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Post by eggchaserbull on May 14, 2024 13:10:19 GMT
Not second string, more like third ! I can understand certain players getting a break but that was ridiculous. Glad I didn’t pay good money to be there … Team list v Newcastle will be very interesting …. Going into a final without having played for 3 weeks doesn’t bode well. I well remember our trip to twickenham after walking the league ! Oh, yes, remember it well. The season before, Leicester had finished top of the league, Gloucester won the play offs but Leicester were deemed the champions. The following season, Gloucester win the league by 15 points, so qualify for the play off final while the other teams play off over the next 2 weekends. Wasps then hammer an undercooked Gloucester side, but Gloucester are still the champions. Aren't they? No, this time, Wasps are the champions. At least it was a sunny day at Twickenham. Perhaps rugby has always been doolally.
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Post by glawsterwhite on May 15, 2024 6:47:34 GMT
Quite so ! Cup competitions with leagues in and a knockout cup to settle a league played over a long hard season You couldn’t make it up … but someone did lol
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Post by colebridgebull on May 18, 2024 21:08:29 GMT
That was better
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Post by White Lightning on May 19, 2024 6:59:29 GMT
That statement leaves a lot of slack. 89 points or better.
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Post by eggchaserbull on May 19, 2024 15:12:12 GMT
That statement leaves a lot of slack. 89 points or better. Gloucester completed a 100% record at Kingsholm yesterday, by beating Newcastle 54 - 14. However, that's not as good as it sounds; the 100% record is Newcastle's, in that they have lost every league game this season.
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Post by glawsterwhite on May 20, 2024 9:54:09 GMT
Ecb you could spin for the tories Great to see the boys back on the bike before the final … fingers crossed .. I will be following as best I can from Portugal
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Post by eggchaserbull on May 20, 2024 10:06:36 GMT
Rugby has lost 2 legends over the weekend.
Tony O'Reilly, still the record try scorer for the Lions, with some ridiculous figure of something like 35 tries in 39 games. He also became CEO of the Heinz food company.
Also, Sid Going, scrum-half for the All Blacks in the late 60s to mid 70s. Gareth Edwards once described him as the best player he had ever played against, so that is praise enough for me to rate him as one of the greats.
RIP, Tony and Sid. Thanks for some great memories.
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Post by colebridgebull on May 24, 2024 11:58:52 GMT
Off to Tottenholm. Fingers crossed.
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Post by sortitoutwebbbull on May 24, 2024 12:04:38 GMT
Off to Tottenholm. Fingers crossed. Good luck to the Cornish Pirates tomorrow!
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Post by eggchaserbull on May 25, 2024 9:02:31 GMT
Off to Tottenholm. Fingers crossed. Hope you got back OK, if you've got back; those SA Braais in the west car park can go on late. Very good turnout of Glaws supporters. Bit of a chastening experience, with Skivs claiming once again that the players didn't play to the game plan. He may be right if the game plan did not include: Poor box kicking (too long) Poor screening when they box kicked (in fact, non-existent) Constantly taking the ball into contact against giants Poor defence Predictably using Mercer as the pivot all the time (hence Williams intercept) But it was clearly his game plan to start Balmain, who is clearly not match fit after his long layoff, to play against Ox Nche who's probably the best loosehead in the world at present. If he was going to pick Balmain, and I would have, I think it should have been on the bench to come on in the second half. Gotovtsev would have tired Nche out a lot more. Glaws were in trouble from the moment they gave penalties away at the first 4 scrums and set in the ref's mind a bias against their scrum. Having said that, I thought the first 2 he gave against JFR were actually caused by Koch not supporting his own body weight because his legs were too far back, and he pulled JFR down, not JFR hinging. Oh well, as what is Rishi Sunak's signature tune states, Things Can Only Get Better.
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Post by colebridgebull on May 25, 2024 11:06:12 GMT
Got back at 2am. That is one fabulous stadium. We had tickets (20 of us) in Block 109 which is the lower corner. Normally you wouldn’t expect the best sight lines-not so. Brilliant view.
Agree with your assessment. I was very surprised to see Balmain start. JFR and Gotovtsev have been excellent in recent weeks. Balmain is clearly not fit and was blowing very early on. Also put on a fair bit of timber during his lay off. We also struggled as we missed an enforcer in the second row. We did well in the line out but just lack the nous to do the dark arts stuff that Sharks excell in.
Much of the talk after the game surrounded whether Skivington should go. I am now rather more in that mindset. He has been particularly unlucky with injuries to key players-Val, Alemanno, Mercer, Hastings, Carreras (recently) and Englefield have all had lengthy absences, and the loss of LRZ has obviously impacted the season. Probably lost more key players than most other Prem teams. But the predictable game plans and some slightly odd tactical decisions (not least the utter shellacking at Saints) are now reflected in the increasing disquiet in the fan base.
We took something in the region of 20k fans yesterday. We deserve better.
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Post by White Lightning on May 25, 2024 11:19:48 GMT
I was driving last night, chucked 5L on and your game was on.
I understand that in football terms this was the Europa League Final. Two questions..
Why is a South African team in it? Why were they in this one and not the main competition as they were being described as some kind of team full of SA internationals. They sounded pretty menacing.
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Post by colebridgebull on May 25, 2024 13:18:40 GMT
Approximately half the Sharks team (including 4 of the front five) are World Cup winners. By contrast, none of Gloucesters starting front five are capped, and while two of the replacements do have international honours, one is with Russia, the other, Socino, has a few caps for the Pumas, but is hardly a first choice. Not a moan, but our starting no 5, Arthur Clark still an academy player, is probably 4th or 5th choice in his position, yet certainly didn’t do badly against Etzebeth who is almost certainly one of the best 2 or 3 locks in World Rugby. All good experience, if not a little chastening.
As to why SA Clubs now compete in the European competitions-it’s all about money innit. The Hollywoodbet Sharks (to give them their full name) are a provincial side from Durban much as Leinster are in Ireland. I do fear that before very long, the English game will follow suit. London, South West, Midlands and Northern regions competing with the Irish Scottish SA and probably 2 Welsh regions has a feeling of inevitability. There are benefits to players as Sharks, in common with Leinster, heavily rotate their squad. They rarely go full bore, hence their league position for the last two seasons, but when they do, there’s not many English teams who could compete. They would likely have beaten anyone with the team they put out last night, so not too despondent.
As for regionalisation, it would kill the aspect of the game I love, although Gloucester are pretty unique in the English game with a fan base probably only matched by the two big Irish “clubs” Munster and Leinster. Parochial, noisy and always travel in numbers. Not sure that would transfer.
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Post by White Lightning on May 25, 2024 13:50:38 GMT
Approximately half the Sharks team (including 4 of the front five) are World Cup winners. By contrast, none of Gloucesters starting front five are capped, and while two of the replacements do have international honours, one is with Russia, the other, Socino, has a few caps for the Pumas, but is hardly a first choice. Not a moan, but our starting no 5, Arthur Clark still an academy player, is probably 4th or 5th choice in his position, yet certainly didn’t do badly against Etzebeth who is almost certainly one of the best 2 or 3 locks in World Rugby. All good experience, if not a little chastening. As to why SA Clubs now compete in the European competitions-it’s all about money innit. The Hollywoodbet Sharks (to give them their full name) are a provincial side from Durban much as Leinster are in Ireland. I do fear that before very long, the English game will follow suit. London, South West, Midlands and Northern regions competing with the Irish Scottish SA and probably 2 Welsh regions has a feeling of inevitability. There are benefits to players as Sharks, in common with Leinster, heavily rotate their squad. They rarely go full bore, hence their league position for the last two seasons, but when they do, there’s not many English teams who could compete. They would likely have beaten anyone with the team they put out last night, so not too despondent. As for regionalisation, it would kill the aspect of the game I love, although Gloucester are pretty unique in the English game with a fan base probably only matched by the two big Irish “clubs” Munster and Leinster. Parochial, noisy and always travel in numbers. Not sure that would transfer. That is where cricket is probably heading.
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Post by glawsterwhite on May 25, 2024 15:30:28 GMT
Well I managed to watch the game in my hotel in evora, Portugal. We needed to take those chances early on really. The longer the game went on the more inevitable the result - very tough when your opponents have so many seasoned boks in the team ! Disappointed but not surprised at the outcome. I must say it was amusing to watch with Portuguese commentary .. I heard lots of references to Johnny May and Skivington but not much else really !
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Post by eggchaserbull on May 26, 2024 11:01:29 GMT
That European Cup Final, yesterday, was at another level, absolutely fantastic. It was probably at a higher level than any of this season's 6 Nations games.
I've always thought that Gareth Edwards is the best player I have ever seen, but many more performances like Antoine Dupont's, yesterday, and I may have to reassess my opinion.
Not far behind Dupont in my MoM rating was Jack Willis, he was awesome. It's England's loss that he comes under the rule that players who play abroad will not be picked for England.
I thought Matt Carley, the referee, also had a good game; after his abominable display in the Wales v Fiji world cup game I think he has had a very good season.
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Post by eggchaserbull on Jun 3, 2024 13:16:30 GMT
Another weekend and another rugby legend has gone.
RIP, Rob Burrow, a little genius who fought the dreadful MND in the same way he fought the giants he played rugby against. At Five foot five inches he was no taller than my missus, and at ten and a half stone only about a stone heavier.
A brilliant player for Leeds Rhinos and, even as small as he was, still managed to represent England and also Great Britain.
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Post by glawsterwhite on Jun 4, 2024 8:04:15 GMT
Yes very sad news indeed ecb. An incredible man who put up a hell of a fight. RIP rob
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