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 
It annoys the fuck out of me that the referees’ socks in this competition are several shades lighter than their shorts.
The mister thinks they are the same, but they FUCKING AREN’T!
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TRY Cooooooooney!
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He just shoves Hansen off on his way to the try line. Lovely.
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And he’s converted it, so it’s 19-5 at 28 mins.
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Hendo’s failed his HIA.
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Connacht score (Joyce). Conversion absolutely bolloxed, so it’s 19-10 at 32 mins.
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And fuck, Kok’s been yellowed at the restart.
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Postlethwaite has gone off injured too.
Too scrawny for a 12: needs to spend some time in the weight room. But has good promise.
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It all goes a bit loosey-goosey for a while, then Connacht get the ball and find some shape, but Ulster win it back.
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Bastard Connacht 9 (not Blade) nicks the ball and scores.
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Conversion looked like missing, but sadly didn’t. 19-17 at HT.
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I’ve remembered that the commentator who said something very funny before the match was Tommy Bowe, but not what it was.
Such are the perils of ageing.
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Bloody Connacht have only gone and got the BP try just after the restart.
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No, not given! Whew!
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Ulster with a line-out on or about the five-metre line. But then bloody Connacht win it back. Must have been something nefarious going on.
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But someone knocks it forward just in front of our try-line!
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Some ‘manbags’.
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Which results in a penalty to Ulster.
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That goes to the corner. Connacht donate another penalty.
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Ooh, and a yellow card for Josh Murphy!
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This time we get the try, and that’s the BP one.
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Dave McCann’s try.
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Dammit, the mister jinxed Cooney and he missed the conversion. 24-17, 52 mins.
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I’m sure a Connacht player dived very illegally on the ball there, but they end up with a penalty. (Andrew Brace.)
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Fortunately not a kickable one, and Ulster win a scrum.
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Doak on for Morgan.
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Kok catches a brilliant ball, and then McIlroy commits an idiocy.
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And Connacht score.
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Connacht make the conversion (wind seems to have died down), so it’s 24-all, try BP each, and 62 mins.
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Bealham sporting an excellent Hallowe’en look.
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Very hairy sequence of play, but Doak saves the day just short of the try line. Ulster pen.
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Absolutely egregious tackle by Josh Murphy who earns a straight red (which would have been red anyway as I think he was the one got sent off in the first half).
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Good comms Thaum.
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Cooney slots the penalty, so it’s 27-24. 71 mins.
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Refit – can’t possibly reach your standard!
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Ulster get (dubiously, imo) pinged for a high tackle, but Connacht make a shocker kick that goes out in the dead ball zone.
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Ulster with free kick at the resulting scrum for early engagement. But then they kick it too far and Hansen dots it down between the (Connacht) posts.
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Alex Ferguson’s squeaky bum time! Ulster with all the aces – lead on the scoreboard, a player up and territory – is it enough though?
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Ulster on the attack again and it goes out in the corner. Seems like an Ulster throw-in!
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Yes! And Timoney is OVERRRRRR!
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Easy does it! Lineout, maul and boom! Cooney cocks the conversion. 32-24 with a couple to go.
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Cooney misses the conversion, but it’s 32-24. However, Stockdale knocks on the restart in dangerous territory. Gulp!
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Fuck. Now a free kick for early engagement to Connacht.
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Connacht take the penalty and that’s full-time, 32-27.
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We may regret giving them an extra LBP, but am happy with a win.
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Cooney MotM.
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At the airport, 2 hours to boarding. Think a bit of wine is in order. As long as I sit close to the announcements so I don’t miss my flight!
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If you’re ever concerned about your sanity, or your grasp of the important things in life, just have a look at these posts from Threads
https://bsky.app/profile/cait.bsky.social/post/3l6e4tehrym2z
(Sorry, no post preview)
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JD2 has announced his retirement.
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https://twitter.com/BBCSportWales/status/1845548645963419785?t=oJ_gI_JJT5hTHrziuE72gg&s=19
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