Last night I was ‘forced’ (Mothership usage of term, meaning doing it quite voluntarily) to watch a Peter Green tribute show led by Mick Fleetwood.
There is a star-studded cast of musicians, mostly playing very well, but they insist on playing twelve-bar blues, which must be the most rigid and repetitive form of music in existence, except for the even more terrible ones.
It’s like watching endless pick-and-goes, only there might be a chance of something exciting and different happening as a result of those pick-and-goes. A try might be created, or a horrible mistake might occur that leads to an end-to-end score by the opposition.
No chance of anything like that with twelve-bar blues, even as played by expert musicians. It is going to have exactly the same key and rhythm, the same clichéd lyrical and musical tropes, everything completely predictable and boring. The musical ball gets recycled, stuffed up the jumper, and goes again. And again. And again.
It’s also like watching scrums being reset for what feels like hours, but is probably only about three or four minutes. And the same thing happens in every scrum, but the referee just calls for a reset again. And again. And again. A dystopian nightmare.
But rejoice! There is some rugby available to watch in the near future, and hopefully it will be much more exciting than that.
Onna telly in the next week or so
Showing matches that are televised in the UK and Ireland or on popular subscription services. Bold indicates that it’s on a free to view channel. Times are in the UK zone, so adjust as necessary.
Friday 6th September
| Tonga v Fiji | 04:00 | TNT Sports 1 |
| Japan v USA | 11:05 | TNT Sports 1 |
| Scotland v Wales (women) | 19:35 | iPlayer |
Saturday 7th September
| Bayonne v Perpignan | 13:30 | Premier Sports 1 |
| England v France (women) | 15:30 | BBC1 |
| South Africa v New Zealand | 16:00 | Sky Sports Mix |
| Argentina v Australia | 20:00 | Sky Sports + |
| Bordeaux v Stade Français | 20:00 | Premier Sports 1 |
Sunday 8th September
| La Rochelle v Toulon | 16:00 | Premier Sports 1 |
| Vannes v Toulouse | 20:00 | Premier Sports 1 |
Ovally Balls 
Reckon injury-plagued Munster will struggle against the Sharks.
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Steak? Pft. I just had a pack of custard creams.
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Refit – let me offer my sincere condolences (yuck!).
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On the other hand, Trimble reckons the Sharks don’t live up to their star-studded cast.
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Zebo agrees! “Clash of DNA”.
smacks Zebo’s forehead
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Sharks’ FB scores in 45 secs. This could be a long afternoon for Munster!
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And yes, he’s on the Boks’ squad.
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And Mapimpi scores….
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Hendrikse (who looks a bit like Phil Lynott) bounces the conversion off the post, but it goes in. 14-0.
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Munster actually get the ball and get creative with it, and are now going for the corner. Casey got smashed in the tackle, but seems okay.
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They get over the line, but it’s held up … by Etzebeth.
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Munster are back in their own 22 or thereabouts, and have just lost possession. Sharks pen.
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No, scrum.
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Sharks backs have been superb ball in hand, accurate and lethal. The Stormers, a little like bringing a knife to a gunfight, try and play 7z pop-passing in a 15s game.
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Sharks got a pen while I wasn’t looking. 17-0.
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Yay! Ahearn scores for Munster.
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tsk conversion missed.
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However, Etzebeth gives away a penalty and Crowley makes a decent kick to touch.
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Munster nick the ball on the blindside of a ruck and two large buggers steam downfield to score in the corner! No extras, 17-5 after 20
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Well, that was a fabulous Sharks try.
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Checking for a push, though….
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It’s fine, and it’s 24-5.
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Sublime from the Sharks. From deep inside their 22, Fassi and Mapimpi combine down the sidelines, a final chip, gather and pass inside to Williams and nobody will stop him from there. 24-5
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Kolisi having a fine game at 8 today. Turnovers, carries, offloads. Looks like one for the future.
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Haley scores for Munster.
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2nd Sharks penalty not kicked to touch. Sloppy. Munster deep on attack now, and Haley goes over! That all came from a 💩 🦈 penalty and good continuity from Munster. Conversion fails again (sounds like me at Catechism) and it’s 24-10 after 32.
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Esterhuizen over for the BP try. Munster looking a little shell-shocked. Holly Davidson been pretty decent with the whistle. Watching her chat to Etzebeth is quite funny though! And that’s the break.
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Gone a bit flat in the 2nd half with both sides not quite finishing their moves. Munster battered away at the Sharks line but couldn’t score. Sharks getting a couple of moves going, but still can’t finish it off.
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Sharks scored whilst I was ordering an Uber. 41-10 with 12 to go.
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Wonders idly if there will be much tension in the Thaum household tonight before/during/after tonight’s Cardiff vs Ulster game…..
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TRY Izichukwu after what seemed like years of battering on the try-line door, and a yellow to Evan Lloyd.
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BB – no, because the mister’s in Germany! I am having to give him a play-by-play update.
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TRY Posthlethwaite! Lovely stuff from Doak to McCloskey to him.
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Postlethwaite, even.
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Oh shit, Doak looks like he’s hurt his ankle during some exciting play.
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He still manages to pop a kick out in the Cardiff 22, but it’ll be a Cardiff line-out. Still limping though.
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Beautiful second try for Postlethwaite! McCloskey with a lovely chip ahead for him.
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The best part was that Cardiff looked like they were getting the ball away off the line-out, but Kok caught it over the line and chucked it back in play for the rest to happen.
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0-19 at HT. (Doak missed the 3rd conversion.)
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OOOOOHHHH! Ben Thomas and Mason Grady nearly score a brilliant try, but are brought up just short!
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Stevens goes over in the corner for Cardiff and a seriously good conversion is also scored.
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For some reason, there are two English commentators who keep comparing everyone to English players. It’s driving me mad.
We also have Stevie Ferris.
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There’s a Cardiff player with clear, bloody impressions of cleats on his arm. Ouch!
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Oooh, Sheridan may have scored a try, but it might have been held up! Probably was, I think. Good team effort, though.
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Not a try.
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Cardiff go on the attack, but Lowry catches it and kicks it downfield.
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Cardiff put a ball into the corner, and it’s a try!
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Conversion is (just) good and it’s 14-19, 65 mins.
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Cardiff send a ball down to Ulster’s 22, where there’s no-one. Lowry races back and catches it, but it ends up with a Cardiff pen.
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Cardiff score! 19 all and conversion to come.
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