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I have to say that Wales continue to go materially backwards in their management of the game
They might be playing shit but they are much better than last week!!
England are clear now. Can Scotland finish it off ?
Yes. No, bench irrelevant if 15 can't beat 14 ?
Gray was always going on the tour, no ?
I still wonder what happens when England have a full choice of backs re Ford and Farrell at 10. My preference is well known we just play miles better with Ford at 10
They might be playing shit but they are much better than last week!!
I chose not to watch last week expecting the worst. I'd hoped this would be better.
Looks like not.
Crap game but they have dragged themselves over the line despite being punch drunk from last week!
Dreadful match by both teams.
Right, my national allegiances can switch to England for the 4 Nations match vs Aus tomorrow. Sincerely hope that's a better match.
Capt. Flashheart - you're not "Capt F" on the BBC rugby comments are you?
I still wonder what happens when England have a full choice of backs re Ford and Farrell at 10. My preference is well known we just play miles better with Ford at 10
Depends on who the centres are I suppose. Farrell is the first name on the teamsheet at present, well in the backs anyway.
What is it with Scotland playing for 70 minutes then going to shit?? Obviously the lack of depth/bench is an issue but really.. again? I was ready to start crowing about a great win too
I'll take that win against the Boks although I'm disappointed that we didn't score 40 plus against them. Youngs had a good game although I doubt anyone will buy two dummies that easily again! Yarde was poor butvthats no surprise because he's been poo for Quins. Hopefully Roko will get a shot next week bring the form winger and all.
Not watched the Scottish or Welsh games yet.
I wouldnt bother with the Wales game, Scotland game was good though.
Igm, no, not I.
Yarde was poor
Eddie Jones seems to see something there that no-one else does.
It seems as though his fingers have been surgically replaced with ten small dildos. Whilst this may be pleasing for his significant other it unfortunately bestows upon him Julian Savea-esque handling skills.
Right then, switch of codes (and allegiances for me): time for England to put on a showing against Australia.
Very tight so far. Australia making yards every time they have possession. Can England maintain this level of defence (which has been superb - Aussie try notwithstanding).
Hicks needs to get his whistle out for both sides for interference at the ruck....
60 minutes and game over. England forwards have played well but Australia stretching too much now.
Well deserved result for Australia. Won and lost at hooker and in the half backs. Bennett is probably the man for the job, but I'm not certain about some of his starting choices.
A lot to do before the World Cup next year.
Really? When did England last beat Australia? I can't actually remember. It was the usual huffing and puffing by a limited England side prior to being dispatched by a clinical and vastly superior Australia.
We should go back to playing as a GB side. At least the Jocks got a draw against NZ.
Bennett just took the job coz he was snubbed by Australia - he has no idea what his best side is, as evidenced by his selections over the 3 games.
Interesting if sad interview with Hughes in the Times in which he talks of knocking back his homeland for money. £22k for Sat! Which contrasts with the Fijians on £60 a day expenses. What would a world Pacific Island teams look like? Bearing in mind the way in which NZ schools hover up junior talent, it isn't ever changing.
Its shite isnt it. Saw this on another bored. Says its from the Daily Flail. Havent been to check.
Fiji's players are set to earn just £400 each for Saturday's sold-out Test against England after the RFU turned down their request for £150,000 of the bumper revenue.The Twickenham showpiece is expected to generate up to £10million, but England chiefs have only agreed to give £75,000 as a gesture of goodwill to the cash-strapped Pacific Islanders.
Eddie Jones' stars will earn £22,000 each and Sportsmail understands the Fiji camp are deeply disappointed with the settlement offered to them by the world's richest union.
Host nations are not obliged to share any revenue with their opponents, but Fiji feel they deserve more of a cut because England have not played in Suva since 1991.
A source told Sportsmail: 'It's fine for the big nations like South Africa because they get their pay day when England go back to play in Durban and Johannesburg.
'These guys rarely come to play in Fiji so there's very little revenue there. It's not reciprocated. The Fiji players are only getting pocket money. They're disappointed.
'A £150,000 allowance would have gone a long way because Fiji Rugby are working on a shoestring. They have a limited amount of kit because of things like excess-baggage costs.'
Due to funding shortages, the squad are believed to have used a free training pitch while in camp in Toulouse, where they stayed in Ibis hotel rooms costing less than £50 a night. RFU CEO Ian Ritchie signed off the deal with his Fijian counterpart, having recently earned a £100,000 bonus after helping generate a £407.1m turnover in 2015-16.
World Rugby pay for Fiji's economy airfare, while the tier-one host union are obliged to pay for the cost of hotels, food and coach travel during their time in England.
Furthermore, the Fijian union are fighting to keep hold of emerging players because of the talent drain sparked by the three-year residency rule.
Nathan Hughes is the latest Fijian to qualify through residency, with the Lautoka-born No 8 due to make his full England debut on Saturday against his country of birth.
The RFU recently announced record profits of £102.3m. The RFU declined to comment on Monday.
****ers
The Fijians should just decline the fixture @aa without a proper deal. It is a disgrace.
Decline to play and then England will certainly never visit..at least Wales do and have the good manners to lose too!! 😉
Aye, we have done them that favour as well! Something stinky about that; 150k out of 10 million? Is it the case that tier one are scared of the potential of the Islanders if it was a (more) even playing field? I am a loss to think about who else England would play; if there was no game there would be no ten million.
This is the sickening part -"RFU CEO Ian Ritchie signed off the deal with his Fijian counterpart, having recently earned a £100,000 bonus"
Agree with A_A's four stars.
There's a huge disparity between the wages but aren't the Pacific Island unions hugely corrupt as well?
At least Hughes is honest about it and it's all within the rules. Does stink a bit though. The guys like Manu who have been over here for ages I understand and don't have an issue with.
Glad to see Yarde dropped this week, although this squad is very 'import' heavy (Hughes, Roko, Harrison, Vunipolas, Hartley).
The Fijians should just decline the fixture @aa without a proper deal. It is a disgrace.
The RFU's £75,000 is precisely £75,000 more than any other team has paid Fiji for a fixture. If they were going to refuse all away fixtures which don't pay them, they'd not be playing much rugby considering the amount of teams who visit Fiji for a game.
The RFU's £75,000 is precisely £75,000 more than any other team has paid Fiji for a fixture. If they were going to refuse all away fixtures which don't pay them, they'd not be playing much rugby considering the amount of teams who visit Fiji for a game.
Oh well thats fine then.
this squad is very 'import' heavy (Hughes, Roko, Harrison, Vunipolas, Hartley).
The Vunipolas are welsh...more plundering of the little countries!!
Oh well thats fine then.
I didn't say that it was fine. I said that the RFU are giving them more than anyone else has. If fingers need to be pointed, it should be at others who have not been so generous.
Wrecker I hear you but £75k is a disgrace. The RFU p.ss £500k up the wall on Rob Andrew.
It's the fact they negotiated it down Wrecker, from a whole 1% of the gross income from the fixture. Ben Ryan has a good idea about something that would help; he has suggested a Super Rugby franchise based in Fiji.
At least there was a negotiation! They need to fix a tariff, say visiting team gets 20% of profits. It would stop ridiculous demands a la all blacks too.
The Vunipolas are welsh...more plundering of the little countries!!
Wasn't Billy pretty much educated in England - Thornbury and Harrow? He did play junior rugby for English schools.
By we did give you North and Warburton 😆
North, Warburton and the Vunipolas all spent the majority of their childhood in Wales!! Mako speaks with a welsh accent his younger brother is more Sith though.
That's actually a cracking idea for a % for the visiting team.
Billy went to English schools though... 😆 (well for at least part of his time).
Did either play any rugby at a descent level for Wales or Welsh schools? Not being a dick, just interested because in the case of Billy it seems that he was first recognised playing by for Thornbury and Harrow before heading to Wasps academy.
They've had a pretty nomadic life; Mako born in NZ, Billy born in Aus, living in Wales and then England.
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Giles in line to make debut for Wales from bench this w/e
Love that pic...it's like a six former sitting with the year 5 kids.
1/2p cardy 🙂
Agreed Wrecker there should be an agreed formula applicable to all irb internationals to splt a portion of revenue for the away side
Regarding the Fiji purse, bloke in work is adamant that Fiji get have the ticket sales. From reading this I guess he is wrong.
Few changes made by Jones - Brown out and replaced with Goode. Will Goode hang onto to the FB position next week? Pleased that Roko has been given another shot as he's arguably one of the form, if not the form winger in the AP at the mo.
Daly on the wing, pleased to see Slade back in even though his form isn't quite what it was before getting injured.
Ooh I have a headache....
Still a LBP against the tarquins at the shithole isn't to be sniffed at really. How many ibuprofens can I take without dying?
Go straight to codeine!!
Watched a bit of the game but it wasnt one for a neutral. How did Faletau go, he'll start v SA either way I expect. Faletau,Warburton and Moriarty backrow actually looks good.
Not toby did OK, solid in defence but more importantly lasted 55 minutes and didn't limp off. Oh, and I like tips for 7.
I think I may have some codiene.....
Not Toby did what he always does play pretty well. He is one of the most consistent performers and a very solid player indeed. I am pleased I saw him play live alas he will go down as one of the finest backrow players of his generation. The other Welsh players are decent but not as consistent as Faletau.
Bristol seem to be close but make an error at the wrong moment that seems to cost them. Number of visits to the 22 resulted in no points which fit the possession they had is disappointing for them I imagine.
Oh, and I like tips for 7.
Tipuric isnt physical enough for a backrow playing off a weak front 5 like the welsh have. He'd be double plus shitballs amazing for England though.
Number of visits to the 22 resulted in no points which fit the possession they had is disappointing for them I imagine.
I sent a text to a friend last night which read "one line break is all I ask. Just one"
Small solace, but I was pleased to see a few britolians playing last night. Ryan Edwards (the wing) is such a good player, completely at ease at this level.
He'd be double plus shitballs amazing for England though.
I agree.
Lovely start by Japan.
Useless clueless shite from Wales!
I'm trying to focus on the positive.
Anscombe redefining shit. Bring on Davies.
Honestly gutted for Japan.
Can we sack our coaches now please?
Hogg is a complete **** isn't he? Makes Ashton look like a sound bloke.
anagallis_arvensis - Member
Honestly gutted for Japan.
Can we sack our coaches now please?
We were saying it would have done Wales good to have lost that so they have a real look at what's going wrong. Do feel a change of coaches would be beneficial.
Tight that was. Good kick Greg
Bit nervy that one!
On the other hand the Scots need to get used to winning tight matches. It might do them good.
I'll take that, now to get totally pished. It's colder than a witch's tit here.
Some interesting scores this weekend. Great result for Italy against SA! I'm in San Diego so missed the games live sadly.
My South African friends are stunned! For the second week running . . . .
Forza Azzuri!
Just caught up with scores after an overnight flight. Wales are just pants at the moment. Shouldn't be scraping past teams like Japan, really. Not that Japan are bad, but that Wales really should be so much better.
Hogg is a complete **** isn't he? Makes Ashton look like a sound bloke.
POSTED 12 HOURS AGO #
Laidlaw not much better constantly trying to claim penalties from players apparently holding onto the ball on the floor. Told to get on with it a couple of times by the ref. Git.
What did Hogg do? Loopy Liam, Angry Man Brown and Hogg? Are fullbacks the new 9's?
Was at Twckenham and enjoyed the game. England's passing game looked very slick at times, especially when you compare into the crap they served up at the WC just over a year ago. The press are bemoaning the defence, but Fiji were always going to get on the board at some point and it must be hard to keep up the energy and commitment when you're that far ahead so quickly. The press seem to have forgotten very quickly that yesterday was the most points put on Fiji this year (it was mentioned an awful lot in the build up that they're no mugs etc).
Feel for Japan, would have been great result for them to draw. The Welsh tactics appear to be very muddled combined with some players not being on top form.
Scotland really needed that win. Laidlaw needs to stop whinging though. He's a very good player but it gets tiresome.
All Blacks were very much 'on the edge' of the laws yesterday, if not over them. They seemed up the physicality a lot and put in a few cheap shots etc.
Great result for Italy. Where now for the Boks? Not a good tour for them at all.
Australia pipped France despite their scrum getting monstered. Cheika not happy with the angles of the French props at all by the sounds of it.
Howley and Mcbride have got to go,
No mention of the georgians beating Samoa?
Gotta be the upset of the weekend, and adds to the argument that they deserve inclusion into a major comp?
It wasn't that long ago that Italy and Argentina got thumped every time they took the field. It was only the exposure to the top level which bought them on.
Come one World rugby, if you want the sport to grow, you have to let it!
The Welsh tactics appear to be very muddled combined with some players not being on top form.
I take issue with this. The tactics are not muddled they are clear same as they have been for years they are also clear to the opposition and are outdated and ineffective.
As for some players not being on top form almost all of them are underperforming to a massive degree and are not even getting to average form.
They have a woman commenting on the England Fiji game.....make it stop! 😥
They have a woman commenting on the England Fiji game.....make it stop!
Agreed - shouty monotone and inane.
I would love Scotland to step out of playing tier1 teams for a while and get early season games against the likes of Japan and Georgia.
Japan show that they are a handful and I think the tier1 nations struggle with them because they are so used to playing in set tier1 patterns that they can't break out of it when the opposition don't do the expected.
I see Launchbury was cited for a kick - anyone seen it? He's not considered a dirty player? Not impressed with the approach of the ABs this weekend.
Laidlaw just talks at the ref like every other 9.
Hogg, is he looking a bit heavy? Think he's lost the edge? There were a few off the balls from him but there's loads of pros that do that. Another sign his powers are not what they were.
You may not like him, but there's nothing in that clip. Look at his legs, he trips over, plus there's no contact I can see between his elbow and the player on the ground.
I think there is plenty of intent, just doesn't make contact
dantsw13 - MemberYou may not like him, but there's nothing in that clip. Look at his legs, he trips over, plus there's no contact I can see between his elbow and the player on the ground.
Posted 1 hour ago # Report-Post
I saw it on the highlights, he does make contact and burst the old Irish guys mouth. They played the replay quite a few times during the game and it looks bad. That is a crap angle A-A has posted.
It still looks like he tripped over though, rather than intentionally dropping on his elbow.
Guess who?
I was watching the game and Donncha O'callaghan got in a scuffle after the event and his mouth was bleeding. It was only when you saw the replays that you realised he'd been elbowed in the face as he lay on the ground. Then I realised who the miscreant was and it didn't seem so surprising.....
It still looks like he tripped over though, rather than intentionally dropping on his elbow.
When I trip over I put my hand out not my elbow.