Winters coming;all inclusive rugby thread.

Nice one a_a you nailed the 3000. Gavlaa would be proud 😆

Tom Coft, the show ponies show pony.

Nope that’d be Haskell…..or Beattie for Scotland…..Croft is an excellent player. I’d rate him above Tom Wood at 6.

wrecker – Member
Hey duckman, healthcote looked very good for bath on Friday. Is he in the XV setup?

POSTED 28 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

God I hope not,he was the difference in a certain recent Autumn international that marked a low point for us in the last few years(difficult I know as a Scot) I would rather play Laidlaw out of position. Healthcoate is a long way from an int 10.

Tom; Beattie a show pony? Err no,his tackle count/regular man of the match performances in France backed up by his international form makes him more important than the Sale Bombshell for us. Remember this is his first season back from a full shoulder reconstruction that threatened to finish him, indeed shamefully the SRU bought out his contract because they thought just that. Back row is about the only area we have abundant riches.

I don’t really catch any French matches outside the Heine. Never been that impressed with him for Scotland.

Flood is a better ten than the coaches kid anyway.

Tom,he is bloody good,plays like his dad but quicker.

Duckie is his dad the dude on radio Scotland?

I rate croft above wood, he’s good. But his neck is being held together with metal. Is he really up to play at international level / might he pull out of a neck jolting tackle…..

Looks like Flood is in, I reckon we’ll see 36 & Manu too – could be a try fest with those two. I’m also hoping Brown and Ashton get replaced with Strettle & Wade.

Melon, yes and an ex Lion. Am I the only one who wonders why Croft is coming back to play ANY rugby after that? Some things are far more important,eg health;long and short term. He seems pretty clever, you would think he could/would do something else

Aye Strettle is on fire at the minute and I’ve been calling for Wade for a while. Neither are as good as Tom Varndell mind 8)

Tom Varndell, the English Tim MacVisser 😛

Varndell tackles like mr tickle.
Lydiate came back ok from a broken neck.

Stuart Hogg, Sean Maitland, Sean Lamont, Matt Scott, Tim Visser, Duncan Weir, Greig Laidlaw; Ryan Grant, Ross Ford, Euan Murray, Richie Gray, Jim Hamilton, Robert Harley, Kelly Brown, Johnnie Beattie Replacements: Dougie Hall, Moray Low, Geoff Cross, Alastair Kellock, Ryan Wilson, Henry Pyrgos, Ruaridh Jackson, Max Evans

v

Wales: Leigh Halfpenny (Blues); Alex Cuthbert (Blues), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Jamie Roberts (Blues), George North (Scarlets), Dan Biggar (Ospreys), Mike Phillips (Bayonne); Paul James (Bath), Richard Hibbard (Ospreys), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Ian Evans (Ospreys), Ryan Jones (capt, Ospreys), Sam Warburton (Blues) Toby Faletau (Dragons).

Replacements: Ken Owens (Scarlets), Scott Andrews (Blues), Ryan Bevington (Ospreys), Andrew Coombs (Dragons), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Lloyd Williams (Blues), James Hook, Scott Williams (Scarlets).

On paper Wales should win. Shame the game isnt played on paper.

more Gav needed, try yes or no

A_A.

1st: Wendyball dive. No try. 2 yellow cards.

2nd: Try. Crap tackling.

From the first video it does look like a poor attempt at a dive but I seem to remember from other views the obstruction/ shirt hold looked more substantial… maybe I am mistaken though

DanW.

The first is definitely obstruction / shirt pulling. But the Wendyball dive still stands. Both go to the bin and no try.

I was a bit sneaky the second was the first in time, no try crossing pen to saffacens after it was referred to video ref. First one was five mins later so the blocking for the Henson non-try was obviously in his mind, he was held and went down (quite theatrically). Ref didnt see fit to refer it upstairs though the useless tit, whole game was appallingly handled in favour of the home team favourites. Pitch looks good though, the talk is that the millenium stadium might be getting one.

The ploughed field in Cardiff is a disgrace. The stadium is fantastic. But the turf……. 😳

Article about the Vunipolas playing for England this weekend..
Love this pic of Billy when he was NINE playing for U11s team. Gawd I hope my kid doesn’t come across anything like this!

Look at the size of him compared to boys 2 years older!

London Welsh awarded a 5 point deduction for fielding an ineligible player.
Harsh, very harsh IMO. As a Sale fan i would much rather see us stay up due to our own efforts. It seems the police were involved in the investigation as well, anyone shed any light on the case?

Looking at the fixtures welsh have an easier final two matches, but think sale will have done enough by then.

I can’t find out why the police would be involved in the affair though.
Sale and Tigers have been docked one point for an ineligible player in one game, so ten points (5 suspended) for ten games does make a kind of sense but its still harsh.
Mike Scott is still facing a separate charge from the RFU as well.

AA – Where do you see Wales being stonger than Scotland?

My sense is Scotland will have it up front with Wales being better in the backs. Scotland have more fire power in the backs than for many seasons though.

I think Scotland at home overall will edge it. Think it will be a cracker TBH. Both still eyeing the championship as I think you guys will do England next weekend

AA – Where do you see Wales being stonger than Scotland?

The players. Scotland might have the edge in the lineout cant really see where Scotland are stronger. But Wales are playing poorly and Scotland will be full of confidence so it will be close.

Look at the shirt Vunipola is wearing! Apparently both bro’s talk with strong welsh accents. Cant help think wales missed a trick here.

Shame about London Welsh, damn shame takes all the fun out of it.

Explaining their decision, the Panel of Inquiry said Keats applied for an ancestry visa when he arrived in the UK in July 2012 as his maternal grandfather was born in England.
But his application was apparently rejected and then team manager Mike Scott falsified a player registration form by stating Keats was English and had been born in Christchurch.
The matter was referred to the RFU by London Welsh once they discovered the background to the issue.
“London Welsh are hugely disappointed and shocked by the ruling made by the RFU Hearings Committee, which we believe is extremely harsh under the circumstances,” said London Welsh CEO Tony Copsey.
“It is our belief the ruling is fundamentally flawed and I can confirm that the club will definitely be appealing the decision.”
Scott is the subject of a separate RFU disciplinary hearing relating to Keats’ registration. He has accepted a caution from the police after admitting fraud by false representation.

md, looks like the police involvement was for the fraud by Scott.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/21674783

http://www.rfu.com/thegame/discipline/judgements/judgments-2012-2013/judgments-by-club/aviva-premiership/~/media/files/2013/discipline/judgments/aviva%20premiership/london%20welsh.ashx

Full judgement.

Crikey. Makes for some very uncomfortable reading, and the penalty seem less harsh. Quite lenient IMO.

Seems about fair TBH. Scott is the main culprit, but he worked for them. Killed what was a bloody interesting battle*…..Wanders off to do search on birth certificates on every member of a certain 2003 team….

*Or has it? Welsh were not going to win a game,all teams have their crap spell,maybe they have had theirs and Sale are really,really,awful.Welsh need to win,what two games?

Dwarf, look on the bright side, if you stay up you get to keep the show pony AND the ladyboy lover… 😆

Sale have recently started to actually look like a rugby team, but i still don’t think they’ll survive TBH.
I suspect Cipriani will be off at the end of the season and i don’t think he will be missed by too many fans – or players from what i’ve heard. He has talent but has been pee’ing people off so the rumours go.

Something is seriously rotten in the State of Sale, and the club needs a massive shakeup and some people need to lose their jobs.

As for the weekend, i think the Scotland/Wales game will be the most interesting one to watch.

Looking at the LW forums, the consensus seems to be that they got off lightly. Shocking behaviour by the previous manager. It shows how much pressure there is to have EQPs, especially for the clubs without big finances.

Having read the link from the RFU I’m inclined to agree, proper criminal behaviour from Scott that has truly bolloxed the club up.

The drop may be what Sale need. Scraping through may send the wrong message. There is undoubted talent on the field (although some very poor performances against Leicester) but there is something wrong off the field.

Thing about Sale is that last year they were on tellybox against Tigers and were outgunned up front, but…played running rugby,fast with an obvious gameplan. This year the games I have seen, they look like they just met in the changing room before the game. NO continuity of phases,no focus,no team play. In theory adding bulk to the pack should have allowed them to step up.

Did anybody watch the Wales/Scotland U20s game last night and make any smese of the Welsh yellow cards?

It seemed that the no7 was carded for being a yard off-side and stopping when told to by the ref only to be binned.

Anyone care to comment on this 😆

Wales comfortable win this arvo

Anyone care to comment on this

My father would be turning in his grave. In his day it was considered ungentlemenly to “kick around the corner”, he was very proud of his toe punt against the Springboks.

Scrum 8)