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Season 6- Episode 6- More Please (Premiership Preview & RWC Week 5 Pool Play)
86 Plays2 years ago
It's those American rugby dopes with more foolishness coming out of the faces. On this episode, we start by having a big preview of the Premiership season in England. All the moves that were made in the off-season, the returners from injury, who goes up the table and who tumbles down. Then, we get into what was an amazing conclusion to pool play (for the most part), who did themselves proud and who stumbled through the final week. All this, the banter and so much more. Grab a drink and join us friends!
In the name of Bill Good, consider making a donation to Massachusetts Youth Rugby Organization. https://www.myrugby.org/contact-us/supporting-myro
Check out the TFRY Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/TheFantasyRugbyYanks
Ask us questions via Twitter: Jarrod- jdyke8man & Ben- admrablsnackbar, and #AskTFRY.
Send us your thoughts for the show and questions for upcoming shows via e-mail fantasyrugbypodcast@gmail.com. Of course we welcome feedback via e-mail, twitter or by rating/reviewing the pod on Apple Podcast.
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Transcript
Introduction & Podcast Engagement
00:00:03
Speaker
It is. The fantasy Europeans. My name is Jared Dyke. I wanted to say it's stupid and let's move on, but then you kept going. I'm Ben Glauser. I don't like any way anybody handled that. Collusion. Collusion.
00:00:28
Speaker
Hey everybody, welcome back. It is the fancy rugby angst. My name is Jared Dyke. I'm Ben Glauser. We have lots and lots to talk about and not even all of its World Cup stuff. So strap in and hang on kids. Um, yeah, let's, let's do that. Take care of business first. Jinx, you owe me a Coke. Find us on your favorite podcast app. Share us there. Download root review, all that good stuff. Feedback, always welcome.
Seasonal Beverages & Community Support
00:00:59
Speaker
I'm back to storm along because, um, it is, it is flannel hoodie season officially now. So we're like right there. Yeah. I'm like starting to get ready for, for free Jack season. Right. You need to train for my storm along tolerance. Yeah. Make sure that you are buying a coffee for our good friend, George, the fancy rugby geek.
00:01:24
Speaker
Um, or, or a beer, however you wish to see it. Still, still, still call a new buddy sitting on top of the world, uh, an official or nearly whatever it is. Doesn't matter. Um, anyway, where he's ranked, if he, I can't imagine he slipped, he's doing a great job. Yeah. I don't think yes. Um, but anyway, um, make sure that you reward our good friend, George, for his hard work.
NHL Pride Events Controversy
00:01:51
Speaker
As always, there is no discrimination here on this podcast, nor should there be in sports or in life. Opening night tonight in the NHL, but we're not gonna talk about that because they're in our segment once again for the wrong reasons, and that sucks. It's embarrassing at this point, and I'm now, if you haven't been too perceptive about it, Jared is pretty much out on football for a lot of reasons, American football.
00:02:20
Speaker
I am now just out on the NHL. I'm kind of done with hockey. If this is the way it's going to be, I don't like it. Yeah, the NHL banned. So they had issues with Pride Nights last year where there were certain players who objected and all that. And like some of them were threatened back home in Russia or whatever. Fuck that.
00:02:42
Speaker
And so the NHL came out and then like some some players will just go, OK, I'll just put pride, you know, this rainbow tape on my stick. And they've banned that now. They've banned that the pride tape and they've banned the basically pride nights and the pride jerseys, all that shit, because apparently some players like that, you know, they're like the players can't be seen as supporting an agenda or something. And it's like it's an agenda. It's people. Yeah.
00:03:10
Speaker
Like human rights shouldn't be an agenda. It's only an agenda if you have an issue with somebody not being straight. And that's such a shame because hockey, I love hockey.
Patreon Content & Rugby Premiership Preview
00:03:24
Speaker
or two. And it's got a very, in so many ways, got a very rugby like approach to the game from the players. And to life, they're very, you know, humble, like you'll see hockey players going out in a bar, just like you'll see, you know, rugby players doing the same, obviously, but the professionals like Alex, good with his bum bag. Yeah. So
00:03:50
Speaker
It's just a shame that the sport is doing that. We're not going in the right direction there. No.
00:03:57
Speaker
No. So I'm just, okay. I have limited time and I wasn't really paying too much attention to hockey anyway. So, all right, have fun this season. Like you guys can do your thing over there. Yeah. Until they pull their heads out of their hours. Right. If I'm like, MLR, I'd be going after these fans though. You're like, Hey, if you don't feel included there, we will include you with rugby stuff. Happily, right? Right. Absolutely. Absolutely. Great degrees. Uh, make sure that you grab our Patreon, um, the
00:04:28
Speaker
Data from last week is good to go, but, but, but the new data will be up probably by the time most of you hear this tomorrow. Um, nice. Fuck. I'm watching Japan, Argentina from this, from this weekend and just saw the fuck top. Yeah. We'll talk about that in a minute. Um, we'll get there. So shiny, shiny object. Um, make sure that you can make sure that you grab our Patreon. It's got all the points against, um, I will have, uh,
00:04:56
Speaker
I think after tonight we'll have some good material to post on prem stuff in terms of goodbye and you know, um, way too expensive type of stuff. Um, and then obviously I'll start doing a boom bus for prem and rankings for both. So as we get, we get a big weekend in the rugby world cup, besides the actual gains fancy, fancy wise too. Yeah. Speaking of.
00:05:23
Speaker
The premiership season is upon us. It is. Let's see if we can keep all 10 freaking teams in the league this time. Please. Already lost our championship team notes. Yeah, that's no good. It's no good. It's really bad. It's really, really bad. Those are supposed to be the teams that are on a budget, on a super budget and still find a way to go belly up.
00:05:51
Speaker
Yeah, it's a it's a big problem. But let's not get too deep into that. That's another conversation for another day. We focus on the actually what's going to happen this year. We'll go team by team. We'll talk about transfers in and out and what the expectation is for the year. Obviously, let's start with and we'll go alphabetical or let's go with bath.
00:06:12
Speaker
Big one, obviously. So let's start with how they ended last year. So Bath finished eighth in the table, 47 points, but really that's 11 points out of a top four spot. They also lost, had seven losing bonus points.
00:06:37
Speaker
Yeah, which huge like there's there's a there's a kind of a theory certainly in football, where if you like the close loss one year will is like more likely to be a close win the next year. Yeah, so I can definitely understand that you look through that and then you look who bath brought in. And you know, one big name, obviously, Finn, but that's that's so huge.
00:07:01
Speaker
because they've got such talent there. Don't don't and he's flying on the radar. Don't underrate Thomas to talk. That dude's a fucking good prop. And they need they need a third need a high end one. They really do. And yes, they have Stewart. They have a bottle of bottles. Health issues are obviously always right there. Darcy Ray could care less. Morozov same thing. Yeah. So really, this is a huge thing in that in that sense. So I think, yeah, that's going to be. Yeah, that's a big one for them.
00:07:29
Speaker
Yeah, they definitely gained more than they lost there. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And you got to have the platform for Finn and he'll provide it. He'll provide him right away because I think he's, I don't know if he's been training yet, but he's definitely arrived in Bath. And I know Finn's back in training, so is Redpath. No, yeah, they were training today. I think I saw a picture this morning. Yeah, I did too.
00:07:51
Speaker
Jonathan Joseph, I think, was their biggest loss. It's big, but I think they also have the horses to fill it. They have Red Path, they have a Jomo. Yeah. Maybe if they were interested in messing around with Bailey in the middle, which I wouldn't be, I'd more likely put a full back if I needed to.
00:08:11
Speaker
Um, but there are, there are options there. Yeah. Although I'm hearing, um, that DeGlanville has been tearing it up a little bit. Nice. Well, he's been, yeah, he's been in the back. That's good. Yeah. He, he just fell out of favor last year, if I remember correctly and, um, never really reemerged.
00:08:29
Speaker
Yeah, I think maybe you took that to heart a little bit. Yeah, I would bet so. I bet so. Yeah, probably better than last year, I would venture a guess to say. Yeah, I'd peg him top six. Yeah. Yeah, maybe further Finn's extra special. Yeah, right.
00:08:52
Speaker
There's a lot of it's in all of this, but oh, super, super, super. Don't forget, you know, again, Ted Hill's influence now the whole year, like he was huge when he came around. Yeah, Lawrence, same thing. Oh, same thing. Although, you know, obviously he's gone for the first little bit. But still, like. But still. Yeah. We'll see if we can actually pick him. Althea Barbary coming in could be a huge boon too. So there's
00:09:16
Speaker
Yep. Yeah. He's got another one that's got to stay healthy. Yes. Keep him. But I mean, with that rotation, they should be able to manage. They should be able to manage that. We'll see. I agree. I think so too. They're noisy neighbors, Bristol. I mean, you look at the ins and outs.
00:09:35
Speaker
names that actually mean something. And then on the other side, like still names that mean something. So it's quite a, it's quite a shuffle going over here. Um, the names that obviously will pop on the way in. Vacatow has obviously been brought in, uh, Yahta ben Rensberg who's great. That's Revovo. That's big. Um, mail-ins obviously is another big one. And then, um, going Donna and for me, Agra and Karen Marmian is going to be,
00:10:04
Speaker
I think slightly better than urine, not by much, but just it's a slight upgrade from urine. At the very least they have one scrum half now. They have one scrum half who's your starter and they have one scrum half who's the backup. And that's pretty much clear cut now, which it wasn't before. So it's like they, you know, one with one over the other move on and you know, Randall's going to do a great job.
00:10:30
Speaker
And Marmian will be there to, you know, spell him and, um, you know, and, and obviously didn't match. And then to start of occasionally too, when they want to rotate. So it's, it's a good signing. It's a good depth signing. And now it's on Randall to step the fuck up. Yeah. Busy scrum half room between Marmian and Bolson home, both being in there, but they also lost urine importer. So right now a little bit of this, a little bit of that. Yeah. Um, on the, uh, for the outs, I mean, the outs aren't,
00:10:58
Speaker
nobody either by any means whatsoever. Bubbles is out. He's been solid for them. The king, how could we forget about the king? Joe Joyce is now departed. As I mentioned, the two scrum halves, Rads, can't forget about that one.
00:11:15
Speaker
And then some back three players of which are the most notable is obviously Slicey Pietow. Um, jump shipping has gone to play for blue revs in Japan. Uh, Purdy and Fricker as well. I liked when they were in spots, but I didn't love seeing them constantly. So, you know, there's, there's, take that for it is. Fricker was, I think actually excellent. I'm like champions cup or something. Like he had some real good matches, but really not, not often enough. No, no, no, no. Not consistent by any means.
00:11:46
Speaker
but they need to start better.
00:11:51
Speaker
because that's what killed them last year. They had a poor start and never really recovered from it. So I do hope that we see a better start from them and we see good things happen. We know it's still kind of a, it's still kind of a who's the, we talked about the nine shirt. Who's wearing the 10 shirt? Right. I would hope it's AJ and I hope what happens is that last year was just his first year at the club and it just didn't go right. It took him a while to mesh.
00:12:20
Speaker
but having that year under his belt, I think will help a lot. And especially having, you know, maybe if it's Sheedy, then something's gone wrong with McGinty. Let's put it that way. Cause I don't think their confidence is there with Sheedy.
00:12:37
Speaker
Or else they wouldn't have signed McGinty in the first place. I think it's a little bit of a double edged sword for the sake of sheet because when he was being picked constantly for Bristol and playing well for Bristol, he was on the Wales radar. And since then, it's been a little bit less so and almost none. But he's also not been consistent. So it's a little bit of chicken and the egg type of thing at this point.
00:13:03
Speaker
Yeah, he needs, I mean, if he gets the opportunity, he really needs to seize it with both hands. Cause I think ultimately by default, it's going to be McGinty's team. But again, that precludes him playing well. So that's the, you know, oh, we're not getting into fantasy yet. That's where I'm thinking. But I think that part of the answer that Renberg is one of the like.
00:13:23
Speaker
That would be a quiet signing because like, you know, I think everybody knows what he is. But I don't think people quite if you haven't really watched him at at the Irish, I don't think you really got a good feel for what the hell he actually brought to the table, which was immense. Quite a bit. Yeah, you really did. Did a little bit of everything, really. Yeah. Like you watched the game and you just saw him everywhere.
00:13:49
Speaker
Like it's stuff that doesn't show up unless you actually like see the match. Certainly doesn't show up on the score sheet. Exactly. Unless he does show up on the score sheet, which he does with some frequency because he's just so fucking busy. Yeah, good team. Bristol, I think again, challenge for top four.
00:14:07
Speaker
Yeah, I think that midfield is going to be stacked between him and the two Fijian guys, Vacatawa and Revovo. I say Fijian, Vacatawa is not Fijian international, but he may well be soon. Right. I'm not having played for France for a little while now. Our least favorite team, but we got to talk about them anyway. Exeter.
00:14:30
Speaker
outs we were talking all about last year. I mean, a litany of them, every of them, like you could form basically their, their team from most of their team from the champions cup days from that, from what they have there. You know, I mean, just the moon, Williams, LCD, Ewers, Kirsten Simmons, Simmons, like
00:15:01
Speaker
Monder, Jack, Noel, Stuart hog. I mean, although he retired, that's not like exactly the same, but you know, these are, these are the, these are the names that rung. Well, maybe not hog. Cause I think he kind of came in later from not mistaken. Well, he was part of the double. Okay. Yeah. These are the names that have been like Finn sitting on the sideline, right? Yeah. Yeah. That's right.
00:15:30
Speaker
But it's like, yeah, these are the guys who were their starters a lot. A lot of these guys were their starters through that. And the names that were always on the team sheet, you know, come good or bad, like Ian Whitten. A couple, I mean, a couple, yeah, fucking Ian Whitten. But you look at a couple of them that are leaving on the way out, you know, Williams 31, Cowan Dickey 30, Ben Moon retired, dumbass Dave is 32.
00:15:59
Speaker
Hawks obviously was a little older when he called it good. Noel's 30. Right. You know, he was an old man as well, but excuse me. But like the Simmons is 28, 26. That's a shame. Really? Jack Monder at 26. He's been coming all right. I guess he's not, not quite, Sam's been better.
00:16:22
Speaker
But yeah, but you have you have basically two players that are almost carbon copies of each other. So should one go down and you have the exact replacement and ready for it. Right. Like Sam did. Is he even healthy this year? I don't know. He got hurt late. He did. He did. He did. I think we're going to see a lot of well, Beckinsaw and Stu Townsend. Oh, have fun with that. I mean, that the fly half pairing will hate motor Harvey Skinner and
00:16:52
Speaker
I mean- I don't really want- I mean, we'll hit him what I could want because I think he's got the better future potentially, but- He's 22. Yeah, what's Skinner? Shouldn't be that much older. He's 25. Yeah. So he's kind of is what he is. So he's the incumbent without a doubt. Yeah, right.
00:17:13
Speaker
The two guys that were signed from Osprey's, Roots and Hawkins. Hawkins 21, they see him as a center, but could potentially play fly half as well. So there's that on the table as well. And Roots, solid back rower. I'm going to fit the mold for what they like to do. But I think he's more dynamic than, you know, say a Ewers or a Kirsten. So that is upside there for them. Yeah, I guess.
00:17:43
Speaker
Yeah, it leaves like it really it just leaves capstick as like their guy. Right. Which who I who I like and don't get me wrong, I really I was banging the drum for him all last year. And of course, Baxter just does the opposite of what everybody thinks he should do because he's stupid. But, you know. Yeah, it's like that, but capsticks your only guy as a runner. Find out what route says. Yeah. And I love and I love Danny Southworth. I'm sad he went there and so somewhere else, but
00:18:12
Speaker
I love Danny Southworth, I really do. They have some things that will be interesting down here again, probably for them, I would say, unless the young guys really step up.
00:18:23
Speaker
I'd say it's going to be another down year. I think it's going to be worse than a down year. I think it's going to be literally a down year unless they ring fence. I can't recall if that's the thing. I don't think it's officially done with the ring fence until next year. Maybe not. I can't remember. I don't see them finishing. Let's put it that way. I could easily see them finishing last.
00:18:47
Speaker
Could. Yeah. Because they lost. They don't get it right. They don't get it right. Absolutely. Right. The volume that they lost, if they can't recover, it could be bad. Yeah. I think one player that they desperately need to return to what was once the form of yesteryear or yester five years ago, whatever it was, is Ollie Devoto.
00:19:12
Speaker
haven't seen hide no hair. He's been injured at now. But like, yeah, he's been also has not been good. Yeah. I mean, neither a slave. So no, no, but to bring
00:19:25
Speaker
slayed to a little, being a little bit better when he, when they were winning that double, I think he's going to take someone like devoted to take some attention away from him in the midfield. Right. And unless that's Hawkins, unless that's the other thing, maybe he is the guy that they're thinking of in that, in those terms. I don't know. He might be a bit of a Swiss army knife. We'll find out. But like to me, you do, if I'm, if I'm constructing a defense against this team,
00:19:53
Speaker
I say, okay, Ollie Woodburn and Josh Hodge are not beating me. And Richard Capstik isn't beating me. Those are the three guys that I'm targeting for extra attention. And I think you can do that with three. And I don't know what else Exeter are going to throw at you. Yeah. Because the covers are pretty bare after those three. And that's going to be problematic.
00:20:22
Speaker
for them, not for me. I'm fine with it. Yeah, I'm OK. No issue here. Let's go to Gloucester. Yes, please. I'm excited about this team. Again, we're talking about players, certain players staying healthy. When he was healthy, this team clicked Adam Hastings. And then when they were forced to throw Santi in there,
00:20:52
Speaker
Things weren't quite right. No, they weren't. It's just the way Santy plays 10 and the way Gloucester wants someone to play 10 are just two very different animals and they didn't mesh well. And you saw it in the way they play, you know, fricking God's sake, they were calling in Lloyd Evans. I was like, yeah. Yeah. Billy 12 trees. Like, you know, right. Billy's gone. So that's not an option anymore. No.
00:21:22
Speaker
Um, but yeah, I signed anybody else to solo. Maybe they're thinking George Martin will actually step up this year as well. Should something go wrong? Hopefully he can. Cause that, I thought he had some, um, I thought he had some promise. I think he's, I think he still has, has the potential. So, um, given minutes and given some consistent time, I think he'll,
00:21:47
Speaker
He'll he'll please people. And they're bringing up the prop from the from the U-26 nations team that just tore it up. F a lot of Fazogba. Fazogba. I'm sorry. I need to figure out how to pronounce Fazogba. Fazogba. Thank you. I didn't print it. Obviously, yes, I didn't practice that. You can tell. I'll get I'll get that.
00:22:15
Speaker
I'm excited. I have I have a very keen interest in the lead in seeing what I've seen. Yeah. And, you know, but they didn't really bring in anybody else interesting. Oh, oh, wait. Fucking Zach Mercer. Zach Mercer, who's now got an axe to grind as well. So that means everybody else is in trouble. It really does. I mean, I remember his like his the the Champions Cup matches.
00:22:44
Speaker
against the prem teams. I mean, he was good against everybody, but he would show up every English team. He just was like, I'm going to be the best forward out here. And actually, no, he would say, I'm going to be the best player on this pitch. And he usually was. Usually. Yeah, he usually was. I don't always love addition by subtraction or improvement by subtraction, but
00:23:08
Speaker
We know, you and I both know that I just really did not bend me in at all. I thought he was more of a detriment to the team than he was to help. So Varney's out of the World Cup so he can go back. And then I hope to give Charlie Chapman the keys.
00:23:27
Speaker
because the kid is dynamite and he's you know he's a he's a local boy through and through so he is he wants to he puts the badge on and he is ready to roll he he wants to do everything he can to make sure that happens doesn't get him a little bit of trouble because he gets excited like he's you know a puppy that's got a treat coming yes right but he's so bloody good you know and anglefield with the bat in that situation anglefield's pretty damn good himself and he's only 23 he's young too he's 23 yeah
00:23:57
Speaker
So like he's now your young pup in a way. So yeah, they've got a pretty solid nine stable there. Yep. Agreed. And so to me that, you know, as we talked about Adam Hastings, their season kind of comes down to him in a lot of ways, whether he can stay healthy.
00:24:18
Speaker
To me, that's like the floor. He's your floor guy. The ceiling guy, the guy who's going to lift them up or not. To me, outside of Mercer, obviously, is Freddie Clark.
00:24:30
Speaker
love Freddie Clark. Love it. But he had a shit year last year. He did. He didn't have a good year. So he didn't admit that by himself. Right. And I say that as a former fantasy, like he's been a fantasy icon for a little bit. And he like, it was one of those, what are you doing this year? Where did you go? What happened to you? Who's wearing your shirt?
00:24:51
Speaker
It's another search party for Freddie. Some guys have that. He may have been really banged up and it just never went away all year. He played a ton of minutes before the season before. So you can understand if he's not feeling 100% to start the year and it probably just, it just didn't, it never caught on from there. And that's, to me, it's like in the NFL, when you have a running back who has like 300 touches one year and then next he's, he just is meh. See what's his face from the Colts. Yeah. Taylor. That guy.
00:25:18
Speaker
Yeah. Or Najee Harris, who still hasn't really recovered after his review. He was like the guy. But Freddie Clark is that he because that was what he was two years ago. I hope he can come back. Yep. Great. Let's go over to the stoop. Quinn's exits. Really, for me, the biggest exit is Martian.
00:25:41
Speaker
And I love BB-8, don't get me wrong. I love, I love Ocole. That's a great one too. And Tommy Allen, yes, but also meh, you know, Will Edwards, I think is where you step into those shoes and fill a backup duty that's in there. And Josh Bassett, it shouldn't be a loss because we should see a lot more of Lina.
00:26:01
Speaker
and Murley. Hopefully, well, hopefully Lionel is healthy. That was part of the problem. That was the problem. That's why they signed him was, as soon as wasp went down, they were like, ooh, pick, thank you. Pick off the tree. Yeah. Because they knew that Lionel was in, obviously they knew Lionel was in deep shit in terms of his health. So they're like, yeah, get your butt over here. So, but incomings as well. Good ones. Dylan Lewis from Cardiff.
00:26:29
Speaker
launch coming back into the league. I know he's an older guy, but still, that's a great veteran presence to have in there. It's a veteran presence, yeah. He's going to contribute more to the locker room than he will on the pitch, and that's cool. You need those guys, especially if you have young pups like Will Porter or Will Joseph or Chandler Cunningham South. Chandler Cunningham South. Twenty-four years old and under.
00:26:55
Speaker
Right. 20 year old Chandler, cunning himself. Oh, that's what they needed. And that's what this team was used yet for them. Like what he's, he's now basically you're six, right? Well, you have the two flanks that are now dogs, Evans and Kenny. I'm assuming they're both healthy.
00:27:18
Speaker
Right. And then you have, and then Dom, when he's, when he's rated, when he's either not away with international duty or when he's healthy. Right. And yeah, you have, you have him probably wearing your 20 shirt, honestly, most weekends, most weekends, unless, I mean, it depends on how you want to, like, but that's the structure you can, you can either have him as your six and like rest one of Evans or Cunningham. Um, like to me, he's your, like, cause wait, did they lose?
00:27:46
Speaker
Any of those, the, the, the two, no, um, the two bald guys, um, they, no, they have one day and they have Chisholm, I believe they need them. They're also there, but I think, I think coming south is definitely an upgrade from those two little, to be honest. And that's where I'm saying like that he's, he's that guy except like really, really good.
00:28:09
Speaker
better. Yeah. Yeah. Like I just want to see him and like I, to me, I, that's what I would do. I would rotate Evans and Kenningham at seven and cutting himself at that is my six and then maybe, you know, throw him like, yeah, change that up. One of them will get the 20, but those are my three.
00:28:31
Speaker
at the six and seven rotation. And CCS can also throw down at eight if Dom needs a rest. Yeah, there's a lot of good shit there. There is.
00:28:45
Speaker
Oh, go to wait, wait, wait, because they have a they have a new play. Well, like an addition to their team from last year, but he's not really a new addition. He won't show up in that the transfers, but Taron Green coming back. Yes, that's true. That's true. That's true. I did. I saw when I was doing the.
00:29:04
Speaker
the prem preview for fancy. I saw his name and I was like, Oh, I forgot about him. He's on my team. I saw him right away. I was like, Holy shit at $4 million. That's he's going to be on everybody's team within like three weeks. Right. So I, yeah, good. So good. Good catch on that one. Took care of that. Um, anyway, so let's go over to the fellows at Wellford road. Um,
00:29:27
Speaker
Lester, again, lots of ins, lots of no's, some greats, some less so. I, you know, we saw, we know Ash, he's finally done, he's finally done, hopefully. We'll see. It's also when he gets injured and then he gets the call. Right, Potter's a bit of a loss, that's unfortunate for them, I did like the way he was going. So Mackey, he's a giant, that's too bad that they lost him. On the other side though,
00:29:54
Speaker
One of the ends. Yeah, I'm not so worried about losing Harry Potter considering. Oh, yes, of course. And Josh Bassett, you know, like, so and Kata. Assuming they use him as a way in the center. Right. Actually, such an exit or move. Yeah, super easy to move. Sam Carter, I love that. That's a solid lock signing right there. Mike Williams. Don't play him. Sparely Lea Lester. Trust me. Right. Yeah.
00:30:24
Speaker
Rodgerson, again, kind of just a banger six, nothing more. Hathril had a ton of potential before Worcester folded. I don't think, I think it would have happened already though at this point for him, so solid, but not, yeah, but not otherworldly, Joe Powell, barf, no thank you. And he's gonna be playing for, he's gonna be starting the season for them. Oh God, yeah, because JVP's hurt.
00:30:49
Speaker
Oh boy. Got speed to everyone over there. Um, yeah. Who's there? Who's their backup nine then? I mean, they got white Lee. Yeah. I would play him if I were them. Yeah, I would too. Um, yeah. And they're going to probably look at maybe Charlie playing 10 who's been playing 10 minute prep cup for them.
00:31:12
Speaker
haven't seen enough. I will look you go you go ahead. But yeah, like Charlie Atkinson until like he'll be okay cover.
00:31:22
Speaker
Guy Porter is still beastly. He was really showing up and obviously he he's kind of one of the guys who missed out on the call for the World Cup squad. And then as you were talking about that, that back three, Josh Bassett, Ollie Hassel Collins, Freddie Stewart, you still have, you know, obviously Mike Brown still kicking around, apparently. And even Jamie Shelton. What's up?
00:31:48
Speaker
I can't believe Brecht Brown's still a thing. I know. Actually, but Brown's still around, I guess. And Shilcock actually is another one to watch.
00:32:03
Speaker
Uh, for obviously now, um, he was doing all right for the, for the warriors. And, uh, especially as, as steward has gone, um, I'd be looking at shellcock for, for 15. So to start the season, like he could provide some decent cover until steward comes back. So there's not, you know, yeah, they're, they, they're missing quite a bit to start the season.
00:32:28
Speaker
but it shouldn't be too bad. It shouldn't, I mean, there's other ones like, you know, the visa and their, their loose forwards are just fucked. Their whole, their whole, their pack is basically fucked. Um, they're lucky to have Nick Dolly back. I think he's, he's, he's playing again. I hope, I hope he's finally healthy. Um, the last, I can tell you the last
00:32:47
Speaker
prime cup game or the first prime cup game of the season. They put Kieran Wilkinson at 10, the kid that they got for sale. And Charlie was on the bench. That could just be just to get him at that level. I don't know what to say. I don't know what to think from that. Oh, one other guy who very Freddie Clark-like, Harry Wells is a guy who needs to have a bounce back year.
00:33:13
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. He's, he is. Yeah. He's definitely very pretty Clark esque when he's busy and working and providing the minutes that he can, then yeah, they usually do better. Um, so anyway, you can deny that. Um, yeah, it looks like Wilkinson's the 10. All right. So keep that in mind. Cause he also started their last prep game. So we'll see. But anyway, there's that, uh, let's go down to do, do, do, do.
00:33:43
Speaker
When I say down, I mean up, Newcastle. Yeah, way up. That's actually North, by the way, guys. That's what they tell me and I listen to them. Yeah, lots of moving pieces. Not sad to see Mickey Young leave, douche.
00:34:02
Speaker
Normally, Calametti's leaving. That sucks. He had a lot of promise. That's too bad. Nothing. Peterson's gone. That's too bad. Robinson's out. That sucks. That's too bad. But really, nothing mind-blowing, whatsoever, coming out, leaving this team. Right. Got it. I mean, shout-out to the iconic logo, Mulipolo, though. Mulipolo, yeah. Moved on to Mapellier. Right.
00:34:31
Speaker
But he's 36. It's time to move on. Yeah. Time to move. Brian Byrne coming in is huge for them, especially since they lost. They didn't really have another option besides Bill Meyer. And they even had to deploy Bill Meyer at seven once or twice. So those less than awesome for their sake. Roy Jennings coming in is going to be helpful in a lot of ways. I think he's he can play 10. And I know he played 12 a lot for one hour last year, but he can play 10.
00:34:59
Speaker
And with that, you know, with just Brett Connan really sitting there as their current option, I think they need to really explore options below him. I don't know what that is. Um, Skoomin was definitely not the answer. He was bleh. So him leaving is not really a sad thing. Um,
00:35:18
Speaker
I think those are the really the big ones for me. So after that, it's, you know, some okay starting. So he will solve them. We'll see what he is. He's 25 might still have some growth, less to do. Um, I said though, you know, Freddie Lockwood might turn into something. He's only 22, but that's all I got really for new castle. I just want to see them.
00:35:42
Speaker
not be the whipping boy more often than not. You know, be nice. So just, yeah. And, you know, I still think Conan is an underrated 10.
00:35:52
Speaker
Um, like he has too many Jekyll and Hyde, Hyde, Hyde days for me. That's the only problem I have with him. There's that there's that he has some bad games. Um, but I overall, I think I'm, I'm leaning towards trusting him. I think like last year was a pretty good step forward, but I mean the team just like the centers are, for some reason you take these centers, like, uh, the, the Matias is from, from, from the Pumas and.
00:36:20
Speaker
It just doesn't click there. I think Rory Jennings is actually going to go really well for them. Um, but like, well, Koka Koki hasn't been like, he hasn't really produced. Nope. So he's kind of fading right now. So, right. So really they've got like, Correras, Radwan and Obatoyanbo, maybe Penny.
00:36:41
Speaker
because he sometimes turns up. But that's about it. It's not enough. They don't have enough bullets to really compete. I agree. Let's go to the gardens. And there, guys, lost.
00:37:00
Speaker
Lost some names, but not anything that's gonna jump out too, too much. Ribbons is a huge loss for a lot of reasons, but too bad, so Kyle Oto didn't give it more than one go, because I thought he had really shown well when he was there. I agree. Proctor's been solid, but losing him is not gonna be the end of the universe, all good. Collins and Scoson, Scoson, frigging.
00:37:24
Speaker
That one to him where he couldn't catch a fucking cold. Yeah, but he seemed to like destroy the Saracens.
00:37:31
Speaker
I don't think it was just that one game. I think he did it a couple of times where he would, he had some big games against Saturday. So I'm not, I'm not too sad to see the back of him. Yeah. Yeah. You know, and Tom Collins too, he has been just dangerous. Solid. Yeah. Always solid. Um, but they, not the ends. Yeah. The ends I'm loving the ends a lot. Um, Miller Mills is not going to light the world on fire, but it's a solid prop to come in. They need, they always need front row help.
00:37:56
Speaker
Langdon loved him. I thought he was I thought he was quality. Yeah The two locks there. This is really young too. What's up shit? Monk is only 22. Yeah. No, I knew he was he was a baby I didn't realize that the two back rowers that brought in from London Irish as well more I know and then obviously Tom Pearson
00:38:14
Speaker
Those are huge. I'd see, when I saw Moraino, I thought that was the guy to watch. And then Tom Pearson showed up. I was like, oh, well then, nevermind. Oh, and don't overlook Tarek Hafar. Yes. The prop from the Irish that they've signed. I think he's just in their academy. But I don't think he's going to stay there too long.
00:38:37
Speaker
No, he's not with the props that that the Saints have. They're going to be. They're going to take those guys off eaten soon. They're going to take a couple of looks at him and be like, you know what? No, we need him. We need him up on the top side. The exception of Jogan. Yeah, they're going to have to get any help. And then Burger Oden Dahl, who was showing well for wasp when he before they went under. And that was great.
00:38:58
Speaker
Seabrook I'm not gonna jump up and down too much about but I didn't realize he's only 24. He seems like an older 24. Right? He just moved like a 24 year old. He's more like a 34 year old. I thought he was on his way out. A little slow big guy. A little slow. Yeah, should be better for Saints.
00:39:16
Speaker
We'll go, we'll see what happens with this team. It's going to be, it's to me, it's their defense. Can they, can they defend? Do they fire the code, the defensive coach? I hope so. I think, Oh, I don't know. Can't confirm that, but God, I hope that would be the biggest change if they did that. Yeah. It's already better. Good. Somebody better. Um, yeah. I can't wait to see. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Agreed. Agreed.
00:39:47
Speaker
Yeah. And they're just, they have so many solid pieces for attack. They just got to be able to stop a nose plate. Cause to me, it's going to be what colds and laws are your locks got to be. Cause I know, I know they like laws at six, but I mean, you've got Pearson or manga.
00:40:07
Speaker
or manga but I mean with Pearson and Ludlam and Augustus and Sam Graham like who are you playing at lock that's gonna be you know yeah manga will get his run through too but
00:40:21
Speaker
I just don't think you can put laws at six anymore. I don't think you should. There's a different stream, what you should do and what happens. Yeah, with you. Anyway, yeah. So pushing top four against saints, no doubt, especially because of the way they attack. Right. Just need to defend if they get an semblance of a defense. Absolutely. Watch out. Agreed. Last year's runner's up, sale.
00:40:47
Speaker
had to do some business because they lost a little bit more than they thought they were going to. Right at the end of the season, they lost a couple of guys that they were not planning on losing with. Especially with Ocker jumping ship to Bulls, that was kind of a big one. They were like, oh, shit. Yeah. My bum hole has now clenched. Because they lost almost all their hookers. Ocker and Ashman. They had Taylor still. I mean, the best one was Ashman without a doubt. I think he's going places.
00:41:16
Speaker
He's only 23, goddamn. Yeah. Again, addition by subtraction, you have your walking yellow card now gone. That's good. Oh, that's helpful. And actually, you know what? They have a different captain now, which is going to be big. That helps too, yeah. Because he's been their captain, and he's not the guy that they... You don't need that guy.
00:41:36
Speaker
No, no, you don't need that type of captain. Sorry. Um, but yeah, Gus, Creevy, huge LCD. Let's see if he can stay healthy. Um, actually I kind of feel that way. I mean, Creevy will stay healthy, but I mean, shit, he's 38 man. How can you, how much can you expect him to play really? Oh, I would bank on Tommy Taylor, seeing a lot of Tommy Taylor. Yeah. And it's, yeah, exactly. That's kind of where I'm going with it. Those guys are good, but I, well, Creevy is good. Um,
00:42:05
Speaker
Yeah. He needs to be healthy. He needs to not break his neck, but he's just going to do it again. Cause that's how he tackles. Yeah. He's got to stop doing that. And then we had, um, a return to the prepper to Lisa. That caught my eye and I, I liked that a lot. And there, this is already a very dangerous back three. And I know they lost, um,
00:42:29
Speaker
You know, very, very little to, to speak of, um, right. McWiggin Woodward. Yeah. Well, we're, I don't even know how many minutes we were played. Not many. Right. So yeah, huge, huge for them. Great, um, great addition for them. And I think he's going to provide.
00:42:50
Speaker
He's going to provide some flair and also a steady hand every once in a while too. So he's 32. He's that veteran that can be back there and be like, got you guys. Don't worry. Chill out. We got this. I'm good. And again, Ralph McEachern, who I don't know him. I don't know him by name like the other ones, but he's also a London Irish 18 year old prop. So if he's anything like the other two we talked about,
00:43:15
Speaker
That's going to be big for sale too. I mean, although, you know, he probably, I'm guessing Alex isn't bringing him up this year. No, I mean, that's not a center. Pretty young. Yeah. That's the upside. And so if he's a tight head and all right, you're in business or he's a loose head, then you're going to have a obstacle in your way, buddy. I'm just not sure. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and then, yeah, let's go over to our boys, the defending champions, uh, series, um,
00:43:43
Speaker
Out's sad Jackson right left, sad to Haas left. Mm-hmm, bomber, I like bomber. Mainland's is the big one for me. Mainland's is the big one. I'm more, if anything, I'm pissed that we let Bejo go without really playing him much. Yeah. Especially while we have guys like Alec Clarity walking around. Right. That kind of annoyed me.
00:44:07
Speaker
They did write and fixed it, thank God. Oliver Hoskins, Tom West, the young Harvey Beaton who looks like he's gonna be something. Yeah, okay, fine. We're doing all right. We can live with that. And then, yeah, Tom Willis. Oh my God, Tom Willis.
00:44:27
Speaker
Yes. And Gonzalez. I hope this is the writing on the wall. And listen, I will always appreciate Billy for what he's done for the club for the longest time. But his time is coming. Number one, you're not the same age you were. Number two, go make your money. You're not going to make the same money as series that you can elsewhere. Yeah. Go make your money, dude. You know, you this is your last World Cup. You're done. Well, I also think that
00:44:56
Speaker
I mean, how many years can he still have left on his deal? I'm assuming this is his last year on his deal. No, I think he's got one more. Oh, that's so much. Yeah, I think it started to a two year last year. Oh, that was a bad call. I mean, they could obviously just tear it up and transform out if there's a mutual agreement. Yeah, true. But it's not looking good. Tom Welles is going to be excellent.
00:45:24
Speaker
Oh, and guns off. They used to have this back row. Let me see who else. Let me check them out a second. The rest of their roster. Well, Theo's back. Theo's back. Oh, that's right. They'll just throw him right in. Yeah, I'm sure he's ready to roll. Solid option there. Great option. Yeah, solid option there.
00:45:47
Speaker
Yeah, I'm enjoying what's going on here. Yeah. I feel like Toby Knight is kind of getting fucked over though because Toby Knight, because he was like the guy who was the up and comer, like, oh, he's going to be the next thing. And then then you bring in Tom Willis. Right. Well, you know, you listen, you need an eight. All right. So Tom Wells is playing eight. There's no question about that. Right. But you still need a six and a seven and you still need to have injury cover. So exactly. He'll get it. He is the next name on the list without a doubt. You know, Ray's gone.
00:46:16
Speaker
So that helps. And again, like I said, I think Billy's going to eventually leave whether it's the offseason or next. Right. I think he's just going to be gone. And that's so that brings that. So, yeah, if he's patient, which I understand that's kind of a pain in the ass to say for a lot of these players that are really good. And that's right. I mean, he's 21. So he's 21. Yeah, he'll be able to he'll he'll get time. And obviously, if he comes, if he really comes good, then he's going to get more time. Exactly. Yeah. You know, Duncan Taylor,
00:46:46
Speaker
is going to be essentially replaced by Ollie Hartley, who I loved when I saw him. So give me that. As I mentioned, Simpson, that's going to be awesome. Yeah, Parton is going to be a nice filler for fullback. Same thing with Cindy on the wing. Oh, yeah. That's a good get. Yeah, as long as McCall's smart about what he picks.
00:47:09
Speaker
I mean, it's hard not to be at this point, right? Well, he's still proving us wrong on that one. True. I'll let Davies over and over again. I think that was a, you know, I think he's, obviously he's recognized the error of his ways. To me, yeah, he was stubborn about the thing. He was bordering on Eddie Jones. Like, okay, to me, McCall is like, if Eddie Jones could, was capable of learning, he'd be McCall because
00:47:38
Speaker
I thought like their style changed too, when they lost to Lester in the final. I think that was the, you know what, maybe this doesn't quite work. Like epiphany, because I think it was, it was kind of going that way. And I think it was like, you know what, fuck this shit. And I think there was, you know, there's still pressure from, I'm sure Eddie and the heads of, of, of the RFU to say, no, we want to play like the top, the national team plays. And Saris went to that and I feel like McCall changed from that.
00:48:08
Speaker
kind of early last year. It took him a couple matches to be like, you know what? No, fuck this. Nope. Right away. Right away, they look better because they beat Quinn's at the stoop with that open play. Oh, right. That was the first game of the year. OK. For them, that was that was the they had that they had the bye week. This is back when we. Right. That's true. That's true.
00:48:25
Speaker
I thought they I thought they went back to it once or twice, but maybe maybe they did. They they went back to it in like the really cold, shitty months. That's right. But I feel like they opened it back up when they got warm slash. They got everybody back from Six Nations, whatever it was. Right. And that that was. Yeah. So they'll stick with it. And this team just has. Oh, everywhere, you know, the guys we were mentioning that there's still there's still plenty of others shaking, you know, partner will be there right away.
00:48:55
Speaker
Yeah, Lewington can still ball quite a bit. Loz will run that just fine. And then when, yeah, Lizzie Ali comes back, Manu will be okay. He's been pretty good too. Yeah, there's enough here. That's the scary part of this team, is just the depth all around. Well, for me, a step forward is semi-final in Champions Cup. Yeah.
00:49:22
Speaker
That's what it has to be. I think if we're trying to just go one further, yes, we got the prem back. We did that. I want to get back into Champions Cup contention. To me, this is a team that's built to do the double. And maybe they don't do it this year. Oh, I can only hope. Maybe they don't do it this year, but they're built to do it.
00:49:44
Speaker
The, um, the finals, is this the final, I think the finals that Tottenham hotsper stadium in London. Oh, seriously though, I think I don't see any reason why this team couldn't do that the way they have been playing. So yeah, that, that would be, cause that's where they've been playing the, their big game as well. That stadium. So I would enjoy very much, very, very much. And there's no telling who might end up on a plane.
00:50:15
Speaker
I can only dream. Anyway, all right, so with that, let's jump over to World Cup and we'll run through the things that we need to run through and we'll skip over or breeze over a few things, such as New Zealand and Uruguay. Do we really need to cover much things other than the absurdness of the Damien McKenzie offload?
00:50:39
Speaker
See, OK. Oh, yeah, that's right. I have the thought on that, which was only Damien Mackenzie could do that because only Damien Mackenzie's feet are small enough that they can stay in touch on that little sideline tippy toes. I was watching it at the gym with the kid with with my team and the kids are just like, is that going to count? I was like, I think so. Look, I mean, that's the thing I
00:51:07
Speaker
It's not that I don't like Damien McKenzie. It's that. I don't like him at 10. There's a difference. Yeah, I don't like him at 10. I don't think he's, I think he's overrated, but he can do shit like that. He's excellent for a fantastic highlight of how the, like he does his, like, why the hell did he do that? But then he has his, how the hell did he do that? And that is so much better. Yeah, we like those a little bit better.
00:51:31
Speaker
And you got to take that's why I love him in the end because you have to take the good with the bad. He's a lot of fun. He's just fucking annoying when he's like the man. Agreed. Agreed. Anyway, but yeah, well done. Well done to your guy. You're away from fronting up as best I could. It was not an easy game. France, Italy. I think it's more about the disappointment from Italy and the performance really is they've got they got boat race twice by
00:51:59
Speaker
They'll bet like they're like they're a practice girl. Yep. And those, and those are full noise teams too. So right. That you want to be still France without, without their nine and 10 though without Intimac or well, Intimac won't come back, but DuPont. Right. But I mean, I'm still saying like, this is an Italy team that this was supposed to be a potential coming out party for them. And it just got put right back in. Yeah, really did. And it's,
00:52:27
Speaker
Lots of good strides from Karen Crowley, no doubt. So now that people know that you come to play and that you do have some quality, they're no longer bringing their B team against you. They're going to bring full noise and make sure that you get put down. And that is the next step in their growth and being able to challenge for stuff like that. They're no longer going to get people's second best. They're going to get their best.
00:52:53
Speaker
And that's, that's part of growing as a rugby nation. And I do hope that it gets better for them. Um, people believe, uh, the new guy, I can't remember what his name is from, but he's coming from, um, stop from say they believe that he can take them to the next level.
00:53:11
Speaker
a lot of people really do. So I'm hoping that's the case. Cause they got so much talent there. They can't waste it. No, I agree. Especially the, the youth, the youth and the team. They really need, this could have been, uh, I mean, I thought they were, you know, but did they qualify for, um, they finished there. So they'll be in Australia. Good. Cause they'll, yeah, they'll need, you know, not that they need it, they'll be all right. But,
00:53:39
Speaker
they would have qualified otherwise. It's just, man, it just sucks that they got pummeled and that's a tough way to go out. It is, it is. Speaking of- Well, it's Georgia. I appreciate that this Georgia team came to play. If they had done the same thing against Portugal, maybe we're talking about them
00:54:02
Speaker
having two games, one instead of one or none. Um, yeah. Cause they didn't have any, I don't think it is. Yeah. The, the, the drawn and then three losses. Damn. Um, anyhow, any who, um, Wales for, for Wales' sake.
00:54:21
Speaker
I think the best thing that could accidentally happen happened with Sam Costello being forced to play 80 minutes. Really, it sounds like Bigger's going to be fine. They threw him on the bench only as a body. I was like, unless somebody breaks, and I mean physically breaks, he is not coming off the bench.
00:54:44
Speaker
And that was, that was that. Um, and then, uh, I mean, very, um, Anscombe's had so many fucking injuries and talk about guys that need to stay healthy. Like we saw his quality when he, when he beat Australia almost single handedly. Um, yeah, that's what he has. And God, if he could just stay healthy, they would, he would only continue to grow and be a threat for Wales going forward. But, um, yeah, hope he's okay for the semi or the quarter file. Excuse me. Um,
00:55:15
Speaker
But yeah, great, great performance from Georgia. This is what we, this is what we know they are now. They're no longer just this scum, and I had to actually correct some of the youngsters that I was working with on Thursday. Like, aren't they just, you know, a bunch of scrummagers? I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. This is not that team anymore, guys. Right. You know, they, they can play. These guys can play. They know, yes, really can play, you know, just yeah.
00:55:37
Speaker
I love the evolution of Georgia and rugby as it's calm. You got to respect the fact that while the rugby has evolved, the bearded bald guys have not. They're staying true to their roots. They're all staying. They're all staying true to their roots, but they're playing good rugby. That's what evolution is. You keep what's working for you.
00:56:05
Speaker
Bald and beard. Says the bearded ball guy. Exactly. It's classy. And yeah, develop those skills. Absolutely. I don't even want to go into this. I don't even want to go into this. Good God. Good God. We are back to square one. Good fucking job. Way to go, Borthwick. You freaking muppet. Like, to me, the story of this was Brace and the crew.
00:56:32
Speaker
And I'm not, I mean, he does not have a quarterfinal by the way. He did not get a quarterfinal. And I hope he doesn't get a knockout. I just want him to go the fuck home. Right. And we on the pod have a no blame the ref policy, which
00:56:47
Speaker
I'm breaking. He was just super annoying. Like, I mean, he in. The team taking away that try. Oh, it was all three guys going up for a ball and it bounced away from them. There's no there should never be a knock on in that situation because it's just a ball play. It doesn't affect like any. It's whoever's there next. Fine. Just fucking play on. It's like the gentleman's agreement, the whole thing that would never have been overruled if it was going the other way on this game.
00:57:14
Speaker
No, probably not. I just think Samoa was treated poorly at all times. I think I saw one analyst that was talking about every 50-50 decision went against Samoa. That sounds like an inter-brace call to me. There was never anything, if there's any doubt, no, okay, no. Samoa, you're back 10, get the fuck out of here. It's like, what would you ... Yeah, didn't ...
00:57:40
Speaker
Just didn't like it And it impacted the game because you know, it might not have affected the outcome I won't go that far but it impacted the game and yeah when you take five points off the board in a one-point eventual game That's that's a lot to be huge difference. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, congratulations England You beat Samoa by one fucking one point like this is the same attack that lost you the game against Fiji Oh by the way, you're playing them this weekend, right? you know and
00:58:07
Speaker
Yes. Congratulations. We've turned the clock back to 2003. Right. The difference being you're not going to fucking win the World Cup this year. Yeah. And I'm sorry. If you have Johnny May out there and Manu Tulagi out there. But just don't don't bother. Good God. Do you look like he had cement shoes on like anyway that tells me that he's the same player he once was is bat shit crazy. I.
00:58:31
Speaker
don't know what people are seeing. I honestly, I don't I don't know what you're looking at. I need it explained to me like I'm five. I really do. Yeah. Because I don't get it. I don't know. He's not even the same player he once was at club level. Right. Right. I don't get it.
00:58:46
Speaker
He is getting picked on name alone and there is nothing else. Really, there is nothing else. You're telling me that Manu Tulangi is better, the best choice in the midfield over Ollie Lawrence, who is one of the most dynamic backs that England has yet lost. No way. He made an impact. Like things change. Yep. Yep. So there's a reason you can't like, if I can, if I get my, my points and timing right,
00:59:18
Speaker
Um, well, I have 58 minutes, I guess. So there, there was, it was at during the penalty that, that fast kicked, but yeah, seven points in, uh, in 22 minutes, as opposed to 11 points and 60 some or 50 some. Yeah. Well, and, and really it was, that was the Danny can try because they were down a player and they kind of had a, let's be honest. I think it was the, oh, that was responsible for that. He had a brain fart and didn't cut, didn't get off the scrum fast enough. Yeah. Like you, you need.
00:59:46
Speaker
let's face it this way. They needed lanes the size of a frickin semi truck to get through in order to frickin score. That's what happened on the one out on the wing where chess and scored, right? Way to go. I'll adjust them. Well done, sir. That was pretty
01:00:01
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's the most useful tooling. He's been all fucking tournament. Yeah. And then, yeah, the freaking wide-ass opening that Danny Care, who's a veteran, you know, he's like, oh, hello. Don't mind if I do. You can see him, like, as he's doing it, like, just start to smile because he knows he's through. And he's not even through yet. It's just like, you're like, oh, I should try. Yeah, never mind. Yeah.
01:00:25
Speaker
Thank you. Goodbye. Yeah. All right. That white flashes. Yeah. Yeah. He knew, he knew what he was doing and he didn't need an invite and I wouldn't have either, you know, I think you and I both scored that fucking try, you know, likely. So yeah. Yeah. So I'm out England. If you can get by Fiji, there's no way you're getting by your next opponent. I'm sorry. Just no way. No way. No way. All right. Let's.
01:00:55
Speaker
Go to. Yeah, this was another one that we could probably just skip over, really. I mean, sorry, my dog was trying to barf in the room. Nice. So anyway, I'm with you. I'm back to Iraq. Anyway, yeah, Ireland and Scotland, like I just. Extremely disappointing with it for me, and it was like. You know, yeah.
01:01:25
Speaker
I mean, Scott, yeah, Scotland is again another one of the teams where I'm not obviously not as bad as as Italy, but. Wish they'd shown up, like, can I can I ask? And it feels dirty just asking, but where the fuck has Duhan van der Merwe been this tournament? Mm hmm. Did he have a single try? He he he had to.
01:01:54
Speaker
He was a known quantity and the defense is definitely focused on taking, making sure he got balled up and they did a good job of it. There's no way around it. And no matter how big now strong you are, if somebody has a specific game plan to make sure you are not the reason that a team gets beat. Yeah. You're kind of so well, unfortunately, there are very, very, very few players that are capable of doing that and, and, you know, outplaying something like that. And that sucks because he is a wonderful player to watch when he's on.
01:02:24
Speaker
Yeah, 201 try versus Tonga. That was it. That was it. Yep. I'm okay. I remember that one. Yeah. I mean, I mean, apart from the Romania game, they didn't have that many tries, right? You know, had a handful against Tonga. They had none against South Africa, if I remember right. And they had two here. Yeah, not. And I just,
01:02:46
Speaker
Scotland, our team, they're not, they're not, you know, the same levels like Ireland or even England in terms of their depth. They are a team that needs, if they want to win a game, they have to pick their best 15. And I don't think they picked that here. Fingersons overrated for me. Right. Gilchrist, same. They need a number 8%. That's not named Jack Dempsey. He sucks.
01:03:08
Speaker
Um, Ali Price is fine. That's probably the one place that they have flexibility is nine. Right. Um, and I guess, and then the back line was great. I think it was just the hurt. Right. So what's up and Ben White has been hurt. So I think he's training with too long this week. So if he was hurt, he was only hurt for that long. Wow. Which really sucks. Yeah.
01:03:27
Speaker
Um, yeah, the back line, I really like a lot. So, you know, for me and then George Turner is the other one that I would have kicked out as well. I'd go with Ashman for sure. And I just, I, I, and I don't love, um, the depth behind some of the other guys that I mentioned. So that's the problem. Like you don't have top end guys at every position and to be one of the best teams in the world, the best team in the world currently.
01:03:54
Speaker
you need top-end guys at every position. And they don't. And that's just facts. So yeah, they won't get over this proverbial hump until they're doing it. And somebody mentioned it out in the social media universe. Ireland first, just...
01:04:16
Speaker
combobulated as they could have been. Everybody still knew their job and performed it. And that's why they were able to roll despite, you know, freaking Gibson Park playing on the fucking wing and like ring roses on the other wing. Like, yeah, players that don't play their normal positions and they were still killing it. Did you see the video of Gibson Park on the camera which try it was? If it was
01:04:45
Speaker
Either way, he was on the right wing and has a run with an offload or some such, and then finds himself like midfield to throw either the assist or the first pass off the assist. Dude just busied himself like a good wing. Just like a scrum half playing wing. Just be like, yeah, oh wait, I want to do more stuff. Very scrum half playing wing type of stuff. I can be involved.
01:05:15
Speaker
Like, let me do stuff. I'm doing it. I'm gonna do stuff. Yep. All day long. It was a good offensive performance for a mile, no doubt, and came out with a few bangs and bumps. They wisely replaced Sexton early, though. I was just like, yeah, this game's gone. Get him out of there. Yep. Totally saw that coming. I thought that was awesome to bring all the... Like, they made all their subs before the 50th minute, I think.
01:05:40
Speaker
Yep. Yeah. Got other people from run that needed some run. And letting guys get clapped off. Like, you know, some people get clapped off Todd, you know, for him and 50, was that 50 or a hundred? It was a hundred for a money. No, something like that. Yeah. Big, big game. Anyway. Yeah. Good stuff for him.
01:06:00
Speaker
Next morning, something more interesting than this one, another decider. You and I actually slept a little bit through the first half. But I've since watched it and now I'm watching it again. Yeah, Japan, Argentina. I wish both of these teams that we saw this day showed up against England and did these things. Because the way England played, where they attacked for all of 20 minutes in two games,
01:06:29
Speaker
they would have lost to both these teams. They certainly would have lost Argentina and I think they would have been, you know, squeaky bum time against Japan. So I just, yeah, I'm really disappointed to see, to see that they had it in them the whole time and just, they didn't pull it out until now. It's just really annoying in a lot of ways. Although maybe that's, you know, Argentina's, because I feel like Japan tried to play a little bit open, but they just, it wasn't,
01:06:57
Speaker
working because the physicality from England was a little too much. Yeah, a little bit of this, a little bit of that. Right. Whereas I think there were more opportunities with Argentina who haven't shown to be as physical. Which is weird because like these are a big bunch of burly, brawny dudes. Right. It's baffling to me. Yeah. These guys love to bring the thunder. It was so weird. Yeah, to me, this is Argentina just kind of
01:07:27
Speaker
Just hitting the right notes when they needed to, too. Like, it was available to them and...
01:07:33
Speaker
You know, it's nice to see Mateo Carreras. Speaking of guys who just haven't shown up. Right. Patrick time. Yeah. Hey, you show up at the best moment sometimes, it helps. Right. Well, the first one eventually came, I think, initially it came off Kramer's face. It was a charge down. I was like, that one definitely turned off the beat.
Rugby World Cup Highlights & Humor
01:07:56
Speaker
Oh, I saw it. I was like, dude, your beard shook when you got hit with that.
01:08:01
Speaker
Ouch. Yeah, it's a full-fledged kick right to your button. Ouch. I got to think for their quarterfinal, they got to go with Sanchez. Yeah, I hope so. I think that's a big thing. I think he played such a good game at 10.
01:08:27
Speaker
throughout this. And I think they sparked a little bit that they didn't quite have with Santi. Yeah. I mean, when did he come on? He came on? 59th minute. Yeah. Okay. And that's kind of when they sealed the deal too. Yeah. So yeah, it's nice to have a veteran presence to bring on. I just didn't think Santi gave them. I thought like a lot of the, I don't think, I don't feel like anyway, a lot of the tries came through Santi.
01:08:57
Speaker
Not necessarily, no. No, like I said, the charge down that event, they eventually turned into one of the tries. Um, and there was another one that went out the back and I think it was Cindy that shuffled it on or maybe one of the Senate or maybe sugar bars. It doesn't matter. Yeah. I think it was Cindy. I think you were right. Yeah. Um, so yeah, it wasn't necessarily Santee driving the bus per se. So yeah.
01:09:23
Speaker
keep them in the team, keep them in the 23, but yeah, maybe don't start them. Yeah. That's the way to go. And they're going to have to, they got to find a way to replace Mattara. I don't know if it's Ruby. Oh, I think they're going to have to dig deeper than that. So we'll see. I think Kramer in the back row is fine. That's a solid option and Gonzalez same. Um, yeah. And then
01:09:50
Speaker
Another much more interesting match than some of the other ones. Tonga Romania. Okay. Thank you, Romania, for finally playing rugby. Like I felt like we didn't see Romania play rugby apart from like the first 10 minutes of the Irish game until now. Right. And that's just painful to think about in a lot of ways. Yeah. I understand they're overmatched in so many of these games. And to me, it came down to the depth. I mean, you looked at, yeah, 21, 17 and a half. It was anyone's game at half. Mm hmm. Yep.
01:10:19
Speaker
Yep. It's great. And it was just the depth of Tonga being able to bring in, you know, actual professional play, like really good professional players, you know, mafis, no joke, um, phenol. Oh, that's different. Pellegrini. Yeah. Different, different phenol than I was thinking. No, not that. Manupaya. Yeah. Pellegrini. Oh, yes. Very good player. He's, he's fucking better than Willy Haveli.
01:10:47
Speaker
I think a lot of people would agree with that. You certainly look better in most of the games that they played together or trading off, whatever you want to call it. I'm glad that the Romanians were able to finally express themselves a little bit more than they had in past games because we didn't want another
01:11:13
Speaker
Another case of like they may be aware they just went out with a super whimper against Uruguay. Right. And that was really disappointing. No. In this case, I'd say it was more less so that definitely came to put it all out there. Yeah. So I appreciate it. Their old man, Sergio getting over in his last game. Yeah, that was that was beautiful. They say he played 100 games for them already. Damn.
01:11:43
Speaker
I'm surprised they got that many in New and honestly, I guess it helps that they have that second tier of the European championships. So true. And then they probably are smart and actually scheduled tours. USA, Ruby. Um, sorry, that allergies over here.
01:11:59
Speaker
So yes, but well done Tonka. They were able to pull it out of the fire and not, uh, not let Romeo put too much pressure on them. You know, the magician that is. So Lissy Pia tau was certainly helpful. Kata was very amazing. Yeah. Yep. Some, a lot of good players. Um, Tyler too. We, I think was one of the least talked about players on this team, but man, he was vital. He played every game. Big fella. That's pretty good.
01:12:28
Speaker
And then the one we're all talking about and the best of so many scenarios in this game where Fiji get their needed point and say, bye, bye, Eddie. Bye, Eddie, you fuckhead.
Portugal's Historic Win & Emotional Moments
01:12:44
Speaker
And Portugal get their first ever win. And my God, was it so wonderful that happened and
01:12:53
Speaker
never ever would the US put any of the teams that got that out of them, would they put in any of the shifts that happened here, whether you're talking about Portugal, Chile, or Uruguay, it would be ugly or rugby, and it would be bigger score lines. We'd be looking at 100 points on at least one of them, if not two. That's just facts. So I am, yeah, I was delighted that
01:13:17
Speaker
a country that clearly has got a lot of passion and give a shit, which something that the USA lacks these days, um, was able to have such a monumental win against a team that, I mean, is everyone's darlings, you know, everyone, everyone that doesn't have a team at this world cup, or, you know, at least when they play as long as they're playing, as long as they're not playing their team is rooting for Fiji. Right. I think I saw, um, fuck, who was it? It was one of the England players.
01:13:47
Speaker
today. It sets up on the lines of Fiji are everyone's second team. And England are everyone's first team they hate. So he's like, everyone is rooting against us. When you play if you could play some better rugby, that'd be a different story. But you know, tomato, tomato.
01:14:07
Speaker
Right. But yeah, the whole like what and immediately like the, as soon as they kicked it to touch, I think there was just such disbelief to from, from Portugal. Cause it's like, how do you do for you? Yeah. And exhaustion and a little bit of that too. Yeah. I agree a little bit of that too. Yeah. Just,
01:14:33
Speaker
Absolutely unbelievable. As I said last week, if some of these teams that are a little financially strapped are smart, they're going to go offer some of these guys contracts if they're not already under contract. A couple of them are. How old is this Fernandez kid? Not very old. Yeah, he's old. Oh, which one? The prop. Oh, yeah, he's definitely old. Yeah, he's old.
01:14:55
Speaker
Yeah. Mike Todger, hand in your hand and come here. No, be called in the officer. No, no, no, no. Make that man front row union president. That man is the president.
01:15:11
Speaker
I will be his campaign manager if I have to and that boot will be exhibit A. Put it in the hall of fame. Put it in the loop. It's just like the stuff he's done for this team, this tournament, it's been inspirational. Absolutely. It's been very good this whole tournament.
01:15:38
Speaker
But I mean, you know, same thing with those wings, sortie and Marta have been excellent. Both of them got it like that. That's that's how they did it, too. They did it through their their most impactful players, you know, the front row doing what they did. Yeah. Tager didn't get on the score sheet, the honey Tager. But he had the kick. He had so much so many like big plays in the loose. It's a busy boy.
01:16:08
Speaker
Yeah, it's and now there's there's so many questions around Fiji now too, because what was that line out? What the fuck was happening there? Uh, well, honestly, I think it was Sam was fine. It was the other guy that came in and really started to bottle it. You know, nothing was
01:16:26
Speaker
spectacular at the lineup, but they pretty sure they landed most of them with the exceptional one. I thought there were a bunch of overthrows first half. Maybe. Maybe, but I think they re-gathered most of them, if I remember right. Yeah, it wasn't high functioning, but it was fine. Right. That's the problem. Yeah, but they're going to need it to be high functioning certainly against England. Yeah. It's got to be a lot better than that because England will pounce on those better than Portugal did because that's what they do. They're like, oh, there's something to do in the set piece. Yes, let's do that.
01:16:54
Speaker
We're doing better than you. Okay. Well, that's great. Now let's play in the loose. Yeah. Yeah. So they will, they will need to be better. Um, hopefully this is like them getting all the jitters out at this point and they can go back to what makes them good and what gets the, what, what gets them over the line. And we've got them over the line against Australia and what made them push whales. So we'll see. I have hope, but I'm also trying to be smart about this whole thing. Well, I mean, there was also no, um,
01:17:23
Speaker
Roger for this one. Nope. So they haven't, they haven't deployed a few guys that I wish they would deploy a few more times. Like Revolver. I'm pretty sure he hasn't played at all. I don't think. Yeah. Massey. We only just saw the first bit of Massey, I think. Right. I think.
01:17:42
Speaker
Yeah. I'm wondering, uh, what's going on over here. Yeah. I think that was his first game. So maybe they've been saving him, but still, that's the run here guys. That could be it. That would be, that would be fucking interesting. Yeah. Let's run these guys out there now.
01:17:55
Speaker
radio. I do know that the Fijian coach went over to the Portuguese locker room and obviously said, well done and brought him a bunch of flying Fijian kit, which was really, really awesome. So typically capped to him in much respect to the Fijians in general. Yeah, that was gracious in defeat because it's easy when you're still moving on.
01:18:23
Speaker
I think you still would have been. They've had a very emotional journey themselves. Their first win against Australia. Australia. Huge. They know exactly what's happening for Portugal. They know that feeling. Absolutely. Yeah, there's definitely some hand-shakery and whatnot.
01:18:48
Speaker
And happy for years as well as much as it sucks. You're still moving on. So it doesn't this doesn't matter. The loss doesn't matter as much for Fiji anywhere near as much as the wind meant for Portugal, which. Yeah, no way. I think that that's that's what decided it. Yep. I think it just meant more for Portugal to get it over the line. Yeah. Really did. Really, really did.
World Cup Pool Stage Conclusion & Farewell
01:19:10
Speaker
But what a way to close out the World Cup pool stage. Yeah, that that's that was a good
01:19:17
Speaker
Finale to that act. Yep Act two coming up kids like that. I think this is act three Whatever you want to call it There's the rock. Yeah, that's how I would see it Whatever you want to call it act one would be the qualifications. I don't know I guess maybe Anywho? Okay, that's that
01:19:43
Speaker
We didn't go too, too crazy over here with time. No, but this is going to be one of our longer pods because of the preview thing because there's always go long and we had what eight matches to go over and we tried to breeze through some, but only can do so much. Yeah. So anyway, we're going to head over to the fancy corner and we're going to talk from fancy game preview and talk all the fun stuff. So that'll probably be a little bit longer too. So if you guys are sitting on a train or in a car for a little while, you're welcome. But
01:20:12
Speaker
In the meanwhile, um, we do, if you're not going to join us over on the fantasy corner, we do appreciate you hanging out, listening to us bowel for a bit. Um, make sure that you check us out on Twitter and go ahead and enjoy yourself the opening week of the prem and the woke up quarter files. Have a good one all. Thank you very much. Cheers.
01:20:43
Speaker
If you'd like to ask a question or leave us general feedback, email us at fantasyrugbypodcastatgmail.com. Too far, you guy, by the way. Yeah, exactly. The ticky tackiness kind of absolutely pisses me off. Be sure you check out our Patreon at patreon.com slash thefantasyrugbymanas. Yeah.
01:20:56
Speaker
This has been