anagallis_arvensis – Member
Too early for predictions?
Wales to be shit, Scotland to look good until they get hammered by someone or other, England to look like getting a grandslam until ireland beat them!

+1

Welsh teams all doing surprisingly well this weekend. Even Cuthbert looked good 😯

https://mobile.twitter.com/RugbyLAD7/status/952557712402997248/video/1

Marler got 4 weeks for gypsy boy didnt he…seems similar

Predictions – no grand slam, England ireland scotland france wales italy.

I’d have been a lot more confident if we hadn’t broken or banned our 3 best compete front rows!

Tigers getting nilled again. They treaty have fallen in a big way. Guessing O’Connar will get the old heave ho soon. Mauger wasn’t given this long but at least there was some identity and playing style emerging.

Tigers sent the 2nds & youth team as it’s a dead rubber.

Will Jones call up Thomas the Tank as all his 8’s are injured? Or are we looking at Simmons & Mercer?

Who is Thomas the Tank?
Sounds welsh, we need an 8!!

What has happened to Ben Morgan?

Who is Thomas the Tank? you $hitting me???

Think Simmons will only get better (though I am biased!) Billy is a big loss.

Would like to think Scotland can show their mettle this year (as I always say…) and I just cant see why Armand isn’t in with a sniff.

Marler been a naughty boy again, but lots of options starting to come through in most positions (although I have been BT Sport-less since going to sky so no watching rugby for me atm)

If we had all our props I would be confident of challenging for the title – but without them I fear big trouble. If every scrum ends in a penalty against the scots which would seem likely then thats like giving our opponents a dozen free points which even for a free scoring team is hard to cope with

Just been watching the Hask video.
Question: if he had raised his arms (especially right?) and wrapped, it would have had the same impact but fully legal yes?
Or what would have made it legal if I have missed the point?

Head contact with force is illegal (sanctions from pen through yellow to red according to force and recklessness).
Not using arms in a tackle or clear out is also illegal. (ditto)
Head contact with shoulder with force and no arms means no pudding for 4 weeks.

Who is Thomas the Tank? you $hitting me???

Toootooooot!
Would be ace to see him in the squad! 😀

Thomas the tank – is that fatty waldrom?

ahh so even if he had tackled properly with arms, becasue it was head height, OK I get it. Defo seems fair for red then, double naughty..

Tackle without arms is foul play leading to a penalty with also a possible yellow if its forceful. Hit the head its yellow card with possible red if there is a lot of force.

Two issues – the tackle without arms and the forceful hit to the head

Who is Thomas the Tank? you $hitting me???

Nope, dont watch much English club rugby.

Question: if he had raised his arms (especially right?) and wrapped, it would have had the same impact but fully legal yes?

Thats a joke right?

Apparently some kid playing 8 for Sale is likely to be Wales squad? Andy Moore’s kid

Thats a joke right?

Ahh no sorry, just a straight question.

While the Tank has dropped in form a bit recently and isn’t always the Chiefs starting 8 he’s still a bit of a power house. Not sure he’d make the cut for country anymore, mainly due to playing styles, but I’d love to see it!

Confirmed today that Wasps have signed Lima Sopoaga – Cips to now leave and head off to France for one last big pay cheque?

This rules Soppaga out of the world cup.

Sam Moore is the number 8 that you’re on about a_a….looks like a good prospect, although in spite of the fact that I’m a Sale fan I’ve not really heard of him!

Gents … slight thread hi-jack… but thought here was he best place for it.

I’m going to my first EVER rugby training session tomorrow night.

Will I die ?

Im fit and fast but old, mid 40s… could run a sub 4 hour marathon tomorrow and come a close 2nd behind the Pro footballer in the dads race on sports day 🙂 … but would struggle to punch my way out of a paper bag. Having said that I used to play American football 20 years ago and I loved the contact (lets not get into that argument 🙂 )

I’ve got lucky in a way … the local club is vsmall and are going to have a 2nd team for the first time next season. They’ll be starting in the lowest “merit” ??league possible… partly so the old boys at the club can still get a game.

So anyone has anyone else started playing late or still having a go mid 40s

Any tips ?

Any tips ?

Dont do it

Training might be fine, but expect to be in pain after your first game!

Good luck.

Josh Adams and James Davies in Wales squad. Centre looks very weak

So anyone has anyone else started playing late or still having a go mid 40s

At the age of 45, 20 years after I retired from inside centre with injury, I played a “friendly” end of season game parents vs youth at my boys club last year for a laugh.

I won’t be doing that again.

Scots squad of 40 out. Managed to find enough props for the quad but scraping the barrel a bit. NO real surprises apart from Nathan Fowles getting a place but as 4th scrum half he is probably only there for the experience. Laidlaws in.

In answer to the post above about imports from a rough count 12- 14 or so of them born outside scotland including a few who moved here as kids / are born of scots ex pats and are scots born outside of scotland. Not that many mercenaries

Plenty of young scots talent coming thru An inexperienced squad still – 18 of them have a dozen caps or less

In answer to the post above about imports from a rough count 12- 14 or so of them born outside scotland

I think the post was more about Glasgow and Edinburgh who considering theres only 2 pro clubs habe a lot of overseas players.

Forwards: Rob Evans (Scarlets), Wyn Jones (Scarlets), Nicky Smith (Ospreys), Scott Baldwin (Ospreys), Elliot Dee (Dragons), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs), Samson Lee (Scarlets), Dillon Lewis (Cardiff Blues), Adam Beard (Ospreys), Bradley Davies (Ospreys), Seb Davies (Cardiff Blues), Cory Hill (Dragons), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys, capt), James Davies (Scarlets), Taulupe Faletau (Bath), Ellis Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Ross Moriarty (Gloucester), Josh Navidi (Cardiff Blues), Aaron Shingler (Scarlets), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys).

Backs: Aled Davies (Scarlets), Gareth Davies (Scarlets), Rhys Webb (Ospreys), Gareth Anscombe (Cardiff Blues), Dan Biggar (Ospreys), Rhys Patchell (Scarlets), Rhys Priestland (Bath), Hadleigh Parkes (Scarlets), Owen Watkin (Ospreys), Owen Williams (Gloucester), Scott Williams (Scarlets), Josh Adams (Worcester Warriors), Hallam Amos (Dragons), Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), Steff Evans (Scarlets), Leigh Halfpenny (Scarlets), George North (Northampton Saints), Liam Williams (Saracens).

Looking at something like

1/2p
Steff Evans or Cuthbert
Parkes
Williams O/ Williams S
Liam
Biggar
Webb
Moriarty
Tipuric
Shingler
AWJ
B Davies
Francis/Lee
Owens
R Evans

Wyn Jones/Smith
The Lion King
Francis/Lee
Cory BIL Hill
Navidi/Jenkins
G Davies ( could start with Webb benching)
2 of Patchel/Priestland/Anscombe

Whatever the backrow is its going to be a very un Gatland backrow.

I think the post was more about Glasgow and Edinburgh who considering theres only 2 pro clubs habe a lot of overseas players.

they don’t have ridiculous amounts and mainly in positions were there is no home grown talent. Lots of scots youngsters coming thru. I really don’t think this is an issue

I just went thru the Edinburgh squad 24 scots born, 18 non scots born. Of those 18 non scots born half a dozen played age grade for scotland or moved here as kids. Hamish Watson for example. BOrn in Manchester to scots parents. Never played rugby for a non scots team. Hamish FFS – how more scots can you be? Even Marfo has a scots mum

I don’t know how this compares to other teams but it really does not seem to me that this is a team stuffed full of mercanaries More than half scots born and a fair amount of those that are not scots born have never played any rugby outside of scotland

Is it that the good players who make a difference are those that are foreign, TJ? The ones that win games and get noticed?

I always think that Ulster are full of foreign players simply because the best players they have are very high profile non-Irishmen. They may really have 22 Ulstermen and Pienaar/Piatau/Donald but because P/P/D is so good they catch my attention.

(I also think you’re arguing with yourself because all teams do it and nobody really cares. 😀 )

It was a comment made after the last Edinburgh game ad I thought it worth looking into. I think part of the issue is a good few of the scots born don’t have scottish names

All the real stars are either scots born or moved here as kids bar one or two like Nel.

Anyone else want to do this for their team to get a comparison?

tjagain – I don’t know much about rugby so dismiss this if you like. But of the 20 odd years of only watching the six nations and the odd wasps game I know this much:
every time Wales get written off they tend to do better than expected, amazing even. I feel like this could apply to the other less well resourced teams, other than Italy.

So just because your Scotland is depleted and has a bunch of new players with not much international experience – I would say all bets are off. England have got a kind of expectant air, therefore much easier to surprise. Ireland have been through a great patch, therefore statistics show that they are likely to trip up. Your Major concerns are Wales who have been written off by other posters above, and as stated must be dangerous, and the French who are in turmoil so likely to produce at least one insane performance.

It is this kind of infallible logic that gets me through life.

So anyone has anyone else started playing late or still having a go mid 40s

I reffed a game last year and then went to watch my old school team. They had no front row cover so weren’t allowed to bring ANY subs on. I agreed to cover as long as I didn’t have to go on. I got changed, and walked out the pavilion in time to see the loosehead pull a hammy…a hammy ffs! I played 60 mins of a standard far lower than the one I used to right up to my mid 30’s. Now I am 48, lift weights and run trial halfs but I thought I was going to have a heart attack and it wasn’t so much a physio as a panel beater I needed for the next 3 days…But I am sure you will be fine… 😆

Love it 5plus8

Its the front row that is the worry. the rest of the young inexperienced players are fine – if yo are good enough you are old enough, Front row we have either players from years ago who were never really up to it or yongsters.

Anyone else want to do this for their team to get a comparison?

Ospreys have 31 Welsh players and 9 others.

Ospreys have 31 Welsh players and 9 others.

If one of those is Brendan Leonard that only counts as 8.5!!!