Rugby - The Game They Play In Heaven II

[kittenOFchaos]

I can see no Grand Slam this year.

Wales will Grand Slam in my opinion especially as France persist with Tranny-duke and put Parra over Yachvilli.

TBH I fancy England to take France.

[finbar]

Don't bet your mortgage on it.

[Havak]

How old is Stringer though? I remember watching him in the 2002 HC Final and he was a Munster veteran then. Ah I see he is 34. He could do a good job for Falcons for a season or two. Last time I saw him he looked well off the pace however.

It does seem a while ago that the Azurri beat France - a year is a long time in the game.

[finbar]

He's only with Newcastle till the end of the season. A loan deal, to help them stay up. I've seen him a few times for Sarries this season. Still a bullet pass but his problem was always his predictability. The oppo knew he was rarely going to run with the ball or chip kick. No variation.

Odd selections on both sides for France -v- England. Is Flood not fully fit? Looked all right to me against Glaws. And PSA starts with Dupuy and Beauxis? Very very odd. Rougerie can consider himself lucky, too.

[Havak]

That reason is one I should use very often too.

I had not even registered Stringer was with the Bok franchise, shows how muh attention I pay to them. I've somewhat dismissed them in my mind as blatant cheats I think. I think Exiles contrived to make life very hard for Falcons last weekend with an inexplicable loss to a woeful Wasps side? Booth clearly have compromising photos of someone in the executive or he would surely be gone by now?

The only insight I can offer into Flood is that he did look rather slow and definitely somewhat hesistant to me. Game time at club level will help him get back up to speed. Lancaster has clearly put all his eggs in the Farrell basket and to be fair turnstile has done nothing much wrong so cannot argue with him on the bench. Clearly Lancaster is backing CH to stop dead those marauding french loosies on the gameline when he comes on, what with CH known for his tackling prowess and the french loose forwards being so kind to stand offs on the whole (where is that sarcasm smilie...)

Personally - and sadly the game on sunday will not have shown it - I think George Ford is a better game runner than Farrell by some measure, but he perhaps doesn't have the composed demeanour of the latter yet (still a touch of the headless chicken at times). I wouldn't mind seeing an England 10-12 axis of the two at some point. Always do keep in mind that I know our young prosepcts better than anyone else's of course.

[finbar]

If he's not picking Flood, there's no alternative to Hodgson. His defence is no better or worse than ROG's. A speed bump. Better than avoiding tackling, something of which Quade Cooper has been accused.

From the little I've seen of Ford he has the special something. But still a baby. He has time. Farrell's big assets are his maturity and nerveless goal kicking. Beyond that I think he's pretty pedestrian and always will be. Sort of a poor man's Wilko at this stage. No doubt Ford will feature one day. But while Farrell Snr is around the camp, there's no chance, barring injury, of that Sarries midfield disappearing, and that's what will hold this team back. Oh, and the likes of Stevens on the bench. I just can't see the benefit. In theory he covers both sides, but poorly, and he's a penalty magnet.

[Havak]

When you look back at his time pre-suspension at Bath he was a superb carrier for them in the loose and quite a handy tight head. He didn't leak penalties on anything like the same scale as he now does. Symptomatic of where he now plies his trade I suspect.

I forgot to say by the way that Mafi has a super game on Sunday. He is very popular with the Tigers crowd too (for the way he throws himself into things). They used him a great deal in the line out.

[kittenOFchaos]

Wales will Grand Slam in my opinion especially as France persist with Tranny-duke and put Parra over Yachvilli.

TBH I fancy England to take France.

Now things get tricky as both Tranny-duke and Parra have been replaced.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/17285630

[finbar]

By a gouger and a blimp. Lièvremont lives on. And Brunel, for whatever bizarre reason, has decided to bench Benvenuti, the closest thing to a serious young talent that Italy has. Replaced him with Canale, who might well play for a French Top 14 club, but has rarely produced the goods for us. Mirco B also returns to the wing after his off-season shoulder operation, having played next to no rugby.

[finbar]

Mad Dog's retirement shouldn't go unmarked either. Mad, literally, an IQ obviously smaller than his boot size, but always wholehearted. That about sums him up. Leicester did well to hive him off when they did.

[Havak]

I did see the stats when he left us - he had more gametime with England in the previous two seasons than for Tigers. Great player who you would always have in the trenches with you but never could stop getting injured (largely due to his style). He was in fact a better blindside than open but he was always going to be shoved in a seven shirt because of his *ahem* commitment. Wish him well whatever he does in future.

Very surpised about Benvenuti. And Mirco sounds a big gamble too. Still it is only Wales.

[finbar]

Canale for Benvenuti can only be a defensive option in the face of the boshing Welsh giants. Not that Benvenuti's defence is poor, Canale is just more experienced. Still and all, how negative. It's not going to win them the game. Probably nothing will. But Benvenuti needs experience.

There's a lot of buzz around Jake White and the England job, largely manufactured by Jake himself if you read the reports closely. I still think it's Mallett's job for the taking if he can convince his wife to uproot yet again from South Africa.

And the Chiefs rolled the Crusaders. And I tipped them in my various tipping comps!

Update. Jake White has now ruled himself out. Having talked himself up. Obviously someone at the Brumbies - where he has a lengthy contract - had a word in his lughole about commitment, contracts, and the selfish undermining of his current charges.

[Havak]

So now a journo as well as a writer?

The thing is how can you turn down a job you have not been offered? Jake has just burnt bridges permanently with this liitle bit of theatre. The RFU executive hold grudges - new faces same as the old faces in that regard I do not doubt.

I would like to see Mallett as he is used to working in an appalling infrastructure. I think he would cut through much of the nonsense and I am fairly sure he would not answer to the Teflon one either.


You know what though - they might go for Lancaster (and what an ironic name for a man who played all his rugby in Yorkshire). His "just stop the opposition scoring" approach is just conservative enough to appeal to the old farts at HQ.

[finbar]

It's down to Mallett or Lancaster. If the brief is to be believed, that they want someone with real international experience - and Kirwan was told no thanks because he didn't have said experience - then it has to be Mallett.

[Havak]

If you expect consistency from the RFU. Or for them to hold to anything they say. Absolutely has to be Mallett.

But may be Lancaster.