The '09/10 Rugby Thread

[bendeus]

Celtic Crusaders interested in Henson.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/rugby-league/crusaders-linked-with-henson-move-1737771.html

I suspect many rugby teams would be interested in Henson, not just those from the faulty code, but there you go.

Hilarious non-story. Failing League franchise with major question marks over its ongoing financial viability puts out story relating to the signing of marquee player in order to raise profile. They couldn't afford him, and he wouldn't go to them.

 

[bendeus]

I mean, would you sign for these jokers if you were one of the highest profile and best paid rugby players in the world?

CC players being investigated as illegal immigrants:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/super_league/celtic_crusaders/8142408.stm

RFL have confirmed that it is "working closely" with the Crusaders to help Super League's bottom club meet the challenge of running a full time operation after "experiencing difficulties due to the adverse economic climate.":

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugb...rs/8137097.stm

Lions tour over. Rugby silly season begins.

 

[mattie]

Harrison gets meaningless ban.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/my_club/bath/8159862.stm

"class A, it's OK, everyone's doing it"

Not if they want to be professional Rugby players they ain't.

Wonder if Lipman et al will get the same. The tragedy is Matt Stevens - a decent bloke, unlike these sneery twats - got busted in-season and got the 2-year ban, the others may get away with less.

Still, according to reports Harrison got put on his arse by an anonymous Quins player.

 

[bendeus]

Reports that the Quins player, (can't remember who) who faked an injury to get Nick Evans back on the field in the HEC semi against Leinster has had a twelve month ban for his actions. Serves him right if true, though how that stacks up against minimal bans for gouging, etc. is debatable.

 

[mattie]

Reports that the Quins player, (can't remember who) who faked an injury to get Nick Evans back on the field in the HEC semi against Leinster has had a twelve month ban for his actions. Serves him right if true, though how that stacks up against minimal bans for gouging, etc. is debatable.

Tom Williams.

I'd apportion more blame to the quins coaching staff who instigated it rather than the player. He's hardly likely to be able to refuse a team order.

Not good though, it's abusing a system set up to ensure safety (even if tangentially)

 

[bendeus]

Tom Williams.

I'd apportion more blame to the quins coaching staff who instigated it rather than the player. He's hardly likely to be able to refuse a team order.

Not good though, it's abusing a system set up to ensure safety (even if tangentially)

Agree with this. He's 'taking one for the team', as it were. Mind, it looks like Quins have been fined £215,000 as well. A paltry sum for a football club, but a significant chunk for a rugby club - two decent players' annual wages right there.

 

[mattie]

A fake blood capsule?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2009/jul/21/tom-williams-harlequins-ban

 

[bendeus]

Good article. It highlights just how badly the entire disciplinary system needs overhauling. At present it appears to be arbitary, prone to national self-interest, unevenly enforced and either too draconian or too lenient. How the fuck can somebody whose actions potentially endanger somebody's sight get a sentence six times more lenient than somebody who knowingly flouts match rules, and how can the people who obviously put him up to it get off without sanction?

What with the ELVs and now this, the IRB seems to be closely following the WRU text on auto-foot shooting. They'll fuck up the game yet

 

[DaRealSpoon]

It is ridiculous, theres no way you can justify that lads twelve month ban when people are getting a matter of weeks for gouging...

E2A - The thing is, and somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I haven't seen any 'proof' that there was a blood capsule involved. For all anyone can know the injury was legitimate as far as evidence goes.

So Williams has got a 12 month ban for winking at the touchline... Big fucking deal, how is that even proof that it was a set-up situation? Maybe someone said 'are you ok?' and in response came Williams's wink... Or some other such harmless reason for winking.

Seems just barmy to me.

 

[mattie]

Oliver Barkley's broken his leg.

Crockett has snorted himself off the team so we'll be relying on Hape quite a bit in centres.

Nowt more to add, other than to wonder how much recent moves will bugger the playing style of the team.

 

[spacemonkey]

Who does Stephen Jones play for?

 

[mattie]

Scarlets, Wales, Lions. Maybe Barbarians, I can't be sure.

 

[bendeus]

Who does Stephen Jones play for?

The Times

 

[bendeus]

Oliver Barkley's broken his leg.

Crockett has snorted himself off the team so we'll be relying on Hape quite a bit in centres.

Nowt more to add, other than to wonder how much recent moves will bugger the playing style of the team.

Some wizened old crone has passed her warty hand over a three-legged toad and cursed your team, Mattie. An almost unprecedented implosion, no? Pity, they looked like a very decent side last season.

 

[spacemonkey]

The Times

I don't know anything about Rugby, so can't tell if that was a joke.

He came to look at my house in Cardiff! I was wondering if I had some insider transfer news!

 

[sleaterkinney]

It is ridiculous, theres no way you can justify that lads twelve month ban when people are getting a matter of weeks for gouging...

E2A - The thing is, and somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I haven't seen any 'proof' that there was a blood capsule involved. For all anyone can know the injury was legitimate as far as evidence goes.

So Williams has got a 12 month ban for winking at the touchline... Big fucking deal, how is that even proof that it was a set-up situation? Maybe someone said 'are you ok?' and in response came Williams's wink... Or some other such harmless reason for winking.

Seems just barmy to me.

Nah, sky had footage of him putting something in his sock, then taking it out and putting it in his mouth.

It's tough on him because he obviously was following orders, he could hardly refuse to do it.

 

[durruti02]

That's the worst thing about the move to Leckwith (well, one of the worst; the massive rental and unrealistic business model which may end up bankrupting the club are also concerns), the fact that at CAP there was a host of pre-match drinking establishments to choose from. Now, you're limited to the shite ones along Cowbridge Road, the (heaven forfend) Ninian Park, or the Cornwall. Why the fuck would a club want to exchange a prime, city centre ground for which they're paying very little for a venue on the edge of town that will, in the main, be half empty?

Anyways, we've been through this before on these boards. A shit idea which will bite the Blues on the arse.

god this is awful deja vue ..

exactly the same at Llanelli ( oh sorry we are now Scarlets NOT Llanelli)

.. Parc y Scarlets (PyS!!) out of town, no pubs, leaving lovely old ground, and well well dodgy business model, that has so far been well not half empty but certainly under occupied ..

though at least unlike Leckwith we at least we have some standing terraces .. if not enough .. i have been arguing they should rip put the seats in the whole of one end ..

i don't know what argument they used in cardiff to support the move ... in llanelli it was all bullshit .. "club will go bust if we don't move etc etc etc" .. all rubbish

 

[durruti02]

Nah, sky had footage of him putting something in his sock, then taking it out and putting it in his mouth.

It's tough on him because he obviously was following orders, he could hardly refuse to do it.

wow! so yes the club has got away with murder .. and what a shame it was Quins! lol we all look up to them don't we! he he

 

[bendeus]

I don't know anything about Rugby, so can't tell if that was a joke.

He came to look at my house in Cardiff! I was wondering if I had some insider transfer news!

It was a low-quality rugby joke. There are two Stephen Joneses in the world of the egg-shaped ball; the Welsh 10 and the treacherous, wannabe English rugby journo.

Interesting about his coming to look at your house, mind. Rumours have persisted for a while about him signing for the Blues. If it's not a rude question, would your house be the sort that a man earning around £180,000 per year would live in, or would buy as an investment?

 

[bendeus]

god this is awful deja vue ..

exactly the same at Llanelli ( oh sorry we are now Scarlets NOT Llanelli)

.. Parc y Scarlets (PyS!!) out of town, no pubs, leaving lovely old ground, and well well dodgy business model, that has so far been well not half empty but certainly under occupied ..

though at least unlike Leckwith we at least we have some standing terraces .. if not enough .. i have been arguing they should rip put the seats in the whole of one end ..

i don't know what argument they used in cardiff to support the move ... in llanelli it was all bullshit .. "club will go bust if we don't move etc etc etc" .. all rubbish

A club moving to an improved ground with better facilities and more impressive corporate provision could well be a winner, provided the business model is sound and they can get the fans in, and provided they own the fucking thing outright rather than renting it. I think the Scarlets could still make a (limited) success out of Parc-Y-Scarlets, provided they ditch that incompetent buffoon, Nigel Davies and get a proper coach, and provided they find some cash to buy some decent players.

The Blues, however......

They're paying rental for a stadium they don't own and can't hope to fill. That sounds like shit business sense to me.

 

[Mr Retro]

Forgot to put this up but Jean de Villiers has signed for Munster for next year. Cracker of a signing and I think he will fit into the team and (just as important) the Munster ethos very well.

 

[bendeus]

Forgot to put this up but Jean de Villiers has signed for Munster for next year. Cracker of a signing and I think he will fit into the team and (just as important) the Munster ethos very well.

Munster will be scarily good with the addition of PdV. A canny signing.

 

[spacemonkey]

It was a low-quality rugby joke. There are two Stephen Joneses in the world of the egg-shaped ball; the Welsh 10 and the treacherous, wannabe English rugby journo.

Interesting about his coming to look at your house, mind. Rumours have persisted for a while about him signing for the Blues. If it's not a rude question, would your house be the sort that a man earning around £180,000 per year would live in, or would buy as an investment?

It's a big 5-bedroom house in Pontcanna. There are a few blues players living in Pontcanna, so I guess he'd be looking to live in it.

Personally, I think he'd be after something a bit better...which is why he didn't put an offer in.

 

[bendeus]

Interesting. If Wellies is looking at big, 5 bedroom town houses it could well be that a move is on the cards. The Scarlets would be fucked.

 

[mattie]

Some wizened old crone has passed her warty hand over a three-legged toad and cursed your team, Mattie. An almost unprecedented implosion, no? Pity, they looked like a very decent side last season.

I'm surprisingly upbeat about it, as the replacements look good players - in some cases better than the previous - and I'm happy we've got rid of the 'rotten core', as Brownsword puts it. Good player he may be, but it's hard not to be glad to see the back of Justin Harrison.

Honestly, every single ruck would end with one of the opposition trying to give him a smack. What was he doing in there?

Barkley isn't exactly that loveable, but seems a bit chastened after that stint at Glaws (a team who have completely self-destructed). Good player, a much-needed boot as well, so - aside from his obvious discomfort - a bit of a blow that he's cracked a leg. Would like to see how he plays alongside Hape, and when Butch gets back he'll be spared the ritual humiliation of missing every single kick at goal.

 

[agricola]

World Cup:

2015: England
2019: Japan

 

[mattie]

World Cup:

2015: England
2019: Japan

Nice. The 2013 RL WC is in the UK too.

Can't recall, did England go as a sole bid or are any of the other home nations involved?

eta: I was tempted to ask if any games would be at club grounds, but - unless it gets a major revamp in the next few years - not a hope in hell the Rec will see any.

 

[Balbi]

Good to see the Saffie's getting their knickers in a twist over it too

 

[mattie]

A Bath rugby forum has details of the grounds that were listed as part of the bid - Millenium Stadium in there - as is St Mary's, wtf? Woodward perhaps? My nearest are Millenium and Kingsholm, may try to get to a few games.


Twickenham Stadium, London (82,000) – Hosting pool games, knockouts and the final.

Wembly Stadium, London (90,000) – Hosting pool games and knockouts.

Old Trafford, Manchester (76,212) – Hosting pool games and knockouts.

Millenium Stadium, Cardiff (74,000) – Hosting pool games and knockouts.

The Emirates Stadium, London (60,355)

St James’ Park, Newcastle (52,387)

Anfield, Liverpool (45,370)

Elland Road, Leeds (39,401)

Ricoh Arena, Coventry (32,609)

St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton (32,689)

Welford Road, Leicester (30,000 by 2015)

Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester (17,000)

 

[mattie]

D-day for 'the Bath three', up before the beak to explain why they thought it reasonable to miss three drugs tests despite the club insisting.