Rugby - Advantage!

[Alexander's Horse]

Originally posted by finbar

So the Brumbies become our only reps in the final series

[ravagon]

Originally posted by Havak
Interesting idea the shoot outs – how often are we likely to see them though? Unlike s***** Rugby tends not to finish level too often.

Ugh. Missed this last week. Utterly awful idea. Thought up by an Australian no doubt.
Although I do happen to like soccer (sorry for the bad word Tamerlin ) the penalty shoot-out at the end is one facet I just cannot abide.
Introducing the same into rugby is an even worse idea IMO.
Point about the number of matches finishing level after extra-time is well-taken but you know what they say about the possibility of something that can happen actually happening. Especially if its an undesirable something.
It won't be a fair fight when it happens either. Murphy is undoubtably Irish.

[finbar]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse

You didn't go! You can't take any of the credit! If you'd gone, they'd have won with your bellicose barracking!

[finbar]

Originally posted by ravagon
Ugh. Missed this last week. Utterly awful idea.

It's nonsensical. While, as Havak says, tied scores are less frequent in rugby, they do happen. But, unlike s*****, points can be scored at any time. One penalty anywhere within kicking distance and that's it. Frankly, I'd be very surprised if any game gets to the drop goal scenario. With extra time followed by sudden death extra time, someone's going to score. The bottom line is that it's not only nonsensical, it's plainly unnecessary.

[Havak]

Finnegan plans to finish his career in Ireland. He's got a zillion relatives there. I'm not sure which club.

He’ll sign a Provincial contract like Jim Williams did so you are looking at Munster, Leinster or Ulster (I think Connacht are being axed). Leinster are Dublin based, Munster further north. Ulster very much North of course.

George has been pulling off some of his usual miraculous - and legal - pilfers at the breakdown. I suspect that's what will keep him ahead of Waugh.

Yep he is out the Back mould on that one. I think I’d rather see him play anyway as he is a little less physical than Waugh and will make a better target for a fit Moody should we meet.

If it happpened here, the offended party would be straight off to court waving the Trade Practices Act.

It’s probably a “the committees decision shall be final” clause hidden somewhere that they agreed to automatically when they played their first League game.
Anyway it’s no longer an issue – Bristol finished bottom not Bath so the obstacles will now disappear I suspect.

Or is Perpignan a one-off?

Tamerlin covered it better than me. Mind you Agen are an unusual case – you have to watch them as they have been found guilty of throwing games deliberately eh Tamerlin?
Luger has now confirmed the move to USAP by the way – three year deal.

The reason, presumably, is that the challenger would be ostracised.

Absolutely. The old boy network is alive and well despite the commercial success of the Union.

Haven't your sister and her family got a home of their own?

Apparently not.

You're entitled. But you've probably got some catching up to do - they've no doubt detested the Tigers a lot longer.

True. They don’t like anybody down there in fact. Closest thing we ever get to a S***** atmosphere in England – it can be quite uncomfortable.
That’s just one of the reasons they are the only club that is generally liked less than us.

Oh well, the scapegoat has choofed off to Saracens. Problem solved.

I’m praying Deano is a little smarter than that and is looking for a top class backs coach over summer.

With the onfield performances, et al, they're well on the way to a PhD in Alienating The Most Important People In The Equation.

Indeed. The fans are letting them know what they feel on this one.

Look upon it as character building

You know I have a fairly healthy attitude to the sport. I don’t like losing of course but twenty minutes of moping is as much as it affects me – and I obey all the ‘form’ of the thing – I shook hands and congratulated the Exile boys around me on the terrace when they beat us.

If you can’t lose with grace you shouldn’t be playing or watching Union.

My biggest fear for us is the way the club are ignoring
the problem in the sound bites they spew out. I think that is all designed to get season tickets renewed and I hope that after the deadline passes they’ll be more honest and say “okay we need to strengthen here, here and here”. We shall see.

Mrs Havak is not actually ‘Mrs’ Havak btw. I’ve always planned to marry money – I’m therefore making her work hard to get some.

[Havak]

The club confirmed this morning that we have singed the Italian Fly Half Ramiro Pez.

A rumour that turned out to be true - unbelievable.

He is a good player - but of course he is going to RWC with Italy so it's start but there is more to do.

[finbar]

Originally posted by Havak


He’ll sign a Provincial contract like Jim Williams did so you are looking at Munster, Leinster or Ulster (I think Connacht are being axed). Leinster are Dublin based, Munster further north. Ulster very much North of course.

I don't think it's Munster, and it definitely wouldn't be Ulster, so it probably has to be Leinster. I must look into it.

Yep he is out the Back mould on that one. I think I’d rather see him play anyway as he is a little less physical than Waugh and will make a better target for a fit Moody should we meet.

Interestingly enough, they've both - Smith and Waugh - bulked up this season.

Anyway it’s no longer an issue – Bristol finished bottom not Bath so the obstacles will now disappear I suspect.

What happened to the talk of the Bristol-Bath merger?

That’s just one of the reasons they are the only club that is generally liked less than us.

Well, it's the area where - latest theory has it - King Arthur and Camelot, et al, were based. I'm not sure what that means, I just thought I'd toss it in.

If you can’t lose with grace you shouldn’t be playing or watching Union.

Yes, that's one of the nice things about the game. And the test of the true rugby person.

My biggest fear for us is the way the club are ignoring
the problem in the sound bites they spew out. I think that is all designed to get season tickets renewed and I hope that after the deadline passes they’ll be more honest and say “okay we need to strengthen here, here and here”. We shall see.

We shall. I await the off-season with interest.

Mrs Havak is not actually ‘Mrs’ Havak btw. I’ve always planned to marry money – I’m therefore making her work hard to get some.

"Mrs" is the tag we - the Oz Civ players - attach to any partner, spouse, girlfriend, regardless of marriage status, for easy reference: Mrs Horse, Mrs Deity, Mrs Hydey, Mrs finbar, and so on.

Oh, and it's about time you made an honest woman of her!

[Tamerlin]

Originally posted by Havak
Tamerlin covered it better than me. Mind you Agen are an unusual case – you have to watch them as they have been found guilty of throwing games deliberately eh Tamerlin?

The ERC has been very harsh with the Sporting Union Agenais, many other clubs could have been found guilty of such a behavior... at the time of the said game the SUA team was decimated by injuries and sent a kind of B-Team, true.

The SUA is one of the pillars of the French Rugby and this is not a year without European cup that could ruin it.

The semi-finals of the French Championship are already known:

Stade Français vs. Biarritz Olympique (05/30 Bordeaux)

StadeToulousain vs. Sporting Union Agenais (05/31 Montpellier)

For the first time since a few years I am really considering staying at home for the semi-finals and watching the game on TV with some friends, the Stade de la Mosson in Montpellier is an awful s***** (you will never be forgiven Ravagon... never!) Stadium located in an awful suburb which is moreover difficult to reach (I have almost missed the beginning of a game twice here). This is one of those old stadiums with three smaller side (the good places are of course on one of the smaller side) and one huge and high rostrum without roof and bathed with the sun which means you have the sun in your eyes when you sit here in the afternoon (and the game will be played at 15:00) and that you can be far from the action. I have never managed to buy good places each time the Stade Toulousain has played here... I am really fed up with the Stade de la Mosson...

Indeed. The fans are letting them know what they feel on this one.

I am supporting you and your fellows Havak but I am afraid they don't care at all...

You know I have a fairly healthy attitude to the sport. I don’t like losing of course but twenty minutes of moping is as much as it affects me – and I obey all the ‘form’ of the thing – I shook hands and congratulated the Exile boys around me on the terrace when they beat us.

Extend the moping duration to an hour or two (or an afternoon if the Stade Toulousain's players have really played like penguins) and you have my behavior after a game. I am generally angry against the Toulousains but never against the opponents I congratulate at the end of the game.

My biggest fear for us is the way the club are ignoring the problem in the sound bites they spew out. I think that is all designed to get season tickets renewed and I hope that after the deadline passes they’ll be more honest and say “okay we need to strengthen here, here and here”. We shall see.

A man should never stop dreaming...

Mrs Havak is not actually ‘Mrs’ Havak btw. I’ve always planned to marry money – I’m therefore making her work hard to get some.

[finbar]

Originally posted by Tamerlin
Stade Français vs. Biarritz Olympique (05/30 Bordeaux)

StadeToulousain vs. Sporting Union Agenais (05/31 Montpellier)

I've never remarked on this before, but the French clubs have such wonderful names. It's not just that the towns - or cities - have such attractive names, which they do, it's how beautifully they are incorporated into the club names.

BTW, Tamerlin, what does Stade mean in the context of the club's name? I know it means Stadium, but how does it translate in the context of the name?

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by finbar
So the Brumbies become our only reps in the final series and they're lucky to be there. They will be without Steve Larkham - he has a fracture in his elbow which will see him miss all the of the mid-season Tests - so I don't fancy their chances against the Blues, in Auckland, particularly if Carlos Spencer is on song.

Blues winger Rupeni Caucaunibuca will be out due to injury, so I'm hoping that won't affect the Blues' performance as much as it did the last time he was out.

http://rugbyheaven.smh.com.au/articles/2003/05/12/1052591733883.html

[finbar]

Originally posted by Caligastia


Blues winger Rupeni Caucaunibuca will be out due to injury, so I'm hoping that won't affect the Blues' performance as much as it did the last time he was out.

http://rugbyheaven.smh.com.au/articl...591733883.html

He shouldn't have played last weekend. He came off in the second half with a recurrence of the ankle injury. I don't know why they risked him in such an unimportant - in the scheme of things - match. Their other Fijian winger - Joe Rococo-something - finally produced something last week, though, after a patchy mid-season.

As this morning's rugby media pointed out, Larkham's absence might be - dare I say it? - a minor blessing in disguise. He has had, by his standards, only a moderate season, hardly challenging the defences, which, when he's playing well, is one of his great strengths. By that I don't mean hittting the ball up, I mean his ghosting runs, creating doubts for the defences. It seems Matt Giteau will slot into #10, and he's constantly challenging the defences.

It looks like Owen Finnegan and George Smith will be assigned to pressure and smother Carlos Spencer at every opportunity. Carlos has been getting away with murder, with acres of space and tons of time to do his thing. If they can quieten Carlos, the Blues will find the going more difficult.

[Tamerlin]

Originally posted by finbar
I've never remarked on this before, but the French clubs have such wonderful names. It's not just that the towns - or cities - have such attractive names, which they do, it's how beautifully they are incorporated into the club names.

Here are the full names of the Top 16 teams along with their town:

Stade Toulousain (Toulouse)
Biarritz Olympique (Biarritz)
Club Sportif de Bourgoin-Jailleu (Bourgoin)
Section Paloise (Pau)
Stade Français (Paris)
Sporting Union Agenais (Agen)
Union Sportive des Arlequins de Perpignan (Perpignan)
Football Club de Grenoble (Grenoble)
Association Sportive Montferrandaise (Montferrand)
Montauban Tarn et Garonne XV (Montauban)
Club Athlétique de Bègles-Bordeaux Gironde (Bordeaux)
Racing Club de Narbonne (Narbonne)
Castres Olympique (Castres)
Association Sportive Columiérine (Colomiers)
Association Sportive Bitteroise (Béziers)
Stade Montois (Mont-de-Marsan)

And a newly promoted, though an old timer of the french elite:
Club Athlétique Briviste (Brive)

Just for the pleasure here is the name of a legendary Pro D2 club:
Stadoceste Tarbais (Tarbes) "Stadoceste" meaning Stade in the almost forgotten local idiom... that was still spoken by our grand-fathers...

Note: many clubs (like Bordeaux, Montauban and Narbonne) have added the name of their Department or Region to their original name as these administrative entities have became their main sponsors. Most of the time I have not added these local names as they are recent additions that does not reflect the history of these clubs.

BTW, Tamerlin, what does Stade mean in the context of the club's name? I know it means Stadium, but how does it translate in the context of the name?

You are right and there is no special translation, the Stade Toulousain would be the Toulousain's Stadium and the Stade Français the French Stadium... But here the word "Stade" should be understood as representing the institution that is the club, not the field and the area where the game is played. The fields themselves all have their own name.

For example: the field of the Stade Toulousain was called Stade des Sept Deniers until this year when it was renamed Stade Ernest Wallon (from the name of the founder of the Amicale des Supporters du Stade Toulousain, at the beginning of the 20th century, who still owns the field).

[finbar]

Originally posted by Tamerlin


Here are the full names of the Top 16 teams along with their town:

Stade Toulousain (Toulouse)
Biarritz Olympique (Biarritz)
Club Sportif de Bourgoin-Jailleu (Bourgoin)
Section Paloise (Pau)
Stade Français (Paris)
Sporting Union Agenais (Agen)
Union Sportive des Arlequins de Perpignan (Perpignan)
Football Club de Grenoble (Grenoble)
Association Sportive Montferrandaise (Montferrand)
Montauban Tarn et Garonne XV (Montauban)
Club Athlétique de Bègles-Bordeaux Gironde (Bordeaux)
Racing Club de Narbonne (Narbonne)
Castres Olympique (Castres)
Association Sportive Columiérine (Colomiers)
Association Sportive Bitteroise (Béziers)
Stade Montois (Mont-de-Marsan)

And a newly promoted, though an old timer of the french elite:
Club Athlétique Briviste (Brive)

Just for the pleasure here is the name of a legendary Pro D2 club:
Stadoceste Tarbais (Tarbes) "Stadoceste" meaning Stade in the almost forgotten local idiom... that was still spoken by our grand-fathers...

There's some wonderfully poetic names in there. Typical of the French. Sydney's clubs are just named after the suburbs (or regions) in which they're based. Very boring!

You are right and there is no special translation, the Stade Toulousain would be the Toulousain's Stadium and the Stade Français the French Stadium... But here the word "Stade" should be understood as representing the institution that is the club, not the field and the area where the game is played. The fields themselves all have their own name.

Yes, I guessed it had to be something like that.

[Havak]

and it definitely wouldn't be Ulster, so it probably has to be Leinster. I must look into it.

Don’t forget Ireland is not segregated for Rugby – the national side is a combined one. In terms of provinces Leinster (Dublin) boys have played for Ulster and vice versa. Any Nationalistic pre-conceived hang ups Finny might have would be best left behind him should he head this way.

Interestingly enough, they've both - Smith and Waugh - bulked up this season.

Didn’t think Waughy needed that? I seem to recall you telling me that Jones had asked Smithy to beef up?

You saw our young blindside in the autumn – do you reckon Smithy is up to that kind of physical challenge?

What happened to the talk of the Bristol-Bath merger?

Bath scraped off the bottom making it irrelevant. I suspect it will happen regardless meaning mainly that Bristol will cease to exist as a Pro outfit and will re-surface in the lower leagues as amateur again. The combined Bath-Bristol outfit will be referred to simply as ‘Bath’.

As per my prediction just two days after Bath escaped the drop Rotherhams promotion has now been confirmed.

But of course the delay stopped them signing new player contracts so we have directly benefited by tempting away their Fly Half. I’m not pleased we have benefited from such a shameful situation – but by god we needed a new stand off (Vesty has promise but needs more games behind him, McMullen has good hands but tries these huge ACT cut out passes that gift tries to the oppo).

Well, it's the area where - latest theory has it - King Arthur and Camelot, et al, were based. I'm not sure what that means, I just thought I'd toss it in.

It’s wrong anyway – he was based right on the southern end of Mercia as everyone there knows. Somewhere near a small town called Leicester.

In terms of rugby it means little as Glaws season has been built on a French Fly Half who is now walking out. Henry Paul at Fly next season boys? Relegation may threaten!

Yes, that's one of the nice things about the game. And the test of the true rugby person.

Some of the 5000 extra season ticket holders we gained since the first title in 99 definitely do not qualify. Sadly. Hopefully a good amount of them will disappear making room for more rugby types.

Oh, and it's about time you made an honest woman of her!

So she tells me.

The ERC has been very harsh with the Sporting Union Agenais

A nice try Tamerlin but having seen the highlights of the offending game I think they were lucky to get off so lightly. I’ve never seen anything like it. Not trying is one thing but actively assisting the opposition to score???

I am supporting you and your fellows Havak but I am afraid they don't care at all...

Unfortunately very true. I’m not going – not because I don’t want to support the lads but because I am protesting being charged for the fixture. I think the gate might shock the club to be honest.

A man should never stop dreaming...

Dreaming is about all I have left this season.

If they can quieten Carlos, the Blues will find the going more difficult.

As an outsider could I please ask that whoever the ref is he ensures this deadly duo close Carlos down legally please? If Finny or George set out to cripple him (as can be Finny’s want?) it make ACT no better than the teams Aussies always claim are looking to hurt Larkham?

There's some wonderfully poetic names in there. Typical of the French

It’s a poetic language. Even cursing has a melodic quality. But in the final analaysis there are all named after where they are surely – just like yours and our teams?

[finbar]

Originally posted by Havak
Don’t forget Ireland is not segregated for Rugby – the national side is a combined one. In terms of provinces Leinster (Dublin) boys have played for Ulster and vice versa. Any Nationalistic pre-conceived hang ups Finny might have would be best left behind him should he head this way.

I didn't realise it was combined. Good thing too. I checked - his Dad was born in Co Meath, his Mum in Co Cork. His siblings were all born in Ireland, he was born here.

Didn’t think Waughy needed that? I seem to recall you telling me that Jones had asked Smithy to beef up?

Phil Waugh is now huge in the upper body. Yes, Smith was asked to beef up. He's a very solid lump now too.

You saw our young blindside in the autumn – do you reckon Smithy is up to that kind of physical challenge?

What was his name?

As per my prediction just two days after Bath escaped the drop Rotherhams promotion has now been confirmed.

So who or what gave Bath the clout to upset the promotion/relegation?

McMullen has good hands but tries these huge ACT cut out passes that gift tries to the oppo

Well, he was at least third-string here. Still, the huge cut-out passes work for the Brumbies. Maybe you just need some players who can catch.

It’s wrong anyway – he was based right on the southern end of Mercia as everyone there knows. Somewhere near a small town called Leicester.

Arise, Sir Havak.

In terms of rugby it means little as Glaws season has been built on a French Fly Half who is now walking out. Henry Paul at Fly next season boys? Relegation may threaten!

Yes, I noticed Mercier is off to Grenoble. Oh well, one year in the limelight is better than nothing.

As an outsider could I please ask that whoever the ref is he ensures this deadly duo close Carlos down legally please? If Finny or George set out to cripple him (as can be Finny’s want?) it make ACT no better than the teams Aussies always claim are looking to hurt Larkham?

They just have to put him under some pressure. He's been operating in an acre of space with a ton of time. Of course, for them to get the chance to apply some pressure, the Brumbie pack is going to have to really perform.

It’s a poetic language. Even cursing has a melodic quality. But in the final analaysis there are all named after where they are surely – just like yours and our teams?

It's more than just the place names, it's the other lovely bits they attach to them -

Club Sportif de Bourgoin-Jailleu (Bourgoin)

Union Sportive des Arlequins de Perpignan (Perpignan)

Montauban Tarn et Garonne XV (Montauban)

Racing Club de Narbonne (Narbonne)

Club Athlétique Briviste (Brive)

Beats the crap out of Leicester and Randwick.