Rugby - The Game They Play In Heaven II

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Shame. It will work against his selection as back-up hooker to Servat. Assuming he can throw into a lineout.

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I'm suing Leicester and Perpignan for wasting a couple of hours of my life, a couple of hours I'll never get back again. Two sub-par performances in a shambles of a game. It was inevitable that Perpignan would eventually stop fumbling and knocking on and their more talented backs would eventually get over the line. And so it went. I've also never seen the Leicester scrum so monstered. Neither prop was ever binding properly and the ref was lenient in the extreme with them. Poor G. Murphy. He crossed for a try, but he already owed his teammates two, so he still owes them one.

I should have watched Aironi tip out Biarritz instead.

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Gee, unsurprisingly, Ospreys are very Welsh. Very little clue behind a strong scrum. Phillips wants to play like a second rower and Biggar has the tactical nouse of a gnat. What hope does anyone outside them have? Munster just too seasoned, too professional.

[Havak]

Yes but Tigers should beat them easily at home never the less.

Probably a good thing Venter is heading home - wonder how long the authorities would ignore his utter childishness otherwise? Sarries used to be a great club - they seem to be run by total muppets now.

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Probably. Given that it's likely they won't travel. Wouldn't hurt to do something about the scrum. You might consider pulling the boots out of the cupboard under the stairs.

I read somewhere that Venter's a doctor. Very strange man. Childish best describes it. Anyway, whatever his foibles he still hasn't produced a team that can play consistent, cohesive rugby. Last season's early form was an aberration.

[Havak]

I can improve our scrum enormously (or rather not detrimentally affect it) just by leaving those boots where they are.

I would imagine a lot of training ground time will be spent in that area - Welford Road does not meekly accept our scrums going backwards (we can get a bit vocal about it).

And Venter is symptomatic of the club executive Finbar - desperate to pick fights with ERC and EPR they all come across as very childish. No wonder Watford finally evicted them.

Now Mr Henson has been kicked off the dancing show rugby is back in his life - he thinks Wales are due a grand slam and all it will take is his selection. Good to see 18 months off has given him a bit of perspective?

[kittenOFchaos]

Cole is the problem at scrum time and he is always looking to buy a penalty by collasping as he isn't up to the job - he gets away with it far too often.

That is my reading of it.

Front rows like him are going to get the scrum taken out of rugby union.

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Young Dan is a trier with potential. What he has is a technique problem. He rarely binds securely or legally and has to resort to a mitt on the ground. It's been evident for at least a season and it's time his coaches helped him out.

[Havak]

Dan Cole responsible for the scrum being removed from Union?

Wow - I knew he had minor technique issues to resolve but to have the weight of Union continuing as a viable sport on his young shoulders? Poor lad!

Poor technique being flagged by a Sale fan? Ever watched Sherdian when the opposing tight head gets under him? Woeful technique!

[kittenOFchaos]

Not Dan Cole on his own...but, his failure to keep scrums up, like many so-called top props is making it the worst aspect of the modern game. We need more like Julian White minus his penchant for kicking anyone that is on the ground next to him.

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Methinks many of the scrum problems these days are down to the idiotic IRB and their "crouch, touch, etc" edict. Not only do different refs time their calls differently - and I've even seen individual refs change their timing within the course of a match - it only puts even more emphasis on the collision, the most dynamic aspect of the procedure, hence most likely to fail. That aside, if the "crouch, touch, etc" silliness is to continue, refs should call time off as soon as the scrum goes down and - in the case of resets - call time back on again just prior to the idiotic call.

[Havak]

Yes that makes sense I think. I don't mind the idea of carefully set scrums (i.e. sans the engage) as long as they remain competitive thereafter. But that means straight feeds being enforced?

White was an exceptional scrummager - there are very few like him. Even more exceptional at putting the boot in at times (sadly).

One of the unsung losses for England after 2003 was Woodman - a fine scrummager.

I don't think Cole - or even England - are alone in scrum problems right now. Over to the IRB maybe in the way Finbar suggests?

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Nearly choked on my cappuccino this morning. Cockers is fuming over "cheating". What a waste of cappuccino sprayed all over the computer screen. Ventner last week, Cockers this week, it's the season for coaches to make d*cks - and that isn't ducks - of themselves. You're putting yourself in poor company, Cockers. Stop it.

D. Hartley is a very poor influence at Saints. A quality team is being tainted by cynicism, sniping and cheap shots. Saints -v- Cardiff was actually unpleasant viewing yesterday. Saints barely deserved the win despite massive scrum dominance. Their defence was slipshod - Ashton was badly exposed several times - and only when the likes of Foden started running in the second half did they look dangerous. I think they're going to struggle against better teams with equally strong packs. Xavier Rush's red card shouldn't go any further. His supposed head-high on Lawes only became so when Lawes slipped to one knee just prior to the collision.

It's a long time since I've seen scrum demolitions two days in a row. Yesterday Saints destroyed Cardiff, the day before it was Munster who were severely embarrassed.

[Havak]

Cockers was a hooker - and with all due respect to our french comrade they do tend to engage mouth before brain on occassion.

Tigers should still win our pool - Scarlets are eminently beatable and haven't been the premier welsh outfit for a decade now. Beats me why Ospreys are doing so well - performing better than the sum of their parts that is for sure.

*edit* Having read what he said it is basically true. I think the question becomes one of whether coaches should criticise weak officiating - or indeed officiating directives? The breakdown is a disaster area and in my opinion has been ever since the IRB removed proper rucking from the game. In my day if you stuck your body on the wrong side you knew you would get (and fully deserve) a proper shoe-ing. They do need to do something about players laying all over the ball - it's killing the game far more than the issues with scrums.

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Ospreys' scrum is firing on all cylinders, constantly winning penalties, a massive head start. Last week they didn't capitalise, they were Welsh - attacking ball wasted. This week they were better - Hook actually touched the ball - and attacked with some purpose. But, with such a powerful scrum, and with the talent in the backline, they're underachievers. Very Welsh. The Munster scrum is becoming an embarrassment.