Rugby - The Game They Play In Heaven II

[Havak]

Agreed. Though I fear a Joe Worseley recall instead tbh.

I did actually like the part about the Quinnell brothers and he is an interesting chap - but retiring to Wasps was a strange choice given he had Tigers at the table. Mind you maybe there are people who prefer the insects. Now there is a terrifying thought!

[LDiCesare]

I really miss Betsen in France team. We have some good flankers but he was consistently awesome. Fairly modest too and looks like a nice person to boot.

[finbar]

If he weren't, he'd have chosen Leicester.

Thoughts on the French squad?

Backs: Morgan Parra, Dimitry Yachvili, F Trinh-Duc, D Skrela, D Traille, Yannick Jauzion, Maxime Mermoz, David Marty, Aurelien Rougerie, Vincent Clerc, Maxime Medard, Alexis Palisson, Clement Poitrenaud, Yoann Huget.

Forwards: Thomas Domingo, Sylvain Marconnet, Guilhem Guirado, William Servat, Luc Ducalcon, Nicolas Mas, Lionel Nallet, Jerome Thion, Pascal Pape, Julien Pierre, Julien Bonnaire, Thierry Dusautoir (captain), Alexandre Lapandry, Fulgence Ouedraogo, Sebastien Chabal, Imanol Harinordoquy.

[Havak]

Which means Dupuy must have been a ****?

It was Dupuy leaving that saw Youngs promoted to the senior squad. A super result for us as it happens.

Apart from a small, unwelcome and slowly growing football element in the crowd Welford Road is still one of the friendliest English grounds to visit. You should both try it some day.

[finbar]

Well, M'sieur Dupuy did reveal an unfortunate side last season, didn't he?

I do intend to get there one day. Ground, crowd and atmosphere look great on TV. The bitter and pork pies will make me ill but that's another matter.

[Havak]

Fortunately they are both optional (unless you happen to be in my company when sampling them is thereby compulsory - it's a grave insult to a Pom not to quaff his ale and scoff his pies).

In truth a wide variety of refreshments are available (I sound like a club marketing assistant?) and the bars in the new stand shift ale at an impressive rate. And if you do risk the bitter and Pork Pies the Leicester Royal Infirmary (and it's A&E department) is literally over the road.

The down side? Well aside from watching Tigers live the City centre itself doesn't hold too much for tourists (you have to get out and about in the county).

Dupuy - I had completely forgotten. He didn't learn that behaviour at Tigers. Honestly.

[finbar]

I'm sure he didn't. A couple of semesters of Falling On The Wrong Side Of The Ruck 101 would have stood him in better stead.

[finbar]

Just as I thought: Delon Armitage is a tosser.

[Havak]

A Pusher actually.

[finbar]

Nice to see Clermont win their first away game in 10,000 attempts, particularly against Sarries. Even more embarrassing for Sarries, it was effectively a Clermont B team. Someone at Sarries needs to teach them (a) how to catch a ball; and (b) not to expend so much energy going through 189 phases sideways across the park. That said, David Strettle worked very hard, showed excellent speed and some sheer class.

[kittenOFchaos]

A rather pointless weekend's rugby given there is little in the mix.

Any group with Italian teams in them really is setup for two teams qualifying...the only interest comes as Dragons are competing to be equally as ****e.

[finbar]

Silly old Toulouse. They had Wasps on toast in the first half and blew it. It might come back to haunt them. The red card was harsh. Lifting a player off their feet is deemed a spear tackle these days. There were sillier examples in the SH last season.

[Havak]

Taking a player off his feet is extremely dangerous of course. But there is a place for common sense in officiating

The home draw with Perpignan proved costly as we expected. Leinster away is a tough call for us these days (back in the 98-02 golden era it would have held no fear for us). What should worry Cockerill more is what happened in the 15 minutes after the Slater sin binning in the second half - they lost all shape, cohesion and any semblance of structure. The best sides would have put them to the sword in that period. It was my old favourite the 'headless chicken' gameplan.

And watching Mr Cole closely I tend to agree with your concern Finbar - he makes a fist so that superficially it looks like he has bound. But he is not actually doing so and the arm quickly drops to the deck if he comes under pressure. This kind of thing is evident on a training ground - so he is either not doing it there or it is being condoned. A bit worrying - it does need coaching out of him because he is a pretty capable tight head (and should improve with age).

[finbar]

There's obviously been an IRB edict about spear tackles since last season. There were some ludicrous calls in the SH last season. Fritz's tackle on Varndell was careless. He lifted - not beyond the horizontal - and dumped him flat. Fritz's response to the Wasps' crowd is another matter, though, being the Wasps crowd, you'd probably applaud his response.

That's been Dan Cole's problem for two seasons. It's why he finishes up with his mitt on the ground so often. I can't imagine that he doesn't do it in training, I can't imagine why it hasn't been addressed. I also can't imagine why more refs don't pick it up. He's got a lot of potential, though I think Corbisiero shows just as much and has a better technique, too.

I haven't seen Leinster at all in this HC but they seem to be playing well. Leicester and Toulouse have both made life difficult for themselves.

[finbar]

Finally, Dowson and Skivington! S. Armitage was too much to hope for.

And the BBC's online cuts mean 606's rugby forum will die. Good thing, too. Cesspit.