Well marler was in the England squad at 20. Scott Wilson is playing for the falcons at 18 (although they are championship team albeit with plenty of money and international players)
Anyway, it's always nice to see the youngs guys get a crack of the whip. I look forward to seeing him in a Wales shirt.
Marler is a loosehead isnt he? Cole is a young tighthead and didnt really start for tiggers until he was 21.
REALLY start?
FFS. You could start an argument in an empty room.
Sod this.
Easy chaps 😀
Nice win for the Ospreys today 😀
Who the hell rattled your chain. Samson is incredibly young to be a starting tighthead in pro games at euro level. Its odd that you accuse me of being argumentative in the face of this simple fact. Maybe you just need a hug?
blues managing to up the level of incompetance in defence from previous highs so far.
point a min for Leinster so far. BOD broken though.
Great result for the Kingsholm massive 😆 my mate is like a dog with two dicks.
He's very good "for his age" and definitely one for the future.
Not sure how this will translate, if it will be enough, if he ends up scrumming down against some argies or all blacks this season. But whatever happens, hope he does well, and the other new caps in the squads.
Think Richardt Strauss could be another interesting one, and might make a late challenge for next summer, good player in a problem position.
My other outsider for a spot is Armitage at 7: playing well and would make a good balanced back row with Heaslip (best form for a few years now) and Ferris. 😉
Oh, and Kyle Eastmond to be next summer's John Bentley
Armitage and Armitage are not in the england sqauds. Delon is more Lions material imo. Plenty of better 7's in Scotland and Wales although Warburton is playing shit at the moment.
Here come Gloucester! Great night at kingsholm.
[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/20121620 ]Perpignan release Girafferis for the AIs. [/url]
Sale meltdown continues - [url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/20131910 ]Redpath 'sacked'[/url] (though Swanny has been on Twitter saying he's not been sacked; apparently on gardening leave, presumably pending Mitchell being appointed). This is getting embarrassing, especially after we poached him from Gloucester last season, the move to Salford (which most of the support were against, given that you can't actually get there) etc etc.
Aaaaaah!
Andy
Sale meltdown continues - [url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/20131910 ]Redpath 'sacked'[/url] (though Swanny has been on Twitter saying he's not been sacked; apparently on gardening leave, presumably pending Mitchell being appointed). This is getting embarrassing, especially after we poached him from Gloucester last season, the move to Salford (which most of the support were against, given that you can't actually get there) etc etc.
Aaaaaah!
Andy
Interesting Andy, most Sale fans that I have spoken to (all of whom live a good 15-20 miles away mind) were pretty chuffed with the move. Dire season though-even so early in the season, avoiding relegation is looking unlikely....pinning my hopes on the Cornish Pirates winning the championship and Newcastle/Bristol/Leeds failin to feature 🙂
most Sale fans that I have spoken to (all of whom live a good 15-20 miles away mind) were pretty chuffed with the move
Actual ground seems to be OK; transport woeful (no public transport and >90min to get out of what car parks there are), unlike EP where Stockport station and its huge car park were 10min walk away. There was a definite feeling that the move was to benefit corporate sponsors and not normal fans though.
Season is awful. Best we can hope for is building towards the end with a view to next year's promotion battle. Still, playing Bristol/Rotherham/Leeds/Newcastle will give a nice warm nostalgic glow...
Andy
Bad news for London Welsh this.
Not a surprise at all on Redpath. Possibility of Richard Cockerell to follow....?
Who's the far better 7's in Scotland then AA? I've not seen Delon play for a while, but he's supposed to be the best 7 in the super 14 so can't be all bad. There's really a lot of better Scottish 7's (in the 2 teams!)?
AA that was my immediate thought 😐
I wasn't sure about public transport links to the new stadium-i've not been (draft question, is it round the corner from the Trafford center?) I'm a rather casual fan tbh, and keep dropping out of going along. CBA with 90 MNS to get off the car park though. Rotherham games are before my time!
What is diamond up to? Feel sorry for brush, but only a bit.
Rennie and Barclay. If fatty armitage was that good surely he'd have a few more england caps? Seeing as england have no real seven.
transapp - Member
Not a surprise at all on Redpath. Possibility of Richard Cockerell to follow....?
Why would Leicester get rid?
AA - OK, I'll keep my eye on those two. As for Fatty, yes I agree. It's quite odd when you hear pundits going on and on about a player, then England don't select.
Frankers - just a hunch. leicester are no longer the team that everyone fears, leading the way in the AP. They seem to be struggling to adapt to the more expansive play of hairyquims / northants / glouc, and can't stuff it up the jumper and grind out a win like Saffacens. I'm not sure how long the board will put up with it, look at Loffreda (sp) Deano etc... To be honest, I'd like to see them back to winning way so I can wear my shirt with pride in the pubs around Bath!
S Armitage was voted player of the year in France last year, and hes several MoM this year and a few tries. Not sure Rennie or Barclay woud be in a similar position if at Toulon? Eng would not play to his strengths though so not much point in picking him, plus he can't be picked as he plays outside Eng (which is not a good thing IMO)
Steffan armitage had a few games for england and was rubbish. Some players are like that excellent at club level then look out of their depth in internationals. Nicky Robinson is a prime example
But I will say when he played for London Irish, he wasn't the player that he seems to be now. Flattered by team mates? Who knows.
Lions shirt released and praise the Lords of rugby styling, it's got a proper collar!
[img] 
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Looks like a proper rugby shirt, not a run & wriggle polyester special.
Have not seen S Armitage play recently but don't forget that both Will Greenwood and Neil Back were not in the England setup when they were selected in '97 and they did ok in international rugby.
Nah, blondy and short stuff were never international standard
oh wait.....
They were also selected in 2005 if i recall and were bloody awful.
Anyway, looking forward to seeing sinbad in that Lions shirt, because he def won't be injured. 😀
Neil Back was too small, just like Shane.... Hopefully england will think the same about Wade.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/mobile/rugby-union/20143771
Bod out for 8-12 weeks, thought he looked broken. Best bad too.
is it round the corner from the Trafford center?
About 2 1/2 miles from the Traff, but on the other side of the M60.
Wade looks pretty handy....a question for those more in the know than me. Why hasn't Tom Varndell played more for england?
Because he won't tackle. He was for some time the fastest winger (id say in world rugby, really that fast) with an astonishing strike rate but he wouldn't tackle. For an idea of his speed, check out the try on you tube where he almost beats a ball into the oppositions dead ball zone, kicked from under his own posts. Astonishing try.
Yep, I'd have had him as one of the fastest players in the world-he's playing very well for Wasps this season from what I've seen, and I've just read an interview that says that he's been working on his defensive play. I'd love to see him get another crack at international level.
Never stopped Shane! England seem to prefer the likes of Cueto.
Anyway who do people want to see picked for their teams in a couple of weeks
1/2p
Cuthbert
Roberts
Beck
North
er... Hook
Phillips
Faletau
Tipuric
R Jones
AW Jones
Evans
Jarvis 😳
Hibbard
Gethin
assuming J Davis is injured if not I'd drop Roberts.
Howler will pick Priestland, Warburton and Roberts regardless of form though.
Roberts is so one dimensional, everyone knows what he is going to do.
Just been offered a ticket for taffs v nz. Problem is glaws are battering the spice boys sale that weekend.
No problem with Roberts being one dimensional as long as he's playing well. He was super awesome plus in the world cup v ireland. At the moment he's pants though.
but Shane would tackle. I watched him take down bannahan - an 18st winger without apparent difficulty! Varndell is quicker than Shane ever was, but he's not got the same skills. Agree I'd like to see him have another go, but I doubt he will
Apparently Lancaster has been on the phone and told him that he is in his plans for the future. I'd prefer him to David Strettle/Charlie Sharples and he's a better finisher than Ashton IMO, although Ashton despite being a nobber is pretty handy in defence.
