summer rugby

Aaaaaannnnyway….interesting to see the Croft Warburton Heaslips trio in the back row. Very exciting going forwards, Croft and Warbs are good lineout options…will there be enough in defence from them though?

I agree with Duckman i think AWJ and O’Connell are pretty similar and would have Grey in place of AWJ. Always like watching Croft play think he offers something a bit different to the other back rowers on tour. Zebo I imagine is in for a game since he is out there and North is out as a precaution. I rate Zebo above Cuthbert certainly defensively but think Maitland may start the Test with North. Hogg to get a run at 10 in the following match for a chance to secure a test bench place instead of Farrell and allow more options off the bench.

Re arguments: I blame the smiley, winky face icons. I hate them but they appear necessary to convey “light hearted” etc. take Flashy’s post a few above for example completely different without the pesky little thing at the end.

If you enjoy rugby contribute your thoughts/opinions and as Flashy said respond to what you want, it would be pretty dull if everyone agreed.
😀

I agree with Duckman i think AWJ and O’Connell are pretty similar and would have Grey in place of AWJ. Always like watching Croft play think he offers something a bit different to the other back rowers on tour. Zebo I imagine is in for a game since he is out there and North is out as a precaution. I rate Zebo above Cuthbert certainly defensively but think Maitland may start the Test with North. Hogg to get a run at 10 in the following match for a chance to secure a test bench place instead of Farrell and allow more options off the bench.

would agree with all that, but Farrell must be on the bench as 10 cover. But in the pack, if Heaslip and Croft are in the backrow, both of whom like to attack wide areas having Grey do the same might unbalance the pack, AWJ and POC, with Vunipola and Youngs/Hibbard to bang it up close.

Struggle to see who would be the dog in that back row as well,I have always felt Warburton is not as good a fetcher as the Aussies have. Even allowing for how quick he is. Our back row may be a wee bit too tall. It was suggested in the Times that the fact Gray was taken off early last Sat was becuase he was being placed in cotton wool.

Few pundits have also suggested the lineouts are poor as they are keeping the Test calls under warps until the event. Two sets would certainly explain some of the foul ups.

If Croft and Heaslip play Tips cant as he again likes to play wider. If Croft plays I think Faletau might be more suitable as he is a workaholic, played poorly last time though. Shame Lydiate is still not at his best as him, Heaslip and either Warbs and Tips would look balanced.

Hmm interesting, maybe awj and poc would work if croft warbs heaslip are the back 3. Youngs for all his scrumming frailties is a tackling machine so could be a good player in that pack….having Adam next to him should help him in the scrums I’d imagine.

Farrell has to be on the bench if Sexton is the 10…. Hogg as cover at 10 is asking for trouble, Farrell would do a good job coming on at 12 too.

Hope it’s not too early a run-out for Zebo.

Think he’s fit again, and played against the US.
I like this decision by Gatland. It gives him a fair crack at putting his case for inclusion.
Tuesday would be too late – if he went all out then and did something to really earn a test start then he might be too knackered to make it worthwhile 4 days later. Like this, it means he can give it his best and still have the week to recover, like most of the other starters, if it proves good enough. Think it makes more difference when it’s your only real shot at it. Fair play to Gatland, he did say everyone would get a chance.
For the same reason, would have liked 36 to get a run but guess the jet-lag’s still too close.

No apologies needed Idlejohn, the pages move on and the discussion get’s lost. I like your comments, even if I don’t always agree usually argue a bit too much.

Idle John I always though it was me who offended you somehow. 😆

Big challenge for a young Scotland team 😯

South Africa : W Le Roux; B Habana, JJ Engelbrecht, J De Villiers (capt), B Basson; M Steyn, R Pienaar; T Mtawarira, A Strauss, J Du Plessis, E Estebeth, J Kruger, M Coetzee, A Botha, P Spies. Replacements : B Du Plessis, T Nyakane, C Oosthuizen, F van der Merwe, S Kolisi, P van Zyl, P Lambie, J Serfontein.

Scotland : Peter Murchie, Tommy Seymour, Alex Dunbar, Matt Scott, Sean Lamont, Ruaridh Jackson, Greig Laidlaw (capt), Alasdair Dickinson, Scott Lawson, Euan Murray, Tim Swinson, Jim Hamilton, Alasdair Strokosch, Ryan Wilson, Johnnie Beattie. Replacements : Stevie Lawrie, Jon Welsh, Moray Low, Alastair Kellock, David Denton, Henry Pyrgos, Peter Horne, Duncan Taylor.

Fingers crossed wales dont lose to the mighty Japan this week!!

wales 22-20 up in the youth world cup.a few mins left.

Nevermind that shit heres some big news

Bath head coach Gary Gold said: “Gavin is still a very ambitious man and the prospect of him playing at The Rec is an exciting one.”
He added: “We know Gavin’s qualities and have seen him work extremely hard for his team and perform at a consistently high level last season.”

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/22895240

Whats the point in Henson,so much talent wasted,yes he’s won some g slams but think how good he could have been.Waster.

Yeah its a shame he’s made of glass and keeps getting injured.

And doesn’t play Summer Rugby.

Oh sorry thread police are transfer stories not allowed?

I wonder who will be first choice at 10 between Ford and the orange one?

anagallis_arvensis – Member
Yeah its a shame he’s made of glass and keeps getting injured.

He was fit enough to go on Strictly. You need to understand we are giving him the credit for being a wonderfully talented player. He has sadly wasted that talent. FWIW I’m not surprised you’ve attracted the attention of the moderators, I’m sure they have better things to do than police non biking threads

I do agree that looks like the first test team, it will be interesting to see how they go, the Wallabies have released a number of players to bolster the home side.

Tom B – Member
I wonder who will be first choice at 10 between Ford and the orange one?

Ford. I suspect GH is a very cheap option / wild card for Bath, worth a punt in case he does knuckle down. I’ll see if I can get an inside track on his signing.

He was fit enough to go on Strictly. You need to understand we are giving him the credit for being a wonderfully talented player. He has sadly wasted that talent. FWIW I’m not surprised you’ve attracted the attention of the moderators, I’m sure they have better things to do than police non biking threads

yeah dancing on strictly is right up there with playing pro rugby as far as fitness is concerned. So what have I said that attracted the attention of the mods? Care to point it out?

If Bath have got any sense he’ll be on a pay as you play contract.

AA you little minx Gav IS the most shocking waste of talent I have ever seen, and you know I does love him loads. He should of gone to the Dragons, the green welly denizens of Bath will have the knives out for him already. He will find no love at the Rec

Iirc B*** see him as a 12. Interestingly, another b*** player (eastmond) is at 12 for England this weekend. I find it interesting that “alternative to a shower” want him enough to sign him and I want to see what they can do with him where quite a few others haven’t been able to. Gold is no fool.

Go on Wrecker type the word Bath, I dare you 😉

He hasnt played 12 for a couple of seasons!! 😉

AA you little minx Gav IS the most shocking waste of talent I have ever seen, and you know I does love him loads. He should of gone to the Dragons, the green welly denizens of Bath will have the knives out for him already. He will find no love at the Rec

true how long before the witch gets dunked at bath. My guess is he’ll sink.

Exchanged messages with a Bath fan and great student of the game … He’s happy to have him, knows he’s cost very little, feels he can offer a lot on training field to the young bath backs and is capable of being a game changer off the bench or if his head is right in the starting 15

Can’t do it pigface. It’s a swear word around here. 😀
It’s fair to say that he’s had his problems, but he’s still playing at a high standard so people more knowledgable than I think he still has something to offer. We’ll see. Don’t think we’ll see him in a Wales shirt again though. I’d have been happy to have him at brizzle.

He was mostly very good for Welsh last season on the few occasions he played. He was a class apart in the game v sale. Lyn Jones had nothing but praise for the attitude he showed in training too. I wonder how much the injuries are in his head though. He played through injuries during the 2009 season and changed his game from a kicking 12 to a much heavier bosh 12 who couldnt actually kick cause his groin had gone. It would appear that after that he must have mentally thrown in the towel and now if he’s not 100% he wont play.

I’ll type the word Bath only as its so Hilarious they have signed Henson.

1. Jeremy Tilse (Sydney University, vice captain) 
2. John Ulugia (Eastern Suburbs)
3. Paddy Ryan (Sydney University) 
4. Will Skelton (Sydney University) 
5. Ollie Atkins (Sydney University)
6. Jed Holloway (Southern Districts) 
7. Pat McCutcheon (Sydney University) 
8. Dave Dennis (Sydney University, captain)
9. Brendan McKibbin (Eastern Suburbs) 
10. Bernard Foley (Sydney University, vice captain) 
11. Peter Betham (Sydney University)
12. Tom Carter (Sydney University)
13. Rob Horne (Southern Districts)
14. Cam Crawford (Northern Suburbs)
15. Drew Mitchell (Randwick) 

Replacements
16. Luke Holmes (Warringah)
17. Richard Aho (Randwick)*
18. Sam Talakai (Sydney University)**
19. Lopeti Timani (Southern Districts) 
20. AJ Gilbert (Northern Suburbs)*
21. Matt Lucas (Manly)
22. Ben Volavola (Southern Districts)
23. Tom Kingston (Sydney University) 

On the Bath front, Kyle Eastmond is a local lad (ish, from Oldham) and a good friend of a young chap at work. From what he’s hearing Eastmond is doing great things at Bath, He has been moved from the wing where he played League into the centres as he is looking good in that role.
As he is English and Bath will be getting RFU money for that then i see Henson as cover really. Henson, whilst still talented, is getting on and Bath will be looking to the future.
Eastmond is a really interesting one for the future as regards England.

Muddy,
Eastmond was mainly a half-back in league , mostly scrum-half (7), sometimes standoff (6), and ocasional full-back (1). Always a decent playmaker and kicker. It’s at Bath were he’s been playing wing – he is quick enough with a good step.
I guess he’s been kept a bit further from the decision making while he adjusts to the new code and learns the game a bit more.
Personally, reckon inside centre could be tough for him long term. Defence wouldn’t be easy being 5’7 and 12andahalf stone with some of the modern 12s like Roberts bashing lines all day. Don’t get me wrong, he can tackle like a goodun, but that’s asking for injuries later on.
I reckon fly half, wing or FB personally. But if you call a young player a future international 10 the pressure seems to build massively. So probably not the thing to say just yet.
He still uses the tag – kyleeastmond7

Tom B – Member
I wonder who will be first choice at 10 between Ford and the orange one?

Tom Heathcote? Ford wasn’t good for Leicester when he played this season.

Agreed, he was pap in the final!

Pigface – Member
Idle John I always though it was me who offended you somehow.

Always! 😆

Anyway, is anybody else thinking that tomorrow’s back row – Croft, Heaslip, Warbs, with Lydiate on the bench – looks unbalanced, and ready to be taken to pieces by a quick opposition back row?

Yep…..in defence certainly….should be exciting going forwards. If Warbs doesn’t play too wide I think that it could work though-very interesting!

wings wil be crowded with Heaslip and Croft playing there. hopefully zebo and maitland will hit some rucks!!!

Agree with IJ that the back row looks a bit weird at the least.

Heaslip’s done ok so far , but about the same as faletau tbh. Both have played alright, with not a lot between them. Either or, really.
Croft hasn’t done badly, but hasn’t really done a lot yet. Hasn’t he only played the Force game last Sat, and didn’t finish that either?
If he is a test likely, then it’s as if Gatland’s holding him back as a “secret weapon”. Seem’s very strange for a fella on his second Lions tour.
But all three of them (heaslip, croft, & toby) seem to prefer to do their carrying a bit too wide though (outside the 12 chanel). I reckon if Croft has got “chosen one” status at 6; and 7 will be Welsh*; then it might be worth giving SOB a pop at 8 to bring a bit more close-in grunt to the balance. But most likely he’s battling faletau for the test bench spot as the’re the two most versatile.
But it’s Warburton that most owes them a decent game. He was entitled to his “first game back” performance last time, only fair after injury. Now needs to show he’s worth a spot. He can play better. But it’s not just been about the injury. He’s not been firing consistently all year. It’s as much about form as fitness.
At the moment Tipuric and SOB have put stronger cases for the 7 spot. And Lydiate, Croft and SOB have all put stronger cases for the 6 spot. And he can’t play 8. By that reckoning he’s last choice of the back rowers on form, not even a bench place to be honest.
Hope he does something really special tomorrow or there really will be a test of Gatland’s

“I have been 100% consistent from day one. It is about picking the best players,”

For what it’s worth, I’d like to see 4,5,6,7 as POC, Gray, SOB, Tipuric, – reckon that’s got a nice balance.

* Anyway back to the Tips v Warbs point as any student of welsh Lions rugby will tell you when not sure Gatland always just picks the biggest Welshist player – so if Warbs doesnt start SOB Tipuric will.

Getting away from the back row debate, nice article from Adam updating his blog:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/22888155
And the Dr is doing a similar thing in the Indy. After all our BOD+1 debates, he makes an interesting point that this will be his first run-out with (future team-mate) Johnny Sexton.
Think Johnny +2 is a more nailed on selection policy, so will be good to see this work out well tomorrow.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/news-comment/jamie-roberts-why-im-looking-forward-to-teaming-up-with-perfect-10-jonny-sexton-8658332.html