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Pacific Heights? Rugby 2022

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    #26
    Jim Botham was well enough to travel home with the Cardiff squad yesterday, that's good news as it looked like a nasty injury due to the length of time he was treated on the field.

    Comment


      #27
      Just starting to watch this now, it seems really well made and produced.

      The point of how things changed after Graham Henry came back to Wales after coaching the Lions and how that caused a breakdown in the relationship with players is an excellent one.

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        #28
        Originally posted by Antepli Ejderha View Post
        Just starting to watch this now, it seems really well made and produced.

        The point of how things changed after Graham Henry came back to Wales after coaching the Lions and how that caused a breakdown in the relationship with players is an excellent one.
        This is the key point. This doesn't change the fact that he still managed to lay the foundations for 2005 (for instance, he was the one who brought Mike Ruddock back to Wales by getting him to run the A team.) For all the crap Henry took in the later years in Wales, his subsequent record with the ABs showed that he was the best coach in the world. It's just a pity that he took the Lions job.

        Overall, I really enjoyed the series but it's a pity that it didn't show more of the destructive, horrible infighting between the WRU and the clubs that bears a great deal of responsibility for why we were in the doldrums in the first place. It would have been good to hear from David Moffett and the battles that he had to fight to take the WRU at least part of the way towards becoming a professional operation. Unfortunately, the BBC aren't going to pick fights with the blazers by washing dirty linen in public so they skirted this altogether. Alun Carter, the Welsh team's video analyst, is interviewed briefly and he wrote a very good book on this period (called Seeing Red) which is worth digging out if you want to go into the nitty gritty.

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          #29
          Originally posted by Trevor Red View Post

          This is the key point. This doesn't change the fact that he still managed to lay the foundations for 2005 (for instance, he was the one who brought Mike Ruddock back to Wales by getting him to run the A team.) For all the crap Henry took in the later years in Wales, his subsequent record with the ABs showed that he was the best coach in the world. It's just a pity that he took the Lions job.

          Overall, I really enjoyed the series but it's a pity that it didn't show more of the destructive, horrible infighting between the WRU and the clubs that bears a great deal of responsibility for why we were in the doldrums in the first place. It would have been good to hear from David Moffett and the battles that he had to fight to take the WRU at least part of the way towards becoming a professional operation. Unfortunately, the BBC aren't going to pick fights with the blazers by washing dirty linen in public so they skirted this altogether. Alun Carter, the Welsh team's video analyst, is interviewed briefly and he wrote a very good book on this period (called Seeing Red) which is worth digging out if you want to go into the nitty gritty.
          Thanks for the recommendation, I've bought the book.

          Comment


            #30
            Originally posted by Antepli Ejderha View Post

            Thanks for the recommendation, I've bought the book.
            You're welcome, I hope you like it. He interviewed Ruddock for it- one of the things that comes out is the negotiations for his contract extension. At one point, Mike refused to sign because there was a clause in it that said "the final decision on all matters of team selection rests with the Chief Executive of the WRU."

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              #31
              I always wonder how much, if at all, Ruddock's experience with the WRU influenced his son Rhys's decision to leave Welsh rugby at the age of 18 and eventually play for Ireland.

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                #32
                Originally posted by Ray de Galles View Post
                I always wonder how much, if at all, Ruddock's experience with the WRU influenced his son Rhys's decision to leave Welsh rugby at the age of 18 and eventually play for Ireland.
                I didn't know that. Ruddock senior has, mostly, kept schtum about the whole business so I expect his son will do likewise. It may well be a factor.

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                  #33
                  So, an ex-England but still current Sale player is being questioned about an alleged drugging and rape of a teenager (apparently assisted by a 41 year old woman, apparently a sex worker). I'm 100% certain I know who the player is, but obviously not naming names given the position.

                  All I can say is, if true, what the fucking fuck? What part of you thought this is acceptable or would turn out well?

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                    #34
                    I thought the 41 year old was his wife. It's horrific and has somehow led to Danny Cipriani having to release a statement, with his wife, that it isn't him.

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                      #35
                      Cardiff v Quins just started on BT and S4C.
                      Last edited by Ray de Galles; 14-01-2022, 20:03.

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                        #36
                        Not quite sure how Cardiff managed to lose that against a badly misfiring Quins. Terrible game management in the final stages mainly.
                        Last edited by Ray de Galles; 14-01-2022, 23:34.

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                          #37
                          Quins are basically the Barbarians with a clubhouse at this stage.

                          We've come a long way since I was watching Paul Burke turn down the penalty advantage for the chance of a pot at goal by presenting flat palms to a pass to intentionally knock on. Not that he's anything but a Quins legend nonetheless.

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                            #38
                            Munster escape to victory somehow in Castres, but given their patchy domestic form all season, hard to see them making any impact on the business end of the competition.

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                              #39
                              Originally posted by Ray de Galles View Post
                              the introduction of Fiji Drua and Moana Pasifika in to Super Rugby.
                              The first one I can figure out, but what is Moana Pasifika? Samoans, or Tongans, or the club version of that Pacific Islanders international team from a few year back?

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                                #40
                                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moana_Pasifika

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                                  #41
                                  Nathan Hughes has declared his availability for Fiji. One of the first players to publicly announce their decision.

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                                    #42
                                    Does anyone know the background of Ali Oz the Racing 92 prop?

                                    From what I've seen he was born in France but his name suggests a Turkish background or possibly Arab. He's been in the France squads recently.

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                                      #43
                                      I can't find anything definitive, but it strikes me as reasonably likely.

                                      He was born in Voiron, 25 km outside of Grenoble and made his pro debut there, He also began his sporting career playing football. Voiron has a meaningful Turkish population
                                      Last edited by ursus arctos; 15-01-2022, 15:17.

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                                        #44
                                        If he makes it into the national team I'm pretty sure he'll be the first Turk to play high level international rugby. I cannot think of anyone else.

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                                          #45
                                          Phil Bennett, Ray Gravell, Derek Quinnell...there's loads of them.

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                                            #46
                                            Originally posted by Ray de Galles View Post
                                            Phil Bennett, Ray Gravell, Derek Quinnell...there's loads of them.
                                            Being a Turk myself I should have got those.

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                                              #47
                                              There was a German international playing for Castres last night, which must be a first.

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                                                #48
                                                Mustafa Güngör used to captain Germany in both Union and Sevens, and I believe that they have features other players of Turkish heritage

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                                                  #49
                                                  This is where my less than comprehensive knowledge of RU shows itself. Leinster beat Montpellier 89-7 on the Rugby Champions Cup today. I see that Montpellier lie about half way in their group and fifth in the ‘Top 14’ French top flight. Does this result simply mean that Leinster are a superb side, that the French league isn’t as strong as I thought it was, that Montpellier don’t give a damn about European rugby or that they just had a really bad day? I’m genuinely curious,

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                                                    #50
                                                    Some of all of that.

                                                    The quality of the French League has declined in recent years, in large part due to a crackdown on the top clubs' chronic evasion of the salary cap. French attention to European competition as a whole has also taken a huge hit this season because of the COVID travel restrictions and what seems to be a general sense that the competitions aren't worth the trouble given the circumstances. Add to that that Montpellier were fielding a young side, got a red card, and that Leinster were very much up for it, and you get a result like that.

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