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Season 2- Episode 48- Can You Hear Me Now...? (Premiership Rounds 21 & 22)
35 Plays5 years ago
It's been a long week for us all so here's something to make you laugh, smile or just feel better about yourselves. First off, apologies if it sounds like either of us are under water or something. Storms rolling through the New England area of the U.S. played havoc with our connections. IN ANY CASE, on this episode we cover a whole litany of things. We talk about the international squads that have been named for the upcoming window, we give our final goodbyes to a few greats of the Premiership, address what in the world is going on with Sale and of course wrap the action from the conclusion of the regular season in the Prem. Have a beer (we wish we'd had 2 or 3), relax and enjoy.
Ask us questions via Twitter: Jarrod- jdyke8man & Ben- admrablsnackbar. Send us your thoughts for the show and questions for upcoming shows via e-mail fantasyrugbypodcast@gmail.com. Be on the look out for an invite to our cross-format competition for fantasy rugby competition featuring the likes of us and our good friend The Fantasy Rugby geek. If you don't get an invite, we can get you in on the lower tier so you can get promoted for the following season.
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Availability
00:00:07
Speaker
Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the Fancy Rugby Yanks. My name is Jared Dyke. I'm Ben Glaser. Yeah, let's do it. Jesus, what a... We're doing this on a Wednesday and, you know, I don't want to quite get into it yet, but...
00:00:21
Speaker
We don't know why we're doing this on a Wednesday. We were waiting for something to happen and it didn't fucking happen. He's still alive. Damn it. Oh, you mean not that, not that, not that, the rugby match. That's right. Yeah. That, that a lot of people were waiting for me when I trust me. Uh, shit.
Impact of COVID-19 on Rugby Leagues
00:00:40
Speaker
Anyway, I mean, amongst all this, guess what can weird, but look at this whole weekend was, was, was COVID insanity.
00:00:49
Speaker
Yeah. And across everywhere. We saw in the NFL and obviously we saw it in the prem too. Correct. Just fucking up games and teams being irresponsible when we'll get to it. We'll move on from that. But yeah, craziness. And unfortunately the game didn't happen. Well, no, fortunately the game didn't happen, which that's why we were doing this today. Yeah.
00:01:15
Speaker
Really, uh, I mean under abundance of caution, it probably shouldn't have happened, but in, it turns out it didn't anyway. So no big deal. Let's get, we'll get into that a lot deeper in a second. Um, yeah, beers. Gimme mine. Mine. Find us on your favorite podcast app. Check us out. Apple, Apple play, uh, Apple podcasts, Google play. That's the one. Um, we're on, we're on Amazon music now. And yeah, we're, we're in all kinds of fun spots. Spotify. A lot of people do Spotify now.
00:01:45
Speaker
Like Joe, Joe Rogan is exclusively on Spotify now. And he's getting paid ridiculous enough to do it too. Yes he is. And they're, and they're like, well, at first they were like, yeah, do you? And now I guess employees have watched complaints. You had to know what you were getting when you signed Joe Rogan. Like if you didn't bother to listen to the podcast for five seconds, then.
00:02:09
Speaker
I don't know. It's kind of on, it's kind of on Spotify in there. That's all I know. You knew what you were getting. God, it's not a mystery. Uh, anyway, um, make sure you're checking out your TRM upgrades. Big weekend coming up, obviously with them and the likes. Um,
00:02:27
Speaker
big weekend for George, our buddy of the fancy rugby geek. It's gonna be a great weekend for him. I have a feeling he's gonna fit right in this weekend for all your needs.
Rugby Strategies and Team Lineups
00:02:42
Speaker
And this week, those TRM upgrades are big again. We're, you know, last few weeks of the season, the teams get smaller. It might be easier with the lineups for cause you have fewer games, but the, the, the analysis you get from them is pretty, pretty great too. So.
00:02:59
Speaker
Uh, it definitely helps you because between, you know, you're going to have tough choices to make too. So those upgrades help a lot. Yeah, I know. I've already, I've, I've, I've picked most of my team. I don't have 28 yet, but I picked most of my team and like looking at some of the, some of the, the projections and, you know, and, and the analysis. I'm like, damn, this is going to be a tough week to pick off these players. You know, there's some good stuff. We'll get into it and start and sit, but shit.
Social Issues and Rugby
00:03:27
Speaker
Um,
00:03:27
Speaker
Yeah, so we did have a small bit of justice, and I follow Will Middlebrooks on Twitter, so I was very alive to what happened down in Texas very quickly. Black Lives Matter, as always. It sounds as if one black life might get some justice. A police officer shot a man after he tried to break up a fight. Go figure that one. That sounds familiar, right?
00:03:58
Speaker
but, and killed him unfortunately, but he is being charged with murder. Okay. Well, thank God. Yeah. Let's, let's, hopefully we can change our policing too. Cause that's, that's ridiculous. Yeah. On any level. I mean, once again, you look at any other civilized country, well, sorry, any civilized country and the amount of, of police, you know, police involved deaths is extremely low, especially compared to here. Yeah.
00:04:28
Speaker
Yeah, it's just ridiculous. But yeah, it's important and needs to be repeated obviously because we're still not there yet. Right.
00:04:41
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. It's just really sad that this keeps happening. I say justice, but we shouldn't have to get to that point either. It shouldn't take a black guy getting shot, a black person, a person of color getting shot to rain the police in. It should have already been done a long time ago.
00:05:04
Speaker
Right. So at this point, it's just pointing out the grossly obvious, the obscenely obvious that we can't get right. Yep. Unfortunately.
Rugby Squad Announcements and Speculations
00:05:16
Speaker
Okay. Let's go to something more upside. We had some international teams released this week. England released a training squad. It's not, this is not going to be the team. This might be the team that plays the Babas or somewhat like it, but yeah, I don't, I don't see this being, there'll be a lot of guys that are named in this camp that aren't going to play in that game. You know, and I hope there's two that were named in this camp that are,
00:05:42
Speaker
not going to play at all, but we know that's not true. Oh, well, yeah. Yeah. We know that. Yeah. And I'm like, you know, again, when can we stop pretending that they're international players? Well, I mean, the two Lester boys. Yeah. Well, into,
00:06:02
Speaker
Well, the one thing is, and of course you're talking about Ben Young's and George Ford, Ben Young's, Eddie knows him number one. He's on 99 caps and there's a sentimental thing to get him a hundred. I get it.
00:06:17
Speaker
but then there's, and then there's also probably the two informed scrum halves that aren't available right now. You know, those guys are not going to be available for certainly for that, um, that barbarians match. Um, yeah, I wouldn't play. I wouldn't, I probably, you might see one of them get slotted in there, but yeah, Robson and Spencer are probably the two inform guys and people are really ringing that bell for Spencer right now real hard. So how can you not? Yeah. Yeah.
00:06:44
Speaker
So I mean he's doing everything Eddie wants and you know, it's Yeah, I don't know. I don't know what more I could do. So With any luck, maybe maybe that they can have that maybe they can have that that Get get young says hundredth cap Have him play the first half and then bring on Spencer and that there's your passing of the torch and then from there on out It's it's Ben's team at nine. I would have that would have to be Italy game because technically Baba's is not a cat. I
00:07:14
Speaker
Right. Right. We'll see how that goes. Um, the wall squad also against Italy. Cause there's not much risk of losing to Italy. Um, and they, they, they picked their team too, but I want to talk about the wall squad cause there's two names in there that are really awesome to see. And, um, you know, for the, for the time that the Saracens aren't in the premier ship, I think Ben and I are going to be unofficial bears fans cause, um, and, and with sheeting, Yoan Lloyd getting picked.
00:07:40
Speaker
uh, by Wayne, Wayne P back. Sorry. Um, that's awesome. That's awesome for those two kids. They built the blade outstanding this year. So, um, Jonah, that's really cool. Agreed. And then, you know, all through that, that it's, it's, it's, it's good to see from start to finish, but there was the one name that I'm just puzzled by. Um, yeah, that's Jonah Holmes. Um,
00:08:07
Speaker
Again, I get it. He's not a terrible player, but it's just an odd choice when he's a backup and his starter is available. So I don't quite get why he made the team over Ashton Hewitt considering how well Hewitt's playing. So on form, he was the better player and Holmes is his backup.
00:08:30
Speaker
And again, and I guess there's a little bit of bias with the whole Lester thing, but it's not as though Jonah Holmes was lighting up the premiership. You know, it's like, you know, Tompkins and obviously not like Louis Reesemmit. So I don't quite get where Holmes fits in here and what dimension he provides that you wouldn't get from Ashton Hewitt without the benefits of what Ashton Hewitt does that Jonah Holmes just doesn't. Yeah.
00:09:00
Speaker
I don't have that answer at the moment. Um, yeah, we did kind of, unfortunately we kind of glossed over, uh, Ali Crossdale getting a pick for England.
00:09:09
Speaker
the young Saracens winger, so good on him. You and I talked about the young wingers that are playing for- Just because he has, but it's just surprising. He's the quality player, but I just don't know. I didn't realize he'd had enough time and an exposure for Eddie to pick him. So good for him. Real good for him. Yeah. I mean, because he played in that wasp talking that was at Rico.
00:09:32
Speaker
I was probably one of the only good parts of that game, honestly. So there's that. But yeah, so good on the kid. I do like what he's got. He's got a nose for the dry line and that is something you need as a winger. Fair. Absolutely.
00:09:50
Speaker
Yeah, Italy released their squad. Not a ton of surprises in there. A lot of events and players, shocker of the day. Yeah, it's a decent squad, obviously. But yeah, it's just not gonna be quite enough to get them where they need to be. Pledry is like the gody name in that team.
00:10:16
Speaker
But yeah, and you know, I I also I do like Braumstein. He has no business being an Italian but I do I do like him as a player. So No, that is what it is two names popped up on the Puma's list for TRC that I'm sure a lot of a lot of their fans were wondering where the fuck were these guys at the World Cup and
00:10:39
Speaker
Um, for Kondo Isa and, uh, Santi Cordero. Both have, uh, been named to the Puma team to play, uh, the TRC. So, uh, good on them. Yeah. It sounds like somebody's fixing some real good on them. Well, a little bit. Yeah.
00:10:56
Speaker
It'll be definitely cool to see, uh, Cordero out there. Yeah. And, um, no, he's hurt, but maybe this is, you know, the sign that they need to not pick him ever again. Love an EME. Yeah. Right. I mean, I, I, yeah, the same, same exact kind of thing. Like he doesn't do much at the PRAM level except get yellow carded. So this is like, you know, he, he's not fit for the international stage. He's not even fit for the PRAM. So, um,
00:11:25
Speaker
Yeah. This is that good. Good. This is a net benefit for the Pumas. Yeah. Yep. I would, I would agree. I would agree. Um, speaking of TRC, it's Southern hemisphere. It's not quite TRC time, but, um, bless little copper cup around the corner. Um, New Zealand's going to get their fans back. Hey, they deserve it. They've, they've, they keep beating it and they're, they're taking good care of it. And so good on them. Hey,
00:11:55
Speaker
just just like that. I mean, Hey, the, uh, the Miami dolphins are getting all their fans back too. The governor today just said, Hey, go ahead. Open city capacity, but it's a dolphins game. So they still won't have me. This is true. Yeah. But the point is New Zealand earned it. Good for them. Let them cheer themselves again. Cause they, they deserve it. Yup. Uh, yeah, no kidding. Um,
00:12:25
Speaker
I mean, there's obviously, there's a lot of thought obviously with this one. The squad that, and he'll name his team either later tonight or tomorrow for this one, Foster, and obviously Dave Rennie as well. Your guy probably isn't going to be their boss here for this series, but with the fact that they're probably going to have to bring an expanded squad to Australia,
00:12:52
Speaker
I'd bet good money that, um, that Lachlan Bashir is going to be on that plane. I hope so. Yeah. I want to see him at that, at the international stage. Yeah. A lot of people, I think he, I think he's there. I think he really is. So, um, I'm sure, I'm sure he'll get there and God throw him in against, uh, Argentina. Right.
00:13:19
Speaker
Yeah, so yeah, he has earned his due the past couple seasons. So I, the more the older I get, the more I think of form as being a much better
00:13:34
Speaker
indicator of, of, you know, who should be, who should make a team, you know, cause it's out there. Are you, are you making good decisions? Are you executing well? It's going to make the difference in how they play. It's going to be whether or not they're making, you know, making good decisions and executing well. That's it. And fuck if you can tell, show me, you know, a flanker who's done that better than Bashir in the past year and a half or so, I'd like to see him. So yeah. You will not get an argument on me.
00:14:04
Speaker
I'm going to stand for him again. You're not going to get an argument out of me. What else we got here? We got that. All right. So let's hit this because this is the elephant in the room that we've been kind of dancing around. I'll be dancing around at the beginning of the pod.
Controversies and COVID-19 in Rugby
00:14:20
Speaker
The COVID issue now from what I gathered is after, this is what I've gathered so far and then we can discuss from there, after sale won the Prem Cup on whatever fricking day it was, a couple of Mondays ago. Yeah, Monday, yeah. A couple of Mondays ago. They were kind of silly and went out.
00:14:46
Speaker
And that is potentially where a number of their guys caught COVID. Allegedly. Allegedly. Allegedly. And not necessarily, there was a breakdown between then and then when they played Saints.
00:15:07
Speaker
and what it was, I don't know. They're the only team that had that type of breakdown. So that's, to me, that's on that. It's a little bit on the prem, but it's on them too, you know? So, yeah. Well, it's, yeah, it's a fuck up. Cause like, there's a, I think that there's the lag between when you actually contract it and when you show symptoms and when you actually test positive for it, it all kind of goes in stages. And I think they infected themselves
00:15:36
Speaker
And then didn't test, maybe they didn't test positive or whatever was going on. You know, it wasn't, it wasn't showing up on the tests at least when they played Saints, but they were still able to.
00:15:49
Speaker
Potentially passing on I don't know that we've heard I think we have we heard of positive cases from Saints. I can't write I to Love them and Francis, right? Okay, so sucks which really sucks for them because that brings them out of England camp and that's not yeah, that's a that's you know the They think those two, you know Francis was one of those guys who I would have said Yeah
00:16:11
Speaker
And Ludlow definitely deserved it. So these are two guys who are getting an opportunity, a big opportunity that they got fucked over by sale. Yeah. I mean, they were both in Eddie's World Cup squad, but still like Ludlow should be there.
00:16:28
Speaker
Francis is probably not the best center on his team, let alone, you know, somebody that needs to be in an England squad. So that is what it is. Yeah, really unfortunate. You were on the World Cup team. Yes. Yes. Yeah. I mean, he did. Yeah. For, for as deep as your World Cup team as he did, he did not rotate it a ton. I will say that. So, you know, that's what it is. Yeah. So to me, this is going to be,
00:16:58
Speaker
There's gonna be a lot of blowback on sale, I think, a lot more than they're probably anticipating, honestly. Especially with them more or less causing a match to be canceled. Right. And, you know, really- So match to be canceled. Yeah, and then their own match to be canceled as well. Right. Because they had more positives. This morning, yeah. It's not just the COVID thing. If they were,
00:17:26
Speaker
uh apologetic if they were at all contrite it would be it would be one thing but they've just been assholes for weeks not just about this but even about you know um calling out mike brown yeah um on twitter the other the other week and it's like fuck guy what the fuck are you do you think you guys think you are and then they're you know they contract covid they caused the one game to to get fucked
00:17:55
Speaker
As you said, but then they're like
00:17:58
Speaker
We didn't do anything wrong. Fuck you guys. We didn't do anything wrong. And it's like, then all of a sudden, boom, no, we, you know, you fucking did that. You did, you did everything wrong. So, so really fuck them. I mean, this is, I, I, I really hope there's a significant blowback in a lot of ways for them. Cause I'm sure there will be. I have, I don't doubt it. The attitude, just unbelievable. Like, you know, if, and again, cause we have to talk about it cause you're wearing the shirt. I didn't wear mine today.
00:18:28
Speaker
Um, the, you know, the attitude that the Saracen showed black and red was we, yeah. Okay. Well, we're, we'll, we are fine with the count. Hold it. Hold us accountable. We don't think we did anything wrong. Oh, we did something wrong. Okay. Well, we'll fix it. Oh, we didn't fix it fast enough. We're go. And then they didn't, they didn't fight back. They didn't appeal. They just like, okay, we're good. Say all the whole time have just been like giving everybody the double middle finger. Mm-hmm.
00:18:56
Speaker
And it's like, that's, you know, you might not like Saracens for, for because you're, you know, jealous, but I get it. They're good. They're really good. It's not fair. Yeah. Sometimes it's one of those things. Come on. At least they're not douchebags like sale. Like let's, let's keep things in perspective. They're not, they're not, you know, they're, they, they got, we're guilty of trying to help their players too much. Whereas sales guilty of trying to fuck everybody just for the sake of themselves.
00:19:25
Speaker
Yeah. It's you know, it, and really it becomes, here's the thing. The reason that people got extremely upset with Saracens was there's a certain writer over in the UK that's a Saracens fan that really just like to pour it on and didn't do anybody as a Saracens supporter a favor. And you know, it made, it made a lot of people look bad.
00:19:53
Speaker
And it really did. And yeah, I don't like, listen, honestly, I fucking hate Steven Jones. I think he's a complete helmet. I'm sorry, he's a Saracen supporter. If I could kick him out of the club, I would. No, he doesn't stand for everything. And yeah, you know, you say things in the heat of the moment, but he,
00:20:19
Speaker
He just rubs it in so hard. You know, he rubbed it in extremely hard and it's just like, oh, well, this is why everybody fucking hates us now. You douche. Cause he is an often published person. Um, I mean, God, Australia is Australia. No, uh, New Zealand, one of the two, I think it's Australia. Anyway, one of the, one of the two, I'm sorry, I'm confusing this. I know what it is. I'm pretty sure it's Australia. Um, they have,
00:20:48
Speaker
They have, there's a bar somewhere in the middle of nowhere. And it's got a bust of Stephen Jones in it where you pee on him.
00:20:59
Speaker
Oh, was that was that from the, uh, that was the Wayne Barnes story. Yeah. Cause it used to be, it used to be, uh, it used to be, and he used to be one of them as well. And he, he, you know, in good spirits, cause we, we love Barnesy and we know what Barnesy does. He, you know, he was asked, did you have a tinkle on yourself? Absolutely. He did. He does not want to.
00:21:18
Speaker
to really care about that you know now now the person that's taking his place is you know kind of the obvious choice but yeah i mean that's how did he not die i don't know i don't know i don't know he's a he's a mortal he's you might be looser for like in body you know i don't yeah well who knows maybe by the time this posts he'll be dead anyway find out um
00:21:46
Speaker
Listen, we're not wishing somebody's dead, we're just wondering. Yeah, why? How? We're just wondering, I promise. I don't do that. Yeah, some sort of medicinal miracle. Apparently you got a cocktail that most people would fucking pay a lot of money for just to get the high from. Right.
00:22:09
Speaker
Anyway, so yeah, that to me is like the difference. And sale themselves have been just very, God, I can't even think of the word. I wish I was a little bit better with my words. Anyway, they've just not been a good example of what you wanna do in responses. And they've been very poor in those responses.
00:22:38
Speaker
That's the difference between what the two clubs we're talking about here is and yeah, sale have tried to build and obviously even Diamonds recognize they can't keep doing it the way they do it. But yeah, they haven't done good things. And as far as calling people out on Twitter, you can name who he is, don't fucking tag him.
00:23:03
Speaker
That's the difference. Pump your guy up all you want. Absolutely. Pump your guy up. Get your fans excited about your players. 100%. I backed that. But don't tag an opposing player. No snitch tagging like that. And that's even worse than snitch tagging. That's just straight up like, hey, fuck you.
00:23:24
Speaker
Yeah, so don't don't do that. And brownie was quite, quite unpleased with it. Yeah. And so some felt a lot of his teammates. So yes, you know, and other players and rugby people. Same. Yeah, I did. We're generally not not not pleased with that.
00:23:43
Speaker
Um, the only people who like are those fake hardos who are like, it's just rugby. It's just the way it is. Like, no, they probably haven't touched a pitch for anything beyond an old boy's game in a long time. So right. And even when they did, nobody wanted them there.
00:24:03
Speaker
We've all got that one teammate that you fucking do not want there. I promise you. Can't you just go away? You and I probably know the exact person that's on our club that would be like, fucking hell, go away. Why don't you? And he's not a bad person. He's just annoying shit. Actually, he might be a bad person, too. But he's definitely annoying a shit. And it's like, can I hit him? Like, can I accidentally hit him like he's in a rocket? I thought you were a guy. Yeah.
00:24:35
Speaker
Yeah. But look, at least, at least it sounded, you know, it's, it's better than it used to be because these are the people who like, they showed up and you're like, you know what, I might just take your knee out when I'm in that rock. Cause I don't want you off my field. And you're just a bad, like it is like you're a bad person and go away and fuck. I have to deal with you because you're in my club.
00:24:56
Speaker
So yeah, but those are the people, the toxic people are the ones who are like, that's just, that's just the way it is. It's like, you know, don't, don't cry about it. It's like, it's not crying about it. It's just fuck have a little class. Let's, you know, completely, as you said, pump, pump your guy up, celebrate what you did. I love, you know, I, and I used to be one of those guys who was like, ah, the celebrating after touchdowns is stupid. Now it's like, no, it's fun. They're just, they're having fun. Yeah. Have fun. Celebrate what you did.
00:25:23
Speaker
You don't have to, yeah, like you said, tagging the other guy and be like- Yeah, absolutely not. Calling you out. Nope. Bunch of bitches. Thoughts on round 21, the rest of round 21. We know, say it, Salem, Northampton, it was very disappointing. You and I both said that. Bristol Lester went exactly the way we thought it was gonna go.
00:25:53
Speaker
Um, to a, to a tee almost. Yeah. Pretty much. You know, so there, there was that, um,
00:26:05
Speaker
And then Worcester Saracens went the way I thought it was going to go. Yeah, I thought the Saris would put up a little bit better of a fight, but Worcester came to play. Worcester, you know, they didn't capitalize on Saris mistakes because they did make, you know, they didn't, they were tough for lack of effort. I mean, they still scored 27 points for a reason. Right. But yeah, Worcester were just better on the day and controlled it really. Yeah, Hougard was, was informed. Problem.
00:26:33
Speaker
Yep. I mean, and that, I mean, the kick through he, he, he put, who was it? Um, was it Hewitt or David, whoever it was on, on the wing? Um, excellent read on it. Just the same, whether or not the guy was on sides is irrelevant because he scored it. Right.
00:26:50
Speaker
Yeah, I think that was David. Yeah, whatever it was. Maybe Howard, but yeah. Or how, whatever it was. Anyway, point being, you know, he recognized it, read it well, and you know, just said, oh, and it was just a little outside of the foot chipper, grab her through. I was like, that is cheeky. That's sneaky.
00:27:08
Speaker
super confident, super like, yeah, I not only do I know what I want to do with it, but this will get it done. Yeah. And yeah. Yeah. He was informed for sure. Um, you know, we know how good Ollie Lawrence is. That's not news. Um, the guy, the guy might not, doesn't always put up the statute, but man, he's a fucking pain in the ass stuff against. That's all I know. Um,
00:27:33
Speaker
Although, hey, this wasn't Charlie's game. No, Charlie's game was a game before, wasn't it? But yeah, anyway. That was Charlie's game, wasn't it? Yeah, you started that game too, Charlie Watson. Oh, let me see.
00:27:53
Speaker
It's been, it's been over a week or about a week. So my brain's already mush. No, I don't think so. Okay. Maybe I missed that. Oh no, there he is. 13. Yeah. Oh yeah. No, it was his game. Yeah. Okay. Cause he had 37 fantasy points. Yeah. Yeah. Good for him. Good for him then. Yeah. Two tries. Yeah. Um, yeah. And this prompted you and I having a conversation about
00:28:13
Speaker
you know, the guys that are out on loan for the Saracens and the guys that are obviously coming into form for the Saracens are, um, are pretty exciting between him and, um, Don Morrison necessarily get to play a ton this past weekend, but, um, we saw what he did against Rossing and you know, that's,
00:28:33
Speaker
between him and like Watson and then, you know, obviously, hopefully we get Tomkins back if we don't get it. You know, and then, you know, daily can play in the centers if needed. Yeah, there's some good stuff in there. Let's ask you, you assume we'll come back for at least a year once, once he's done his loan.
00:28:54
Speaker
Yeah. So there's a lot in that, in that midfield that, um, I think opposition should be pretty scared of come the return of the black and red to the, to the prom for sure. So yeah. Um, extra, a lot of good stuff to look forward to. Yeah. Exeter, one in Irish, one in Irish fronted up and, um, got the job done. I mean, against, uh,
00:29:15
Speaker
you know, a very depowered Exeter team. Exeter play a certain way and everybody in their, in their system knows exactly how to play it. So, um, to their credit, um, they still almost won the damn thing too as well. They were, they were, they were either knocking on the 22 or in the 22. Um, but either case, you know, uh, but yeah, well, London Irish, you know, fry it up and did well. All he has on Collins is a magician. He knows where it is. He knows how to do it. Um, how,
00:29:46
Speaker
We just talked about midfield. How good is Tom Hendrickson for a guy that's not getting a ton of playing time? If he wants to move somewhere away from Exeter, I don't necessarily think he does. But if you wanted to, he'd slot into quite a few teams, honestly. He would. He would. It is a shame. So when I talk about that earlier, I was talking about the form. And there's a problem because Tom Hendrickson, when he shows up, he's amazing.
00:30:14
Speaker
Um, but it's also, he's not asked to do some, like some amazing things too often. He's just kind of like, all right, you know, kind of the cog in the machine, usually how they use them. Um, but any chance he's given to, to flourish a little bit and do something a little bit, uh, you know, off the cuff instead of, instead of scripted, he's fantastic. I really would like to see him in a,
00:30:36
Speaker
a bear's style attack, more so than an Exeter style attack. And he's one of those guys who just, yeah, the more I see him, the more, and cause he, if you only see him every so often, you're like, yeah, okay, he's all right. But if you actually get used to watching him, he's really fucking good. He is good. He's very good. And you know, he, he, on that intercept, he outran some really fast dudes as well. Yeah.
00:30:58
Speaker
So that says a lot about his talent level and his abilities as well, like he's given abilities. So that's a scary sight for some of the folks out there.
00:31:10
Speaker
And so yeah, good on him. When he has to step in, he usually does a pretty fucking good job. And I put the fucking on it because he really does a good job. That's for emphasis, not just because. I swear for emphasis. I don't swear just because, I promise. Also, I'm from the state of Maine in the United States. If you don't know where that is, it's in the Northeast. It's just below Canada. We know three languages there, French, English, and swearing.
00:31:38
Speaker
I am fluent in that third one. I am fluent in that if you haven't noticed. I'm from the Philadelphia area, so I only know the third one. That's a fact. That's a fact. Yeah, I know it. Accurate statement. Let's run through the games this past weekend. Obviously, we didn't play two of them.
00:32:06
Speaker
Irish Bristol, Bristol, not as good in the wet, but still good. Got the job done, kind of left it a little bit late, but not too late. The right guys are getting over the line, Max Maylands. Max Maylands, what are you doing? What are you doing, poor guy? Thank God it came to nothing, but- I know, but they kept agonizing over it for him.
00:32:34
Speaker
Our friend Sam was on the comms on this game. Let me, I just want to point that out. Sam, you do an awesome job. Sorry, we won't get to hear you anymore until about a month, but you know, we should talk about that later on, but we'll see if we have time. But yeah, so poor Max Malins. But he, you know, he was very accurate from the tee. That was really the only blunder he had. He played in that, so.
00:33:00
Speaker
You can give them a little shit for right and it was under advantage They could have gone for the corner and they chose to they chose the points So, you know, they could have kept going for for the try And it all worked out in the end anyway with that the penalty try that they put them over. Yes Yeah, and then and then them sticking around to watch the end of the
00:33:21
Speaker
Oh yeah, that was excellent. Sarri's bath match. Yeah. The loudest one had to be Nathan Hughes. The loudest one had to be Nathan Hughes. You know, and, you know, he was, I'll give Hughes a load of credit. He backed himself to go to a club and make a difference. And he has, he really has, you know, he's been a fancy wise, he's been a paperweight. We know this, but as a, as a player and a person in a club,
00:33:46
Speaker
made a huge impact. And you know, he backed himself, he backed his abilities, he backed this team, saying, these guys are going places. And they're in a European final, not albeit not champions cup, but still, well, there's a lot of people that would bite your hand off to frickin be in that. Oh, yeah, a challenge cup final, I promise you. And then, and now he's in now he's in the Premiership semi. Right. Holy shit. You know, good on him. Right. And then yeah, and
00:34:16
Speaker
would some of the other players that are on that team now be there? Like, you know, would Rad Roger have signed with them? You know, there's certain moves and it's interesting to see the difference in free agency styles that you mentioned. There's some teams that go out and buy players because they can't develop.
00:34:36
Speaker
and they just buy players who just want to like they don't give a fuck they just want to play like maybe they want to kick ass on a rugby pitch but they're not really in it for the team aspect of it they're just you know looking to get paid um and then there's team like the Bears who
Coaching Influence and Team Dynamics
00:34:52
Speaker
everybody who's there wants to be there and that's like Hughes wants to be there you know like
00:35:01
Speaker
Ben Earl right now wants to be there. They go there because they're like, hey, this is a good opportunity. I want to play with this team. Maybe they're not looking to be a bear for long term, but while they're there, they're buying in.
00:35:11
Speaker
Yeah. You know, and that's a shitload of credit to Pat Lamb. Yeah. If Bristol wasn't as good as they are right now, Pat Lamb would have most jobs that would be out there right now if he wanted. But we know his style. We know his type. We know his personality. That's not his style. He wants to coach the Bears. He wants to coach Bristol. He's looking to
00:35:35
Speaker
He started this project willingly. He's just like, I'm looking to build from the foundation and get this team to glory. And he is very close. And so that is a load of credit to him, his personality, his coaching style.
00:35:55
Speaker
And that filters down to the players and the roster. Because again, the guys who are there want to be there. And want to play well for Bears. Not just themselves. Shit, I'd want to play well for Pat Lam at this point. You kidding me? Yeah, I mean, there's coaches I would play for right now. Pat Lam is definitely one of them that I would just... You could tell me to jump into a bat of acid by fucking me.
00:36:19
Speaker
You know, just your pet. How fast now? You know, just just how it is. So wait, not that that.
00:36:30
Speaker
Oh, I'm in trouble, aren't I? Sorry, don't you down, coach? Yeah. Just trying to not just trying to do it, man. Sorry. Fuck. So to the match that they were watching at the end, all the coaches were crowded around at a certain one of the computer screens to watch the end. Saracen's Bath. Kind of, you know, Bath played excellent. Ben Spencer being the pain in the ass he was. And this is this is a game that had
00:37:00
Speaker
The emotional atmosphere of this game was super high for so many reasons. You look no further than the two nines in this game, and that's enough right there.
00:37:15
Speaker
building the fact that this is the Saracens last match in the premiership for at least a season. Building the fact that this is Wiggy's 250. Building the fact that this is the last time he and Barrett would ever be a part of the Saracens as players.
00:37:35
Speaker
So much, so much emotion. A lot of onions. Yeah. Yeah. Lots. Lots going around. Um, that wasn't the, and what I will talk about, um, bow outs in a second. So I guess I won't, I won't get into it too much. Um, but very, I mean, great performance from really both teams kind of first half bath, second half Saracens, but, um, yeah, really both teams, um,
00:37:57
Speaker
bringing it hard and this was not great weather to play a ton of open rugby and then it was tough sledding, wind, rain, not ideal by any means whatsoever. But the teams handled it well. I thought it was a good battle still. Both teams had their opportunities in the first half and yeah, Bath converted theirs, which you kind of expect again,
00:38:27
Speaker
you know, they, they needed to win. It's the team that needed, you know, really was desperate to win it. Um, controlled it for the, for I guess, probably, I guess they had the first 60 minutes and then it fell apart. Really? That's probably accurate. Um, wiggled over after. Yeah.
00:38:46
Speaker
It's a large gentleman. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. That's a big dude. You're stopping that. Then we saw, we saw why Spencer is good as he is as well. Like this is what makes him good. And that, that he's like, I know where I'm going with this thing. See ya. And you know, really, if you hadn't played against him in training, you wouldn't know what he was going to do. But so there was only a few, there was only a few guys that were alive to what he might do with that. Right. Um, not enough of them obviously. Not in position to do anything about it. Nope.
00:39:16
Speaker
So good on him and he's like, all right, you I can pick on. So he went after a couple of guys and knew what he was doing. That's why he's as good as he is and that's why he's obviously made the impact he's made at Bath. More to the point of the guys wearing black,
00:39:37
Speaker
You know, it's it was really unfortunate to see Dom Morris go down so fast. Yeah, you know, I was like, oh, that's him and Jackson and they were dropping they were dropping like flies and they still this is still beat me even with two of your guys on a check. I know I couldn't tell you on that one. I don't have an answer on that one. But this is
00:39:59
Speaker
with those three guys going down very fast. That is the DNA of the Saracens club, the way they fought back and said, screw it. We're still going to fucking tie the game. Yeah. And they did it. Yeah. You had one, a penalty try and try. And then it's in to Winston, Winston of all people. Right. I did not see that one coming at all.
00:40:20
Speaker
Like Billy, you know, like even Woolie or whatever, but where'd that come from? But that it's just it's what's sewn into the club. Really. It's just the never say die attitude, you know, and that's that's just how they are.
00:40:38
Speaker
Yeah. And you could see that he was like, just like we were talking about the, the bears who want to be there. He, he wants to be a Saracen like he didn't come out of retirement for, you know, just for funsies. He did it because it's a, it's a quality club, you know, they come calling, you know, just like you said, for Pat Lamb, you know, Sarah's come calling for you. Yeah. Mark McCall's another coach that I would definitely run my face through a wall for. Yeah. And, and Swinson definitely bought it and you can see how happy they were, you know,
00:41:03
Speaker
for him. Yeah, definitely. Like he probably hasn't scored a try in ages. So yeah. All right, old man, you got to try. Right. You know, so, um, yeah, Saracen's tied it, you know, they get it done for their sake and you know, that it feels like a win for them. So it's, um, it's, it's a decent send off for the guys in black. And it is actually, it's, it's, it's kind of the perfect way to end that, that particular match in the context of what it is where
00:41:34
Speaker
bath go away from that match, like kind of pooping themselves a little bit in fourth, but with the sale match to go. Right. Um, and, and like, and with the bears being guaranteed a spot, just because they think, you know, they couldn't hold it together for the last 20 minutes. So it's a little bit of a, uh, a thumb in your eye on the way out the door. It's like, we didn't beat you, but fuck you anyway. Let's see how we can, how we can trash this party just a little bit. Right.
00:42:02
Speaker
That's what they're good at, right? Right. And in the end, it provided the necessary points for Bath to move on anyway. So it wasn't, it was harmless. It wasn't so bad. And then the team that's going to play their own home semi-final, which, you know, if you had said this, if you had said this at the end of Die Young's last match where they were barely outside,
00:42:32
Speaker
They were barely outside. They were in either 10th or 11th. I don't remember where it was. They were not good. They were in deep, deep trouble, this club. They fire die young, they see the writing on the walls and they say that's it. And to leave Blackett's credit,
00:42:49
Speaker
He has, and I said it on the broadcast too, if you have a bold move that you see and you wanna execute, cool, go for it, but remember, in the tape, when we go back and do the review session, I am gonna fucking ping you for it, but they'll also, at the same time, they'll be critical of it, but he'll also see how could we have done it better? How could we have made this bold move work?
00:43:17
Speaker
And to his credit, so he's backing his players, which you gotta love. A player's coach is really the modern day way to go. Do you think about a lot of guys that are out there that are doing well?
00:43:35
Speaker
I'll stay in England and go to Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp and even his rival in that same league, Pep Guardiola, the players love these guys. And Klopp said at best, I will be their friend. I won't be their best friend, but I will be their friend. And those players want to play for him. They broke a big duck that Liverpool was sitting on for a long time.
00:43:57
Speaker
And you know, that's that that was that that's all the credit say you're clapping the way he coaches his guys And a lot of and more players want to play for that, you know less players want to play for a fucking hardo, right? So and and there's also you know, there's a difference between a player's coach who Just lets the players do whatever the fuck they want. Yeah big time and a players coach who
00:44:22
Speaker
gives the players framework and then the freedom to operate within that framework. Like, you know, so you see like the way that, you know, as regimented as Exeter are, you know, that, that's certainly not what we're talking about. Obviously not a player's coach, but yeah, when we're talking about like wasps, when we're talking about Bristol, you know, these are play, these are coaches who are,
00:44:45
Speaker
letting their play, like you can see it and how they play the watch, especially with the watch. They're freer. There's like a weight off their shoulders while they're playing. Cause they're like, yeah, if I fuck something up, coach, isn't going to have my lunch. He's going to help me fix it, you know, and then that's it. And I'll learn how to make the right decision and execute the right way with this. And then we'll, we'll move forward. Like there's, you know, you gotta have an environment where the players are empowered to try new things. Yeah.
00:45:14
Speaker
because that's the way they're going to kick ass on the rugby pitch. Absolutely. I do want to comment or give praise to the commentary team that was on this match. It was Topsy Ojo, who I wish he and Flatman, I wish would do more matches. Man, I love listening to the two of those guys. They're hilarious. Fantastic. They're so much fun to listen to.
00:45:30
Speaker
My mic was a little low, but that's my only complaint. Yeah, still great listens, just the same. And then Sarah Hunter, England captain, was also on this comm, and you know, I really like listening to her. I listen to her. There's another podcast that
00:45:48
Speaker
shoots for exclusively women's rugby. She was on it recently. I really do. I really liked listening to her. So yeah, if you can have a chance to ever listen to this woman spit rugby, she's excellent. So, but yeah, very cool. Just the same to the game. The one play that stands out and there's a lot of good things that Wost did in this game, you know,
00:46:11
Speaker
Robson picked up the try, Fekitoa. This poor, that poor kid Wyatt was just hurting. So he's been, he got thumped at least three times. One of them was by Fekitoa and I'm sure he's still feeling it today. This kid was just like, I gotta play against two? Man, I mean, he'll, that bruise will have like a picture on his wallet or on because of who hit him, but. He should have asked Fekitoa to sign it after that.
00:46:40
Speaker
But the one, the play that stands out is the Menazzi kick through, you know, applying his soccer skills to the rugby pitch to get Bassett to pick the ball up on a walkover. I mean, he wasn't going to, nobody was going to catch him once he got his hands on that ball. But yeah, that was really good. Excellent stuff. Jimmy Goprath was... There's a player, Josh Bassett. Yeah.
00:47:08
Speaker
He's been kind of one of, again, similar, you know, some of these guys, like, uh, like a Jonah Holmes type, like, yeah, he's there. He's all right. Whatever. He's been on fire the last couple of weeks. Again, he's been given an opportunity. He's been on fire because he's been given the opportunity to make plays. It's not, uh, yeah, we don't trust you. So you're not going to give that, you know, don't kick it that way to him. Um, now it's like, Hey, kick it to your wing.
00:47:30
Speaker
He's a fucking wing. He's a professional. He'll get it done. And he does. Give these guys some opportunities and they'll take advantage. Yeah. And there's one more sequence I do want to point out. And this is how informed this player is at this position, Dan Robson. The kick that he saw from his own 22 and like,
00:47:52
Speaker
read it beautifully. And they ended up with the line anyway, cause he took a quick tap and he's like, yeah, but he found a hole way downfield. This is also a credit, a load of credit to Hendrickson and how fast he is, even though he doesn't probably look so fast. Um, cause he, he had, he was in a foot race with Kiberige. Um, he's pretty fucking quick if you haven't noticed. Um, and Henderson got there just ahead of him to slide into touch with the ball. So Kiberige didn't have a chance to chip it forward and fall on the ball in the tri zone. Um,
00:48:20
Speaker
So yeah, there's a lot of good things by all three players that are really sweet volumes about all three. Kimberly obviously has moved from Newcastle to Wasp this season and has flourished. He was definitely one of the best pieces of the Falcons that they lost.
00:48:41
Speaker
period or even period um but and he's definitely flourished in this team and now he's playing a semi-final at home so uh good on this team uh this was a this was a excellent lost performance i don't i hope it doesn't give them too much confidence should they face exit in the final i doubt it this was uh yeah this was a uh
00:49:01
Speaker
They know this is a B team. They know that the exit are put out there. No disrespect to the players who are out there, but, uh, you know, you're not as good as the normal starter. So, right. Absolutely. Um, Jimmy Goproth was named the man in the match. He's like, you sure this isn't going to Jack Willis. Jack Willis obviously didn't play him as hurt or as a little banged up either way. But yeah, I thought that was pretty funny. Um,
00:49:24
Speaker
So yeah, I wanted to set up the the man in the match little booth thing there too. Yeah, very rugby. Yeah, very, very Kiwi. Yeah, true. So yeah, that was that. And then let's go to the waterworks. Quinn's and Quinn's and Lester at at at welfare grow.
00:49:45
Speaker
Brett, you know, as far as the match goes, Brett Herron played extremely well in Marcus Smith's stead. I mean, Marcus Smith probably would have been in that England squad if he wasn't hurt, honestly. So that's how good he's been this year. Herron played pretty darn well in his place. So I'll give him that.
00:50:06
Speaker
Don Brandt was Don Brandt, nothing new there, that long intercept. It's like, Jesus, this guy's got wheels for, talk about guys that got wheels for their size. Don Brandt's got some. So that was, I was like, I am not getting in the way I know. That's, that's a year man call. That's what that is. That's a year man. I think I had, I think
00:50:26
Speaker
I don't remember why I had the volume low at that point during the broadcast, but, um, when they were showing, cause obviously we were watching, uh, the saris match and they showed this on replay. Um, so I didn't hear who they were talking about as far as the try score. Um, and I couldn't, I just couldn't see, it was like a whatever it was.
00:50:46
Speaker
pulled back and I was like, that's Dom brand, isn't it? Like the catch and then the big takeoff. And I'm like, hmm. I had a quiz. Who's that large and fast? What a player. Yep. Absolutely brilliant. Did you see the, uh, the, the, the tweet this morning from, uh, the money Nidalo? I did not. I actually, I'm sorry. Yesterday morning. Um,
00:51:15
Speaker
where, uh, the, the Harlequins put out a video of the Louis, I can't, I'm going to, yeah, the new kid. Yep. Yeah. Louie Lina, whatever. I don't know. Um, and so they said, like, look at these two incredible tackles on the money. Nodolo, this is the right way to do it. They are saying, Hey, this is a fucking problem. And this guy took them out twice, like with good tackles, got them to the ground. Yeah. Anyway, Nodolo retweeted it with, with the little clappy emojis like that.
00:51:43
Speaker
See, that's right. They didn't tag him either. That's the thing. They didn't tag him. No, you saw that and did that on his own accord. So right. But that's also like doing that. Exactly. Because the Dolo was a fucking problem. So good on on the Harlequins for acknowledging their own. He did. So there you go. Right. Right. And good on the Dolo for like, you know, staying. Yeah. He put good tackles on me. Good for him. I mean, you know, that that's
00:52:07
Speaker
Yeah, that's the kind of attitude I like to see. Absolutely. I agree. And then of course, this was 300 and final match for the one Chris Robshaw. Man, I mean, you could see it all around the player, the final whistle. Everybody wanted to go give this guy a hug because, you know, that's how they are. Matt Carley gave him his referee shirt.
00:52:35
Speaker
Wow. Carly, you're a shite referee, but that is a hell of a piece of class from you. So you're at least a very good person. I can tell you that much right now. Yeah. You're referring skills lack, but as far as people skills, awesome. Yeah. So well played to him. Yeah. You know, every one of the guys that either played at Quinn's or where England teammates with him or whatever it was,
00:53:00
Speaker
You know, obviously he captained England for, for a while. Yeah. So it is, it, everybody wanted a piece of Rob Shaw when he was, when he was stepping off. So yeah. And I guess that leaves us, leaves us into our final bows.
00:53:15
Speaker
Yeah, that was, oh man, if you haven't seen it yet, get some tissues. Get some tissues. Or towel. Or towel or something. Get something to dry your eyes or a blanket or something because if you haven't seen the video that Quinn's put out with Rob Shaw writing a letter to Quinn's and Quinn's fans,
Emotional Farewells and Player Tributes
00:53:39
Speaker
If that don't tug at your heartstrings and listen, I'm not I've not always been the biggest chris robshaw fan Um, there's something he's done in his career that I was just like that's kind of shitty But as far as him clearly showing how much he cares about that club fans If that don't tug at your heartstrings, man, you you must be soulless because that was just that was an awesome video right really and and
00:54:07
Speaker
Yeah, there's certain people that definitely deserve it. And he's one of them who's just... You think of a Chris Robshaw, I'm sorry, you think of a Harlequin's jersey in your head. He's the one who's modeling it. Yeah, it's got to be him and him in like care. Those are the things that I think of off the bat. Nobody else, really. Brownie's probably there too, but really those are the first two that come to mind are Robshaw and Care and Robshaw.
00:54:33
Speaker
300 appearances all for one fucking club. It just doesn't happen. Like, you know, I'm thinking about him like, yeah, well, I mean, the saris just retired two guys who, who've, who've been career guys for them. Like, no, no, no, wait. No, no, that's not true. Well, one of them has not, but yeah, sure. So yeah. Yeah. You don't see that.
00:54:56
Speaker
ever and and I don't you know, I guess he's coming over to play an MLR but This is kind of like that. This is a vacation for him. This is this is a rugby retirement for him. I Mean he's a professional so he's not gonna be he's not gonna be like a bastard Oh
00:55:12
Speaker
Uh, um, but so he'll he'll train hard, but he's also going to just have fun and i'm looking forward to seeing that Yeah, so this is I consider this, you know, he said his entire career he played with with quins totally. Yeah So then you just don't see that very often. No, you don't In this day and age that that have that much success that many caps for one club all for one club Yeah, and just to never he came up through their academy and just
00:55:41
Speaker
It's really remarkable. And he's leaving them in good hands, I gotta say. He is. They're in a good spot. They probably should have been slightly better this year. They had a few pickups. Not much to be done. They have a good coach. Yes. So they'll- Yeah, I do too, obviously. But yeah, they'll be fine. They'll be fine.
00:56:11
Speaker
Yeah. There's a lot, there's a lot you can say about Rob Shaw. Um, they did rename one of the bars in the stoop after him. Nice. Which is awesome. Um, and you said, you know, before I go because San Diego, maybe I'll come here and watch the game and have a, have a beer at Chris Rob Shaw bar.
00:56:28
Speaker
I was like, yeah, it's well within your right, buddy. Well, within your right. He's like, yeah, I don't think I've ever actually come to the stoop and watched the game to have a game. I was like, no, probably not, dude. Probably not. The first time you came to the stoop, you're probably fucking, you took part of the Quinn's Academy or too young. So, um, yeah, good on you, Robsha. Um, that's, that's, you know, there's, there's a lot that says respect when there's that many people that are just willing to,
00:56:57
Speaker
go out and really applaud you, you know, Nigel Owens, put a nice one in there. If you haven't heard the Nigel Owens quote, quote, Christopher,
00:57:08
Speaker
trying to chastise Rob Shaw, because obviously Rob Shaw probably said something very naughty. It's either in his presence or toward him. So, but he, he, he re-cloed, Owens re-cloed it. And I thought that was pretty darn funny. So, but yeah, just, you know, you see that on the field and then obviously the reaction around social media is this speaks volumes to him. So yeah, he's going to be one of those people that was part of the,
00:57:37
Speaker
the quarters that they just, you're never gonna be able to ever forget them. Good on Rob Shaw. And then across London, we had two guys that are taking their leave from Saracen's. One says he's not done playing yet, but still- Says it. 250 for- Yeah. 250 Premiership appearances for Wiggles.
00:58:05
Speaker
you know, just the class that he is, you know, to, you know, he, you saw where this performance was two weeks ago when they played Lenster. It was amazing. He, he really had a huge impact on that, on, on that match with his box kicks and his service and just, yeah, he doesn't take off and, you know, well, whatever. But you need a box kick pointed pit, you know, popped onto a dime.
00:58:32
Speaker
He's your man. Yeah, he's your man. He's going to hit that for those outside of the U.S. Very small coin. Yeah. But that's very professional, a calming influence on the team in a match like that. And someone who's going to give him direction and
00:58:58
Speaker
also that purpose and that the professionalism that yeah, again, they they use the box take a lot as a way to gain territory. And that's because Wigglesworth can do that. Yes, absolutely. And they have wings that will go up and get it. So it's, you know, that half of it is putting it where it needs to be. Yeah. And as you know, this this year alone, I rewind to Tomin Park, and the cake he put in toward down the field and Lewington was able to
00:59:26
Speaker
Snatch and grab and run in one all in one motion because of how good the fucking kick was Lewington had to had to finish the job But man, you know if that kicks off even a little bit Lewington can't do what he did which was yeah on the fly Right and run it in like that's so good. So yeah, we you are an absolute legend and
00:59:49
Speaker
Um, wherever you go, if you keep, uh, you know, he's got a coaching role with Ealing, I believe. Um, so he's, he's going to be just fine at that job. I have no doubt. Um, you know, maybe, maybe he goes to the, to the new boys, the Falcons we'll see. Um, maybe that would be good. Yeah. There's another role, maybe over in Japan or Hey, maybe over here, who knows?
01:00:10
Speaker
Right. Um, but yeah, well, I can't be coaching dealing with he's over here. That's probably true. Um, but either way, um, he's got, he's got plenty of options and plenty of time to sort that out. Totally. And then a month or so. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we'll see what happens with our few. That's that's a, that's a long, it's a long fucking conversation right there. Um, and then, you know, I watched,
01:00:35
Speaker
I watched the video that did for Barrett and not quite as tear jockeying, but very heartwarming. Some guys that you see on there that, you know, yeah, cello Bosch is like, I love you. And you know that, that, you know, obviously they play the loss center spots together as 12 and 13. You know, Wiles, Brits, those aren't the only names that are on that, that were on that video, but just, you know, the ones that I can think of off the top of my head.
01:01:04
Speaker
all the old teammates that were coming out of the woodwork just to say how great they thought he was and how much they appreciate him being a teammate and a friend. And that really speaks to him, how many guys are like,
01:01:27
Speaker
I have heard how many guys are say I appreciate your friendship Not just as a player, but I appreciate your friendship. So Really it it goes beyond the pitch to what bear is so You know, we've been talking about it for for years now, but even between the two of us that you know, you look up and down that that sari squad and he's
01:01:53
Speaker
might be one of the least athletic, like not the slowest talented, but yeah. Yeah. But, but he's the captain and he's the leader and he runs the defense and there's, there's a, right. And there's a reason for that. Like no doubt you don't, you players who are like that, um, who it doesn't matter that it's not, it's not about their athletic ability. It's that they, they, they're the, uh, you know, they make everything happen.
01:02:22
Speaker
Right in the end. Right. The glue that keeps things together and keep things running for the other guys. 100%. But also making, keeping them in line too. So it's a little bit of helping you out and keeping you in check.
01:02:38
Speaker
And absolutely. So it's, it's such a testament, you know, and again, that's also the series culture. They don't, they don't just give it the, the seat of their, uh, um, their best player. It's, it's the, no, it's the leader. And, and he has been unquestioningly their, their leader for quite some time. Yeah. He, he really has just, he's been a leader even when he wasn't the leader, like, um, you know,
01:03:06
Speaker
And obviously he did what he could with the town he had. And yeah, it's a laundry list of shit you can say about Baron. I'm trying to look up what his first game was against as captain. Oh, I don't know about his captain, but I liked that whole idea of, what was it?
01:03:35
Speaker
stubbed in to his first, was it his first Saracens match by the current England coach for the current Ireland coach. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Cause Eddie Jones was here. Yeah. Was what the Saracens I see here with the Saracens. Um, yeah, I mean, cause he replaced and you replaced a Farrell. Yeah. Andy Farrell. Yeah. Yeah. The other Farrell he played with. Yeah. It was, um,
01:04:07
Speaker
Yeah, it's, it's been a long time since we, it'll be a while before we see a captain like Brad. I can't find it for, for the nap for the moment being. I probably should look it up anyway. It'll be a long time since that we see a captain quite like him where as you spoke of not necessarily the most talented person, but if you,
01:04:31
Speaker
God, I don't even think, even if he wasn't wearing the C, and obviously it's a metaphorical C, even if he wasn't wearing the C, every guy that wears black and red at that building would have pointed at him when they asked, who's the captain? That guy. And it's unquestionable. And the first final they won, I mean,
01:04:54
Speaker
He was a leader of a bunch of tough dudes that they won that final with. I believe they beat Lester. I'm remembering right. But yeah, like he was the leader amongst a bunch of tough dudes. And that says a lot right there.
01:05:13
Speaker
That was Farrell's first real season. And I mean, and not Andy. That was Farrell's real first season and he turned it into a brilliant season obviously. Yeah, and just you know what he means to the club. When he's not wearing that 12 jersey, and we'll get off this in a second, I promise. When he's not wearing that 12 jersey in black,
01:05:38
Speaker
And it's going to be so fucking weird to not see him out there ever again for the Saracens. It is. And that's the insanity of these three retirements in a way or the, you know, the departures. It's like staples, guys who you get out and you're like, yup, that, you know, Harlequins is Rob Shaw. Sarri is Barrett. And the nine is Wigglesworth doing his thing. Like, yeah.
01:06:04
Speaker
It's it's just going to be weird to see those clubs continue to play without them. You know, it's just so used to it. Yeah, it's like, I mean, I'm sure the next time we see Saris play, it'll be like, where the fuck is Wigglesworth on this club? Like, yeah, 100 percent. You know, 100 percent. It's like, oops, I forgot that guy's out there anymore. Shit. Yeah. He's going to play one of these matches, right? Yeah. You know, it's just so it's really it's really weird. So, um,
01:06:32
Speaker
to the three of them, um, ultimately, you know, you guys did the game a lot, a lot of good in your time here. You know, these are guys that went from the semi professional professional era and finished in the modern day professional era in the middle of a fucking shit storm on top of that and, and did it.
01:06:53
Speaker
quite well as people. Yeah. With some serious class all around. Yeah. And that says a lot. Yeah. So to put the cap on that though, they left the game better than they found it. 100%. All three of them. 100%. So major credit to them. Enjoy your time off, boys. Well learned. Well learned. All right. Let's go to the fantasy thing. Well,
01:07:21
Speaker
To those of you that were stupid enough to pick me to be Ben, you were right. Sorry to gloat on that one. Thanks for backing me just the same. Wasn't by much. Wasn't by much. Yeah, Wasp Front Row kind of did the job for me. Sorry, Front Row did not. No, it did not help.
01:07:44
Speaker
I was hoping that that penalty drive, like, can you give it just the front row? Yeah, right. Yeah, you can't need it. Would have got you over the line probably. It would have. Yeah, so it was a lot of fun. To our guy, was it Chris? That was, you know,
01:08:01
Speaker
Looking for help. You're welcome. Velikot worked. Velikot was the second highest scoring scrum half. Crazy. Only under Robson. I have the team here that would have been perfect. It was well over 200 points if you had this. If you had this, please let us know because I want to know why the fuck you had a couple of these guys.
01:08:26
Speaker
Was front row. And then Tim Cardell as the lock. Would have been your best lock, you had 13. Dom Brandt and Liebenberg were your loose forwards.
01:08:43
Speaker
go figure on that one. Robson and Jimmy G would have been your fly half scrum half combo. Um, and then O'Connor and Marsha where your, where your outside backs or your midfield rather, they both played outside back. Right. So, Hey, good for you. Uh, Nadolo.
01:09:01
Speaker
Ollie Hassell Collins and Freddy steward would have been your best three outside backs for this team so if you had all that please tell me why you had and steward of all of those two at the very least, you know the other one I can mostly understand especially where we had two matches cancelled and you probably got thrown into a pinch here and there Mm-hmm. Yeah, I had peers of Connor. So yeah, that's a good one. That was a decent one But yeah, and then
01:09:31
Speaker
If you didn't listen, listen, I'm gonna toot my own horn one more time. If you didn't listen to my advice about play guys that aren't playing in what would have been the match today, it's your own fucking fault. You gotta play the sure thing. You don't play the thing that maybe, maybe not gonna happen. You gotta play the sure thing.
01:09:50
Speaker
So that's um, that's what that's that's what I did. I um, the only Place I had those types of players were on my bench and i'm giving shit at that point. So yeah, I was pretty happy about that And I I had to eat 20 points Because of it, but i'm okay with it same in the end same same because I ended up getting more points I ended up signing cook and kibori and they totaled 32 from from just dropping one player in it Correct can't recall who it was. Oh ddp
01:10:19
Speaker
Yeah, that's a good one and you'll do prayer. Yeah, but I don't need him no mo right. All right, let's Let's talk about this weekends TRM lineups. So we're gonna go about this a little differently. There's there's only four teams to pick from
01:10:35
Speaker
you get 20, you get 28 players max. Guess what? You get seven from each team max and you get unlimited transfers. So as long as it fits within your budget, which unless you're taking everybody that's like super high, just for the sake of taking the ones that are super high, you should fit most of the players you want into your budget. Shouldn't be a problem. Um, so let's start with prop. Um, fair to say that from Bristol, we're probably looking at the likes of,
01:11:02
Speaker
Sinclair of full and young Thomas Possibly one, you know Sinclair and foal obviously can't play on the same field at the same time So we'll see which one would is which bass were probably looking at Obama and Stewart really for was probably just McIntyre and maybe Tom West but You never know. Yeah, and then and then for exit are probably Hepburn and moon or likely Hepburn maybe what actually I think they both who said so oh no Hepburn and Williams. Yes, so there's that so
01:11:32
Speaker
I've personally put in my ranks as Sinclair one, Obano and Stewart two and three. And then after that's kind of a toss up. I like McIntyre a lot. He's not projected to do well, but I kind of like McIntyre if that's there. If you're going for one of the other ones, then I would maybe go, if you're on Thomas Stark's side, play him. He's played pretty well for a guy that's pretty, especially for his price.
01:12:00
Speaker
Right. So that's where you want it. This is where you want to make sure you're, you're, you're picking smart. Um, not just again, that best player or the most expensive and whatnot. There's plenty of bait out there. Yeah. There's a ton of bait out there. Trust me. Um, let's go to hook.
Fantasy Rugby Picks and Analysis
01:12:16
Speaker
Um, contestants. Number one's probably Thacker. Yeah. Oh, it's gotta be Thacker. Um, although done,
01:12:26
Speaker
Don, I have a possibility for sure. Don. I have his two for sure. I've done it. He's kind of, he can be hit or miss, but I think in this match he'll be more hit. So yeah. Um, yeah. So, so I could see Thacker overdone, but I would, I would rank them as like one eight one B and it would be above the other honestly. Yeah. And if you have, um, Cowan Dickey, that's not so bad either.
01:12:49
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, I got, I got, I have him as three because I don't trust him over. I trust him more than, cause I don't know which was guy to trust. Number one, you know, like, oh, right. I like Agree. I like Cruz. I like Taylor. I just don't know which guy to trust honestly. So, so yeah, there's that, um, but the back, back five forwards, cause you really have a lot to pick from in terms of that. You obviously need two locks. Um, the two best locks for most of the year have been Vui and Hill.
01:13:19
Speaker
You know, so it's really hard, uh, really hard. I like Roland's in gray as well. So, you know, both excellent options and that, um, Exeter, uh, Beth are actually kind of leaky against locks. Uh, so that's, that's a quality matchup to, to bear in mind. Right. Um, but then, and also, but yeah, we'll get to them in a second. I'm going all the way to flankers. So yeah, but yeah, so there's that. And then, I mean,
01:13:50
Speaker
No, number one consensus. Number one, you know, is Sam Simmons at this point, you know, right? He's gotta be in everybody's team. It's just a matter of everybody else that you pick really and bath are leaky against eight. So they're, they're actually pretty, uh, pretty strong against sixes and sevens. So your flankers may not somewhat, but they're, they're leaky against eight. So, um, Sammy could have a day, right? Is
01:14:20
Speaker
Does Earl and Jack Willis round out your back row? I think so. That's probably who mine are going to be. Right. Same. I don't see how I don't do anything else. This is also assuming Earl starts because we know Pat Lamb doesn't necessarily start him the whole time. Not necessarily, but I think, you know, as good as Thomas has been, I think he'd be like, no, we want to win. Give him the jersey. Yeah, I think you really have to. Yeah.
01:14:49
Speaker
So yeah, I mean, and you know, as far as bath go, like there are options there. Um, where the fuck has Zach Mercer been? I have no idea. I don't know either. He's a fancy machine, but like, well, the last we saw of him, they were, they were running him into the ground too much. So maybe he needed some weeks off or maybe, but he's not showing up on the injury list. So I, I, I,
01:15:16
Speaker
That's the shadiness of all of the way they run the brand, you know, he's probably hurt and they just won't tell people. Right. There's a good chance of that. Yeah. You know, because you do need to pick seven players from each Stukes, probably a good option from Bath.
01:15:31
Speaker
I like him a lot. They're both solid options. I mean, they're not even like filler. These are guys who can play and put up points for you. Yeah. I actually have Stuke ahead of Luitua.
01:15:48
Speaker
Oh, definitely. Yeah. And Lou two is very versatile and pretty decent, but I have him ahead of Lou two in terms of that. Um, there's a lot more down the list that you can pick from the, from these clubs, but those are probably the, the pick of the litter. Tom Willis is a cheap, but good option as well. Obviously, if you haven't, we didn't pick him up since he started getting more playing time. Cause well,
01:16:11
Speaker
Because Vailani went down and Shields and Young both picked up some niggles. Yeah, that would have been the number one. Number one option as a halfback, Spencer or Robson?
01:16:28
Speaker
It's got to be one of those two. You know, Randall and Uran are both very good, but they shouldn't be your startings because I'm half in this format. Right. Because, you know, they're not going 80, whereas both Spencer and Robson will if they have to. Yeah. Well, yeah, I'd say at that point it comes down to matchups, you know, who,
01:16:49
Speaker
who, cause all these players are going to score, right? You know, even when teams hold them back, they're still scoring, but you're looking to see if there's a, uh, you know, obviously if you're playing against sale, that's one thing, but you don't have to worry about them anymore. So that's fucking great. Every, all the rest of these teams, you're going to give up points, right? So it really, if you're looking for the best matchup, so that's when you're looking for, okay, who, who defends nines better between the two match ups.
01:17:19
Speaker
So that that's where I'm going and I don't have that sheet open at the moment. So I can't tell you. That's right. But yeah, I can watch for tough against them. Um, Bristol are probably okay against them as well. So I would be a very weary on those two teams. So, uh, we'll see. Um, anyway, Jack monitor should be nowhere near your team. He doesn't score well. He's cheap, but he doesn't score well. Right. Um, good player, bad fantasy option. Um, to the 10.
01:17:49
Speaker
This leaves a lot of interesting options. Simmons, Sheedy, Priestlin, Groprits is fly half eligible. So I've put him in this conversation as well as Umaga, although I also have Groprits and Umaga as the back, as those in the conversation for centers and back three, because they're both eligible in certain spots there. I still think the best option at this point for that, because your 10 is usually your kicker is probably Simmons.
01:18:19
Speaker
but not saying that the other ones are wrong either. I like Priestlin, I like Sheedy. Joprit has to be your kicker if you're taking him as an option and you're starting him, he has to be your kicker. And then, yeah, Umaga's been a little meh. So we'll see.
01:18:48
Speaker
Yeah. Um, I would, I would, if you have him, I, and I do, I play him in the centers because that's really where his value comes in. Not because again, he doesn't, he's not going to be your kicker. Um, but he can run and he may, may put one over. So, um, definitely more value in the centers than any, I think, than anywhere else. Yeah. Um, especially since sheeties fly half only. Right. Um, exactly. And so it's like that. So, right. Um,
01:19:20
Speaker
But so, so yeah, he really, I'm not gonna be my fourth and she'd probably be my, yeah, I don't know, second or third. I think he's kind of in line with Priestland. They could go off, they could not. It depends on the opponent. Simmons is just, you don't have to worry about the opponent. If he's gonna, if it's his day, it's gonna be his day, no matter who's defending him.
01:19:44
Speaker
Agreed. He's indefensible. The other three are not. They can be shut down, possibly. Mm-hm. For the Sanders and back three, because a lot of these guys are eligible all over the place, I have one, two, three. And you can really flip-flop these guys in a little bit here and there, Rod, Rod, Rod, and Pia Tau.
01:20:13
Speaker
And it's, you know, um, Pietow is not on my, well, which, okay. First off, which Pietow are we talking about? Charles. Charles has been pretty poor as a fantasy player in the second half.
01:20:32
Speaker
He's not doing what he used to do. He was on fire early in the season. And he kind of lightened as the season's gone on. And that really hasn't changed at all. He's been very much a paperweight. So while, yes, if I'm the Bears, I want him as my fullback for my team.
01:20:50
Speaker
Uh for uh, yeah that he's he's not yeah, he's no longer on my squad He's been replaced. Yeah, okay Yeah, so yeah, but I rod rodra I again also like him in the centers because because you don't get many actual centers who can score like wings Um, yeah, he's there. So yeah, I would again. Yeah, my centers right now are umaga and rod rodra
01:21:14
Speaker
Um, hard to beat that. Right. Uh, and, and, but if you're looking, oh, but, or so are we just still talking centers though? Or are we moved? Oh no, we get back three centers are kind of a combo here. So, okay. So, uh, I'd be looking at, at 13s.
01:21:30
Speaker
Yeah. Thirteen's are a good option. Usually like Slade. Slade's going to be, he's a very good option. Um, no matter who he's playing against. Um, that's 13 though. Um, yeah, not, not so they, you know, once you get out, you know, well, once you get outside of priestland, it's, it's McConaughey is your, your point score and everyone else's hitter. I have him. I have him pretty high. I have him right after PSO. Yeah.
01:21:58
Speaker
You're right. And he's somebody you should have on your squad. He will be on my squad, although he's not right now. Um, but yeah, cause he's just been scoring, you know, so absolutely. Um, but, but not so much outside of that. And, and, and, you know, in, uh, in Beth's back line, really. Yeah. I have, I have Rocco, Matt of ACN, Watson, all pretty far down this list. Yeah. Um, uh, Kibericki, you know, Flaherty, both kinda,
01:22:29
Speaker
Similar options, both definitely try scoring threats. Kibergi had a bucket full of tries before the lockdown came. O'Flaherty has definitely had his games. We'll see if this is his time to shine along with Noel. I'm probably in the same category.
01:22:51
Speaker
I, so I think if, if you have, well, if you have a clarity, he should be at least on your bench. He should be somebody who should be because he will put up points. Yeah. He's one of those guys who if, you know, if you may have better options at the wing position, but he's someone who could go off and I'd rather take half of those points than somebody who, you know, I might hope for, you know, to get 10 or 12 points out of that. He could end up being a 15 point scorer on the bench.
01:23:19
Speaker
Yep. Yeah, I agree. Noel, though, I would kind of stay away from him because he's like, the reason I go with O'Flaherty is because he's done a really good job of working with Slade and running lines off of other players. Whereas Noel kind of wants to do his own thing. He just does. And I'll make something happen.
01:23:43
Speaker
good and bad in that. It hasn't, it hasn't worked out for him well in a while. It's true. Not since his injury. Yeah. And then, um, other Bristol backs I might consider would be the likes of, um, Morahan O'Connor. O'Connor is a, as a,
01:24:01
Speaker
he's been racking up the points. And you saw what he could do this past weekend too. Yeah. And then, and, and if he starts a fullback, Max Maylands, you know, don't, don't, don't, don't just go, it's not Peatow. Everybody's learned how good Maylands is at this point. I think don't, don't sleep on him. No, he's there. Yeah. The last, the rest of the guys, you know, there's the rest,
01:24:30
Speaker
Let's, let's, let's play this game. The rest is the alley. JJ, Devoto Watson, Rocco, Fekito, a man of AC's waiting. Anybody in there that you would just throw a dart at? Um, see Ali.
01:24:48
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. See, I'll eat pizza. Cause cause he, he tackles like a motherfucker.
Final Game Picks and Podcast Break
01:24:53
Speaker
And again, Sammy, red Roger has been throwing that ball around and, and everyone's that the points are, are flowing on that team. And see Ali plays a type of 12 where he's not that crasher. He's, he, he dances enough too. He saves his physicality for defense. Um, so he's a guy who's going to find a, find a gap. Um, and, and if fuck, if rod Roger hits that gap and he's supporting with him,
01:25:18
Speaker
He he could be finding that try line. So yeah Yeah My first choice is always gonna be to bear at this point certainly a bear that plays right next to Rod Rodger Yeah, fair enough. Never never a terrible option
01:25:38
Speaker
All right. So due to Ben's, Ben's had a few technical difficulties and this will be the upside of when Ben and I can do podcasts together. Again, we've been doing them over, over the interwebs for the last couple of weeks. And that was the first time we really hit a snag. So thank you to the internet gods for being kind to us so far.
01:25:58
Speaker
Pick them. I'm personally gonna take, it's really hard for me to not take the wasp at home. I know Ben's probably gonna take Bristol. And then, eggs are in the bath.
01:26:14
Speaker
Bath got here, they're excited to be here. This is a great step for Stuart Hooper's team and all, but Exeter are gonna refresh his daisy. There is a chance that the rust gets worn on to them and there's a problem, whereas Bath have been playing the whole way. That could bite him, that's true. But for whatever reason, Exeter have found ways to overcome some funny shit. So I'm gonna go with Exeter. And then down to Bledisloe 1.
01:26:44
Speaker
New Zealand are gonna be very happy to be playing in front of crowds again. Hopefully us here in the United States can find a way to watch this sucker. But I'm gonna take the home squad with New Zealand All Blacks myself. I have a feeling that Ben will pick the same. So with that,
01:27:05
Speaker
Yeah, back to the awkward, if you didn't listen to, if you haven't listened to the first few pods of this podcast, the few first few episodes, way back a couple of years ago now at this point, that doesn't sound like that long ago, but for us it was. It was just me riding solo and it was awkward as shit. So welcome back to that.
01:27:24
Speaker
Anyway, so just as an FYI, we are going to take a little bit of a break once the partnership file concludes. We've been kind of at this since the Super Rugby Arturoi kicked back off. And yeah, we were absent for here and there. We did one when the US Rugby went bankrupt. That was a little bit wild. That was somewhere in the middle of the lockdown.
01:27:53
Speaker
So yeah, we've been going at this, Ben and I are gonna take a breather for a few weeks, let the Army International just go as they are and we'll enjoy them for what they are. But we will be back next week, next couple of weeks, including cover looking at Champions Cup and obviously commercial final after that. So until next time, thank you guys for hanging out with us. We'll catch you guys next week and have a good one. Cheers.