Much warmer inside though isn’t it :D

Yes a Ti full susser is daft but if you have the money why not :D

Funk Cycles La Ruta would be the top of my list

Big ol’ cardboard box opened up or a thickish rug do the trick. Found a rug to be best as it absorbs the spills and is easier to roll up and throw all the mud away outside.

Personally I much prefer Cwm Carn to anything at Afan although most tend to disagree with this. Whatever you choose don’t worry about the bike!

The Richard Hibbard interview on the link above is pretty funny

Asked if his tattoos have significance

As a typical Welsh teenager growing up I just got the normal random tattoos everywhere”

Asked about the hour of one on one tackling sessions on “crazy Tuesdays”

The under 20’s come in and train, at the end of that session we have an hour of tackling… you choose your group. If you are a tad sore you go with the less hitter boys. If you are keen you go in your Alun Wyn group. He’s a machine!

The clip is then Alun Wyn pushing Ashton off his feet around a ruck and then pushing Steve Walsh almost off his feet to tackle Youngs darting around the ruck :D

“for someone who doesnt really like rugby he isnt half bloody good at it!”

Sums it up! To be fair, as you say a_a the London Welsh comeback has been far and away his most successful comeback :D

With all the faff that goes on around Henson it is so easy to forget his talent. Some of those clearance kicks were devastating! A Hook tribute would look much the same with similar effortless time on the ball yet what are these two really doing nowadays? Nowhere near their potential. It would be amazing to see a calm and dedicated Henson back again but there just isn’t enough motivation in the world to get him back on track rugbywise

I believe it is coached. Theres no real reason to be running in to a foot anyway- surely you would have to be very early in and be taking the man in the air…

Edit: just watched with sound, sorry for stating the obvious!

Zokes, I refer you to the rules of the thread :D

2)PLEASE no individual arguments lasting more than a page;it gets tedious.

4) A-A is,for the sake of this thread,allowed to pick fault with his home nations players and coaches even after they have won the slam without losing a try.

Quite the opposite! And just for fun…

3)Ashton is,and always will be a Merchant Banker.

Duckman’s crystal ball is on fire, who could have seen that being apt several months on :lol:

Fair points a_a

With Hook out that leaves 3 specialist 10’s in the squad, all of whom are sound. Thank goodness that would leave no space for ROG

Hogg in and Kearney out would leave 4 guys who can play FB or wing

Backs?

3 Scrum halves- Phillips, Care, Youngs
3 Fly halves- Sexton, Farrel, Biggar (can see Hook being in for his adaptability rather than form)
4 Centres- BOD, Roberts, Tuilagi, Davies
4 Wings- North, Cuthbert, Maitland, 1/2p
2 Full backs- Foden, Kearney

Zebo, Gilroy, Laidlaw, Lamont, Visser, Hogg, Wade, Walker could be outside bets too I reckon..

Based on those who were made Lions last time around we need to find (according to wiki trying to take in to account changes forced by injury/ suspension):
5 Props
3 Hookers
5 Locks
5 Flankers
2 No 8’s
3 Scrum halves
3 Fly halves
4 Centres
4 Wings
2 Full backs

Of course utility back, utility second rows, etc shake the numbers up a little bit but it gives a good rough guide.

It’s quite strange looking back over some of the names that went to SA.

Seems like Walsh is on the up career wise (probably couldn’t go much lower) but what was specifically wrong with England?

Even without the scrum, Wales beat England in the backs. England had nothing to match Wales from 10 back

Bit harsh on little Mike :D

Can someone summarise all of this “Walsh history” with the key facts of why he hates England (genuine question)?

Still on the subject of scrums…

“I don’t buy this whole ‘streetwise’ thing,” Rowntree said

I have no idea how you discount being smart, being streetwise, gamesmanship whatever you want to interpret it as in any modern professional sport.

Seems Mr. Rowntree still isn’t happy too

Also funny:

Lancaster will be without a number of his senior players for the four-match trip to south America in June, with the likes of Robshaw, Tom Croft and Dan Cole among those set for British and Irish Lions duty.

I quite liked how Phil V brought up the selection of coaching staff on Scrum V for the Lions tour with it very possible that certain selections were political rather than purely on ability. None of us could possibly know enough to comment but it was interesting he still brought it up.

Planning on growing a new front row by then are you?

Don’t forget some wingers… :D

British cycling work on the basis of 4 year development cycles for olympic success yet it doesn’t stop them from getting a shed load of wc gold medals ;-)

My feeling with the Walsh issue is england were not mentally prepared to deal with it properly- the welsh were calm and respectful while the english had the grace of Parisse with the ref :-)

I still maintain englands most disappointing aspect of the match was their poor response to pressure which only made wales job easier… Even lancaster has commented as much

Specialized tyres with the Control casing would be worth a look.

Onza Canis is very light and very fast but perhaps lacks the sidewall durability you desire.

Ralphs would be the obviou choice if you really need a change

Good thing for 1/2p he is a tank of a man. Plenty of niggle all game but then we know who won the mental battle as well as the game overall don’t we. Would have been nice if AWJ(?) looked down for a second in the second clip :D

Why is there still argument about the scrums? If Walsh had no previous history with England then I don’t think there would be half the complaining from the English fans…

Really enjoyed the Phil V perspective too, thanks for the link a_a

Swap 3 and 11 and you have a good mid week side :wink:

England were definitely missing someone like Morgan. I thought Barrit was strangely England’s best centre in attack yesterday too…

Also, I would say Biggar has come good for Wales at the right time. The thought of him playing for Wales was more daunting than putting out an injured Priestland! :D

Biggar was a little like his old self at the start of the 6N but was running hard, tackling hard and making good distance for Wales with his kicking game both out of hand and with penalty touch finders by the end. It is easy to take that for granted. When watching some of the other 6N teams 10’s you have to appreciate how solid he has been for Wales.

The England Wales game was awesome and should hopefully get all those watching down under even more excited for when the Lions come to town.

Wales did alright didn’t they? :D

I think the most disappointing thing was the way England imploded and became a collection of individuals. Wales have come out very hard numerous times (first WC game against SA is a good example) but quality sides weather that and stick together.

All this talk of Farrel being an “ice man” was shot to pieces yesterday when he didn’t back himself to kick for goal after just one miss. This is a huge contrast to 1/2p who didn’t enjoy the best start to his kicking against Scotland. Same goes for many other over-hyped English players. The management’s negative body language and lack of inspiration was also disappointing.

Sure it could be viewed as just one bad game for England but they haven’t looked in good form since the first weekend. Equally, one win against a tired and ill NZ and they were hailed as the world’s best.

At the end of the day the Welsh were on fire and exposed England for what they are :D

Kerry Katona advertising short term loans because she is “bad with money” is hilarious too :D

I agree with vondally that pens will most likely decide the game which would be a real shame. I feel England have the upper hand here.

Croft is a worrying inclusion from an English point of view. There must be a game plan but some of the selections appear a little iffy (no-one mention Ashton again :D )

On the topic of Wales and turnovers it seems that in the last year or so it has mainly been Gethin and J. Davies getting the turnovers (I don’t know the stats but this is how it appears).

I am a big fan of Davies and he has improved a lot as an international since he came on the scene. At the start the thought of him kicking or running out the line at weird times must have given Edwards nightmares! I would love for him to make some nice line breaks against England like his early Scarlets form that got him noticed in the first place :D

I hate to be negative but I can see England playing 9 man rugby to great effect at the weekend- playing the territory game to get in the Wales half and forcing penalty upon penalty. Wales have the players to beat England at their own game but appear to be much more determined to go for tries and just pick up penalties as a consolation rather than as match winning points… Maybe I am seeing this in a funny way :?

To be clear, the farm tracks/ old roads with no right of way are parallel dotted black lines- I had assumed this was what the OP was referring to. Otherwise SA is likely to be correct

As far as I understand it then if it isn’t a road, bridleway or By-Way then we have no “right” to be there on a bike. The tracks you mention tend to be old farm roads or all weather farm tracks. An example by me is an old disused air field has the runways marked as you describe. As far as I can see we have no “right” to cycle there. It would be trespass the same as anywhere else we don’t have a right of way which in practical terms just means the landowner would have to ask you to leave by the shortest route…

The interesting thing I noticed on the link above is that routes marked with green diamonds are “recreational routes”.

Recreational route – these routes are suitable for walkers, cyclists and horse riders. They are regional routes that will be sign posted.

There is a very nice linking route marked as such by me with stiles and footpath marking. Can we ride on it? I suspect the definition quoted above is ambiguous and what it should say is that recreational routes may be on footpath, bridleways or by-ways in which case it is possible for walkers, cyclists and horse riders to have access..

I think Mongo was set for the mid week nasties side in the earlier posts in this thread :D

ijs445ra makes a very valid point. We are all busy thinking about the best players but what the Lions need is the best team. The Aussies are essentially intelligent (rugby wise!) from 1-15, strong at the breakdown and devastating with quick ball due to the speed in the backs. Does this sound roughly right? For me you need, fast, physical guys with excellent handling/ vision/ reading of the game. A good few 1/2p’s would do the Lions fine :D

In other Lions picks… it would be a real shame for Hook to not be included and waste all that natural talent. Again, he we probably be the victim of his versatility but could be vital providing injury cover throughout the tour.

I’d also love to see some of the English non-international flyers included and some of the guys playing in France currently snubbed by their national side. Whenever I’ve watched Lee B he seems to be playing well but admittedly I haven’t watched too much French rugby this season…

Just found the telling off of all 30 players… Owens starts with “look, I’m not going to make a big deal out of this.. ” :D

Also, didn’t he once have a comically large mobile phone to call up the TMO?

It is easy to criticize but what is the STW massif’s consensus on the better refs around at the moment?

They have a very tough job and are left to lots of interpretation but none the less…

Owens stands out as very fair and consistent for me. Granted he has been known to do some daft things like call all 30 players in to a huddle and ask them to play nicely but still… :D

Seems Walsh has a history of “England hating” which is nice :)

Granted Wales have not lit the 6N on fire either but the way the forwards played yesterday must be very encouraging. Before the 6N no-one really wanted the ball and they lacked any real physicality and hence the team as a whole really struggled. Yesterday was the complete opposite of that and the England pack today seemed to be playing like Wales before the 6N! Italy did well to give them a real hard time and just lacked that extra bit of class to get the win.

Certainly England’s to lose. You would have to expect a tight game or Wales folding completely. Wales as run away winners against England seems highly unlikely regardless of how England have been so far.

Edit: By the way, who is refereeing England Wales? I seem to remember it is Owens but that would be daft…

The Italians must also be annoyed with being given very little penalty advantage which usually resulting in England regaining possession bizarely whereas England were allowed to play for much long, get over the gain line many times yet still come back for their original penalty. Not that is really made much difference as Italy still need a goal kicker.

I don’t think anyone should be too shocked by England today. They have not played well and have offered very little in attack throughout the 6N but have got through games by being the least bad, bad team in the game and have had a lot of help with Farrel’s goal kicking…

No way worth risking it for you or for anyone else!

Soul “Kozak” to be very pedantic :D

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

Good to hear about some real world use. I’m sure they are more than fine but a little reassurance doesn’t hurt to overcome the mental issues I seem to have :D

Even more way of Exotic after seeing several other products fail. I always wonder if these and Mt Zoom, Kinesis come from the same factory…

The price tag is the appealing part but also the thing that puts some doubt in my mind. I have other Mt Zoom stuff too but can’t figure out how a smaller, lesser know company can produce light, safe bars at that price when Easton et al can’t compete on weight (price is of course understandable given the brand name)…

Good spot, I hadn’t considered the Kinesis bars. Again, cheap and very light… I am a little wary though :?