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 
Flair, it’s going to be a helluva November tour for the Boks – Ireland, France and Italy in the window and then England outside of it. The side to face Brizz midweek between France and Italy will probably be largely the one to face England, so without the Euro-based players. To be honest, I don’t think we’ll win more than 2 of four Tests, maybe not even two! It won’t be the end of the world though, after a long season. What I do like is that Rassie is working very carefully behind the scenes to build depth across most positions, with the glaring weakness being at 10, where we don’t have much outside of Pollard and Jantjies, neither of whom is in great form.
Without getting too far ahead of myself,* I think next year’s World Cup will be the most competitive yet, with any of England, Ireland, France, SA, Australia or New Zealand in with a shout and Wales with a puncher’s chance of causing a major upset along the way. Scotland, Japan and Argentina, along with Fiji and possibly Samoa may cause a couple of upsets too, so there will be little chance to rest players and more emphasis on squad depth than ever before.
* Too late.
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Arendse gets a 4 match ban for his red card tackle on Barrett. Was 8, but the usual mitigation of contrition, good record and tasty biscuits got him a reduced ban. Ban fully justified.
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I’m sure one of us will appreciate this. I just hate the socks.
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@Craigs – at least he’s wearing socks.
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This is a hell of an Easter egg
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Olivia Newton-John RIP
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@Craigs
good man – keeps his bow tie cool, too.
Otherwise………………………….pfffffftt!
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Wondering what Rob would say if he popped a knee ligament doing that.
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Bok side for Saturday has five changes, two enforced with three tactical:
15 Damian Willemse, 14 Jesse Kriel, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Jaden Hendrikse , 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siyamthanda Kolisi (captain), 5 Lodewyk de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Mbongeni Mbonambi, 1 Retshegofaditswe Nche.
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx , 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Albertus Smith, 21 Jasper Wiesen 22 Hershel Jantjies, 23 Willie le Roux
Kriel onto the wing I place of the suspended Arendse, Hendrikse to start in place of injured Faf, Duane Vermeulen starts ahead of Wiese who drops to the bench, Bongi back at 2 with Marx back to the bench, Ox Nche starts with Big Trev out the 23 altogether and H Jantjies into the 23 in place of Faf.
Would have kept Marx starting; he terrorized the Kiwis last week at the breakdown and in open play. Kriel was the only option for wing in the squad without shuffling things too much. Big Trev needs to up his fitness – he was stuffed after 30 minutes, but most intriguing is Thor back at 8! Hasn’t played in a while and whilst he’s absolute class, will he be up to speed?
Decent bench.
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A virtual beer for anyone here who can pronounce Ox Nche’s name without getting tongue tied!
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Deebs – just did. Send Thaum your email so I can send you a shipping address.
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A hint, it’s essentially two combinations:
Retshego and then Faditswe.
Ret (as in the plonker from Gone with the wind)
She – short ‘e’, not as in the female form, but a shed without the d
Go – not as in don’t stop, but a clearing of the throat on the g and a short ‘o’ as in or without the r
Fad, like thud but with an f
Its- pronounced more like eats
We, as in went
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Craigs, delivered! Well done! Enjoy it.
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Like I said done and dusted, gimme my beer.
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Fanx Deebs
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All pronunciations in a southern or London accent, not Northern or non-English UK accents.
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Sent you a case, hope Thauma gave you all of it, not just one beer.
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Can anyone say ‘Owen Farrell’?
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Can we just stop the Tory leadership contest now? There’s shit to do.
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Not that they’ll do it mind.
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Peter O’My Ho Knee is a mouthful too if I remember correctly.
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My dad’s name was Peter so I got my pronunciation on that quite early on.
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I miss Boa.
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Ah – the return of one of my heroes – Duane at #8!
He’ll simply play heads up, organising SA’s back row activities and the SA defense in general. He may even make the occasional tackle.
ABs will have no answer.
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Beer? Rugby? I don’t have time for these things.
Chilean sister coming to visit. I thought it was next week, but it turns out it’s this one. As no-one has been allowed in the house since I adopted the dog nearly two years ago, it is in a bit of a state…. Well, it’s improving but it’s never going to be up to a properly decent standard by the time she gets here on Thurs.
Today I have scrubbed every horizontal surface in the kitchen, and it took some doing. Nice and gleamy-shiny now. The vertical ones can go fuck themselves.
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Another one gone, love the Pogues:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/aug/09/the-pogues-bassist-darryl-hunt-dies-aged-72
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Women’s Day in SA today, Thauma, commemorating the 66th anniversary of the protest march against carrying pass books in South Africa. You should’ve invoked it and made the mister scrub the bloody floors and iron the linen!
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Bongi Mbonambi out of Saturday’s 2nd Test, so Joseph Dweba gets the number 2 jersey, with Marx still in the bomb squad. Crazy not to start Marx in my view, but there you go. New Zealand by 32.
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Deebee – might be a little unfair as he doesn’t live here. (We generally spend weekends/holidays at his.)
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Fairness. Hehe! What next? Objectivity in rugby analysis? For those not familiar with Joseph Dweba, he’s an all-action hooker who has a bit of pace and a decent step too. About a minute into this clip is quite special.
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Cleaning update.
Do you find that you don’t notice dirt at all until you look? That a job that you think will take about ten minutes turns out to take two hours because it’s fuckin boggin everywhere you look? Also something seemed to have exploded in the fridge, so that needed a proper clean.
I’m a spider-tolerant person, but I do wish they’d clean up their webs before deciding to abandon them (or die).
Anyway, the house is half way to presentable. The floors all need doing, but I have the morning. As long as no-one peers into obscure crannies, all should be well. Ish. There are several things I’d like to have got around to.
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Thaum – you (will) have mail (soon).
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Thaum, our house sale fell through three years ago, so now everything needs re-painting and fettling.
I fecking hate DIY, as much as anyone who had to do that sort of work for a living, but I have a visitor coming down from Inverness mid-September, so I have a deadline.
I suppose if means it’s done for another three years
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Just for Thauma, a lovely article on African country music:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/aug/10/the-devil-went-down-to-gambia-the-surprising-history-of-african-country-music
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Kiwi side for the 2nd Test, with some shuffling of the pack and tweaking at the back:
15 Jordie Barrett, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 David Havili, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Aaron Smith 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane (captain), 6 Shannon Frizell 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Sam Whitelock, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Samson Taukei’aho, 1 Ethan de Groot
Substitutes: 16 Codie Taylor, 17 George Bower, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Tupou Vaa’i, 20 Akira Ioane, 21 Finlay Christie, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Quinn Tupaea
Richie Mo’unga in at 10 for BB, who is benched, whilst only Taukei’aho remains of the starting front row from last week. Frizell into the starting 15 at number 6, with Akira Ioane benched. Seems they’re going for a bit more grunt with the starting side and hoping that the likes of BB and AI can take advantage of the spaces later on. I hope it backfires.
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Backfire of the Vanities, we shall call it.
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11th of August is officially Deebee Day and the longest steal in the history of this website.
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ok – but with what colour of socks?
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“11th of August is officially Deebee Day and the longest steal in the history of this website.”
The image conjured up by you announcing you were having a backfire of the vanities has clearly put people off. Understandable I must say.
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Just in case anyone is struggling with the Rugby Championship malarkey, and needs something better to watch, we are heading into the last 4 weeks of the NRL before the play off phases, good watching for what is hot with union defense and attack coaches next year.
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Slade, you can wear any colour socks on Deebee Day, as long as they’re green with gold trim.
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hmmmph!
Sounds like Norwich City…………………………
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A rugby top that isn’t made up of weird patterns!
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They obviously decided that their away top was bad enough.
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Link if needed https://www.vipbox.lc/south-africa-vs-new-zealand-1-live
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Less time flying planes over the ground, more kicking off on time please.
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Willemnse gets a yellow in the 4th min, after Ardie Savea gets close to the line after a good run down the wing.
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