22-02-2005 16:55									#451
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations

quote: Originally posted by Havak Duncan Bell? Well how can one put this politely? Duncan is something of an old fashioned tight head. Solid as a bull - including inside the cranium. There was never any chance his try to be Welsh would work (it was only on residency anyway)

But he obviously didn't fancy his chances of being selected again. Then again, even his thick head probably couldn't have contemplated the number of injuries.

quote: I never thought England would struggle in the front row but with White, Vickery, Woodman and Flatman all injured the resources are getting a bit scarce unless you start looking at youngsters.

I'm willing to lend you Matt Dunning for the occasion. *cue the guffaw smilies*

quote: Looking back the tour from hell was less scary than the current situation. We knew in 98 that a core of superb world class players were waiting to pop back in for the autumn games. Okay now we have a lot of injured boys that could return - but we also have a coach who impersonates an Ostrich. I am far more worried now than I was in 98 - a lot of good work could be wasted unless Robinson is canned quickly.

And, in addition, the currently injured - well, apart from one of them - aren't really in the class of those missing from the Tour From Hell.

quote: Tigers chairman also launched a blistering attack on Cotton over the player access comments by the way - essentially saying when things go right the RFU takes all the credit (i.e. RWC) but when things go wrong they always blames the clubs. There are legs in this disagreement yet.

Yes, but it's the same old thing. Nothing ever gets settled. Not that it's ever likely to be.

quote: Barkeley and Paul have both passed fitness tests - I'm really crossing my fingers that the coach has the courage to pick Smith as a starter - if he doesn't I suspect I am not the only one who will want his head for that alone. Then again it doesn;t matter who he puts on the bench - he only ever uses a scrummie and one straight wing replacement from the seven. Did I say I think he is tactically inept?

It's going to take an admission from him - without having to say it - that he's got it wrong thus far. I wonder whether someone will tap him on the shoulder and tell him to get it right. Or, at least, better than what it has been.

Interesting that Eddie's protege from the last NH tour - young Hoiles, the backrower - who is fit and raring to go, hasn't made the Waratahs 22 for the first S12 match. Debutants preferred in his place. They outshone him in the trial matches. Mmmmm. Never been a big fan of trial form, m'self. Trials are trials are trials.

	22-02-2005 17:25									#452
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

Finbar, I am just coming back from the post office where I have picked up the History of Rugby video tape. I am currently on holiday for the week and this is will be a good occasion to practice my speaking English.

Havak, if you want me to send you the tape after I have watched it I need your address.

	23-02-2005 05:03									#453
	Increase the size of your Attachments

quote: Originally posted by Tamerlin Finbar, I am just coming back from the post office where I have picked up the History of Rugby video tape. I am currently on holiday for the week and this is will be a good occasion to practice my speaking English.

I posted it - air mail - on January 28th! What sort of flying machines does the French Post Office use? M'sieur Bleriot's discards?!

quote: Havak, if you want me to send you the tape after I have watched it I need your address.

I think he said he's seen it. Added to which, the tape contains some of England's very few Glory Days from the past. When they had coaches with IQs higher than their shoe sizes. He might not be able to cope with the memories.

	23-02-2005 05:27									#454
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

England: J Robinson (Sale Sharks, capt); M Cueto (Sale Sharks), J Noon (Newcastle), O Barkley (Bath), J Lewsey (Wasps); C Hodgson (Sale Sharks), H Ellis (Leicester); G Rowntree (Leicester), S Thompson (Northampton), M Stevens (Bath), D Grewcock (Bath), B Kay (Leicester), J Worsley (Wasps), L Moody (Leicester), M Corry (Leicester).
Replacements : A Titterrell (Sale Sharks), D Bell (Bath), S Borthwick (Bath), A Hazell (Gloucester), M Dawson (Wasps), A Goode (Leicester), O Smith (Leicester).

He squibbed it.

	23-02-2005 13:30									#455
	Remove this text

Jamie ******* Noon over Smith again???

Steve Thompson starting?

God this coach is dumb - I can't wait for him to get sacked!! It cannot come soon enough now

	23-02-2005 13:51									#456
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

Don't make such a fuss Havak, it could be worse for you: there are 2 of the 5 Bath players who start on the bench.

	23-02-2005 14:16									#457
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

Yes but neither Bath Lock should even be there Robinson stands rightly accused of picking favourites rather than on form. The props are out of necessity although I would personally have picked Holford from Tigers rather than more Bath inadequates.

And Ireland has the best line out in the 6N. Anyone who thinks Thompson is the man to throw to that is a deranged lunatic IMHO.

I've said before that I think the coach is desperate to get sacked as soon as possible - this squad in another step towards his aim.

Smith is the best young English Centre in a generation - and has sat by whilst a child and then a journeyman occupy his slot - he now sits on the bench whilst that same journeyman starts against the mercurial O'Driscoll.

There's no sense in this - the only conclusion that can be drawn is that Robinson is incapable of being a number one - though he is definitely a prime piece of number two as far as I am concerned.

	23-02-2005 16:31									#459
	Get a bigger avatar today!

I might make it as a writer yet.

	23-02-2005 16:56									#460
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

quote: Originally posted by finbar I posted it - air mail - on January 28th! What sort of flying machines does the French Post Office use? M'sieur Bleriot's discards?!

The package actually arrive almost two weeks ago but could not be delivered as I was not at home when the postman came. I had to wait until I was on holiday to go to the post office and pick it up.

	23-02-2005 18:01									#461
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

If you waited two weeks here before going to pick it up it would have been returned to sender.

	23-02-2005 18:03									#462
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization III: Complete

quote: Originally posted by Havak If you waited two weeks here before going to pick it up it would have been returned to sender.

It would have been returned to the sender today...

	24-02-2005 04:59									#463
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

quote: Originally posted by Havak I might make it as a writer yet.

Especially as a children's writer. They love number ones and number twos material.

	24-02-2005 05:02									#464
	Inflate your Upload Space

quote: Originally posted by Tamerlin The package actually arrive almost two weeks ago but could not be delivered as I was not at home when the postman came. I had to wait until I was on holiday to go to the post office and pick it up.

You should probably fast-forward through the first couple of episodes. The English rugby stuff.

	24-02-2005 05:43									#465
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

They devoted a whole 2 episodes to English rugby?

In other news it seems that the previous AB coach is a strong potential candidate for coaching the new WA S12 franchise.
While I don't think this is necessarily such a bad thing, Mr Mitchell has come out trumpetting the party line about any and all players taking the field being eligible for Wallaby selection, hence has discounted any possibility of recruiting from anywhere but the local pubs and the shallow pool of disheartened lifelong-bench-sitters from some of the other Australian teams.
Throw this into the mix with the delays in appointing personnel, the general shambles that is the whole franchise and the current recruitment effort (which, to date, seems to rely solely on the evident attractions (evident to whom I won't go into) of living in Perth as a 'lifestyle choice' rather than anything as solid as comparable financial remuneration) and I can see why the Cats are so enthusiastic about their upcoming next few seasons.
Only the hope that the squabbles in the RSA about their new club will save WA now.
Sigh.

	24-02-2005 07:14									#466
	Get a bigger avatar today!

It's not looking overly t'riffic over there, is it? Most of the worthwhile players who were off-contract with the other franchises, who were seen as possible recruits, have re-signed with their franchises. The delayed search for (a) a CEO and (b) a coach seems to have cost them valuable recruiting time.

	24-02-2005 13:47									#467
	Increase Your PM Length

I would have liked to have seen Finbar’s face if the package came back to him.

quote: Especially as a children's writer. They love number ones and number twos material.

Does it pay well?

quote: They devoted a whole 2 episodes to English rugby?

Wait until you get to the episode about Rugby moving south across the globe and becoming League in all but name. And then there is the episode devoted entirely to the different offside laws that apply to black shirts.

Do I have any sympathy for the plight of the new Aussie franchise? About as much as the average Aussie has for England right now.

It seems pretty obvious – even with their playing depth NZ have at least two lame duck franchises making up the numbers – so why would Australia think they can do any better?

Would you like some more proof Robinson is out his depth? Moody is a slight doubt for Sunday with an infected finger – so CHRIS JONES has been drafted in as cover.

	24-02-2005 14:01									#468
	Got spare money?

Havak,
It could be worse:
A proposal for the English 15 with a rationale for each player:
15 Lewsey - see #10 for explanation
14 Cueto - honeslty I don't know the English wingers a lot
13 O Barkley - Bath
12 Tait - that young talent
11 Daniel - a Bath winger who hasn't been playing for long due to a back injury looks like a promising player.
10 J Robinson (capt) he's too far to be captain as a 15 so here, nearer to the pack, he'll weight more on the game
9 M Dawson - the most experienced player
8 Kay - he's not a #8 and Havak can't say there's no Leicester player in the team.
7 Worsley - Bath
6 Sanderson - Sale
5 Grewcock - clearly the better lock
4 Borthwick - for his previous performances, Bath
3 Stevens - Bath
2 Thompson - for his throws
1 Bell - Bath, better to have props used to play together
Replacements: Pick 1 forward from Bath and 1 back from Bath, the rest from Leicester. Don't coach. If a forward is hurt, the Bath player comes in. If a back is hurt, send in the Bath back.

Now ponder this, Havak, and rejoice.

(I had to research a bit the Bath players and put one more from Sale for good measure)

	24-02-2005 15:17									#469
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

Zapped him better than I ever could!

	24-02-2005 16:13									#470
	Help yourself to an AD-FREE life

Thats so good I'm not even going to correct the club errors within it.

*edit* Look up the news on how Matt Williams has had the video ref canned from his next game - top class whiny stuff from the Scotland coach! What nationality is Williams again?

Last edited by Havak on 24-02-2005 at 16:28

	24-02-2005 17:05									#471
	Support Apolyton, buy Call to Power 2

Matt Williams, Scotland coach, you mean the guy who let one of his coaching team catch the ball when it went into the lineout, preventing Valbon from playing it during the match against France? That is the same whiner?

	24-02-2005 18:06									#472
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

That's the man.

He has a lot to say about the game with France as well - you know that decision where they scored a try but got called back for a foot in touch? Guess if he thinks that player was in touch?

	25-02-2005 03:25									#473
	Increase Your PM Length

Oh well, I suppose Havak has to keep himself amused while his team plays like crap and loses. And LDiCesares, too, except his team plays like crap and wins.

	25-02-2005 08:31									#474
	Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

Care to have a go at picking a British Lions team as well?

	25-02-2005 09:32									#475
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

On exposed form - 80% Irish, 20% Welsh.

S12 gets underway here in Sydney tonight. Waratahs -v- Chiefs. Today, it's 29 C and about 85% humidity. I wouldn't want to be playing rugby tonight.

	25-02-2005 13:31									#476
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

But my team isn't playing like crap and losing - my team is Tigers and they are 12 points clear at the top of the league (you might remember leagues - it is what rugby had before Murdoch bought the SH and started that pseudo compo you start playing today).

My national side are World Champions - what does it matter that they are being led by a hairless chimp (and imitiating him on the field) right now?

The sad thing is as bad as they might be playing the Lions will still be 50% English. Too many positions where the Celts are really not good enough - front row, loose forwards and scrummie for starters.

	25-02-2005 16:12									#477
	Inflate your Upload Space

Recall my point about the franchises just making up the numbers? Nice to see both Highlanders and Chiefs proving my point early on.

	25-02-2005 17:31									#478
	Increase Your PM Length

quote: Originally posted by Havak But my team isn't playing like crap and losing - my team is Tigers and they are 12 points clear at the top of the league

I'd suggest putting them up against Ireland - because they couldn't do any worse than the mob who will play Ireland - but you'd get a thrill out of the suggestion.

quote: My national side are World Champions -

Yes, so we were while we were being beaten, too. Shows the meaningless of titles.

Waratahs 25 -d- Chiefs 7

Chiefs largely incompetent, Waratahs very, very good in patches. If Matt Rogers stays fit, the team will go a long way in the comp. He was quite stunning tonight. He inspires them. Interesting to see Lachie McKay, the former Australian U21 skipper, in his debut. The biggest fly half in history - 6' 2" and 16 stone. Fumbled a few, but he has a future. And it's amazing no one died tonight. It was still 25C and 81% humidity at halftime.

EDIT. And you're going to have to stop bagging the Taffys. I just heard on the World Service that a Welsh mathematician invented the equals sign - this thing = - in 1553.

	25-02-2005 20:38									#479
	Support Apolyton, buy GURPS/ Alpha Centauri

quote: Originally posted by Havak Recall my point about the franchises just making up the numbers? Nice to see both Highlanders and Chiefs proving my point early on.

Gee, I missed this post. The Highlanders didn't play too badly. They've lost a heap of their better players from last year. The Blues didn't have it easy. Possession was just about shared and the Blues won because they were more effective when they made it into the Highlanders' 22.

	25-02-2005 20:48									#480
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization 2

The mob playing Ireland has a decent core of Tigers - but it probably won't be enough.

Titles are meaningless - but more so to those who don't have them.

I was listening to Jonno on TV again the other day - and he was being hit with all the questions about how much England miss the 'invincible' Martin Johnson and he just replied in his quiet way that people seemed to forget we lost games before 2003 too - the chap is pure class in the way he fields journalists.

He also said he was talking to John (Eales) last year and Ealesy said of the media "I've become a better player every day since I retired". A clever line.

NSW - isn't that where Eddie's lad who toured got canned from the 22? Okay this is lazy as I could look back at that but it is a Friday after a business lunch so I'm cutting myself some slack.

Now why would a Welshman invent the equals sign? I know, Paris = Huge disappointment.

*edit* I see the French finance Minister, a very wealthy man, has offered his resignation when it was discovered he, his wife and their eight kiddies have been living in a luxury Paris flat at a cost to the tax payer of £9000 a month. Nice to see Politicians are the same the world over.