), Morne Steyn (Tuine), Lionel Mapoe (Pretoria)
A new number 8 in Muller Uys, a strong runner. Was Evan Roos before Evan Roos. The replacement backrower Elrigh Louw is very very good. Nortje the lock is a fine young player, too.
Top fact: replacement prop Simphiwe Matanzima’s grandfather was once described by Nelson Mandela as “a sell-out in the proper sense of the word.”
Now here’s a thing, Gareth Barber, former Cardiff and others player and coach, most recently of the Fiji 7z side who beat their own record of tournament wins and lifted Gold at the 2020 Olympics is to join Edinburgh as skills and assistant attack coach.
That must be a bit of a coup signing.
btw, I’m hearing a lot of good things about Elrigh Louw in that Bulls side
Young hooker Patrick Harrison turned 19 in June, he’s made 3 appearances for Edinburgh. Yesterday it was announced that he was going down to Wasps to provide cover during their injury crisis.
Ovally Balls 
Chimpie, I’m not going to calm down. Blatant theft! May as well stick him in the Tower with the Cullinan diamond that you Brits won’t return. First they came for the Elgin Marbles, and I was silent for I am not a marble. Then they came for the Cullinan Diamond, and I was silent for whilst I shine bright like a diamond*, I’m not actually one, or a cubic zirconium for that matter. Then they came for our doctors and nurses, and I was silent because I was unable to afford medical treatment for my throat ailment due to the UK plunder of our medical professionals, whilst simultaneously sending gunboats into the channel to forcefully turn back migrants from lands desperate for a better life after being ransacked by the UK for the last 300 years. Then they came for our rugby players and I said “FUCK THAT YOU SKANKY BASTARDS! PRODUCE YOUR OWN!
* Enjoy the earworm.
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TomP – He may not have been in line for a Bok cap right now, but he’s not that far down the pecking order – Bongi Mbonambi and Scarra Ntubeni are both 30 already and Ntubeni is a fringe Bok anyway, then you’ve got Malcolm Marx (27) and Joseph Dweba (25) as the other two currently in the Bok squad. Johan Grobbelaar (23) got a call up to the extended squad earlier this year and I’d say that Richardson is probably at his level in the pecking order. May not have been in line for the next World Cup, but certainly the one after that. Still bloody theft.
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Ticht, I’m beginning to think that Scotland are the Man City of global rugby – just hoover up all the talent, even when it’s not needed, so that nobody else can have it. For shame!
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YOU CAN TAKE OUR PLAYERS, BUT YOU WILL NEVER TAKE OUR THREE-DOM!
#1995
#2007
#2019
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Outraged, outrageous steal!
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I thought a nice spot of lunch might help but obviously not.
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Or is all this rage caused by having to provide one’s own sandwich.
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‘Ticht, I’m beginning to think that Scotland are the Man City of global rugby ‘
I know, the SRU is literally swimming in billions.
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I think it was ticht that posted the budget of the French Top 14 clubs, the SRU ‘s budget (to run all rugby in Scotland) didn’t even make the top 3 from memory.
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I wouldn’t put him at Grobelaar’s level, Deebs. You’ve still got Akker as well, the one whose brother’s Scottish. I like Joe van Zyl too. Plus the boy Wessels played at hooker for the Bulls on Saturday. Your cupboard ain’t bare.
When I was 17 I played a Colts (Under 19s) match against London Scottish. Our club had a good pipeline to LS – one of their first teamers at the time was 3 years ahead of me at school for instance and a team-mate was playing for the Scottish Exiles – and this was a regular fixture.
Anyway, we did ok and won the game. Afterwards, this bloke came up to me and said he was from the Scottish Exiles committee or something and asked me if I had any Scottish heritage. I said no, of course, but was quite proud that my fairly ordinary performance had attracted the attention of a selector. Went back to the changing room and mentioned it to a couple of my team-mates. They burst out laughing and said he asks everyone that and that I shouldn’t think I was going to be wear the thistle any time soon.
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If they were Man City they’d have a load of what would otherwise be Springbok starters as well as some they don’t need. Anyway it’s all about Newcastle Utd from now on isn’t it?
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We’ll get onto the Geordie bastards once we’ve done with the Manc and Scots ones. Poor bloody Welsh, don’t even get a sniff in, in this conversation.
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Or is all this rage caused by having to provide one’s own sandwich.
Own pasta salad actually. Scots prolly promised promising Dylan a salad and cheap whisky to sell out.
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Scotland training squad furra 2 day camp. Only Embra & Glasgow players plus Dylan Richardson just to annoy Deebee.
Pack:
Matt Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors – 13 caps
Nick Haining – Edinburgh Rugby – 8 caps
Hamish Watson – Edinburgh Rugby – 41 caps
Rory Darge – Glasgow Warriors – uncapped
Dylan Richardson – Cell C Sharks – uncapped
Jamie Ritchie – Edinburgh Rugby – 27 caps
Luke Crosbie – Edinburgh Rugby – uncapped
Grant Gilchrist – Edinburgh Rugby – 45 caps
Jamie Hodgson – Edinburgh Rugby – uncapped
Rob Harley – Glasgow Warriors – 22 caps
Marshall Sykes – Edinburgh Rugby – uncapped
Zander Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors – 38 caps
Oli Kebble – Glasgow Warriors – 8 caps
Murray McCallum – Glasgow Warriors – 3 caps
George Turner – Glasgow Warriors – 17 caps
Fraser Brown – Glasgow Warriors – 54 caps
Stuart McInally – Edinburgh Rugby – 40 caps
Pierre Schoeman – Edinburgh Rugby – uncapped
Jamie Bhatti – Glasgow Warriors – 18 caps
Backs:
Rufus McLean – Glasgow Warriors – uncapped
Damien Hoyland – Edinburgh Rugby – 4 caps
Darcy Graham – Edinburgh Rugby – 19 caps
Cole Forbes – Glasgow Warriors – uncapped
Sione Tuipulotu – Glasgow Warriors – uncapped
Mark Bennett – Edinburgh Rugby – 22 caps
Matt Currie – Edinburgh Rugby – uncapped
Sam Johnson – Glasgow Warriors – 18 caps
James Lang – Edinburgh Rugby – 6 caps
Kyle Steyn – Glasgow Warriors – 1 cap
Jack Blain – Edinburgh Rugby – uncapped
Blair Kinghorn – Edinburgh Rugby – 25 caps
Ross Thompson – Glasgow Warriors – uncapped
Charlie Savala – Edinburgh Rugby – uncapped
Ali Price – Glasgow Warriors – 42 caps
George Horne – Glasgow Warriors – 14 caps
Jamie Dobie – Glasgow Warriors – uncapped
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A lot of them’ll drop out once we get England & France based players involved. Looking distinctly shallow at 2nd row with all the injuries.
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Richardson’s dad was apparently embra-born.
Our tichtheid stocks are slightly barrel scraping these days.
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Deebee, charge them a commission for the tight head you rustle up .
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charge them a commission for the tight head you rustle up .
This is making me giggle because of the Gethin Woodland Park that we’ve driven past many times, and which has always conjured up images of a prop foraging in the woods.
Okay, I think Gethin was a looseheid, but the principle remains the same.
As for yesterday’s rant, I am glad I decided not to publish in the heat of the moment. I may save some bits for Friday, but in any case today’s events (and probably tomorrow’s) will render a good bit of it obsolete anyway.
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Gethin did play both sides earlier on in his career.
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Gethin did play both sides earlier on in his career
Kind of a poor man’s Matt Stevens?
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Double Lion Matt Stevens.
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Double Lion and entertainer Matt Stevens.
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Matt Stevens with a blog steal! Probably ate it too.
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And everyone else on the blog.
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Regarding Dylan Richardson, I see his father is from Edinburgh, I played with a pair of Richardson brothers at Edinburgh Accies, there was a Jeremy who I knew quite well, he went on to captain the club and gain a full international cap, against South Africa.
I think his older brother was Charlie, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
I wonder if there is a connection?
Now that the dust has settled, would it be an appropriate time to mention that loosehead Nathan McBeth is to leave DeeBee’s Lions and pursue his rugby career in Scotland?
It’s unclear if he will be aligned to Glasgow or Edinburgh as yet.
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Can’t we poach a tighthead instead?
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The range of poachees is somewhat limited.
We put all this effort into scouring saffaland for talent and this is all they have? Frankly, I’m disappointed.
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You got 50 caps out of WP Nel. And remember you’ve also got NZ to fall back on. Berghan’s on 30 caps or so.
I wouldn’t diss your elite genealogy department. Not many would’ve picked out the Scarlets 3rd choice tight head as a potential international.
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I agree Chimpie, we should have targeted Roos at the Stormers, that lad is going to be a star, and soon
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ticht, Charlie Richardson? Notorious South London gangster as well as an Edinburgh Academicals stalwart. Might be worth checking out Richardson enforcer Mad Frankie Fraser’s family. Must be a Scottish connection there.
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Yes, outstanding vs Munster – constant line breaking threat…..
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I feel a bit sorry for Sebastian, he might have had the benefit of playing with Scots and becoming a good player.
For a small country we’ve done ok at rugby, the Borders is the only area where rugby is possibly the most popular sport, the region has a population of just over 100k, yet it invented 7s, it has the oldest league in the sport, the national leagues are coming up for fifty years old. The first international match was played in Edinburgh, we’ve maintained a top ten(ish) place despite the SRU shooting itself in the foot several times at the advent of professionalism and despite not so much an uncaring national press, more of an actual hostile one against rugby.
Winning world cups and grand slams is just vulgar, really.
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Now that the dust has settled
Says who?
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EVERYONE
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Probably a good move for McBeth. In the video below he looks and sounds like someone who’s been kidnapped by a mediocre rugby team:
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Must have been bad luck to mention “the Scottish play” even with an alternative spelling
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At least the injury list is getting shorter
Unavailable due to injury: Nick Haining, Blair Kinghorn, Ramiro Moyano, George Taylor, Ben Toolis, Hamish Watson, Glen Young
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Beefed up the pack a bit and a 6/2 split. It is the bulls after all.
Sheil gets a start which is interesting. Velacott has looked good a the broken play & fast stuff but think his game management needs a bit of work. That could be a decent centre pairing there.
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is there any other rugby happening this weekend?
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Chimpie, that pack is pretty huge, Phillips on the bench is quoted at 6’8″ and 119kg – bigger than Gilcho.
I’ve liked the look of Sykes so far, he is a big laddie and a bit of a gnarly bastard with it
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Bulls team:
David Kriel (Betway Centurion), Madosh Tambwe (Pretoria), Cornal Hendricks (Northam), Harold Vorster (Northam), Kurt-Lee Arendse (Betway Centurion), Chris Smith (Harlequins), Embrose Papier (FNB Tuks); Lizo Gqoboka (ABE Midas Naka Bulle), Bismarck du Plessis (Betway Centurion), Robert Hunt (Harlequins), Janko Swanepoel (Pretoria), Ruan Nortje (ABE Midas Naka Bulle), Marcell Coetzee (CAPT, ABE Midas Naka Bulle), Arno Botha (ABE Midas Naka Bulle), Muller Uys (FNB Tuks)
Replacements: Schalk Erasmus (Tuine), Simphiwe Matanzima (ABE Midas Naka Bulle), Jacques van Rooyen (Tuine), Walt Steenkamp (Betway Centurion), Elrigh Louw (FNB Tuks) Marco Jansen van Vuren (Pretoria), Morne Steyn (Tuine), Lionel Mapoe (Pretoria)
A new number 8 in Muller Uys, a strong runner. Was Evan Roos before Evan Roos. The replacement backrower Elrigh Louw is very very good. Nortje the lock is a fine young player, too.
Top fact: replacement prop Simphiwe Matanzima’s grandfather was once described by Nelson Mandela as “a sell-out in the proper sense of the word.”
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That’s going to be a tough game.
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Now here’s a thing, Gareth Barber, former Cardiff and others player and coach, most recently of the Fiji 7z side who beat their own record of tournament wins and lifted Gold at the 2020 Olympics is to join Edinburgh as skills and assistant attack coach.
That must be a bit of a coup signing.
btw, I’m hearing a lot of good things about Elrigh Louw in that Bulls side
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Young hooker Patrick Harrison turned 19 in June, he’s made 3 appearances for Edinburgh. Yesterday it was announced that he was going down to Wasps to provide cover during their injury crisis.
He’s on the pine against Exeter tomorrow.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/58886068
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is there any other rugby happening this weekend?
Funny you should ask.
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