Gimme Hope Jo'anna: Rugby in 2021

[Eggchaser]

England's kit is monumentally shit. Sunday League knock off level.

[Ray de Galles]

Well, Wales has a new most hated man. I hope the stupid cunt's life is a misery for years to come ;

https://twitter.com/dan5qu1r3/status/1457082999569326082?s=21

[Ray de Galles]

A breathless harum-scarum start to Scotland v Australia, very entertaining though.

[Tony C]

England Red Roses had a brilliant first half against NZ. 28-0 up. Very impressed with them last week as well.

[Tony C]

I see Scotland have beaten Australia which is a brilliant result for them.

[Ray de Galles]

I don't think the result is a massive shock, especially as Australia have a significantly weakened squad through injury and players like Quade Copper & Samu Kerevi choosing to stay with their clubs in Japan rather than tour.

Certainly very good for Scotland though, even if I don't think the game really caught fire as it looked like it might early on as it came down to 50/50 penalty calls and some crucial mistakes from the Australians near the end.

Hooker Ewan Ashman had some debut too, on very early due to injury and then scoring a try with a finish like the back he used to be.

[Antepli Ejderha]

Jamie Roberts never played for Wales again after conflict left him in tears
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/...wsApp_AppShare

This is good at explaining what happened to Jamie Roberts at the end of his Wales career.

[Ray de Galles]

A surprisingly strong and quite exciting Wales side. Christ on the bench!

[Ray de Galles]

Jamie Roberts never played for Wales again after conflict left him in tears
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/...wsApp_AppShare

This is good at explaining what happened to Jamie Roberts at the end of his Wales career.

As soon as you realise he'd played for Wales the week prior to these events it's clear it's another typical WalesOnline non-story.

The Guardian's Breakdown mail had a far better piece tied in to Jamie's book.

[Discordant Resonance]

The IRFU are fleecing the Ballsbridge set to the hilt - €125 for even the cheapest ticket for the All Blacks match at Lansdowne Road!

[Antepli Ejderha]

As soon as you realise he'd played for Wales the week prior to these events it's clear it's another typical WalesOnline non-story.

The Guardian's Breakdown mail had a far better piece tied in to Jamie's book.

Do you think so?

I thought the fact that Harlequins reneged on an agreement to release him outside the window and threatened to sack him is new along with his regret at walking away.

[Antepli Ejderha]

I really like the Wales team, it does seem that the old guard that won't be making the next RWC is being slowly replaced, though through injury and loss of form.

By not making wholesale changes against the Tier 2 nation, which Gatland always did disastrously, it's going to bring some consistency up front. Seb Davies in the back row is still something I'm not convinced by. Rhys Carre isn't an international class scrummager and that needs to be resolved.

[Ray de Galles]

Do you think so?

I thought the fact that Harlequins reneged on an agreement to release him outside the window and threatened to sack him is new along with his regret at walking away.

All the story is that Roberts' played for Wales on 25th November 2017 but not the 2nd December 2017.

That's pretty inconsequential and I can assure you, whatever he says in the book, he wouldn't have known or expected either game to end up being his last cap because he was still hopeful of selection for some months after that.

Yes, it looks like Harlequins went back on an agreement with a gun to their head from the ERFU but that kind of thing goes on a lot.

Really, I think his comments in the Guardian piece are far more interesting.

[Ray de Galles]

The converse of Josh Adams following George North in switching from wing to outside centre is that England have just announced Tuilagi will start at 14 against Australia.

I suppose that might be a solution to the problem that he can't pass.

[Eggchaser]

Jones' continued infatuation with Captain Covid means Tuilagi, who looks as fit and threatening as he has in ages, is shunted to the wing to accommodate the Golden Child at 12, when Smith having a player very similar to his club 12 outside him in Tuilagi would have made far more sense.

[Discordant Resonance]

James Lowe with Ireland's opening try against NZ for 5-0.

[Discordant Resonance]

Ireland monstering the All-Blacks now, three tries and 20-10 up.

[Discordant Resonance]

And it was a famous victory, 29-20!

[Antepli Ejderha]

That's huge, was anyone predicting this beforehand?

[Antepli Ejderha]

Poor decision from the referee, that's red all day long. Tip tackle, slightly late, over the horizontal. In 2011 that was a red card, it's even more clear cut today.

[Discordant Resonance]

Not particularly, it hasn't exactly been a vintage 2021 for Ireland - they did score 60 against Japan, but expectations weren't all that high for today.

[Eggchaser]

Fuck off Farrell and Youngs, 50 caps too many for each. One can't pass left to right or suppress the urge to kick first, anything second, the other is a dithering, meerkat that's a slow and inaccurate passer.

And if our forwards are that dogshit at protecting the ball at rucks next match, the Saffers will destroy us.

[tee rex]

To divert from whatever happened in Dublin, how about a game in Belfast instead? I've just been watching Bloodlands (NI crime drama, no spoilers please) and they did an impressive job filming a scene at the stadium, with the real play going on in the background and the characters reacting to it. They got lucky with a telegenic Ulster try, and the sizeable crowd, but the cast and crew had to be onto it, no retakes (you know how fake these things can appear, fans waving unnaturally and suchlike). Top improv.

[Ray de Galles]

Eventful and knockabout match at the Millennium today but immensely ropey & incoherent performance from Wales. When the, entirely justified, red card was shown I said I wasn't sure how much it would benefit us and even a further two yellows didn't give us control of the game when facing 13 men.

The late flurry of tries put a flattering gloss on the scoreline for us but I don't think anyone will fool themselves about the reality of the match. Fiji were immense aside from their ill discipline and shocking line out, their attacking invention and defensive determination were astounding. I love watching them and that is only slightly tempered by when it's against us.

Biggar had a poor game by his high standards, Sheedy was an improvement and should have come on earlier. Similarly, Halaholo was a much better fit for the the kind of game we played than Johnny Williams. LRZ was pretty quiet apart from the astounding sprint to turn a poor kick ahead in to a try and I was really pleased for Cuthbert who deserved a try for his excellent finish and all round performance. Liam was a weird choice for Seren y Gem (made before his late try that Tompkins created) when Elias was the player who most deserved it.

Christ's late cameo was exciting and promising in equal measure, wish it had been in the red shirt though.

[Ray de Galles]

This is the try of the game and it's not just for the running lines and passing but the speed of thought. I was convinced in the ground that Tuicuvu only took the mark to fool the Welsh defence in to switching off, expecting a pause and then a long kick downfield. They would have reacted a vital split second quicker had he just run from initially catching the ball.

https://twitter.com/autumnnations/status/1459928041090654220?s=21