Rugby - We need a proper Title! (temp)

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Originally posted by Tamerlin


This thread should rather be named Rugby and Cricket thread - ...

Why not!?

[EDIT]I forgot the angry smiley...[/EDIT]

Yeah, too much pilfered Parma ham can bring on Alzheimers.

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Originally posted by flipside

Funnily enough I was just thinking about posting in this thread to you about some cooking. I have been reading this article, it might have been in the Evening Standard, about this chef in England that has just been awarded a third michelin star. His forte is experimental cooking and one of his signature dishes is snail porridge. If I can dig it out, or if I can find it online I'll post something more.

Who's the chef?

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Originally posted by Tamerlin
Funnily enough the strong communities of English that existed in France brought Rugby with them in Bordeaux and in the Ile-de-France area but decided it was not worth introducing Cricket as well.

They tried. Les Grenouilles took to the biff and barge and jamming your head up other blokes' backsides with relish, for obvious reasons. The subtleties of cricket, for obvious reasons, escaped them.

[flipside]

Originally posted by finbar


Part of the problem also, I think, is that groundsmen everywhere are turning out batsmen's paradises. Add in helmets and the nonsensical bouncer laws, and bowlers everywhere are struggling.



England will always struggle while they have an overpopulated, uncompetitive County system as its base. Players will only improve if they're challenged. That can't happen often enough in county cricket.

Agreed on the laws and the wickets, it's a carry over from the one day stuff.

I totally agree with what you have to say about county cricket and how much it improves players.
The system is slowly changing though. With the centralisation of contracts, the increasing amount of international cricket and the acadamy system, England is becoming more like a team that is seperate from the underlying county structure.
The players in the England team will, I hope, improve through regular exposure to these standards, rather than, as has previously been the case, the selection policy being that that the last man standing after playing ten years of county bollocks, gets to play two tests.
The first of which, must be when struggling for form before making your farewell appearence in the final test against whichever team is the strongest in world cricket at the time.
Still, what do I know? I support Hampshire.The last time they actually produced, a test cricketer was about twenty years ago.

[Tamerlin]

Originally posted by finbar

They tried. Les Grenouilles took to the biff and barge and jamming your head up other blokes' backsides with relish, for obvious reasons. The subtleties of cricket, for obvious reasons, escaped them.

Finbar... how do you want me to reply to your posts while Dermott is looking right into my eyes...

[flipside]

Originally posted by finbar


Look, he was born and bred in Oodnadatta, sent to the NH as a babe in arms, and planted as a mole. He has only recently been activated. Unfortunately, his obvious intelligence and rampant common sense has him standing out like dogs' testicles in his NH surroundings. I shall contact his minder and have him try to dumb him down a bit to fit in better.

*I hear and must obey*
The rolling maul and penalty kicking are the highest form of rugby . You must, in no way, attempt to run anywhere near the ball carrier unless he is going to pass to you.All player's representing your national team must be born within 319 meters of your national stadium.

[Tamerlin]

Originally posted by flipside


*I hear and must obey*
The rolling maul and penalty kicking are the highest form of rugby . You must, in no way, attempt to run anywhere near the ball carrier unless he is going to pass to you.All player's representing your national team must be born within 319 meters of your national stadium.

Ah! Ah! You are unmasked! You would have replaced penalty kicking with "the ruck" if you were really coming from the Northern Hemisphere... we the keeper of the true Game of Rugby.

[flipside]

Originally posted by Tamerlin


Ah! Ah! You are unmasked! You would have replaced penalty kicking with "the ruck" if you were really coming from the Northern Hemisphere... we the keeper of the true Game of Rugby.

Funnily enough I thought about it, but decided it was too celtic.
Unless this this is some type of French schism, no TRUE NH team would ruck unless the ball accidently ended up in the backs or they were celtic .

[flipside]

Originally posted by finbar


Who's the chef?

His name is Heston Blumenthal. He does all sorts of things such as Smoked bacon and egg ice cream, cooking desserts in liquid nitrogen, and has a restaurant called "The Fat Duck." The ideas that interest me the most are his theories of how vegetables should be cooked at a low temperature in bottled water and how meat does not need to be sealed.

[Tamerlin]

Originally posted by flipside

Unless this this is some type of French schism, no TRUE NH team would ruck...

In a sudden momentary lapse of attention, certainly coming from the repeated abuse of wheed, I thought "scrum" and my fingers typed "ruck".

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Originally posted by flipside
I totally agree with what you have to say about county cricket and how much it improves players.
The system is slowly changing though. With the centralisation of contracts, the increasing amount of international cricket and the acadamy system, England is becoming more like a team that is seperate from the underlying county structure.

Yes, and I don't think it's helping the cause. I would argue that county cricket should be the nursery, with the academy the - as it were - finishing school. They obviously work hand-in-hand, but it's the week-to-week competition of county cricket that should be developing and practising the skills that are fine-tuned at the academy. And, perhaps more importantly, county cricket should be where they're developing their competitive edge.

Here, we have six state teams. Competition to get into the teams is fierce because the next step up is Test cricket. Ergo, competition between the teams is fierce, because they know they're on display for the Test selectors. Our academy works on honing skills. The competitive edge is developed playing state cricket.

The county system was the first "professional" cricket in the world. Unfortunately, the "job" factor has never been overcome. Players hung around for their superannuation in the form of their testimonial year. Certainly, some highly skilled players came through the system, but, it seems, almost by accident rather than design.

They've tinkered with the county system - creating two divisions - but they haven't addressed the real problem of too many teams allowing too many players who will never reach the higher level to drag down the overall quality. I can appreciate why the authorities haven't bitten the bullet and created a league of, say, eight teams - tradition. I'm all for tradition, but I think it's holding England back.

Along with, as Havak has pointed out a couple of times, the disappearance of cricket from schools.

The players in the England team will, I hope, improve through regular exposure to these standards

Mmmm. Well, I don't think they will.

Still, what do I know? I support Hampshire.The last time they actually produced, a test cricketer was about twenty years ago.

Yes, but Hampshire produced the inimitable John Arlott, cricket's finest ever voice, IMHO. Be satisfied with that.

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Originally posted by flipside


*I hear and must obey*
The rolling maul and penalty kicking are the highest form of rugby . You must, in no way, attempt to run anywhere near the ball carrier unless he is going to pass to you.All player's representing your national team must be born within 319 meters of your national stadium.

Goodoh. I'd rank that 7/10. Work on flattening your vowels and increasing your waistline with a couple of hundred yards of bitter, and you're looking at 9.5/10 as a Havak clone.

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Originally posted by Tamerlin


Finbar... how do you want me to reply to your posts while Dermott is looking right into my eyes...

Someone has to keep you in line when I'm not around!

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Originally posted by flipside

His name is Heston Blumenthal. He does all sorts of things such as Smoked bacon and egg ice cream, cooking desserts in liquid nitrogen, and has a restaurant called "The Fat Duck." The ideas that interest me the most are his theories of how vegetables should be cooked at a low temperature in bottled water and how meat does not need to be sealed.

Ah yes. I've seen him a couple of times in various cooking-related shows on cable here. He made an appearance in one very interesting short series about the "chemistry" of cooking - literally, the science of what happens to food when it's cooked, and the various alternative methods that can be used. I remember they worked on debunking the traditional claim that adding salt to water brightened a vegetable's colour - the green of green beans, for example.

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Originally posted by Tamerlin


In a sudden momentary lapse of attention, certainly coming from the repeated abuse of wheed, I thought "scrum" and my fingers typed "ruck".

Could have been worse. You could have hit the "f" rather than the "r".