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Season 8- Episode 11- We Have Returned (Prem Mid-Season)
57 Plays1 month ago
We have finally returned!...Just in time for a break, oops. We return from an enforced hiatus to recap a few things. Firstly, the happenings here in the U.S. (non-rugby related) so hold on for that one. Then, rather than recap what was a pretty unexciting round of Prem action, we look back at each club's season thus far. Tune in for some fun and to maybe find yourself a little annoyed.
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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 or by rating/reviewing the pod on Apple Podcast
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Transcript
Return and Health Updates
00:00:29
Jarrod Dyke
Hey everybody, welcome back. It is the Fantasy Rugby Yanks. My name is Jared Dyke.
00:00:32
Grumpy Old Prop
I'm Ben Glauser.
00:00:34
Jarrod Dyke
I hope you guys missed us. It's been a little more than a month since we've done this. So yeah, we missed you guys, that's for sure.
00:00:40
Grumpy Old Prop
This is our first part of the year of 2026.
00:00:43
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, I know. it's It's just, you know, I was sick and then Ben had his issues and it just seemed to be we almost took turns at a certain point. So yeah. But I'm getting healthier and yeah Ben might be a different story, but you know, we'll get there.
00:00:52
Grumpy Old Prop
yeah
00:00:59
Grumpy Old Prop
ah I'm entering the... it It's like we're coming out of... Well, we're not coming out of winter because this fucking snow that's out there, but we're allegedly, calendar-wise, on the upswing ah out of winter, but I'm entering the dark long dark of the spring rugby season.
00:01:06
Jarrod Dyke
Oh, yeah.
00:01:14
Jarrod Dyke
Oh, yeah, they the early parts of the spring rugby season, especially like, and I'm fortunate I don't have to do that because we don't start until March.
00:01:15
Grumpy Old Prop
That's... Right.
00:01:23
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
00:01:24
Jarrod Dyke
But yeah, like i i remember back when we were playing for Boston, like February, those practices were hard.
00:01:33
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
00:01:33
Jarrod Dyke
Like, they were legitimately hard to get to,
00:01:34
Grumpy Old Prop
The worst.
Spring Rugby Amidst Snow
00:01:36
Jarrod Dyke
you know, and then not not, like, getting there wise, like, per se, but, like, just getting, just being able to move your legs one in front of the other to get your bag together and go to and get in the car and go.
00:01:36
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
00:01:47
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
00:01:47
Jarrod Dyke
And, man, those were tough days.
00:01:50
Jarrod Dyke
i Don't miss that, that's for sure.
00:01:52
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah. Like, the fall season's a sprint. And so it's that's that's kind of fun. like We start in September. We're done by the end of October.
00:02:00
Grumpy Old Prop
Like...
00:02:00
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, that's wild.
00:02:01
Jarrod Dyke
That's wild.
00:02:02
Grumpy Old Prop
I think we we may have had a November game. I can't remember, but like... I know. I think we had a, we would have had a November game, but that was our bi-week. We had the week six or whatever week seven bi-week, which was great.
00:02:10
Jarrod Dyke
Oh, okay. That process then.
00:02:13
Grumpy Old Prop
So, um, absolutely just to sprint through it and then we're done.
00:02:17
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah.
00:02:18
Grumpy Old Prop
Um, unless we make playoffs, which we will do next year. Um, but then the spring season there's, we start technically was supposed to be Monday.
00:02:22
Jarrod Dyke
I believe it.
00:02:27
Grumpy Old Prop
Today's Wednesday. Um, but we got, as it's the aforementioned snow I was talking about. so
00:02:32
Jarrod Dyke
say If you're listening and you're not from U.S.
00:02:33
Grumpy Old Prop
um
00:02:35
Jarrod Dyke
s or the Northeast, we got 20 plus inches here in Boston and Massachusetts general.
00:02:42
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
00:02:42
Jarrod Dyke
But yeah, like in.
00:02:42
Grumpy Old Prop
I mean, I i think we I got like 18 or something. It was ridiculous. um
00:02:46
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, no.
00:02:47
Grumpy Old Prop
So, yeah. um Which I think that translates to half a meter for those outside the U.S. I got half a meter. Jared got a little bit more. So that much just white shit on the ground that you gotta to shovel. Anyway, um but that's why we're not practicing. Also, we had there's I'm glad that they put in like cold um weather stuff. So it's like if it's under 21 degrees...
00:03:12
Grumpy Old Prop
We have to warm up inside and it's a feels like, so it's like if the words wind chill besides that, whatever, um, you warm up inside hats, gloves, scarves, um, and one hour maximum and everybody, you got to basically keep moving the whole time.
00:03:19
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, yeah. That's that's that's fair, honestly.
00:03:30
Grumpy Old Prop
And I'm like, so we can't practice rugby. Like it excuse how are you going to wear gloves? when you Like you that you're literally not allowed to take off.
00:03:38
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, yeah, that's true.
00:03:39
Grumpy Old Prop
So it's like, no, we're just done. Um,
00:03:41
Jarrod Dyke
Oh, okay, yeah, no, that's not happening.
00:03:43
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah, so I like that, but it also, but either way, point being, we go from now until, um I think Beast is in April or May.
00:03:53
Jarrod Dyke
April.
00:03:54
Grumpy Old Prop
Fuck's sake. So, um yeah, we're going for like four months.
00:03:56
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah.
00:04:00
Jarrod Dyke
yeah it's ah Yeah, this is definitely the long trot of the, and and even back in like when I was playing in college, like same thing.
00:04:02
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
00:04:07
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm-hmm.
00:04:07
Jarrod Dyke
Like just, yeah, those those indoor practices and the and the chilly outdoor practices, man, they were they were hard to cobble together.
00:04:16
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
00:04:17
Jarrod Dyke
They really were.
00:04:20
Jarrod Dyke
So anyway, um, I'm abstaining Ben's abstaining.
00:04:22
Grumpy Old Prop
But yes, long.
00:04:24
Jarrod Dyke
So don't worry about that.
00:04:24
Grumpy Old Prop
Yep.
Support for Fantasy Rugby Geek
00:04:26
Jarrod Dyke
Uh, make sure that you find us on your favorite podcast app, download rate, review, share feedback. Always welcome per per usual. Uh, Find our good friend George, on the Fantasy Rugby Geek, on Buy Me a Coffee and make sure you buy him a coffee slash beer, whatever you want to call it.
00:04:35
Grumpy Old Prop
e
00:04:38
Jarrod Dyke
Busy busy times ahead forever. And if you haven't heard it or you don't know it yet, he and Paul are are doing a podcast once again for our Six Nations and Fantasy Six Nations. So go ahead and give those guys a listen.
00:04:50
Jarrod Dyke
They'll they'll do you good. couple of good fellas on top of it. um And there's that.
Against Discrimination: Social Issues in the US
00:04:58
Jarrod Dyke
There is no discrimination here on this podcast nor should there be any sports or in life.
00:05:02
Jarrod Dyke
I mean, the fucking world's, the country's falling apart. Like, I don't know what else to do. i'm i don't I feel bad for people that, like, reached the point I'm at years ago. You know, because there's definitely people that have reached that point before me.
00:05:19
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah. I... Fuck. um Yeah, we're in we're in true, like, we need heads on spikes territory here.
Governance Failures and Social Unrest
00:05:31
Grumpy Old Prop
um And I don't think... So it's funny. I don't know. i haven't we i don't think we've even talked about the metrics in a while. But our most downloaded show for a long time...
00:05:48
Grumpy Old Prop
was
00:05:48
Jarrod Dyke
oh
00:05:49
Grumpy Old Prop
was January 6th, 2021, when we basically kind of talked about the interaction.
00:05:54
Jarrod Dyke
yeah it was the the tail end of the insurrection was still happening when ben and i started to record that night
00:05:55
Grumpy Old Prop
Like,
00:05:59
Grumpy Old Prop
right. So we just talked about that a lot. A lot.
00:06:03
Jarrod Dyke
yeah we talked about that for like 20 minutes i think exactly so my point yeah my point exactly
00:06:06
Grumpy Old Prop
I think it was a lot longer than that. But either way.
00:06:10
Grumpy Old Prop
Either way.
00:06:13
Grumpy Old Prop
Part of my my theme of what I talked about was was failing governments and um like what happens in failing governments.
00:06:25
Grumpy Old Prop
This is the kind of shit that happens. And and the fact that they didn't punish anybody important.
00:06:26
Jarrod Dyke
Oh, yeah.
00:06:33
Grumpy Old Prop
for it is is is also something that happens in failing governments. um We're at a real inflection point here beyond just the you know the the Greenland bullshit. um But we're seeing um federal agents attacking people who are just out there like watching them, making sure they're they're legal observers.
00:06:59
Grumpy Old Prop
who are trying to make sure that they don't do anything illegal. Why are the people doing that? Because the state and local and, um you know, city authorities aren't doing anything.
00:07:11
Grumpy Old Prop
um To the point now where there's been two murders, that like flat out murders in the streets, whereas there's there's been others too. um
00:07:20
Jarrod Dyke
i mean, they've killed total of nine people, not just the two that we have been put in the news so lately.
00:07:22
Grumpy Old Prop
Right. And but that's not even the people, that's not even the people in camps who are dying. Right.
00:07:28
Jarrod Dyke
Truth. Truth. Yep.
00:07:30
Grumpy Old Prop
And we so it's like the where they're taking you know they're taking them someplace evil. And you know they're not they don't care if they're citizens or not.
00:07:37
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah.
00:07:39
Grumpy Old Prop
It's not about that. They're rounding people up. And the governor is doing jack shit about it. And the mayor is doing jack shit about it. And they're sending um cops out there to basically to protect ICE.
00:07:55
Grumpy Old Prop
And... Ultimately, the the the the concern here is when it's no longer if we passed that point a long time ago.
00:08:07
Jarrod Dyke
Oh, yeah, we're we're we're beyond.
00:08:07
Grumpy Old Prop
We're we're in the it's so funny because like people talk about V for Vendetta, but like you can see that it's that whole endpoint where they ask the captain, like, what happens now? He's like, I see like i see everything.
00:08:17
Grumpy Old Prop
And like, it starts with somebody doing something stupid. And boom, that's what we saw on January 7th of this year. Yeah.
00:08:25
Jarrod Dyke
Right.
00:08:28
Grumpy Old Prop
And
00:08:32
Grumpy Old Prop
what's going to happen is someone's going to say, you know what? Fuck it. We're done getting shot at and shot. We're going to shoot back. And the thing is, if that's, and we don't have, it doesn't have to reach that point.
00:08:40
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah. Oh, totally.
00:08:45
Grumpy Old Prop
We're we're at a, the sign is flashing bright. You could have prevented this.
00:08:52
Jarrod Dyke
toy
00:08:53
Grumpy Old Prop
And it's still there, but this is coming. The time when somebody decides my government on no level is going to protect me, I am going to do this myself. i'm going to take matters into my own hands, which this country was fucking founded upon.
00:09:07
Grumpy Old Prop
Our founders were like, hey, if this doesn't work, fucking shoot them. That's what we would do.
00:09:13
Jarrod Dyke
Right, right, right. Nope.
00:09:15
Grumpy Old Prop
And so it's like... The problem is that now that map makes your state government illegitimate. Because the federal government already pretty much is. They're they're killing Americans for no fucking reason. They're killing people for no reason. But um
00:09:33
Grumpy Old Prop
they're specifically like targeting, you know, killing Americans. and And they're not doing anything about it. So it becomes time at some point where Minnesota, where where Governor Walz, um Minneapolis Mayor Frey need to put themselves and their people, like their government, their our civil servants on the line to say, no, we're going to protect our people from this lawless crew.
00:09:59
Jarrod Dyke
Oh, yeah.
00:10:00
Grumpy Old Prop
And if you don't do that, they will. And if they do before you act in any way, just look, reading a history book, when it comes time to put fascists up against a wall, historically,
00:10:15
Grumpy Old Prop
There's always been room for collaborators and the people who fail to step up and protect.
00:10:23
Jarrod Dyke
oh yeah
00:10:24
Grumpy Old Prop
there's always There's always more room at against that wall. And I'm saying that but not because that's what they deserve, because fuck, nobody really deserves that. oh okay, some people fucking deserve that.
00:10:35
Grumpy Old Prop
but
00:10:35
Jarrod Dyke
Hmm, there's a there's a list of people that don't deserve it, but.
00:10:37
Grumpy Old Prop
Right, but... The problem is once the red mist is going and you, we those of you, if you, you, you know, when rugby happens, you, you know what I'm talking about.
00:10:40
Jarrod Dyke
No.
00:10:48
Grumpy Old Prop
um People aren't very selective as to who they end up um again, putting up against that wall.
00:10:55
Jarrod Dyke
No.
00:10:56
Grumpy Old Prop
So it's like, if you are seen as someone who you, you were in position to stop this and you didn't, what's the difference between you and the person who's actually doing it?
00:10:57
Jarrod Dyke
no
00:11:04
Grumpy Old Prop
And i I leave that with um a Spider-Man quote, because Spider-Man is the best superhero of all time. I will not hear questions on this. um
00:11:14
Jarrod Dyke
a
00:11:17
Grumpy Old Prop
But his line and in in um Civil War about how when you can when you have the powers that I have and bad things happen and you do nothing and then bad they even badder things happen, they happen because of you.
00:11:36
Grumpy Old Prop
And so
Critique of Government Inaction
00:11:37
Grumpy Old Prop
it's like you, Governor Walz, Mayor Frey, like, and they're not alone.
00:11:37
Jarrod Dyke
Yep. Yeah.
00:11:42
Grumpy Old Prop
Fucking our shit ass governor, Maura Healy, loves ICE as well. She's fucking useless. Democrat, that's what they are. um like if if Like, if you don't step up, people will step up in their place. And you need to you need to exert your authority and and assert your legitimacy. Otherwise,
00:12:08
Grumpy Old Prop
Again, the things the places we as a country are going, there's guidebooks through history.
00:12:15
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah.
00:12:16
Grumpy Old Prop
So let's not do that. But we don't seem to be able to get that from from the quote unquote opposition party here.
00:12:19
Jarrod Dyke
No.
00:12:26
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, it's... And it's... and yeah i I take Ben's point big time with when it comes to the people that should be doing something about this besides you know civil servants that should be protecting us, but like, and, you know,
00:12:39
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm-hmm.
00:12:43
Jarrod Dyke
you know law enforcement that's not this Gestapo, for lack of a better term at this point.
00:12:47
Grumpy Old Prop
h
00:12:50
Jarrod Dyke
it yeah We've seen too much inaction over the years with few exceptions, and the few exceptions are thought to be radical people. It's like, well, one number one, we're fighting radicalism on the other side. So, yeah, it kind of takes that to fight it.
00:13:09
Jarrod Dyke
And at the same time, like, they're not that radical they're just fucking being rational and caring about people in the end like i don't know why that's radical like i'm i'm always baffled as to that like that this is the the idea to protect people from you know shit bags anonymous as it were
00:13:15
Grumpy Old Prop
Right, right. right
00:13:31
Jarrod Dyke
ah having it be a radical idea just what what world are we living in what universe are we living in where that that becomes a you know a crazy idea. It's like, this is not, that should not be a crazy idea.
00:13:45
Jarrod Dyke
Like, that's terrifying in so many ways, but that's considered ah ah wild idea. And, you know, I say it all the time, and there are many people that have said it better than I can, but like, I can't make you understand that you should give a shit about people.
00:14:01
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah,
00:14:05
Jarrod Dyke
if I have to do that as an adult,
Coaching High School Rugby
00:14:09
Jarrod Dyke
you're gone. Like you're already gone. I, I, I, you know, you know, and, and really in, it sounds kind of, you know, holier than thou, but it's one of the reasons that I like coaching and i like coaching the level I do.
00:14:11
Grumpy Old Prop
yeah there's.
00:14:19
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm hmm.
00:14:20
Jarrod Dyke
I coach young, I took, I coach high school kids where they're very impressionable. And, you know, if I can get one kid to fricking turn that switch from the bullshit that we see in the norm and for them to be like, oh Maybe I should care about other people besides myself first. And then I can care about the shit that affects me the most. Like we can do that.
00:14:43
Jarrod Dyke
Then we're doing good. But yeah, so it's, you know, it sounds silly and, you know, self-righteous whatever you want to call it.
00:14:44
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
00:14:48
Grumpy Old Prop
Also,
00:14:49
Jarrod Dyke
But, you know, it's my ideas at least.
00:14:52
Grumpy Old Prop
also last bit on that is, is I remember I grew up, you know, I came of age, I guess in the nineties. And I remember people talking about like Ruby Ridge and, um,
00:15:05
Grumpy Old Prop
Like, oh, you need your guns because the government's going to come bang down your door and and shoot you in the street. And it's like, hey, you Second Amendment folk, um what you said you wanted to prevent from happening is
Second Amendment Discussion
00:15:20
Grumpy Old Prop
happening.
00:15:20
Grumpy Old Prop
Step up. Because here's the other thing about legitimacy.
00:15:25
Grumpy Old Prop
Once decent people get power and your whole argument is... Guns are a right and we need them because blah, blah, blah, that you did. You proved that you were unwilling to step up and do You don't have much of an argument.
00:15:40
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah.
00:15:41
Grumpy Old Prop
and And when it comes time to ban guns and people just just decide to fucking do it because they've had enough of your shit. You will just be sitting there with your dick in your hand because. You had the opportunity to show, yes, this is why I needed a gun.
00:15:56
Grumpy Old Prop
And you chose to, well, vote for more of it. So no, go fuck yourselves. I will have no sympathy on the the the Second Amendment enthusiasts who are proving that their entire...
00:16:10
Grumpy Old Prop
um There you go.
00:16:10
Jarrod Dyke
Argument is bullshit. It's
00:16:13
Jarrod Dyke
so like, your argument was definitely self-serving.
00:16:15
Grumpy Old Prop
Like at some point, yeah, step up or step the fuck on.
00:16:16
Jarrod Dyke
and That's all it was. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Agreed.
00:16:23
Jarrod Dyke
Fucking hell. We're in trouble, folks. That's all I know.
00:16:27
Grumpy Old Prop
We need an adult.
00:16:27
Jarrod Dyke
Been in trouble for a while.
00:16:28
Grumpy Old Prop
We need an adult.
00:16:28
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah.
00:16:29
Grumpy Old Prop
We do. We just need an adult. One.
00:16:31
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah.
00:16:32
Grumpy Old Prop
Please.
00:16:33
Jarrod Dyke
Please.
00:16:36
Jarrod Dyke
ah Anyway, um
Engaging the Community: Patreon Support
00:16:38
Jarrod Dyke
make sure that you grab our Patreon. we appreciate everyone that's been our been patron for last few years. We are gonna we will have Six Nations stuff coming up. I'm almost done with that.
00:16:49
Grumpy Old Prop
I did put out free content for those of you who are are not patrons or that the the normal fantasy analytics I put out last Friday.
00:16:49
Jarrod Dyke
So those are that's true, actually, yeah.
00:16:59
Grumpy Old Prop
So you can still check them out. I know there's no prem going on, but you can at least get a ah feel for a sense for you know what you can get there too.
00:17:09
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah. We'll, we'll, we'll get back to Prem in March. Don't worry.
00:17:11
Grumpy Old Prop
Right. It'll come back.
00:17:13
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah. Um, but anyway, grab that. Uh, okay. Um, let's, so Ben, I were talking before we got on, got on the, on this thing and hit the record button.
00:17:26
Jarrod Dyke
Um, rather than
Premiership Midseason Review
00:17:28
Jarrod Dyke
talk about the games from this past weekend, cause three out of five of them were pretty poor and even more than one of them wasn't that good.
00:17:36
Jarrod Dyke
So, um,
00:17:36
Grumpy Old Prop
Right. Mm
00:17:39
Jarrod Dyke
we're going to, well, we're at a mostly natural halfway point at this point with a break where we're one game into the second half of the season. So appropriate spot. We we wanted to kind of just take a look back at the prem that's happened so far by team by team. And, you know, we can talk about where we thought they would be and where they are.
00:17:57
Grumpy Old Prop
hmm.
00:17:58
Jarrod Dyke
And there's a couple of teams that are definitely on that list that are a little bit on the extreme. um And then we'll just work out and work our way through that, and we'll send you guys on your way, and you don't have to listen to us talk about superlatives or anything like that.
00:18:12
Jarrod Dyke
we don't even have pick them. So it's lucky you guys.
00:18:15
Grumpy Old Prop
It's nothing to pick except my nose.
00:18:15
Jarrod Dyke
Don't have to. No.
00:18:17
Grumpy Old Prop
Oh, my butt.
00:18:19
Jarrod Dyke
Let's see. I got a few more offers.
00:18:20
Grumpy Old Prop
Okay. there's There's two things for me to pick.
00:18:21
Jarrod Dyke
don't know about you.
00:18:23
Grumpy Old Prop
of ah um I'll be okay. Okay.
00:18:29
Jarrod Dyke
Okay. um So, yeah, let's, um and we'll, and we'll do it kind of democratically. We'll do, we'll go alphabetically. That way we're not pinging into, yeah, yeah, there you go.
00:18:37
Grumpy Old Prop
ha
00:18:41
Jarrod Dyke
Word of the day.
Bath's Strong Season
00:18:42
Jarrod Dyke
um so And let's talk about just Bath overall right now. They currently sit second in the Prem. They're four points in front of Bristol and two points off Northampton for top spot.
00:18:56
Jarrod Dyke
Cruising to a... it Not cruising, but looking good for a home semifinal end of the season here.
00:18:59
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
00:19:04
Jarrod Dyke
So... Really, if for me, it's... Everything's fine for Bath. There's nothing to lose your shit about. the you know if that If I'm them, I'm just praying that everyone comes to the Six Nations as healthy as possible because the team they have is good enough to repeat unquestionably.
00:19:21
Grumpy Old Prop
right
00:19:28
Grumpy Old Prop
It's more than good enough. I mean, they, yeah, they've added to, right.
00:19:31
Jarrod Dyke
and they could And on top of that, they could do damage in Europe too, so
00:19:34
Grumpy Old Prop
Um, good squad. I, I am not sure where I am with you on Ben grand. Um, this team does not need to do that.
00:19:46
Grumpy Old Prop
Um, six, two, they've got so many playmakers. Like you gotta to get, I think they need, and they're, they're, they have loose forwards who can go 80. eighty That's not a problem.
00:19:56
Jarrod Dyke
o
00:19:58
Grumpy Old Prop
um so I don't understand why they need ah you know multiple loose forwards. they've They've got such depth there, too. It's like you don't you can play one guy 80 and then rest him for two weeks and play him again if you're really that worried about load there.
00:20:09
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, and they're they're not afraid to rotate them either, but they've shown that too.
00:20:12
Grumpy Old Prop
Right. They do that anyway. it's just...
00:20:15
Jarrod Dyke
Right.
00:20:17
Grumpy Old Prop
it's just Puzzling to me to go with that and and his his focus on on physicality, I think is unnecessary, given their talent in the loose, I think ultimately where I am with with them is they're a fucking great team that could be that if they had a more expansive minded coach.
00:20:20
Jarrod Dyke
Mm-hmm.
00:20:37
Grumpy Old Prop
um they'd be running away with this thing. Although that would mean just two fewer losses. So it's not really that big a deal, but they would be like, you know, instead of contending for it, they'd be the odds on favorite.
00:20:45
Jarrod Dyke
No.
00:20:48
Grumpy Old Prop
And I don't have them as that just yet.
00:20:52
Jarrod Dyke
No. Yeah. And while they may be a slight favorite, they're not odds on by any means whatsoever.
00:20:56
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
00:20:57
Jarrod Dyke
They're not, they're not going run, they're not going to run it out the water.
00:21:01
Grumpy Old Prop
They're just a good team.
00:21:01
Jarrod Dyke
And to your point,
00:21:02
Grumpy Old Prop
That's going to be, that's a tough out. That's what they are.
00:21:04
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah. Oh, always. um To your point, like they have. So Ted Hill has shown prevalence to play lock.
00:21:13
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
00:21:14
Jarrod Dyke
And if you are so desperate to have two loose forwards on the bench, I say have him be your 19 and pick one of your other amazing back rowers that you have as your 20. And that's that. And that's that.
00:21:26
Jarrod Dyke
And you know you don't need 23 where that's a forward. You can make your 23 a back.
00:21:31
Grumpy Old Prop
right
00:21:31
Jarrod Dyke
They have done it sometimes. It's not totally that way all the time. I think it wasn't last week. It was a few weeks ago. they were well they had three ah They had three forwards. They had three backs on the bench and I thought it served them well.
00:21:43
Jarrod Dyke
And I was just like, okay. Might have been against Exeter actually. Now think about it. think they had three backs on the bench.
00:21:49
Grumpy Old Prop
And that's a good that's a good strategy versus Exeter. I love it.
00:21:53
Jarrod Dyke
Right.
00:21:54
Grumpy Old Prop
Like, run on them.
00:21:55
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah. Yeah, yeah i mean as we talked about before. um Yeah, there's there's... Other than that, there's not a lot to dislike about this team. There really isn't, like...
00:22:07
Grumpy Old Prop
No, there isn't. There's so much to like about them. um Just all the way through. and And also, let's not let's bear in mind that this is a team that is they've got some some injuries on the backs, too.
00:22:19
Grumpy Old Prop
Now, like, um yeah, like the Glanville got hurt the other week.
00:22:20
Jarrod Dyke
It's terrifying.
00:22:24
Grumpy Old Prop
it was oh So the Glanville gets hurt.
00:22:25
Jarrod Dyke
Yep.
00:22:26
Grumpy Old Prop
Oh, yeah. We'll just put Santi Carreras in there. Fuck you.
00:22:28
Jarrod Dyke
Carreras back there.
00:22:30
Grumpy Old Prop
Fuck you.
00:22:33
Grumpy Old Prop
Like, it's just not fair. mean, you know, like they still have but Lawrence has been hurt. So it's like, you know, a Jomo and Harris oh or Redpath or but but is is not playing like but this this year he's he's playing well.
00:22:41
Jarrod Dyke
They've had Jummo or Redpath or Butt. Right. if
00:22:51
Grumpy Old Prop
And then you still have, hair you know, Arendelle, even though, you know, coconut signal, I guess, was hurtless or maybe he was just getting a arrest. And you still have your Will Muir's and apparently this Louis Hennessy guy looks pretty good too.
00:23:03
Grumpy Old Prop
So.
00:23:04
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, he looks good too.
00:23:04
Grumpy Old Prop
Fuck.
00:23:05
Jarrod Dyke
So, yeah, they've talked about him for a little bit.
00:23:06
Grumpy Old Prop
Fuck you.
00:23:07
Jarrod Dyke
And yeah, and they have... And one of the my favorite things about the development for Beth is Ajamo's ability to play 10.
00:23:18
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm hmm.
00:23:18
Jarrod Dyke
Like, we saw it...
00:23:22
Jarrod Dyke
not, not long ago, but in ah in a really kind of a throwaway game. And then this year, obviously Russell was arrested because of lions duty.
00:23:30
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm-hmm.
00:23:30
Jarrod Dyke
So he, yeah, he stepped in and started the year off quite well for them.
00:23:35
Grumpy Old Prop
he did.
00:23:35
Jarrod Dyke
And, you know, they didn't, they, they're, they have, yeah, like to your point, they have two blips. One of them was an outstanding performance about Northampton, which we'll obviously, we're obviously to talk about later.
00:23:48
Jarrod Dyke
i couldn't believe that performance from them and, uh,
00:23:51
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm-hmm.
00:23:52
Jarrod Dyke
at the rec, I was just like, whoa. And everybody was. their room's Most of the league was floored by that. were like, what the fuck happened?
00:23:59
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
00:24:01
Jarrod Dyke
um
00:24:01
Grumpy Old Prop
What did you do?
00:24:03
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, and then they they had a, quite frankly, they had piss-poor performance at Welford Road back in October. And everyone, there so many teams have piss-poor performances at Welford Road.
00:24:13
Jarrod Dyke
It's not a new thing. So, you know, there's nothing to be...
00:24:14
Grumpy Old Prop
Right. Harlequins did this past weekend.
00:24:17
Jarrod Dyke
yeah No, that was at the stoop, sadly.
00:24:22
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, exactly.
00:24:23
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah, I know.
00:24:23
Jarrod Dyke
i wish I wish I had better news for you on that one.
00:24:24
Grumpy Old Prop
i havem pretty I'm pretty sure, based on the way that game went, that was a
00:24:29
Jarrod Dyke
You would have thought that too, and no, I'm pretty sure that one was at the stoop, but that's that's so sad.
00:24:32
Grumpy Old Prop
I, I, I, George, I think, I think George caught my sarcasm. I said that in our group chat too, because I was like, man, if this was at the stoop, it'd be so embarrassing for, for Quinn's, but, um but damn, going into Welford Road, that that's, yeah, it's tough for anybody.
00:24:40
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah.
00:24:44
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah. Yeah, I think he either reacted or sent something bad.
00:24:49
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah. Mm hmm.
00:24:51
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, so not not much to be concerned about for the sake of Bath in good shape and with depth to be had. they're go They'll lose depth as it sounds like they're going to continue to lose some guys. Guys are going to start to leave and drop. you know i think the the bigger, for me, the the biggest signing for them in the offseason wasn't Carreras, it was Frost.
00:25:14
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah. And he was huge this past weekend.
00:25:15
Jarrod Dyke
because that gave them a very dynamic... And 2-2-2 coming through is has obviously helped as well, but that gave them a very dynamic hooker to call upon.
00:25:18
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
00:25:24
Jarrod Dyke
Dunn is just an old warhorse. He's always been there. He knows how to do things.
00:25:29
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
00:25:29
Jarrod Dyke
He's never going to be pretty by any means whatsoever, and Frost is so much more dynamic.
00:25:30
Grumpy Old Prop
No.
00:25:33
Jarrod Dyke
Gives them a nice 1-2 punch as well.
00:25:34
Grumpy Old Prop
It so does. It so does because that that's going to be big when you get to the knockouts and Dunn's your starter.
00:25:36
Jarrod Dyke
and
00:25:41
Grumpy Old Prop
and then But he's like, Tommy, give me a hard 50 minutes. Just hard as fuck.
00:25:49
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah.
00:25:49
Grumpy Old Prop
And then we're going to bring in the runner.
00:25:51
Jarrod Dyke
you know and And then that's not a shit on Niall and Net by any means whatsoever.
00:25:54
Grumpy Old Prop
No.
00:25:55
Jarrod Dyke
the dude The dude did so much by his own right, but yeah.
00:25:57
Grumpy Old Prop
He did, but he was more of a Tom done type, especially once he once he arrived.
00:25:58
Jarrod Dyke
um Wasn't just, yeah, i agree.
00:26:02
Grumpy Old Prop
So this it's it's a good like, you know, now you've got two different style of hookers that both are great at what they do.
00:26:12
Jarrod Dyke
Yep. Yes, sir. right, let's go to their their neighbors. The noisy neighbors, as some people get that reference. um Yeah, Bath have shown...
00:26:23
Jarrod Dyke
So here's the
Bristol's Versatile Play
00:26:24
Jarrod Dyke
wonderful thing about Bath this season thus far, is we know they'll chuck the ball around the paddock, and it'll be so much fun to watch more often than not.
00:26:24
Grumpy Old Prop
mean.
00:26:35
Jarrod Dyke
Not yeah not everything's perfect.
00:26:35
Grumpy Old Prop
you're talking about You're talking about Bristol now, right?
00:26:38
Jarrod Dyke
Oh, yeah. Sorry, Bristol. Sorry. does it I said bath, didn't I?
00:26:40
Grumpy Old Prop
That's okay. Yes, you did.
00:26:41
Jarrod Dyke
I'm still sick.
00:26:41
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm-hmm.
00:26:42
Jarrod Dyke
I'm still sick. I'm definitely copying that to that. Bristol. Bears. Apologies, Bears fans. What i love about Bristol so far is they'll, as I said, chuck it about um sometimes to a fault. um there Live by the sword, die by the sword.
00:27:03
Jarrod Dyke
They're now figuring out ways to do it ugly too. They did it twice against Exeter where it wasn't pretty, but they got the job done. And and one of those games was in dog shit weather, which was the one this past weekend.
00:27:15
Jarrod Dyke
All those people that were loving Sandy Park and how great those conditions were in the in the fall during the World Cup. I could have told you this was coming.
00:27:23
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
00:27:23
Jarrod Dyke
um so we've Ben and I have seen this movie plenty of times. I think you all have too.
00:27:26
Grumpy Old Prop
Yep.
00:27:27
Jarrod Dyke
um But they found ways to do it ugly. they did it And they did it against Sale, too.
00:27:32
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm-hmm.
00:27:32
Jarrod Dyke
And, you know, Sale turned that into a rock fight. And Bristol not only were able to survive, they actually were able to do it in the end kind of handily. Not overwhelmingly, but kind of.
00:27:43
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm-hmm.
00:27:45
Jarrod Dyke
You know, it was, I'm not sure there was ever really a threat to them in the end.
00:27:45
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah, I mean, the scoreboard I didn't think was... Yeah, exactly. um
00:27:53
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
00:27:56
Jarrod Dyke
you know the one For me, their one blip is the loss at Saracens where they had so many injuries hit them at once. And I was like, sorry, guys.
00:28:03
Grumpy Old Prop
Right. What are you going to do
00:28:05
Jarrod Dyke
like And and for whatever reason, Saracens weren't shit that day. So they they they got they got ran over and that happens.
00:28:09
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm-hmm.
00:28:15
Grumpy Old Prop
But um yeah, solid again, solid squad. they They had all those injuries at first. And to come out of that, you you lose. Okay, so game one, I believe it was, you lose your you lose your you fly half, you lose your scrum half, and you lose and you lose your winger.
00:28:28
Jarrod Dyke
AJ. Yep.
00:28:33
Jarrod Dyke
That's right. Randall got hurt too.
00:28:36
Grumpy Old Prop
Iretoya got hurt too.
00:28:38
Jarrod Dyke
Yep. Yep. He's not back yet either.
00:28:40
Grumpy Old Prop
um No, he came back this week.
00:28:43
Jarrod Dyke
Oh, was he?
00:28:44
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah, I'm pretty sure.
00:28:44
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah. He was so, he was so absent at that game. I couldn't, couldn't told you anyway.
00:28:47
Grumpy Old Prop
Hold on, let me make let me confirm. But i'm pretty sure he I'm pretty sure he played this weekend. um Yep, he was 23. He played seven minutes.
00:28:59
Grumpy Old Prop
um
00:28:59
Jarrod Dyke
Okay.
00:29:00
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
00:29:01
Jarrod Dyke
Probably all can handle in that bullshit.
00:29:02
Grumpy Old Prop
Right. um Yeah, I'm sure if it was nicer weather, he'd come on a little bit earlier. But ah you lose three of them in in like game one. And here it is, you know, you're at the halfway point and you have two losses on the season.
00:29:17
Grumpy Old Prop
And you're, you know, number three in the standings.
00:29:22
Jarrod Dyke
Yep.
00:29:22
Grumpy Old Prop
Fuck that. I mean, that goes to show like they've they've had some some quality replacements. Tom Jordan has been excellent. And and we we on the pot have been talking about AJ is not being what AJ used to be.
00:29:30
Jarrod Dyke
Very good. Yep. Right.
00:29:35
Grumpy Old Prop
So there had to be a transition plan. and and you know, that luckily, Bristol did it right. Maybe maybe a year late. They probably should have done it last year. um Found someone.
00:29:46
Grumpy Old Prop
But. um they did for this year and and boy did that help out and then Kieran Marmion has been otherworldly
00:29:54
Jarrod Dyke
Oh, man, he was so good in Randall's absence. that You can't... um That can't be overstated, by the way, how good Marmion was about this team.
00:30:00
Grumpy Old Prop
right yeah right mm-hmm
00:30:02
Jarrod Dyke
Because while Tom Jordan was doing so well, he had his own injuries that he had to deal with. So Marmion had to be the calm, steady hand for Worsley, who did well in many, many games.
00:30:13
Jarrod Dyke
He had some young moments and screwed up here and there, no no doubt, no cluster about it.
00:30:18
Grumpy Old Prop
But how good is that going to be down the road?
00:30:19
Jarrod Dyke
But there were... the Oh, they're good. Those those moments are going be so invaluable to him going down the road and they're still third.
00:30:27
Grumpy Old Prop
Right. And they're still dangerous.
00:30:29
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah.
00:30:29
Grumpy Old Prop
They're still going to be like, you know, Saints and Beth would feel like confident going toe to toe with them. But at the same time, knowing that, oh, no, these guys could jump up and kick our ass.
00:30:41
Grumpy Old Prop
And pretty much everybody else in the league is like, I don't want to play them right now or ever.
00:30:45
Jarrod Dyke
Well, one of Northampton's losses is to Bristol.
00:30:47
Grumpy Old Prop
Right. ah two they're They're one loss.
00:30:51
Jarrod Dyke
Oh, that is that one last year, right? Sorry. we We haven't got to them yet. that's why That's why I don't have that in my head.
00:30:55
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah. um
00:30:57
Jarrod Dyke
how will you Excuse me.
00:30:58
Grumpy Old Prop
But yeah, it ah this is a solid team and they're doing Pat Lamb proud. And that's a what was it? That that match against um Bordeaux.
00:31:12
Grumpy Old Prop
First off, their last two, I should say their last two Champions Cup matches too were were just some excellent rugby. And a team that, you know they they get to get you know, they get their shit together. They're going to be a tough out in the Champions Cup too. They they could go, you know, what, quarterfinals?
00:31:12
Jarrod Dyke
Mm-hmm.
00:31:31
Grumpy Old Prop
ah that's um It seems like England teams don't really get past there very often.
00:31:34
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, I wouldn't be shocked.
00:31:36
Grumpy Old Prop
so
00:31:37
Jarrod Dyke
No, I know.
00:31:39
Grumpy Old Prop
im But they're a team that could. And then the game against the Bulls was ridiculous to go on the road and just stomp them like that.
00:31:43
Jarrod Dyke
Right.
00:31:46
Jarrod Dyke
To go down there and and do what they did and the way they did it, yeah.
00:31:50
Grumpy Old Prop
um Yeah, dangerous team that's going I love watching them. They're my side piece for a reason.
00:31:57
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, they're they're a lot of fun to watch and certainly... on the short list of, you know, I have a choice of teams to turn on right now and show people what, what the good stuff looks like there.
00:32:08
Grumpy Old Prop
It's that. krista
00:32:09
Jarrod Dyke
They're, they're on the list and that's not very long.
00:32:10
Grumpy Old Prop
They are.
00:32:11
Grumpy Old Prop
No. Right.
00:32:11
Jarrod Dyke
You know, certainly not when it comes to English teams, you don't need to spend too much time on the next team because they're not on my list.
00:32:21
Jarrod Dyke
ah
00:32:24
Jarrod Dyke
I, and people will say, Oh, you're biased. Maybe their league position is a falsehood.
Exeter's Reliance on Talent
00:32:32
Jarrod Dyke
they're where they are and i can appreciate that and respect that they're only a point off of top four i feel like they've gotten so a little lucky here and there exeter
00:32:40
Grumpy Old Prop
we, oh, that's right. Yeah, I know. I was going down the because you went Bath and Bristol. I was, I'm looking at the table. And so I was like, oh, oh we're going Leicester next.
00:32:49
Jarrod Dyke
nope nope no skip two skip two on that one um
00:32:50
Grumpy Old Prop
No, no. Oh. Right.
00:32:54
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, i i can't I can't back them. I will say this. I'm glad Fisilow got picked for en England. I don't know if he's been sent home yet because we know that's something that Borthwick would do.
00:33:05
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm hmm.
00:33:07
Jarrod Dyke
But if there's going to be a team, loose forward that's picked from this team, I can appreciate Fisalow. I've been a ah you know a quiet fan of his for a little while now.
00:33:17
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm-hmm.
00:33:17
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm-hmm.
00:33:17
Jarrod Dyke
So I can say ah happily that I'm good with him getting picked.
00:33:21
Jarrod Dyke
And I think he's but between him and Faye Woboso. Those are the damage makers. That is it. for this team everyone else and you know another podcast that i've listened to more recently is just blowing up their stuff and saying how good are they're not playing good rugby they're leaning on two or three guys to make plays and that's it they're not and i'm not talking about play makers i'm talking about special individual efforts that are required for guys to for guys to come through like
00:33:49
Grumpy Old Prop
Hey.
00:33:52
Jarrod Dyke
You know, I don't, I will say this. I think Tom Hooper is a better second rower than he is a loose forward at both club and country level. So the fact that they're deploying him as a six so often, i don't think speaks to how good he is as loose forward.
00:34:08
Jarrod Dyke
i think it speaks more to the strategy of the team. And I don't say that, and I say that would say by meaning that's not a good thing, in my opinion.
00:34:16
Grumpy Old Prop
yeah
00:34:20
Grumpy Old Prop
It's the same old Exeter. There's nothing new about them.
00:34:22
Jarrod Dyke
Shane to bed.
00:34:23
Grumpy Old Prop
there's i think i don't like i think for for like a couple of weeks there, we were saying they really haven't played anybody. But I mean, they like that's that victory against Saracens was entirely Saracens just shitting every single bed.
00:34:38
Jarrod Dyke
chain to bed
00:34:41
Grumpy Old Prop
And there's nothing about Exeter that I'm like, wow, that's impressive. Fizzle outside. um I really feel like Faiwa Boso is overrated at this point. Like he had a couple of good runs, but man, he's been a fucking ghost so much of the season. i didn't know he's been hurt too, but like, i feel like people treat treat him like he's like Louis BLBRA.
00:35:11
Grumpy Old Prop
Cause it's like, Oh, he's a playmaker.
00:35:11
Jarrod Dyke
He's definitely not that.
00:35:12
Grumpy Old Prop
He's a bolter.
00:35:12
Jarrod Dyke
Right.
00:35:13
Grumpy Old Prop
He's like, no, he's a guy who, what Exeter does is they get you like they, they try to like, i mean, they just go one, one hits one ups. Like they don't really play much off of second receiver.
00:35:27
Grumpy Old Prop
They just will run at you. And then, yeah, every so often then they're like, okay, now we're going to spin it wide. And yet if you give Fayouaboso, you know, 20 meters of space, he's going to make people miss. going to make it it look silly and and that this and that. But like, if you play a team that's disciplined in defense and just keeps themselves spread, he is fucking ghost.
00:35:51
Grumpy Old Prop
And so it's like, yeah, as you said, like they rely on the other team making mistakes and they pass it wide and they let Fay Waboso, they let Hodge, Brown Bampo run.
00:36:03
Grumpy Old Prop
But these aren't guys who can make their own space. And so
00:36:06
Jarrod Dyke
I just development has been so stagnantly.
00:36:08
Grumpy Old Prop
It has. he if anything, it's gone backwards. But also, another guy who keeps getting hurt.
00:36:12
Jarrod Dyke
He's he's got he's on his way out the door anyway.
00:36:16
Jarrod Dyke
He's on the way out the door anyway.
00:36:17
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah. So... um Yeah, not... Like... i don't I don't think there's any way they make the... um Like, really, everybody... And honestly, everybody below Exeter is shitting the bed. Except for Newcastle, who are just terrible.
00:36:35
Grumpy Old Prop
Every single team that's below Exeter are not playing anywhere near their potential and Exeter are playing kind of above their potential.
00:36:35
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah.
00:36:43
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, the punishment of other weight, I think that's fair to say. think that's fair to say.
00:36:47
Grumpy Old Prop
So, yeah, they are where they are. But if, if if you know, Saracens in sale and fuck Quinns. Gloucester looked good this past weekend, but fuck, what does that mean? That was just ah because it was a derby. Like, it was if it was, like, you start, right, you start making that the way you play, now we're talking.
00:36:59
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, that was there that was their final right there.
00:37:07
Grumpy Old Prop
But, no. But, like, yeah, between Quinns and Sale and Saracens, all three of them should be ahead of Exeter by the end of the year. I don't think they will, but they should.
00:37:19
Jarrod Dyke
Right. Yes, sir unfortunately, two teams that are probably a little too far low at this point, um barring some sort of wild hot run.
00:37:25
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
00:37:30
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, like really all four of them. It's going to be, know, Sale could catch fire.
00:37:32
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm-hmm.
00:37:35
Jarrod Dyke
They're one that could leapfrog them at some point or another, but it's going to require it as our team.
00:37:40
Grumpy Old Prop
Kunz are too far gone. um Saris still could too, but but should they?
00:37:46
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, yeah it's definitely it's definitely been it's definitely been separated into top six. Yeah, and we didn't even talk about McCall. We'll talk about him. We may talk about him when we get to Saracen, so don't worry about that.
00:37:54
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah, we'll get there.
00:37:57
Jarrod Dyke
um ah Gloucester, we just talked about them briefly.
00:38:04
Jarrod Dyke
I'm here's the thing. And maybe this is how it goes from here forward. They started playing Charlie at 10, Charlie Atkinson at 10, which was probably the best move they could do. And again, if they're missing fullbacks, George Barton has shown he's prevalent enough to play a fullback at fullback for them.
00:38:23
Jarrod Dyke
In the past, why they didn't make this move before, I understand in a little a small part because you got to follow the money. And they signed Ross Byrne for some decent coin. I assume, i I'm guessing he's their flagship guy, which is yikes.
00:38:37
Grumpy Old Prop
Sad. Bad decision there.
00:38:38
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, terrifying.
00:38:39
Grumpy Old Prop
Very bad decision.
00:38:40
Jarrod Dyke
that's ah That itself is a bad decision.
00:38:42
Grumpy Old Prop
Like at that point, just keep fucking Santi Carreras. Make him your your your guy.
00:38:47
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, pay him.
00:38:47
Grumpy Old Prop
Why? Why? Why let him out the door and for whatever?
Gloucester's Coaching Challenges
00:38:51
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, so there's that. They, yeah, they find, it's the the sad thing is they find ways to lose.
00:39:00
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm hmm.
00:39:01
Jarrod Dyke
yeah They do. they They, you know, I'd say the bottom three teams are very good at doing that right now.
00:39:07
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah, right now they are.
00:39:09
Jarrod Dyke
Finding ways to lose. They really are. And it's just, it's hard to eat.
00:39:12
Grumpy Old Prop
And that's unfortunately been ah an issue with Skivington, is that his teams do that.
00:39:19
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, I mean. Well, yeah, we just talked about McCall. He's probably the next one on the way out if it's not Sanderson.
00:39:29
Jarrod Dyke
that's That's my two cents on that one.
00:39:32
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah, and I think Skives...
00:39:36
Grumpy Old Prop
But Skivs deserves it more than Sanderson or McCall right now. Because we know Skivs has been on the hot seat.
00:39:42
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah.
00:39:43
Grumpy Old Prop
And yeah, they had a good year last year relative. um
00:39:49
Grumpy Old Prop
But man, like you're right.
00:39:49
Jarrod Dyke
But you got back it up.
00:39:50
Jarrod Dyke
You got back it up one after the other.
00:39:52
Grumpy Old Prop
Because look at look again, go back to Bristol. Like was it two years ago? Pat Lamb was on the the hottest of seats.
00:39:59
Jarrod Dyke
He was a very hot seat at that point. Yep. Agreed.
00:40:02
Grumpy Old Prop
And now it's like none it's like, yeah, I know we had a we're having we're we're going in the wrong direction, but let me turn it around. Some of that is move the the ability to move on from AJ into some younger talent and and actually and continue playing.
00:40:15
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah.
00:40:18
Grumpy Old Prop
But man, where is it and in in Gloucester? they have a good They've had a solid squad. You couldn't even get Zach Mercer to look good.
00:40:30
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, I mean, he when he got fucked by England, I think he gave up.
00:40:33
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
00:40:33
Jarrod Dyke
So that's not entirely their fault.
00:40:33
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah, I think that's true, too. It's not. But like, there's got to be some sort of let's let's let's fuck them up.
00:40:38
Jarrod Dyke
But, I mean, on the subject of back row, like, they haven't done themselves any favor in that spot. Like, i Jack Clement is the only one that I'm terrified of.
00:40:46
Grumpy Old Prop
No.
00:40:52
Jarrod Dyke
But that makes it easy to defend because there's nobody else that's a threat there.
00:40:53
Grumpy Old Prop
hmm. Right.
00:40:55
Jarrod Dyke
Like, supposedly Trenholm's going to come good. Supposedly Zipman is going to come good at some point.
00:41:00
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah, most.
00:41:01
Jarrod Dyke
But it's got to happen soon.
00:41:01
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah, those those two could. But like. then Right.
00:41:06
Jarrod Dyke
Or they're fucked.
00:41:07
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
00:41:10
Jarrod Dyke
i don't I don't see it.
00:41:10
Grumpy Old Prop
And I'm not sure. Like, I feel like guys who are bolters who are real, just like difference makers generally do it right away.
00:41:11
Jarrod Dyke
Right.
00:41:19
Jarrod Dyke
Right.
00:41:20
Grumpy Old Prop
It's one of those, oh, i I like, like Ben Earl, he came onto the scene. It was like, oh, oh, okay. Okay. You know, we've seen that with, with, with, with Pollock.
00:41:28
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, he you put his hand up real fast.
00:41:31
Grumpy Old Prop
We see that with guys like even, you know, ah Chandler Cunningham himself, we'll get to next.
00:41:36
Jarrod Dyke
Mm-hmm.
00:41:36
Grumpy Old Prop
Like, and Dom Brown on that scene. Like there's guys who just like, when they show up you like, oh, hello. Like, I see you now. Like, that's good. Like there's guys like Fitz Harding who, who develop over time.
00:41:45
Jarrod Dyke
Mm-hmm.
00:41:48
Grumpy Old Prop
um um And then even some guys stagnate like a a Barbary who has who was like, oh, my God, he could be great.
00:41:54
Jarrod Dyke
Yep.
00:41:56
Grumpy Old Prop
And and that's like, no, he's just really good and likes being jubby. OK, like that's what we're working with.
00:42:02
Jarrod Dyke
Yep. Agreed.
00:42:04
Grumpy Old Prop
But these guys like they little they should be showing good by now, and and maybe that's just this they're not being put in the right spots by the coach.
00:42:12
Jarrod Dyke
total It's a total possibility. So in that case, while I'm not, it's eaten, we see it in other sports all the time.
00:42:22
Jarrod Dyke
it's It's easy to say, sack the guy that's in charge and everything will get better.
00:42:27
Grumpy Old Prop
Well, yeah.
00:42:28
Jarrod Dyke
Not always the case, number one.
00:42:29
Grumpy Old Prop
No.
00:42:31
Jarrod Dyke
And, you know, unfortunately, more or less, what happens what what firing someone one brings is the players have their attention turned up a little bit and go, oh, this happened while we were playing for this guy.
00:42:47
Grumpy Old Prop
a
00:42:47
Jarrod Dyke
And assuming that most of the players like this guy, you know, and sometimes you the locker room comes out and says, yeah, this guy was a dickhead, fuck him.
00:42:54
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
00:42:54
Jarrod Dyke
Not always the case. assuming the cases that these guys all like skibs in this case, oh, shit, I just got ah really, ah you know, a decent coach and a good person sacked because ah I wasn't performing, and nobody on nobody in this nobody in the dressing was performing.
00:43:08
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
00:43:11
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
00:43:14
Jarrod Dyke
So it's sad that that's what it takes sometimes, but... there's gotta to be a point in, if you're in that cluster boardroom and say, that says we gotta do it. And you do it in a classy way and you say, thanks George for everything you've done for us.
00:43:30
Jarrod Dyke
You know, you, but you to say he put in, he didn't put it in hard work would be totally wrong. i think we can all agree on that.
00:43:35
Grumpy Old Prop
right
00:43:36
Jarrod Dyke
And that's usually the case as well for anybody, but you just say, thanks for all the hard work and everything. But you know, this is where we gotta say, we gotta try something new.
00:43:46
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
00:43:46
Jarrod Dyke
We got try something different and you're part of that equation.
00:43:46
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
00:43:48
Jarrod Dyke
Meaning we got to let you go. That's how it is. You know, it's not a, it's never at this point, it's not a knock on the person. It's not a knock on whether not you like the guy, but if you do it in a classy way, you can maybe salvage relationship down the road, you know?
00:44:05
Jarrod Dyke
So. Just got to do it, guys. I think it's just, it's you're there.
00:44:08
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm hmm.
00:44:10
Jarrod Dyke
You're there. At that point, you just got to do it and be be done with it. Rip that Band-Aid off.
00:44:16
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
00:44:18
Jarrod Dyke
You know? Another team that kind of got, yeah.
00:44:21
Grumpy Old Prop
Speaking of which.
00:44:22
Jarrod Dyke
Well, they got they got fucked a little bit. So, I'm not totally going to send them to the show. It definitely screwed them up. having coaches leave, you know, right at the beginning and Wilson, Wilson didn't do them any favors, but you know, with his timing and sometimes you can't help it, but at the same time, like, Oh boy,
00:44:34
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah, that's yeah.
Harlequins' Style Transition
00:44:46
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah, but like, here's my here's my thing with with with this Harlequins team.
00:44:47
Jarrod Dyke
like this has not helped.
00:44:54
Grumpy Old Prop
You still got the players who can get it done, and maybe, and and it's this is a, this is literally a plug-and-play situation.
00:44:57
Jarrod Dyke
You do. Yeah.
00:45:04
Grumpy Old Prop
It's, here's the guys who want to, I fuck, take your pick, right? They've got such talent everywhere, at at at every position. And it's like, you know who can play. You know how they like to play.
00:45:21
Grumpy Old Prop
Just get them playing loose, freewheeling, old school Harlequins rugby.
00:45:23
Jarrod Dyke
Yep.
00:45:28
Grumpy Old Prop
Because your 10 fucking loves that shit. Your 15 loves that shit. You've got ridiculous wings who can burn you and don't you know they can create their own space.
00:45:43
Grumpy Old Prop
And And especially with that 10 and 15, especially with with Marcus and Tyrone Green. like You've got ballers out there. And I know Green's been hurt, but like man, since he's come back, they had been a different attack until this past weekend.
00:45:58
Grumpy Old Prop
What the fuck was that?
00:45:58
Jarrod Dyke
This past weekend.
00:46:00
Grumpy Old Prop
um
00:46:02
Jarrod Dyke
i'm I'm somewhat convinced that if the pass sticks to... I'm trying to offload to Bradley. The game changes. don't know if you saw that, but it's all that moment, but it was it was Merley.
00:46:12
Grumpy Old Prop
I don't think I did.
00:46:14
Jarrod Dyke
It was ah Merley started it, I believe, and it got to Northmore, Northmore, tried to give it to ah he was Bradley, the kid Bradley.
00:46:19
Grumpy Old Prop
Oh, yes.
00:46:21
Jarrod Dyke
And i was just like, if if that past stuck, I think at that point the game was still in question.
00:46:21
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
00:46:26
Jarrod Dyke
So things change at that point. Knocked it on. like Oh, man.
00:46:31
Grumpy Old Prop
But, like, I get that, and that happens.
00:46:31
Jarrod Dyke
So.
00:46:35
Grumpy Old Prop
It's just that they don't... They're too restrained. They're too buttoned down. I feel like whoever came... this Whoever is is really leading that rig over there is like, let's just...
00:46:48
Grumpy Old Prop
get back to basics and it's like no dude like this team doesn't do that you've you've put them in a bad and and like you're putting them in in bad spots with this and it's it's too buttoned down it's too paint by numbers and that's not quinn's and i have i have a a very strong feeling that when teams have, or clubs, I should say, have a thing, like,
00:47:19
Grumpy Old Prop
um You Quinn's being kind of freewheeling bears similar. The the the Gloucester women being the circus. Right.
00:47:28
Jarrod Dyke
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:47:28
Grumpy Old Prop
You're the certain like, that's what you do. Like, you know, even coming to like the the um you know football where the Steelers are, you know, we're going to play pounded out tough you know football. And the Packers are like, we're going to be.
00:47:41
Grumpy Old Prop
um like cutting edge type. We're going to lead the charge into new types of of football. Like when those teams play with those personalities is when they're the best.
00:47:54
Grumpy Old Prop
it's like when, once your your club has developed a personality and what they do best, do it. That's how you win. It's like, okay, that's the way you want. That's that's your footprint. Then then be that.
00:48:06
Grumpy Old Prop
And the Quinns have that and they're just, they're they're they're they' I think it's killing their spirit. to to not be doing that. and And it is, I think, through not not so much a lack effort from the players' parts, but I think they're being restrained from doing what's what's effective.
00:48:24
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah. Yeah, and it it is a different situation than what's happening in Gloucester, where I just don't think Gloucester quite have the quality that they need in a lot of spots, a lot of key spots.
00:48:34
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
00:48:35
Jarrod Dyke
We talked about back row being one of them. Here, there is bags of quality all over the place. Front row probably being the one place that they're lacking a little bit, but they've more than made up for it.
00:48:40
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm-hmm.
00:48:43
Grumpy Old Prop
You still have Finn Baxter. you still have You still have two internationals in Finn.
00:48:45
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, he's hurt.
00:48:47
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah, and George Turner. But like...
00:48:50
Jarrod Dyke
and Jack Walker, as much as I don't love...
00:48:51
Grumpy Old Prop
And Jack Walker.
00:48:53
Jarrod Dyke
I like Turner, rather than Walker, personally, that's just me.
00:48:55
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
00:48:55
Jarrod Dyke
um
00:48:58
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, they're they're not missing quality by any means whatsoever.
00:48:58
Grumpy Old Prop
And TT Lamosateli. Right.
00:49:02
Jarrod Dyke
say... i'd say They need to, so first and foremost, they probably need to settle on a team because they do do a lot of chop and change.
00:49:09
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm-hmm.
00:49:11
Jarrod Dyke
And I get that they were doing it somewhat for Champions Cup, but it's still like, you Jared Evans should not be playing 12 ever, ever.
00:49:17
Grumpy Old Prop
No, no.
00:49:19
Jarrod Dyke
Like that'll save you some headache. Will Evans has been banged up. That doesn't, he's been, he's definitely one of those guys that can make them go um let a fire under him.
00:49:25
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm
00:49:29
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, I think it is players just not being allowed to beat themselves in a way. And,
00:49:35
Grumpy Old Prop
hmm.
00:49:36
Jarrod Dyke
Maybe it's because of how they feel about the way things have gone in general. Maybe it's coaching. Who knows? But some way or another, there yeah they're definitely in a straight jacket pretty much at this point.
00:49:50
Jarrod Dyke
you know They're being locked up and told, don't don't do these things that usually make you good. it's like or or Or aren't doing the things that make them good for one reason or another.
00:49:55
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
00:50:00
Jarrod Dyke
And it is, you know, it's got to be gone. ah The one bright spot is Lucas Friday.
00:50:09
Grumpy Old Prop
He's been very good.
00:50:11
Jarrod Dyke
He's been good. He's been very good.
00:50:12
Grumpy Old Prop
Especially because Porter was so bad.
00:50:14
Jarrod Dyke
He's kind of fallen off and talk about another team that needs to make that type of change quickly here. um
00:50:19
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:50:21
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, been bad. Lots of, lots of things that can happen still, but probably a little too late and they may just do what Saints did last year and chuck all the eggs into the Champions Cup and try and get something out of that.
00:50:34
Grumpy Old Prop
h
00:50:39
Jarrod Dyke
TBD. Let's go Tigers. Again, we talk about that game. um Billy Searle. ah Anybody have that on their bingo board?
00:50:52
Jarrod Dyke
Anybody?
00:50:55
Jarrod Dyke
Not me.
00:50:56
Grumpy Old Prop
I mean, I'm not going to raise my hand on that. um Obviously, I thought it was going to be Bailey.
00:50:59
Jarrod Dyke
Definitely not me.
00:51:00
Grumpy Old Prop
But ah again, he's he's a little on the young side and and needs some seasoning first. um But, I mean, Searle was a good player for for Worcester.
00:51:11
Grumpy Old Prop
Maybe not at 10. But... um
00:51:16
Jarrod Dyke
He was mad.
00:51:17
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah. But to me,
Leicester's Disciplined Play
00:51:20
Grumpy Old Prop
okay. So to me, Leicester are... Just a very consistent, not like, or I should say consistently good team.
00:51:33
Grumpy Old Prop
Like they have just been, they're they're theyre they're solid, they're disciplined, they they work well as a team.
00:51:43
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, that that's true. That is definitely true.
00:51:45
Grumpy Old Prop
and And even if they're not the most expansive team, although having Hassel Collins and Radwin, out there um really change that dynamic. Cause like you have that, like what that does is it's, and it's a different from the Exeter experience in that they still work the ball to space. That was, that's the intent for Lester. They just, they don't have outside of that hassle, Collins and Radman. They don't have that, that talent to do it exactly.
00:52:18
Grumpy Old Prop
Like their back row is not, um,
00:52:18
Jarrod Dyke
yeah
00:52:22
Grumpy Old Prop
It's not not nothing to write home about, although Moreau has been excellent, and Ileone is also quite good, and I think they should work to get the two of them on the field together more often.
00:52:27
Jarrod Dyke
yeah agreed agreed yeah
00:52:31
Grumpy Old Prop
um It's like that those two and Liebenberg have been um just incredibly solid, and Rafel's good, but like...
00:52:41
Jarrod Dyke
that is the wildest thing to me, that back row. Like, they are so, like, gung-ho about Cracknell being the guy, and I don't see him being even a top four loose forward on that team.
00:52:53
Grumpy Old Prop
No.
00:52:54
Jarrod Dyke
Rafael, Ileone, Liebenberg, Mauro. i'm more I know Mauro's the new guy, but
00:53:01
Grumpy Old Prop
Fuck, I like him, though.
00:53:02
Jarrod Dyke
I don't see anything wrong with him at all, honestly.
00:53:03
Grumpy Old Prop
He's been amazing.
00:53:06
Jarrod Dyke
Like, you know, okay, you can't start him every week because, you know, he's still kind of new and you you're still trying to get ah get the feel out of him. Awesome, pull him off the bench. Great. And they're bringing in, are they bringing in Wayne right next year?
00:53:15
Grumpy Old Prop
Yup. Why?
00:53:21
Grumpy Old Prop
Why?
00:53:22
Jarrod Dyke
i I see him as a slight, slight, slight upgrade to Kraken. That's it.
00:53:28
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah, I do too.
00:53:29
Jarrod Dyke
I don't see him as more than that. And maybe he makes this, maybe he cracks the top four of this team, depending on who's still here next year. But yeah, I don't, yeah, I think I see Wayne Wright is super overrated as well.
00:53:39
Grumpy Old Prop
So that's thats that's the thing about these clubs that cry poor a lot.
00:53:42
Jarrod Dyke
So
00:53:45
Grumpy Old Prop
I don't have that much um
00:53:51
Grumpy Old Prop
sympathy, I think, for them. Like, oh, it's so hard to blah, blah, blah. What are you doing bringing in Wainwright to this team? Like, seriously, you look at this team.
00:53:58
Jarrod Dyke
no need.
00:53:59
Grumpy Old Prop
they've got They've got some young talent between Moreau. Even Sam Williams looked looks pretty okay this past weekend.
00:54:04
Jarrod Dyke
Mm-hmm.
00:54:05
Grumpy Old Prop
Like, i you've got these young guys, and you've got a mixture. You've already got the rough-and-tumble experience guys, like your Rafales and your Lievenbergs, who will do the fucking job.
00:54:18
Grumpy Old Prop
So it's like, why you spending money on that when you could then spend it in a different location? Like, they still... I'm still not in love with theres the centers. Parise's not withstanding. Woodward's been okay. Juan's been actually was pretty damn good this year.
00:54:35
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, I think that that's a guy that they need to let, they can let him walk, honestly, ah and maybe they will.
00:54:35
Grumpy Old Prop
Kata is just a... That's another guy. Like, he's a walking card.
00:54:42
Jarrod Dyke
um ah Yeah, oh, by the I think Rad went out for a little bit too. i think He broke his leg.
00:54:49
Grumpy Old Prop
farts. Yeah, didn't I think you pulled it he he pulled...
00:54:50
Jarrod Dyke
He broke his ankle.
00:54:51
Grumpy Old Prop
a here Yeah, just did a hammy, I think. Scoring a try or something.
00:54:55
Jarrod Dyke
Okay, yeah, because he posted a photo of him coming out surgery.
00:54:58
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah, fuck.
00:54:59
Jarrod Dyke
so um And then Van Portfully came off about 11 minutes from full-time with something.
00:55:06
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm-hmm.
00:55:08
Jarrod Dyke
Not sure it's going to risk his England spot or not, but...
00:55:11
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm-hmm.
00:55:12
Jarrod Dyke
um So hopefully that's not that bad. Yeah, and, you know, I'm... One thing... I was pretty happy to hear Parling getting a shot at coaching a team. He had done okay with Rugby Australia and and Rebels. I think he had at least cut his teeth to the point where he needed to get a look, and I think this was a great place for him to do it.
00:55:35
Jarrod Dyke
And I think he's getting a lot of it right. He's not getting it perfect. think that's fair to say.
00:55:39
Grumpy Old Prop
No.
00:55:41
Jarrod Dyke
I think he's getting a lot of it right. I think you yeah i don't know if Kata's hurt or if he's just decided that this guy is extra, but...
00:55:47
Grumpy Old Prop
i but I choose to believe the latter, but he's like, I can't do this guy.
00:55:49
Jarrod Dyke
I do too.
00:55:53
Jarrod Dyke
No. think So hopefully he's over him. um I think they made the right move. as Yeah. Nicky Smith's a decent guy, but just his penalty count and scrum time is not good.
00:56:05
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm-hmm. No.
00:56:07
Jarrod Dyke
I think they made the right move of letting him walk. They have some young guys at Lucid. I think they're still exploring the idea of bringing someone in as well.
00:56:11
Grumpy Old Prop
Oh.
00:56:14
Grumpy Old Prop
I mean, they have Turek Hafar who needs more planning time.
00:56:14
Jarrod Dyke
So,
00:56:16
Jarrod Dyke
he He needs more game time. I agree. i agree. So there's there's a lot to like. There's a lot to like, both present and future coming in, Wainwright withstanding. I just hope you continue they continue to do the right things and that'll only turn into good things because as much as I'm annoyed by it,
00:56:34
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm-hmm.
00:56:36
Jarrod Dyke
If the Prem's going to be good and um entertaining and enthralling, Lester has to be good. there's There's no way around it.
00:56:48
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah. They're a foundational, they're found like you don't need bath to be good.
00:56:49
Jarrod Dyke
Lester has to be good.
00:56:54
Grumpy Old Prop
It's fun when they are.
00:56:55
Jarrod Dyke
And they've had they've had their years where they were, quite frankly, piss poor. So...
00:56:59
Grumpy Old Prop
Right. um But also the same thing is like, It's the variety that you can get within the Prem between the the teams like the Saints and and Gloucester and Quinns and Bristol, who are the freewheeling types. And then you have Bath and Lester, who are the we're going to play good.
00:57:19
Grumpy Old Prop
Discipline team rugby and and just work you. um Saracens who used to do shit like that. um And then you have your like your exiters and sales who I think they want to be that. They just don't know how.
00:57:35
Grumpy Old Prop
And that's kind of sad because it's like your your aspirations like your aspirations are not to be the best team.
00:57:37
Jarrod Dyke
start to start at the top there
00:57:42
Grumpy Old Prop
It's to be the, oh, we're gonna be more physical. We're going to be like this or that. And it's like, dude, play good rugby. Anyway, Leicester played good rugby.
00:57:52
Jarrod Dyke
Yep.
00:57:53
Grumpy Old Prop
They've always played solid. when they're good they play rugby that yeah i'll sit there and watch because it's it's it's entertaining it's not like you know the the dangling key shiny bright shiny object but it is the damn that's just some solid rugby
00:58:00
Jarrod Dyke
Yep.
00:58:08
Jarrod Dyke
Yep.
00:58:10
Jarrod Dyke
We've covered all four current top four teams.
00:58:12
Grumpy Old Prop
yep yes
00:58:13
Jarrod Dyke
Smart money's on all four of these teams making top four this year. Whatever it is, that I'm not trying to fuck around with, but think this will be all of them.
00:58:22
Grumpy Old Prop
i I would not be surprised if it just turned out to be this order.
00:58:26
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, wouldn't be either. Okay, so Newcastle, the money's come in. They're starting to spend the money.
00:58:35
Grumpy Old Prop
They are. They are.
00:58:37
Jarrod Dyke
So, you know, they're they're bringing in some names, some guys are going to get you, get some buns in seats at Kingston, and then hopefully start to do some things on the field as well.
00:58:41
Grumpy Old Prop
But they're also not.
00:58:47
Grumpy Old Prop
Right. And you look how they're spending their money and it's it's in ways that are seriously going to help them.
00:58:55
Grumpy Old Prop
And so this isn't like, oh, we're just going to spend a bunch of cash and bring in a Wainwright. They're bringing in, hold on, who have they signed? I
00:59:07
Jarrod Dyke
So 2-2, they are bringing in Miller Mills. They're bringing in...
00:59:15
Grumpy Old Prop
like that.
00:59:17
Jarrod Dyke
um They're, uh, Tuima, they're ringing as well. Josh Hodge, they're ringing Um, yeah, they've been throwing some cash for around big time. Um, Finianofo is coming up there from the Hurricanes.
00:59:31
Grumpy Old Prop
Okay, here's the here's the list.
00:59:32
Jarrod Dyke
They're out there.
00:59:33
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah. Rafi Kork's coming. That's huge. Sam sam Graham.
00:59:36
Jarrod Dyke
That's right. That's a big one.
00:59:39
Grumpy Old Prop
um
00:59:39
Jarrod Dyke
Also a big one. I think that's underrated. I think that's underrated.
00:59:43
Grumpy Old Prop
The Sova is going to be good. Like, yeah, this is a... frank on Okay. Yeah, that's a... They're getting good guys. Like, Hodge and Tuima are are losses for the Chiefs. I don't think the Chiefs really understand it that much. Yeah.
01:00:00
Jarrod Dyke
They don't see it that way, I would i would wager.
01:00:01
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
Newcastle's Talent Acquisition
01:00:03
Grumpy Old Prop
that's That's just a good... like They're going to be solid.
01:00:07
Jarrod Dyke
Yep. Yeah, Moffy's a one-year rental, so we won't see him after this year. um
01:00:13
Grumpy Old Prop
But that mean to bring in Satutu in his place, like aside from...
01:00:13
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, if they can keep most... Right.
01:00:16
Grumpy Old Prop
you know i think what the 20-minute red card is going to be Satutu's best friend. But um if he can kind of sort himself out in the prem, he's going to be... Yeah.
01:00:27
Jarrod Dyke
and stop And knock that shit off, yeah.
01:00:28
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
01:00:29
Jarrod Dyke
Um... One guy... So there's probably two guys I would be pretty excited about if I was a Newcastle fan currently as it stands right now.
01:00:42
Jarrod Dyke
Um... Scrum Half, um... Boudini's Cruz. Um... Yeah, he had of a camera knucklehead moment this week, but overall... The last couple weeks, but overall still good.
01:00:56
Jarrod Dyke
Um... when't yeah wouldn't be mad about having him.
01:01:01
Grumpy Old Prop
Right. And as always, as always Brett Conant is not the problem. And I actually think with the players that they're bringing in, you're gonna i think we're going to see Conant have you know a good twilight of his career.
01:01:13
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, it'll be it'll be interesting to see how they lean between him and and ah Chamberlain because they people rate rate Chamberlain pretty highly and i I don't think there's a lot of difference between the two of them, so we'll see.
01:01:26
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah, I haven't seen much from Chamberlain to be that impressed.
01:01:30
Jarrod Dyke
No, I haven't either.
01:01:30
Grumpy Old Prop
But again, like, and then the only reason I am impressed by Connan is because if you look around him, and it's like, wow, there is nothing there, but he still gets the ball wide. The players just suck out there. And the problem is I've seen Chamberlain be the guy out there sucking it. So it's like,
01:01:44
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, that can hurt. um Fairly young forward and might be too late for him to turn into too much, but Leatherborough has played pretty well for this team.
01:01:53
Grumpy Old Prop
you
01:01:54
Jarrod Dyke
I have to say, like ah that when he started getting getting some some picks in the 15, I started to notice him pretty significantly and pretty often, so...
01:02:02
Grumpy Old Prop
Oh, yeah, he's got an awesome name.
01:02:05
Jarrod Dyke
I mean, besides that. and
01:02:06
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah,
01:02:07
Jarrod Dyke
But he's he's looked good. So, you know, I like a lot of him. I i think he's, I would, but I choose to believe he's in their best one. And that means Tom Gordon probably gets kicked out of the back row for them in their best team.
01:02:17
Grumpy Old Prop
Tom...
01:02:19
Jarrod Dyke
So, and I think that's actually, you know, a positive for them.
01:02:22
Grumpy Old Prop
yeah tom tom
01:02:22
Jarrod Dyke
If they can afford to get him, he's probably not going to go further than the bench, unfortunately.
01:02:28
Grumpy Old Prop
Tom Gordon was ah was a ah Steve Diamond player.
01:02:32
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah.
01:02:34
Grumpy Old Prop
He's not...
01:02:34
Jarrod Dyke
Yep, and you can see it sometimes too.
01:02:38
Grumpy Old Prop
Like, not that fast. Extremely physical. Toes the line of of, is it clean or not?
01:02:45
Jarrod Dyke
Hmm. So that'll be, I think if they let him, if they hang on to him and let him develop, then there's good things to be had there.
01:02:49
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm-hmm.
01:02:57
Jarrod Dyke
Uh... Moving on top of the table. I guess we hadn't talked all about all four them, but we had hit St. at least three or four times. um Northampton.
01:03:08
Jarrod Dyke
I mean, really their one blip of recent was Bordeaux. Like that's, that's it. Like
Northampton's Depth and Acumen
01:03:17
Grumpy Old Prop
o
01:03:18
Jarrod Dyke
they've, they've performed well.
01:03:20
Jarrod Dyke
And Finn's been, Finn Smith's been banged up and, know,
01:03:24
Grumpy Old Prop
Below has been amazing.
01:03:25
Jarrod Dyke
has been that That is such an underrated signing, and it was not talked about enough. And I remember seeing it and being like, is this the Claremont guy? And yep, sure enough, i was like, okay, that's solid 10 cover right there.
01:03:39
Jarrod Dyke
That is solid 10 cover, especially where they knew Furbank was not going to start the year healthy.
01:03:39
Grumpy Old Prop
I mean, he's,
01:03:44
Jarrod Dyke
Like, that really did them so many favors to have a guy of his quality.
01:03:48
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
01:03:49
Jarrod Dyke
And it to just drop him into this team, too, by the way, is like,
01:03:53
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
01:03:53
Jarrod Dyke
like I gotta believe he saw that and said, holy shit, this is gonna be fun.
01:03:58
Grumpy Old Prop
Yes, right. i mean, and and we mentioned it before with with when we were talking about Bath, but Below was the 10 against Bath.
01:04:06
Jarrod Dyke
Yes.
01:04:07
Grumpy Old Prop
So it's like, it doesn't even need to be Finn for them to to route some fucking quality side on the road.
01:04:07
Jarrod Dyke
Yes.
01:04:15
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah.
01:04:17
Grumpy Old Prop
So yeah, I mean, this is a... And then, you know, Todaro's been um amazing as well. at What an ad he he's been.
01:04:17
Jarrod Dyke
So we look at it.
01:04:24
Jarrod Dyke
Pulling him up from lower ranks. Yeah, big time.
01:04:27
Grumpy Old Prop
And, like, not that they needed another back three player, but...
01:04:28
Jarrod Dyke
He's got to start for Italy. Right, he's got start for Italy.
01:04:30
Grumpy Old Prop
And then even Furbank being out, and you you put Hendy in there, and he's just been a tri-scoring machine, too.
01:04:36
Jarrod Dyke
Hendy's been great. Yeah, Hendy's been very good. Like, so almost almost took it up another level from where he was, even.
01:04:38
Grumpy Old Prop
Like... So this is what I'm saying. So, like, you you look at the way Saints... structure their, like, you just look at the the structure of their team, right?
01:04:50
Grumpy Old Prop
who and And who they're paying money to.
01:04:50
Jarrod Dyke
Mm-hmm.
01:04:53
Grumpy Old Prop
And like, they're doing it right in that, yeah, they're paying Kemeny a lot, I'm sure. um Probably paying Callum Chick a little too much, but he's also ah very much a glue player and can help.
01:05:02
Jarrod Dyke
Decent coin probably.
01:05:07
Grumpy Old Prop
But man, you look at like the rest of the team, like Alex Mitchell, but i mean, he's homegrown.
01:05:15
Jarrod Dyke
Yep.
01:05:15
Grumpy Old Prop
um you Finn Smith, not quite homegrown, but like they got him, like they handled that so well that, you know, transitioning from, um, Bigger at to Finn.
01:05:28
Jarrod Dyke
Defense path. Yep.
01:05:29
Grumpy Old Prop
And, you know, they still have Hutchinson and Dingwall as some fantastic centers, and they do need to develop some more depth there. But, you know, Sleitholm, Hendy, Freeman, Furbank. like home Again, homegrown guys. Like, Furbank took a little bit to to to catch on, but, man, he's been amazing.
01:05:48
Grumpy Old Prop
And then same thing in the forwards. Like, you know, i mentioned Kevin E. Pearson was – no, he was with the London Irish. um
01:05:56
Jarrod Dyke
Pearson was, yes.
01:05:57
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah. Pollock's homegrown. Cole's homegrown. They developed with from within and they they rely on their young talent.
01:06:03
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah.
01:06:08
Grumpy Old Prop
They're not just being like, okay, well, you can't play yet because you're too young. No. like They're going to play Pollock.
01:06:14
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah.
01:06:15
Grumpy Old Prop
If anything, Pearson's like, what the hell did I do to to get fucked over by this? Because I don't think he's getting enough playing time either. Although that's been significantly higher lately.
01:06:24
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah.
01:06:25
Grumpy Old Prop
Like they're, but they're, they're putting these guys in position to play and just letting him make plays. mean, they're even getting JJ Vander mesh like runs in the loose. Like he's, he's so much fun to watch like in the, loop although, you know, when you have the option to, to give the ball to to, Pollock or to JJ in, in wide open space in the future, I would recommend giving it to Pollock.
01:06:46
Jarrod Dyke
to Pollock.
01:06:49
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, he'll outrun JJ a lot more.
01:06:49
Grumpy Old Prop
Um,
01:06:53
Grumpy Old Prop
Right. So I think they should start looking at that a little bit more than that. Like lately, I feel like they've been throwing it to JJ in space in the middle of the field, which is. Could be a lot of fun, but he just doesn't have the speed to hit the gap that he needs to hit there.
01:07:07
Jarrod Dyke
No. No, no, no, no. Not at all. Not at all. Yeah, they have... This is... This is a really good team. Like, no way around it.
01:07:17
Jarrod Dyke
This is a really good team.
01:07:17
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm hmm.
01:07:19
Jarrod Dyke
And...
01:07:19
Grumpy Old Prop
And Tom James has been hurt and hasn't played that much. Like McParlin's been the one coming in and and he's been like, yeah, there's a dip, but man, he's, he's keeping up.
01:07:22
Jarrod Dyke
Nope. Yeah.
01:07:28
Grumpy Old Prop
Like he's, he's not doing anything too super special, but he's getting the ball to the players it needs to get to.
01:07:32
Jarrod Dyke
Mm-mm.
01:07:35
Grumpy Old Prop
And then, all right, I'm moving on to the next breakdown.
01:07:38
Jarrod Dyke
Right.
Phil Dowson's Unrecognized Success
01:07:39
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah. Doing his job.
01:07:40
Grumpy Old Prop
It's better than Ivan Benzel can say.
01:07:45
Jarrod Dyke
Ridiculous.
01:07:49
Jarrod Dyke
And i've i've I've said it before, and and I think it needs to be reiterated.
01:07:55
Jarrod Dyke
I don't know why people are... People are talking about Van Grand with good reason for many reasons. Why aren't they talking about Phil Dowson to the level that they...
01:08:04
Grumpy Old Prop
I have no idea.
01:08:05
Jarrod Dyke
that that That's a level like... Look what he did last year. kept him to it The last English team to get to a championship final was the exit of the year of COVID.
01:08:16
Jarrod Dyke
And then they started refereeing the fucking, you know, latch on players a little bit better. in that And that kind of crashed their their hopes out and and then he's had he's got out a title win.
01:08:30
Jarrod Dyke
And now he's in position to have you know a top seed in the Prem right now. And he'll they're they're more than likely going to have a home semifinal, either way you cut it. So... and And all this with... we talked about We just talked about all the chopping and changing they've had to do because guys guys are getting hurt as part of the sport, but they're still dealing with it well.
01:08:52
Jarrod Dyke
And...
01:08:54
Grumpy Old Prop
We have the depth to do it.
01:08:55
Jarrod Dyke
Dowson's the reason, though.
01:08:57
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
01:08:57
Jarrod Dyke
like So, who... So before, i it just has to be said, Curtis Langdon was a huge loss to this team.
01:09:09
Jarrod Dyke
And he's not going to be ready until maybe the end of the season. Maybe. And that's if he that's if he's ready at all. He may he may call it good. um and yeah And while they haven't had a lot of performances that are notable off that two-shirt, they haven't had any to say, fuck, we need someone new.
01:09:31
Grumpy Old Prop
No, it's not ah it's not a problem area for them. I mean, Robbie's done ah ah a fine job.
01:09:36
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, Smith and Wright have done quite well.
01:09:38
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah, right too.
01:09:39
Jarrod Dyke
And I'm not a huge fan of either of them, but they haven't done any... They've stayed within themselves and contributed in the ways that they know they can, but haven't had to do a lot beyond that because there's so much more that to that can help them out.
01:09:53
Grumpy Old Prop
Right. you're a sport you're You're a support player. like just when you get to get When it's your turn to touch the ball, run, take a good tackle, recycle the ball.
01:09:56
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah.
01:10:01
Jarrod Dyke
Don't fuck it. Don't fuck it up. oops
01:10:04
Grumpy Old Prop
Don't fuck it up. just Just do do that. And then once you're trying to make a tackle, make a tackle. And that's that's it.
01:10:10
Jarrod Dyke
Right.
01:10:10
Grumpy Old Prop
don't You don't need to contribute too much. Yeah, if you can make it to the back of them all and fall over, cool. That's excellent too. We need that. But that's not that difficult to do. It's it's really the just do the little things right in the loose.
01:10:19
Jarrod Dyke
No. Yep. Agreed. Agreed. So, yeah. Wouldn't be shocked if they're playing twig at the end of the season there.
01:10:28
Grumpy Old Prop
Nope.
Sale's Injury Concerns
01:10:33
Jarrod Dyke
Sale, sale, sale.
01:10:36
Jarrod Dyke
I've said it before I'll say it again. I don't have a ton of sympathy for a team who has an injury list as long as sales is when your play style is based on being a bully and an asshole and that is all you have.
01:10:47
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm-hmm.
01:10:49
Jarrod Dyke
And you've also picked mostly bullies and assholes, especially in your pack.
01:10:49
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm-hmm.
01:10:52
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
01:10:53
Jarrod Dyke
Like, that's all there really is. And so i you know, you're losing your...
01:11:00
Grumpy Old Prop
Who do they have that's not that and the and in the pack?
01:11:04
Jarrod Dyke
Gibaloo.
01:11:05
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah, that's about it.
01:11:06
Jarrod Dyke
But he's he's not great he hasn't been playing there long enough to have their bullshit yet.
01:11:10
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
01:11:10
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah,
01:11:10
Grumpy Old Prop
I mean, even Bevanrod, even for for a prop, and Opoku for Jorah, like, they're
01:11:16
Jarrod Dyke
if I like him.
01:11:17
Grumpy Old Prop
They're not shitty players. As far as like, theyre they don't play with shittiness.
01:11:22
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah.
01:11:22
Grumpy Old Prop
um But that's like, kind of it.
01:11:28
Jarrod Dyke
And there's... And so, and as far as our backline goes, there's one guy that... has really turned a corner for me in the last season to two probably two seasons and a half or two and a seasons, two seasons.
Bobby Du Preez's Impact and Departure
01:11:42
Jarrod Dyke
It's Bobby Dupria and playing in that 13 shirt. Like good things happen when he's out there and he has the ball in hand.
01:11:52
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
01:11:52
Jarrod Dyke
And he's, if you look at the things, the good things that happen for sale, it's because he's touching the ball, not Ford, not even Quirk, who I love. it's because he's touching the ball.
01:12:02
Jarrod Dyke
And that is a humongous loss for them next year.
01:12:03
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
01:12:05
Jarrod Dyke
And I love Joe Marchant. I think I'm glad to see him back in the prem, but Marchant does not have the playmaker ability that Dupree is does. And he has learned and figured out how to apply what he does in a 10 shirt in that 13 shirt.
01:12:21
Jarrod Dyke
And it makes them good. The problem is the way they play doesn't get him the ball in those areas enough.
01:12:27
Grumpy Old Prop
Right. And that's exactly it. It's that that's entirely their style of play that, you know, as you said, it gets guys hurt and it it doesn't take advantage of there the the skills that they have.
01:12:45
Grumpy Old Prop
And it's kind of a shit because like, you know, as you're saying, Bobby Dupes, but Masi White has been excellent.
01:12:54
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, he needs stay healthy too.
01:12:56
Grumpy Old Prop
And it's another guy. Yeah. um But that's this thing, though. They're using him as that two-week style battering ram when it's like, man, you get him into space and now he's a big fucking huge ass load that has a head of steam and angles to run rather than just Main Street where, you know,
01:13:05
Jarrod Dyke
he's He's better than that.
01:13:18
Jarrod Dyke
Right. Easy to find that answer.
01:13:20
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah, because every time i see him like in like every time I see him crash, nothing great is happening. And every time I see him you know get get to space, amazing things happen.
01:13:32
Jarrod Dyke
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
01:13:33
Grumpy Old Prop
And it's like, get him to space then. And you like it like you said, you've got two centers who who you can operate it with, you know like Dupes spinning it, Mossy White, maybe...
01:13:46
Grumpy Old Prop
um Like, you know take getting an offload, being there for a support pass. Well, you know, as it's coming back the other way, like you can use that. And especially with, you know, Aaron Reed, who's been hurt but and and Carpenter and Robo, like you've got these guys who were back.
01:14:01
Grumpy Old Prop
and Even Luke James was looking halfway decent. Wills is looking okay.
01:14:04
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, O'Flaherty turned back the clock a little bit, too.
01:14:08
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah, but how long is that going to last?
01:14:10
Jarrod Dyke
Well, it won't last long.
Coaching Critiques at Sale
01:14:11
Grumpy Old Prop
And so it's, it's, but again, you're, you're kind of stuck because you're 10 is one in love with his own boot and two is not a distributor.
01:14:29
Grumpy Old Prop
I don't know any other way to say it. He's not, ah he doesn't get the, like, as you said, like when your, your centers aren't, aren't getting the ball in this, in the positions to make plays, it's because your 10 isn't doing it right.
01:14:32
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah.
01:14:42
Grumpy Old Prop
It's not getting the ball wide enough. It's all like a kick pass to, to cut out players or when things go right, he's just not involved, which that's not good.
01:14:51
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah.
01:14:54
Grumpy Old Prop
It can't be like when your off offense actually, your your attack operates better when your 10 doesn't get involved.
01:15:03
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah.
01:15:06
Grumpy Old Prop
So you're doing like, and that's not a, you know, that's a either a you've got the wrong 10 or B you're playing the wrong style.
01:15:07
Jarrod Dyke
It's a
01:15:13
Grumpy Old Prop
And I think it's a little bit of both here, especially because this, the style of play for doesn't fit it.
01:15:15
Jarrod Dyke
little bit both. It's little bit both. Yep.
01:15:20
Grumpy Old Prop
He's 95 pounds soaking wet. He's not your big physical guy. So of course he's going to back out because your whole philosophy is just to to crash it right into the other team. That's not his game.
01:15:33
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah. Yeah, another guy. this So this is why, for me, this is why Sanderson's more on the hot seat than Skivs. Because we just talked about the, the but especially in the back line, the ass of talent that they have. Their forwards less so.
01:15:47
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
01:15:48
Jarrod Dyke
um But the just mountain of talent that they have in the back line. And they're third from bottom?
01:15:56
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm hmm.
01:15:56
Jarrod Dyke
Fourth from bottom, excuse me. But they're 12 points off the next place. They're... um They're 16 points off of... So they're three they're four games back, minimum.
01:16:09
Jarrod Dyke
They're four games back. That's a lot right now.
01:16:12
Grumpy Old Prop
With eight to go.
01:16:14
Jarrod Dyke
Mm-hmm. So you've got to find a way to claw that back in half the time. Like, that's that's a lot. And it just...
01:16:21
Grumpy Old Prop
It's a lot to ask.
01:16:23
Jarrod Dyke
ah So that's why Sanderson's on the hot seat more for me than... any And again, it brings back the whole idea of like, why is it defense coaches are the ones that are sought after for the for the head coaching jobs?
01:16:36
Grumpy Old Prop
don't get it.
01:16:37
Jarrod Dyke
yeah they're not they're there's nothing There's nothing super special going on in a defense that works.
01:16:41
Grumpy Old Prop
It's not yeah like.
01:16:48
Jarrod Dyke
you yes some guys are masters of it we talked about we've seen sean edwards we've seen steve tandy i i get it uh guzzy back in the day like i get it those those were really obviously really good coaches they had it down to a science there's a lot of them that have that down to a science though to be fair you know some of them are a plus some of them are just a some of them are b plus all of those still do good things on on a team um
01:16:56
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm
01:17:06
Grumpy Old Prop
hmm.
01:17:16
Jarrod Dyke
But really, you what you need to look for is the guys that can understand how to ah coach an attack, which is why I think Andy Farrell is still a pretty good judge. I know people are shitting on him right now, but he got that island attack to play a lot better than anybody had before that.
01:17:28
Grumpy Old Prop
Yes, you did.
01:17:29
Jarrod Dyke
So, you know, and I know they're kind of, they're they're going through a really weird transition here, which is fine. This is the time to do it. Everyone bitches about how island peaks early all the time.
01:17:36
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
01:17:39
Jarrod Dyke
Maybe they won't this time and they'll finally peak in the fucking World Cup.
01:17:42
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
01:17:42
Jarrod Dyke
you know, TBD. But point being is... The good ones are... we talked fricking Remember when Warren Gatlin had Warren Ball and how horrible that was to watch?
01:17:52
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
01:17:53
Jarrod Dyke
Like...
01:17:54
Grumpy Old Prop
But even he adapted. Like when he was when he was with the Chiefs, they were very expansive.
01:17:57
Jarrod Dyke
To a point, yeah.
01:18:00
Grumpy Old Prop
And and in other other teams he's coached, like they've been expansive. It's just for some reason, again, it's that, i think think it goes back to that again, the team personality, the club or country personality gets in the way.
01:18:15
Jarrod Dyke
Hmm...
01:18:15
Grumpy Old Prop
Like, yeah, like England, now apparently are a drop goal three points loving team because hey it won them a world cup i can totally understand it if your team hit a drop goal to win a world cup you might think that drop goals are the best fucking thing ever it's like right it's it's like i got laid to this song okay cool but it still sticks put it away
01:18:34
Jarrod Dyke
23 years ago guys we need to get over that I think
01:18:43
Jarrod Dyke
better been the best better been the best lay of your life otherwise oh that's definitely not the best one I don't know about y'all but the first was definitely not the best
01:18:44
Grumpy Old Prop
yeah well right what was It was the first. Okay, that's great. But like, come on, man. Right.
01:18:56
Jarrod Dyke
No, no, no. No, no, no. Oh, gross.
01:19:00
Grumpy Old Prop
But like, yes, but it's so it's like you kind of have it can lead you down the wrong path. And um look, sale back to it.
01:19:05
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, for sure.
01:19:08
Grumpy Old Prop
Sale could be the um a strong physical team that plays
Sale's Potential and Challenges
01:19:12
Grumpy Old Prop
solid. Like they could be, ah like I said, a Lester. They could be a bath. although they're more closer to Leicester in the way their team is made up um in terms of kind of plotting forwards um who who aren't much of a threat and attack.
01:19:27
Grumpy Old Prop
And then ah just a back line that's disgusting. But that's not the way that they play. So there they are, 7th place, unlikely to raise up. They could get caught by Quinns if they don't watch their ass.
01:19:42
Jarrod Dyke
That's probably true. Yeah, and I know, and Sanderson's had more successful season than Skiv's by far, so so I understand that's kind of like a hot take for me to say he's more on the hot seat, but we just talked about a really good backline that is somehow four games away from being into the top four, which is not a place you would expect to be.
01:19:51
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
01:20:05
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
01:20:06
Jarrod Dyke
But he's also now picked the groceries at this point. There's no question about that, so...
01:20:08
Grumpy Old Prop
Yes, that's the other thing is, yeah, he did what he he did very well with with Diamond's team um by just giving them a little bit better coaching. And
Saracens' Strategy Issues
01:20:16
Grumpy Old Prop
now it's now it's his team, but the quality of players has gone down too.
01:20:21
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, and he's he's picked Gus War over Rafi Quirk in terms of um terms of which guy he's keeping.
01:20:21
Grumpy Old Prop
i mean
01:20:24
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah, get the fuck out of here.
01:20:29
Jarrod Dyke
i understand Quirk may have demanded a little bit more coin. I'd have paid him.
01:20:33
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm-hmm.
01:20:35
Jarrod Dyke
and Especially since he's in England 9, you should get a you get a little help from RFU. i don't know what the math on that looks like, but I'd still prefer that over. Yeah, anyway. um um Excuse me.
01:20:50
Jarrod Dyke
Last but kind of least in a way.
01:20:53
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm-hmm.
01:20:53
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm-hmm.
01:20:53
Jarrod Dyke
hum
01:20:55
Jarrod Dyke
Saracens. So you we haven't, and we're going to wrap up shortly here and and everyone's pain. um I have so much respect for McCall and everything he did for Saracens and,
01:21:13
Jarrod Dyke
you know The fun times were the fun times. They were. And shit, you know you and I were messaging earlier this year about the the last team that won the Champions Cup against Leinster, and man, what a team that was.
01:21:27
Jarrod Dyke
like
01:21:27
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
01:21:28
Jarrod Dyke
Holy shit. there was It was so much there was so much fun to to be a part of that. but And there comes a point where the same, if not similar messages...
01:21:41
Jarrod Dyke
to a lot of the same players at this point. the The key players are very much the same for Saracens going from here, and least for the next few years. And it doesn't have the jab you need it to into their head where it's like, we need more of XYZ or you guys need to do ABC.
01:22:01
Jarrod Dyke
yeah you know, it's a lot of the same guys and, you know, Jinxie's leaving and whatnot, but it a lot of these guys aren't the ones that are the ones that were part of those teams, but have been hearing the same messages for the last, you know, 10 years.
01:22:16
Jarrod Dyke
So it's, it's kind of old news in a way.
01:22:19
Grumpy Old Prop
it is but there's deeper problems too and and it's i mean if we look player for player up and down the lineup
01:22:23
Jarrod Dyke
Oh, I agree.
01:22:32
Grumpy Old Prop
is this team much worse than, than, than they were when they were like talent for talent? Are they, are they that much worse than when they were winning
01:22:38
Jarrod Dyke
Nope.
01:22:41
Grumpy Old Prop
um title prem titles and champions cups? No, they're not that much different. They're, they're not as good. I will a hundred percent say because, and it's because of the team make it's because of the the selections that, um,
01:22:58
Grumpy Old Prop
that McCall's making and the the general form, like if Max Malin's was who he should be and who he has been the past, like every year of his career. um
01:23:12
Jarrod Dyke
Barring the injury from last year.
01:23:13
Grumpy Old Prop
Right. It would be, they'd be, he'd be ridiculous. And it's like, you, you would be seeing the, like ah um a, a Shagan calorie Malin's,
01:23:26
Grumpy Old Prop
And that's a fucking that could be a deadly combination for for for the next couple of years. I can't wait to to see it. But it's not happening. And Daly at 15, he's cocking it too much. The selections are... and Even this past weekend, you're you're playing Tomo and Laws against Newcastle. You should be playing puppies. Yeah.
01:23:49
Grumpy Old Prop
your you your puppies And Faz's play, like, it's just, what you, what do you do? Like, that's the only, that's the only problem with the, you know, what's, who's the better team?
01:23:56
Jarrod Dyke
No.
01:24:01
Grumpy Old Prop
Because it, in many cases, it's the same fucking players. They're just older and not as good.
01:24:06
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah. Yeah.
01:24:08
Grumpy Old Prop
And like, Daly is a, is a, he's a Timu version of a Timu, Alex Goode.
01:24:15
Jarrod Dyke
Mm-hmm.
01:24:18
Grumpy Old Prop
Like, he's like the knockoff of the knockoff right now. And, and, you need the OG. um But I mean, and I know Alex Bude's not walking through that door, but like, didn't figure out do something different.
01:24:27
Jarrod Dyke
Yep. Mm-hmm.
01:24:32
Grumpy Old Prop
and But the style of play has regressed. I remember back then, Saris would like just kick the shit out of Exeter. like That would be just a dogfight.
01:24:42
Grumpy Old Prop
Or they would decide, you know what, we're just going to run around you and outclass you. And either way, they decided they would win. And now they're playing way too much without the ball. It's way too much like trying to be Tess rugby style, which is why i was you know I asked when we were talking about this in the group chat. It was like, is McCall going to be the next coach of England after...
01:25:05
Grumpy Old Prop
after this world cup because it seems like he's auditioning like i want to be i want to play i want to play the same way bortho does and it's like please don't because this is club rugby it's a different style it's you you gotta like just attack look at look at the top teams the top three teams
01:25:15
Jarrod Dyke
Please don't. Yep.
01:25:29
Grumpy Old Prop
ah Fuck, top four teams, right? Top three teams can just run on you if they want to. And they want the ball. Like Northampton will play out of their own end. They they do not give a fuck. Leicester will play solid rugby, and they but they play ball in hand. If they kick it high, it's because they want Stewart to get up there and go get it for them.
01:25:48
Grumpy Old Prop
Like when you do that with Kalori, yes, that makes sense. But just take the aimless kicking battles that you get into with no plan and and all you're doing is is, you know, the other team is getting themselves ready and you're just trying to figure out when, I don't even know what the fuck you're trying to do, to be perfectly blunt. And then it's why it doesn't work out for you because there's no real plan to it.
01:26:10
Jarrod Dyke
Yep.
01:26:11
Grumpy Old Prop
It's just, we don't want to play with the ball. if you don't want to play with the ball, just go the fuck home because that's the point.
01:26:12
Jarrod Dyke
Yep.
01:26:15
Jarrod Dyke
That was the point, right?
01:26:17
Grumpy Old Prop
Like that's, you know, the very basics of rugby. when You know, the first thing you're taught when you do a a coaching clinic is, you know, the the um f rugby is about possession and territory.
01:26:30
Grumpy Old Prop
And Saris don't want possession and they just aimlessly kick.
01:26:32
Jarrod Dyke
We haven't had either a lot.
01:26:35
Grumpy Old Prop
So they don't really care about territory. So what the fuck are we doing here?
01:26:37
Jarrod Dyke
No get territory. Yeah. No shit. Yeah.
01:26:41
Grumpy Old Prop
So could be a great team. It's amazingly underperforming, but because of the selection, like Louie Johnson should be playing at all somewhere.
01:26:50
Jarrod Dyke
Somewhere.
01:26:50
Grumpy Old Prop
Faz should be a rotational player. Tomo laws laws should be, uh, um, like remember Brad Barrett's last year when he was like, he'd occasionally show up and be like, you're going to go on the tour of like, Hey, it's my last game here, guys.
01:27:05
Grumpy Old Prop
Hi, nice to see you.
01:27:06
Jarrod Dyke
Yep.
01:27:06
Grumpy Old Prop
And that's about it. Like you're more of an ambassador. That's really what laws is at this point.
01:27:11
Jarrod Dyke
Right. Yeah. if So...
01:27:13
Grumpy Old Prop
Especially when you have like Hartley and and and guys like that who can.
01:27:16
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, he needs more...
01:27:16
Grumpy Old Prop
hmm.
01:27:17
Jarrod Dyke
but he He could be good with some playing time. I want to see him develop.
01:27:20
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm
01:27:20
Jarrod Dyke
i So... I think from here forward, we need to look at... um Giving... Branding him more time.
01:27:28
Grumpy Old Prop
hmm.
01:27:28
Jarrod Dyke
Theoden needs to continue to start as much as possible.
01:27:30
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
01:27:31
Jarrod Dyke
Um... I like Marcus Street. We need to get Tuimaga out there a little bit more, though.
01:27:35
Grumpy Old Prop
hmm.
01:27:38
Jarrod Dyke
So there's that. So, yeah, i would have I would love to see Brandingham being in the team, no matter what, and carry and Maui rotating. um And then same for, you know, yeah, it could be Hadfield. It could be Richie. it could And then, but i have to sorry, could be Street, could be Richie, and then getting the other the the other guy who we just signed not that long ago.
01:27:58
Jarrod Dyke
Some rotation because he wants to be here. Sadiqa needs to play more. and And then we need to, you know our back row is solid.
01:28:03
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
01:28:07
Jarrod Dyke
I'd like to see Michelot get a run and actually play. He hasn't played much.
01:28:13
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
01:28:13
Jarrod Dyke
And what little he's played, it's been kind of meh. So I'd like to see him get some consistency in terms of game times.
01:28:15
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
01:28:19
Jarrod Dyke
And then we can find out what do we have. If it's nothing, then fine. and You find out you have nothing, you let him walk. okay If it's something, then you're going to be very thankful that you gave him a run. um
01:28:29
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
01:28:30
Jarrod Dyke
van sale need I know he's he's actually still got like another year on his contract after this, which is fucking ridiculous.
01:28:34
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
01:28:36
Jarrod Dyke
Let's let him walk. Maybe the coaching change but fucking pulls his head out his ass. Who knows? Bracken needs to start, though. Plain and simple. um Rotate Vince Allen, Gareth Simpson back and forth.
01:28:46
Jarrod Dyke
As you said, Farrell doesn't need to be in every 23, and I know he wants to be, and I know he commands that, but I don't give a shit. I'm so over that, I don't give a fuck. Burke needs to be 10, Louis Johnson needs to play almost every game.
01:28:57
Jarrod Dyke
um Shagan and Kalori should be our wings with, you know, once Elliot and Hall kind of come out come out of their injuries, I know they've they've both been very very banged up. Jack Bracken as well. Yep. Well, we need to see more of them. Hall apparently can play 13, which I would love to see.
01:29:16
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
01:29:17
Jarrod Dyke
i was like, all right, let's sign up for that. And then, yeah, Hartley being your most days player.
01:29:19
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
01:29:24
Jarrod Dyke
12 with a cameo from Tomo, and then Sinti needs to be 13 as often as possible as well.
01:29:25
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
01:29:30
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
01:29:31
Jarrod Dyke
So...
01:29:32
Grumpy Old Prop
But where's Sam Spinkman?
01:29:34
Jarrod Dyke
Yeah, he's kind of the forgotten man, unfortunately, and that sucks. Because when we signed him, I was excited.
01:29:38
Grumpy Old Prop
That's another, like, if you signed him, why are you playing Laz then?
01:29:42
Jarrod Dyke
bit
01:29:42
Grumpy Old Prop
Like, if you don if you wanted to give your...
01:29:44
Jarrod Dyke
he'll be on the, he I think Daly and Laws can be, can go out the door. And I love Laws way more than I love Daly. So that pains me to say about Laws.
01:29:50
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
01:29:52
Jarrod Dyke
Daly could not give a fuck about, um, Lazowski has been great since we had him. Um, definitely one was one of my favorite players in while he was on his up.
01:30:00
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm-hmm.
01:30:02
Jarrod Dyke
Um, thought he should have got more time with England, but now he's, he's had his time and I'm happy to just say, buddy, we need you every once in a while, but that's it.
01:30:13
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
01:30:13
Jarrod Dyke
And when your contract's up at the end of the season, you're free to go. Sign where you want. We appreciate you. We love you. But it just doesn't make any sense right now. So that's that.
Future Competitions and Fan Gratitude
01:30:25
Jarrod Dyke
And it Barty and I were actually talking about this. like what you so I think what we signed Owen Farrell for and what Owen Farrell thinks we signed him for are two different things.
01:30:37
Grumpy Old Prop
right
01:30:38
Jarrod Dyke
And I would, if we were playing better rugby and we were actually in contention, well, we still are technically, which is wild to think about because we shouldn't be. If we played better rugby and we were contention for more silverware, I would live with Faz at 12 if we put Cynthia at 13 and Fergus at 10 and Bracken at nine.
01:30:56
Grumpy Old Prop
Right.
01:31:00
Grumpy Old Prop
Yes.
01:31:01
Jarrod Dyke
You know, there those are solid players, every one of them. Farrell can do his thing from 12, be a la the Brad Barrett with slightly more skill and less metal in his face, um and you know be that be that backline leader that we need without without problem.
01:31:14
Grumpy Old Prop
Yeah.
01:31:21
Jarrod Dyke
But we're not that good. We haven't played that well. Maybe we pull our heads out our asses once the break's over and see what happens. But yeah, Like, i yeah, I think in a contending team with Sarah, with this squad, the best team includes Farrell at 12, but we're not there anymore.
01:31:39
Jarrod Dyke
I don't know if we're going to be there the rest of the season.
01:31:39
Grumpy Old Prop
right
01:31:41
Jarrod Dyke
And should that be the case? Let's just, let's just make him a rotation guy and find guys playing time that need it.
01:31:51
Jarrod Dyke
So that's that.
01:31:54
Jarrod Dyke
ah Okay. We're here. We're back. It was a big one. We appreciate you guys for hanging out with us.
01:31:59
Grumpy Old Prop
Mm-hmm.
01:32:00
Jarrod Dyke
Um, But we'll be back. So we'll we'll do Six Nations stuff sometime soon. assuming but We're not totally fucked. But in any case, ah definitely look forward towards like Six Nations sheets, so and so forth.
01:32:13
Jarrod Dyke
But we appreciate you guys hanging around for us and being patient with us while we recovered from whatever the fuck was going on with us.
01:32:20
Grumpy Old Prop
the
01:32:20
Jarrod Dyke
But hopefully we'll be back next week. And I won't jinx us on that one too much. But thanks a lot for hanging out, everyone. and Enjoy your weekend, everyone.
01:32:29
Grumpy Old Prop
Later. later
01:32:30
Jarrod Dyke
Cheers.