The Official English Rugby Thread

[Mahoney]

Twickenham CC are doing a brilliant job at improving Monty Panesar in the Middlesex County Cricket League Premier Division. Top wicket taker this season!

[Niegs]

U20s squad for tomorrow's game against France

15 Orlando Bailey (Bath Rugby)
14 Deago Bailey (Bristol Rugby)
13 Jack Bates (Bristol Rugby)
12 Dan Lancaster (Leeds Tykes)
11 Arthur Relton (Exeter Chiefs)
10 Fin Smith (Worcester Warriors)
9 Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers)*

1 Lewis Holsey (Worcester Warriors)
2 Archie Vanes (Leicester Tigers)
3 Luke Green (London Irish)*
4 Ewan Richards (Bath Rugby)
5 Alex Groves (Bristol Bears)
6 Freddie Thomas (Gloucester Rugby)
7 Lucas Brooke (London Irish)
8 Jack Clement (Gloucester Rugby)*

REPLACEMENTS
16 Sam Riley (Harlequins)*
17 Phil Brantingham (Newcastle Falcons)
18 Harvey Beaton (Saracens)*
19 Arthur Clark (Gloucester Rugby)
20 Emeka Ilione (Leicester Tigers)
21 Nahum Merigan (Bath Rugby)
22 Tom Carr-Smith (Bath Rugby)
23 Tommy Mathews (unattached)
24 Phil Cokanasiga (London Irish)
25 Louis Hillman-Cooper (Gloucester Rugby)
26 Tom Litchfield (Northampton Saints)

*Previously capped at U20

Apparently it can be streamed live on the BBC iPlayer, which is cool. Certainly easier to find than I'd expected.

That's quite the West Country/West Midlands look to that side!

[JM2K6]

He's a Scottish lock FFS.

And? Scotland have been good enough to give England a few hidings and have plenty of recent wins / excellent performances against top sides. It's ludicrous to claim that Saracens made a very good player out of someone who's had a long international career and when you're watching him against semi pros, but hey you do you

[Kawazaki]

He's a Scottish lock FFS.

And? Scotland have been good enough to give England a few hidings and have plenty of recent wins / excellent performances against top sides. It's ludicrous to claim that Saracens made a very good player out of someone who's had a long international career and when you're watching him against semi pros, but hey you do you

Good to see Quins can make top four. Enjoy it while it lasts.

[JM2K6]

He's a Scottish lock FFS.

And? Scotland have been good enough to give England a few hidings and have plenty of recent wins / excellent performances against top sides. It's ludicrous to claim that Saracens made a very good player out of someone who's had a long international career and when you're watching him against semi pros, but hey you do you

Good to see Quins can make top four. Enjoy it while it lasts.

You are SO strange.

[Kawazaki]

And? Scotland have been good enough to give England a few hidings and have plenty of recent wins / excellent performances against top sides. It's ludicrous to claim that Saracens made a very good player out of someone who's had a long international career and when you're watching him against semi pros, but hey you do you

Good to see Quins can make top four. Enjoy it while it lasts.

You are SO strange.

Thank you Mr Self-Awareness

[Kawazaki]

Premiership Semifinals today. Any predictions?

Bristol v Harlequins
Exeter v Sale

Both should be decent games and they're the best combinations to play each other.

Sale should have beaten Exeter away in their regular season game last week. Game will be marked by very attritional defence, pick-and-go and it'll be a territory dominated match.

Quins and Bristol should be the total opposite. More possession based all-out attack with the transition phases being the key to who will win.

Whoever wins the Bristol/Quins semi will win the final in my opinion.

[JM2K6]

Bris and Exeter should win both with something to spare - Sale's loss of some key players is going to hurt them more than Exeter's bans, and Bristol are lethal enough to outscore Quins who might just struggle with the Bristol physicality especially as Bristol have had a nice long two week rest.

[sockwithaticket]

Losing McGinty is huge for Sale. Rob du Preez just isn't the same class and for all of their top level physicality on both sides of the ball, they need someone with vision and soft touches to engineer them try scoring chances and move them around the field. Reckon Exeter will have it by 6.

Bris - Quins has a greater chance of being a blowout, but Quins can score points and they're being viewed as underdogs for this game which will suit them I think. Bristol remind me a bit of the mid-00's Gloucester teams that would finish the league on top, but get wrecked in the play offs. They're capable of doing fancy, fun to watch stuff, but they perhaps lack the steel and big game experience for when it matters. Will Evans is a big miss because if you're allowed by the ref to really get into Bris at the breakdown they can be stymied quite effectively. See the playoff against Wasps last season. If Bristol win I reckon it'll be by 10 - 12 points, Quins would sneak it by less than 5. Don't feel comfortable callin this one.

[SaintK]

Premiership Semifinals today. Any predictions?

Bristol v Harlequins
Exeter v Sale

Both should be decent games and they're the best combinations to play each other.

Sale should have beaten Exeter away in their regular season game last week. Game will be marked by very attritional defence, pick-and-go and it'll be a territory dominated match.

Quins and Bristol should be the total opposite. More possession based all-out attack with the transition phases being the key to who will win.

Whoever wins the Bristol/Quins semi will win the final in my opinion.

Exeter by 12
Bristol by 16

[sockwithaticket]

Ominous start from Bristol, currently running ahead of the clock on the scoreboard.

[Kawazaki]

Sarries with two tries against Quins already.


I can almost feel the seethe.

[SaintK]

Ominous start from Bristol, currently running ahead of the clock on the scoreboard.

Very!!!

[sockwithaticket]

Sarries with two tries against Quins already.

It's a bit odd the way you consider players to belong to Sarries while they're elsewhere. I never thought to cred Wasps with points that Lozowski or Billy Vunipola scored while wearing a Saracens shirt.

[Kawazaki]

It's a bit odd the way you consider players to belong to Sarries while they're elsewhere. I never thought to cred Wasps with points that Lozowski or Billy Vunipola scored while wearing a Saracens shirt.

If they were on loan to Saracens then they would be Wasps players.

[sockwithaticket]

It's a bit odd the way you consider players to belong to Sarries while they're elsewhere. I never thought to cred Wasps with points that Lozowski or Billy Vunipola scored while wearing a Saracens shirt.

If they were on loan to Saracens then they would be Wasps players.

Without being arsed to search, I'm fairly sure you've said similar things about Spencer when he was free-scoring and he's a permanent signing for Bath.

[sockwithaticket]

Oof, Care caught out following Uren's dummy run there when he really didn't need to. Created a fairly simply 2 on 1 from the scrum. Hughes probably could've made it himself.

[Kawazaki]

Consider it banter then if it helps you reconcile things.


Edit: Sarries 3 - Quins 0

[JM2K6]

Sarries with two tries against Quins already.


I can almost feel the seethe.

Your obsession is so, so, so strange. Are you this weird in real life?

Quins have been really flat from the start - was really obvious early on when they weren't really chasing or harrying. Very disappointing, but we deserve to cop a hammering if we're going to turn up at Ashton gate and just go through the motions. Embarrassing stuff.

[JM2K6]

Oof, Care caught out following Uren's dummy run there when he really didn't need to. Created a fairly simply 2 on 1 from the scrum. Hughes probably could've made it himself.

Didn't help that Lawday waited until he'd finished counting to ten before coming off the side of the scrum, for fucks sake.

[sockwithaticket]

It's going to take the mother of all second halves for Quins to turn this into a contest.

[Hal Jordan]

Oof, Care caught out following Uren's dummy run there when he really didn't need to. Created a fairly simply 2 on 1 from the scrum. Hughes probably could've made it himself.

Didn't help that Lawday waited until he'd finished counting to ten before coming off the side of the scrum, for fucks sake.

Lawday is bang average at his very best.

[JM2K6]

It's going to take the mother of all second halves for Quins to turn this into a contest.

Can't wait that long, need two scores before half time.

Bristol have collapsed three scrums so far and Barnes simply isn't interested. He murdered us against sale as well.

[Kawazaki]

Have Quins got any Ealing connections?

[JM2K6]

Banter

[ASMO]

Possibly the biggest bumning since the Spartans met the Persians at the hot gates

[sockwithaticket]

It's going to take the mother of all second halves for Quins to turn this into a contest.

Can't wait that long, need two scores before half time.

Bristol have collapsed three scrums so far and Barnes simply isn't interested. He murdered us against sale as well.

True, but even if you grab something this side of half time, I'd expect you'd need to come up with a season's best performance to overhaul the remaining defecit and prevent it getting worse or come up with additional scores to scratch out any extra points Bristol add.

[JM2K6]

The concept of supporting your own bodyweight has completely disappeared from the game this season

[JM2K6]

Only way Quins look like scoring - Bristol shooting themselves in the foot. Cheers, Malins.

Dunno what the fuck Lawrence was talking about, banging on about forcing passes when care made space well and threw a nice pass that Lewies just dropped cold.

[sockwithaticket]

That was desperately needed. Pretty good show of pace from Dombrandt.

[sockwithaticket]

Only way Quins look like scoring - Bristol shooting themselves in the foot. Cheers, Malins.

Dunno what the fuck Lawrence was talking about, banging on about forcing passes when care made space well and threw a nice pass that Lewies just dropped cold.

He regularly leaves me wondering how it was possible to be such a top class player for so long while apparently reading the game so poorly.

[JM2K6]

Worst half of rugby since the opening game of the season for Quins, which is nicely symmetrical at least.

If we were playing decently but just being torn apart and getting a bit unlucky then that's one thing, but we've been garbage from the start and the coaching staff has a lot to answer for there. Bristol can do whatever they want, Quins seemed happy to let them play right from the opening minute.

Ah well. Bad end to what's been an excellent second half of the season for Quins. Should be a fun season next season anyway.

[JM2K6]

Forward pass there I think. Good start though.

[Oxbow]

Looked a forward pass to me, not checking it though. Just the start Quins needed.

[JM2K6]

One wonders how long it'll take for Barnes to call a maul...

[JM2K6]

You are fucking kidding me. Fucking retire already, Wayne.

[JM2K6]

Well now. Bristol have completely failed to front up this half.

[JM2K6]

Fair to say I'm happy with how things have gone since Malins shit the bed.

[Oxbow]

This is just daft now.

[SaintK]

Getting interesting!!