Re: The Rugby Thread

**Boxtyeater** Wed Jun 26, 2013 10:50 pm

Reality wrote:CAnavan wdn't lace Gooch's boots. Disgustin and offensive to compare them in same breath. Outside Tyrone Canavan not even in people's top 10 players. Ridiculous bias. Cooper far, far superior in every way.

You're watching too much telly Kiddo. The ad where Gooch's boots go on fire while you guess his top score in an A/I final is wrecking your head.
Has he scored as much as Canavan in an A/I final out of interest.....

The Rugby Thread - Page 25 Clamp10

**bald eagle** Wed Jul 03, 2013 6:46 am

BOD dropped from the panel for the final Lions test, shocking decision in my book! A.W. Jones named captain.

**Thomas Clarke** Wed Jul 03, 2013 9:02 am

bald eagle wrote:BOD dropped from the panel for the final Lions test, shocking decision in my book! A.W. Jones named captain.

To be fair, O'Driscoll is 34, and hasn't exactly set the tour on fire. He has had 2 cracks at it so far in the tests, and done little of note in either. The Lions have only scored 2 tries in 2 test matches, and Gatland probably felt that he needed to try something different (i.e. Roberts' power). Between the Lions and 6 nations, O'Driscoll hasn't scored a try in his last 6 tests, which is not great for an outside centre. Also, only 3-4 players will have started in all 3 test matches, so perhaps fatigue/freshness also came into the equation. or maybe it was the familiarity between the 2 Welshmen.

I agree that it is a brave call and not necessarily one that I'd have made but, based on form, I wouldn't call it shocking.

JCluxton Wed Jul 03, 2013 10:37 am

Seems a bit strange but if you don't start BOD at this stage there is no point in having him on bench so I understand that part. But he has had a very good partnership with Roberts in the past and I would have thought that should have been the starting centre pairing. O'Driscoll is far better defensively than Davies who was badly culpable for the crucial and only try last Saturday. BOD has been as good as any this tour defensively and at the breakdown and its hard to show offensively with the rugby Gatland has the Lions playing. Some are suggesting this goes back to Gats time with Ireland but I think that's nonsense. I also think Heaslip has been hard done by as he has been prominent in both Tests to date.

So Gatland goes with 10 Welshmen who are 0-6 v Oz in recent years - gulp! I'm sure the English press will be impressed with their 2 reps! Strange stuff and Gatland in for some backlash if they lose ... and maybe even if they win!

**bald eagle** Wed Jul 03, 2013 10:46 am

I can see the point of familarity between players TC, however the fact that the Welsh are 0-6 against the Aussies since the last World Cup would be a worry. BOD has not missed a tackle in the series and none of the backs did much in the last test against the Aussies, he just seems to be the main one bearing the brunt.

That said, i lost a lot of interest in this tour when Shane Williams was brought back for a one off, but i bet Boxty's loving it!!

**Thomas Clarke** Wed Jul 03, 2013 10:59 am

bald eagle wrote:I can see the point of familarity between players TC, however the fact that the Welsh are 0-6 against the Aussies since the last World Cup would be a worry. BOD has not missed a tackle in the series and none of the backs did much in the last test against the Aussies, he just seems to be the main one bearing the brunt.

That said, i lost a lot of interest in this tour when Shane Williams was brought back for a one off, but i bet Boxty's loving it!!

I wouldn't worry too much about all the Welshmen, BE. At the end of the day, Gatland has won 2 Grand Slams with them, and they are the current 6 nations champions.

England, who finished 2nd in the table will feel most aggrieved at having only 2 starters, but their hammering by Wales when going for the Grand Slam has cost them badly. Ireland had a shocking tournament, and finished with a loss to Italy. They have done well to get 3 on the team, and were perhaps lucky to have 4 last week.

I see a lot of people saying that Gatland is biased and that his selection was personal, but I don't believe a word of that. Wales have most of the best players among the 4 nations, and Gatland has picked a team that he thinks can win. It may not have been the side that everyone else would have gone for, but his record as a coach has earned him the privilege to choose who he wants.

O'Driscoll has been an outstanding player, but he's also not the player he was a few years ago. Tough call but, for me, not an outrageous one.

**Thomas Clarke** Wed Jul 03, 2013 2:20 pm

One of the best of these videos...

**Boxtyeater** Fri Jul 05, 2013 9:14 pm

What's this all about, I thought the rogbee season was over. A Test series wha!! Get out of it..

So BOD is dropped. Had to come at some stage I suppose, but opting for brawn over brain is the selectors choice. This must be win at any cost and therefore they should have gone for Ray Gravell in the center.

A marketing exercise, cleverly luring in jennets who buy into this "sport". Any ball related game, where the plan is to keep said ball hidden for 80/90% of the time is surely not a sport.

**OMAR** Fri Jul 05, 2013 10:19 pm

Boxtyeater wrote:What's this all about, I thought the rogbee season was over. A Test series wha!! Get out of it..

So BOD is dropped. Had to come at some stage I suppose, but opting for brawn over brain is the selectors choice. This must be win at any cost and therefore they should have gone for Ray Gravell in the center.

A marketing exercise, cleverly luring in jennets who buy into this "sport". Any ball related game, where the plan is to keep said ball hidden for 80/90% of the time is surely not a sport.

Boxty with inside knowledge of Donegals August game plan

**Boxtyeater** Fri Nov 22, 2013 9:34 pm

It's the closed season for inter-county, so I'm proposing a mild venture into the world of "spread-betting".
Over three weekends, the punter with the lowest winning total over the duration, wins Emmet's tome. **

Weekend One:

Rogbee: The differential between the sides in the weekend international (Irl V NZ).

Boxtyeaters prediction: 22.

** These predictions/speculations may not always involve sporting events. It's a variable feast.

**Thomas Clarke** Sat Nov 23, 2013 12:28 am

I think you are a tad high, Boxty. Ireland will be a bit better this week, and NZ aren't at full strength. I'll say 20 points, pulling up.

**OMAR** Sat Nov 23, 2013 6:17 pm

Bookies have this at 20
I'll go 26

**Thomas Clarke** Mon Nov 25, 2013 12:18 am

Ireland
'Devastated';
'Toughest loss in history';
'This is the lowest point of my career';
'Will take the players a long time to get over this defeat';
'Sexton will never be able to forget that miss';
'Robbed of greatest chance ever to beat the All Blacks'.

New Zealand
Rested half of their first 15, and still had enough spirit to win a friendly at the end of a long season, 12,000 miles from home.

Now, for a real game that actually meant something, and with an equally good finish, you should have been watching this on Saturday…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/25066320

**bocerty** Mon Nov 25, 2013 4:42 pm

Thomas Clarke wrote:Ireland
'Devastated';
'Toughest loss in history';
'This is the lowest point of my career';
'Will take the players a long time to get over this defeat';
'Sexton will never be able to forget that miss';
'Robbed of greatest chance ever to beat the All Blacks'.

New Zealand
Rested half of their first 15, and still had enough spirit to win a friendly at the end of a long season, 12,000 miles from home.

Now, for a real game that actually meant something, and with an equally good finish, you should have been watching this on Saturday…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/25066320

rested half of their first 15 - a tad harsh TC - that team would still beat most others in the world.

As for watching the Rugby League game, whatever arguments there are for Union not being a sport the League schite is even less so

**Thomas Clarke** Mon Nov 25, 2013 5:16 pm

bocerty wrote:
rested half of their first 15 - a tad harsh TC - that team would still beat most others in the world.

As for watching the Rugby League game, whatever arguments there are for Union not being a sport the League schite is even less so

Irrespective of how strong they still are, they did rest half their first 15 Boc - 7 changes from the side who beat England, including their best player (Carter).

Each to their own, but I think that League is a great game. It is much faster than Union and has far less faffing around with collapsing scrums and crooked line-outs. Union started to change several years ago to become more like league but, in my opinion, it still has some way to go to rival it for intensity and excitement.

**bocerty** Mon Nov 25, 2013 9:48 pm

Thomas Clarke wrote:
bocerty wrote:
rested half of their first 15 - a tad harsh TC - that team would still beat most others in the world.

As for watching the Rugby League game, whatever arguments there are for Union not being a sport the League schite is even less so
Irrespective of how strong they still are, they did rest half their first 15 Boc - 7 changes from the side who beat England, including their best player (Carter).

Each to their own, but I think that League is a great game. It is much faster than Union and has far less faffing around with collapsing scrums and crooked line-outs. Union started to change several years ago to become more like league but, in my opinion, it still has some way to go to rival it for intensity and excitement.

have to say TC i detest the game of league - being pulled to the ground and 3-4 men lying on you as long as they possibly can and then repeating this process for 6 tackles - mind numbing stuff as far as i am concerned.

Quick question on the subject TC (i could google but i'll ask the question anyway) when did Sonny Bill Williams make the move to Rugby league and is it only for this tournament or what was his thinking there? His faux pas against Samoa earlier in the tournament was a bit embarrassing for him......

Heard he was a pretty useful boxer in his day too and could have made it in that sport too.

**Thomas Clarke** Mon Nov 25, 2013 10:53 pm

bocerty wrote:
Thomas Clarke wrote:
bocerty wrote:
rested half of their first 15 - a tad harsh TC - that team would still beat most others in the world.

As for watching the Rugby League game, whatever arguments there are for Union not being a sport the League schite is even less so
Irrespective of how strong they still are, they did rest half their first 15 Boc - 7 changes from the side who beat England, including their best player (Carter).

Each to their own, but I think that League is a great game. It is much faster than Union and has far less faffing around with collapsing scrums and crooked line-outs. Union started to change several years ago to become more like league but, in my opinion, it still has some way to go to rival it for intensity and excitement.
have to say TC i detest the game of league - being pulled to the ground and 3-4 men lying on you as long as they possibly can and then repeating this process for 6 tackles - mind numbing stuff as far as i am concerned.

Quick question on the subject TC (i could google but i'll ask the question anyway) when did Sonny Bill Williams make the move to Rugby league and is it only for this tournament or what was his thinking there? His faux pas against Samoa earlier in the tournament was a bit embarrassing for him......

Heard he was a pretty useful boxer in his day too and could have made it in that sport too.

Sonny Bill started in league - I recall him playing for the Canterbury Bulldogs while still a teenager. He moved to union for a load of money a few years ago, to ensure that he would be ready for the 2011 world cup in NZ. He moved back to league this year on a 1 year deal again, no doubt, with the RL world cup in mind. After Carter & McCaw, he is the biggest star in NZ rugby.

Yes indeed, he is also supposedly a decent boxer, but has shelved his heavyweight career until he finishes playing rugby. Just a freakishly good athlete.

**Thomas Clarke** Fri Nov 29, 2013 2:29 pm

Here you go Boc - BBC sport website today. General consensus is that League is faster and has more passing/ball skills - even Guscott prefers it! I doubt it will convert you, but its still an interesting comparison between the games...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/25124313

**bocerty** Fri Nov 29, 2013 3:44 pm

interesting reading TC and some of the differences between the two codes are very interesting - especially the fitness end of things.

its just an opinion i have had on League and have held if for many a year - probably haven't watched enough down through the years to change that opinion either.

**Boxtyeater** Fri Nov 29, 2013 10:34 pm

bocerty wrote:
its just an opinion i have and have held for many a year - probably haven't watched enough down through the years to change that opinion either.

Classic Bocerty........ The Rugby Thread - Page 25 Smiley10

We've gathered that over the years Boc old buddy. Excuse the edit..

**Boxtyeater** Fri Nov 29, 2013 10:41 pm

[quote="Boxtyeater"]It's the closed season for inter-county, so I'm proposing a mild venture into the world of "spread-betting".
Over three weekends, the punter with the lowest winning total over the duration, wins Emmet's tome. **

Weekend 2.

Three football club finals on (Munster, Leinster & Ulster).

The total points differential please in the winning scores. A draw would make a balls of it of course.

I'll go for 14.

**Thomas Clarke** Fri Nov 29, 2013 11:08 pm

Here, what's going on? There's already a separate contest for Emmet's book.

I've been burnt once before on here when a prize (Florida villa) was promised and then reneged upon.

**Boxtyeater** Sat Nov 30, 2013 12:20 am

Thomas Clarke wrote:Here, what's going on? There's already a separate contest for Emmet's book.

I've been burnt once before on here when a prize (Florida villa) was promised and then reneged upon.

What's wrong with you, you're leading as it is:

Thos Clarke: -20
Boxtyeater: -22
OMAR: -26

Please keep up. It's not as if you're one of the others who post here on an adhoc basis. On that note, can one
imagine hurling guru's excitement this weekend...

**Thomas Clarke** Sat Nov 30, 2013 12:58 am

The bookie have it at 14 also, Boxty, so I'd say you'll be very close. I'll edge slightly under, as Crokes may not fire quite as well as most think. 12 for me.

**Boxtyeater** Sat Nov 30, 2013 1:10 am

Thomas Clarke wrote:The bookie have it at 14 also, Boxty, so I'd say you'll be very close. I'll edge slightly under, as Crokes may not fire quite as well as most think. 12 for me.

I'm expecting Cratloe to give them their fill of it tbh. Doughty fighters, well drilled and bulling for scalps.
Cratloe 8/1 outright and +8 on the handicap. Podge Collins to star......

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