Rugby - Who? Me, Sir? Offside?

[Caligastia]

Awesome! I hope you get to see some of the games and participate in this thread with us. I must say its great to have an american talking rugby with us. I hope you will post here regularly.

[Felch]

No problem. It'd be a nice break from trolling in the foreign policy threads.

[LDiCesare]

Welcome Felch X. Don't worry about foreign policies threads. Here you can say France has a better team than England, which will infuriate Havak, or Australia is worse than NZ which will infuriate finbar.
By the way I have started my first serious training this week. We are planning to get our first match at the end of the month. Seeing how hard running around (and sprinting, even! our coach is a former second-rower and he makes even the forwards sprint to get fit) was, I am happy the match is not just right tomorrow.

By the way did any of you read The Bluffer's Guide to Rugby? That one is a very short book but really really good.

[Caligastia]

Half-time in Hamilton. Canterbury 19 - Waikato 31

Very fast paced game so far. Perhaps faster than Canterbury are used to. Marshall made a couple of early errors that contributed to a build in momentum for Waikato. Great work by the Waikato forwards.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Felch X
Yeah, I think I have it at my parents house. They've got satellite.

My captain just informed me that I'm on the active roster. So on game day I will be dragged out of bed and forced to play. He can drag me out of bed because we live in the same suite in our dorm.

We start playing in a couple weeks. I'm looking forward to it.

Watch yourself.

a) Don't run standing up straight; you'll get wrecked
b) Keep all limbs close to your body at all times; they'll get broken otherwise
c) Don't be afraid to give someone who's been lying on the ball a bit too much some "incentive" to free it up so you can ruck over

[Caligastia]

Waikato 59 - Canterbury 41

A very high scoring action packed game. Mitchell may have to take a second look at some of the Waikato players. Bruce Reihana in particular had an outstanding game kicking 10 out of 11. Waikato's forward pack made the difference by keeping the momentum going and generally out-muscling Canterbury. Interesting when you consider that Canterbury's forwards are basically an All Black front row. Waikato are starting to pull ahead in the NPC, and their next game is against Wellington, so we will see if they can continue their success next week.

[Felch]

Originally posted by Frogger
c) Don't be afraid to give someone who's been lying on the ball a bit too much some "incentive" to free it up so you can ruck over

Our coach from last year gave an example of such an incentive at a Men's club tournament a few months back. When a fellow on the other team failed to release the ball, our couch punched him a few times to encourage him.

Normally he's not that aggresive. Normally he's stoned.

[KrazyHorse]

You do have metal cleats, I hope?

[finbar]

Originally posted by LDiCesare
By the way I have started my first serious training this week. We are planning to get our first match at the end of the month. Seeing how hard running around (and sprinting, even! our coach is a former second-rower and he makes even the forwards sprint to get fit) was, I am happy the match is not just right tomorrow.

Don't forget to be nice to the President if you want to play halfback or 5/8.

By the way did any of you read The Bluffer's Guide to Rugby? That one is a very short book but really really good.

I've read qute a few of the Bluffer's Guides and they can be terrific. I haven't seen a Rugby one. I'll look for it.

[finbar]

Okay Finbar – first home game tomorrow. If you were not aware our home ground record is awesome (no league losses in five years). So if we lose tomorrow I most certainly will be worried. I will also give you my verdict on whether the world’s best lock is no longer quite so far ahead of the opposition (perhaps he is now worth only three Harrisons instead of four?)

You beat Harlequins pretty easily. They're only average, aren't they? Or less than? And missing a few players on the day?

And Jonno?

[finbar]

Re: Rugby - Who? Me, Sir? Offside?

Originally posted by Caligastia
It took some doing, but I managed to hold off on creating this thread till the last one reached 490 posts. Happy now Finbar?

Well, marginally better than some of the earlier efforts. But it takes real nerve to hang on till 499 or 500.

[finbar]

I won't go to the Stadium as I'am leaving Toulouse for a Live Role Playing Game in the "Gers" (is this another location you know "Globe-trotter" Finbar ?).

The "Gers"? What is it an abbreviation of? I've been all over France a couple of times. I especially love the Dordogne. There's a wee town by the name of Sarlat ...

[finbar]

Toulouse beat Narbonne 32-24!



You see, Tamerlin? I jump on the bandwagon and it immediately starts rolling! What's more, it will build up speed if we cast Havak adrift.

[LDiCesare]

The "Gers"? What is it an abbreviation of? I've been all over France a couple of times. I especially love the Dordogne. There's a wee town by the name of Sarlat ...

That is not an abbreviation. It is also the proof that sometimes in French you pronounce every single letter in a word.
It is a region, somewhere in southwestern France west of Toulouse and south of Agen. The biggest city (not that big) is Auch (I think), famous for the ruggedness of its rugby team. When you say Sarlat is in Dordogne, Frenchmen would rather say it is in Perigord (there even are shades of Perigord...), it is more precise.

[finbar]

Originally posted by LDiCesare

That is not an abbreviation. It is also the proof that sometimes in French you pronounce every single letter in a word.
It is a region, somewhere in southwestern France west of Toulouse and south of Agen. The biggest city (not that big) is Auch (I think), famous for the ruggedness of its rugby team. When you say Sarlat is in Dordogne, Frenchmen would rather say it is in Perigord (there even are shades of Perigord...), it is more precise.

Thanks for that, LDiCesares. I always struggled with some of the "boundaries". Anyway, it's a magnificent part of the world.

So how do you pronounce Gers?

Edit. I just did some checking back in my travel history. I pottered through Gers one year on my way up to Cahors.