Rugby - Hands Off Green!

[finbar]

4-0.

[Alexander's Horse]

hey fin, I downloaded civ 2 to my Dad's comp. it might work, I'm here for another week.

greetings of the season to you and Robyn

[finbar]

Auguri to you lot, too. Got visitors at the moment. I'll see what I can do. Like send them out exploring during the day ...

[Caligastia]

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and I wish you all a Happy New Year.

Looks like we are only 40-odd posts from needing a new thread...which colour haven't we used for a thread title yet? Blue?

[LDiCesare]

Blues are never offside, that wouldn't work.

[ravagon]

I see England have elected to give the captains armband to Phil Vickery for next season.
He always struck me as more solid than inspiring. Maybe thats what they need at the moment.
Additionally they've brought back Robinson. No doubt words alone will not be able to express the level of joy our resident Englishman will feel at this.

[Havak]

Have a good one!

I did thank you – and I hope all you chaps did too.

I am now off the beer for a while – until the weekend anyway.

He might pick you. If your wife lets you out.

I’d pick him ahead of Steve Thompson anyday. And could I do worse than the recent incumbent I wonder? Selecting randomly from all English qualified players in the top flight should have produced better results than the turnip managed with his “genius”.

You mightn't actually win it but you probably won't come last either.

As Finbar no doubt knows England’s one day form makes their ashes performance look stellar. They would probably finish bottom.

Some of them even end up in the Premiership.

Funny – even if it is the converse example of the point you were trying to make.

He always struck me as more solid than inspiring. Maybe thats what they need at the moment.

This might surpise you I think you are right on both counts. Front row is a hard place to skipper from anyway – but he is a solid presence and they do need that desperately.

Cozza plays the price for being too nice to be a captain.
It would be easy to criticise Ashton as he has picked the skipper the press demanded and recalled the “Now I want to play again” Robinson also demanded by the media.

However when I look more closely at what he has done there is some forward movement. No place for Dallaglio or Shaw at any level – accurately reflecting their and Wasps poor form for once. Cohen has been dropped to the A side (although so has Kay which seems rash). Young forwards like Deacon, Tom Rees and Ward Smith have been called up as has the young Exiles fly Half Geraghty (good English name from the former Ireland U-16 player there).

I’ll digest the squad in more detail today and highlight any other points I find interesting.

I’m sure you also noticed Tigers took 12 points from a possible 15 over the festive period?? Andy Goode had a nightmare game with the boot at Exiles on boxing day meaning we lost by a single point a game that we dominated and should have won by twenty odd points – that’s rugby for you.

[finbar]

I saw the Boxing Day match.

Enough said.

The BBC headline says New England Era.

... M. Catt ... J. Robinson ... M. Tindall ... J. Wilkinson ...

I thought for a minute I'd stumbled on a 2001 squad selection.

Blues are never offside, that wouldn't work.

That seals it. Rugby - Hands off, Blue!

Oh, and, Cal, it might be a good idea to write it in Esperanto. Given the number of foreigners playing in the French competition.

[Alexander's Horse]

Originally posted by finbar
Auguri to you lot, too. Got visitors at the moment. I'll see what I can do. Like send them out exploring during the day ...

I'll be better placed when I get back to Seoul too - parents and siblings have abducted my sons.

[Havak]

And that is certainly a worry Finbar - the appearance of those youngsters in the Senior squad will make no difference if he falls back on a veteran mob when he narrows it to the 22.

Goodes fall has been rapid - out of all senior England squads and after boxing day once again placed back on the bench behind young Humphreys at Tigers.

*edit* Young Tom Croft, who now makes the 22 for Tigers regularly, does not even make the A side squad whilst Grewcock and Palmer are in the senior squad. I'd replace the latter pair with the boys in the A squad (Kay and Jones) to join up with Louis Deacon who is moved back up from A squad to senior squad.

Picks like this show Ashton is not entirely with his finger on the pulse of selection (anyone who picks Palmer after the zsecond Boks test is a true optimist that Lead to Gold in one step can happen...)

Another name inlcuded in the A squad is Jordan Crane, the 20 year old number 8 Tigers took from relegated Leeds . A name for the future that one.

[Havak]

And 5-0 it will be Finbar.

Outclassed entirely for the entire series. Back to the drawing board.

Best moment of the fifth test - the two Aussie radio pundits trying to explain that when Warne was caught behind on ten but got away with it (Aussies only walk to the team coach I believe?) that it wasn't actually an umpiring mistake at all.

Still Warne truly is irreplaceable - and that gives us some minor comfort. Monty might be the wizard of 2009.

[finbar]

Oh well. Gilchrist missed his by three feet. Presumably they mentioned that too. Once or twice.

I've been surprised by England's *cough* gutless performance. I know they were made to look better than they were in 2005, but this effort is abysmal.

[Alexander's Horse]

its a shame their side was depleted

but pathetic all the same = another summer ruined

[Havak]

Sadly pathetic is the right word for England's perfomance - it is also the right word for everything that comes out of McGraths mouth, Symonds hairstyle and bizarre face paint and practically everything that appears on Channel 7 at any time.

No shortage of pathetic in this world these days.

The depletion of the squad they could do little about - and the asbentees might not have changed too much (though I think we might have avoided 5-0). Losing Vaughan and Jones is like Australia losing Ponting and McGrath.

The nepotism was key I think - from the moment the plane left UK airspace and coach and skipper colluded to overturn the selection panel and pick their out of form and ring rusty 'mates' it was clear to me that they never performed as a team at any point.

Flintoff wasn't fit - but was badly exposed for a lack of nounce and influence and cannot keep the armband. Then against this is English sport - so Fletcher might be given a KBE and Freddy made a bona Fide Knight as long as they keep telling us how we "are moving forward as a squad" and they are "taking the postives from the performances".

(Yes Finbar I lifted those quotes from the gone but not at all lamented A.Robinson)

Andy Caddick - a kiwi who played for England in the 90s - reckons the players are too "molly-coddled" now and actually don't play enough club cricket. I think he might be right. I also hope they have the sense not to accept a tour with only two short warm up fixtures again.

And as for choosing to go home for a week of conjugal visting instead of heading to Aus to aclimatise earlier just don't get me started...

[finbar]

Losing Vaughan and Jones is like Australia losing Ponting and McGrath.

*cough* *splutter* A bit like, in rugby parlance, saying England losing A. Robinson is akin to the Wallabies losing S. Larkham.