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Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy
Jan 1970
time: 06:24
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quote:
Originally posted by Havak
The forwards continue to dominate sides and our possession ratio tends to be superb but the backs never capitalise. We are in a way England writ small.  |
 That actually occurred to me from the way you've been talking.
quote:
Maybe he has matured. I heard his generous comments on England on the radio this morning. |
Steve Waugh, IMHO, is one of the few truly fascinating characters in sport. Genuinely painfully shy; hates fuss, particularly about and over him; a traditionalist to his socks - he insists that everyone wears their Baggy Green for the first session of a Test match when the team is fielding; plays the game as hard and tough as anyone and expects the same in return; shook Mark Butcher's hand on the field when he was batting and Butcher had declared he wasn't sure he had taken a clean catch; and genuinely respects his opponents while reserving the right to grind them into the ground. In many ways he's a throwback to Australian cricket of the 1930s and 1940s
quote:
I’m personally still in shock that they won a test down there!!! |
England played better cricket than Australia. As simple as that. Michael Vaughan's innings was stunning. It's been a privilege to watch him in action in this series. He's a batsman of the highest class. The unfortunate thing for England is that he's the only one.
Australia set themselves up for big trouble in this match by enforcing the follow on in Melbourne. Waugh was worried about forecast storms and rain and didn't want to risk batting again. That had the bowlers operating in stinking heat for 3 consecutive days with only a 2 day break before starting again in Sydney and minus McGrath. Macgill bowled 90 overs in Melbourne and was still buggered 2 days later and Gillespie started in Sydney about 60% fit and shouldn't have played at all. So enforcing the follow on came back to haunt them physically.
Then, as England had done for a lot of the series, the Australians fielded appallingly. Dropped catches cost England dearly in earlier matches, and 2 Australian dropped catches in Sydney - Butcher and Vaughan - cost 180 runs. Bad fielding is bad cricket.
And the umpiring? Incompetent. Michael Vaughan should still be batting. His LBW in the 180s was criminal. Langer and Hayden's LBW decisions in our second innings were beyond laughable. Which doesn't excuse Hayden breaking the door in the dressing room in the slightest. I'm not sure what the problem is with Zimbabwean umpires. We had one here last season who was incompetent, and now, with Umpire Tiffen, another one.
quote:
Yes I’m afraid they have picked up the ‘never walk’ bug from your lads these days. It’s really not cricket is it?  |
The point is, the umpiring was incompetent on a number of occasions. It shouldn't get down to a question of walking or otherwise.
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I’d still murder to tempt Patty Howard back though. Sky’s ‘Poido’ Stuart Barnes suggested the same thing on Saturday. |
I'm quite sure they will make enquiries, if they haven't already. I don't know how long he signed for with the Brumbies, but if he came back with the aim of a Wallaby gig, he's nowhere near the frame.
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Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy
Jan 1970
time: 06:24
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quote:
Originally posted by LDiCesare
With our current system, between 0 and 5 times!
They can meet 0 or 2 times in the first part of the championship, repeat that in the second phase, and then come the final phase.
Some teams never meet in a season. If they were all to meet one another, there would acutally be many nore matches, unless you trim the championship even more. And here we are back into money/politics, as many teams want to be in first division, even though they have little hope of winning.
But here the final of the championship is a tradition which was not built on money but really would help rugby spread. |
Mmmm. You have a very much bigger, more complicated competition with more teams to worry about. In the S12 comp, everyone plays each other twice - home and away - and then you have the top 4 teams playing off in the finals. This really is a case of a money-making exercise, because the team that finishes top, having already played every other team twice, can already, rightly, be called the champion team.
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Tamerlin
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Toulouse (South-western France)
Apr 2002
time: 06:24
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In France, final phases are played on a neutral field and the supporters travel to the town organizing the game. The travel in itself is already part of the pleasure, I can assure you that hearing at the comments of the die hard supporters is worth the trip. You can also meet and have some fun with people you are not in contact with the rest of the year.
When you reach the Stadium, a brightly colored crowd wearing the colors of their favorite team has already taken their sits, they sing supporters' songs, have fun with each others.
Then you walk to the stadium, when the supporters of the two sides meet, good natured and fun comments are the rule. When you enter the Stadium and see the crowd and hear all the noise (the songs, the drums and so on), thrills are suddenly coming from the inside and a tension slowly overflows you. As the stadium is getting full, the songs and the drums are becoming more powerful as more and more people sing, the game has already started between the supporters from the two sides. The beginning of the game is now close, supporters from both sides are often sat side by side and they exchange their point of view in a passionate debate.
In a few seconds, the players enter the field under the acclamations (and booing... ) of the crowd, the songs and the drums are at their tops. Curiously, a few seconds before the engaging kick there is a kind of silence where the tension of the crowd can almost be touched, when the referee whistles and the fly-half kicks an ovation releases the said tension with once again songs and drums at their maximum.
Then the suspense takes hold of you as you know one team will be eliminated after this game and you really hope it will be the others' team. Nothing else is more important than this game at this moment, nothing... The flow of the game is rythmed by the songs, the drums and the booing translating the hopes and the deceptions of the supporters. When the half-time comes and the players have left the field, the supporters speak together trying to gather some confidence wether their team is dominating or is dominated.
The game starts again and the tension is becoming almost unbearable towards the end of the game, especially when the teams are closed to each other. Then you reach the end of the official time, just a few minutes to wait before happiness or deception. The last hopes, the last fears and then the referee whistles and the game is over, one side's drums and supporters are celebrating their heroes of the day, the other side thanks their players for the good season that is now over for them, all in all both teams are celebrated by both sides.
Then you leave the stadium, some supporters have a smile on their face, others feel sad, supporters of both teams speak together and the winners say that next time it will be their turn.
Then the trip back home, the losers of the day are replaying the game and the occasions that have been botched but no one regrets having made the trip and they will all come next year if their team is qualified, the season is over.
The winners keep on celebrating their players all along the trip back home, the game is replayed over and over and the supporters are already thinking about the game coming next week already playing this game...
Yes, I will be here next week because nothing will be more important than this for 80 minutes, nothing...
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finbar
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Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy
Jan 1970
time: 06:24
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quote:
Originally posted by Tamerlin
In France, final phases are played on a neutral field and the supporters travel to the town organizing the game. The travel in itself is already part of the pleasure, I can assure you that hearing at the comments of the die hard supporters is worth the trip. You can also meet and have some fun with people you are not in contact with the rest of the year.
When you reach the Stadium, a brightly colored crowd wearing the colors of their favorite team has already taken their sits, they sing supporters' songs, have fun with each others.
Then you walk to the stadium, when the supporters of the two sides meet, good natured and fun comments are the rule. When you enter the Stadium and see the crowd and hear all the noise (the songs, the drums and so on), thrills are suddenly coming from the inside and a tension slowly overflows you. As the stadium is getting full, the songs and the drums are becoming more powerful as more and more people sing, the game has already started between the supporters from the two sides. The beginning of the game is now close, supporters from both sides are often sat side by side and they exchange their point of view in a passionate debate.
In a few seconds, the players enter the field under the acclamations (and booing... ) of the crowd, the songs and the drums are at their tops. Curiously, a few seconds before the engaging kick there is a kind of silence where the tension of the crowd can almost be touched, when the referee whistles and the fly-half kicks an ovation releases the said tension with once again songs and drums at their maximum.
Then the suspense takes hold of you as you know one team will be eliminated after this game and you really hope it will be the others' team. Nothing else is more important than this game at this moment, nothing... The flow of the game is rythmed by the songs, the drums and the booing translating the hopes and the deceptions of the supporters. When the half-time comes and the players have left the field, the supporters speak together trying to gather some confidence wether their team is dominating or is dominated.
The game starts again and the tension is becoming almost unbearable towards the end of the game, especially when the teams are closed to each other. Then you reach the end of the official time, just a few minutes to wait before happiness or deception. The last hopes, the last fears and then the referee whistles and the game is over, one side's drums and supporters are celebrating their heroes of the day, the other side thanks their players for the good season that is now over for them, all in all both teams are celebrated by both sides.
Then you leave the stadium, some supporters have a smile on their face, others feel sad, supporters of both teams speak together and the winners say that next time it will be their turn.
Then the trip back home, the losers of the day are replaying the game and the occasions that have been botched but no one regrets having made the trip and they will all come next year if their team is qualified, the season is over.
The winners keep on celebrating their players all along the trip back home, the game is replayed over and over and the supporters are already thinking about the game coming next week already playing this game...
Yes, I will be here next week because nothing will be more important than this for 80 minutes, nothing... |
Beautifully written, Tamerlin. I understand completely. OTOH, I still think they're largely money-making exercises.
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06-01-2003 18:12
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