Rugby: A New Dawn

[williamjm]

2 hours ago, ljkeane said:

It wasn't just a good game it was a fantastic game. Good to see after a largely disappointing championship.

In some ways it's a pity it wasn't the final game of the championship that it should have been because that would have made a great finale to the tournament.

If I'm reading the table correctly I think France need to beat Scotland with four tries and by more than 20 points to win the championship. I wouldn't put it past them to manage that, but although I think France are the clear favourites to win the match Scotland have not usually been losing games by large margins in recent times.

[Padraig]

The best Irish performance in 2.5 years.  Its good but it also asks even more questions.  Can we go forward now or just slip back to being where we have been over the last 2 years?  The other matches we played didn't inspire (although, we weren't bad.  Just average).  Hope is good though.

[ljkeane]

Credit to Scotland, that was a great win. Wins at Twickenham and in Paris is a decent return from this championship for them. They'll be regretting that loss to Wales even more now though.

A real lack of composure from France though. They had a number of opportunities in Scotland territory that they let slip by trying to force things. They're pretty clearly the most talented team at the moment, they need to be doing a bit better than coming close to winning Six Nations titles.

[williamjm]

54 minutes ago, ljkeane said:

A real lack of composure from France though. They had a number of opportunities in Scotland territory that they let slip by trying to force things. They're pretty clearly the most talented team at the moment, they need to be doing a bit better than coming close to winning Six Nations titles.

The bit where they steal the ball after 80 minutes while leading and then somehow manage to concede a penalty rather than kicking it off the field was not their finest moment.

It was a good match, lots of swings in momentum where one team or other were on top for a period before it shifted the other way. I was convinced Scotland had messed up by not kicking penalties with 10 minutes to go (I can understand in the last couple of minutes when it would have probably lead to a draw) but they did manage to pull it off at the last minute.

[ljkeane]

So the Lions squad for South Africa has been announced. Quite a few surprises in there I'd say. A lot of previously penciled in England players missing out on the back of a poor Six Nations isn't a huge shock but the actual make up of the squad still looks a bit strange to me.

The big bolter is Sam Simmonds picked on domestic form. He probably does deserve it on form but I'm a little surprised Gatland's gone with a smaller pacy eight who plays in the outside channels. No Sexton's a bit of surprise given how well he played in the Six Nations but I suppose fitness is a factor. The big surprise/concern is the centres for me though no Slade, Davies or Ringrose leaves it looking very pedestrian.

Pretty good for the Scots though with their best representation in a long time on the back of their good Six Nations. Even with that though Jonny Hill ahead of Gray is a little bit of a headscratcher. 

[Which Tyler]

Izzy Folau to sign for Biarritz!
https://tinyurl.com/47ank8ce

 

And it turns out that the Henry Slade has caught Exeter's growing Covidiot infestation
https://tinyurl.com/2mddsdyf

 

[ljkeane]

23 hours ago, Which Tyler said:

Izzy Folau to sign for Biarritz!
https://tinyurl.com/47ank8ce

 Very good. I thought you were serious and was going to say is he not going to sue the NRL to try and force them to let him play anymore.

23 hours ago, Which Tyler said:

And it turns out that the Henry Slade has caught Exeter's growing Covidiot infestation
https://tinyurl.com/2mddsdyf

 

He has walked it back a little bit but it’s not a great look.

[Which Tyler]

8 hours ago, ljkeane said:

He has walked it back a little bit but it’s not a great look.

He has, he's said he'll look at it when he gets offered the vaccine. Which, as a diabetic would have been some time around early March.

He's an antivax idiot, playing for a team with several antivax idiots, who's rowing it back duento backlash, including from the charity he was supposed to be promoting

[ljkeane]

Controversial end to the Leicester Bristol game yesterday with Pat Lam trying to pull a fast one saying Afoa was injured, changing his mind when they realised they'd have to go down to 13 then Afoa coming on and winning a scrum against the head. All good fun.

I do think Leicester are building quite well under Steve Borthwick. I think they'll be good next season.

South Africa have named their preliminary squad for the Lions tour. The only real surprise I can see in there is Lood De Jager considering he's got a broken leg.

[ljkeane]

Looks like Alun Wyn Jones might have broken his arm or wrist about five minutes into the game against Japan. Not the best of starts for the Lions.

Other than that I think Biggar has looked pretty decent at 10 and it was a good finish from Adam’s for his try. Japan, understandably, look a bit rusty. Given how much accuracy and cohesion is required to pull off their usual high tempo game that’s hurting them.

ETA: Decent run out for the Lions in the end. Biggar was good. There aren’t really any stand out midfield options for me, which is a bit of a concern, but that does mean good performances can really help players win a test spot. Another position that’s a bit up in the air is six and Beirne was another to have a good game.

Far better second half from Japan too. Himeno makes a big difference to them.

Edited June 26, 2021 by ljkeane

[ljkeane]

So I didn't watch the Premiership Final last night because I was watching the football but I caught up with it this morning ans that was definitely the wrong decision. Great game, I think that's the best game in a final I can think of. Harlequins have been so fun to watch this year and it's good to see it end up with a trophy. It's not like Exeter were bad either.

In general I think Devoto should definitely be England's 12 at this point. Smith should be a lot closer to being England's flyhalf than he appears to be too.

On the Lions front Alun Wyn Jones dislocated his shoulder and is out of the tour. Tipuric is out too. I'm really not convinced by the replacements though with Adam Beard and Navidi called up as replacements and Conor Murray the new captain. Navidi's fine to be fair but Beard would be a fair way down the pecking order for me (Gray or Ryan would be the obvious choices) and I'm not really sure Murray should be a nailed on starter at the moment.

[Hereward]

Yeah, I didn’t watch it until yesterday evening either. Totally amazing game. As a London Irish fan, and man of discernment and taste,  I’m required to loath Quins, but hell, that was some performance.

Edited June 27, 2021 by Hereward

[Consigliere]

Training session for the Springboks was cancelled today after three players tested positive for Covid-19. As of now, the match against Georgia is still expected to go ahead and word is the Lion's tour is unlikely to be affected. Things could change though as South Africa is currently in the midst of a big third wave with the delta variant fast becoming dominant in the country.

[Hereward]

I don’t think the tour will happen. Which I don’t mind, as, despite being a massive fan of tradition, I loath the Lions concept.

Edited June 27, 2021 by Hereward

[ljkeane]

1 hour ago, Hereward said:

I don’t think the tour will happen. Which I don’t mind, as, despite being a massive fan of tradition, I loath the Lions concept.

I don't know. Obviously it's going to have to be behind closed doors now but we've managed to get through most sporting events in this country while covid has been spreading pretty wildly. So long as they manage the bubbles well it should be able to go ahead.

There being cases in the South African squad isn't ideal but I'd think they've been coming into camp over the last week or so so that doesn't necessarily mean there's been problems with their protocols so far.

[ljkeane]

A decent warm up game for the Springboks last night I thought. The Georgians fronted up and didn't make it easy for South Africa even if they did run out of steam a little after the yellow in the first half and towards the end of the second half. Looking forward to the prospects for the Lions series the Springbok maul continues to look good and the scrum too when Malherbe's on the pitch. Le Roux was solid under the high ball at the back too which you'd think might be key against a Gatland side.

In the big Lions vs Lions game today the British and Irish Lions have gone with pretty much the guys who didn't play in the Japan game. Lawes at six is interesting, if Gatland's happy he can cover both six and second he's probably looking pretty good for a place in test match squads.

In non Lions news the format of the Premiership is changing with the league going up to 14 teams, so no relegation again next year. After that it'll be a playoff between the bottom side in the Premiership and the top side in the Championship to determine promotion and relegation.

[Which Tyler]

Some of those americans look decidedly uncomfortable (or possibly just confused) applauding a single-payer healthcare system

[ljkeane]

The 6-2 split on the bench for no apparent reason, with three backrows bizarrely too, is working out well for England then. Eddie Jones just can’t help himself from trying something clever at every opportunity.

[ljkeane]

On 6/27/2021 at 9:22 PM, Hereward said:

I don’t think the tour will happen.

So my confidence on this front has gone down with the South Africa and Georgia game off due to cases in both camps, the Bulls-Lions game off and a couple of cases in the Lions camp yesterday. We'll have to see how it goes I suppose.

Anyway, in the game itself against the Sharks I did think a few people stuck their hands up. Cowan-Dickie chopping people down in defence the way he was won't have done his chances any harm at all. Going into the tour I didn't really see Van der Merwe or Adams in the mix for test starts but they've both been really good and I wasn't thinking of Daly in the centres but he's been excellent. On the downside I'd think the Lions would really like to play Vunipola because he's so good around the park but his scrummaging is a concern. Conceding a couple of scrum penalties wasn't ideal.

Outside of the Lions the Australia France game was fun but error strewn. Against a fairly second string France side the Wallabies really shot themselves in the foot to go down a couple of tries then France managed to throw it away in the end by not just kicking the ball out after 80 minutes to win the game.

[ithanos]

I only watched the extended highlights of that Eng vs USA 4th of July game, but I can already see the impact the USMLR (of which I've been watching quite a bit of highlights from this season) is beginning to have. Great potential there if the USA and Canada get regular meaningful test-level matches against 1st tier nations (even if its the 2nd string teams from those nations). And of this particular occasion - will it become a regular fixture? I I mean, what better way for the US to celebrate their independence than with an opportunity to match up (and maybe one day in a possible future defeat) the primary nation they they gained independence from .