Winters coming;all inclusive rugby thread.

How many games has Warburton finished in the last 12 months? He is woefully short of form and fitness imo. Shouldnt be in the wales team Tipuric is a much better player. Navidi has been much better for the blues too..

How many games has Warburton finished in the last 12 months? ever?

Tipuric’s time has come, I agree. Nice to have a choice though! 🙂

Banaman?

One dimensional donkey.

Just an indication of size not being used. If that donkey’s got one trick then it’s one more than I’ve ever seen…!

Just an indication of size not being used.

Ah, gotcha! 🙂

the naughty boys step:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xv0ul1_la-cathedrale-de-rob-simmons-sur-yannick-nyanga_sport?start=105

and somehow this dirty **** wasnt cited!!

Very naughty of the AB 12 should be cited.

Strokosh has tweeted that it was his fault for lying all over the ball. I think the yellow was enough.

Got to question why he hasn’t been cited for that, followed by a very lengthy ban too.

Shit on me, how do the all blacks seem to get away with it!

Strokosh may have been killing the ball, but kicking his head and punching him is an over reaction, should have been a red IMO. Tckle on Nyanga is nice either, how did all the oficialls miss that?

McCheat should also have had a yellow for pulling the man out of the lineout shortly after that yellow card.

But then…..

Rather like the knee on Parra….

(And yes, Rougerie should have been cited in that game as well)

I think I might have been tempted to kick that AB12 if I had seen him doing that to a team mate of mine. Probably right in the face too the way he was lying. Jim Hamilton should have been called in to administer a smackin.

Chunk should have sat on him!

🙂

Punch???? bloody hell its rugby AA not pattacake.

And I thought rugby was a game for animals played by gentlemen….

It isnt – it’s a full contact sport where people hit each other as hard as they can and try to gain advantage by fair means or foul.

I put it to you that none of the illegal play had the potential for injury that the biggest legal hits had.

McCheat should also have had a yellow

yawn

Punch???? bloody hell its rugby AA not pattacake.

Tell that to the welsh team!!

On the basis of the Saturdays performance someone should be punching them 😆

On the basis of the Saturdays performance someone should be punching them

There’s a queue here, if you don’t mind….

Wait yer turn!

😉

Whens the team to play samoa announced?

What could possibly go wrong with a test match against Samoa for Wales… 😀

That was grim, I haven’t seen it till now, but he pulls the boot right over his head,lucky boy!

I was talking to the touch judge on the Adam Thomson stamp and he did consider red but felt that the ball was close enough and that Thomson appeared to pull back from it quickly. I suggested that was probably because he had been spotted rather than any concern for Stros safety.

Pattacake lol 🙂 I thought that yellow was adequate really for Thomson, stupid yes, but no real malice.

Who will be lions captain then?

Who will be lions captain then?

Hurrah! It’s “Wild speculatin” o’clock!

It has to be someone who’s guaranteed a place on the starting 15. Which, at the moment means Justin Tipuric. 🙂

Rake to the head=red, doesn’t matter whither he intended to hurt him, intent is everything. As to lions only one choice;Jim Hamilton. Or somebody better and more suited to the role,too early yet to tell. 6N will be the guide.

Who will be lions captain then?

Paul ‘O Connellmaybe. O’Connell gets the “status” and “experience” vote though so thats where I think the safe bet is.

My outside bet for Lions Captain is BOD. Great stature in the game and presence in the field, getting a bit fragile for consistent pitch presence though. Or has he retired?

On another note, I note the Aussie are in array and arguing with themselves again. I’m really hoping England step up and put them to the sword this weekend.

Doing so will make for an excellent match as Twickers with SA, which SA will think they will win but England will have loads of confidence going in and may just shock them. Devilliers the man of the moment though.

It has to be someone who’s guaranteed a place on the starting 15

Between Ferris and Sexton if you want to follow that rule.

My choice is Wilkinson 🙂

Seriously though, there are no stand out contenders for me-Warburton is shat and O’Connell and BOD are a bit long in the tooth now…

FFS more glitching…..I’ll be writing to my MP if this carries on.

1/2 p for captain? Has to be the starting 15

Dylan Hartley? – he’s got the spirit, the form, the experience and leads from the front.

You need someone with D’allaglio’s unrelenting passion. D’allaglio then? 😀

Ooh good call with Hartley-if he wasn’t a moron then he’d be a good bet….then again being a little unhinged is part of the job description at no.2!

Ooh good call with Hartley-if he wasn’t a moron then he’d be a good bet….then again being a little unhinged is part of the job description at no.2!

Agreed – but he has calmed down a fair bit – Captain’s well, has international player/captain experience and is well motivated / motivational.

Slightly unhinged patriotic SH born hooker for Lions Captain? perfect ingredients…

Looks like actually there is a citing officer who can see black!

http://www.planetrugby.co.uk/story/0,25883,3562_8244915,00.html

Ioum Ferris is broken and if him and Lydiate are fit and on form it will be a close call between the two.. Neither are captaincy material imo. No one is standing out as yet.

Wales have delayed naming their team to face Samoa on Friday night by 24 hours until Wednesday as they assess injuries to Jamie Roberts and Alun Wyn Jones.

Pocock’s out….

Don’t like the sound of this statements on POC’s injury…..

Commenting on O’Connell’s recurrence of a bulging disc problem, Ireland team manager Michael Kearney said: “There’s been no timeframe put on his return to play at this stage. It’s a question, I think, of just monitoring it as we go along and see where it ends up.

“There’s no fixed date or estimate as to when he actually will return to play. It is out there in the public domain that he’s had a couple of (anti-inflammatory) injections. He had a further injection on Friday.

“It will be managed for the next while and the hope is that it can settle down over the next few weeks.

“Certainly the nature of the injury means that it’s a question of wait and see. It certainly isn’t a black and white situation in terms of knowing the exact prognosis for what you do from this moment on.”

As for Lions captain is there any player a dead cert for a starting place at the moment?

aa, trying to stay impartial but incorporate flash’s “guaranteed starter” rule.
Of course no-one can say that yet , even Gatland, so it’s irrelevant but it’s interesting that there were just 2 players common to all the selections on the BBC panel. So I went from that 😉

Jeremy Guscott’s Lions XV: Halfpenny (Wales), Cuthbert (Wales), O’Driscoll (Ireland), Roberts (Wales), North (Wales); Sexton (Ireland), Phillips (Wales); Jenkins (Wales), Best (Ireland), A Jones (Wales), Charteris (Wales), Gray (Scotland), Ferris (Ireland), Warburton (Wales), Heaslip (Ireland).

Keith Wood’s Lions XV: Halfpenny (Wales), Bowe (Ireland), J Davies (Wales), O’Driscoll (Ireland), North (Wales); Sexton (Ireland), Phillips (Wales); Jenkins (Wales), Best (Ireland), A Jones (Wales), Gray (Scotland), AW Jones (Wales), O’Brien (Ireland), Warburton (Wales), Ferris (Ireland).

Andy Nicol’s Lions XV: Halfpenny (Wales), Bowe (Ireland), Tuilagi (England), Roberts (Wales), Visser (Scotland); Sexton (Ireland), Phillips (Wales); Jenkins (Wales), Hartley (England), A Jones (Wales), Gray (Scotland), Lawes (England), Ferris (Ireland), Warburton (Wales), Faletau (Wales).

Jonathan Davies’s Lions XV: Kearney (Ireland), Bowe (Ireland), O’Driscoll (Ireland), Tuilagi (England), North (Wales); Sexton (Ireland), Care (England); Sheridan (England), Best (Ireland), Cole (England), AW Jones (Wales), Lawes (England), Ferris (Ireland), Tipuric (Wales), Heaslip (Ireland).

…Only two players – Ireland fly-half Jonathan Sexton and back-row Stephen Ferris – feature in all four of our analysts’ selections.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/20266978

Personally, If gatland decides that Gethin’s the starter then I reckon he’d be a good pick as capt too. It’s always good to have your capt playing in one of your “positions of strength” and I’d like to think we’d be battering them in the front row.

God knows why Jiffy has Kearney at FB, the other three had 1/2 p.