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Post by elstoof on Jun 20, 2022 5:56:57 GMT
Ben Foden had the potential to be an absolute class full back if he focussed on the position instead of dreaming of SC
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zephro
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Post by zephro on Jun 28, 2022 9:18:58 GMT
So summer international's are upon us again.
I reckon Ireland will probably win their series in NZ 2-1 or so.
England Australia is hard to call but England will probably win it sadly.
Wales South Africa I can only see South Africa winning.
Scotland Argentina is tricky, I reckon it'll be 2-1 but I'm not sure who to, us hopefully.
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Post by Danno on Jun 28, 2022 11:56:00 GMT
I can't see Ireland turning the ABs over twice on their home patch. I think they will valiantly lose the opener, get battered at Eden Park and squeak one win elsewhere.
Australia are looking pretty dangerous while England look totally incohesive and have new units in more of less every area of the pitch other than the second row, where the barely prem standard player in the shape of Charlie Ewels plays like a 16th man for our opponents.
Lose one, battered in one, valiantly lose the third
Wales in SA agreed. And I'm the same on Argentina, just haven't seen enough of them lately to have any idea who's winning.
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zephro
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Post by zephro on Jun 28, 2022 22:43:45 GMT
Eh. New Zealand are going through a rough spot and got wrecked by Ireland and France in the Autumn. Australia are looking better, but they're likely Scotland and don't have sufficient oomph so England can generally just blunt them through pure brute force, even if England can't actually score a try to save their lives right now. Same way Scotland can't ever get over Ireland, they're just too efficient and crush all the flair out of their opponent.
That said England couldn't summon it at the 6N this year.
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Post by Danno on Jun 28, 2022 23:07:07 GMT
I'm glad someone has faith in our pack right now because I sure as hell don't. We're a very long way from the Orcs in white days of '03 and even further from the 2019 group.
LH
Genge - Great at Leicester. Has his moments for England, but is pretty inconsistent overall.
Marler - Nuff said
Mako - Only just got back into the squad. Still pretty bad in the scrum
Rodd - did well v SA last year, was atrocious vs the baabaas
Hooker
No issues if George and LCD are fit. 3rd choice is a slight worry given we're trying 3 different players there (Walker, Blamire, Singleton) and we really need a 3rd because LCD is a bit breakable
TH
Sinkler - out of form all season and not going to Aus due to injury
Stuart - not bad, not great, needs to leave Bath
Heyes - a wildcard. He's 23 so might be great in a couple of years but this is a baptism of fire
Lock
Itoje - nuff said
Ewels - should be a barman
Isiekwe - not sure. Sarries play him at 6 a lot, he never looks comfortable at lock in white
Hill - started to look good after some rotten performances, but he's only just back from a long injury
Backrow (the more positive place)
Curry - World class but keeps getting put at 8 and has zero nuance in his carrying. He's being told to be Billy. Keep him at 6 or 7
Underhill - he's good, but playing for Bath is starting to show. Tackles all day but not a lot else really
Willis - please don't break again. Phenomenal player.
Lawes - solid. I do miss his scud missile tactics on scrum halves since he switched to 6, but that was highlight reel stuff. Loads of work, 3rd lineout option, good leader
Billy - if he plays like he has for the last 2 months then get in. And if he picks up a knock then we basically have Genge as a heavy carrier the end.
Our pack is about 6.5/10. We need 8/10 minimum because EJ won't pick or unleash the backs necessary to play without the pack monstering it up front
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zephro
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Post by zephro on Jun 29, 2022 10:09:44 GMT
Oh it's not that the England pack is world class, they're not doing the Boks. Just Australia are particularly frail in that way, Wales who have been shite lately managed to drag Australia down to their level and Scotland did their scrum.
England just can barely turn anything in to tries right now, but I feel they can still just turn the Australia games in to miserable trench warfare.
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Ulythium
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Post by Ulythium on Jun 30, 2022 8:11:27 GMT
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Post by Danno on Jun 30, 2022 8:32:21 GMT
Freeman, one of the few bright sparks vs the Baabaas dropped, so that Arundell can have 3 minutes off the bench (as long as Nowell doesn't break in the opening 15), and then put on the first flight to Blighty on Sunday because noone passed the ball to him.
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Post by elstoof on Jun 30, 2022 11:28:27 GMT
are we really so short of decent inside centres that we have to keep putting a bang average 10 there by default
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Ulythium
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Post by Ulythium on Jun 30, 2022 11:53:11 GMT
are we really so short of decent inside centres that we have to keep putting a bang average 10 there by default
A good question, especially as Saint Owen the Undroppable is no longer wearing the captain's armband, so that particular excuse for his ongoing retention has now bitten the dust.
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Post by Ulythium on Jun 30, 2022 15:01:45 GMT
Reposted from the UK Politics Thread, with a tip of the hat to Whizzo:
In other news, the debacle regarding the financial state of Wasps RFC rumbles on apace, with the bond repayments - due today, having been delayed once already - being put back to August, with an update promised in late July.
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zephro
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Post by zephro on Jun 30, 2022 17:53:36 GMT
Ah fuck we're playing Rory Hutchinson at 15 and I don't even know if he's ever played there before. Toonie Tombola on full spin.
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Post by Danno on Jun 30, 2022 18:52:19 GMT
are we really so short of decent inside centres that we have to keep putting a bang average 10 there by default 12 has been a problem for almost 20 years now, and we keep letting the Celts poach them to boot (Williams, Redpath). Dan Kelly at Leicester looks very promising but even if he wasn't injured it would be too soon for him. Dingwall could do a job there to crash it up, but iirc he mostly plays 13. Devoto is perma crocked. Max Ojomoh is another promising player but can't really shine at Bath. And I *think* that's about all the EQP inside centres playing in the prem at the moment? (Tuilagi doesn't count, he can't stay fit for 15 minutes in an England shirt) |
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Post by Danno on Jun 30, 2022 19:02:28 GMT
Reposted from the UK Politics Thread, with a tip of the hat to Whizzo:
In other news, the debacle regarding the financial state of Wasps RFC rumbles on apace, with the bond repayments - due today, having been delayed once already - being put back to August, with an update promised in late July.
Bloody Marys my eye. She had a crackpipe up the chuff I look forward to the desperate attempts to refinance them while dancing around the terms "insolvency" and "ponzi scheme" |
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Post by elstoof on Jun 30, 2022 19:03:54 GMT
Doesn’t Lozowski play 12? What about Slade, is he injured again?
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Post by Danno on Jun 30, 2022 19:09:05 GMT
Doesn’t Lozowski play 12? What about Slade, is he injured again? Good point on Loz, but he must have kicked Eddie's dog. Slade is injured, and doesn't play 12, which is a shame because he could have been exceptional there |
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Post by elstoof on Jun 30, 2022 19:13:26 GMT
I mean Farrell doesn’t play at 12 either tbf. Slade has the ability to operate there for sure.
Also fuck wasps, they’ve been dead since the fucked off to Coventry
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zephro
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Post by zephro on Jun 30, 2022 19:34:33 GMT
Redpath is ours! Get your greedy eyes off him. Also we remain annoyingly stacked with centres. If only there was a 17s format so we could play Huw Jones, Rory Hutchinson, Chris Harris, Mark Bennett, Matt Scott, Sioni Tuipuloto, Sam Johnson, Cam (son of a Scotland player) Redpath all at once.
We've taken to playing Jones and Hutchinson at full back for some reason, just to find them some work I guess.
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Ulythium
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Post by Ulythium on Jun 30, 2022 20:22:08 GMT
I look forward to the desperate attempts to refinance them while dancing around the terms "insolvency" and "ponzi scheme"
 As a Wasps fan, I can either laugh or cry - I'm choosing the former. We should know more by mid-August. Either that, or Stephen Vaughan and Derek Richardson will have sold everything in the CBS Arena that isn't nailed down - probably out of a dirty panel van parked behind Coventry Market - and fled to Aruba. Also fuck wasps, they’ve been dead since the fucked off to Coventry
My loyalty to the club is being severely tested, I'll say that much. I'd almost prefer a massive one-off, Bloodgate-esque scandal to this death-by-a-thousand-cuts approach!
Maybe Wasps will end up going the same way as London Welsh, and I'll be able to pick a new team to support without feeling guilty  |
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Post by elstoof on Jun 30, 2022 20:27:22 GMT
I was a Wasps fan until 2014, I can’t really support anyone else though. Well not in England, I can still claim myself a Racing man at least
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Post by Danno on Jun 30, 2022 20:29:25 GMT
Redpath is ours! Get your greedy eyes off him. Also we remain annoyingly stacked with centres. If only there was a 17s format so we could play Huw Jones, Rory Hutchinson, Chris Harris, Mark Bennett, Matt Scott, Sioni Tuipuloto, Sam Johnson, Cam (son of a Scotland player) Redpath all at once. We've taken to playing Jones and Hutchinson at full back for some reason, just to find them some work I guess. Jones was finding decent form at 15 for Quins at the end of the season. Could do worse in Hogg's absence |
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Ulythium
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Post by Ulythium on Jun 30, 2022 20:31:35 GMT
I should've done what you did, and made a clean break when they moved to Coventry; now I doubt I could support another team while Wasps are still going (which they may not be for much longer). |
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Post by Danno on Jun 30, 2022 20:38:12 GMT
I should've done what you did, and made a clean break when they moved to Coventry; now I doubt I could support another team while Wasps are still going (which they may not be for much longer). They aren't going anywhere, they'll be able to refinance as long as existing bondholders retain their security priority. Absolute worst case scenario, someone sticks it into administration, it lives again without the debt burden (and if the Administrators are any good they clean out the geniuses that mismanaged it into this position) |
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zephro
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Post by zephro on Jun 30, 2022 20:44:32 GMT
Redpath is ours! Get your greedy eyes off him. Also we remain annoyingly stacked with centres. If only there was a 17s format so we could play Huw Jones, Rory Hutchinson, Chris Harris, Mark Bennett, Matt Scott, Sioni Tuipuloto, Sam Johnson, Cam (son of a Scotland player) Redpath all at once. We've taken to playing Jones and Hutchinson at full back for some reason, just to find them some work I guess. Jones was finding decent form at 15 for Quins at the end of the season. Could do worse in Hogg's absence Yeah he's gone and injured himself along with Adam Hastings during the later stages of the Premiership. So this summer isn't Hastings setting himself in as potential contender for the fly-half crown with Russell (or at least giving Russell a kick up the arse) but another experiment with Kinghorn at fly-half and I dunno, who's around that's not Hogg at fullback. |
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Ulythium
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Post by Ulythium on Jun 30, 2022 21:00:30 GMT
They aren't going anywhere, they'll be able to refinance as long as existing bondholders retain their security priority. Absolute worst case scenario, someone sticks it into administration, it lives again without the debt burden (and if the Administrators are any good they clean out the geniuses that mismanaged it into this position)
I'll happily defer to your financial expertise on this score, Danno, as it's all Greek to me!
Whether entering administration would elicit some sort of punishment from Premiership Rugby - points being docked, presumably - I'm not sure, but I'd imagine so.
Ending up in the Championship for this reason wouldn't do the club's standing any favours - unlike Saracens, we don't have the squad to guarantee an immediate return to the top flight.
In any event, I daresay it'll come to nothing. Come September, I'll be back to wondering why the hell Jacob Umaga keeps getting picked each week, instead of pondering the ramifications of deferred bond payments and £13m grant requests!
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zephro
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Post by zephro on Jun 30, 2022 21:10:37 GMT
Isn't relegation suspended for another season? Not that it really matters, Ealing don't have the facilities or money to ever be promoted to the Premiership so the whole thing is a bit of a farce anyhow.
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Ulythium
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Post by Ulythium on Jun 30, 2022 22:18:58 GMT
Isn't relegation suspended for another season? Not that it really matters, Ealing don't have the facilities or money to ever be promoted to the Premiership so the whole thing is a bit of a farce anyhow.
Ah, yes! A very good point.
I assume that promotion and relegation will be resumed thereafter (although, as you rightly point out, Ealing* are in no position to be promoted anyway, rendering the whole concept moot).
"Farce" pretty well covers it. The stipulations put in place by Premiership Rugby - minimum ground size, etc. - seem petty, arbitrary, or both, largely designed to keep the wagons circled in favour of the 13 top-flight sides.
* I assume this applies to Pirates, Doncaster etc. as well, meaning that only last season's relegated Premiership side will ever be promoted.
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Post by Danno on Jun 30, 2022 22:31:56 GMT
Jones was finding decent form at 15 for Quins at the end of the season. Could do worse in Hogg's absence Yeah he's gone and injured himself along with Adam Hastings during the later stages of the Premiership. So this summer isn't Hastings setting himself in as potential contender for the fly-half crown with Russell (or at least giving Russell a kick up the arse) but another experiment with Kinghorn at fly-half and I dunno, who's around that's not Hogg at fullback. Honestly you need to find more FHs anyway. Finn has his moments, but he's as likely to shit the bed as make it and he's what, 29 now? |
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zephro
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Post by zephro on Jun 30, 2022 23:16:11 GMT
Finn rarely shits the bed now, though he does now get carded presumably after living the life in the French leagues. He also doesn't set the heather alight like he used to.
Hastings is great for Gloucester. Kinghorn is fine for Edinburgh, sometimes good, sometimes shits the bed. Ross Thompson... he's like 21 and has only really played for Glasgow under Danny Wilson, got talent it may be going to waste right now. It's a better situation than Finn -> Pete Horne (who was a great 12) -> Duncy Weir.
Fin Smith is Scots qualified...
On the Premiership, almost all the teams operate on stupid losses with some idiot sugar daddy to bail them out, whenever someone does get relegated they tend to walk the championship while also shedding players and finding their cash shredded. Bristol have managed it but only because they found a sugar daddy. I think people just have to realise there isn't actually enough cash / fans to support 2 fully competitive professional union leagues in England. Scotland can manage 2, Wales 4, Ireland 4 etc. All it really means is that Newcastle/Worcester (or in previous weird years Leicester or almost Bath this time) are going to struggle to come up with multi year plans to get their finances in any sensible state.
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Post by Danno on Jun 30, 2022 23:19:20 GMT
I'll read the rest later but fuck off re Finn Smith. Keep little fatty Weir
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