The Rugby Thread

[Cormack74]

I'd be surprised it it's open if the weather's poor.

Unusually for England, the scrum had issues yesterday, mainly due to a ridiculously long injury list amongst the props . . Ben Moon sometimes doesn't even make the bench at Exeter yet he was starting against the best team in the world. I don't see too many scrum problems for Ireland and whoever plays in the back row will be disruptive to NZ.

So that leaves the the line out which is key to any contest these days: if you win penalties and line outs then you get territory and points. I don't especially rate Rory Best's throwing but if he's on it, then I think the overall contest up front will go Ireland's way and if that happens they have every chance.

[Irishnev]

I'd be surprised it it's open if the weather's poor.

I agree and no idea what the weather will be like but this time of year rain is never far off. In the past we relied on the weather as a leveller but I think our game is now based on excellent set piece + top class half backs.

Unusually for England, the scrum had issues yesterday, mainly due to a ridiculously long injury list amongst the props . . Ben Moon sometimes doesn't even make the bench at Exeter yet he was starting against the best team in the world. I don't see too many scrum problems for Ireland and whoever plays in the back row will be disruptive to NZ.

Our scrum is up there with the best in the world and the battle between the front rows will be very interesting.

So that leaves the the line out which is key to any contest these days: if you win penalties and line outs then you get territory and points. I don't especially rate Rory Best's throwing but if he's on it, then I think the overall contest up front will go Ireland's way and if that happens they have every chance.

I would have argued that our line out was the best in the world but we were v poor this weekend. I expect Toner will be brought in and him, Ryan & O'Mahony are up there. Best is 36 now and believe me his line out and scrum are normally top notch - I worry about him in open play vs NZ at his age especially as we have some good hookers coming through.

I still fancy NZ to win and they will be ve keen to lay down a marker ahead of the WC next year.

[Cormack74]

Personally I think he's some way past his "Best"

I don't find the time to watch much Pro 14 these days but there must be others in the mix?

(His wife is pretty tidy though; who'd have thought a chubby baldy bloke would have such an attractive wife . . . being an International rugby captain couldn't have anything to do with it could it . . )

[Irishnev]

Personally I think he's some way past his "Best"

I don't find the time to watch much Pro 14 these days but there must be others in the mix?

(His wife is pretty tidy though; who'd have thought a chubby baldy bloke would have such an attractive wife . . . being an International rugby captain couldn't have anything to do with it could it . . )

- Sean Cronin is an absolute dynamo but not as good in the set piece but v dynamic in the loose. For me Mike Sherry at Munster or Rob Herring at Ulster look next in line.

[Cormack74]

Cokanasiga picked by England. I'm quite excited about this kid.

[Irishnev]

Cokanasiga picked by England. I'm quite excited about this kid.

This kid is still 21

This reminds me of an article I read some time back about the club system in English rugby killing the "youth" coming through. Each of the clubs are fighting for themselves so they don't have the central contract systems the likes of Ireland, NZ and others have.

About 3 years ago England hammered Ireland in the u-20 rugby world cup final
but none of the players have come through for England. Ireland have James Ryan, Jacob Stockdale, Dan Leavy, Andrew Porter & more actually excelling now for province and country. Jim Maillinder's son played outhalf and he scored 20 odd points but I think at the time of the article he never played a senior game in the Premiership.

Just shows how the central contracts can help certain countries and when clubs rule the roost the younger players find it hard to break through.

[Cormack74]

It's best for you and Buzzo and Zapater and the Welsh guys who dip into this thread that England don't have central contracts because then our players would be fresh and we would be at a level some way above where we are now

Whether it would make much difference to the development of young players I don't know, but in all honesty we probably have too many players in this country so actually the development path is quite difficult. I know some talented teens who have been bombed out by premiership teams just because of a lack of available spaces.

FWIW, Harry Mallinder has played a reasonable amount of premiership rugby and is still in or around the Northampton team however he generally hasn't torn up too many trees and opposing teams have on occasions targeted his defensive frailties. It's not too late though and he may still get to a consistently high level.

[Irishnev]

It's best for you and Buzzo and Zapater and the Welsh guys who dip into this thread that England don't have central contracts because then our players would be fresh and we would be at a level some way above where we are now

Whether it would make much difference to the development of young players I don't know, but in all honesty we probably have too many players in this country so actually the development path is quite difficult. I know some talented teens who have been bombed out by premiership teams just because of a lack of available spaces.

FWIW, Harry Mallinder has played a reasonable amount of premiership rugby and is still in or around the Northampton team however he generally hasn't torn up too many trees and opposing teams have on occasions targeted his defensive frailties. It's not too late though and he may still get to a consistently high level.

Central contracts will never happen in England.....too late for that - the article must be almost a year old so Mallinder must have just broken through this year though?

[Cormack74]

No, played quite a bit last year. In fact maybe more last year than this one (so far).

[Zapater]

I'm shocked again. Attempting an intercept try is an 'intentional deliberate knock on'. I don't expect decisions away, particularly in Europe but this is madness.

[labourRed]

Bruising win by Ireland there. Both teams left everything on the pitch.

[Irishnev]

Bruising win by Ireland there. But teams left everything on the pitch.

Just home - had a few Guinnesses - I felt like I played that game myself. Wow - amazing performance and without some of our best players. Buzzing

[labourRed]

Clearly i had too.

Cracking game to be a part of, enjoy the celebrations.

[Irishnev]

Clearly i had too.

Cracking game to be a part of, enjoy the celebrations.

[Zapater]

Absolutely relentless from Ireland. The intensity of that match was immense. O'Mahony was absolutely key in the clutch moments. Very impressive. Loved seeing the All Blacks battling with their backs against the wall. Brody Retallick knocking on at the end was gold.

On the Scotland - SA game, I feel that the Boks should have scored 2 or 3 more times, but the game was very open, particularly in the 1st half. It was more like a Super Rugby game at times. Very pleased with Pollard back to his best after his injuries. He's been very steady the last few months. Sniping at every opportunity finding gaps as he did for the first try. Papier looked good too at 9, hopefully he can add depth to a position which has been hard recently. Hats off to Scotland though, their running game is so good to watch. Ignoring the crash ball and defensive kicking adds a lot to the spectacle. Hogg, as always, very dangerous. A lot to be optimistic with for the Boks considering how woeful they've been lately. Definitely owe Wales and Warren Gatland one, so looking forward to it. It's a shame that there isn't an Ireland test because that would have been electric. Would have taken 3 out of 4 before the tour so a win would represent a good outing, especially when you consider the dominance in that England game, which we definitely should have won if not for sloppy handling errors and that reffing error.

World rugby is in a healthy state. All of the top 8 can realistically beat eachother. France is looking stronger again too. The world cup is going to be very interesting next year.