It’s Christmas in July as the Northern behemoths head south to upside-down-world and a feast of rugby! With this being the last July tour before the World Cup next year in France, there are markers to be put down, there are points to be made and there are matches to be won! Not the usual ‘development tours’ we see, but full-blooded Tests, with a capital T and an exclamation mark to boot. So who’ll be the turkeys (not Türkiye, as they’re not playing anyway), who’ll get a stuffing and who’ll provide the trimmings and the sauce? A veritable smorgasbord awaits:
Romania v Italy
After slaying the Welsh dragon in February, there’ll be a sprightly step in the Italian dressing room before facing off with a Romanian side that lost its last two matches (narrowly to let’s-replace-Italy-with-Georgia, and more convincingly to Spain) to end a decent five match winning streak prior to that. Solid second tier, but not enough to get past Italy, who broke a 36-match losing streak at the Principality with THAT try. It won’t be a canter, but Italy should start their summer series with a fairly comfortable win: Italy by 15 over Romania
Australia ‘A’ v Samoa
Much talk around the improvement of Australian sides in Super Rugby this year, but frankly I’m not sure where that came from. A couple of wins against Kiwi sides masked the fact that they only got one side in the semis and propped up the bottom of the combined table along with the Samoan and Fijian sides. The Brumbies were the only consistent side in Australia, but they’ll have too much depth anyway to field an ‘A’ side that will see off Samoa easily enough. No idea what to expect from Samoa, or who they’ve selected, but history tells us they’ll be blood and thunder for 60 minutes, whilst still getting the wrong end of the scoreboard and cards, and fade away as the superior conditioning and game plan of the Aussies takes control: Australia ‘A’ by 23
Fiji v Tonga
A spicy affair for sure, although Fiji have emerged as the most consistent of the Pacific Island sides in recent years, combining some electric running from all 15 (or 23) players at times, with brutal defence and a set piece that’s better than most of their neighbours. It’ll be fierce, it’ll be fast, it’ll be fun to watch from afar, but ultimately Fiji will have too much: Fiji by 13
Japan v France
Two of the world’s great cultures and two of the world’s great cuisines. Most recent and next hosts of rugby’s great showpiece. Two sides renowned for silky skills and derring-do with ball in hand, but that’s where it ends, I’m afraid. France are building up a fearsome head of steam in the lead up to their home World Cup and have oodles of talent and power in most positions, led by Dupont and Ntamack at 9 and 10, behind a pack that won’t step back for anyone. Japan have been solid recently, with good wins over second-tier sides and running the likes of Scotland, Australia and Ireland relatively close (bar one blowout against Ireland), so they have the wherewithal to mix it with the big boys. However, this is a France on a mission and they should stroll away with it in the end: France by 33
New Zealand v Ireland
One of the most eagerly awaited July series, with Ireland having got the measure of the Kiwis in recent years. But not in New Zealand. Both sides come into the series with question marks hanging over them – the All Black pack got dusted in Dublin and flayed in France last year and they’ve gone with Scott Barrett at 6 in an effort to bolster the lineout and scrum. Worked a treat in the 2019 Semi against England, didn’t it? Ireland’s Leinster-dominated side has struggled against top packs, but they’ll probably fancy they’ve got the wood on the Kiwis up front. The AB backline has suffered some Covid disruptions, but such is the depth of talent in New Zealand, they’ll be fine there. The noises coming out of New Zealand are ominous and they’ll throw everything at Ireland this week. Perhaps overly generous, but it’s New Zealand by 17
Australia v England
Another hugely anticipated match as Eddie’s eagles got their wings clipped in the 6N, amidst rumblings around his sometimes leftfield selections. Australia have been building quietly under Dave Rennie and demolished a Bok scrum last year thought to be their key weapon. The Aussies always bring that mongrel spirit to matches like this and they won’t back down against England’s forwards. It’s an intriguing match-up with England’s centres – as ever – a topic of debate and the backs in general, from 9 to 15, with the exception perhaps of Marcus Smith being anything but nailed on. Both sides are actually a little unsettled and it could go either way, with the match-up between Smith and Cooper at 10 a key contest. Australia will look to run England around the park, whilst England will look to smother the Aussies before letting loose later on. Could go either way, I’m backing Rennie’s Roos to break some hoodoos: Australia by 2
South Africa v Wales
Everyone in Wales apparently thinks the Boks will smash Wales. So does everyone here. Except for the people who think it’ll be a tight, ugly affair. Of which I’m one. The Boks are generally slow out of the starting blocks in the international season and are probably most vulnerable in this first Test. That said, it’s a pretty settled squad, with most of the players in their prime, or near enough. They’ve all played together for a few seasons and so should be settled enough. Wales, on the other hand, have come off a horror 6 Nations, only winning one match and losing to Italy in the final match – but they also got three losing bonus points, so three tight defeats. Whatever the missing links are in the Welsh side, it’s not guts and defence and bloody-mindedness. And the matches between Wales and South Africa have been tight in recent years, so I expect another tight affair, with the Boks perhaps easing away at altitude later on: South Africa by 9
Argentina v Scotland
This has all the potential to be a cracker, with Argentina now under the tutelage of Michael Cheika and with some of the Euro-based players back in the fold. Having stunned the ABs in 2020 and played some fabulous rugby in the process, they slipped back badly in 2021, winning only one match, against Italy. Scotland’s all-new, all-singing, all-dancing style fell a bit flat in the 6 Nations after a promising start and the Scots once again failed to live up to expectations. That said, they have some wonderful, athletic forwards and some serious gas out wide that can blitz most defences on its day. This could be a great match. Would back Argentina’s 2020 version, but not the 2021 version, albeit they’ve changed management and got a few players back: Scotland by 5
Merrily foretold by Deebee7
Onna telly this week
Thursday 30th June
| Scotland v Italy (U20s) | 19:00 | YouTube |
| Wales v Georgia (U20s) | 19:00 | YouTube |
Saturday 2nd July
| Japan v France | 07:00 | Premier Sports 1 |
| New Zealand v Ireland | 08:00 | Sky Sports Action |
| Australia v England | 10:55 | Sky Sports Action |
| South Africa v Wales | 16:05 | Sky Sports Action |
| Argentina v Scotland | 20:10 | Sky Sports Main Event |
Tuesday 5th July
| France v South Africa (U20s) | 16:00 | YouTube |
| England v Ireland (U20s) | 19:00 | YouTube |
Wednesday 6th July
| Scotland v Georgia (U20s) | 16:00 | YouTube |
| Wales v Italy (U20s) | 19:00 | YouTube |
Ovally Balls 
Or there’s that thunderbolt of lightning one, but we’ve all heard it enough times.
LikeLike
I’d kiss rain right now
LikeLike
In my uni days, we had alternate lyrics to this one. Something like:
I went down Virginia’s
Looking for some weed
But she didn’t have none
Was an awful shame
(It was better than that, but I can’t remember it. Long time ago!)
LikeLike
Refit – thanks, that’s a new one on me (although it sounds slightly familiar?) , and a gorgeous video.
And it reminded me of this one:
LikeLiked by 1 person
I mean, this is genius:
If you don’t stay tonight
I will take that plane tonight
I’ve nothing to lose, nothing to gain
I’ll kiss you in the rain
Kiss you in the rain
Kiss you in the rain
In the rain
Get me to the doctor
LikeLike
@Thaum – “A new one”??!?!?!? 😮😮That came out in 1997.
LikeLike
Perhaps so, but I was living in the benighted US then, and don’t think I’ve heard it.
LikeLike
Speaking of that time, I used to know this wumman who’s now chasing the sun [insert upside-down cross emoji], back when she was singing about her roof leaking, a song that doesn’t appear to be on the internets (and it’s a lot better than this one):
She’s a lovely if somewhat scatty person.
LikeLike
This is also her, singing the tag-line at the end. Made her a fortune.
LikeLike
Seems she’s also achieved fame through singing a theme for a video game, Final Fantasy. That’s probably also brought her in a few bucks.
But I thought she was best as part of a band, musically speaking. Outstanding voice, very good songwriter, but better tempered by other opinions.
We went through some good and bad times together….
Sorry, I’ll stop indulging in nostalgia now!
LikeLike
The rain’s finally arrived
LikeLike
And it’s gone.
LikeLike
Test
LikeLiked by 1 person
Put in quite the rant yesterday only for it to disappear into the (smoke-filled) ether.
Something along the lines of this:
* * Assuming that the National Period of Mourning is now over… * *
Congratulations to Ireland for the historic win at the weekend and for building on the recent wins against the ABs in other jurisdictions. Showed up the current ABs and the game in NZ in general as being built on sand. Plenty for the NZRFU to get in order and no real time before the tour(s) later this year and RWC next year. Personally I feel sad but vindicated in my moving away from previous avid fandom.
NZ is now struggling with the same increase in Covid cases as the UK (adjusted for scale). Historic lack of investment in the health services is coming back to bite us all in the bum with hospitals and health-workers over-stretched and failing to cope. I have to wear a mask at work in the restaurant although the punters don’t have to. AFAIK I haven’t been infected yet despite inevitable contact with the afflicted. I wear a mask when approaching bar-workers, in shops and the like but have no incentive to go travelling amidst all the non-mask-wearing folks.
The govt has no incentive to revert to mask-mandates or any form of lockdown as the general public is “over it” and would render such policy reversion as political suicide.
…and that’s about the way the rant went.
LikeLike
But I’m not finished yet.
Unlike Ticht I am heading in the direction of Doom-Meisterdom. With all the climate stuff going on (NZ seems less affected at the moment, but it’s just a matter of time) allied to the litany of instances of shit around the world – US shootings, abortion ‘rights’, Ukraine, rampant political instability, social-media fuelled extremism – I can see the 4 horsemen getting saddled up.
Like the naive fool I have always been, I thought during the early stages of the pandemic that western societies might get the idea that there was cause to hit the ‘Reset’ button on the economic orthodoxy and steer us towards a more society-centric model. It seems obvious to me that the current capitalist fetish for the maximising of profits and the unrealistic reliance on perpetual ‘growth’ is entirely unsustainable and is a direct cause of much of the shit we find ourselves in. Thems with the power – both political and financial – aren’t about to change a dog-damn thing and are going to take us all down with them.
Just thought I would share that with you all. I don’t move in circles where such opinions are welcome and I remember that this place was a more reasonable sounding board.
OK, as you were…
LikeLiked by 4 people
Hello, ElS!
Went looking in the spam bin and found your original post along with two of Flair’s. They have now been restored.
Now that the initial blaze of glory has worn off, it seems to me that the All Black side we beat was in fact very un All Black like. Loads of unforced errors.
Very much agree with your latter post too.
LikeLike
Here are Flair’s posts:
First
Second
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well thanks, Thaum.
Not that my comments were so bright but am glad to know it wasn’t my fat fingers fault. Tried twice but quit after the second attempt. And then my “test” appeared. Grrr…
Agree with you about the ABs being very un-ABs, but I wouldnt want to take anything from Ireland. Brilliant tests. Can’t wait for the next game between France and full of confidence Ireland.
LikeLike
Hi ES
“Like the naive fool I have always been, I thought during the early stages of the pandemic that western societies might get the idea that there was cause to hit the ‘Reset’ button on the economic orthodoxy and steer us towards a more society-centric model. It seems obvious to me that the current capitalist fetish for the maximising of profits and the unrealistic reliance on perpetual ‘growth’ is entirely unsustainable and is a direct cause of much of the shit we find ourselves in. Thems with the power – both political and financial – aren’t about to change a dog-damn thing and are going to take us all down with them.
Just thought I would share that with you all. I don’t move in circles where such opinions are welcome and I remember that this place was a more reasonable sounding board.”
Re the topics of Covid and climate change I suggested it might be time to have a rethink and set about a different way of doing things on another board, I was poo-pooed out of town
Perhaps we should wait until an emergency turns up.
What’s that joke?
There was a guy who lived by the river, one day a flood warning came on the radio, telling people to evacuate, and the man thinks, “God will save me”
As the waters rose a man in a boat came along and said “Jump in, I’ll take you to safety”.
The man replied, “Thanks, but God will save me”
A helicopter was flying over head, looking for people, the guy in the helicopter shouts down, “We can hoist you up and fly you out of here”
The guy replies, “No thanks, God will save me”
So the man drowns and when he’s up in front of God he says, “Why didn’t you save me?”
God replies, “I sent you a warning on the radio, a guy in a row boat and a helicopter, how much help do you need?”
Ok , so that “joke” is vapid as fuck, but we’ve got receding glaciers, melting icecaps, an increase in extreme weather events across the globe and increasing temperatures, plus a pandemic which not due to Climate Change, but the inter-connectedness of the world’s population is linked due to air travel – there were 4.5 billion scheduled flights taken in 2019.
We have to change things now.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Suavo, me old mate, if it’s just a matter of time there’s no better way to rearrange the deckchairs on the Titanic than listening to Brook Benton:
LikeLike
there were 4.5 billion scheduled flights taken in 2019.
Craigs took half of them, giving two fingers to the developing world as he did so.
LikeLiked by 1 person
LikeLike
LikeLike
I wish there was something as simple as a reset button.
But then reset to what? As far back as history would let us know, there was always greed, jealousy, selfishness and war.
In our priviledged – and far from perfect- first world, there is less violence and less hunger than ever before. The real challenge is to bring the rest of mankind to the same level without ruining the place as we did. I have no idea how.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Deebs – yeah, just forwards and back to the developed world over and over.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Flair – IMO there probably needs to be an element of Western homogenisation with the rest of the world to bring the rest of the world to the ‘same level’. I don’t mean we should wipe other cultures off the map but find a way to get some level of social cohesion and robust political institutions that we enjoy to varying degrees in the West (look at Sri Lanka as an example of a country without that). TBH, we haven’t fully learnt these lessons ourselves so it will take more time.
LikeLike
Got a kitten earlier this year and we got her first ever present today. Think it’s going to be the first of many.
LikeLiked by 1 person
@craigs
You are Klaus Schwab and I claim my five bitcoin
LikeLike
OT – he was my finest student.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Still waiting for that elusive rain…
LikeLike
Now that the initial blaze of glory has worn off, it seems to me that the All Black side we beat was in fact very un All Black like. Loads of unforced errors
To an extent, scoreboard pressure in tests 2 and 3 put pressure on NZ and their game unravelled. That said, “we” were able to play our game – clock up scores and force NZ to throw the ball around and take chances – they looked fairly disorganised doing so.
Most pleasing thing in all this is that this is what NZ have/had done to Ireland over the years – dominate 1st half, get reeled in a little by a 3rd qtr comeback – then stretch away as the effort of 3rd qtr left Ireland gassed.
Ireland vs SA in the autumn will be a must see – NZ didn’t have the tight 5 to pressure Ireland (1st test scrum issues didn’t reappear in 2 and 3 – maybe we fixed them, maybe Peyper and Barnes saw it differently to Dickson)
LikeLike
Thaum, you missed out on this one.
Nice to hear from you, Suavo. Yes indeed, it is the start of the apocalypse. The next prime minister of the UK is either a multi millionaire who was so committed to making the UK a better place that he had permanent residence in the US and his billionaire wife had non dom tax status while living in number 11 as the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s first lady, or a thorough nitwit who can’t seem to complete coherent sentence of any form on any subject. Both of them played along with Boris while it suited them, and then were quick to stab him in the back, and they have been voted in by a bunch of idiots in parliament who fell for what is obviously one of nastiest PR campaigns against one politician that I can remember, even down to constantly updated wiki bio with negative quotes from former employers. Not that I am saying Penny Mordaunt would have been great, but at least she comes across as a human being. Fuck me, how do you Brits over there actually put up with that bunch of wankers.
LikeLike
Fuck me, how do you Brits over there actually put up with that bunch of wankers.
Straight back, chest puffed out, stiff upper lip, swords raised, riding towards the guns at full pelt etc.
Also, looks at Bidens approval ratings and AOC prancing around with her hands behind her back and notes that it could be a different kind of shite.
LikeLike
It’s finally arrived 😌
LikeLiked by 2 people
Holy shit! Canary wharf has a Greg’s!!!!
LikeLike
Truly civilisation has now reached it’s peak.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Fuck me, how do you Brits over there actually put up with that bunch of wankers.”
Whether one supports the Union or not, the fact is that the government in Westminster is determined by how England votes.
Despite the Labour movement having strong beginnings and roots in England, there does seem to be a deference to our “betters” that leads to the election of these people, the forelocks are still being tugged.
I hope no one takes that personally, as it’s not mean that way. Scotland hasn’t voted in a Tory majority for around 70 years, I don’t think Wales ever has, Norn Ireland has its own history and I’m not going to go there.
The class system never really died out.
LikeLiked by 1 person
BB – it has arrived at Canary Wharf certainly.
LikeLike
LikeLike
LikeLike
Droop for Jeebus. It’s what he’d want.
Still no proper rain here – a brief shower seemed hopeful the other night, but didn’t last long. But we are promised overnight rain and more later on tomorrow.
LikeLike
am I doing this right (still no rain here and everything is dying)?
LikeLike
…….actually, I like this:
LikeLike
TBH TIcht, you may well have hit the nail on the head there. I have trouble explaining to yanks just how ingrained the class system is in the UK, they try and say that it happens here as well, and everywhere else too, but not many places in quite such a way, I suspect.
And yes Craigs, it may be a bit of a clusterfuck here too, but Yanks have a great habit of ignoring their government anyways, people are more affected by, and generally have more say in local politics, where many institutions are based on a town/city or county level, and even State interference is often seen as an intrusion of civil liberties, let alone what the Federal wotsits in DC are up to.
LikeLike
Ed Slater, damn. Class act, that man.
LikeLike
Ticht/SBT – Despite the Labour movement having strong beginnings and roots in England, there does seem to be a deference to our “betters” that leads to the election of these people, the forelocks are still being tugged.
This got me thinking and I feel like it is probably a little bit more complicated than that. You guys know that I am not working class myself (private school, grew up in Surrey, accountant, work is based in London etc) so I’m not going to pretend to be an expert….
(As Ticht said I’m not trying to upset/offend anyone)
However, I am on the left (somewhere to the middle of the left between the centre and the far left on most things) and there are a few things I’ve noticed (especially since the last election). The Tories had a clearer message last time around. Get Brexit done, level up the North, protect British values. Doesn’t matter that it was all bullshit. Corbyn (whilst being battered by the press) wasn’t good at communicating his vision. And much of the stuff he did communicate was seen as, or very easily spun as, ‘anti-British’ (dancing around meeting the queen, unclear on Brexit, unclear on defence etc etc). And the anti-semitism stuff didn’t help.
Say what you like about Blair (total synt fuckhead, lying SOB invader of a sovereign country, should never be believed by anyone again) but he had a clear enough vision and is a good speaker which helped when he campaigned to be PM.
Also, just think about the Labour Leaders between Blair and Corbyn; Brown and Miliband. Not the most charismatic visionaries. Neither is Keir (but this time it might not matter).
Lastly, I found this article from 2012 a while back from Johnathan Haidt in the graun:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/jun/05/why-working-class-people-vote-conservative
It makes the case that Republicans/Tories campaign on moral issues whereas the Dems/Labour campaign on issues like expanding the state to care for people. Haidt then goes on to say that the moral issues are an easier pill to swallow. Whilst I don’t fully agree with this it does convince me that simply saying peoples views reflect their class is an overgeneralisation at best.
I’m pretty sure that there’s many other factors involved so have at me and show me how wrong I am :-)
NB: I think people on the left (no one on here) make the same mistake with race. Especially in the US where there is talk amongst Liberal circles about being ‘politically black’ or Biden’s famous ‘if you don’t vote for me you ain’t black’ gaff. Again, it’s waaaayyy more complicated than that.
LikeLike
So, about those “concerns about trans women playing sports”…
LikeLike
Rejoice! For there is proper rain at last.
LikeLiked by 2 people
LikeLike
That hair will be wasted under the blue scrum cap.
LikeLike