Rugby - Ball's Out!

[Tamerlin]

Originally posted by finbar

Funnily enough, that's what she tells me every day.

That must be true then.

Two suggestions: (1) Stop it! Or, failing that: (2) take your crayon de couleur and change every z - when substituted for s - to an s when you come across one. Guaranteed to cure your appalling habit. BTW, this method is especially recommended for books borrowed from libraries!

I think that I will bring Pierre to the soo one of these days, it would be great if there are some sebras and other animals coming from the Saïre. We would depart when the sun is at its senith and before leaving we would drink a lemonade with a sest of lemon. We would walk a little in sigsags to have fun and come back home before night.

I haven't got enough so you're not getting any of mine!

Egotist!

Fresh beetroot, hopefully, and not that tinned muck!

Of course!

On a related note, Kiwi ref Paddy O'Brien has apparently written a book. He reports this exchange between French ref Didier Mene and an unnamed Springbok:

Mene chastises the player.

PLAYER: "F*ck you!"

MENE: "What did you say?"

PLAYER: "I said, 'F*ck you!'"

MENE: "Huh! I'll decide who f*cks me. You're off!"

BTW, I know who he is f*cking every time he is refereeing the Stade Toulousain.

[finbar]

Originally posted by Tamerlin
I think that I will bring Pierre to the soo one of these days, it would be great if there are some sebras and other animals coming from the Saïre. We would depart when the sun is at its senith and before leaving we would drink a lemonade with a sest of lemon. We would walk a little in sigsags to have fun and come back home before night.

Don't zhit me!

BTW, I know who he is f*cking every time he is refereeing the Stade Toulousain.

The opposition, obviously.

[Havak]

Tamerlin – have you sussed the OESD was the breed Dermot belongs to?

Yeah well, add modesty to his list of achievements. It's crap, of course.

Without wanting to bore you about the guy he has also been winning new friends as a studio pundit with the BBC. A lot of people who had written him off as a ‘thick lout’ have been having to revise their preconceptions. One thing is for sure – he runs rings around Fitzy intellectually – but then who does not?

I'm not convinced about Cohen. Obviously talented, but he doesn't produce the goods often enough.

It’s partly the way they use him – drawing him in field to bang ball up like a Tindall or Mortlock. When they use him the way he should be – as a strike runner – he really can impress. The try against France was quite sublime.

a good red wine is far better IMO.

Very true – such a shame therefore that Chilean, South African and Aussie wine is now much cheaper and of equal quality at least.

*Hand grenade thrown, retire to safe distance*

MENE: "Huh! I'll decide who f*cks me. You're off!"

If only his reffing matched his level of wit.

By the way – Alain Rolland was a true ‘Homer’ in the SH sense of the word.

The European Quarter finals must be fairly soon – I bet Tamerlin is getting excited – fingers crossed Mr White is available to take the helm for that game.

*Edit* Breaking news:

Leicester captain Martin Johnson has agreed a one-year extension to his contract with the club.
Johnson, who quit England after leading them to World Cup glory last year, is expected to sign the deal next week.

The 34-year-old Johnson confirmed: "I want to play on for another year at least and go from there."

Leicester chairman Peter Tom told the Daily Express: "It's tremendous that he has agreed to play on, he has been outstanding for us."

Tom added: "Martin was the best player in the world last year and England's loss has been Leicester's gain.

"His presence next season will be a huge boost."

[Havak]

Caucau, so recently injured for Auckland, is likely to make his return to Professional rugby with...Newcastle Falcons apparently.

Serious talks have alledgedly taken place.

This would be a huge coup for Rob Andrew - and a huge worry for the SANZAR's S12 brand. If current young stars of S12 are now being tempted away it gives the tournament a huge headache.

I am encouraging Tigers to go for Doug Howlett without delay. A pairing of him and Murphy on the wing would make my season next year - and Doug could learn plenty by playing with a talent like Geordan.

On the other hand he may just be 'doing a Doug' and threatening to leave so he can get more money down there (for far less rugby) and still be able to live in NZ.

[finbar]

Originally posted by Havak
Tamerlin – have you sussed the OESD was the breed Dermot belongs to?

Yes, he knows. In fact, I emailed him a zipped short video of Dermott making a dill of himself on a beach.

Without wanting to bore you about the guy

I deleted the rest of your para without reading it just in case.

Very true – such a shame therefore that Chilean, South African and Aussie wine is now much cheaper and of equal quality at least.

Dunno about the others, but more and more Australian wine is up there. And cheaper. And it's p*ssing off the French wine industry in a huge way.

Leicester captain Martin Johnson has agreed a one-year extension to his contract with the club.
Johnson, who quit England after leading them to World Cup glory last year, is expected to sign the deal next week.

The 34-year-old Johnson confirmed: "I want to play on for another year at least and go from there."

Leicester chairman Peter Tom told the Daily Express: "It's tremendous that he has agreed to play on, he has been outstanding for us."

Tom added: "Martin was the best player in the world last year and England's loss has been Leicester's gain.

"His presence next season will be a huge boost."

Fiddling in the East Midlands while England burns. Fine by me.

[finbar]

Originally posted by Havak
Caucau, so recently injured for Auckland, is likely to make his return to Professional rugby with...Newcastle Falcons apparently.

Serious talks have alledgedly taken place.

This would be a huge coup for Rob Andrew - and a huge worry for the SANZAR's S12 brand. If current young stars of S12 are now being tempted away it gives the tournament a huge headache.

I am encouraging Tigers to go for Doug Howlett without delay. A pairing of him and Murphy on the wing would make my season next year - and Doug could learn plenty by playing with a talent like Geordan.

On the other hand he may just be 'doing a Doug' and threatening to leave so he can get more money down there (for far less rugby) and still be able to live in NZ.

Serves you right for not reading my posts! I reported last week that Jonny Wilkinson had made a flying trip to NZ to talk to Caucau about going to Newcastle. This was prior to the injury, which sees him out for six months.

As I reported last week, Caucau's problem is that his total income is about $NZ100,000 - $75,000 from S12, and $25,000 from his club. NZ S12 money is less than Australia's. The Kiwi S12 players who play for the ABs obviously earn a heap more. But he's not eligible to play for the ABs. He's tied to Fiji, who are not only bankrupt, but play few Tests. The NZRFU won't increase his S12 money for obvious reasons - it would set a precedent. It's also no real skin off their nose if he leaves NZ because he's not eligible for the ABs.

Ergo, his only opportunity to increase his income is to play in the NH. Which is what he will do. It's not a matter of if or when, it's a matter of with whom. Newcastle seem to have got in first. What were Leicester doing?

[Tamerlin]

Originally posted by finbar
Dunno about the others, but more and more Australian wine is up there. And cheaper. And it's p*ssing off the French wine industry in a huge way.

Mind you we are keeping the best ones for ourselves.

[finbar]

I bet you were never allowed to drink red cordial because it made you hyperactive.

[finbar]

Hurricanes 29 -d- Reds 12

Dreadful match. A battle to see who could be more incompetent.

Crusaders 47 -d- Brumbies 28

The Crusaders of old. Mighty effort. In fact, they resembled the Blues of last season. Mehrtens didn't take his place. The Brumbies didn't play all that badly - they scored 4 tries for a bonus point - but the Crusaders wouldn't let them get the ball. I have to say, though, that young Rathbone showed some real touches of class. Talented kid. Looks like the Crusaders are back in town. Good thing.

[LDiCesare]

I must point out that mixing white and red wine to produce rosé is not the official way of producing the thing. It's still done, though, but called Auxkin's rosé (this being the name of a Spanish basque center/full back playing in my team).
About Harinordoquy's try, that combo is called 'Angleterre' because it's inspired from English play.

I think that the French are going to tour in Northern America, the US and Canada this summer. That's hardly a big tour, but if it could help US rugby a bit, it would be a good thing. Caligastia would even get to see some rugby in that backwater country!

[Tamerlin]

Originally posted by LDiCesare
Caligastia would even get to see some rugby in that backwater country!

[finbar]

But they'll only be allowed in if they're happy to be fingerprinted, photographed, body-cavity searched, et al. Cripes, imagine drawing the short straw and having to ask Mam'zelle Labit to spread 'em.

[LDiCesare]

finbar, Labit will no longer play for France. That's not exactly how they said it, but Jo Maso said something like "Christian's too old for the next world cup, so we'll try other players in the meantime. If exceptionnally for some reason we couldn't find anyone else, we'd call him back for a specific match."

[finbar]

Mmmmm. Thanks for that. So I'm going to have to find someone else to pick on.

Blues 22 -d- Waratahs 17

Abysmal first half of rugby full of handling errors and neither team seeming to have any idea what they were doing. In fact, the highlight of the first half was Carlos being yellow carded for a late shoulder charge on The Plank. Howlett and Rokococo fired in the second half for the Blues and did the damage. The Blues showed brief snatches of their old form but they're still relying on individual efforts. The Waratahs are simply lost without Matt Rogers' speed and creativity. He was driving the train when they strung together the early wins. Without him, they will finish mid-table.

[LDiCesare]

So I'm going to have to find someone else to pick on.

Beware, Tamerlin has already picked Yachvili.

Carlos being yellow carded for a late shoulder charge on The Plank.

Wasn't that supposed to be the other way around?