And now, the end is near….
That sounds good. I should put it in a song.
That can wait, though. The real reason you’re reading this gibberish is to find out what the results are going to be on Saturday.
First up, Wales against Italy. Wales have scored 5 tries to Italy’s 4. That makes you think it might be close! Until you realise that Wales have conceded 7 to Italy’s 24. Which is a bit of a problem for Italy. (Nae shit, Sherlock). Italy played better against Scotland than they had in the other games, so is this the time they can back it up with another good performance? Probably not.
Wales have struggled a bit this year. Thumped by Ireland, scraped past Scotland, somehow losing to England despite scoring all the tries and never really looking like they would beat France. So, can Italy pull off a huge shock and get past Wales in Wales?
Let’s ask Predict-A-Bear!
Answer: Nah. Might be closer than expected, but probably Wales by 15.
Next up is Ireland against Scotland. (Sob). This was going to be The Year! The year to end (Way too many to count) Years Of Hurt! A brilliant start! And then everything turned Scottish. A disappointing – to say the least – defeat in Wales, thumped by France, then showing what we can do against Italy, before deciding that things were far too easy and that we should turn Scottish again.
Never mind, it’s only Ireland. The team that has been reinvigorated under Farrell The Elder. The team that beat the All Blacks. The team that thumped Wales, gave France their closest game so far and who managed to be disappointed in only scoring 57 points against 15, 14, 13, 12 man Italy. They have scored 20 tries to our 10, conceded 3 to our 11, Sexton’s on his Neverending Farewell Tour and have the might of Ulster (cheering them on from the sidelines).
So. Any hope for Scotland? Well … Ireland’s scrum looked strangely out of sorts against England. They also seemed a bit too rushed at times. And Finn bloody owes us one! So of course, Toonie sticks him on the bench. But probably none.
But let’s find out from Predict-A-Bear!
Answer: Nah. Much as I would love to be wrong, Ireland will win this fairly comfortably, by about 15 (at least). Can’t see us even getting any sort of bonus point. (Sobs again.)
Finally, the main event! France against England! France at home and going for a Grand Slam against a (fairly) average England team. (I mean, come on, WE beat them!) Eddie’s playing mind games again, although the only people he seems to confuse with these are his players. They have looked fairly toothless in attack (7 tries scored – and they’ve played Italy!), wonder boy Smith hasn’t quite lived up to the hype (but he will), the midfield has a Manu-sized hole (but then it frequently does) and Jack Nowell will probably end up hooking in the front row. And please (don’t) let Joe Marler take more throw ins. On the good side, Maro’s been a right annoying bastard on the pitch.
But France! They have everything: they can play tight; they can be expansive as (cliché alert) only France can. They have the best player in the world, and a few others who would probably be in a world XV, strength in depth and Shaun Edwards as defence coach. They haven’t perhaps scored quite as many tries as their play would suggest and had to tough it out against Wales.
So who will win?
Predict-A-Bear to the rescue!
Answer: A France win and Grand Slam!
Predict-A-Bear whispered sweet nothings into BorderBoy‘s ear.
Onna telly this week
Friday 18th March
| Bulls v Scarlets | 17:10 | BBC2 Wales / Premier Sports 2 |
| Glasgow v Edinburgh | 19:35 | Premier Sports 1 |
| Newcastle v Leicester | 19:45 | BT Sport 2 |
Saturday 19th March
| Lions v Munster | 12:00 | RTÉ2 / Premier Sports 2 |
| Wales v Italy | 14:15 | BBC1 / iPlayer |
| Sharks v Zebre | 16:30 | Premier Sports 2 |
| Ireland v Scotland | 16:45 | ITV |
| France v England | 20:00 | ITV |
Sunday 20th March
| Stormers v Cardiff | 12:00 | S4C / Premier Sports 1 | ||
| Wales v Italy (U20s) | 14:00 | BBC1 Wales / iPlayer / Website | ||
| Ireland v Scotland (U20s) | 17:00 | BBC1 iPlayer / Website | ||
| France v England (U20s) | 20:00 | BBC1 iPlayer / Website |
Ovally Balls 
Don Armand retires- top, top bloke
https://www.exeterchiefs.co.uk/news/armand-calls-time-on-chiefs-career
LikeLike
Northern Ireland name list for 2021 is out:
Americano indeed. The influence of UK Gladiators is still strong.
LikeLike
TomP – *wilts with shame*
LikeLike
I mean, really – Napoleon? We had a Napoleon living next door when I was growing up, but he was an Alsatian (and aptly named, although he wasn’t small).
LikeLike
There was a South African schoolboy rugby player a few years back called Napoleon I think. Definitely an American footballer in the 1980s, maybe 90s. And Han’s uncle Napoleon Solo, of course.
Maybe the South African I’m thinking of was ZInedine Booysen, who’s been around the Cheetahs recently.
LikeLike
I’m pretty sure that I have a Destiny in one of my schools. And there have definitely been one or two Blessings and perhaps a Serenity. The only Sunny I’ve come across was a Singh.
LikeLike
Blessing’s a common enough name in ZImbabwe.
LikeLike
I’ve always liked Welshman as in the Zimbabwean politician Welshman Ncube.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Deebs – just had quite a nice S African wine: Queen Bee Viognier. I mention this because a) I don’t normally drink white (but it was seafood), and b) I’m not usually keen on SA wines. Perhaps the whites are better than the reds; or perhaps (like California) you keep all the best ones to yourselves and don’t share?
LikeLike
Could also mention Chilean reds there: while you can get very nice ones here, the ones you can get in Chile are really superb.
LikeLike
Thauma – had to look it up, as I’m not familiar with that wine. Quite often wines that have old Dutch names are given Anglicised versions (or completely different names) in the UK market (and others) so that people can pronounce them and remember them. Seems to be a relatively new estate, which I don’t know, although I was in that neck of the woods last weekend. I do like a good Vionier, so will look out for it – thanks!
South African white wines are evolving at a helluva pace and starting to win more and more awards globally as winemakers here strive to produce wines that are distinct and not just ‘New World’. There are some sublime white wines on the market here now, especially Chenin Blanc, Sauv Blanc, some blends and some Chardonnays, although I prefer the unwooded ones.
Red wines have also evolved over the years, but still tend to lend themselves to our lifestyle here – needing to fit in or fuck off with large slabs of red meat, so perhaps a bit bold for European sensibilities! Most of the really good reds are out of my price range, unfortunately (alternatively, I should consume less and be able to afford higher priced wines, but that ain’t happening any time soon).
And as I type this, the delivery service has arrived with two cases of wine I bought from a new estate called Lord’s, in McGregor, a tiny town just outside Robertson, a larger town about two hours from Cape Town. Superb bubbly and a couple of really excellent whites and reds. Don’t expect any early morning posts from me tomorrow!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Chile has carmenere which makes it marvelous. Although they thought it was merlot until 1994
https://www.wine-searcher.com/grape-86-carmenere
LikeLiked by 2 people
And on the point of local consumption versus exports, most of our estates here are pretty small by global standards, many are family run etc – the Lord’s estate only has around 45 or 50 barrels of wine a year that they produce, so exports would be very limited (if at all). They supplement that with restaurants, wedding venues and accommodation, as do many of the estates here. I think, from memory of being in the UK, that most of the wine from SA comes from the large, commercial estates and whilst it’s good, it is the product of large commercial enterprises, tailored to mid-palate tastes.
LikeLike
An old school friend of mine was working with the British Embassy in, I think, Pretoria (would that be correct DB?) he’s always been a wine guy and he said it made him really sad to leave South Africa and all those delicious wines behind when his job brought him back to the UK.
I’ve found some really good SA stuff in Aldi and at a really good price too, unfortunately their stocks don’t last very long and they don’t replace it, once it’s gone it’s gone.
This was a stonker, it was about six quid iirc https://www.aldi.co.uk/stellenbosch-cabernet-merlot/p/072229169330101
LikeLike
Ticht, Pretoria would be correct. The wine you had could be from anywhere in Stellenbosch, it’s a generic name they’ve slapped on it. Cab-Merlot blends are pretty popular here. Stellenbosch is renowned as the premier red wine region in SA and many of the best red estates are there. Fuck it, I’m getting thirsty. 🤪
LikeLike
High Commission, ticht. About 200 metres from where my missus worked when we were there. It’s a turn of the century mansion and the staff were helpful to me a couple of times that I went there. It’s also very close to the Ambassador Duty Free on Park Street where there are lots and lots of bargains to be had – but you need the right ID – and a couple of roads up and across from Loftus. Not much good wine made in Gauteng,mind.
The classic South African varietal is Pinotage and I always found it a bit heavy but when we were down in the Western Cape around Wellington, Franschoek, Paarl and up in Tulbagh the wines in place were excellent.
Edinburgh should be playing the Stormers in Cape Town next year so book a place with these lads:
Click to access LOI-ITINERARY.pdf
LikeLike
Some fantastic sparkling whites and roses from Kent. Check out Chapel Down and our very own Biddenden vineyards. Just don’t have anything red. And they’d heard of these vineyards in Provence. Apparently the French are investing heavily in vineyards in Kent cos climate change etc.
LikeLike
Deebs – I went to stellenbosch on our school trip to SA. Great countryside and wine. We had a tour and some tasting and it was all certainly pleasant. They flipped out when they found out we were underage but then I’m not sure what they expected from a school trip.
LikeLike
Thinking back, that was ridiculous. I think my teachers just wanted a booze up.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Tam, that trip looks alright I suppose, the golf course could be a bit more scenic and the hotel looks a bit basic…
seriously, though. that looks like a fantastic trip
LikeLike
Craigs if I was your teacher I would also have wanted a booze up! With every meal. Doing one of those 5 meals a day health nut things. And a midnight snack. With grazing between meals. Basically a vodka drip.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh hell. Look what day it is! Only just realised.
I’ll put up a new blank post that may get filled in later!
LikeLike
New post is here.
LikeLike