The Autumn Internationals or End of Year Tours start in earnest this weekend after two weeks of watching the Kiwis dismantle half-baked sides in the name of ‘growing the global game for a few million pounds, mate’. Gents that they are. After the rancour of the Lions Tour (with more of the players now tearing up the St Gats Bible and tossing it onto the fire of missed opportunity, and the gross miscarriage of justice in holding the Rugby Championship in the backwater towns of a backwater penal colony, we get to some good old fashioned, meaty, North versus South matches: the northerners itching to avenge the defeats of the Lions tours or for those not involved to pick up some scalps as we hurtle towards France 2023 and putting down markers. For the southerners, it’s a chance to meet up with childhood family and friends who’ve strayed from home and been punished for it by having to endure the long bleak winters of their discontent (and weather and losing to the fleet of foot colonials). So to it!
Ireland v Japan
The unsmiling Irish will be looking for another, more convincing win against the Brave Blossoms, to further eradicate the memories of losing in the World Cup to Japan. They got a 39-31 victory in July, but will be looking to turn the screws this time and stamp their authority on the match. Sexton’s century and a very strong looking pack will be too much for the Blossoms, as Ireland take it by 25.
Italy v New Zealand
Not really much point in discussing this one, other than whether or not the Kiwis have put out a second- or third-choice side against the Abject Azzurri. Dane Coles and Sam Cane are the most experienced starters in the side with 75+ caps each, but from there is a long way down to Damian McKenzie and Richie Mo’unga at 38 and 29 respectively and then down to most having not more than a handful of caps. ‘A youthful combination’ is how the Kiwis have framed it, but whatever, they’ll still stick loads on Italy. New Zealand by 56
Spain v Fiji
Absolutely no idea what Spain’s 15s side is like and I can’t be bothered to Google it either. They’ve had a couple of decent wins in the 7zzz in recent years, but won’t be a match for Fiji who should simply be too physical, fast and inventive. Fiji blow hot and cold though, both temperamentally and skills wise, so it may not be the massive blow out expected. Fiji by 19
Portugal v Canada
Last time I looked the Cannucks were bloody awful. They got slapped silly in July by both Wales and England and have a win and a loss against both the USA and Chile in the current 2023 World Cup campaign, so not much to write home about. Portugal currently sit second in the Rugby Europe Championship behind powerhouses Georgia (drop Italy etc!) and look like a decent emerging side at that level. They’ve thumped Spain, Russia and Netherlands and lost to Georgia and Romania. Should be a narrow win for Canada based on experience, but stuff that – Portugal by 2.
England v Tonga
England injecting some new blood into the system, but retaining enough firepower to demolish Tonga after a sluggish start. Don’t expect any surprises in this one, bar perhaps all 15 Tongans staying on the pitch. England to win by how much they want to, and how much they’re keeping in reserve for the bigger matches to come. England by 51.
Wales v South Africa
One of the matches of the round! Wales have had the Boks number in Cardiff in recent years and have their foreign-based players back in the side after missing out against the Kiwis. An under-strength Wales were game for 55 minutes nonetheless and will feel confident that they can go one further and compete with – and beat – the Boks this weekend. The loss of AWJ is massive however, and the Boks arrive in town buoyed by their win over New Zealand and with a very strong pack. Some doubts out wide with Kolbe and Nkosi both missing and le Roux dropped, but the Boks will reverse recent form and win a hard, uncompromising duel in the end. South Africa by 8.
France v Argentina
This would have been a lip-smacker a few years ago, but Argentina have gone off the boil in the last year or so. France have improved, but still manage to confound every now and then. Which France will pitch up etc and which Pumas side will pitch up? No idea on either score, but at home, and with the depth they’ve got, it’s France for the win. Being a conservative Saffer, I’ve gone by 11 points to France, but it could be a lot more if they get going. Or not, if they don’t.
Romania v Uruguay
Romania may not be the side they were under Ceausescu, but they’re handily placed in Tier 2 of European rugby. They narrowly lost a friendly to Argentina in July, for what it’s worth, so do have some ability at the top level. Uruguay had a great 2019 World Cup and have qualified for 2023 as well, belting the USA out of the way in the process. That should see them as favourites for this match, but in a Romanian autumn, anything is possible. Romania by 4.
Scotland v Australia
Scotland warmed up for their bunnies with a sumptuous performance last weekend, missed by some Scots here who were foolishly hiding behind their sofas. They ran in some excellent tries, albeit some of the tackling was optional at times, but you’ve still got to get them in. They face an Australia that recovered from their traditional shellacking by the Ballsacks to beat both the Boks and Argentina twice, albeit all matches played in Australia. Still, the Aussies seem to be growing in confidence and getting a bit of backbone into their side. A tough match, but one I think will go the Wobblies’ way in the end. Australia by 7.
Preview gracias a Deebee7
Onna telly this week
Friday 5th November
| Leicester v Bath | 19:45 | BT Sport 1 |
| La Rochelle v Bordeaux | 20:00 | Premier Sports 2 |
Saturday 6th November
| Ireland v Japan | 13:00 | Channel 4 / RTÉ2 |
| Italy v New Zealand | 13:00 | Prime |
| Toulouse v Perpignan | 13:45 | Premier Sports 2 |
| England v Tonga | 15:15 | Prime |
| Brive v Racing 92 | 16:00 | Premier Sports 2 |
| Wales v South Africa | 17:30 | Prime |
| France v Argentina | 20:00 | Prime |
Sunday 7th November
| Scotland v Australia | 14:15 | Prime | ||
| England v New Zealand (women) | 14:45 | BBC2 / iPlayer | ||
| Wasps v Harlequins | 16:30 | BT Sport 1 | ||
| Clermont v Toulon | 20:00 | Premier Sports 1 |
Ovally Balls 
McGinty to join Bristol next season.
Exeter sign Argentinian forward Grondona effective after Autumn Internationals.
Both good signings, for different reasons.
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Exeter taking emergency action after Vermelen’s return is significantly delayed
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NZ through in the T20 and England oot.
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I love travelling by train, if that was the conversation, I kind of skim read up to here.
The train beats driving most days of the week for me. I have train ambitions, one is to go across the Glenfinnan viaduct, and then watch another train do it from an elevated position.
Driving in the Highlands used to be good fun, but I’m assured the number of camper vans has made that a real chore.
I say camper vans, but these things are the size of busses now. I saw a photo of Skye where the entire road was choc full of them either side
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Not sure about that Ticht. We’ve been in various parts of the Highlands and I wouldn’t say the number of camper vans (and caravans) was noticeably more than usual. In fact, there were time we were driving along what could be considered ‘scenic’ routes (the road from Oban to the Crinan Canal, and across the Highlands from Inverness to the west coast, and both during holiday times and during good weather) and the roads were pretty empty.
Having said that, I’m not surprised about the roads on Skye being chocka with vans. A lot of the roads up there are more or less single track.
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Two words: Horse, back.
Wales: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Josh Adams, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Louis Rees-Zammit, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Taine Basham, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Ellis Jenkins (captain), 5 Adam Beard, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Rhys Carré.
Replacements: 16 Bradley Roberts, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 WillGriff John, 19 Christ Tshiunza, 20 Seb Davies, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Callum Sheedy, 23 Nick Tompkins.
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@cmw
Upminster legend Jimmy Neesham played a blinder there
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Well, I hope that continues, BB. I’ve heard horror stories about the so-called North Coast 500 (aka, the road soon the tap), a lot of which is single track.
I guess people are prone to exaggeration
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I did Prague – Bar in Montengro and back (well, Podgorica-Prague) about 10 years ago. Terrific. There’re about 400 bridges/viaducts on the journey. Spectacular. Plus, you get an old-fashioned passport/customs check on the Serb/Hungarian border.
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Ticht – I agree. A long journey on a train where you get to see new places and countryside is great. Even night journeys as well. Bus journeys can be like this too but there’s normally more room on a train.
Apart from commuting on a train. Commuting socks.
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Tomp – Josh Adams at centre…
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Saying that, my fave train journey was from the South of Thailand to Bangkok. Mostly through the night. Mrs Craigs and I played cards and the loser had to drink . It’s the only time I smashed her at Shit Head. Screw the scenery, the company was what made it great.
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Tam, you’ll cuff them. If ever there was an example of individuals v a team, it’s Fiji. They have world class players in their first fifteen, and very good ones in the back ups, but they just are not very good when it comes to matches. I’ve just watched the highlights of the Spain Fiji game from the weekend (now there’s a thing, the weekend gone, last weekend or just from the weekend)
Anyway, Spain were leading them at halftime before Fiji got into their stride and tore away from them.
Wales by a minimum of 50
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Lots of opensides and wingers in that Wales team.
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Heard good things about Thailand. Sounds like it could be great for a holiday. Not as good as Birmingham, obviously, but worth considering.
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I’ll have you know that I’ve been as far afield as Leamington Spa today.
Ah, my lad’s town when he was at Warwick. I have great memories of Leamington Spa and surrounds. And summer weather is particularly good. Had some fun meals at the Royal Pug and loved the town of Warwick and the castle and Stratford etc. Was told to avoid Coventry city centre on Friday nights.
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Craigs, I used to spend so much time driving an old LandRover, which is very different from driving most other vehicles, it’s as slow as a lorry but tiny in comparison, so you get to see things from a LandRover.
One of my fondest memories was driving along a mountain road across the Pyrenees and having an eagle flying alongside, he/she was miles in the air but at the same height as me, due to the drop off the side of the road, it was just easing along at a chilled out pace for an eagle.
The bird did this for a good five minutes before swooping off on to something more interesting.
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I would put my wife’s commute old up there in the Top Trumps commutes, though there was one guy I knew who would probably top it. He would walk a little over ten miles to work in a cement factory every day, then ten miles back, all year round.
I’m not kidding.
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The most spectacular train trip I’ve done was the high speed one from Shanghai to Beijing. 2,200km at 300km/h+ the whole way bar stopping a couple of times to pick up more passengers. The jaw-dropping part was flying past new cities for ages, just high rise after high rise for miles in every direction, although the revelations about Evergrande suggest maybe they’ve overdone it a bit.
The entire stretch between the two cities is used, largely for housing and factories, with some agricultural bits in-between, but I don’t recall seeing an unused piece of land. Quite scary, actually.
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Tshiunza might well become the Welsh version Itoje.
He’s a very big lad, very athletic and seemingly quite modest.
Born in the Congo, 19 years old and already a Welsh u20
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ticht, I doubt we’ll win by 50. Be nice to win. Their squad is only NH-based players and a few big names are missing, Cotter’s not there and Rory Best is so it’d be good for us to score a lot of points against them but not sure we’re capable of it.
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Tam, among the few big names missing are Radradra, Yato and Nadolo, these guys are class. Even with a full compliment they struggle, it’s very frustrating knowing the talent they have in their side.
Wales did pretty well against South Africa, I think it will be very comfortable for Wales this week
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BTW, apparently the National Congress of American Indians have written to Exeter to ask them to desist with the imagery and branding
I don’t think even Rowe can find a way to spin this.
I’ve nothing against the team, I quite like them in fact, but I do not like Rowe or his refusal to budge on this
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Deebs – you really don’t want to be in Leam on a Friday night either, especially around the bottom of town (where the students live). Friends’ son got stabbed a few years ago – fortunately without too much harm being done.
I prefer Warwick too: werbly old buildings instead of this modern Regency stuff. I always tell people it looks like Stratford ought to look, but mostly doesn’t any more, a few touristy landmarks aside. In the downtown area, all independent shops (now they’ve closed the M&S), whereas Leam is all pound shops, charity shops and the odd high street retailer struggling on.
That said, Newbold Comyn is a fabulous place to take the dog.
I’ve never heard of the Royal Pug, but it seems to still exist! The New Inn is the rugby pub. Has a screen in the heated smoking area – what more can you ask for? Or at least, it did. No idea what is what in these pandemic days.
Warwick Castle is remarkably well-preserved and has some fun things like birds of prey demos – and used to have a working trebuchet until they set the boathouse on fire – but is both expensive and Disneyfied (owned by Madame Tussaud’s now). Used to have proper docents, but now just talking waxworks.
Kenilworth Castle (despite its proximity to the dreaded Cov) is really nice to visit, despite being pretty much a complete ruin. And there’s a lovely walk outside its walls over surrounding farmland.
Here endeth the mid-Warks Tourist Board presentation.
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Ticht
Wales did pretty well against South Africa, I think it will be very comfortable for Wales this week
This sounds like a man volunteering to write this week’s ATL.
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Thaum, I do apologise, but I wish I had the time, I’m in full time study at the moment, hence the fewer number of hours spent on here.
It wouldn’t be so bad but I write very slowly as it is.
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No worries, Ticht.
Anyone else, she says desperately?
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Thaum, with this much notice I could do one for next weekend, the weekend after next, the weekend following this weekend.
The weekend Scotland play Japan.
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Offer gratefully accepted, Ticht!
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I haven’t weighed up in the great Next debate yet.
It’s fucking obvious that ‘this’ weekend refers to the one coming up (unless you’re in the middle of one, in which case it’s that one), and that ‘next’ weekend is the one after that.
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For the dreamers, Dick Gaughan from a 1983 documentary.
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ah, oh well, watch it on youtube
It’s just so optimistic, as are all of his songs
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8 Taine Basham, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Ellis Jenkins (captain). We’ve broken all our 6’s and 8’s and so here we are with our 777 backrow. Well it will be fast but probably not furious and possibly underpowered against Fiji. And no-one saw Adams at 13 but that’s where we’re short so it makes some sense.
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BRB, you’ll be more than fine this weekend.
Fijian players seem to be terrific in other teams, but they underperform as a unit for the talent they have.
They are more frustrating than France.
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Tomp – it’s great for food, weather, culture, beaches. Haggling can be a hassle though as can the scams. It’s been a while since I’ve been mind.
Mrs Craigs did her part of her dissertation on the same trip there (and Cambodia) chasing down these ancient brass drums (Dong Son drums). We also used our NUS cards to blag our way into Bangkok University library and photocopy some articles from journals she couldn’t find at home. I think she should have got a First just for that (she did anyway).
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What did MrsCraigs study?
I hesitate on this, but it’s good, the harmonies are something that sag would really get, the subject matter is all to do with tomorrow
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Ticht – she did Archaeology with a slant towards Anthropology.
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Ticht
Excellent video – seems to capture the whole f**king pointlessness in a very respectful way.
Doesn’t a scattering of a few trees bring a certain softness/serenity to the blasted landscape?
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The most memorable train trip I’ve ever done (but by no means spectacular) was on January 11 1986. My first day in the old South African Defence Force. Went on an absolute bender the night before (still at the tender age of 17) and pitched up the departure place at 7am, possibly still drunk. 600 of us sat on the grass in the blazing heat for four hours whilst everyone’s luggage was searched with a fine toothcomb – they found a lovely assortment of drugs, booze, girlie mags and whatnot that was all confiscated. Not from me though, of course.
We were then herded onto the train, screamed at and abused by the troops transporting us and fed some of the worst food you can imagine. We had to leave the windows closed and shutters down as a precaution, so you can imagine the stuffiness of the journey as we headed to Cape Town, arriving 24 hours later to a hail of bottles and rocks from the good folk at the ‘Coloured’ section of Wetton Station who could spot a troop transporter from a mile away. They were good folk for the most part and I used to buy my dope from them when I was sitting in the guard tower overlooking the station in later months. About 50p (in today’s money) for a bank bag of decent stash.
The trip itself was pretty unremarkable – you quickly learned who the naughty kids were (we were mostly kids, fresh out of school), who the serious soldiers would be, desperate to defend their volkstaat against the black threat and communist threat (swart gevaar and rooi gevaar), who the guys were who had older brothers or cousins who had passed on the tricks and tips of how to swim through the system and who were the bewildered kids who had no fucking clue (me). And then you picked who you’d like to associate with.
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In a webinar (boo!) where the first speaker has thanked the moderator for ‘teeing up’ the discussion so she can provide a ‘helicopter view’ of Nigeria’s retail sector. At the risk of starting a gender war, I thought it was only male middle managers who used such ridiculous language?
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Deebs – I’m glad you did the responsible thing and drank all your booze, took all your drugz and hid your girlie mags under your bed before getting to the station.
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Also Deebs – wanky business speak is very much an equal opportunities business.
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As is being a massive twat.
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Also Deebs – wanky business speak is very much an equal opportunities business.
As is being a massive twat.
I’ll have to take your word for it.
@Thauma, you have mail.
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I have visions “La Salaire de la Peur” with Ticht driving with a load of nitro-gyclerine
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This is a good read, Kyle Steyn might well face the country of his birth on Saturday, we’ll find out later today. His father was head of Nelson Mandela’s security and he was also doing security for the All Blacks when Suzie did her thing at the world cup, it’s all in here
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/59233294
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Craigs, I bet that was a really interesting degree
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This one is for Slade (potentially NSFW):
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I also saw this. Be interesting so see what the response is (if any):
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Ticht – I think she really enjoyed it. She was all set up to do art and received an unconditional offer to Slade school in London. But her parents killed that plan preferring her to do something more academic. This was the next best thing.
Actually, her dissertation was ‘archeology of the senses’. So trying to get into experiences of the Don Song people who used those drums. We had to find out where the drums were as well. So one was in the Phnom Penh national museum:
https://bronzedrums.jimdofree.com/countries/cambodia/
And one in Nakhon Si Thammarat in southern Thailand (doesn’t seem to have a website).
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