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 
Drugs: a hospital chef’s best friend since Crimea.
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Return of THE HASK!!! It seems as though he’s taken time out hunting for that pesky Dr Claw’s Cat to write (crayon?) a foreword for a report claiming that English club rugby is gubbed, basically…
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/sep/25/premiership-rugby-union-financial-insolvent-james-haskell
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Anyone else got ‘Return of the Mack’ stuck in their head now?
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Think I’d rather hear “Mack The Knife” to be honest….
Even the Robbie Williams version.
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What about the Matt ‘Both Sides’ Stevens version, posted below so you don’t have to search for it yourself:
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Glasgow and Bristol both lead early on.
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Wade scores to get Glos level.
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Do like the Bristol blue and white hoops, pretty old school. Prefer it to some of the fancy efforts of recent years.
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Benetton score!
No they don’t.
Yes they do!
No they don’t.
Glad that’s clear then. They score in the corner, then checked for foot in touch, then given, then checked for forward pass, then not given.
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The old salt in wounds thing as Glasgow then score their second. I could see it was a lovely try from here…
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Gloucester score a brilliant try! Hope it stands, but one of the passes looks a bit forward. Would be a shame if its knocked off. One of the Bears is into the bin for a poor challenge and the try stands!
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Bristol down to 13 now! Gloucester score another!
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Hope Refit is securely tied into his hospital bed, ‘cos he might be wanting to chuck himself out of it the way things are going for Bristol.
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Benetton get one back.
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Outrageous score from Glasgow chalked off for the tap infiel going forward. Right call, but it was lovely skills anyway.
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Seems like its the Sione Show at Scotstoun. Made two tries and now gets one of his own. Even at this early stage it’ll be a travesty if he isn’t with the Lions next year.
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Ah bugger.
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And Wade gets an interception from 80 metres!
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Red for Scrafton the Benneton 4 for a, frankly, cheap shot dressed up as a collision.
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Thanks BB, but we’re developing our own talent, no need to import Sione.
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Maybe should have said LionZ to differentiate. Although why he’d want to downgrade from the champions….
Bristol get a try back. This has been a fun half. Glos been way better than I thought they’d be.
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Think he’d like to win with two different clubs. J-Lions building a side like they did 10 years ago. Need to stop the Sharks from poaching our players, get Sione in as an impact sub and Bob’s your uncle!
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Healy off for Leinster, something like 281 million caps for them. Even if I’ve slightly miscalculated the zeros, he’s been a helluva servant for Leinster, Ireland, the LionZ and rugby in general.
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Glasgow get another and this time it counts!
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Drags have been frustrating with a number of attempted cute kicks behind the Leinster defence, none of which has worked.
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And another quickly. That’s the bonus point.
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Bristol get one back!
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Cheers for the updates BB
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Benetton down to 13, and we get another try.
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Wade kicks up the line, it stays in, then the Bristol player tries to knock it out but it bounces off him, Wade gathers and goes in for his hat trick try!
Sorry Refit.
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Hell, Benetton down to 12!
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Tries for Bristol and Glasgow, with Jonny Matthews getting his 4000th try….
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Bugger, another Glasgow try knocked off.
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ANOTHER Bristol try! 36-41 with about 10 minutes left.
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Wade scores 3 now gets a yellow. Glos had a penalty that could have clinched the game, now Bristol have it.
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Bristol level it up with the conversion to come!
Hope Refit doesn’t have a heart rate monitor fitted….
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Conversion hits the post! 41-41
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Glasgow win 42-10.
Gloucester lead 44-41 with 2 minutes left.
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Gloucester win!
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Wow that was a fun game, bit of everything. Mad ofloading all over the shop, lots of nice lines, great scrum contest all game, and Wadey beating Malins in a footrace. He has always been quick off the mark, now looks quicker since the NFL, but I had assumed he had lost a bit of pace, and just before his intercept, Healey asked how he would go lungswise over time and distance, given that the NFL is very anaerobic. Well, he put that to bed good and proper.
Might have to have a read thru Shedweb later in the weekend, it could be quite entertaining.
Great advert for the game. Well played all concerned.
and sorry ’bout that, Refit, but no shame in the loss, could have gone either way.
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I see normal service seems to have been resumed, regarding NZ & Aus.
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In the end, yip. Aus competed well initially.
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No score at Ellis Park after 10 minutes. But there is after 11! Rabz Maxwane scores down the blind side for the Mighty Lions! Wish I was there (plenty of space) but only got back from Malawi just now.
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Sure they could’ve squeezed you in, Deebee?
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8-0 after 18, but Ulster on the attack in the Lions 22. Turnover and Quan Horne gets the 50-22 – from 10m from his own line!
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Looks like there are about a dozen Ulster supporters there – and they’re outnumbering the Lions supporters.
I don’t know why they don’t just give away tickets: then at least they could make some money from the concesssions.
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Maul try for the Lions! 15-0 with four to the break!
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Sneaky Ulster scrum-half try in the 43rd minute!
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Thauma, lots of people working on a Saturday, school holidays so many Joburgers are down at the coast, the Boks are playing at 5pm, so most people are braaiing at home. That’s in addition to the fact Ellis Park is in the most crime ridden part of Joburg. Lions really need a new home.
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15-5 at the break, which is probably a fair reflection.
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