I’m not sure who invited Liz Truss, and perhaps that’s why everyone looks a bit nervous, as if they’re expecting a devastating mini-budget in the middle of the festivities.
Nevertheless, a very happy feasting season to all, and may there be some cracking derbies over the next week or so.
Crackling derbies would be good too, only that depends on the pork markets.
We don’t see any cheese boards, and obviously That Is a Disgrace.
Ovally Balls 
@flair
I was lucky enough to stumble across the Toulouse / La Rochelle game. I thought after the early try by Niniashvili it would be close…. (rolls eyes)
Does Dupont look a little more streamlined ? I thought he looked a bit slimmer. Irrespective of that – the handoff on Wardi (?) was marvellous (as was Ramos’s volley for the last try)
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Hand off was on Latu. Dupont made it look so easy when Latu is a 110kgs hooker. And what an acceleration! He might be slimmer, you’re right. It’s a cliche, I know, but he does always seem to have more time than any other player. Hope he keeps fit, as he’s such a joy to watch.
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Yay! Santa was a little late, but I now have a new laptop keyboard, one where all the keys are present and functional, including some keys that haven’t worked in years, like the grave accent that went en grève. Using ascii codes and the on-screen keyboard is no fun at all.
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Accent grave? Wow! That’s a luxury lots of the younger ones don’t bother with now, at the risk, just like with misplaced commas, of being misunderstood.
Joyeux Noël then!
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We used to get all of the French and English rugby here, but with DSTV in trouble, they’ve canned most of it. We can still watch Saudi football, Russian news and any number of ‘charismatic churches’, but not proper rugby. Irony is that Canal+ has taken DSTV over, but doesn’t seem inclined to restore the rugby.
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I watched the Toulouse La Roche game last night, yes Dupont is both back to his best and an absolute joy to watch.
I love watching ST, at some points last night they were like the Harlem Globetrotters, just keeping the ball alive until a gap opened up and they took the chance to score.
Jack Willis is outstanding. In the centres they have an embarrassment of riches in those young players, even with Pita Aki leaving they are so strong and I believe Mennoncello Is headed there next season, which might be on paper a road block to the young French guys, but others have flourished at that club in positions where they seem to have incredible depth.
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Thäûm, ãt thę rǐsk øf sōůndîng sműg, a Mac keyboard has a plethora of accents as standard all you do is hold down the letter and select the mark from nine options that pop up – btw, I have no idea how the first part of this sentence would sound of it was pronounced as it is written. I’ve even got the æ, which I seem to remember was on old typewriters here
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Ticht – I have to switch between US International and English [sic] keyboards depending on whether I want to use accents or pound signs. Still, takes a lot less time than resetting a scrum.
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Thaum – :-D
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Fun fact: La Rochelle stadium has a 18K capacity for a city of 80K people. It’s been sold out for 112 consecutive games, beginning more than 10 years ago.
It’s more or less the same across the country, Bordeaux, Toulouse and Bayonne in particular. Little wonder the French teams often prioritise the T-14.
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Fun fact: La Rochelle stadium has a 18K capacity for a city of 80K people. It’s been sold out for 112 consecutive games, beginning more than 10 years ago.
It’s more or less the same across the country, Bordeaux, Toulouse and Bayonne in particular. Little wonder the French teams often prioritise the T-14.
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That’s an amazing stat, Flair! The combination of rugby and community is wonderful in France.
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Flair, have you read anything in the French press about Montpellier signing Adam Hastings from Glasgow?
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Yes, Ticht, according to Rugbyrama ( the Midol website) it’s a done deal. A Scottish “charnière” with Ali Price and Adam Hastings, with Hogg as a sub.
Montpellier with the strange couple Altrad& Laporte at the helm tend to use a lot of foreigners with important roles. Toulouse they are not.
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Yes, Ticht, according to Rugbyrama ( the Midol website) it’s a done deal. A Scottish “charnière” with Ali Price and Adam Hastings, with Hogg as a sub.
Montpellier with the strange couple Altrad& Laporte at the helm tend to use a lot of foreigners with important roles. Toulouse they are not.
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Yes, Ticht, according to Rugbyrama ( the Midol website) it’s a done deal. A Scottish “charnière” with Ali Price and Adam Hastings, with Hogg as a sub.
Montpellier with the strange couple Altrad& Laporte at the helm tend to use a lot of foreigners with important roles. Toulouse they are not.
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Worth saying thrice!
Gosh, I have no idea I do this.
Anyway my very best wishes to you all for the coming year, may you enjoy life with friends and family and the rugby be good enough to attract crowds like in LaR, especially in Wales.
Bonne année !
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Worth saying thrice!
Gosh, I have no idea I do this.
Anyway my very best wishes to you all for the coming year, may you enjoy life with friends and family and the rugby be good enough to attract crowds like in LaR, especially in Wales.
Bonne année !
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I am still baffled too, Flair! If I try to post the same thing even twice, I get a stern error message.
Bonne année à toi et à ta famille aussi.
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…. and very best wishes (Meilleur Voeux) from me, Slade, to all of you and I hope all keep safe and well in 2026.
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Champú has been opened as we don’t think we’ll make it to midnight.
A very happy Hogmanay / New Year to all of youse who post and/or lurk.
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Happy New Year everyone!
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Thanks Thaum.
And many, many thanks for keeping this place alive.
Am not always able to take part and I certainly wish some of the old posters would say hello from time to time, but I don’t know any other place where we can exchange views in a civilised way on any subject.
Merci infiniment.
And of course, meilleurs vœux pour 2026.
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Didn’t see this Ospreys-Cardiff scoreline coming! Then again, I didn’t see Christmas coming despite some subtle hints on radio, TV, the Internet, shopping centres, family, friends and general populace apparently mentioning it occasionally over the last four months.
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Deebee – me neither. Various pressies remain unbought still.
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Keyboard was delivered by Santa, though!
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The Ulster Munster game should be a cracker, snow flurries and everything.
Day 2 of Dry January – whose stupid idea was that?
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There’s a trend among commentators these days to sound like they are sitting on the toilet but things are not going their way
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Oof, Bill Mata almost took Sale’s winger’s head off in a tackle. Mata was at waist height for the tackle, unfortunately the Sale player was ducking after a catch.
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Bristol’s scrum do a number on Sale. There’s some argy afterwards and Tom Curry sticks his hand in Genge’s face (ref ignores this).
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There’s a TMO review at Newcastle/Glaws, after the respective 5s punched each other in the face and the DJ is playing Kung Fu Fighting over the PA.
Somehow it’s only a yellow card per player.
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The coms have called the Ulster Munster game right – after a good opening ten minutes this has turned very scrappy. Ulster5 just ahead and they are probably the more aggressive, and successful, in carrying the ball, 6-3 at 33 minutes
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I switched over to Bristol Sale due to rucks dropsy in Belfast
Sale were picking and going on the Bristol line just now but one of their players shifted round the side of the ruck in front of the ball – it was clear obstruction and right on front of the ref, but it was just let go – baffling
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21-3 at Ravenhill now; 15 mins to go.
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Snow coming down quite heavily now as Ulster attack and attack but don’t get over the line.
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Finally … TRY B Ward!
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And it’s 28-3 at FT, but Ulster left the BP on the pitch.
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Bristol managed to pull themselves together and get the win in the end. Genge got MotM. Final score 19-17.
And it looks like Newcastle are turning their season around, they’ve just beaten Glaws 25-19.
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Day 3 of not-dry-January and the Lions lead 18-12 in Durban against the chequebook-Sharks!
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Sharks score on half time to bring it back to 17-18 and Lions have a man in the bin, possible upgrade to red. Feck.
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Exeter start the match with Manny F-W stealing the kick off and almost scoring. Then 2mins later the winger, Ridl, gets a 20min red for taking out a player in the air.
Barf take full advantage and Obano drives over no 6mins.
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Think Bath might be a bit fired up after last week. 14 minutes, 21 points. Still 8 minutes on Exeter’s 20 minute red card.
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Oh dear, Bath are not messing around. Alfie Barbeary scores on 11mins and the Carreras on 13mins. 21-0 and there’s still 6mins left on the red card.
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Lions! Beat the Sharks 23-22 in Durban with the final play of the match. Young Hashim Pead, the Junior Bok 9 from last year, with the score. He’s special – look out for him as the season goes on. As for the Sharks, more Boks than any other side, and they’re useless.
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Exeter have woken up! Perhaps coincidentally once they went back to 15. 26-14 now.
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Well that was fun! Bath beat Exeter at the last. Bath hadn’t scored since the 20th minute when they went 26-0 up, then scored in the 79th minute to win it.
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Saints vs Quins is being played at 1000mph. It’s a lot of fun.
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Quins hold Saints up over the line about 4 times in a row.
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47-14 to Saints with 25mins still to play. Quins are a shadow of their former selves.
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