The Official English Rugby Thread

[SaintK]

Weird game. Bristol seem to have had a lot of ball but I feel they’re lucky to be level, their defence has a lot of holes outside. Suspect there’ll be more cards second half

Bloody scrappy but quite exciting!

[Paddington Bear]

Player behaviour to refs not great this weekend. Launchbury and Sinkler both walking away from the ref when they’re clearly not done speaking.
Nip it in the bud and penalise them

[sockwithaticket]

Not sure why Sinckler's looking so aggrieved at being chastised, you can't scream "Are you fucking serious" at the ref like that.

[Paddington Bear]

Not sure why Sinckler's looking so aggrieved at being chastised, you can't scream "Are you fucking serious" at the ref like that.

The bit that bugs me is the ref hears it and tells him it’s unacceptable. Then penalise him!

[sockwithaticket]

Not sure why Sinckler's looking so aggrieved at being chastised, you can't scream "Are you fucking serious" at the ref like that.

The bit that bugs me is the ref hears it and tells him it’s unacceptable. Then penalise him!

Completely agree. I'm not sure when it was decided that adult professionals need a warning rather than immediate sanction.

[Paddington Bear]

Great rugby all round

[Paddington Bear]

Another week, yet more scrum resets in the last 10 with the clock running

[sockwithaticket]

Turned into a very good game.

When did Exeter last lose 2 in a row?

[SaintK]

Turned into a very good game.

When did Exeter last lose 2 in a row?

Yep enjoyed that
That was also their heaviest home defeat in 4 years

[JM2K6]

Not sure why Sinckler's looking so aggrieved at being chastised, you can't scream "Are you fucking serious" at the ref like that.

The bit that bugs me is the ref hears it and tells him it’s unacceptable. Then penalise him!

Completely agree. I'm not sure when it was decided that adult professionals need a warning rather than immediate sanction.

Agreed.

Also good to see LCD getting pinged for that attempt at a tackle, too. The commentators tied themselves in knots trying to explain it away as "too low", but the problem is that players are throwing their heads and bodies at players' legs, with no real effort to put a shoulder in and wrap. Exeter do it a lot, other teams have cottoned on. It's really dangerous to both the tackler and the tackled player.

[Niegs]

Not sure why Sinckler's looking so aggrieved at being chastised, you can't scream "Are you fucking serious" at the ref like that.

The bit that bugs me is the ref hears it and tells him it’s unacceptable. Then penalise him!

Completely agree. I'm not sure when it was decided that adult professionals need a warning rather than immediate sanction.

Oh how I'd love to see more "Back 10!" calls in the pros. I still see them in amateur men's leagues (occasionally with the ladies, too).

[fishfoodie]

The bit that bugs me is the ref hears it and tells him it’s unacceptable. Then penalise him!

Completely agree. I'm not sure when it was decided that adult professionals need a warning rather than immediate sanction.

Oh how I'd love to see more "Back 10!" calls in the pros. I still see them in amateur men's leagues (occasionally with the ladies, too).

++1

It's the obvious solution to backchat from players; & it should be used immediately & frequently.

[geordie_6]

Oof. What a start

Radwan leaving May on his arse was quite the sight.

[SaintK]

This is an odd one

Bath Rugby’s young back row Zach Mercer has signed with French club Montpellier – ending his future chances of playing for England in the process.

According to a report by the Daily Mail, Montpellier owner Mohed Altrad confirmed that Mercer had agreed to terms for next season.

The French club has been a big spender on foreign players in recent years, making Springbok Handre Pollard the game’s highest-paid 10 last year, signing him after a big deal for All Black Aaron Cruden didn’t pay off.

The club was reportedly engaged in a tug-of-war for the services of 2019 Player of the Year Pieter-Steph du Toit before the Stormers loose forward decided to stay put in South Africa. They have now secured one of England’s upcoming loose forward talents instead for next season.

The 23-year-old Mercer was capped in 2018 by Eddie Jones and played two tests in the November internationals, coming off the bench against the Springboks and Japan. After the infamous Owen Farrell tackle on Andre Esterhuizen, Mercer won the ensuing ruck penalty to seal the game for England.

[Margin__Walker]

Yeah a bit, but think there was some talk about it a few weeks ago.

Must be pretty clear to him that he's a mile down the pecking order at the moment, whilst he is an x factor player that clubs in France would pay good money for. Good luck to him.

[SaintK]

Yeah a bit, but think there was some talk about it a few weeks ago.

Must be pretty clear to him that he's a mile down the pecking order at the moment, whilst he is an x factor player that clubs in France would pay good money for. Good luck to him.

Have always enjoyed watching him play since U20 days
Must be a good deal as Montpellier are 2nd bottom in the T14 and have just sacked head coach Garbajosa and replaced him with St Andre

[sockwithaticket]

Yeah, he's not even a front runner among the England back rowers not getting picked. Would anyone have him instead of Simmonds, Dombrandt or Ben Curry?

Barring something extreme, Jones is in situ 'til the end of 2023. Go experience a different rugby environment, earn more money and possibly become first choice (Picamoles is 35 next month).

[Paddington Bear]

Completely agree. I'm not sure when it was decided that adult professionals need a warning rather than immediate sanction.

Oh how I'd love to see more "Back 10!" calls in the pros. I still see them in amateur men's leagues (occasionally with the ladies, too).

++1

It's the obvious solution to backchat from players; & it should be used immediately & frequently.

10m is a huge difference with a pro kicker’s boot as well

[Raggs]

Dombrandt not going to impress Eddie getting hit into touch by the 9, especially with that amount of time to choose the collision as such.

Have to say, hearing "Who the f**k are you defending!" being yelled in less than 5 minutes into the game, makes me wonder if there's a bit of frustration between some players in camp?

[Paddington Bear]

Dombrandt not going to impress Eddie getting hit into touch by the 9, especially with that amount of time to choose the collision as such.

Have to say, hearing "Who the f**k are you defending!" being yelled in less than 5 minutes into the game, makes me wonder if there's a bit of frustration between some players in camp?

Yeah that was weak as hell, however well the 9 did. Was daydreaming a bit and then Irish are in in a flash

[Raggs]

Dombrandt not going to impress Eddie getting hit into touch by the 9, especially with that amount of time to choose the collision as such.

Have to say, hearing "Who the f**k are you defending!" being yelled in less than 5 minutes into the game, makes me wonder if there's a bit of frustration between some players in camp?

Yeah that was weak as hell, however well the 9 did. Was daydreaming a bit and then Irish are in in a flash

Meehan kept a great pace on the ball to develop the play. Risky if you don't have the support, but do it fast enough and you can pull it off.

[sockwithaticket]

What a passage of play!

[Raggs]

That was a great run of play :D.

[sockwithaticket]

Oof. That feels harsh to disallow.

[Margin__Walker]

Nah, he's always got one hand controlling that.

[Paddington Bear]

This is very enjoyable

[sockwithaticket]

So open, I love it. The forwards are going to be absolutely hanging if it carries on like this.

[Raggs]

Nah, he's always got one hand controlling that.

That was my feeling, I understand the sentiment that he wasn't completely in control, but he never lost possession since there was always an arm/hand there. One of those that I dislike, but I don't know 100% if the ref is wrong.

[Kawazaki]

Nice game to watch for a neutral.

How about this for an idea, any kick that is caught uncontested then it is a scrum or even a free kick back to where it was kicked?

[sockwithaticket]

Nice game to watch for a neutral.

How about this for an idea, any kick that is caught uncontested then it is a scrum or even a free kick back to where it was kicked?

It really is.

Maybe if you exclude kicks from inside the 22. A clearance kick isn't necessarily meant to be contestible and you'd be robbing teams of a legitimate pressure release .

[Margin__Walker]

Jesus, made a meal out of running the clock down at the end there.

Still a bit pissed about the Hoskins decision, but at least we can get over the try line when I. The red zone.

Could do with as few scrums in the 2nd half as there were in the first.

[sockwithaticket]

Ach. That deserved to end in a try.

[Raggs]

How old is Parton, he looks really good.

[Margin__Walker]

How old is Parton, he looks really good.

22. He's superb. Just had a few I'll timed injuries

[Margin__Walker]

Rona's actually very good defensively. Definitely our most effective centre without the ball anyway.

He flew under the radar a bit as a signing among some of the bigger names they got in in the last year or two, but he's been the best of them so far by a distance. He's good at pretty much everything he has to do on the field.

If anyone has a spare tenner, stick it on Steele scoring on Sunday

[Paddington Bear]

‘Do you want to review the sanction?’
Superb code for ‘give him a fucking card’

[Raggs]

‘Do you want to review the sanction?’
Superb code for ‘give him a fucking card’

Smith and Elia were both offside there right? For me Elia should have been a stone cold yellow on it's own.

[Paddington Bear]

Blimey, would have gone corner

[Paddington Bear]

‘Do you want to review the sanction?’
Superb code for ‘give him a fucking card’

Smith and Elia were both offside there right? For me Elia should have been a stone cold yellow on it's own.

That was my view as well

[Margin__Walker]

Corner definitely the option in the end, although he didn't miss by much.

Never mind

Edit - and now they go and show that the Brown try shouldn't have stood. Frustrating.