The Official English Rugby Thread

[JM2K6]

Not when you're the commentary team.

Oh come on, it happens all the time. Just the same that they blow smoke up the arse of a team that have had a good winning run (like Quins were, or Tigers before them, or Exeter, or Sarries etc).

JM is embarrassed that his team lost to the worst team in Premiership history.

Certainly explains a lot if you've only been watching premiership rugby for a few years.

Not particularly embarrassed, I warned before the game that it would be far more difficult than people were expecting given recent performances and all the missing players - add in some very disruptive injuries early on, some bad luck with the ref, and the fact that Bath have a lot more quality players than several of the relegated teams of years past and it's hardly an unthinkable result.

Quins have been getting out of jail recently and got the rub of the green last week. Bath have shown in patches they're capable of giving better teams than Quins a hard time - Leinster struggled for quite a while against them - and they hammered everything that moved yesterday and really gave it everything, so fair enough.

Raggs: I don't think that's ever extended to literally cheering them on, I.e. all the "go on!" and general Jiffy-commentating-on-Wales behaviour of Goode and co. It was quite odd.

[Raggs]

Certainly explains a lot if you've only been watching premiership rugby for a few years.

Not particularly embarrassed, I warned before the game that it would be far more difficult than people were expecting given recent performances and all the missing players - add in some very disruptive injuries early on, some bad luck with the ref, and the fact that Bath have a lot more quality players than several of the relegated teams of years past and it's hardly an unthinkable result.

Quins have been getting out of jail recently and got the rub of the green last week. Bath have shown in patches they're capable of giving better teams than Quins a hard time - Leinster struggled for quite a while against them - and they hammered everything that moved yesterday and really gave it everything, so fair enough.

Raggs: I don't think that's ever extended to literally cheering them on, I.e. all the "go on!" and general Jiffy-commentating-on-Wales behaviour of Goode and co. It was quite odd.

I think the cheering more reflects just how bad Bath have been. Quins were a million miles from full strength, and it was still close, which sort of makes it all the more "fun" for Bath to grab a win, especially given how Bath have been snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, and Quins doing the opposite, fairly frequently recently.

[sockwithaticket]

Bath would be relegated normally.

I actually thought Spencer looked very good last night, he was the real MoM. His kicking was exceptional, the hang time was ridiculous. Great accurate passing, he's so much better than Youngs.

Perhaps, perhaps not. We've still got enough fixtures left for them to overtake others. 2 more wins would take them past Worcester.

Now that Diamond's in charge it'll be interesting to see what happens with Worcester, whether they'll use the lack of relegation to do some personnell experimentation a la Borthwick in 2020 and write the rest of the season off or whether he'll galvanise them instantly

[Monk]

Tyrone Green seems to have been played to death. Not a shade of the player he was a while ago.

[JM2K6]

Tyrone Green seems to have been played to death. Not a shade of the player he was a while ago.

He's been found out a little bit and really needs to not run into brick walls constantly or throw passes into touch. Loads of raw talent but definitely needs a break. Nick David looks ready to play some matches at 15.

[Kawazaki]

This is like PR.

Agreed. It's annoying when people simply don't read, or worse, need everything spoon-fed to them.

Perhaps that's at the core of why PR breaks down, there are just too many dumb people there.

[inactionman]

Tyrone Green seems to have been played to death. Not a shade of the player he was a while ago.

He's been found out a little bit and really needs to not run into brick walls constantly or throw passes into touch. Loads of raw talent but definitely needs a break. Nick David looks ready to play some matches at 15.

His kick handling has never looked that stellar, and Bath really picked on that and actually executed it well - as mentioned above, Spencer's kicks in particular were good and the kickchase meant Green was always receiving the ball in traffic or actively being challenged.

Again, Baths opposition's tries seem to come from (or at last be enabled by) average play by Bath - the first was missing touch on a penalty, made worse by Spencer bombing out of line - and this has just been Bath's ruin this season. Anything good is followed by something poor and they just seem unable to recover and reorganise. To be fair, it was not as bad in this game as it's been earlier in the season - I'm not sure whether that's due to Quins being denuded or Bath slowly making some improvement. I mention this as Quins are exactly the sort of team who would tear us a new bumhole on turnover ball, so I was fearing the worst.

[inactionman]

Oh come on, it happens all the time. Just the same that they blow smoke up the arse of a team that have had a good winning run (like Quins were, or Tigers before them, or Exeter, or Sarries etc).

JM is embarrassed that his team lost to the worst team in Premiership history.

I know we’re having a desperate year but that’s a bold statement when there’s the likes of London Welsh in years gone by

I saw a few games at the Rec in the pits of the almost-relegation season that were equally as abject.

[Oh fuck, it's Keith.]

This is like PR.

Agreed. It's annoying when people simply don't read, or worse, need everything spoon-fed to them.

Perhaps that's at the core of why PR breaks down, there are just too many dumb people there.

Maybe try answering the question that was asked. It was a simple yes or no.

[Kawazaki]

I was massively impressed by the huge support at Bath. There are not many other teams in the league that would get those numbers if they had the same results Bath have had.

Fingers crossed, Bath get the new stadium, the fans deserve it.

[JM2K6]

Tyrone Green seems to have been played to death. Not a shade of the player he was a while ago.

He's been found out a little bit and really needs to not run into brick walls constantly or throw passes into touch. Loads of raw talent but definitely needs a break. Nick David looks ready to play some matches at 15.

His kick handling has never looked that stellar, and Bath really picked on that and actually executed it well - as mentioned above, Spencer's kicks in particular were good and the kickchase meant Green was always receiving the ball in traffic or actively being challenged.

Again, Baths opposition's tries seem to come from (or at last be enabled by) average play by Bath - the first was missing touch on a penalty, made worse by Spencer bombing out of line - and this has just been Bath's ruin this season. Anything good is followed by something poor and they just seem unable to recover and reorganise. To be fair, it was not as bad in this game as it's been earlier in the season - I'm not sure whether that's due to Quins being denuded or Bath slowly making some improvement. I mention this as Quins are exactly the sort of team who would tear us a new bumhole on turnover ball, so I was fearing the worst.

Have to disagree slightly on Green - He's no Steward in the air, but he's very good usually. He's just short, and had a terrible game all round.

[JM2K6]

Spencer remains a talent but his form fell off a cliff some time ago, and talking him up I international terms would be very LTVG. He played out of his skin last night, and hasn't played like that since 2020

[Oh fuck, it's Keith.]

Spencer remains a talent but his form fell off a cliff some time ago, and talking him up I international terms would be very LTVG. He played out of his skin last night, and hasn't played like that since 2020

I agree

[Margin__Walker]

Teams for LI v Exeter @3pm. Scots all turning out for Exeter, who are missing their EPS players. SOB makes a very rare appearance for LI and good to see Loader back from injury.

[Kawazaki]

Spencer remains a talent but his form fell off a cliff some time ago, and talking him up I international terms would be very LTVG. He played out of his skin last night, and hasn't played like that since 2020

Like it makes any difference in terms of England recognition.

[ASMO]

McCall steps down from Sarries for medical reasons.

[Kawazaki]

McCall steps down from Sarries for medical reasons.

Permanently?!

They made a statement yesterday that it was temporary, or as long as he needs.

[ASMO]

Temporary it says, depends on the condition i guess.

[Kawazaki]

Temporary it says, depends on the condition i guess.

Ah, we did this near the bottom of page 220 Openside.

[Happyhooker]

Teams for LI v Exeter @3pm. Scots all turning out for Exeter, who are missing their EPS players. SOB makes a very rare appearance for LI and good to see Loader back from injury.

That's an absolutely enormous back row for Exeter

[ASMO]

Has the Newcastle v Glaw game been pushed back

[Margin__Walker]

That's an absolutely enormous back row for Exeter

I know. Surely one of the biggest 6/7 pairings around. Mutant

[sockwithaticket]

Has the Newcastle v Glaw game been pushed back

Beeb radio commentary now seems to be scheduled for 19:00, can't see it on the BT TV Guide.

[Raggs]

Has the Newcastle v Glaw game been pushed back

Yeah rescheduled for 7pm due to the weather. If you're happy with the equivalent of russian facebook (you don't need an account), here's a link for Irish exeter: https://vk.com/rugbyonsofa?z=video-2001 ... 0149158_-2

[sockwithaticket]

Has the Newcastle v Glaw game been pushed back

Yeah rescheduled for 7pm due to the weather. If you're happy with the equivalent of russian facebook (you don't need an account), here's a link for Irish exeter: https://vk.com/rugbyonsofa?z=video-2001 ... 0149158_-2

Video deleted, had to switch over to Northampton - Worcester.

[Oxbow]

Has the Newcastle v Glaw game been pushed back

Yeah rescheduled for 7pm due to the weather. If you're happy with the equivalent of russian facebook (you don't need an account), here's a link for Irish exeter: https://vk.com/rugbyonsofa?z=video-2001 ... 0149158_-2

Video deleted, had to switch over to Northampton - Worcester.

You may wish you hadn't have bothered.

[sockwithaticket]

Yeah rescheduled for 7pm due to the weather. If you're happy with the equivalent of russian facebook (you don't need an account), here's a link for Irish exeter: https://vk.com/rugbyonsofa?z=video-2001 ... 0149158_-2

Video deleted, had to switch over to Northampton - Worcester.

You may wish you hadn't have bothered.

No one does gloom like a Saints fan. The team are actually going ok.

[Margin__Walker]

LI score a great try with the last play. HT score is 18 - 14 (coming back from 0 - 14 down)

[Happyhooker]

Lovely try there at half time.

God exeter play some stultifying rugby

[Torquemada 1420]

This is like PR.

Agreed. It's annoying when people simply don't read, or worse, need everything spoon-fed to them.

Perhaps that's at the core of why PR breaks down, there are just too many dumb people there.

Just don't engage with him!

[Happyhooker]

Bloody hell, someone actually won one of those half time kicking contests/promotions

[Oxbow]

Video deleted, had to switch over to Northampton - Worcester.

You may wish you hadn't have bothered.

No one does gloom like a Saints fan. The team are actually going ok.

It was a bit of a cripple fight early doors to be fair, but Saints now seem to have taken control. As they should really against a poor Worcester side.

[Margin__Walker]

Lovely try there at half time.

God exeter play some stultifying rugby

God yeah. Great to see them get pinged for the supporting player not staying up on a pick and go.

[Happyhooker]

Pearson is having a cracking game

[Kawazaki]

Any links to the Premiership matches?

[Oxbow]

Worcester v Saints, if you really want to.

https://vk.com/video-200149158_456243364

[sockwithaticket]

Fair play to Worcester, they've come back into the contest well. Given the way the first half ended you'd be forgiven for thinking it might be a bit of a walkover for Saints.

[Margin__Walker]

Pearson is having a cracking game

He was my MOM along with Coleman.

Another serious player plucked from Cardiff Met.

Good win that. After the first 20, Exeter had no answer to the LI defence and were losing the collisions.

[Happyhooker]

The irish defence in the last 15 was awesome

[inactionman]

Weird old thing happened in the women's game - Worcester forfeited their home match against Wasps (given as 0-0 but 5 points to Wasps) as there was no ambulance present

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/60176492

No idea what the cause of the ambulance no-show was.