Being short of time as I’m travelling tomorrow, I have shamelessly stolen Deebee7‘s prognostications.
But first, I’m sure we can all rejoice that Stuart McCloskey has kept his starting place on the Ireland team with Aki relegated to the bench.
Your results for the weekend:
Tonga v Uruguay: Tonga by 14 – Tonga are enjoying playing against Spanish speaking sides, and will dish the pain once again!
Italy v South Africa: South Africa by 4 – Boks have had two narrow losses and will look to get their tour on the board, with four straight losses for the two sides so far. Bench to haul them over the line.
Wales v Georgia: Wales by 19 – good win for Wales last week and they’ll look to build on that (and cement their place in the 6N at Georgia’s expense).
Romania v Samoa: Samoa by 6 – just because I don’t have a clue, but Samoa seem to better at the moment.
Scotland v Argentina: Argentina by 3 – Did Scotland blow a gasket against the Kiwis last week? Argentina have some good scalps this year and will look to take a Scottish one on their own turf.
England v New Zealand: New Zealand by 9 – don’t think it’ll be a shellacking, but the Kiwis are cruising this November tour after a dodgy start against Japan.
Ireland v Australia: Ireland by 8 Aussies are one from three, but all their matches have been single point affairs so far. Ireland will put a bit of distance on the scoreboard, but not that much.
France v Japan: France by 24 Japan won’t be as bad as they were against England, but they also don’t have the ability to step up and close the gap that much either. France for win 13 on the trot and getting within touching distance of some serious records.
Onna telly this week
Friday 18th November
| Sale v Harlequins | 19:30 | BT Sport 1 |
Saturday 19th November
| Italy v South Africa | 13:00 | Amazon Prime |
| Wales v Georgia | 13:00 | Amazon Prime |
| Scotland v Argentina | 15:15 | Amazon Prime |
| England v New Zealand | 17:30 | Amazon Prime |
| Ireland v Australia | 20:00 | Amazon Prime |
Sunday 20th November
| France v Japan | 13:00 | Amazon Prime |
Ovally Balls 
Had to read his full name twice before the penny dropped! Getting pretty excited for the 6N, I must say! Rarely has the men’s game been so competitive at the top end, and in a World Cup year, it just adds extra spice. And if that were not enough, with both Wales and England having new coaching set ups (or back to the past to reinvent the future in Wales’ case) it adds more flavour. Some key questions for me:
* Can Italy build on their wins against Wales, Australia and Samoa and a decent bash against Scotland, or will it be the Italy that was murdered most foul by Ireland and the Boks that bookended those results?
* Can either of Gatland or Borthwick turn around their sides and make them contenders (not just competitive losers) over the course of the competition?
* Can Toonie meld his side into a truly competitive unit, unhindered by injury and get the most out of Finn ‘Maverick’ Russell – Top Gun or pop gun?
* Have Ireland peaked a year early, being a World Cup year, or have they got it right, finally? Can Sexton stay fit for the whole competition (and the rest of the year?)
* Can France be beaten?
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Can Sexton stay fit for the whole competition
Don’t be daft.
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Breathe easy England: Slade’s red card has been overturned………………………….
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Deebs – if France beat us at Twickers and Ireland in Dubs then probably not.
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Fascinating quote from planet rugby here:-
Given Vunipola’s complete incompetence in any form of rugby scrum and Rodd’s continued binding and scrummage height issues, these picks clearly state that running rugby is at the core of what England want to do over and above scrummaging. For many, the omission of Rapava-Ruskin is a real surprise, given the ridiculous form of the Gloucester prop.
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I’m sure London Irish will find a place for him.
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I’m really glad that Warriors have taken such decisive and transparent steps in this matter. Something other clubs could learn a thing or two about. Abuse of any sort cannot be tolerated.
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So farewell then, Jacinda.
I wish we’d had her or someone like her as PM over the last 6 years
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…… not a chance in England. At least Scotland is more than half way there
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The RFU are introducing tackle only at waist level or below for next season, from Nat 1 and below for now, but it’s a good start
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/64333462
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I think that’s a pretty cynical take.
It’s very difficult to introduce such a major change in the professional game unilaterally, it would need to come from World Rugby and get everyone on the same page at the same time.
I hope WR follow the RFU’s example.
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From a couple of years ago
“France and Fiji are running trials to reduce the tackle height to the waist at community level with the rationale of lowering the risk of head injuries to both the tackler and tackled player. Initial feedback from the Fédération Française de Rugby (FFR) is positive, suggesting a more expansive game in addition to compelling player welfare benefits as outlined by the French Rugby Federation:
Threefold reduction in match injuries so far
60 per cent decrease in head impacts
31 per cent increase in line breaks
67 per cent decrease in kicks
Significant reduction in winning margins”
https://www.rugbypass.com/news/super-controversial-waist-height-tackling-among-6-law-changes-endorsed/
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Speaking of the concussed….
Ireland squad
Backs (17): Aki (Connacht), R Byrne (Leinster), Casey (Munster), Crowley (Munster), Earls (Munster), Gibson-Park (Leinster), Keenan (Leinster), Larmour (Leinster), Lowe (Leinster), McCloskey (Ulster), Murray (Munster), O’Brien (Leinster), Osborne (Leinster), Ringrose (Leinster), Sexton (Leinster), Stockdale (Ulster)
Forwards (20): Baird (Leinster), Bealham (Connacht), Beirne (Munster), Conan (Leinster), Coombes (Munster), Doris (Leinster), Furlong (Leinster), Healy (Leinster), Henderson (Ulster), Herring (Ulster), Kelleher (Leinster), Kilcoyne (Munster), McCarthy (Leinster), O’Mahony (Munster), O’Toole (Ulster), Porter (Leinster), Prendergast (Connacht), Ryan (Leinster), D Sheehan (Leinster), Van der Flier (Leinster)
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Looks weak.
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Ticht, if those trial stats are accurate (why wouldn’t they be?) I can’t see a reason why they’re not more widely implemented. When I played, tackling from the waist down was what we were taught and I can confirm that I never got concussion. Some might say you need a brain to get concussed, but you can only actually get whiplash if the contact is meaningful. Still not sure why I was called Turnstile Deebs.
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Weak?!! There’s a McCloskey in it!
Whether he gets a game is another matter.
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Too many Ulster players, France by 65.
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Ticht – I read somewhere that Jacinda is quite unpopular now. Not sure if that’s true but it might explain the resignation now.
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Craigs,
“Support for New Zealand’s Labour party has dropped to its lowest level since it came into power in 2017, new polling shows, amid growing frustrations over high cost of living, rising interest rates and concerns about crime.
A Kantar One News Poll released on Tuesday night found Labour, down 1% to 33%, would not be able to form a government alongside likely coalition partners the Green party, which remained steady on 9%, and the Māori party, steady on 2%.
The right bloc, made up of the centre-right National party, increased its lead by 1% to 38%, while the Libertarian Act party, jumped 2% to 11%, putting the two parties in a comfortable position to form a government without needing additional coalition partners.
Prime minister Jacinda Ardern is still the most popular choice for prime minister, but her approval rating dropped slightly – by 1% to 29% – her lowest result since August 2017, just before she became prime minister.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/05/support-for-jacinda-ardern-and-nz-labour-sinks-to-lowest-since-2017-poll-shows
It’s normal for parties that have been in power for along time to lose ground, especially under PR voting systems.
Our fucked up FPTP system and some voting that for the life of me I don’t understand means we’ve been saddled with fuckwits of decreasing ability for 12 years, and that is from a low bar in 2010.
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Good lord, what a shot 😲
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Ticht/Craigs – I don’t follow Kiwi politics closely, but I read recently that there is to be a complete ban on smoking in NZ. Making it a country I would never visit.
Other than this foolishness, I like what I know of Ardern.
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Speaking of the concussed….
Some unusual picks …. dropping Carbery when he’s just beginning to show form for Munster seems odd. Byrne is parachuted in – when he couldn’t get on the NZ tour ahead of a 12 (Frawley ) and his own brother….
Opinion says that if Sexton is injured/unavailable then Farrell substitutes the person most used to playing Leinsterball….so if Sexton doesn’t make it – watch our for Byrne at 10 and Crowley at 22.
Bealham and Healy and O’Toole covering for Furlong – better hope he stays fit in some form or other. Same applies to Porter.
From Munster pov – good to see Coombes there but chances are he’s behind Doris and Conan…. so 10-15 mins vs Italy
Other surprises – Stockdale and (hate to say it) Earls – neither shown any kind of form.
Other criticism – too many Leinster Swiss army knife types – O’Brien, Larmour, Osborne ( can play wing/centre/fullback) – O’Brien did OK as a sub for McCloskey vs SA but was less impressive vs Fiji and Oz. Larmour for all his talent as a runner has a target on his shirt for any team capable of hoisting a high ball or 10 in his direction….
I could go on – so far, it’s all gone well translating Leinster into green shirts but we know the Leinster kryptonite is a big pack…. and, yes, we beat SA in autumn. Big test is France – they did a number on us last 6N and only a wonder try from Hansen and France taking a post half time breather meant we stayed in the game.
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Well RiP David Crosby – a difficult bloke / bloke with difficulties, but a great harmoniser. Here’s something recent:
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Quite an amazing feat that Crosby made it to 81. Stephen Stills is my favourite CSN(Y)er, but I saw Crosby solo live once and was impressed: it was a lot better than the reheated CSN with dodgy harmonies I’d previously seen. Met him briefly backstage too.
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It’s amazing the lifestyles some of these people lead and how long they live. Look at Brian Wilson – he’s the only one of his brothers still alive and he spent 2 years in the 70s lying in bed chain smoking and eating burgers.
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@OT
Bare Naked Ladies (Canadian band) have a song about that very topic – the lying in bed (not the fact that he’s outlived the brothers)
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I was kind of surprised Crosby was so old…. (in rock star terms) – then again Neil Young was the teenage prodigy…..
(And I’m not talking about the guy who scored the winner for Man City in the 1969 FA Cup final…. Good goal rarely seen in highlights)
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@trisk
that’s right. And weirdly Brian himself covered it!
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Ticht – ah ok, fair enough. I think COVID has probably made most politicians unpopular in some quarters no matter what they’ve done.
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Thaum – That’s mental. And it won’t stop there. There was a report from Canada about any booze consumption being bad and along with the gas stove thing all I can say is FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS!!!!!
First they came for the cigarettes and I said nothing because I was not a smoker. Then they came for my booze and I nuked them from space innit.
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NZ and Jacinda :-
have a mate lives in Poverty bay area. He has been frothing at the mouth about Jacinda ever since she got in. To form a government, she did a deal with the greens, and as a result, all oil exploration was ended. The result was withdrawal from NZ by several major players, and an infrastructure buy out by Chinese backed companies, with no obvious path for energy replacement. The country now has no oil refinery, as the only one was shut down and operates as an import hub only. His view may not necessarily be objective, as he worked in oil exploration, but apparently NZ has huge oil reserves off the South Island that had until recently been too deep to exploit, and the industry there was gearing up to go. The exploration moratorium cut the industry off at its knees, and the big International backers upped stick and left.
A lot of domestic electrical supply comes from renewables, apparently, hydro and geothermal both contributing massively to make NZ one of the better performing envirolands, but they are still massive importers of fossil fuels, particularly refined petroleum products, which they can’t seem to do without. Will be interesting to see if they can continue to progress to a truly sustainable economy, or, if as my mate expects, times will get tough, and the government will be forced to bow to pressure from the Chinese and go back to oil exploration big time, with overseas interests reaping the benefits.
I suspect he would also blame Jacinda for the poor recent performances of the All Blacks.
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SBT – well, I would applaud stopping oil and gas exploration.
Do the ABs feel emasculated? :-D
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Its certainly a brave stance to take, Thaum. I think the cynics out there will point out that they are still importing fossil fuels, and time will tell how they can reduce that to zero. If a country the size of the UK , with a population of around 4 million, and perfect geology for hydro and geothermal power generation, can’t eradicate fossil fuels, we are stuck with them. However, I think the general assumption is that at some point down the line the reserves will be exploited, and it may not be the New Zealand people who will benefit most.
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Well done Ospreys, by the way.
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That would require them even attempting, in the first place.
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I believe we are actually getting nearly all of our power from sustainable sources and, as Refit says, could do a lot better if we really tried.
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“Well done Ospreys, by the way.”
Only caught the last fifteen minutes or so on the radio, hadn’t checked the fixtures. BBC Radio Leicester really excelled themselves, I’ve heard less one-eyed commentary from all manner of idiots on BBC Wales, Edinburgh players talking over Edinburgh matches on Alba and even the NI lot. OK, one of those things may not be strictly true, but it was a worthy entry from the English to show that when it comes down to it we’re all pretty much the same.
Great result obviously, the O’s have really picked up and seem to be able to give most teams a proper game just now. Don’t suppose that will survive through the 6N, but some hope at least for afterwards.
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I follow this twitter account that gives the percentages of electricity generation from different sources. At times during that cold snap in December wind dropped to zero. Then last week when it got windy we paid the wind companies to switch their turbines off as they were making the grid unstable.
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This is also an interesting account that gives comparisons of different countries electricity mix and CO2 output. Shows the impact of Germany shutting down its nuclear power in favour of reopening coal. Best performers are the likes of Sweden who have shedloads of hydro
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Good win by Bristol last night, 33-19 against Perpignan, although they ‘lost’ the second half 0-12
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Was at the Glasgow game last night. We were crap. Bath were crapper. Ref was crappest.
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Staggered that the UK generates 0% power from solar? Personally, whilst I would like to see an end to fossil fuels, I have sympathy for countries that have oil or gas and are told they can’t exploit them just because, whilst the US and Canada ramp up shale deposits and frack the shit out of everything, Saudi Arabia increases production without knowing what to do with the money so decides to build grotesque new cities in the desert, Dubai builds ski resorts in the desert and Putin uses his oil wealth to slaughter a neighbouring country.
In Africa, we’re crawling with oil activists trying to stop relatively small developments by global standards, in the name of global solidarity in fighting climate change, but not one of them has protested in Texas or Riyadh. And not one has come up with a replacement income plan for countries like Uganda, Mozambique or Namibia, just STOP! and er, we’ll kinda, maybe think about it. Just keep burning trees for energy ’cause that’s um, renewable. As a colleague of mine pointed out, diamonds are also a renewable resource if you wait long enough.
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Please excuse the crappy spelling and grammar in the rant above, but when you see EU Parliamentary wankers holding forth on visiting Uganda and reading in the papers there about droughts and floods in the country and smugly concluding that the oil project should be halted because, you know, Global Warming! it pisses me off. Ugandan papers are available online so no need to rack the carbon miles by flying there to stay in a hotel and have the papers delivered to you. But even worse, making the speech in shirt sleeves in autumnal Europe because everything is heated to perfectly comfy temperatures. It’s almost like global solidarity actually means everyone rallying around to keep the global north in perpetual comfort. Rant over! Go Lions! Make your fucking carbon footprint count, you bastards!
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@deebee
UK is very poor at solar because we are at a very northern latitude. It only becomes viable once you get as far south as Bavaria, for example.
Problem with energy is the second law of thermodynamics does away with the wishful thinking that people at Davos etc seem to be very good at.
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I would like to point out that natural gas has now been reclassified from a fossil fuel to a renewable, in order to make European figures look better. In addition, huge amounts of money and resources are being wasted on pelletwood chip technology, which is a double whammy for carbon offset by big industry. Well managed forests can provide not only a carbon sink, but provide material for construction/furniture/transport ( carts, boats/cars/ even planes used to be built out of timber ) which locks up the carbon until table etc is no longer useable, as well as fuel, and maintain a balanced complex ecosystem. Current rules promote clear felling and replanting with genetically modified monoculture forest that can be stripped to bare wasteland in 20 years, driven to a factory where they are ground up and pelletised at great energy cost, then , for example, stuffed into a large ship and driven across the atlantic , where they can then be poured into containers and driven to Heathrow, , where they can be burnt off to release all the carbon into the atmosphere as CO2, having burnt carbon all the way in transport. Hey presto, Heathrow is carbon neutral and green as fuck. Hmm. Not to mention the stripping of centuries old coppice woodland in Uk on an industrial scale, with no effort to continue the management cycle, again , all funded by green offset carbon credits.
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OT – was just taking the piss about UK weather!
SBT – the neat reclassification of gas as renewable is fairly typical of the jaded cynicism of the EU. Works for some projects and countries here though. And the EU companies pushing them. Frankly, if gas is 50% less polluting than coal, it’s a step in the right direction.
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OT’s stats were for January, so not much solar! I’m pretty sure that last summer we reached a day where ALL energy used was renewable.
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Cracking win for Glaws, sneaking into the last 16. 36 at 10 was superb. MoM was George McGuigan. Disagree, he may well have cost Gloucester a couple of tries with dodgy line out throws.
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