Winters coming;all inclusive rugby thread.

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.

I’ll watch with interest then. I certainly regret his leaving Tigers.

Ashton is on the naughty boys step again I see.
and Ryan Jones is broken now, major blow for Wales
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/wales/9645405/Wales-blow-as-Ryan-Jones-sent-home-from-training-camp-in-Poland-with-shoulder-injury-ahead-of-autumn-Tests.html

Varndell and Wade shredded Gavin Hensons London Welsh at the weekend. Varndel’s quick but he’s no Nigel Walker!!

he’s no Nigel Walker!!

Now there was a seriously fast player!

CaptainFlashheart – Member

he’s no Nigel Walker!!

Now there was a seriously fast player!

Just a pity that he had such poor basic rugby skills. He managed to get into the Welsh side almost from the point he announced he was playing rugby, just on the basis of his sprinting (hurdling??) times. There were far better wings playing for other teams who weren’t selected.

Sums up the Welsh team at that time and one of the reasons that they lost so consistently.

I’ve just looked Nige up on wiki just in case my memory was playing tricks – it wasn’t!

In 1992 however, he failed to make the squad for the 1992 Summer Olympics and turned to rugby union, where he played on the wing for Cardiff RFC. Walker made his Wales debut on 6 March 1993 in the five nations match against Ireland

So I’m guessing 6 months between announcing he was playing rugby and getting his first cap. 🙄

I fear Tim Visser is heading down the Varndell route. He is an awesome finisher but really suspect tackler. Don’t know why, he does not seem scared of contact when going forward.

I do not event want to suggest a Scottish team at present, with the exception of Jim Hamilton who is in pretty fine form for Gloucester ….unless he is banned

I remember watching nigel walker play for the BaaBaa’s against the All Blacks and marking a young Jeff Wilson. Wilson kept getting the ball one on one and trying to get outside Walker and look truely baffled that his pace wasnt getting the job done. Had he just tried stepping him or running through him it would have been fine!

I always though Varndel had a attitude problem or was that Sackey?

My mates brother Steve Pill put Walker out of rugby when he was chosen infront of him for Wales U18’s Walker went off to athletics and Steve played for a few teams but was/is as mad as a badger.

Wlaker was brave though I remember get sparked out when he got his head the wrong side in a tackle, might of been against France.

Walker and Wayne Proctor perfected the art of tacking with their faces 😆

Walker went off to athletics

I thought it was the other way around. Walker was a sprinter (see what I did there) then turned to RU at the end of his career? From memory

I think waht he’s saying is Walker started playing rugby as a kid along with athletics, went with athletics at 18 then came back to rugby later

AA yes thats is what happened, cheers.

Not so sure about Walker being faster. Varndell turned up to Leicester sprints day and forgot his trainers. He still took part and posted a 10.1 100m, in his socks on grass! I reckon that’d scorch almost any other player… To show the blistering pace of the rest of the Leicester team, Tom Croft beat every other back! Anywho, he’s still a suspect tackler, and has ropey kicking skills so he’s not exactly the best winger around! Mind you, I’m still a fan and want him to succeed.

posted a 10.1 100m

I find that very difficult to believe.

It wasn’t 10.1 it was 10.8 in socks on grass allegedly…..I’m not convinced myself!

Jonny May can do the 100 in 10.7 and 40 in 4.68 using proper timing. I read Varndell was 10.8 – claimed in his socks using a mates phone. 😀

Well, it may not be true, but in my head….

Anyway, on to a proper grudge match, Callum Clark back from 32 week suspension to play Leicester at the weekend. Lined up for some special treatment?!

Ashton gets a weeks rest.

18 months too early IMO for clark-hopefully someone gives him a slap or three 🙂

transapp – Member

Well, it may not be true, but in my head….

To be fair I’ve heard stuff like this regularly over the years about all sorts of teams. There’s always a forward claiming to be the fastest/fittest and a skinny back claiming to be the strongest/biggest bench lifter or whatever. It’s just put out there to scare the opposition isn’t it? Just like heights and weights never being correct.

Not taking away from Varndell being quick, of course.

Ryan Jones may be out of the November internationals. Pulled back from Poland for a shoulder scan. Bad news.

Maybe they should rename the team the Wales A side. But then they wouldn’t be able to charge a fortune for tickets to see a second/third choice Welsh side?

Mallinder continued: “We’re looking forward to seeing him play on Saturday. He’ll be doing his very best to help Northampton win that game.”

i **** hate Northampton with a passion, its bad enough a team with two cheapshot thugs like Hartley and Lawes but Clark is **** rank.

But this is where Wales will show their true strength. A couple of injuries and they should still wipe the floor with the opposition…

My prediction is Wales to under achieve this season however the fans will still somehow claim they are the bes team in world rugby because of the flair and style shown during their losses.

Back to Clark, yep, utter scum. The northampton team is riddled with it (although a little less now that Ashton’s at saffacens!)

Wales wont wipe the floor with anyone with Howley at the helm and without adam jones or mitchell rhey have no tighthead worthy of the names so will be lucky to win a scrum. Added to that the australia game is outside the international window and so they will miss any players based in england or france. Even with a fully fit and inform squad they aint likely to beat NZ. Ipredict wins against argies and samoa a pasting from nz and a narrow loss to aus.

A_A you’ve just shown you’re not a true Welshman. If you were you’d not have any realism in faith of the greatest team in the world!