This week has seen the shocking death of a national icon, and our heartfelt condolences go out to family, friends, former sparring partners, and the general public who will miss one of those who best understood the subtle nuances of international debate, and who intoned those nuances in the most mellifluous of voices.
Eddie Butler – we raise a glass to ye. You entertained us and, most importantly, you told us what was going on with the minimum of bias.
For anyone who’d like a trip down memory lane with FakeEddie, feast on this.
But Eddie would not want us to forget about the rugby that’s on this weekend. (It’s always convenient to assign our own wishes to the departed, but I suspect this is actually true.)
Deebee7 is really excited about the URC kicking off, although he’s picked some strange teams to obsess about. Me, I’m looking forward to Cardiff v Munster (although I bet the mister isn’t) and Ulster v Connacht (often our Nemesis – hopefully not this time).
Meanwhile, most of the English Premiership matches aren’t on normal channels again, although you can watch Evil Quins v Evil Sarries if you subscribe to BT Sport, or Bankrupts v Exeter on Sunday.
There is also some Rugby Championship and Top14 action.
Onna telly this week
Friday 16th September
| Treviso 33 – 11 Glasgow | 17:30 | Premier Sports 1 |
Saturday 17th September
| Zebre v Leinster | 13:00 | RTÉ2 / Premier Sports 1 |
| Harlequins v Saracens | 15:00 | BT Sport 3 |
| Cardiff v Munster | 15;05 | BBC2 Wales / RTÉ2 / Premier Sports 1 |
| Lions v Bulls | 15:05 | FreeSports |
| Scarlets v Ospreys | 17:15 | Premier Sports 1 |
| Ulster v Connacht | 19:35 | BBC2 NI / TG4 / Premier Sports 1 |
| Edinburgh v Dragons | 19:35 | S4C / Premier Sports 2 |
| Argentina v South Africa | 20:10 | Sky Sports Main Event |
Sunday 18th September
| Worcester v Exeter | 15:00 | BT Sport 1 |
| Toulon v Clermont | 20:05 | Premier Sports 1 |
Ovally Balls 
Lions rumble over again! 13-24 and a bot of daylight! Cardiff have a penalty deep in the 22 though.
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Meanwhile, the Lions have scored again, and just now, Cardiff too.
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Cardiff get one back off a rolling maul in the corner. Conversion missed, so 18-24 with 11 minutes to go. Lions in the Cardiff 22.
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How we miss RealEddie on commentary.
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Both sides looking a bit amateurish. Lions were attacking, but Cardiff ball.
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Great solo try from the Newcastle winger at the end
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Newcastle get the BP try in the 84th minute! Carreras bursting down the wing, from his own half, to score.
30-15
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Debbie’s Lions are doing really well on tour so far.
But, they have to go to Edinburgh next week
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Lions blag a very jammy try at the end.
There was all sorts of nonsense leading up to it, but it’s a try.
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And it’s the BP try.
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Great performance by Newcastle………………
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Well deserved win for Newcastle in the end, with the best attack of the whole game coming in the 84th minute and their BP try.
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LIONS!!!! 18-31 and the bonus point with a couple to go!
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Happy Deebee. Sad mister.
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Full time! That’s a fantastic result for my boys! Really is a rookie side, but hell, they’ve got some spirit! Hope they can keep this up and knock over a few more illustrious sides.
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Well. My dodgy feed suggested that Cardiff were superior in the first half and I thought they’d stroll away in the 2nd. Lions played a fabulous 40 after that, controlled the game, and territory for the most part and deserved the win.
Happy as fuck. BRING ON DALLAS!
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And Embra.
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Lions won’t do much more than complicate the playoff places, but a few more smash and grab results and they may just get into the mix. Great team effort tonight!
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Imagine the worst feeling. That of your club going bankrupt because the owners emptied the coffers. That dark sinking feeling; pain, shame, frustration that you’ve bought a season ticket you can’t use. And then, much worse, through stupid good natured togetherness, friendship and geographical proximity, you feel obliged to go and watch Glaws play. Haven’t some people had enough?
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I really like Ellis Genge
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Embra go from total dominance of the first half hour to being pumped 34-18 in Cape Town
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Keelan Giles has got some turn of pace on him, he’s scored two very good tries for Os now against Glasgow
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Glasgow doing well to be second against the Ospreys apparently.
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There’s a distinct lack of accuracy, BB.
Os are taking their chances very well.
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Richie Gray has just been replaced by a bigger player
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Even the ball is bouncing well for Ospreys.
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Os in with another really well executed try, from a dominant scrum they chip ahead, gather and quick hands move the ball out to George North who is not going to be stopped when running on to the ball from 5m out
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Looks like we were well thumped by the end. No doubt this is all the fault of the SRU (according to some ‘fans’ on the Glasgow FB page.
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This week’s snooker tournament has bizarrely seen all the well-known seeded players knocked out in the early stages except for Norn Iron’s Mark Allen.
The quality of the snooker is not high.
Am fairly sure that any of the much-patronised women players in last week’s would have cleaned up.
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I was going to say that on a good day, I can pot better than these blokes but that they have better cue-ball control – but I’m not sure they have that either, as I watch with more attention.
Of course I am talking bollocks, but they are really not up to standard!
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It’s the my granny could’ve kicked that in high heels moment when watching a botched goal-kicking attempt, but repeated again and again.
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Commentator: When a top player is in the zone, as you saw earlier with Mark Allen [I didn’t], you can’t see a ball being missed. That’s not the case here.
Player then misses a relatively straightforward pot.
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Well done, Ryan – that was a knee-knocker.
I thought the generally accepted term was ‘knee-trembler’?
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Big commentator voice: The standard of professional snooker has never been higher. Tonight, we are not seeing that.
Bring back the Hurricane!
(This is my revenge for all those krikit posts.)
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There is a cricket, erm, whatchamacallit – slip? (long rectangular thing wot you bowl down) – in our village, but I’ve never seen anyone playing on it. It’s not on the village green, which is on a hill, but by the sports & social club. The snooker tables in the club are much better used.
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The commentators seem very biased towards a player improbably called Robbie Williams. That would be enough to put you right off him, but ‘Ryan’ (Day) is not a sympathetic character either.
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So lekka
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Christ, it’s gone to a decider.
At least down the club everyone would be getting pissed. And the standard of play would be higher, or at least more entertaining.
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Craigs – I had to google lekka. Luckily it’s not a bad word.
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Robbie Williams, he doesn’t give anything away about the emotions.
That makes him a big improvement over his namesake. Rooting for him now.
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Ryan has a very strange haircut. Slightly reminiscent of Herr Hitler.
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Robbie doesn’t have hair.
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Robbie looks a bit like Davros. But more attractive.
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Well, Ryan has won it. At last.
This kind of nightmare is what you expect when you put matches in Milton bloody Keynes instead of Sheffield.
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Ryan (who sounds Welsh), has just admitted that he’d prefer to just concede tomorrow’s match against Mark Allen and go and play golf instead. He was quite likeable in the interview.
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Come in Thaum, everything I post here is pc.
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There’s an even more embarrassing clip of Rassie doing the rounds here. I’ll spare you all. Not so lekka.
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I’m hearing on the grapevine that John Cooney qualifies for Scotland soon under the new rules
It’s apparently been in the Irish rugby press
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Ticht – wut?
Surely he can’t play for Scotland after he’s played for Ireland?
That said, he’s been so ridiculously ignored by Ireland that he certainly deserves it.
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