Transcript
Speaker: Hey, everybody. Welcome back. I'm Ben Glaser. Let's get in. Interesting week in the prem. Interesting week elsewhere. And lots to talk about. So even with as many action as we got. Right. Only just the prem. All the internationals are done. And for us, we're down to the prem. And
Speaker: And you are see if it if it still continues, but I know that we talk about it. Yeah, aside from talking shit every so often because it's fun. Yeah, let's crack them. Yeah. Was our. Obviously, you find this one where you get your favorite podcasts and your favorite podcast apps, you know, that thing. Download rate review. We're always in for review and feedback is up as usual. Yeah, shoot us an email, please. Yeah, we're in.
Speaker: Buy the fancy ruby geeky coffee. If you tucked back into TRM this week, you probably were looking for his advice and it's likely that you probably took it. How good or not it was is irrelevant. You took the advice. So do the man a favor, buy him a coffee or if you choose to see it as a beer, I'm okay with that too. I'm sure he gets this well. George can tell you and you can actually see on his Twitter that he gave me some advice heading into the weekend.
Speaker: It was advice that actually, you know, he gave me, he, he, when he told me, I agree with, and it ended up not working out exactly. Not only Hoskins kind of spit the bit. Oh, right. But that's not, that's not George's fault. Although it kind of is, it kind of is, but it kind of is. Yeah. Um, do you, do you, do you have upgrades now that we're back into this? Although we only get one more week of this, then we're going to find some sort of champions cup to tuck into. Um,
Speaker: And obviously TRM is a huge supporter of restart rugby. They give a chunk of their upgrade profits to restart rugby. And as Ben mentioned, prepod here, got an unfortunate mention here about it. And it's just a sad situation all around, you know? Yeah, we're obviously talking about Chevy Caddigan and
Speaker: Yeah, like there's, it's not easy for especially for younger people. It's weird, you know, we're, well, one of us is over 40, one of us is approaching. So it's weird to think of, oh, there's such different challenges facing younger people these days, but
Speaker: because it wasn't that long ago that we were the younger people. But it is so much, you know, as much as people like to say, oh, so much harder in my time. These people are going through a tough time of it. You know, imagine that these years were but you couldn't, you know, do anything. You were locked down from covid and stuff like that. There's all sorts of every, you know, we're all mentally problem right now. So
Speaker: We all need help. And that includes, you know, that should be friends and teammates. And, uh, I'm hoping, you know, hopeful that we can really get more resources towards women's rugby to make sure that they are, they're getting that. Cause I think the men's clubs would. Yeah. No, I think the, I think rugby needs more help all around, especially with that aspect.
Speaker: Um, so yeah, anything that can be done to, to support those causes. Yeah. So, yeah. Uh, yeah. Our thoughts and, and, and our, and our condolences are what should be in her family and friends just absolutely awful in so many ways. And that's speaking from a pair of guys that lost a teammate last year. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Fucking sucks.
Speaker: Yeah, it's always sucks. So yeah, yeah, hopefully everybody over there in Scotland and her friends and family are doing doing okay. As always, Black Lives Matter on this podcast, there is no room for racism. And, you know, it's just never ends, never ends. It's ridiculous sometimes. Yeah, we got our G3 is going to come out with a parent. Well, OK, first off, I don't like that he's
Speaker: waiting to sell it in the book, but he's going to be speaking out about his time at the now Washington football team and instances of, I believe, racism, certainly sexual harassment and assault.
Speaker: Perhaps even personal. So that is. Yeah. Again, as you know, to the earlier point, we need to make things better for these young people and protect them. They're so like you want to think about these athletes as gods. We're sold that fucking bill of goods, but they're people and they're actually a hell of a lot more vulnerable than than you would understand or consider without really thinking it through. You know, so. So, yeah.
Speaker: Again, helping the vulnerable is all about, you know, it's not just the Black Lives Matter. I mean, although obviously Black Lives Matter, that does extend to all vulnerable, you know, people out there, so. Yeah. And also including the folks that were being supported this past weekend in the Premier League and in the Premier League with Rainbow Laces. Absolutely. Fantastic. Love that. Yeah. Lump those folks in there as well.
Speaker: not equal in terms of what they take per se, they take it in different ways in terms of the abuse, but man, abuse is abuse and it's not necessary. There ain't no friggin reason.
Speaker: As always, thanks to our patrons. We really appreciate their support throughout this. We've got one person benefiting. We know of him. Duncan is having himself a time. He has in the group chat credited a lot of that. Well, not a lot of it. It's worth it is what he has said, more than worth it. Second last week.
Speaker: Yeah, if you want to consider and he's been shooting shooting up the last couple of weeks. So he's certainly, you know, getting the information to put himself in a good position. Thanks to maybe that's thanks to George, but it's certainly thanks to the the Patreon too. So yeah, a little bit of both a little bit call me a little bit comby. Yeah, for sure. Before we talk,
Speaker: Sorry, just had a brain fart before we tap into the, the, the permission. We're going to go into the Baba stuff and Baba's women. Absolutely fantastic from what we could see on the highlights. Right. Lots of great stuff going around there. 26 ,000 fans supporting the women's Baba's match, which was great. Yeah. You got it. So.
Speaker: Sarah Levy, the American, broke a record. I'm going to make this record up, but the tri -score in front of the largest viewing audience in a women's match, which is true. Certainly a person audience. It was later tied several times, but she set the record for largest attendance. Right. Yeah. Pretty cool. Yeah.
Speaker: Um, and some of those tries were fun. The little, uh, um, it looked like a football play that led there. I think that was her third try, um, or second or third. So a lot of good stuff. A lot of, a lot of running. Yep.
Speaker: Yeah. That's what the Babas are about. That's why they're fun. Unfortunately, it wasn't so much fun on the other side for the men's where their match got bagged because a couple of boys couldn't contain themselves. But there's rumors that I've heard and fuck if I know them. I don't know who to trust and not trust. But what I heard whispers of on the online is that
Speaker: We heard about four players and two coaches.
Speaker: And what the room, what people are saying is that the Bala has stopped, essentially stopped when they got to that number, um, really recording the positives and then like, okay, no, we had four and two work. We're okay. That's what we'll put. We need to release that and let that be known. Apparently the COVID was a little bit wider spread than that in the camp and that the boys were just being completely, you know, like they did last time. Just unfortunately, yeah, just a little bit stupid, you know,
Speaker: And it's so fucking that I what I hate about that is that it's it's against what the Baba's should be because that's there for you know, they're there for respectful and fun rugby and but also offering players a chance to play against a really high level team one with a high level like it's such it's a it's its own experience and they denied players.
Speaker: that who otherwise don't get as nearly as many international matches as they should. And so they took an opportunity away from people because they just don't give a fuck. And that's that pisses me off. Yeah, that's, that's wrong in a lot of levels, you know, and they talked about it. I don't remember which who it was. I think it was the prop for Samoa that was saying,
Speaker: Oh, you know, you get a blue, you get that blue jersey and then you don't get to try it out in it. And that's, that's real heartbreaking for a lot of people. And yeah, nope, it's wrong on a low level. So, uh, Baba's are doing good. Baba's are doing bad. There's a lot. There's quite a mix at the moment. It's not great. So they go, they need to at least address this. And I get it sometimes as a part of the experience, you end up going on the piss, but like, you got it. You gotta be smarter right now. You have to be smarter. There's no, there's no choice.
Speaker: Right? Yeah, it was Dan Leo, who kind of filled them in on on the on the Twitter. That's what it was. You're right. Yeah. Right. And they needed they they really need to look at their cells in the mirror because it's the second, you know, the second straight year that they've had an issue with it. And they didn't really deal with it appropriately the first time, obviously. Obviously, I mean, well, right, we will. They've done that. So if somebody's found a violation, they'll be they'll be they'll be fine for a bit. So it is.
Speaker: All right, let's roll into the brim. Up to the wreck, Bath and Exeter. I have a much better performance from Bath. A few things let them down, but if they can bring this every time, then the season will start to write itself for the Bath men. True. Although I have questions about the other team.
Speaker: And really how good they are. I think there's. Yeah, Beth, Beth are having a fucking trouble right now. No, no question about it. But a team that is who Exeter has been.
Speaker: It shouldn't come down to a fucking flanker having his head down stupidly and letting Sam Simmons of all fucking. When you know Sam Simmons is picking that ball up. Right. And he's not even looking. Sam is like level with him before he's like, oh, something may have happened like that. Yeah, it was bad. Bad, terrible.
Speaker: And, but it took that to score and to win the game. Um, yeah, I have, I, and they've been struggling recently too. So I just have, um, yeah, I have questions about, about Exeter, um, that they're, is there really that much of a gap between them and Beth in the long run? I guess, I guess a few more games will give us an idea, but, um,
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, it's it's being asked right now, although the place, the way they're playing, it's not it's not particularly good, especially given the players they have. And don't get me wrong, I very much hate having this conversation and asking these questions. It is truly painful for me to be asking these questions about whether I consider that. Oh, no, no, it's not all the way around. I'm enjoying it all the way around. I have to freely admit that I'm enjoying it, but
Speaker: Yeah, I didn't and I saw that highlight and I'm like, yeah, I'm not watching that much. I know how it ends now. It got spoiled for me and I will only be extremely angry if I watch 80 minutes only to get to that. Well, I mean, I watched and Beth had a chance to put it away and John will throw a gifted try away. All he had to do was put his foot down. He was being chased by Noel.
Speaker: And I don't think Noah was going to get them. So, and even if he clipped them, like, I think the slick wear just brought them right into the tri area. Instead, he chucked it away. Hogg was able to get a hand on it and didn't, didn't
Speaker: Didn't do a intentional knock or anything like that. Almost caught it, but ended up, I think, knocking it backwards, I think, was the final ruling on it. Didn't matter. The chance was gone. And if Ojoma scores that, game over. Game over. This is the best match. But so that is where they're no longer the team that we saw get shit -talked by Saris weeks ago.
Speaker: Well, because that's not, okay, see, that's what I'm talking about, right? There's a distinct difference between the talent level and the rugby quality level at Saracens and Bath. And same thing, because they did the same thing against like Harlequins, right? It's like, these are the best teams in the prem. Yeah, they're not up to that standard. It looks like Exeter are down to that standard, is really where that is. Because Bath aren't bad, they're just not,
Speaker: near great. They're very close at this point. You need to be very good just to be Exeter, really.
Speaker: Right. And they're only a mistake or two away now from getting themselves out of the funk, which is a big difference from where they were at before. And that was more to my point. Yeah, Exeter, no idea what the fuck's going on with that. Maybe get rid of Dave Ewers. Everybody loves him. I see nothing. I really don't see anything there. Giannis Kirsten at seven makes zero fucking sense to me. Like, yeah, like this is
Speaker: This is a beta version of Eddie Jones at this point. He's doing what he wants because he, he knows he's right. Even if he's being questioned, he believed he wants to do, he wants to do it his way. And that's not a good way to go about it. How would this team 60 minutes in this match? Ew. What else? Witten plays. Oh, I know. A guy named Ian Witten should not be, he should not be part of this team. Any team that's going to go to the prem final and includes him and Dave, yours and honest Kirsten.
Speaker: It's not a team that should be there. Simple as that. Yeah, they've looked pretty good with, you know, capsticks look good. Yeah, I don't know why. Skinner at six is fucking amazing.
Speaker: Skinner at six does quite well. You couldn't play there this weekend. Actually, they even lost Lonsdale right at the kickoff, so they had to bump. They bumped Armand in there, which that would not be my choice. It would be one of the other two idiots on the flank. Shove them into those. Yeah, right. I'd rather have Armand at six, to be honest. Same shit. If you want to keep Skinner at four, Skinner and Johnny Hill,
Speaker: And then Armand at six, Capsick at seven, Sam Simmons at eight. I'm all about that. And I start to get, maybe I would actually want to watch Exeter play and maybe win. But with this group of tongue in shit house, immobile pylons out there. Complete pylons.
Speaker: Super pile on bollards. Yeah. They don't go anywhere, but they'll stop you. Great. Okay. We'll just run around you then. Big deal. I think teams are starting to figure that stuff out. Yeah. Or they're just out muscling them, which is not something they banked on. Right. And that's not really happening with Exeter this year either. They're not really able to bank on out muscling teams because people know what's coming. Yep. Totally. Let's go up to the CBS. A very entertaining match in the end, Woss and Gloucester.
Speaker: There's a lot to pick out of this one. I mean, Jacob Umaga right at the end, this flurry nearly got it done. Right. That was a second try he scored. Oh my lord. That is the Jacob Umaga everybody wants to see. That is the one that everybody wants to see. Very quick thinking, very skilled and
Speaker: just, you know, a little and good, quick brain, good, quick feet, just bang. And that is what everybody wants to see. That will get Wasp far. Umaga we have seen more often than not, and certainly this season, so it's not going to do many favors. So that's an interesting point because they like, as I was kind of, you know, saying there, the, um, the Wasp were asleep for that first like 30 or so minutes. Just at least, at least.
Speaker: And does it take like a little bit of, you know, a lot, a lot of urgency and a little desperation and suddenly Umaga is doing great. Why not just play like that from the kickoff? This whole, you know, they think everybody wants to make sure you can calmly operate a system before they let you do this. The other thing it's like, why do you want to show like,
Speaker: Why do you wanna fit a square peg into a round hole? Just be the round peg, it'll work. And Gloucester, they're like the anti -Irish. We'll get so close to giving away at the end, but then we win. This game reminded me of that sale match from earlier in the year. I agree.
Speaker: You know, to the point about Umaga, you look at two years ago when they got to the final, they were very free flowing. This was a wonderful attack to watch. I know they've been hit by injury. They still have a lot of good talent sitting on this field right now. So the excuses aren't quite to that level where I'm okay with that.
Speaker: you know center being a problem obviously who got played on the wing today right this weekend that was a problem Bassett played 13 I get that but there's still a lot that you can adapt from there from the game two years ago and get the job nearly done or if not done so yeah
Speaker: Just unlock the goddamn change, would you? Yeah, exactly. Let the leash off, let them run. Imagine if you tried to make Marcus Smith play the standard
Speaker: ABC type fly half where you just, okay, go through the motions, go through the motions and you kick if you don't get it. Or, you know, it's like, no, like how do you just let them attack a little bit? How do you use the ball once or twice challenged to defense every so often with, without, you know, you know, just cause you feel like challenging them and you have the, the opportunities fucking do it instead of, you know, okay, we'll do our, our, you know, forward, forward, then either back or kick. Like that doesn't,
Speaker: That's not, he wouldn't be Marcus Smith, right? And Jacob Umaga was, pre -Marcus Smith was supposed to be what Marcus Smith is, but he hasn't been afforded the opportunity to do what Marcus Smith is allowed to do. I think that's
Speaker: Yeah, I think and John Mitchell is the new attack coach over there. So let me put it. We can call up our old friend Tony, don't put a call into him. Yeah. Anyway, on the other side of it, it's the same equation for two tries for Billy 12 trees, get an offload from Mark Atkinson and run. Yeah, I mean, that's not, it's never a bad idea to run around Marcus, Mark Atkinson with that ball. Yeah, he's very good at getting his hands free. So yeah.
Speaker: And but this, I'd say the first one was probably a little criminal on, uh, on wasp part, like barely a pod on trees. Yeah. All three of the, the first three tries were, um, not good, not, not good at all. It was what two 12 trees and one, um, Johnny may. Yeah. Um, yeah. When Johnny may is just like ghosting everyone, you know, you fuck up. That's like, that's like the whole Marlin yard score to try. Okay. Well, this is, it's definitely reaching that level. Yeah. Um,
Speaker: Yeah, especially with 12 trees scoring a brace. That's problematic. One cheeky one, okay. But two easy tries, and May gets one easy try. Like this isn't... Yeah, that's not good. That's not good. But the thing that started this potential loss comeback comes down to glossars number nine, Ben Meehan, and giving away 20 meters without the ball ever being in play.
Speaker: It's like kangaroo court is going to eat him alive. That was just mindless. Kicking the ball away. Listen, and this is the number one rule. Just put the fucking ball down. You don't have to give it to them, but just put the bloody ball down on the deck.
Speaker: That's it. You, you don't risk anything. You don't risk a tussle. You don't risk, you know, the referee backing up 10, just put the fucking ball down. Okay. Right. That's it. And then the, the gum flapping, which most referees aren't putting up with this season, just especially off of that, like you do one thing and then you back it up with something like to, with a sass mouth. Yeah. Oh, right. Oh, fuck you. What are you doing, man? Like there's no choice at that point. The referee has to walk you back. Cause he can't just let that go. Like there's, you know, there is no,
Speaker: arguing you did that. And so so if you're going to argue that he's penalizing it for you, you just did it. You made the choice to do it. Fucking dumb ass like shit. Poor, poor scrum heifery. If you're going to be, you want to be able to do shit house rugby without getting caught, let alone caught fucking twice in one go. And it's like Pierce is quite good. So on top of all that. Yeah, exactly. So like it's a shit one. You know, it's not fucking Ridley. So, yeah, yeah, he's bad.
Speaker: So, you know, we're at where we're at with that one, but Gloucester wind, Gloucester seem to be finding some sort of form, which is nice. You know, don't, don't need another team looking like bath. No, thanks. Yeah. And I'm, I'm, you know, I'm always going to be a little happy for my side piece. One of my side pieces. Right. Right. Um, and then speaking Bristol, Bristol, Northampton, Bristol looked good for about 20 minutes, maybe 30 minutes.
Speaker: And then, yeah. And then that was the end. Right. Yeah. Hill had a nice little line there and you're not going to stop a prop with that much of a gap and with that much of a head of steam. And then Freeman is pretty, pretty decent. He is quite good. Yeah. I mean, as if they don't have a back three, you know, to pick from over there already. Fucking ridiculous.
Speaker: They still haven't rolled out the big dude to tell about. Yeah. Is he still is he still there? Like, I wonder, like, yeah, they split and he didn't tell us. Let me. Yeah, let's double check. Let me look him up. I'm wondering like the fact that we haven't seen him to this point means he picked up an injury and they're not telling us or you split and they're not telling us. Those are the only two options at this point in my book. As far as I can tell, he's still at Saints.
Speaker: Hmm. Well, then. But so, yeah, if I if I go to the Saints, I think I'm going to their their website. He is one of their personnel. Hmm. Interesting. Well, so you know, maybe they haven't updated their page in a while, but I highly doubt that. No, I don't think so. Yeah, same. I will say one thing before we get to dive too much into the Saints.
Speaker: We're seeing some of the talent that's been developed since Pat Lam's gotten to Bristol start to come through. And some of it's quite good. Like you look at the whole back row there, Jeffries, Heenan, Harding, and I know some of them haven't been fully developed at Bristol, but still. Very good. Toby Fricker. Kids great. You know, the offload to Loyua for the Loyua try.
Speaker: And just he was he was a problem. He was the only problem back for he really was for Bristol. Everybody else. Not so much, but he was. Yeah, he was very fierce, was troublesome at times, but he also gave some stupid shit away, too. So yeah, he knocked it out. Unfortunately. Yeah, there was that. And, you know, I had a I remember I really shit penalty he conceded to. Yeah, it was just but it was like either doing something really good or really bad.
Speaker: Yeah, it's not a way to go about Arabia, I promise you that. Shit. Back on to the Saints, like, yeah, this looks like the Saints from a few seasons ago where they got to the semifinal and
Speaker: Yeah. I think people are going to start to take notice more often than not. Yes. They lost their last two before we went into the international break, but they're sitting forth and they played one less game than the team trailing them. So it's there for them. It's there for them to take. So, and they, they've got a lot of really good stuff. Like matter of days, he was on the bench to start this game for goodness sake, you know, right? He was a spark when he came on. So yeah. Yeah. And Alex Mitchell, Alex Mitchell is fantastic. Oh my.
Speaker: I'm sorry. Why does that mean so familiar? Could have been because he got picked for England finally. Oh, yeah. Fucking hell. Yeah. And we know how much Scrum have talent there currently is in England. There were two positions that used to be a problem in England that we thought was a problem. Open side and nine. And all of a sudden, both those just have bucket loads now. So it's like, all right, well, that problem is now gone. Now start picking these guys because they deserve it.
Speaker: You know, especially these nines. Put Ben Young's on the shelf forever, please. Please. There's so many good ones there. Pretty please. So many good ones. Pretty please. And you know, I would have liked to watch the post -pillow match, but fucking Peacock. I am so mad that I don't get to watch this match.
Speaker: It sounds like it was fun to watch at least. I know. I will always love a snow game because that just makes it fun. It's an element that's rare and it's magical because literally anything can happen. It could be silly. It could be terrible.
Speaker: Even if it's terrible, it's funny because it's happening in the snow. You never regret watching a snow game in any sport, even if it's no score to it. It's still fun. It's like, I think I've got to play in that. I played one in it and the underbritches get cold real quick.
Speaker: They do. It's a day of scrumming once. You get into the deck once and you're like, ooh, that's cold. It's a day when backs actually yell at forwards. You're keeping it in the scrum too long and you're like, it's warm in here. It's warm. Fuck off. Absolutely. Ooh, it's warm in here. Let's go scrum.
Speaker: Oh, knock on. All right. They're like, but we're just standing here in the cold. It's cold. We're like, yeah, we know it's warm in here. Yeah, it's warm over here. Sounds like a you problem, man. Right. Yeah, absolutely. But yeah, can't do much about it. But yeah, fucking peacock. God damn it. I fucking hate that thing. That's so annoying.
Speaker: Because we both talked. Did you end up talking to a live agent? And they were both so. They were clueless. They were clueless. It was going on. They're like, Oh, I'd be like both. Both are people said it was canceled. I'm like, No, it wasn't canceled. You haven't done your homework. It's postponed, you fucking idiots. Right. I even and I showed it to him. He's like, Oh, you are correct. This is happening. And I'm like, Okay, so are you going to show it? And he's like, No, it was canceled.
Speaker: Oh my God, I got the cookie cutter answer of, I have no update regarding this. I'm like, oh, you fucking assholes. I think that was, I got to there eventually and I just kind of walked away. I was like, oh, fuck it. That's the end. Yeah, I was like, as soon as it went from, oh, okay, you're right. The game wasn't canceled, it was postponed. But the event is canceled. I'm like, oh, well, there are no, he said the game is canceled, but I think that meant they're showing of it. I was just like,
Speaker: You just realized that it's moved. Like if that happens for like a football game, do you think they're going to not show it? Hell no. They're definitely showing that shit. Like, come on. Yeah. Yep. More frustration with the platforms over here. Right. Not new. Not new is more just, you know, here we are again. Fucking hell. I thought we were beyond this, but.
Speaker: Not so fast. Let's go over to the stoop, Quinn's in Irish. This is less than the best from the Quinn's and very good on the other hand, also from Irish. So let's not take that away from him by any means whatsoever. Are we OK? I am. Are we starting to feel bad for Tommy Allen? Can that guy catch up? I know. Fucking hell. He gets injured and it's not like
Speaker: Actually, it's not fair. He doesn't get injured. Somebody fucking hurts him every match. Right. Like, I don't feel like he's the one who he's like being fragile out there. I feel like he's just getting the shit knocked out of him legally and illegally. And he's having to leave matches. That sucks. That sucks. I really don't. I think that really was was it. I mean, Edwards was good, but
Speaker: Yeah, he's not the same. Yeah. It's still three tiers down from Marcus Smith and two still quite good tier three. He's not, he's not bad. He's got a long way to go though. Right. Who did Quinn's play last week?
Speaker: Last time out they were playing. Don't tell me. OK, tell me if you find it, because I forgot to get into it wasps. That's right. So yeah, maybe it'll work against wasps, but not against the Irish. Yeah, I guess that makes sense. These guys are good, though, separation. Oh, yeah, exactly. That's what I'm saying. Like wasps, I think Irish are a much better team than losses right now. So, yeah, Edwards can work against the wasps, but.
Speaker: Not so much against a team like the Irish. No, not so much here, but hey, um, as if the, as if the Gwynns need more talent to flow into their Oscar beard with a brace. He's yeah. Right. That's what they need. What, what, okay. Why the hell did they sign Nick David? I don't know. I don't know at this point. Like it seems like they got everything under control in that department. I mean, I guess it's good backup, but damn.
Speaker: But like, yeah, I guess maybe or maybe they weren't sure that Beard would, you know, be be this, but still like they haven't really played him except in the I think the prem cup matches he played. I think he played in one game, but it's like they don't need him because they keep having all these like Murley is just ridiculous line, of course. And now now Beard. Yeah. Yeah. When you get the ever steady time on green at the back there. Right.
Speaker: And then on the other side, we have, we have some good stuff going on, especially in the, uh, what an Irish pack. Like I see one through seven. I didn't necessarily care for crack though, but then again, it's cracking all the two. So we, I don't, the same to me at this point, crack knows younger. So you can give him a nod. I think there's a, I think, yeah, too. So he is a, just a guy, but I mean, he brings more than that, but as a player, he's, he's just a guy crack. And I thought.
Speaker: could be more than that. Yeah, he's 23. I thought he played pretty well for a 23 -year -old. He was visible among all the others. I thought Hoskins was completely invisible. He made a couple tackles. Yeah, he was, unfortunately. Very not busy on an attack.
Speaker: And yeah, Cracknell was much more apparent, which is odd because in general, Hoskins is much more apparent. He usually is. Yeah, he usually is. You're right. You're right. Well, then your guy, Ben White, provided the spark to get the Irish over. It should be starting.
Speaker: It should be starting. Yeah, did quite well. Yeah, he did. And he has he's actually served that role really well. So maybe, maybe keep him there for now. I think they're in a Yeah, they're definitely in the restel like urine and Randall kind of situation with although Phipps is, you know, not quite as young as either of those two, but they can play pretty much either of them and have the other come off the bench and do pretty well.
Speaker: I thought BJVR is starting to really show too. He outshined Rona, which is... Yeah, I'm saying something. That's saying something, because Rona had played well.
Speaker: Yeah, no, the run is starting to come back to form, which is great for them. It's only good for them. So yeah, this is not a team to sleep on. If you didn't, if you didn't find that out the other week, when they came back to tie series, now you know it, they've beaten the champs. So at the stoop, no less. So there you go. A bad couple of weeks for, no, for the, not at all.
Speaker: At least they got the dub this time, because they've got a few draws to their name, unfortunately, as well. It's a frustration for them, I'm sure. And then let's run over to the Stonex and Saris and Sail. And it was
Speaker: Not particularly pretty in a lot of ways for the Saracens, but it didn't need to be. Because we've talked about it before. Outside of AJ McGinty, who wasn't particularly great in this match, these guys have nothing. Quirk was amazing per usual. That's not a new thing. We didn't know how good he is. But really, I see
Speaker: I see 11 through 15 and even the names on the bench and I am not frightened by any of those names whatsoever. No. And nobody should be, honestly. I can't remember who it was. It was like, oh, it was.
Speaker: I think maybe AJ went on a line break. It was someone early. And I'm talking shit the whole time watching this. And my wife is semi -paying attention, but also thinks men's rugby is silly right now. So not really. Anyway, I think AJ gets a break. And they're like, oh, and he's got Sam James with them. And I just start laughing. I'm like, no, he doesn't. That means nothing, dude. It's like, yeah, that doesn't really. No, I'm not scared. He's not finishing that.
Speaker: No, not at all. And yeah, that's the thing, though. This is a game where if Marlin Yard scores, it's that kind of game. Marlin Yard wasn't even on the field, so. All right. Hooray for everybody else. Right. OK, then. Because, yeah, like, no. Hammersley's not doing shit. Nope.
Speaker: And Sam James isn't doing shit. It's just not happening. Yeah. And the Saracens went to sleep and obviously, I think the Sharks got a little rocket up their ass from the sending off, which we'll talk about in a little bit. But yeah, you can't like you talked about with Umaga. It can't take that for you to beat the teams at the top end of the table.
Speaker: Well, both these teams, and I think this transitions into the next topic we need to talk about before McWiggin. Both these teams live to fuck with the opposition. That's kind of how this game went.
Speaker: you know, niggle here, kind of throw a little elbow here, like, you know, it's one of those and, you know, you know, swing the ruck around to technically legal, but looks wrong. And I totally agree with that sentiment, like, technically legal. And as they said, as they said, yeah, we checked with the referee too. So they did. They did. They actually so
Speaker: I saw a report about it. They went to World Rugby and said, we want to try to do this. And they sent them video of what they were doing from training. This is what we're practicing. This is what we're working on. And World Rugby is like, yes, this is fine. And it is. You bind from your side. That's how it's written. And once you're it, that's the rock.
Speaker: And so all that means is if they swing around like that, as long as they keep their mind, just like in the mall defense, that's what they're doing there in the mall now, swinging around to try to keep that ball in. Yep. But in this case, it also gives you a free run at the at the box kick. Holy shit. I I left my ass off the first time I saw it because it made total sense. I was like, how did nobody think of this until now? Like, this is fucking great.
Speaker: So yeah, that's that's just perfect. You want to do the caterpillar? Here's your answer. Yeah, that's it. There it is. You know, every life finds a way. It does. Sometimes it does. Just, yeah, I honestly, I think that's genius level stuff right there. Just like Bella Chicky and using the Oh, quite. Yeah, I agree. I agree with that sentiment. Yeah. It was effective. So
Speaker: So it rippled me this, if Tom Curry such a good eight man, why the fuck didn't they put him at eight when he came on? Oh, wait, because he's a flanker. That's why. Yeah. Fucking hell. People are like, he's a great eight man. No, he's not. He's a fucking flanker. He's a great flanker. He's a fantastic flanker. He is an awful eight man. Yeah. He is an awful number eight. That is just how it is. Right. Yeah. All right. And then let's just we don't need to spend time on it. It's been dissected over and over again. It was bad. The red card like
Speaker: Yes, you know, here's the thing, like, if you react to a hair tussle, then you're going to give away the penalty that you were about to get. Right. And the thing is, it was an awful reaction. Like, that was a downright awful reaction. You know, you react to it. And we saw Ocker respond to one from Maitland earlier. And that's probably the best way you're going to get, the most you're going to get away with a little shove like that. Right. You know,
Speaker: But what Byron McLigan did is absolutely awful. Right. Okay. Has anyone ever done that to you?
Speaker: I think, thankfully, nobody can pick my fat ass up. So no, I mean, I know. No, no, no, no. Oh, otherwise. I mean, the hair, the hair, you know, like or a little bit of like, hey, nice job. Honestly, I've never I've never even noticed my personal self. I'm usually too fucking tired to care. So no, I mean, yeah, I know. I used to get that every so often. And it's like, yeah, it happens like.
Speaker: deal with it. Like teams like to talk, certain teams like to talk shit, certain teams like to do that. Like, okay, deal with it. Handle it like a fucking professional. Right? Yeah. So shit house three, shit house three with shit house three. Don't, don't go over the edge, which is what you play. As I said, you play for a team that likes to antagonize the other team. So if you can't take, if you can't take it, you don't dish it out. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, considering who their usual nine is, you know,
Speaker: Right. Love to antagonize people. Yeah, it's like that's that's part of the gig, you know, and Saracens are known to do it. Yes. I mean, there's other teams that are too.
Speaker: It's going to come down to being keeping that cool. You're cool. And as you said, an actor responded. And as soon as they see you respond, as soon as they see we saw when I was a high school kid, the cool thing to do was to go watch the ice hockey team. Which is even fun when I played for them. That was cool, that one year. So like the whole school would show up and just absolutely shit talk the opposition like the entire student body was in. I mean, we're small school, private school.
Speaker: So it was like 200 or so, 300 of us. So I know freshmen or sophomores, usually juniors and seniors, just jeering the other team. And the best is when they got to flip us off. As soon as they flipped you off, we're like, oh, we're in your head. Yeah, we know you're in your head. That's how you know it. At 27, we got you. And it's different when it's a high school kid, though, when you're a grown adult. You show what gets in your head, and you're at the professional level inviting
Speaker: Inviting everyone to do it. Yeah, in a lot of ways. In a lot of ways. And then one more note. This was good, Billy. This is the Billy that we want. Excellent, Billy. We're off the final ball to Maitland, which... Billy ever done that? I know. I've never seen. I haven't seen a pass like that before. That was a really good pass. Offhand, too. He's, I think, a pretty... I think he's already. No, he said he's definitely already. Yeah. Yeah, it was a good pass. Seed.
Speaker: Yeah. Do that more often, Billy. And then we'll like him more. There you go. Yes. He had himself a day. He's, I think, and then his post -game comments kind of reveals that, that he's like, yup, this is entirely my fault, but I'm not on that England squad. Like it's all down to me. And to take that kind of personal accountability, um,
Speaker: means two things. One, that he'll get himself back into form. But two, that now that the other people are the entrenched, he's the incumbent and he would have to come win his spot back. I think this means he's going to be playing really, really well for Saracens. I won't be mad about that. I am fine with that. Same, same, same, same.
Speaker: Yeah, so it's it's very it's areas up to two.
Speaker: in the table with obviously Lester, even with a week off, they're still maintaining their one. Undefeated will do that. Another reason I was happy that the Irish beat Quinn. Quinn Saints round out the top four. Exeter and Gloucester are currently in the top six. I hope that's where the Champions Cup line gets drawn next year. I hate this bullshit that they do right now.
Speaker: And then unfortunately, bathroom far and away at the bottom, which, you know, hopefully that gets turned around at some point and that that end starts to get, to get competitive. And I realized there's no, there's no ring, there's ring fencing and there's no, there's nobody dropping. Although we'll see what that team is. Cause there's been some shakeups down on the championship too. A lot of teams going down that they didn't think. So, uh, people that are saying, Oh, ring front, he's great.
Speaker: I'm still not convinced of it. I'm still very much not convinced of it. So you can take a lot more from me because like, would you expect?
Speaker: bath to be this bad if there was, if there was a chance they dropped. At Bristol, I think kind of the same, they're smelling themselves and they'd be, they'd be turning it around a lot faster if it mattered. Yeah, they'd understand. Right. Cause they're fucking, they're tied with Wooster. You're tied with Wooster. Have some fucking pride. They have one more win, thankfully, so they can stay ahead of them. But still, oh shit. Yeah. But it's also though, like you just get above them and it's,
Speaker: And sailor kind of shit, too, to be perfectly honest. Oh, and Anderson said as much the other day, he said, Yeah, we're not up to where we should be. Right. But you get to nine through one. And like, yeah, the eight and nine Newcastle wasps, like, you can't sleep on them. You should, you know, you shut down for a second. The old they'll they'll put one up your ass. So you've got to be got to watch your butt.
Speaker: they're, you know, mind your P's and Q's. Like, yeah, you can kind of shut down again. You can have a stinker against a Worcester or a Bath and get away with it. Bristol are kind of in that bucket, too. Sail, if you're marginal, you'll be all right. Again, after that, 9 and up, you better be on your tippy toes. Be on your A game, man. So, I don't know how much ring fencing affects that. It's just that, but it also means that maybe those bottom four teams would
Speaker: would be playing a lot harder and maybe, you know, a little bit more worried. Yeah. There'd be, there'd be a different attitude about the camp. Yeah. I agree. Yeah. I agree. Totally. And I'm not saying that that's like good or bad, really. I don't, I don't know. Cause sometimes, sometimes like Bristol are kind of having a hangover year. You wouldn't want that.
Speaker: to kind of fester and become a problem and then they get relegated. Like that - It does happen sometimes. It does happen sometimes. It does. And that's just kind of, it kind of sucks. Like - You look at Newcastle from a few years ago, they got to the semi -final and then just bombed out. Right. And so you want to give a team a break every so often.
Speaker: I don't know. You should, yeah. But again, again, I'm not used to the whole relegation and promotion thing. I'm used to this. These are the teams you have. You may expand. That's about it. Yeah. I prefer the up and down, personally. That's just me. All right. So that's going to do it for this one. If you're joining us on the fantasy quarter, come on over. We'll be over there in a little bit. The pot will be out a little later after this one.
Speaker: If you're not, then we will talk to you guys next week. We appreciate you guys always listening to us and love the feedback in the comments. And yeah, if we're part of the smile on your face, let us know. But other than that, we'll catch you guys next week. Have a good one, everybody. Take care.
