Rugby Union

[John Lambies Doos]

SA nilled and beaten by 57. A record surely?

 

 

[Swarley]

SA nilled and beaten by 57. A record surely?

Biggest NZ win over SA

[Savage Henry]

Australia and Argentina has been pretty stale so far, with arguably the Argies showing more ambition.  They remind me of Scotland from three or four years ago, with ambitions which exceed their abilities, and a lot of handling errors coupled with some quick thinking.

[Swarley]

Australia shit themselves whenever they see a black jersey so this kit change was a good idea by the Pumas

[John Lambies Doos]

That kings v leinster crowd. It's like a QP game in hampden. Must be about 300 people there and some of them are leinster fans

 

 

[same_ol_g35]

I take it the local fans aren't taking to the pro 14 move. Doesn't help when your teams taking tanking week in and out.

[John Lambies Doos]

Decent win for Glasgow.. played shite but ground it out.. 3 for 3!!!!

[ajwffc]

Decent win for Glasgow.. played shite but ground it out.. 3 for 3!!!!

The ref almost won it for Cardiff at the end

[John Lambies Doos]

The ref almost won it for Cardiff at the end

 

He was atrocious. Apparently a Cardiff lad threw a pint over him

 

[ajwffc]

 
He was atrocious. Apparently a Cardiff lad threw a pint over him [emoji38]
 

I think it was one of the touch judges that had the pint aimed (and got nowhere near them) at them

[John Lambies Doos]

I think it was one of the touch judges that had the pint aimed (and got nowhere near them) at them

What a fanny. Hopefully banned

[dogmc]

What a fanny. Hopefully banned

Clancy was a touch judge so it may have been excellent work! Tbf ref was pretty generous to Glasgow for 78 min then nearly screwed them at end. He was pretty inept especially at breakdown area. Neck rolls n offsides were missed all over the shop.

[honestly united]

Just caught up on the Glasgow game, was expecting an easy win after watching the Embra cardif game, but Cardiff much improved and Glasgow still not firing on all cylanders

Scrums still an issue for Glasgow, getting shunted backwards to often, and we still seems quite disjointed in open play, but still 3 wins from 3. Once it does click we are going to give someone a hiding!!

Only saw the highlights of the Embra game on the BBC website, so its hard to tell whats gone wrong but the early tries seem well work, and they look dominate. Not sure if its a case of taking the foot of the pedal, or just generally poor play, but as Cockerill has had a go at the players and not the ref, it sounds like the players will get a grilling this week, which is probably what they need.

[ajwffc]

Highlights from the weekend(mute the Edinburgh one)

 

 

[come on shire]

I was in Cardiff for the game.  Far from pretty for the 2nd away game in a row but still 3 wins on the bounce.  However, they say the mark of a good team is a side who win when not playing well. 

Even though we're at home on Friday night the bar will need to be pushed higher if we want to get a win.  However, after routine BP home wins vs Treviso and the Cheetahs, Munster's first real test was a hard fought away win at Ospreys who's only win was at home vs Zebre without managing the winning BP.

Basically, it's a massive game on Friday night and we need to win and we can win if we play far better. 

[Guest]

George Clancy just got me a Pointless answer in today's final on 2015 World Cup Referees. It appears he has his uses after all.

All referees apart from Nigel were Pointless incidentally.

[Doonhamer doon south]

On 13/09/2017 at 13:51, honestly united said:

Some interesting developments over the last few days. The announcement that the US team is a pretty much a done deal, was the worst kept secret, but I think team 16 will be interesting. You would think Canada would be the obvious choice, but they are struggling for a venue, as realistically it needs to be covered / indoor to play in winter. Canada would make sense as you could have teams double up on away trips etc.

If its not Canada then performance wise the obvious choice would be Einesy the russia team who have played in the Challenge cup the last few years, the problem is that they (along with Krasny Yar who are in the Challenge cup as well this year) are both from Krasnoyarsk. They are actually further away from Moscow than Glasgow is from Moscow. The other issue is you cant play outside from the end of October through to March, but I believe they are building an indoor arena as they are hosting the world youth witner olympics or somethign similar next year. A merger would be ideal (although that maybe wouldnt go down so well, or splitting games with either Moscow or somewhere in the west of Russia may be an option)

After that that I would have the spanish in (although the spanish union turned down the offer) just because of this 

It is my next purchase if a rugby top, and VRAC being the best team in Spain, and the actually share a ground with the other top team Silverstorm, so again a merger as one Valladolid club may be an option. They had 25,000 turn up for a Spanish cup final so there is definitely an audience there.

The other obvious 2 (notwithstanding a 3rd Scottish team) are Georgia and Germany. Georgia have the players, decent set up etc, but probably wont be able to bring the cash to the table that the Pro14 want. In terms of bringing a competitive team, having the players available etc this would be the obvious choice, but they dont have the sponsorship, the TV money etc that the Pro14 want.

A German team backed by Wilde would have the money to set up a German team, you would expect it to be in Helderberg where the majority of the current German squad are, and you would likely get a decent crowd, but you would think it would go to a big city. Germany dont have the players ready for the Pro14 yet, so you would think it would require an influx of SH players, a few Germans and probably a few others from round Europe. They may have a case if the open the team up to players from the rest of Europe.

Romania already have a fairly decent pro league, and a team in Bucarest may be an option, not as far away as Georgia, and probably at the same sort of level as Georgia and again may be able to entice a few players back from France.

 

Also read this morning regarding the new AUstralia / Pacific league. Looks like he is trying to replace the NRC in austrailia with his new league, which may be what the ARU are after as it is losing them money. You would think 6 australian teams, fiji, HK, a chinese team and another team from Japan may be a goer as a starter. Would probably sit as a level under Super Rugby (which is on shaky ground at the moment with 2020 tv deal looming) but talk of bring approx 120 players back from Europe and Japan it could be a really good standard.

I just want to comment on the last paragraph. With this new Indo/pacific league looking more and more likely I wonder if there is an opportunity for the SRU to invest in a 3Rd PRO team in this league.  The SRU could look into the formation of an exiles team that is based in the region and plays in this league and is open generally to those of Scottish ancestry. If successful it could be an excellent way of recruitment and unearthing of potential Scotland caps but also an excellent way of exposing our players to consistent Southern Hemisphere style rugby.  

 

Its a bit head in the clouds but I think its something that shouldn't be dismissed but looked at to see if its a viable and profitable option. SA have a hand in northern and southern hemisphere rugby. Its a bold step and one that could be of great benefit. Maybe we could profit from a similar venture

 

[John Lambies Doos]

Actually think Glasgow (if weather is dry) will comfortably beat Munster on Friday night.

[dogmc]

Actually think Glasgow (if weather is dry) will comfortably beat Munster on Friday night.

Will need price instead of pyrgos. Henry was a liability again in sat. I'd have either Niko or Horne covering bench. Finn has looked out of sorts without toony mentoring him. Don't think finn suits an overly structured game (something cotter never really got to grips with). It being Munster the ref is also huge. They were lost in the finals with Scarlets m Glasgow because Owens didn't let them sit offside or flop off their feet at rucks. Humphreys needs to get finger out with front row too. Was disappointed that he was moving to Glasgow as I thought he was v ordinary at Scotland with forwards at his disposal. All three games the scrum has struggled.

[Craig fae the Vale]

Would a revived Borders pro team be able to sustain a Pro14 (or whatever it'll be called next) team. In terms of support, interest etc. To me it seems a bit off that the traditional Scottish rugby heartland has no pro setup.

Not being from there I don't know if loyalty to the individual towns teams killed any potential support they had the first time round, but surely it would be worth the SRU looking into.