Rugby - The beautiful game

[Tamerlin]

Originally posted by finbar


Bet recorded.

*Tamerlin's little ice fortune continues to melt into oblivion*

Tamerlin - is that a question in your sig? Or another supportive brick in the NH Solidarity wall?

It's definitely another supportive brick.

[finbar]

Originally posted by Tamerlin
It's definitely another supportive brick.

Thought so!

[Andydog]

I know it's not Union, but talk about 'getting in the sh!t'...

Controversial Wests Tigers winger John Hopoate has been suspended for 12 weeks after being found guilty by the NRL Judiciary of poking his fingers up the anuses of three North Queensland players.
Accused of one of the most bizarre charges in the history of rugby league, or sport in general for that matter of fact, Hopoate was officially found guilty of 'unsportsmanlike interference'.

On the evidence of video footage and the damning testimony from the three Cowboys players, Hopoate was always likely to be found guilty. The length of his sentence seen as the only contentious matter.

In the end the NRL Judiciary had little trouble differentiating between a "wedgie", a "finger up the arse" and the area between the "arse and the nuts" before finding Hopoate guilty.

Shocked and horrified. Finbar explain your fellow countrymen!

Anyway, stepping back away from this crud, (and back toward the usual old crud), I've been wondering how much of my amassed fortune I shall place on the ABs. The problem is, nobody will be supporting Australia except the Aussie posters, and so it will probably be another case of lots to loose with bugger all to win. Therefore, can I start by placing 20 gold on the AB's, with the option to bet more closer to the game?

I’m my experience only I have to say that Aussie sporting crowds were also the worst winners (gloaters) AND the worst losers (sulkers) I have experienced in rugby

Unfortunately this is also my experience, and I have watched many an AB - Wallabie clash in London pubs packed full of Aussies and Kiwis. Australians are bad losers, and even worse winners. There is nothing wrong with a bit of gloating, but the Aussies take it just that little bit too far - and end up making arseholes of themselves. Few of my Aussie friends know when enough's enough in this regard. It's a shame really, because I've found Aussies to be great people and great fun - when they aren't trying to piss people off like this. It is my only real gripe. I must also say, to be fair, that the many good points of my Aussie mates far outweigh this bad point.

This is why it will feel sooooo nice to whoop aussie arse this Saturday!

[finbar]

Originally posted by Andydog
I know it's not Union, but talk about 'getting in the sh!t'...
Shocked and horrified. Finbar explain your fellow countrymen!

Cripes! Where did you dig up that from? It was last year. Or even the year before. I just put the incident down to a typical RL player's idea of a good day out. The player in question has, in fact, since made a comeback with a different club and seems to be behaving himself. In RL terms. In fact, I think he played for Oz against England in that farcical Test match recently.

Anyway, stepping back away from this crud, (and back toward the usual old crud), I've been wondering how much of my amassed fortune I shall place on the ABs. The problem is, nobody will be supporting Australia except the Aussie posters, and so it will probably be another case of lots to loose with bugger all to win. Therefore, can I start by placing 20 gold on the AB's, with the option to bet more closer to the game?

You can put as much on as you like whenever you like in however many doses you like.

Unfortunately this is also my experience, and I have watched many an AB - Wallabie clash in London pubs packed full of Aussies and Kiwis.

I'm not sure that a pub is any sort of realistic context. I've never attended one of those sessions and I wouldn't. The booze - and its effects - just gets in the way of watching the game.

[ravagon]

Originally posted by finbar
*Tamerlin's little ice fortune continues to melt into oblivion*

Mr Pot? Allow me to introduce Mr Kettle.


Wrt Australian crowds, is it only rugby in which this happens?
I remember a NZ-Aus cricket series (played in Oz) not so long ago when the Kiwis basically ran rampant. Utterly walloped the Aussies. This doesn't happen that often in Oz. The upshot though was the reaction of the Australian crowds, particularly towards the end of the tour - cheering the Kiwis and booing their own team whenever they walked out onto the field.
I never though much of the booing but gained a lot of respect for the cricketting crowd.
Was this just because NZ played that much better and provided more entertainment or was it partly because the two countries are so close?
I haven't managed to catch any one of the few rugby matches played at the WACA since I've been here so maybe my knowledge is too limited but I've gotten the impression they do seem to treat the AB's reasonably well. Is this because they respect them more? Or just because NZ is only a hop, skip and jump away across the Tasman as opposed to their European opponents?
[Or am I just too deluded to think straight after working too many long hours lately ]

[Havak]

Why not? There were too many of you blokes! We want our home team advantage

Then isn’t the answer to promote Union to your own fans rather than be outright rude to travelling fans? Or in other words that’s your fault not ours, why be nasty?

Where's this from? Surely your not talking about gracious Sydney crowds?

Actually Sydney was the hardest ground for me to judge the crowd in given that we were shoehorned as far away from the pitch as possible. Those Australians that did get tickets amongst the Lions enclaves did not do justice to your tradition of gracious Sydney crowds I can assure you. As Finbar would say a small minority of penis-heads got attracted to that tour and most I personally saw were home ‘fans’.

And it was leaving Stadium Australia when I received the choice insult “Go home you ******* pussies” for no other reason than I was wearing a Lions shirt. Gracious??

What, you want us to be happy if we lose? Sulkers mate, not maniacs. Unlike some others...(cough-England)

Aha – got you here. There is no history of violence at English rugby games. Please try not to confuse us with the Soccer primates you may have seen TV footage of.

No I don’t want you to be happy when you lose – that would be daft. But why do you all go home after losing? Brit fans stay and drink with the winners as a rule.

Is that where he finished up? Scotland?

Edinburgh I think.

I, OTOH, love a good Pommy winter

Amazing stuff Finbar! I look forward to standing on an icy terrace with you as the groundstaff take down the heated tent designed to thaw the ground just enough to only cause minor lacerations to the boys.

Foley is at Bath yes and he is building a mini—Australia there. It’s no bad thing, there decline has been dramatic and a fresh approach can only be good. A shame the ARU ruined his mate Connors moving there though – that has fallen through and there is talk of litigation!

Whoops!! I missed you had picked this in a later post! Cheers for the *spit* sympathy but trust me they deserve the *spit* regardless.

You are probably right – Bath’s finances are not healthy. It is a shame as even I would have appreciated a Grewcock-Connors second row.

I hope you noticed his declaration that this ain't a democracy. And my thought about an armed coup. I'm already stockpiling.

I did indeed. The coup may be a formality if the ABs lose on Saturday however?

I can’t surpise you on the Mitchell issue as you well know.

It would explain the problems Havak and his chums ran into last time.

Because I had the afternoon off yesterday I kind of tossed a grenade to see if it would let Finbar wax lyrical – I wasn’t disappointed.

However I need to be fair to both Finbar and Neostar by pointing out I am referring only to the sports grounds in my Pommy whinging sessions – everywhere else we were treated very well – even in the roughest bars in the most obscure parts of the cities. I really enjoyed my time in the country as a whole.

It depends what you mean by jingoistic nonsense.

The yellow mafia being given TV air time for their racism is one thing that would certainly disturb me. I don’t even like the yellow balloon men and rock music played only when Aussies score - and the way the PA is muted when the opposition scores just to make sure no feedback from opposing fans makes it sound particularly loud to the Aussie TV audience (after all why would anyone cheer a team other than the Wallabies?). Little tricks like this are best kept in rugby league – although to my shame the evil that is home-try music has reached HQ here too.

If any of the Australian crowds make arses of themselves, I'm out of here. It'll be just the excuse I need!

I don’t mean to insult you by this but there are some definite anglo-traits to your good self. You ability to criticise aspects of you own country is certainly a very English feature and, if you will excuse me for saying it, not typically Aussie?

At least you know how to use the word "fulsome"!

Although I’ll be totally paranoid about using it in this thread now!

If we are lucky enough, some SH officials will also remember scrums and mauls are also an essential part of Rugby as a team sport.

A truly awesome snipe there Tamerlin!

I do hope you manage to drop by the thread with that modem more than you think – you support is invaluable to the NH cause.

Against Havak? A recently-retired tighthead prop? Pshaw, we say!

I would be happy to ‘reason’ with them on behalf of the revolutionary forces.

I quite like “Rugby – the noble game (invented by the English)” myself? No??

Oh yeah and 30 on the All Blacks please. I just can’t find it in me to back the Wallabies, bitter and twisted little man that I am.

Keep piling in them supportive bricks Tamerlin

[Havak]

I see Warwick Waugh has joined the Irish Province Connacht.

Is it actually a matter of ARU policy that once a player reaches 30 he has to go to Europe?

[NeoStar]

Originally posted by Andydog
I know it's not Union, but talk about 'getting in the sh!t'...

Did you read any papers last year? Every joke has been said and Hoppa was a bricklayer for a time...

Originally posted by finbar
Cripes! Where did you dig up that from? It was last year. Or even the year before. I just put the incident down to a typical RL player's idea of a good day out. The player in question has, in fact, since made a comeback with a different club and seems to be behaving himself. In RL terms. In fact, I think he played for Oz against England in that farcical Test match recently.

He didn't play in that test. I watched it for about twenty five minutes before turning it off in disgust.

Originally posted by Andydog
Unfortunately this is also my experience, and I have watched many an AB - Wallabie clash in London pubs packed full of Aussies and Kiwis. Australians are bad losers, and even worse winners.

Aah, you're talking about Aussies abroad - they have to go over the top to make up for the fact they're not there. We'll be happy to treat you to a Tooheys after we keep the Bledisloe for yet another year

Originally posted by Havak
And it was leaving Stadium Australia when I received the choice insult “Go home you ******* pussies” for no other reason than I was wearing a Lions shirt. Gracious??

Okay, if that was the case I'll side with you there - the Lions weren't the best ever but the certainly weren't pussies. Had you fellas converted a few penalty oppurtunities... Hmm, are you sure you were only standing around innocently wearing lion's shirt?

Originally posted by ravagon
I remember a NZ-Aus cricket series (played in Oz) not so long ago when the Kiwis basically ran rampant. Utterly walloped the Aussies. This doesn't happen that often in Oz. The upshot though was the reaction of the Australian crowds, particularly towards the end of the tour - cheering the Kiwis and booing their own team whenever they walked out onto the field.

I never though much of the booing but gained a lot of respect for the cricketting crowd.

At last someone has something good to say about Aussie crowds

Don't know about utterly walloped - but we were tired of seeing our team in games that were over by the second/third day.

Of course you wont see the same amount of passion at the test cricket, simply because its slower but while Aussie rugby fans get a little passionate they behave fairly well towards the opposition. I've sat next to kiwis and Sth Africans and we never got as far as “Go home you ******* pussies”. Sure, there are always dickheads who come for the pure aggression and mob mentality rather than in the nature of sportsmanship (usually those who've never played the game, or any team sport ) but the foreigners I've been around have been treated alright.

Well usually. Australia is a sportsmad nation!

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by finbar


That has a ring to it. I quite like the marketing tag they use here: Rugby - The Game They Play In Heaven. Of course I realise that brings matters of faith and belief into the equation and Caligastia will probably sh*t himself on the same basis that politics causes his dictatorial heart to go pitter-pat. OTOH, we can completely overlook its religious context and regard it simply as the advertising agency's conceit that it was.

Rugby - The game they play in heaven.

I like that

Andydog
I should give you a red card for mentioning *spit* rugby league, but considering it was a good dig at the aussies Ill award you a penalty try.

[finbar]

Originally posted by ravagon
Mr Pot? Allow me to introduce Mr Kettle.

Careful, Ravagon, you're treading into SuperSneak territory. Yeah, I know how hurtful that accusation is, and I make no apology for it. Not even a smilie. Well, okay. One.

Wrt Australian crowds, is it only rugby in which this happens?

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Yobbos and penisheads will turn up everywhere and make everyone's life a misery. You should try a One Day (Day/Night) Cricket International. Purgatory.

I remember a NZ-Aus cricket series (played in Oz) not so long ago when the Kiwis basically ran rampant. Utterly walloped the Aussies. This doesn't happen that often in Oz. The upshot though was the reaction of the Australian crowds, particularly towards the end of the tour - cheering the Kiwis and booing their own team whenever they walked out onto the field.
I never though much of the booing but gained a lot of respect for the cricketting crowd.
Was this just because NZ played that much better and provided more entertainment or was it partly because the two countries are so close?

That was last summer. I think there were probably a couple of reasons behind all that. The Australian XI can be incredibly arrogant. They - publicly - assumed the Kiwis were just a warm-up for the Springboks. But the Kiwis had done their homework and played - bowled especially - to a very specific plan. The Australian crowds, aware of the Australian XI's arrogance, reacted against it. Australians hate blatant arrogance, particularly from Australians. Which - before Havak leaps in with the name O'Neill - is why John O'Neill has so many enemies here.

There is, also, the Australia-Kiwi relationship. Slagging each other off is pretty much a game that goes on. Much as happens in this thread. But there is a bond - geographic and historical.

The great AB teams of a few years ago were feared (read "loathed") and respected. Sean Fitzpatrick, for example, was abused to buggery - which he responded to in kind, in spades - but he was very muchly respected. I've actually given some thought to who the Australian crowds would suppprt if the Wallabies were to disappear out of the WRC - my bet would be the All Blacks and the French.

[Havak]

I’ve just seen Todd Blackadder has in fact been named Edingburgh captain for the new season (five weeks and counting – can’t wait).

I watched it for about twenty five minutes before turning it off in disgust.

That’s impressive. How did you stay awake so long?

the Lions weren't the best ever but the certainly weren't pussies

To say the least. That tour was a lost opportunity in so many ways. I still can’t believe they lost the Sydney test. As Finbar will affirm I’ll never really get over it.

I would counter too by saying that, whilst good, the current Wallabies aren’t as superb as they would like us to believe – eminently beatable in fact.

I can even understand why the Kiwis get so frustrated with the Wallaby circus – Australia’s record in the tri-nations and S12 is not that good – but win the tri-series two years in a row and suddenly Australian memories totally forget the shambolic campaigns of 96 and 97 – and, dare I say it, a growing inability to win big games on the road.

Hmm, are you sure you were only standing around innocently wearing lion's shirt?

Well I’m English so you can be sure there was no verbal provocation on my part.

And despite having played front row I have never started any trouble in or around a rugby match. I despise such behaviour which belongs firmly to soccer.

No in this instance it was a bunch of clearly juiced LCD types who felt the need to express themselves strongly. It was ill considered to say the least – at the time I was amongst somewhere in the order of 7000 Brits all streaming back to the venue our tour company had hired for the post match wake – right next to the ground in fact, though I no longer recall what it was called (we refered to it only as the ‘bar’ on the day). There was no trouble of course as that simply isn’t the rugby way – though we did thank them for the charming sentiment.

Well usually. Australia is a sportsmad nation!

Well that’s half right at least.

(just joking!!!)

[finbar]

Originally posted by Havak
Actually Sydney was the hardest ground for me to judge the crowd in given that we were shoehorned as far away from the pitch as possible.

Havak - do you have that paragraph permanently locked into your Cut/Paste option?

No I don’t want you to be happy when you lose – that would be daft. But why do you all go home after losing? Brit fans stay and drink with the winners as a rule.

Because it's simply a different culture. People here tend to go home, win or lose.

Amazing stuff Finbar! I look forward to standing on an icy terrace with you as the groundstaff take down the heated tent designed to thaw the ground just enough to only cause minor lacerations to the boys.

New Years Eve, New York, 1997, -14 degrees. Blissful.

Foley is at Bath yes and he is building a mini—Australia there. It’s no bad thing, there decline has been dramatic and a fresh approach can only be good. A shame the ARU ruined his mate Connors moving there though – that has fallen through and there is talk of litigation!

What I can't fathom is why it has taken this long to surface? How long ago was it that I posted about Connors - and others - being held to their local contracts? It was all clearly understood - by all sides, it seemed - at the time. I really think there's more to this than the dates.

The coup may be a formality if the ABs lose on Saturday however?

Be buggered! Just means we get to kick the dictator when he's already down! Much easier work.

Because I had the afternoon off yesterday I kind of tossed a grenade to see if it would let Finbar wax lyrical – I wasn’t disappointed.

I'd run into a particularly difficult part of a script. I needed to clear my creative sinuses.

Little tricks like this are best kept in rugby league – although to my shame the evil that is home-try music has reached HQ here too.

You realise it's bloody America that's to blame. Damn baseball and its damn fans whose miniature concentration spans demand that music be played whenever the action pauses for even a milli-second. It has spread like cancer. Yet another reason for the Thread Liberation Army to storm the wicked infidel that is NYC, overthrow it - et al, et al, et al - insert usual freedom fighter stuff - and so on and et cetera.

I don’t mean to insult you by this but there are some definite anglo-traits to your good self.

Insult me? For crying out loud, I've known for decades that I should have been born in the NH! To quote the great and much-missed Paul Keating - "We live at the arse-end of the world".

You ability to criticise aspects of you own country is certainly a very English feature and, if you will excuse me for saying it, not typically Aussie?

Don't worry, I'm considered a traitor around here. It's yet another facet of the thick-eared, anti-intellectual ethos that haunts these parts. To criticise Australia is un-Australian. It's not only pathetic, it's dangerous. Witness the rabid right-wing hysteria that's taken over a certain large NH country that sits between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and south of Canada and north of Mexico

I do hope you manage to drop by the thread with that modem more than you think – you support is invaluable to the NH cause.

Hey Tamerlin. Remember Waterloo? I can email you some info to refresh your memory.

I quite like “Rugby – the noble game (invented by the English)” myself? No??

I think it shows a bit of promise if you delete everything after the dash (after Rugby) and insert "The Game They Play In Heaven". How's that for a compromise?

Oh yeah and 30 on the All Blacks please. I just can’t find it in me to back the Wallabies, bitter and twisted little man that I am.

*finbar prepares to pay off his credit card bills*

Keep piling in them supportive bricks Tamerlin

Hey Tamerlin. Does Battle of Trafalgar ring any bells at all?

[Tamerlin]

Originally posted by finbar
Hey Tamerlin. Remember Waterloo? I can email you some info to refresh your memory.

Hey Tamerlin. Does Battle of Trafalgar ring any bells at all?

I don't know what you are speaking about !

[Caligastia]

Hey, which rugby games have you guys seen live?

I saw Auckland beat Canterbury in a ranfurly sheild match at Eden Park back in the late 80s

The All Blacks beat the lions at eden park in the last of a 3-test series in 1993

NZ Beat Scotland at Eden Park in 1996

NZ beat SA at eden park by about 20+ points in 1997

[Tamerlin]

Originally posted by Havak
A truly awesome snipe there Tamerlin!

I don't deserve any praise for this, sentences like this one are coming out of my little mind naturally in a moment's notice.

I do hope you manage to drop by the thread with that modem more than you think – you support is invaluable to the NH cause.

As I told it earlier, I won't let you down ! Even if I have to spend all my money to pay for my overtime Internet connexion. Fortunately, I have more real Euros left than Civ Gold.

I quite like “Rugby – the noble game (invented by the English)” myself? No??

True, these terms originate from England. I knew I would earn your support.

Keep piling in them supportive bricks Tamerlin

You can bet on it !

By the way, I have reached the limit of my reduced knowledge of the anglo-saxon culture, could someone explain me what the "Mr pot, let me introduce mr Kettle" joke means.