The Rugby Thread

[Buzzo]

David Armstrong whose consortium looked like a good bet to take Wasps on has pulled out sadly

And the other Premiership clubs aren't helping by not supporting Wasps keeping their "P" share, which is pretty low IMO as it clearly makes the club a less attractive proposition.

I think the problem is there is nothing to buy. No stadium. Training ground rented. **** loads of debt.

BBC Rugby podcast was pretty insightful this week, they cover the demise of the bid you mention

[Buzzo]

My brother in law's Mum died from it, back in the 1990s. It really is cruel and the last stages of it aren't something I'd wish upon my worst enemy

A family friend has it, and she has declined fast.

And I think the saddest thing is that as it strips her of her dignity and her ability to communicate she doesn’t seem to want to see anyone. It’s been tough on my Mum and Dad as they were closer and they just cannot really do anything to support.

[Buzzo]

That was a really tough watch. Horrific disease

[Cormack74]

I think the problem is there is nothing to buy. No stadium. Training ground rented. **** loads of debt.

Yes that seemed to be the case.

But I couldn't really understand how the approach had got as far as it appeared to have done without this having been resolved.

You'd think it might be pretty much the first item on the agenda in this situation

[Buzzo]

Yes that seemed to be the case.

But I couldn't really understand how the approach had got as far as it appeared to have done without this having been resolved.

You'd think it might be pretty much the first item on the agenda in this situation

Yep. The lack of assets has been a massive issue in both cases.

[Irishnev]

No 1 side in the world vs the world champions this weekend , the Boks look v strong even without Am. Physicality usually beats Ireland so a narrow victory for the away side I fear

South Africa: Cheslin Kolbe; Kurt-Lee Arendse, Jesse Kriel, Damian De Allende, Makazole Mapimpi; Damian Willemse, Jaden Hendrikse; Steven Kitshoff, Malcolm Marx, Frans Malherbe; Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager; Siya Kolisi (capt), Pieter-Steph du Toit, Jasper Wiese.

Replacements: Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche, Vincent Koch, Franco Mostert, Deon Fourie, Kwagga Smith, Faf de Klerk, Willie le Roux.

[bacon]

No 1 side in the world vs the world champions this weekend , the Boks look v strong even without Am. Physicality usually beats Ireland so a narrow victory for the away side I fear

South Africa: Cheslin Kolbe; Kurt-Lee Arendse, Jesse Kriel, Damian De Allende, Makazole Mapimpi; Damian Willemse, Jaden Hendrikse; Steven Kitshoff, Malcolm Marx, Frans Malherbe; Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager; Siya Kolisi (capt), Pieter-Steph du Toit, Jasper Wiese.

Replacements: Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche, Vincent Koch, Franco Mostert, Deon Fourie, Kwagga Smith, Faf de Klerk, Willie le Roux.

Ireland were immense v NZ this year - looking forward to them keeping it going v the Boks ..

[badpiggy]

Jesus South Africa are literally brutal. Frightening intensity.

[Zapater]

Even though we were robbed blind by the officiating this was a giveaway. Don't even look at the possibility of forward passes on the Ireland tries where they looked very questionable. Some of those pens were ridiculous too. Nothing from the scrum despite dominating them, typical.

Can't go on a European tour without a dedicated kicker. ****ing stupid, everyone knew this before the game. Need Am back. Willie needs to start, gives us more control. Infuriating game.

Ireland defended well and kept their discipline but didn't do anything. If A) the ref was brave enough to not give everything to the home team, B) we could kick or C) didn't goto sleep for a few minutes, this would be an easy game on the same performance. Two out of three of the above would make the difference. The annoying thing is that we smashed them so much physically we've probably done Fiji and Australia a favour, softening them up. No doubt on the other hand, Australia will probably help France grow in confidence.

I hate end of year Northern tours.

[Zapater]

Wow, great try from Australia!

[Irishnev]

Even though we were robbed blind by the officiating this was a giveaway. Don't even look at the possibility of forward passes on the Ireland tries where they looked very questionable. Some of those pens were ridiculous too. Nothing from the scrum despite dominating them, typical.

Can't go on a European tour without a dedicated kicker. ****ing stupid, everyone knew this before the game. Need Am back. Willie needs to start, gives us more control. Infuriating game.

Ireland defended well and kept their discipline but didn't do anything. If A) the ref was brave enough to not give everything to the home team, B) we could kick or C) didn't goto sleep for a few minutes, this would be an easy game on the same performance. Two out of three of the above would make the difference. The annoying thing is that we smashed them so much physically we've probably done Fiji and Australia a favour, softening them up. No doubt on the other hand, Australia will probably help France grow in confidence.

I hate end of year Northern tours.

Perspective eh…… actually watched the game with two Saffers, they were more humble than your assessment. I agree having no kicker hurt but Sexton missed 2 kicks also. I thought we matched you in the scrum until Ox came on and he looked to be scrummaging illegally, they highlighted it post game on Irish tv.

Not sure the ref was a Homer - Kolbie should’ve walked IMO. We didn’t match your physicality but we did as well as we could’ve expected which was enough. Once we increased the tempo for a bit second half we got a couple of nice tries.

We also were missing players btw……Lowe, Henshaw, Aki, Henderson, Kelleher would all arguably start for us. Ezebeth must be the best player in the world right now and it sets it up nicely for the WC. We’ve shown we can win ugly

[RichC]

Even though we were robbed blind by the officiating this was a giveaway. Don't even look at the possibility of forward passes on the Ireland tries where they looked very questionable. Some of those pens were ridiculous too. Nothing from the scrum despite dominating them, typical.

Can't go on a European tour without a dedicated kicker. ****ing stupid, everyone knew this before the game. Need Am back. Willie needs to start, gives us more control. Infuriating game.

Ireland defended well and kept their discipline but didn't do anything. If A) the ref was brave enough to not give everything to the home team, B) we could kick or C) didn't goto sleep for a few minutes, this would be an easy game on the same performance. Two out of three of the above would make the difference. The annoying thing is that we smashed them so much physically we've probably done Fiji and Australia a favour, softening them up. No doubt on the other hand, Australia will probably help France grow in confidence.

I hate end of year Northern tours.

Is there a match when you don’t win you think you’re robbed ?

Honestly, it’s every time. The Irish are a good side, a very good side. Sometimes being gracious in defeat is a thing!

[Zapater]

Perspective eh…… actually watched the game with two Saffers, they were more humble than your assessment. I agree having no kicker hurt but Sexton missed 2 kicks also. I thought we matched you in the scrum until Ox came on and he looked to be scrummaging illegally, they highlighted it post game on Irish tv.

Not sure the ref was a Homer - Kolbie should’ve walked IMO. We didn’t match your physicality but we did as well as we could’ve expected which was enough. Once we increased the tempo for a bit second half we got a couple of nice tries.

We also were missing players btw……Lowe, Henshaw, Aki, Henderson, Kelleher would all arguably start for us. Ezebeth must be the best player in the world right now and it sets it up nicely for the WC. We’ve shown we can win ugly

I'm not having a go at Ireland, you guys did well. Just didn't do anything to win it. I'd say we lost it more than you winning it, tidy performance all in all. Second try was a beauty (would love to see if there was anything forward though - we'll never know because they didn't check). First try was some good individual work by van der Flier, again, I'd like to see if there was a knock during the Kriel hit, pretty sure there was. Those kicks missed by Sexton were both right in the corner and would've been unbelievable. The second Willemse miss was embarrassing, Sexton would've hit that with his eyes closed.

I didn't think the Kolbe thing was even a yellow. Both players made the hit simultaneously and the winger's force/momentum made his legs lift. There wasn't anywhere else for him to go. Malherbe was also called for a 'no arms tackle' where the runner was tackled by another man. When you lose by 3 points, these tight calls matter and some of them are perhaps a marginal but today we got **** all.

Not comparing historically about the missing players just on what I've seen today with the players on the pitch. Aki got off lightly for basically attempted murder. The result is in the books now either way, another **** result against inferior opposition on an end of year tour.

Comical try for Australia to concede on half time.

[Irishnev]

I'm not having a go at Ireland, you guys did well. Just didn't do anything to win it. I'd say we lost it more than you winning it, tidy performance all in all. Second try was a beauty (would love to see if there was anything forward though - we'll never know because they didn't check). First try was some good individual work by van der Flier, again, I'd like to see if there was a knock during the Kriel hit, pretty sure there was. Those kicks missed by Sexton were both right in the corner and would've been unbelievable. The second Willemse miss was embarrassing, Sexton would've hit that with his eyes closed.

I didn't think the Kolbe thing was even a yellow. Both players made the hit simultaneously and the winger's force/momentum made his legs lift. There wasn't anywhere else for him to go. Malherbe was also called for a 'no arms tackle' where the runner was tackled by another man. When you lose by 3 points, these tight calls matter and some of them are perhaps a marginal but today we got **** all.

Not comparing historically about the missing players just on what I've seen today with the players on the pitch. Aki got off lightly for basically attempted murder. The result is in the books now either way, another **** result against inferior opposition on an end of year tour.

Comical try for Australia to concede on half time.

No 1 in the world and I’ll milk it until we bomb in the World Cup

[Zapater]

Is there a match when you don’t win you think you’re robbed ?

Honestly, it’s every time. The Irish are a good side, a very good side. Sometimes being gracious in defeat is a thing!

I'd like you to find examples of a time I've claimed that where there wasn't an assault on one of our players or a game against England. So, sure. The Australia game because that was a clear penalty try on Mapimpi and nothing happens. Don't need to say anything against England because they get everything for free. We lost to Wales at home, I said nothing, we lost to the All Blacks at home in the Tri Nations, I say well played to them and a really exciting game. So ungracious of me. **** sake, we even lost to Japan and if you look at old posts you'll find me saying we are dog****. None of you ever see or notice any of that but if I complain about something, I'm a sore loser. You'll also find me first calling out the negatives with our tactics, selections etc before mentioning the refs didn't help us out. I guess you see what you want an in isolation. You definitely play the man, not the ball. Not sure why I even bother posting here.

SA get **** calls against us regularly, particularly in the North. Sometimes it goes the other way, we got away with murder in one of the Australian tests, however that's almost never. They were accumulative today rather than blatant. You will find that I even say it when we win, I most times don't think it's fair. It's just the benefit of the doubt sometimes. They check Mostert's grounding for 5 min but nothing in the build up of either Ireland try. You don't find that a consistency issue?

I don't think it's unfair to say we were probably better today but gave it away. We made many more metres and had to make fewer tackles. Just made some huge mistakes, Willemse not finding touch etc. I didn't say anything negative about Ireland, they were unspectacular but good. I am very critical about the Boks, the selection and tactics. Just read anything I've said about the abominations served up in the World Cup (that we've won) and the Lions tour etc.