Rugby - The Game They Play In Heaven II

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The question is, does young Miles Benjamin use his arms in a tackle? Hopefully so because it would be nice to see a Leicester winger do so for a change.

[Havak]

Yes because the Argentinian seems to forget to as well doesn't he?

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Cripes, Sarries -v- Newcastle must have been a thrill-a-minute affair chockers with scintillating rugby. Still, a losing bonus point for the Falcons aids their cause.

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Cracking game between the two best teams in the comp by a country mile. Quins had more options most of the day but just lacked the Leicester battlehardness. Plus a couple of shoddy defensive efforts in the second half let them down. Allen was outstanding, MOTM for me, and he has to be given a chance to prove whether he can do it at a higher level. JTH is only a battering ram. Plus his defensive error was poor. Flood picked up MOTM, but Evans showed up his limitations as a quality 10. Evans runs a game, Flood reacts to what's in front of him. Does it well, but that's not running a game.

[Havak]

I sat thinking as I watched that I doubt any other side in the division could have beaten Quins today. Both sides do seem to be in very good nick.

So we face the old enemy Baaarf at home in the last round with a chance of topping the table. Hard to believe given how the season started.

And some really tasty winner-takes-all fixtures in the last round too - Wasps v Falcons (good luck Falcons) and Sarries v Exeter (can both sides lose?)

One expects Saints to wallop Warriors at home so it's a big ask for Exeter. Sarries are dour and boring and negative but they can aqueeze the life out of you.

It is worth noting administration would send Wasps down regardless. To which I make no comment.

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Last I heard, the teams in contention for promotion lacked the requisite ground facilities for promotion. I must have another look.

The surprise for me yesterday was the improvement in the Quins' front row. The hooker's barely out of nappies and Marler was more than holding his own. He's 21, great in the loose, if he can keep improving his scrummaging he's a nice prospect.

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Oh, and congrats to Sale for just about sealing a HC spot. Barring Bath beating Leicester next week, I think. As for Glaws - where to from here?

[kittenOFchaos]

I did really well predicting results this weekend.

Got a small amount from getting all the Super 15 correct. My larger accumulator of 13 results didn't come off as Toulon drew with Castres - everything else was right and my wallet was about to get 1300 pounds heavier. God, if I had predicted that draw, it'd have been worth £10,000s.

I've one accumulator still live - 9 correct results so far, just 3 more to come in. Fingers crossed!

I'm needing Northampton to beat Exeter, Glasgow to beat Treviso and Edinburgh to beat the Cardiff Blues. Given Edinburgh and Glasgow are playing away, it is a tough ask, but the odds looked good. We'll see. Edit: At half-time now and it isn't looking good. I've taken a look at Edinburgh's teamsheet - and they've sent their second team down to Cardiff - damn.

In other news - a 5 week ban following this so-called 'tip-tackle': http://www.rugbydump.com/2012/03/243...kle-on-coetzee
My own view is that it was an excellent tackle. The disciplinary panels are bringing the game into disrepute.

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He got the five weeks because of a previous conviction. The yellow card in this instance was for lifting him beyond the horizontal and driving him. Yesterday, Wayne Barnes handled a lifting tackle very well. The lifting player placed the lifted player back down as the law requires. Not even a penalty.

[kittenOFchaos]

I have no problem with the yellow - in real time it is hard for referees/touch judges to tell exactly what happened. What gets me is that the video showed that the head wasn't driven into the ground and the no.6 play-acted.

[kittenOFchaos]

Well, Edinburgh have surrendered nearly with 20 minutes still to go. Damn. I needed to know the team list for this one. Edinburgh are clearly marshalling their resources for the Heineken Cup.

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I have no problem with the yellow - in real time it is hard for referees/touch judges to tell exactly what happened. What gets me is that the video showed that the head wasn't driven into the ground and the no.6 play-acted.

Yes he did, but it didn't affect the card. It was always a yellow. Digby lifted him beyond the horizontal, should have put him down again instead of driving him backwards.

[Havak]

Which is what the law requires - so the yellow cannot be argued against.

I noted a few things about Quins on watching the game a second time. Their players constantly mob the referee trying to influence decisions. This brings the game into disrepute for me - get your players in line Robshaw!

They have caught the Saracens/Sale/Wasps disease of using stadium announcements as a weapon - a concerto for each home score, silence for opposition scores and, shall we say, very strategically timed announcments (including during Toby's run ups on more than one occassion). And shame on the crowd - repeatedly booing both referee and the away team. It is a decade since I last went to a match at the Stoop but they were never so rude back then. Football behaviour is infesting my beloved game and I do not like it!

(I have drunk at the Stoop more recently than a decade ago given it's proximity to Tigers second home but of course there weren't many Quins folks around as they were never our opponents).

Championship promotion is hard to follow now they too have a stupid play off system. Bristol topped the regular table by seven clears points but now eight teams are involved in a pool system (!). It looks like coming down to Bristol v Bedford but I have to confess ignorance as to the current facilities of either. However even if they only have a cow shed and someone's back garden they should be allowed up if Wasps finish bottom of the pile.

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Just about every team is guilty of swamping the ref these days. It's crept in over the last year or so. Not sure how you stop it, though.

I know that Bedford's facilities don't make the grade. Presumably Bristol's still do, having been good enough for the Premiership a couple of years ago.

[Havak]

You stop it with penalities followed by ten metres followed by yellow cards, two of which make a red. That gives players plenty of chances to alter their behaviour. It will not happen of course - because it ruins the game as a spectacle.

I've noticed all team chomp more at the referee, Tigers players were doing so after he awarded penalties againats them, but some sides actively mob the official. Tigers are less guilty of that at the moment than some sides. Quins were diabolical for it last saturday.

The facilities stipulation does seem rather harsh. Driven by TV I suspect - some of the televised Championship games have truly looked like they were in a farmer's field.

So fingers crossed Wasps do blow it and go down wonder if we can grab Wade? It is a sign of the trouble they are in that I don't think we would want anyone else from their squad right now. Although personnally I would take Varndell back. I'm a sucker for spectacle (scoring tries as freely as he concedes them). That won't happen of course as he alledgedly fell out with Cockerill massively.