Rugby 2020: No Gatland or Schmidt

[Sporting]

That is a bit annoying but what really angers me is players getting in the face of opponents to gloat and/or making contact with them (even a tap or a hair ruffle) after winning a penalty, usually at the breakdown or a set piece. It's rife at all pro levels, not just internationals.

I've said somewhere, perhaps on here but maybe on social media, that it should result in the immediate reversal of the penalty.

Agree with all of that.

[jameswba]

It used to be that you didn't 'celebrate' anything in rugby union. Even a last-minute try would be marked with little more than a handshake. None of 'that hugging and kissing nonsense like in football'. At least how that's how its code was presented to us when I started playing aged 11.

My school rugby experiences were similar to Nurse Duckett's, except for starting at 11 and playing in both winter and spring. I used to enjoy the proper teas in wood-pannelled dining-halls at the independent schools, less so the 36-0 beatings which sometimes took place beforehand. We did sometimes win at these places too, and that felt like it amounted to beating a bunch of posh kids, but heaven help us if we actually seemed to enjoy such successes.

[ursus arctos]

Is there another bar for Treviso to change in, or are they using the bogs?

[Ray de Galles]

I presume they've been given the actual changing rooms in the cricket pavilion as a hospitable gesture. They're certainly benefiting from something as they lead 10-15 with 50 minutes gone.

[Ray de Galles]

I missed this news the other week. Could be interesting but I doubt we'll see it televised over here :

New Zealand Māori to play prospective Super Rugby entry Moana Pasifika in December

[Ray de Galles]

Pleased to tell you all that I met Pablo Matera yesterday :

https://twitter.com/jaredwright17/status/1330221615905431555?s=21

[Ray de Galles]

Ospreys come back from 10-22 down with ten minutes left to win 24-22 despite playing with 14 men for the last half hour.

Scotland v France is 6-6 after twenty minutes but the visitors have been far superior.

[Ray de Galles]

Scotland somehow clung on to France all game but an overcooked injury time penalty in to the corner from Hogg costs them the chance of a draw and it finished 15-22.

France to play England in the group winners game once next week's formalities are concluded. I didn't realise Scotland v Fiji had already been cancelled which is a major disappointment.

[Logan Mountstuart]

Excuse me, because I haven't read the thread, but what is the point of this bloody tournament, especially when domestic leagues are just starting under very difficult circumstances?

A six nations tournament just ended, and another due to start in less than 2 months. All this does is dilute the best thing about Northern hemisphere Rugby.

Forgive me if this has already been pointed out.

[Antepli Ejderha]

Money, there was a hope they'd be able to have crowds as well. Amazon have paid a fair bit for this.

[Ray de Galles]

Excuse me, because I haven't read the thread, but what is the point of this bloody tournament, especially when domestic leagues are just starting under very difficult circumstances?

A six nations tournament just ended, and another due to start in less than 2 months. All this does is dilute the best thing about Northern hemisphere Rugby.

Forgive me if this has already been pointed out.

It's to replace the Autumn Internationals.

Each of the European Tier One sides would be playing four games through November largely against touring Southern Hemisphere and these fill that gap.

There's a good chance that the 2021 6 Nations will not "start in less than 2 months" anyway as they may experiment with the shift to the spring that's been talked about for a few years.

[Gangster Octopus]

As the smallest and weediest boy in our school, I utterly loathed rugger. Reading about the hypocrisy and class warfare inherent in the sport in subsequent years hasn't ever made me want to engage with it.

Having said that, I've been to a couple of Titans matches, so there's more hypocrisy...

[Ray de Galles]

I think I probably talked about this game featuring my home town club at the time but as it's popped up on Twitter being rightly lauded I thought it was worth sharing again.

I've just watched these highlights and they capture why it's one of the greatest games of rugby I've ever seen :

https://twitter.com/linebreakrugby/status/1330976381279277057?s=21

[Diable Rouge]

Christophe Domenici has been found dead in Paris, aged 48.

[ursus arctos]

Unnecessarily gruesome details in the French press

RIP

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

God, that's terrible news. That 1999 semi-final was one of the greatest games ever played.

[Ray de Galles]

Yes, certainly one of the greatest games I've ever attended.

Both he and Lomu from that match dead in their forties (was there another actually?), so sad.

[longeared]

I remember a Six Nations game where he crossed the try line and then dropped the ball while in the process of grounding it one handed. The French director then treated us to a tremendous slow motion replay of him blowing his lips and giving a Gallic shrug.

[tee rex]

Horrible news.

[Antepli Ejderha]

I've just seen this, horrific news. Iirc he had been battling depression. An amazing player and probably showed you didn't need to be huge to play the game at international level.

RIP

[Eggchaser]

Damn, I saw this all over Twitter but have didn't know the ins and outs until I checked the rugby board I post on. Sadly shows that you may have been able to reach the top of your profession, delight thousands of people live and reach many more than that, but mental health issues respect no boundaries. 2020 delivers another turd in the punchbowl.

RIP

[Antepli Ejderha]

God, that's terrible news. That 1999 semi-final was one of the greatest games ever played.

My memories from that game against NZ are the French players, especially Dominici and Olivier Magne, lining up Lomu time and time again to bring him down.

[Paul S]

Incredible player, can't believe he's gone.

[Antepli Ejderha]

[Ray de Galles]

His slaloming run to set up Lamaison's try was even better than his own one :

https://twitter.com/pauleddison/status/1331289635121721346?s=21

This is too terrible to take in.