Sorry to be picking Scotland Fishy. I think the swarm descending over here was too triggering.fishfoodie wrote: ↑Wed Mar 08, 2023 8:16 pmI think we'll get three good (Senior) matches this weekend, there's a lot at stake all around.
Really?fishfoodie wrote: ↑Wed Mar 08, 2023 8:16 pmI think we'll get three good (Senior) matches this weekend, there's a lot at stake all around.
If you feel the need to wear a skirt this weekend, made of a fabric that is the Scottish equivalent of a Hallmark holiday, none of us will judge you.Ymx wrote: ↑Wed Mar 08, 2023 8:26 pmSorry to be picking Scotland Fishy. I think the swarm descending over here was too triggering.fishfoodie wrote: ↑Wed Mar 08, 2023 8:16 pmI think we'll get three good (Senior) matches this weekend, there's a lot at stake all around.
Plus, it would crack open the championship.
TBF - I'd probably feel like that if I supported WalesC69 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 08, 2023 8:27 pmReally?fishfoodie wrote: ↑Wed Mar 08, 2023 8:16 pmI think we'll get three good (Senior) matches this weekend, there's a lot at stake all around.
Tbh the level of publicity and enagement from anyone outside rugby for this 6N is virtually zero.
It's all a bit Meh
Capuozzo is a big loss, but that 10-12-13 axis is still pretty tastysturginho wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 9:07 am Italia
15 Tommaso ALLAN (Harlequins, 69 caps)
14 Edoardo PADOVANI (Benetton Rugby, 43 caps)
13 Juan Ignacio BREX (Benetton Rugby, 21 caps)
12 Tommaso MENONCELLO (Benetton Rugby, 9 caps)
11 Pierre BRUNO (Zebre Parma, 10 caps)
10 Paolo GARBISI (Montpellier, 22 caps)
9 Stephen VARNEY (Gloucester Rugby, 19 caps)
8 Lorenzo CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 6 caps)
7 Michele LAMARO (Benetton Rugby, 24 caps) – capitano
6 Sebastian NEGRI (Benetton Rugby, 43 caps)
5 Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby, 39 caps)
4 Niccolò CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 28 caps)
3 Simone FERRARI (Benetton Rugby, 43 caps)
2 Giacomo NICOTERA (Benetton Rugby, 10 caps)
1 Danilo FISCHETTI (London Irish, 28 caps)
A disposizione
16 Luca BIGI (Zebre Parma 45 caps)
17 Federico ZANI (Benetton Rugby, 19 caps)
18 Marco RICCIONI (Saracens Rugby, 19 caps)
19 Edoardo IACHIZZI (Vannes, 3 caps)
20 Giovanni PETTINELLI (Benetton Rugby, 10 caps)
21 Manuel ZULIANI (Benetton Rugby, 8 caps)
22 Alessandro FUSCO (Zebre Parma, 8 caps)
23 Luca MORISI (London Irish, 42 caps)
wee tam being robbed blind hereTichtheid wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 12:23 pm
Not even top five from Hawick
That was joke, mind you, Hawick has had a great deal of success, 58 Scotland internationals and 13 Lions, from a town of fewer than fifteen thousand people.
My top players of all time would include (it has to be players I've seen as I don't know about the older ones) Gary Armstrong, Andy Irvine, Jim Renwick (Hawick), Gavin Hastings, Finlay Calder, David Leslie, John Rutherford, Colin Deans (Hawick), Iain Milne.
I think Hoggy will join the list, as will Darcy Graham if we can keep him fit.
edit, oh, Finn too
I recall David Sole being a pain in England's arse for a good few years, and he captained a world XV.Tichtheid wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 12:23 pm
Not even top five from Hawick
That was joke, mind you, Hawick has had a great deal of success, 58 Scotland internationals and 13 Lions, from a town of fewer than fifteen thousand people.
My top players of all time would include (it has to be players I've seen as I don't know about the older ones) Gary Armstrong, Andy Irvine, Jim Renwick (Hawick), Gavin Hastings, Finlay Calder, David Leslie, John Rutherford, Colin Deans (Hawick), Iain Milne.
I think Hoggy (Hawick) will join the list, as will Darcy Graham (Hawick) if we can keep him fit.
edit, oh, Finn too
JM2K6 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 12:37 pmwee tam being robbed blind hereTichtheid wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 12:23 pm
Not even top five from Hawick
That was joke, mind you, Hawick has had a great deal of success, 58 Scotland internationals and 13 Lions, from a town of fewer than fifteen thousand people.
My top players of all time would include (it has to be players I've seen as I don't know about the older ones) Gary Armstrong, Andy Irvine, Jim Renwick (Hawick), Gavin Hastings, Finlay Calder, David Leslie, John Rutherford, Colin Deans (Hawick), Iain Milne.
I think Hoggy will join the list, as will Darcy Graham if we can keep him fit.
edit, oh, Finn too
Yup, Smith. Incredible player - and his Lions exploits are legendary. Obviously that plus his time at Saints makes him more popular with English fans but I think he's in the conversation for sure.Tichtheid wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 12:41 pmJM2K6 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 12:37 pmwee tam being robbed blind hereTichtheid wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 12:23 pm
Not even top five from Hawick
That was joke, mind you, Hawick has had a great deal of success, 58 Scotland internationals and 13 Lions, from a town of fewer than fifteen thousand people.
My top players of all time would include (it has to be players I've seen as I don't know about the older ones) Gary Armstrong, Andy Irvine, Jim Renwick (Hawick), Gavin Hastings, Finlay Calder, David Leslie, John Rutherford, Colin Deans (Hawick), Iain Milne.
I think Hoggy will join the list, as will Darcy Graham if we can keep him fit.
edit, oh, Finn too
Smith?
He's certainly worthy of inclusion.
I played with David Sole at club level, he is the best rugby player I've ever seen that close up, his hand skills were as good as any International back and the only player that used to beat him in the shuttle runs was our international winger Alex Moore
Must be pretty humbling.It's obviously very subjective and agree you have to have seen them, but my list is very similar to yours.Tichtheid wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 12:23 pm
Not even top five from Hawick
That was joke, mind you, Hawick has had a great deal of success, 58 Scotland internationals and 13 Lions, from a town of fewer than fifteen thousand people.
My top players of all time would include (it has to be players I've seen as I don't know about the older ones) Gary Armstrong, Andy Irvine, Jim Renwick (Hawick), Gavin Hastings, Finlay Calder, David Leslie, John Rutherford, Colin Deans (Hawick), Iain Milne.
I think Hoggy (Hawick) will join the list, as will Darcy Graham (Hawick) if we can keep him fit.
edit, oh, Finn too
I gave up on my international ambitions when I played against Townsend in a trial match, the realisation of the difference between an OK player and a top player hit me like a brick wall!
That's the main difference for me - really good players are a few steps ahead of the others in their thinking, it's as if they can predict the future.EnergiseR2 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 3:05 pmEven very good club players are poles apart from most players. The lines they run and ability to read in attack and defence is vastly different to us mere mortalsSlick wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 2:37 pmI gave up on my international ambitions when I played against Townsend in a trial match, the realisation of the difference between an OK player and a top player hit me like a brick wall!
Actually, that's not true, I only gave up my international ambitions at about 40
Even more pronounced these days I think. I invited a guy who played centre and was in the wider Ealing squad to play for our touch team in London a few years ago as we were short - he was a PT at the gym. I couldn't believe the skills and the speed on the guy, had never seen anything like it up close.EnergiseR2 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 3:05 pmEven very good club players are poles apart from most players. The lines they run and ability to read in attack and defence is vastly different to us mere mortalsSlick wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 2:37 pmI gave up on my international ambitions when I played against Townsend in a trial match, the realisation of the difference between an OK player and a top player hit me like a brick wall!
Actually, that's not true, I only gave up my international ambitions at about 40
Slick wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 4:34 pm
Even more pronounced these days I think. I invited a guy who played centre and was in the wider Ealing squad to play for our touch team in London a few years ago as we were short - he was a PT at the gym. I couldn't believe the skills and the speed on the guy, had never seen anything like it up close.
Well, there was that one time when a local kid was invited to play touch with the Lions down in NZ and tore it up.Tichtheid wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 4:45 pmSlick wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 4:34 pm
Even more pronounced these days I think. I invited a guy who played centre and was in the wider Ealing squad to play for our touch team in London a few years ago as we were short - he was a PT at the gym. I couldn't believe the skills and the speed on the guy, had never seen anything like it up close.
Given that becoming a professional is very selective anyway, and in most cases you are on a pathway from mid teens to get there, once you have spent years on conditioning and skilling up in a professional environment it becomes a whole different kettle of ball games.
Imagine someone like Dupont or Ringrose or Lukhanyo Am rocking up for a social game of touch!
Yup, top sprinters against quick rugby players is no contest. Used to play touch on the Meadows in Edinburgh with Dougy Walker and it was insane seeing him just cruise round people I considered rapid. Also played against Derek Redmond back in the day and seeing him in full flight was special.PCPhil wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 4:44 pm Different sport but I was good all round athlete at school. One guy in the same year was an amazing 400m runner. Like seconds faster than anyone in the county. He ran in his UK age group final and finished only 5th. That’s when you realise that the absolute top one’s in any sport are…. well, just on a different planet.
Slick wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 4:48 pmYup, top sprinters against quick rugby players is no contest. Used to play touch on the Meadows in Edinburgh with Dougy Walker and it was insane seeing him just cruise round people I considered rapid. Also played against Derek Redmond back in the day and seeing him in full flight was special.PCPhil wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 4:44 pm Different sport but I was good all round athlete at school. One guy in the same year was an amazing 400m runner. Like seconds faster than anyone in the county. He ran in his UK age group final and finished only 5th. That’s when you realise that the absolute top one’s in any sport are…. well, just on a different planet.
Best French winger was a bit faster at 10 s 34 (Sébastien Carat) still around 8 m behindTichtheid wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 5:06 pmSlick wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 4:48 pmYup, top sprinters against quick rugby players is no contest. Used to play touch on the Meadows in Edinburgh with Dougy Walker and it was insane seeing him just cruise round people I considered rapid. Also played against Derek Redmond back in the day and seeing him in full flight was special.PCPhil wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 4:44 pm Different sport but I was good all round athlete at school. One guy in the same year was an amazing 400m runner. Like seconds faster than anyone in the county. He ran in his UK age group final and finished only 5th. That’s when you realise that the absolute top one’s in any sport are…. well, just on a different planet.
I've just done a very quick calculation in my head based on Bolt's record of 9.54 seconds v Thom Evans' best of 11.2.
Evans was no slouch, but I think he'd be at least 15m behind Bolt in a length of the pitch race.
Achieved that record in 1939 on French-German border if I recall (apologies, just bantz)laurent wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 5:11 pmBest French winger was a bit faster at 10 s 34 (Sébastien Carat) still around 8 m behindTichtheid wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 5:06 pmSlick wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 4:48 pm
Yup, top sprinters against quick rugby players is no contest. Used to play touch on the Meadows in Edinburgh with Dougy Walker and it was insane seeing him just cruise round people I considered rapid. Also played against Derek Redmond back in the day and seeing him in full flight was special.
I've just done a very quick calculation in my head based on Bolt's record of 9.54 seconds v Thom Evans' best of 11.2.
Evans was no slouch, but I think he'd be at least 15m behind Bolt in a length of the pitch race.
Nah, your boys in Dunkerque/dunkirk were much faster ( apologies, same)
A mate of mine played v Toony at club level and told me he’d never met a more arrogant player, but that he could back it up - nobody could lay a hand on him. (He also used to go out at school with a girl who was in my year at med school. She is Geoff Cross’s sister, which tells you something about how small a world Scottish rugby is).Slick wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 2:37 pmI gave up on my international ambitions when I played against Townsend in a trial match, the realisation of the difference between an OK player and a top player hit me like a brick wall!
Actually, that's not true, I only gave up my international ambitions at about 40
What you are saying is that this poaching in Scottish rugby in recent years is to fight inbreeding?Yr Alban wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 8:16 pmA mate of mine played v Toony at club level and told me he’d never met a more arrogant player, but that he could back it up - nobody could lay a hand on him. (He also used to go out at school with a girl who was in my year at med school. She is Geoff Cross’s sister, which tells you something about how small a world Scottish rugby is).Slick wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 2:37 pmI gave up on my international ambitions when I played against Townsend in a trial match, the realisation of the difference between an OK player and a top player hit me like a brick wall!
Actually, that's not true, I only gave up my international ambitions at about 40
Hey, I'm just saying that the Borders isn't a densely populated area...TheFrog wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 10:35 pmWhat you are saying is that this poaching in Scottish rugby in recent years is to fight inbreeding?Yr Alban wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 8:16 pmA mate of mine played v Toony at club level and told me he’d never met a more arrogant player, but that he could back it up - nobody could lay a hand on him. (He also used to go out at school with a girl who was in my year at med school. She is Geoff Cross’s sister, which tells you something about how small a world Scottish rugby is).Slick wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 2:37 pm
I gave up on my international ambitions when I played against Townsend in a trial match, the realisation of the difference between an OK player and a top player hit me like a brick wall!
Actually, that's not true, I only gave up my international ambitions at about 40
Worked with colleague from Borders who says Hogg is also a bit of an arrogant so and so. However she had nothing but gushing praise for Darcy Graham who she thought was wonderful and down to earth - a nice young man! I suspect a bit of mothering a wee child vibes though!Yr Alban wrote: ↑Fri Mar 10, 2023 12:26 amHey, I'm just saying that the Borders isn't a densely populated area...TheFrog wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 10:35 pmWhat you are saying is that this poaching in Scottish rugby in recent years is to fight inbreeding?Yr Alban wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 8:16 pm
A mate of mine played v Toony at club level and told me he’d never met a more arrogant player, but that he could back it up - nobody could lay a hand on him. (He also used to go out at school with a girl who was in my year at med school. She is Geoff Cross’s sister, which tells you something about how small a world Scottish rugby is).
Harsh on big Stu, who has been good this campaign but Henshaw is a level above. He'll need to be sharp to wipe out Huw Jones and Finn's attacking threats.
