Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Season 5- Episode 22- Every Team Has a Story...Except Scotland (6 Nations Preview & Premiership Round 16)
32 Plays3 years ago
It's a monster of an episode from those American rugby knuckleheads. On this episode we acknowledge one former All Black's courage and his coming out to the world and how good it would be if more could feel comfortable doing so earlier. Of course, we dive in to our long awaited 6 Nations preview (6:43) who will do well, who will fall off and who will be...meh. Then, we get back to the return of the Prem (57:02) and all the wildness that occurred to leave us where we are with 8 rounds to go. All this and, yeah you guessed it, much more. Grab something cold to drink and join us!
Check out the TFRY Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/TheFantasyRugbyYanks
Ask us questions via Twitter: Jarrod- jdyke8man & Ben- admrablsnackbar, and #AskTFRY.
Send us your thoughts for the show and questions for upcoming shows via e-mail fantasyrugbypodcast@gmail.com. Of course we welcome feedback via e-mail, twitter or by rating/reviewing the pod on Apple Podcast.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction & Collusion Banter
00:00:02
Speaker
It is... The Fantasy Europeans. My name is Jared Dyke. I wanted to say it's stupid and let's move on, but then you kept going. I'm Ben Glauser. I don't like any way anybody handled that. Collusion! Collusion!
Podcast Kickoff & Hosts Intro
00:00:27
Speaker
Hey everybody, welcome back. It is the fancy rugby yanks. My name is Jared Dyke. I'm Ben Glauser. Let's do this thing. We, uh, we don't have nearly as much to talk about, but we do. We do not as much actual rugby review, but some rugby to
Personal Health & COVID Talk
00:00:42
Speaker
preview. And I, um, I'm going to work up a thirst. Missed out on that last week. Really? I was drinking tonight. I was really, I was, um,
00:00:56
Speaker
I was kind of out of commission until like Saturday in terms of like my sinuses and everything. It was annoying. I was mostly energetic. More. I was certainly more energetic than I was Tuesday and Wednesday, the rest of the week. But man, I might shift and clear up until Saturday probably. Yeah. And it wasn't, it wasn't COVID. It was just, Nope.
00:01:17
Speaker
Nope, nope, nope, nope. Although it is going around quite a bit. It is. It is. I'm, I'm masking up again and pretty much anywhere I go at this point. Um, cause I'm like, yeah, fuck it. I don't really want to deal with that shit. Yeah. All
Listener Engagement & Shoutout
00:01:32
Speaker
right. Um, so anyway, we have other things to get to right. Download rate review, share.
00:01:39
Speaker
We appreciate everybody that does all that stuff for us. Yeah. George, thank you so much for, for, of course, telling other people to do the same. So, um, you know, I know we're not having gotten to George, but at the same time, you know, look, George is telling you to, to download a great review. Please do. And those that have missed the triumphant return, he is back. He's, uh, jump back into six nations. So we're excited to see George back and doing his thing. Um,
00:02:08
Speaker
while he's back and now that he's officially back. If you weren't supporting him before, make sure that you buy him a coffee and help the man out because well, he deserves it and puts a lot of hard work in as, as you can see by just those, that, that one tweet thread that he put out. Yeah. He works hard for his money. So you better treat him right. Yeah. So do right by him and grab, grab him a coffee or beer, however you wish to see it.
Inclusivity in Rugby & Campbell Johnson
00:02:36
Speaker
There is no discrimination on this podcast nor should there be in sports or in life. Last week we had our pick of the litter of the not so good stuff, but this week let's shift towards a more positive note and Campbell Johnson coming out and
00:02:56
Speaker
trying to normalize it more for players, for Kiwis in particular, I believe is really his aim, obviously, being a Kiwi, being an all black, but just, you know, it's.
00:03:10
Speaker
I do hope there is one day where more players just feel more comfortable while they're playing to do it because unfortunately a lot of them are just coming out afterwards and that's really hard. And I get it. I'm not criticizing them. I'm not saying that it's wrong. What I'm saying is I want to move us in a way forward where it's okay to come out much earlier than your retirement.
00:03:35
Speaker
And that is the point of this segment is to, you know, no discrimination means we're creating an environment where people are comfortable to be themselves like that. That's the essence of this, that he, you know, we need to make rugby and life. Our environment to be welcoming and accepting so that people don't have to hide who they are. People don't have to feel shame about who they are. That's that's crazy. It's not right. And so let's.
00:04:04
Speaker
Let's make that environment. So, you know, and rugby, in my opinion, has come a long way and has been good for it as far as good about building the environment. It's not perfect, obviously. Nope. But I feel like rugby has changed since, you know, my, since I joined it 20 years ago or so, give or take a couple of years. But it's like.
00:04:30
Speaker
Yeah, I think we're moving in the right direction. And especially when all black comes out, you can't turn away from that now. It makes the things like what Izzy Folau does and others.
00:04:45
Speaker
why we don't want them around because they're not creating a place where everyone can feel free to be themselves. There's exclusionary and discriminatory practices. So let's end that. Yeah, I totally agree. Yeah, so good on him. And yeah, like I said,
00:05:06
Speaker
It's nice when there's a forward too. It doesn't need to just be a back. It could be a forward. It could be any of them. It doesn't matter. Let's not stereotype shit. It can be any player. So get on him and it sounds like he's going to carry that torch down there in New Zealand for a little while. And I hope much good comes of it. I'm sure it will. And that's something that we can all celebrate.
Patreon & Upcoming Content
00:05:36
Speaker
And then finally, don't forget, grab our Patreon, go ahead and look over there. Boom. Bust is not up. Um, I will, I will get up tomorrow. Uh, work took precedence this weekend. I had a big thing going on on work. So yeah, there's also no premise weekend. So no, but still, it's nice to get up there.
00:05:57
Speaker
So, but then people can make decisions and stuff. Exactly. You know, so, but yes, grab our Patreon. Um, the good stuff isn't as is going to be up soon. If it's not, I will, I should be able to do rankings. Um, and if I'm very smart about it, I should be able to do rankings for both super brew and, um, six nations, uh,
00:06:23
Speaker
official. So I will, uh, I will do my damnedest and if it's a problem, sorry, I tried. I'll at least get super brew up. Let's put it that way. Yeah. That's my main objective is to get super brew first, which we will talk about in the fantasy corner, but let's talk about six nations right now.
Six Nations Preview
00:06:47
Speaker
Is that happening? Yeah. Supposedly it's happening this weekend. Um,
00:06:52
Speaker
It's a, it's a very highly anticipated six nations. And I don't think we can say it was the same for the 2019 six nations either, not to this scale. And maybe that's just cause it's a recency effect in my brain and that that is a possibility. There's so much more consequential shit going on here. Like, you know, there's two coaches that have been let go slash brought in, um,
00:07:19
Speaker
just in the last couple of weeks. And then there's questions around Ireland and there's questions around France as to whether or not they peaked too early. It doesn't look like Ireland did, but again, that's just their club, at the club level anyway, they fucking look strong.
00:07:39
Speaker
the players that they have are playing reasonably well, but it's Ireland. We've seen this before, right? Where this is the turn and suddenly it just all goes to shit. So that's just going to be one of those, can Ireland not do that? Right. Which we'll hammer about when we get to them. Yeah, it's just...
00:08:04
Speaker
Yeah, there, there really is a lot going on with this. Um, we have, we have England with a new coach, right? We have France with, you know, that's maybe playing their best rugby in a long time. Um, you have Ireland who will they, did they be too early? Didn't they, this looks like they might finally break, break that hex. We'll find out. Right. And if they all, if they,
00:08:30
Speaker
if they're still either ascending or they're at their peak and they're ready to go.
England Squad Analysis
00:08:35
Speaker
Yeah, and they can just stay at that. Good luck to everyone else. Right. We have Italy who's playing definitely the best rugby they've played in a long time.
00:08:43
Speaker
And then we have whales who needs to kind of right the ship and they have Gatlin back and they've gotten rid of Pevac. So yeah, there's really a clear storyline for each team this go around. I'm not sure that was the case. Certainly the last couple of years, you know, you get distracted and all that. You dig up storylines when you're bored, like the times with COVID, you know? Scotland too. We shouldn't forget about Scotland. Yeah. And Scotland's got it.
00:09:13
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And really, I think they're the only one that doesn't have a clear, clear storyline, although there's the whole Townsend versus Finn thing. And that's been going for a while. It's just now getting to the peak. Right. So maybe that's the one that you can consider for that. But yeah, maybe that's why I skipped over Scotland by accident, because there isn't quite one. Naitland's on their roster. Anyway, sorry, we'll get to them. We'll get to that. So let's talk.
00:09:38
Speaker
We'll go alphabetically here. So let's talk, talk England. And we don't even need to look at like the sheet from the team from the six nation site. We can look at their most recent squad that has been retained by Steve Borthwick and their 29. Um, interesting names that are here, interesting names that aren't here.
00:09:57
Speaker
I love the names that I'm not seeing. Yeah, got to say love. I'm not I'm not arguing with that. Like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
00:10:20
Speaker
I really like what they're, you know, that's 29. This is a good 29. And to me, there's an easy six to drop off, but that's for me. I can't, you know. Yeah, I don't have any real problem.
00:10:36
Speaker
I really, the one problem, the one or two problems I have, I can overlook for the overall positives of the squad. Right. Oh, and I saw a rumor that Ben Curry is starting at seven. Okay. So with Love Limit Six, which would be an interesting to me lineup. I kind of like that pairing, honestly.
00:11:01
Speaker
I kind of do, but you know, maybe it's maybe it's against Scotland thing. I'm not sure. But and like and with Ben are also going to be on the bench. And I'm like, it's like, yeah, but well, over curry. Well, that's not fair. But yeah, we'll see.
France Squad Discussion
00:11:17
Speaker
We'll have to see what that if that's a an actual report or if that's just.
00:11:23
Speaker
some reporter trying to be first with news that's not exactly. Maybe, yeah. I will say as much as I want Earl to start, he is of the back rowers here. He's probably the most versatile. Maybe Sam Simmons is the other one, but the two of them are pretty much, they're not the same, but they're very versatile. Their versatility is matched, I would say. Let's put it that way in terms of they can play probably across the back row should they be assigned to do so.
00:11:52
Speaker
I agree. Yeah. So, yeah. And, you know, we got that, that lock, like, so I'm guessing of the locks, you know, it's either Ezekiel or Chasm is the odd man out. Cause I'd have to think it's a toji and ribbons. I would love to see ribbons in there. As the starters. And then the question is, who, you know, who's the, uh, who's the reserve there? The other two.
00:12:16
Speaker
Correct. And maybe both of those with six, which I hope not. I don't love a six player, six forward bench. I know it's getting more, more popular now, but I'm still not a fan of it myself. Right. Right. Yeah. And it ends up always, every time we see it happen, they're all, you know, something happens with the backs and they're always like, Oh, well, maybe if they had a back on the bed, he's like, there you go. Like really need another forward. Um,
00:12:43
Speaker
Yeah, speaking of the backs, I mean, it's awesome to see that Finn Smith has been retained. Yeah. Unlikely that he'll make the roster, but I think that's a good thing for him to go through those motions of. This is a match week prep in an international squad. Right. And then a game day prep, like every, every little part of it, he'll be around for he'll, he'll warm up with the team. So.
00:13:05
Speaker
like they'll see everything except the match itself, which is, you know, match play itself. That's excellent. That's what you want to do for young players like that. All right. So let's let's assume that Freddie is your fullback. Your other wings are. Are Maylands and Hassel Collins. OK, I don't think that that's how he'll go, but I know that's who I would take of these people.
00:13:32
Speaker
And honestly, if it's any combination of the four wings that remain on the four back three players that aren't pretty steward, it's really hard to hate it. Right. What am I going to argue of Freeman? And like, if Freeman is starting to male ends, I can't, I can't argue that. Right. No, the only thing I don't like, the only thing I don't like about Watson is if he keeps getting broken.
00:13:54
Speaker
And that's unreliable. That's like, you don't want to have that in an international match, right? Where a guy has to come out after 20 minutes because something happened and it's not, you know, he's been looking amazing. It's just.
00:14:09
Speaker
That to me, like if that, you know, that kills a team, especially if you go six to, if they go six to and Watson's out there, I'm going to not. I'll have criticisms. Right. Yeah. I think that's definitely a big thing. If you're going to go six to, and you have a guy that has a fairly notable track record of getting hurt, you're really putting yourself behind the eight ball and you're just asking for trouble. So just something to keep in mind when you do something like that, for sure. And looking at this, I kind of think they're going with.
00:14:38
Speaker
Marcus to Farrell, because to me, it's like, I don't really like Tui so much at this. I think at this point in their careers, Farrell is the better inside center than Manu.
00:14:54
Speaker
And Lawrence was a late column. So obviously they like Tui over Lawrence. So I can't imagine Lawrence is gonna play 12 or 13. No. And I mean, if I were to put the two of them together right now, I'd put Lawrence ahead of Tui. And that's based on what I've seen in both of them for the, for the prem. And Lawrence has been dynamic and powerful and everything that Bath need right now. And Tui has just kind of been very quiet.
00:15:22
Speaker
And sometimes there's something to say about a guy going about his business quietly, but he's not that type of player that you build at. So that's the problem. When he's on form, you can't not notice him. But it's been a couple of years since he's been on that kind of form. Really, yes.
00:15:41
Speaker
So I feel like he's getting named mostly for his name. I don't think it's for his play anymore. Well, obviously his experience level, but...
00:15:53
Speaker
Yeah, I think you've got better, more dynamic options. And aside from the tackling issue that Farrell has, his defense, the legality of his tackles, his defensive tackling is outstanding. So to me, it's Smith to Farrell to Marchant. I mean, is there another 13 on this team? I don't see it. Lawrence can play 13.
00:16:17
Speaker
Yeah, he could. Oh no, that's what I mean. Like, well, no, I'm sorry. Yes. He could play 13, but that's like, now you've got two 12s out there, which is. Yeah, it can be a problem. Yeah. Could be a problem for sure. Let's go to defending champions.
00:16:37
Speaker
France, uh, I haven't seen any news of a squad reduction yet. Doesn't mean you get it and, or we will get tomorrow by the time this is published. Yeah. So let's have a look at it just the same.
Ireland Squad Analysis
00:16:57
Speaker
So it's the position I'm automatically drawn to myself when I look at the France team is who else did they bring in at halfback that's not named Dupont. Right. And we have Collie and Coley. And Coley is the young kid that we saw playing in Montpelier. Collie has been around here there. So not a new face necessarily. It's got what, 14 caps, something like that? 11, excuse me.
00:17:04
Speaker
Um,
00:17:27
Speaker
So it'll be, obviously it's always interesting to see who's going to play that backup role to DuPont. And at this point, France just need to manage his minutes and then hope that when he goes back to Toulouse that he doesn't break pretty much. Pretty much. And that'll just, that'll just be great for them. Anyway, you cut it. Uh,
00:17:57
Speaker
Let me see. Can I start this? Yes, I can. Well, they also have Ligaric. You didn't mention him. Oh, I missed that one. That's another nine that they can roll out there if they need to. OK. Yeah. Oh, look at that. Oh, interesting. I did not realize they called him in. OK. All right. I mean, let's be real. Let's be honest, that's a bad rousing team.
00:18:22
Speaker
Right to see, I think he's played well. At least he looked, he looks decent on the champions cup, but that's true. He's been one of the, he's one of the, been one of the bright spots for Ross saying really. Yep. No question. One of the few. Um, and the other, and the other one I like to look at because I think they're out and out. Number one is unquestion is a hook and Marchion is their guy.
00:18:50
Speaker
They've called in Bob and E and Barlow and not hit. I think, I don't think, I think my walk has hurt. So that's why he's not in there. Um, a lot of people would maybe recall said that maybe recalling shower or boogery or calling boogery up would be another one as well. But this is what God has gone with.
00:19:10
Speaker
It's unquestionable. Martians one. So it's a matter of just getting these other guys a little bit of time here. Right. He's got, we got the two of them have five appearances between them. So well, they're going to have a little bit more. Yep. Martians got 26. Uh, do they have anybody? Yeah. Fiki Fiki was, might not be the captain, but he's the unquestioned leader of this team in many ways, certainly that backline and that defense.
00:19:39
Speaker
is a big one for him. He's got 75. He's without a doubt the most cap player in the team. DuPont's not even close. And I think he's the next one. Yeah. And then Tony, Antonio, and he are right there in the mid forties and everybody else is like thirties and twenties. Yeah. The list I'm on does not have their, their caps. So yeah, I got it here. It's pretty nuts. Um, what's all G 36. Okay. He has 36.
00:20:10
Speaker
I mean, basically hasn't been basically has been unremovable from the squad since he made his introduction, but right. Yeah, it just hasn't been that long ago. No, no, no, no. Well, for me, the question of this with this team and that there's a couple that I have this question of, and then I kind of. England are in the same boat, so I don't want to just leave them out of it, but but locks, I think, are going to be at a premium. I don't know that there's really a.
00:20:40
Speaker
I mean, the LEMSA for France, yes, obviously. But who's the other lock? Tough for newer. Yeah. And or Flemant, I wish it might be on the bench, too. But, you know, it's the question is, you know, how well are they going to play? To me. And this is going to be a lot. I think that's going to be a key position in this tournament just because
00:21:05
Speaker
There's like, each team has one, well, most of these teams have one stud. And then the question is, who's the other guy and are they going to be impactful?
00:21:16
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like that's the way a lot of these, at least just the names that I'm seeing. I haven't seen play all that well recently. And Wokey is out for this tournament as well. So that's a huge blow. That's part of the reason. Right. No, that plays right into it. It's just like laws for England. You know, I told you in laws, yes, yes, please. And thank you. Right. I'm not saying anything about ribbons or
00:21:44
Speaker
or Nikki or Chasm, but I mean, laws is also on another level. Yep. So that's, you know, and we'll go through the other teams too, but I just wanted to point that out. I think they know their, I think they know their back row though. It's going to be, it's going to be all Yvonne and Audrey probably. That'd be my wild-ass guess.
Italy's Team Challenges
00:22:05
Speaker
And there's plenty of other talent to pick from, but maybe they don't, maybe they go with, you know, Macklew or, um, try to think across, we know what he's got. Um, you know, maybe they go with, come on and maybe come around a little bit. You know, that's, that's a possibility as well. But I think for, I think for what you, what you want.
00:22:30
Speaker
Well, when you're playing. Yeah, right. When you're playing like Scotland or Italy or Wales, maybe you kind of throw some other people out there just to give them a run. But when you're playing, you know, the England and and Ireland. Yeah, you're going to want your your top. Yeah, I've got I've got those two. I've got those two games circled big time.
00:22:54
Speaker
the England and Ireland game for France. Another newbie is when you and I got to know a little too well is the Dormartier kid from Lyon, Ethan Dormartier, uncapped.
00:23:10
Speaker
Might see him this weekend. Cause they're playing Italy. You know, this might be where we see some of the new guys thrown into the, into the mix and see what they got. So we might see Colley as the backup nine, or maybe he starts. I don't think he's not really started somebody not named upon what he didn't need to. So maybe not, but point being, right. It'd be interesting to see that. Let's go to the Irish.
00:23:39
Speaker
We've had, they've already, they've already had to make a change. I think, cause the color hair that's been rolled out or was she in one of the, one of the ones to her. Okay. So he's been rolled out for at least a little bit here. So they had to recall, uh, doll star guy Stewart. Yep. There he is right there. So he again could be on first debut, which would be great. I don't know if he'll get this weekend, but.
00:24:06
Speaker
possibility, you know, Jamie Osborne after performing so well, thus far this season, he gets in there. O'Brien's back. Yeah. It helps that. What's his butt's injured? Um, and Shaw and Shaw. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it doesn't, it helps, helps them. It helps these kids, but it doesn't, it doesn't necessarily help. I don't know. We know we won't see Sexton for a little bit at least. He's, he's a doubt for this weekend at the very least.
00:24:37
Speaker
Well, though we'll see me becomes fit. Maybe that's pretty good. Right. That's apparent that he might play. I see how that goes. Yeah. I heard, I saw whispers and rumors today.
Scotland Squad Highlights
00:24:53
Speaker
And if not, we're, it's not even Joey Carberry. He's been left out of the squad. Yeah. It's Crowley or burn Crowley who has a grand total of two appearances and burn who has a little bit more with 17.
00:25:07
Speaker
Against what some might consider a revamped well squad, we'll get to them and their team and all that stuff in a minute. So yeah, it's going to be. So then back to my, um, my theme of this, who's at lock? Well, it's probably going to be James Ryan. James Ryan's probably in there and then.
00:25:34
Speaker
either and then burn or Henderson. I don't know. Ryan's been pretty good. Nothing to take away from that. Burn and Henderson have not been to at least the center that I set for them.
00:25:55
Speaker
I've been very disappointed by that lately. So the question is just burning up, I think. Yeah, he agreed. And that kind of plays into it. Burn, though, has been not up again, not up to standard for him. So that's the question. So you have James Ryan, you have your one guy who you're going to expect shit from. Does does Byrne or Henderson step up?
00:26:21
Speaker
And that, again, that's going to determine where they, you know, the seedings ultimately, are they one, two or three? Right. Yeah. My instinct says burn. Mine too. And like my instinct is burn. And yes, he steps up. I'm sure he will. I'm sure he will. Yeah. I don't have to, I don't have too much doubt when it comes to tight burn myself.
00:26:49
Speaker
But we, we have, we, we also have, let's not forget the reigning player of the year as well in the back row here. I'm not familiar with the flying Dutchman, um, the trying Dutchman. Yeah. Yeah. The trying Dutchman indeed. Uh, and again, they have a, we talked about it in the champions cup the other week, like just, uh, uh,
00:27:16
Speaker
Let there are problems here in terms of who do I pick? Most of them are in good form. Like, you know, all the Leinster guys that came in are in good form. Then you have, you know, you have Peter Gast, who's pretty good. Like, I'm. I don't know what you do, Obani, like how do you, it's hard to leave him off the sheet. But to me, I would go.
00:27:44
Speaker
What is it? Where are they? Sorry, this is a weird list. I should have picked a better one. But like Doris, Conan, and Van Der Fleer, like that's, but can you really count out Coombs? Can you really count out? And then I'd have Ohmani on the bench, but that to me would be the four. But at the same time, that's, to me, you have Doris and Conan are,
00:28:11
Speaker
almost boring because of Josh Manderflier. So it's like maybe you want a different, more of a splash player than a grinder like they are. Not that they, I mean, they can get loose a little bit, but it's usually because they've run someone over.
00:28:26
Speaker
So yeah, I'm wondering if we get like a comes who knows he can see him find some space.
Wales Team Selection
00:28:31
Speaker
Um, even when there doesn't appear to be any, and I think you have to have Omani out there as a reserve at this point, not a starter. I wouldn't have him start. Um, mostly because, because of his age and is it, you know, he's, he's more of a, at the international level to me, he's like a 20 minute player. No, 20 to 30. Um, I would not want them to be 50 or 60. Right.
00:28:56
Speaker
And then we have, this might be a little bit hyperbole, but the inform center in Europe, Gary ring rose. I don't know. I don't know if there's many better at the moment. I just, I, I, I, I'm struggling to think of someone else that's that's in better form in the midfield than ring rose. I got nothing for you. I mean, maybe like.
00:29:26
Speaker
You know, maybe Marchant has a has a hand up, but I don't know that it's a hand. I would call on exactly like I don't know that I would say yes to it. Right there. He's like getting. Close ish, but he's not now. Ringos has been on untouchable. Yeah, he's been quite good. And you know the question will be for that. That one is who do you pair with him and then the back the back three for them is.
00:29:54
Speaker
littered again, again, Jacob Stockdale's healthy again, like O'Brien's is the young is another low Larmor, Hugo Keenan, Keenan is Mack Hanson, Keith Earl's returns as a steady as a steady hand like Wow. Yeah, to me, Earl's is there if I'm
00:30:21
Speaker
in that position or else there's more of the, the, the, the coach on the field or the coach in the dressing room kind of thing. Um, and at training rather than, uh, I wouldn't, I don't know how to fight having him. There's not a bad idea, but I'm not sure he knows the team. Yeah. Oh, reliable. Should you, what's up? I mean, cause you're going to want guys like, you know, all the people we just listed, you're going to want them to get experience. Cause you're going to need them in the world cup. Mm.
00:30:50
Speaker
Right. And it's like, what good is Keith Earl's being out there do for you? Like he already know he knows if he needs to play in the World Cup. Fuck it. Throw him out there. He knows he knows the drill. Nothing will be a surprise to him. These kids, though, need to need to get a little maybe experience that they can get. Yeah. Right. Get some teething in. I agree. I agree. I agree. This is there's no more place to do it until. Yeah, you're kind of this and. And, you know, a couple of friendlies, but the warps. Yeah, that's it. Yeah.
Six Nations Predictions
00:31:23
Speaker
Let's go to Italy. The, a very intriguing team to say the least. Uh, most caps on the team is Tommy Allen with 66. Well, um, let me make sure I don't know. Hey, I actually see caps here. That's crazy. There you go. Look at you for that on this for some reason. Yeah. Thank you. Rugby world for putting it on one of them. Yeah. No, the six nations site has actually gone. Um,
00:31:55
Speaker
Lorenzo Canoni was kind of one of the forwards that came out, uh, in the last few years or less last year, I should say, sorry. Uh, we have both, we have both the garbage season now. We know, we know what, yeah, we know what Lamora brings to the table. Uh, bloodries back on the squad, which is great. Um, uh,
00:32:18
Speaker
They have their, and this has been their problem since word go. Their top line players are almost all brilliant and almost all guys you can count on and guys that will do the job against any team and keep you in it and possibly win it. Now that the problem has now been what happens when one of those guys is not available and
00:32:45
Speaker
They're torn, they're turning the corner a little bit has to be said. Um, right. They've got a full 15. The question is, do they have a full 23 and beyond that, like a 29 if they need that money for, for this tournament? Cause they got the front, frontline guys, they're, they're solid. It's a question of, you know, what I recall from the fall was once they needed to make subs,
00:33:13
Speaker
shit went bad. So that's, you know, that's something they're going to have to improve on. I think they can. I think they have, um, you know, um, Oh, Richie and he's out. Right. He could be, Oh no, there he is. He, he picked up a knock against Brad, but he is in the team. Right. So hopefully we see him. Like that'll be a big pickup for them too. Um, again, pelletry is, as we mentioned, like if he can,
00:33:41
Speaker
If you can get that going. Right. Well, then, yeah, then you look at the midfield, you got like Brex and who, while you have Marisi available too, but then it's what he got after that. Right. You know, if you need to replace one of those two, who's coming in?
00:34:03
Speaker
And is it, is it Minotzi? Or is he, I can't, all I can remember is him being mediocre. I can't remember what full position he was in. It's a full back. Yeah. Okay. So you, so they're not going to have, so this is one of the things, unfortunately, they're not going to have Monte Iwani.
00:34:23
Speaker
which was a huge, which is a huge thing. Um, yeah, he's not, he's not available. Uh, he did move back to Australia, but he said he would be available, but obviously it's not coming to come good this side of it at least. So maybe he gets recalled as the tournament goes. Right.
Premiership Weekend Recap
00:34:39
Speaker
Or maybe it's maybe he'll come back for the world cup. Yeah. And maybe that's the idea of who knows. He's just not available for this tournament possibility. Right. So then, so then you have, so you have a Nazi. Okay. That's that's your,
00:34:53
Speaker
That's one of you guys, but Patavani's in there as the back row. Obviously, Capuzzo is in there. There is a lot to like. Pierre Bruno was quite good last time.
00:35:09
Speaker
there it's just you got to wait for yeah i think you're i think the one problem is who you partner with brex brex is unquestionably in there um that's a big problem for them because yes it's probably morrissey honestly even though he's older yeah that's probably going to be your front line guy and even though he's not amazing i i don't know who else you put in there you know me neither unless you do something like you put um
00:35:35
Speaker
Like if you want to play both our BC and Alan and you can put one of them at fullback and then you can slide out, you know, Patavani and Capozzo on the wings or something. And then you can bring, you know, maybe you throw him an OTC out at 13 or are you putting him at 13 that wing and put like, you know, something like a padavani, like do almost like, you know, how they have Jordan, they brought George North into 13. Wales did do something like that. That's always an option. That might be the best way to attack some of these teams anyway. Yeah.
00:36:04
Speaker
There'll be, yeah, that'll require a slightly bigger body. Uh, pure Bruno might do the job in that case in terms of just general size. So that option is out there. Um, they called in some young, they call in some, some young centers from the two, the two, uh, Italian teams. So it would be interesting to see who they go with. Um, undoubtedly their combination is going to be, um,
00:36:34
Speaker
Well, maybe not entirely anymore because we have, we have both RBCs in the team now, but, um, I think, I think Paulo will be 10 and Barney will be nine. I think the fact that they have Alessandro Garbisi available as a nine is pretty awesome. And also gives them, gives them the depth that they needed that position. You know, I don't think, I don't believe they really had a ton of it. I know Braley's, uh, part of the international set up for Italy, but.
00:37:04
Speaker
not quite that level that talent level that Alessandro Garbisi possesses is not just this. Yeah. Really doesn't match it. And that's just facts, you know, let's go to the Scots. See, we didn't forget about the Scots. Um, I mean,
00:37:31
Speaker
Funny to talk about. I don't quite understand. Sean Maitland's on this team. So it's Kyle Stane. I don't love him either, so. Yeah. Okay, either way, but they've got to be just camp bodies because there's enough, you know, out there like, fuck, we're in McConaughey. I've seen more McConaughey out there. Yeah, that's great. I'm glad he...
00:37:55
Speaker
Glad to get a chance to switch. People are shitting on the whole thing. It's like, dude, he got capped what, three times at the World Cup and has not seen an England shirt or a camp really since. I know he's been banged up and that's another one of those things that you want him to, you want a guy like him available, but yeah.
00:38:15
Speaker
It's a total Eddie move though. That's the shit that he pulls of, I'll just, you know, like I'll keep them in reserve. I got them locked in. I'll just keep them in and not use them ever again. It's like, fuck. I'm so happy to see Ezekiel way back in there. And some of these other guys who got dropped way too, Earl, like what the fuck is he doing? So no, like good for McConaughey, he's protecting himself.
00:38:39
Speaker
You know what? He'll play eventually, like he'll work his way into that starting roster for for Scotland. Maybe even by the World Cup, if he if he can, if he can play the way he can play. It's going to be hard to take him out, given the other options. Well, because you have two on available. Yeah, you have King Horn. He's pretty good, yeah.
00:39:10
Speaker
And then it's going to be a battle for that third spot. And most people will say hog. And that's probably what's going to happen. Yeah, it's probably going to happen. But doesn't mean it's a good idea. Right. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. You don't have to do it just because he's been there in the past. It really is time to move on. He's not effective at the prem level anymore. I can't remember the last time he was
00:39:39
Speaker
in a difference maker at the international level. I really I just can't remember when that was. Right. There's been a lot of drop tries. There's been a lot of men. It's not a joke anymore. Like you said, like when we were talking about him not too long ago, like it's not a joke anymore. No, now it's who he is. Like it is.
00:40:03
Speaker
And that's sad, but it happens to everybody. Yeah. Yeah. Look at Tom Brady out there. It happens sometimes, you know, not always as late as Tom, but that's the thing. Stuart is that's not a position for, for old heads. That's a young man's position. Yeah. You gotta be able to move even.
00:40:25
Speaker
And sometimes when you get to a certain age, you can read the game better than the young unskinned. So you make up for it with that, but, but he's not executing on it anymore. Right. He can read it all. All he wants, but like, even if he reads it now is either his hands are betraying him or his lack of speed is right. Let's, um, let's go to the back row. I just want, I'm gonna throw the names out there and the first three that you want in your back row. You can tell me.
00:40:55
Speaker
Bayless, Christie Crosby, Fagerson, Dempsey, Watson, Richie. Watson and Richie are in. Yep. There's no, like that's, that's no question about it. They're healthy. They're in. Right. So that leaves you with Fagerson, Dempsey, Crosby, Christie, and Bayless. I gotta say, I think I need to go Crosby.
00:41:24
Speaker
I thought he played pretty damn well for Edinburgh. You know, I'm also not. I don't. I don't see it with Andy Christie. He's solid player, not. And maybe someone who can develop into something, but at the moment, he's he's kind of a jag. He's great, so exactly. Yeah, I mean, yes, that's impressive for his age.
00:41:49
Speaker
But it's like, he's not, yeah, right. He's not like, I guess Theo's a little older than that anyway. But like, Ben Errol isn't that much older than then. He was what, 24, 25? Like, he could get there. But for now, he's still, there's still development to be done. And I'm not sure this is the place for it. I'd look for,
00:42:09
Speaker
2027 for him to be potentially a starter. Unfortunately, I think we're gonna see Dempsey and figure some which neither one of them blow my skirt up. That's for sure. Right. Yeah, figure some don't like Dempsey I can live with. Right. Major Jag. Major I wasn't impressed in the fall with Dempsey. Yeah, at all. A name that
00:42:38
Speaker
Most Irish fans will be putting their hand up to jump up and down and talk about Ben Healy, who's made the switch for, for Scotland, for Ireland. Uh, I think we're looking at the replacement for Finn when Finn's done and, and probably Finn may have a few more years left them yet anyway, but still, so it's going to be a good,
00:43:05
Speaker
A good place for Ben Healy to see an international 10, despite the fact that Finn is considered the maverick. It doesn't matter. He's still an international 10. I can see his preparation process and all that stuff. Right. And Healy's 23 also, so. Yes. Loads of growth to be done for him as well. Yeah. And I have to say, I do like what I see out of him when I watch him play for months or so. It is a huge blow in my opinion for
00:43:33
Speaker
Irish rugby. And yes, they have some guys waiting in the wings for one section's done. So it's not like they're going to miss him a ton, but I think you might've been a little bit more closer to the top than people think. I forgot to ask my question. What's that? Who's at lock? Well, Johnny gray. Yeah.
00:43:55
Speaker
And then, um, Sam Skinner, if I can help it, I'd like, because I don't want Joe. People love Joe and I don't see it. I don't see it either. No, thanks. I would much rather have Sam Skinner. So my question is to Sam Skinner.
00:44:11
Speaker
I wasn't terribly impressed with him in Champions Cup, which is, to me, that's the closest we're going to get to international play for, you know, for a recent form. So I'm just nervous about him, whether or not he can show up, although it's a little bit different for Scotland because there's.
00:44:30
Speaker
other problems. So the, the, whoever their lock is, is, is not nearly as much of a concern, you know, and how well they play is not nearly as much of a concern as say, you know, England or, or France or Ireland, but it would go a long way to helping if, if scanner could put his hand up and say, yeah, that's mine. Right. Like we're done here.
Sale vs Bath Analysis
00:44:53
Speaker
And I'm basing it on what I've seen from him before. And, you know, the most recent matches aren't necessarily fair to him in a lot of ways.
00:45:02
Speaker
So I think there's still the, from what I've seen out of him as opposed to what I've seen out of, um, yo, Chris, I prefer him just that's just, you know, call me nuts. I'm wondering what we're going to see in the, in the back, in the centers too. Uh, they love you Jones. And actually I liked what I saw of him when he was playing for wins last year. So I could totally get behind that.
00:45:30
Speaker
And you're spo- and honestly, they're actually a little spoiled for choice because they have- They are. Red Path, they have 2-0-2. Yep. They have some good stuff. So, I like what's going on with that part of their game. Chris Harris, obviously, is one of the best defensive 13s you could ask for in the world. So, yeah. Honestly, make your pick and it's probably not going to be so bad. You know?
00:45:58
Speaker
You know, this young kid McDowell, I can't say I saw enough of him or any of him to make a judgment call on them. Um, I don't know why the hell Kyle Stain's in there. That doesn't make sense to me. Six, four, two 30 son of a, a Stafford McDowell. Oh damn. Big boy. Big dude. Big lad. Hey, big lad. Yeah. Okay then. Okay then. I'm not getting in the way of that. Fair enough. Fair enough.
00:46:28
Speaker
All right, let's go to Wales, who have done one better than Steve Borthwick and already named their team for this weekend. And you and I were talking about earlier this morning, I'm excited to see Dyer and Morgan and maybe the Hawkins kid. And after that, it's kind of like just struggle the shoulders.
00:46:57
Speaker
Like, what am I looking at here? Why do we need to see Lee half penny? Yeah, that's a big one for me. I was like, he'll get hurt in the warm up. Don't worry. He'll get hurt in the warm up. They'll have to call somebody else in. Yeah, it's not. No, no. Come the fuck on. Like, this is even worse than hog because when they were at their best hog was much better than half penny. And they're both shit now compared to what they used to be. And so that like to me, it's like, OK,
00:47:27
Speaker
hug. Yeah. And it's really not, it's not that half penny can't really play anymore. It's that, yeah, he, he gets hurt putting on a scrum cap, like a player breeze on him wrong. And oh, my ankle, like I, like, we don't need to see it. And he's not like, yeah, acting him as his form hasn't been great either. Like, especially at the international level, I don't, I don't need to see it. Right. I'm actually,
00:47:57
Speaker
I never thought I'd say these words. I'm actually, I actually would prefer to see Alex Cuthbert in this lineup. I guess. And why never thought I'd say those words, but damn, like in terms of what they have available. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like who, huh? Like who else? I need to see their full squad. Cause like, who did they not? I can tell you in two seconds. Uh, let's see. Adams is in. Cuthbert we know, Dyer is in, thank God. Um,
00:48:28
Speaker
half penny. We know North is at center. Sam, it's not not healthy yet. Yeah. With Louis being injured that, that hurts. Yep. Um, and Sanjay and I don't think he's healthy actually. Yeah. So that, so I guess that little bit's the options. It does. So I can come North out and put Tompkins in its center. Like really? Yeah. Cause they, they've,
00:48:55
Speaker
Yeah, he's gone with Owen Williams as his midfield replacement, which is a little terrifying. That kind of is too, yeah. Yeah. Tommy or Fallon there though, Jack Morgan. All right. All right. This'll be, that'll be interesting to see in the forwards. They have to find an answer for someone not named Ken Owens or Scott Baldwin at Hook. Like, and I know Dewey Lake was probably going to be the answer if you hadn't gotten hurt, but
00:49:24
Speaker
shit. You have one answer for the rest. Like we have this Robert, we have this Bradley Roberts kid that they've listed here. And I know it's your first match back and you want to, you want to model the W, but maybe rotate one of those guys and put him on the bench. Cause like, okay.
00:49:47
Speaker
What the fuck is Scott Baldwin giving you? Although, did he play all right recently? I can't remember. No, he was a dink. All right, then yeah, that wasn't what it was. It was saying like, well, this is why you're not wins anymore. Like. It was a total dink. Yeah. What do you need to like.
00:50:05
Speaker
Another jack. He got blown up for not throwing the ball in because he was bitching about the tunnel. And the referee was like, no, throw. And he's like, I don't want to throw. It's like, great. Good luck. Free kick. Free kick. Stupid. Dumbass. I don't know. He does not interest me anymore. OK. So pass. Yeah. So it's like this is. I get it because you want some veteran hands, but at the same time, again,
00:50:34
Speaker
You're now and when Jones, besides being good punching partners, um, Meh. Yeah. That's going to be blasphemy to some, some whale spans out there, but yeah. I mean, so let's look at their other ones. Yeah. So Reese Davis comes in.
00:50:55
Speaker
That's a possibility, but he's he's got no caps. David Jenkins is in. He's he's got like two. So that doesn't that doesn't he's an exit or lock. He knows how to just he'll try to do that job. Trust me. Right. He's not going to he won't do anything else, but he can do that job. Yeah. But yeah.
00:51:19
Speaker
Teddy Williams again, so yeah, he has Jenkins is the only other cat player. That's a lock that, that, that they've called in at least whether that's due to health or whatever. Yeah. And that's it. Yeah. He's got one cap and everybody else has chums is not in this lineup. Like that's another, that's a guy I take another one. Yep. Yeah. I agree. Totally agree.
00:51:43
Speaker
Huh, fascinating. Yeah. And I would rather have seen Raphael in for Tipperick, but I'm kind of on my way out with Tipperick.
00:51:58
Speaker
I was before, although there was that, that one game, the two games that we got to watch him play in champions cup. He did perform quite well. So he did, but in his most recent whales outing, not good barf barf, no bueno. Yeah. I'm not really impressed. Like there's whales just have so many problems, like.
00:52:23
Speaker
Yeah. They're like, I feel like Italy has, I mean, you know, we saw last year, but Italy has kind of surpassed them. Like they have, they have question marks, but man, we also have some serious question marks. I don't feel, I feel bad for Gatlin having to walk back into it because it's not a, not the greatest situation in terms of talent. But then again, that's kind of his fault. So. Right. It didn't really set him up for a whole lot of success.
00:52:55
Speaker
And they're there. The head of the unions been out or has resigned or whatever. That's also not helpful either. No, there's a lot of shit going on with whales. And there you have the internal review. We'll see if that's like serious or not. True. I'm going to go with no. We've investigated ourselves and found no wrongdoing. Yeah. Believe it when I see it. Right. Because that's kind of like at the same time, it's becoming public. It's becoming a lot more
00:53:25
Speaker
You know, it's in the public awareness. You can't, yeah. Yep. All right.
Leicester vs Northampton Derby
00:53:33
Speaker
So real quick, let's do, we'll do, we'll talk about predictions and then we'll get onto action as best we can. So are we picking one of the favorites to win this year or are we going with the dark horse?
00:53:53
Speaker
Right now, most people would put island and France at the top. So I'm going to choose optimism here in a way. And this isn't just optimism about because I favor their squad because I'm familiar with the players. But it's more optimism of this could be good for rugby if England are a threat suddenly.
00:54:17
Speaker
And so I think if the way things are shaping up, like what I'm seeing already, dropping Johnny Hill, dropping the wings that are useless and bringing in guys who are going to be fucking playmakers, it shows intent that they haven't shown before. Is it going to be enough? I don't know. So I'll just say yes.
00:54:40
Speaker
Cause I want it to be true. I'm going to try to wheel it to existence because I think it's good for rugby. So I'm going to say England win. I don't think it's going to be a, um, a grand slam, but I think they'll win. Okay. Um, I think there's enough talent at Ireland and France that, but fuckery will happen. Yeah. Somebody will win without winning all, all five. Yep. Possibility. The.
00:55:08
Speaker
The, the one thing to keep in mind is no team has ever won the world cup after winning six nations. And obviously only one of them won it, but I don't think they're going to win the world cup, but I think they can win six nations. Possibly. Um, wooden spoon, Scotland. Okay. Interesting. And I think there's, I think Wales still have Scotland. Yep. Um,
00:55:37
Speaker
Somehow. I don't know how. That's what we're talking about here. Does Italy win another game?
00:55:49
Speaker
Well, yeah, I mean, I have them as not the wooden spoon, so. OK, OK. All right. OK. One, one, one, one. Who? Where do they play? So they play France at home, the island at home. They play Wales at home. It'll be interesting. OK, that that's probably where they pick up the dub. Yeah, they're they play in this the super weekend. They play at Murray Field first. OK. Should be interesting.
00:56:16
Speaker
Oh, so yeah, that whale. I mean, maybe that's what it is. Maybe like, Hmm. Now I'm wondering, maybe it will be whales instead of Scotland. Cause it's like, I don't think, yeah, I don't see Italy winning and maybe they could. Okay. I'm going to stick with what I said. Yep.
00:56:38
Speaker
because it doesn't fucking matter anyway. It's just a thought exercise. Just a thought, just prediction, doesn't mean jack shit. No, Sir Dallas, we are not. I've thought these things out very thoroughly before and been wrong, so why bother thinking about it? This is just what I see. You got the fact. All right, let's go to the action from this past weekend in the premiership.
00:57:07
Speaker
start with Friday night sale in Bath up at AJ Bell and looked like it was going to be bad news all night. It really did to start. It did. And things changed real freaking quick. I mean, 22 10 and a half time grant, they got the
00:57:29
Speaker
their first try right at the end. That was the important part. You know, you get that and, and that makes you think thoughts, right? And, and this is, if you're not thinking thoughts at half, that's problematic, but that gives you the, the, wait, we can actually do this. Right. And they came out with their hair. Bath came out with their hair on fire. Really? Like,
00:57:54
Speaker
Spencer turned back the clock and looked informed, like, was everywhere and was a problem for the wholesale squad. Sale on the other side did tend to just shoot themselves in the foot a little bit here. You know, kept bawling it here, there, and everywhere. I thought Rob Dupree had a terrible game off the tee and otherwise for the most part. Like Jean-Luc had better passing than he did on the day. Let's get on this.
00:58:24
Speaker
Well, I mean, I feel like it was really the the bath cards that that were the difference, ultimately, because like you can't be playing with with 14 for for that long. And, you know, that's three points. Yes, they living shit. Carpenter got one right after butts.
00:58:46
Speaker
You know, it's those little things that are going to make that difference. And playing it, you know, you travel to the A.J. Bell. You know, I think we both picked sale last week. We did. And pick them because it's like, well, it's bath traveling to A.J. Bell. What can you really expect? So back like. Sale, sell the shit out of them and bath responded. I mean, that's that's excellent. But at the end, you know, they don't have what it takes yet to win at A.J. Bell. That's
00:59:16
Speaker
That's not a bad thing. There's no shame in that whatsoever. No, I agree. Kudos for putting, making it a fight. They could have just packed it and said, yeah, not our day boys. Um, and they didn't. So yeah, good shit. Right. Red path was unbelievable. Once again, like showed why he's in the Scotland squad and made
00:59:38
Speaker
Rob Dupree and Shawn look real silly. I mean, let's be real. Anytime Ross looks like he's an idiot because he is an idiot. I'm, I'm clapping. I'm just like, yep, that's great. Good stuff. And then down to the end, uh,
00:59:55
Speaker
Orlando Bailey, poor, not trusting inside his defender to get there and gave Reed the edge and that was enough. If you watch that, kids, you gotta at some point, and it wasn't
01:00:12
Speaker
It's it's such the margins are small, right? Let's I'm not. We're not talking about like he he really made a huge mistake. He did the right thing. He was in the right position, but he let read win. He stayed in that position too long. His defender, his inside defender was there to make the play and he was free to release to the wing and he he waited like. A step or two, and that's it. That's all you have. And so I I'm.
01:00:42
Speaker
But that's why that's a learned, that's learning from failure there. Yeah. Or hopefully that's all that. Yeah. Cause that's a, if he takes, if he takes one step outside instead of one more step backwards, he's, he's got that play. Right. And he tackled him into touch and the game's over and they went, right. They, and that really rescued the whole idea for sale because they had, they were playing against 13 on one point and did jack shit.
01:01:10
Speaker
Yeah. You know, I think that, did they get anything at one score in that time? Um, we've got a penalty. That was it at 49 minutes. Yeah. That is, and that's, and that's one of those things that gave back more momentum. Like they came out hot. You didn't need to give them more momentum, especially with that JJ try. Ooh. Yeah. Hello Jonathan Joseph. Where are you been all my life? God damn that. Yes. We haven't seen that version of JJ for a while.
01:01:39
Speaker
We have not, that was special. Yeah. All right, let's go to the Midlands. Lester in Northampton. What a doozy this was. This is why you like derbies. This is why, this type of match, this is why you like derbies. No matter what team you're on, obviously if you're a fan of either team, this is like heart and your throat type of shit. But if you're a neutral, this is why you love to watch derbies.
01:02:08
Speaker
Oh, everything you get asked for in this match in terms of just intensity and, you know, great play from two teams that just don't like each other. And it was a farewell match. Like there's so much going into this. Yep. Oh, Freddy. For Freddy, who, who, um, look, if you weren't tearing up, watching him lose his shit on the bench, um,
01:02:32
Speaker
I don't want to know you. That was just like, you know, he takes the coat to hide, you know, and everybody knows what he's doing. And he's just like, I don't want, you know, don't throw my face right now. Like, fuck. Yeah, there's there's something to it. And yeah, we all we all feel that. Yep. And he's one of the good guys to rugby. So really is really you feel for him. And
01:02:56
Speaker
The match, otherwise, uh, saints, a little bit sluggish to start just the same. Oh yeah. But about 25 minutes to wake up. That's kind of expired. Well, the shocking thing is that they woke up. We've seen them just kind of snooze their way through games this year. And.
01:03:15
Speaker
but if you can't if you can't wake up for this game though like right number one filled out someone's gonna get sacked right like if they got passed again this game like to this team they he would have absolutely been sacked I don't I don't question it in my mind
01:03:32
Speaker
obviously the defense coach, but you know, we have issues, but just the same. Yeah. Yeah. They had to, they had to wake up. They had to wake up in order to save a lot of jobs, honestly. Uh, and that, that was with a lot of guys really making life miserable for them on the other side, you know, Jasper and Montoya and, and honestly, Freddy's kicking was actually quite good for the most part too. So he was making life hard on them as well. And,
01:03:59
Speaker
You knew it was going to be a tough one right off the bat for in terms of, you know, if you're a Saints fan, that Paul, that cross kick from Paula right off the money was like that, that is picture perfect. That's what you want. Grand, the guy on the other end of it wasn't the best guy to have it. But, you know, it's still, it was still a great kick. It doesn't take it away from that. Not his fault. The other guy, the guy on the other side, stupid. Yeah, there's that. Um,
01:04:28
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I thought, uh, Lester though, to me, again, we've been talking about how bad Northampton's defense has been 18 points at home. Just 18 points. Really? Yeah. Where was the attack after a while? Like after the first 30 minutes, you know, I mean, Potter square, what 46, but still like they didn't really, it was not a, this was a very much so oddly a defensive struggle.
01:05:00
Speaker
As you said, with all this being a derby, this was a question of who's going to bring the most jam to this. Saints out jammed, Lester.
01:05:14
Speaker
I don't I don't know. I can't I can't believe that. Yeah, but they did. Like, I don't know. Like, what the hell am I seeing? I thought Aaron Hinckley played a hell of a match. He's hard to miss with that. The dome, the shiny dome. Yeah. Well, and they definitely got buoyed by truck coming back as well. Exactly. That was a big one, too. That helps. And Angus got young, I thought, had a quality match. Again, another guy that we talked about the other week, just growing and growing every week in this in this team.
01:05:43
Speaker
And let's go to let's let's actually on the Aussie note. Let's go to the other Australian playing for Northampton in this game. Ram. It's a yellow and the way it's been. Let's put it this way. The way it's been refereed recently, it's a yellow. Let's put it that way. He absorbed the tackle. Was it a bad tackle? Yes. High danger. Questionable. Yeah. The way it's been refereed, it's a yellow. Right. Yeah.
01:06:12
Speaker
I don't, and other than that yellow, I don't know if Ram put a foot wrong. No, you put a ball, right? That one to slate home. Through it, like almost literally through a defender.
01:06:28
Speaker
Two. Blind. Like, he just said, all right, I'm going to throw it right here. And like, I'm sure he had no idea. I don't know. I can't recall. I don't think he could see where the defender was, but I'm proud he could feel him a little bit and still just squeezed it right through. And nothing's like one could do, but just, oh, it's right in my hands. Don't drop it. I'm the right guy on the end of it, too, with slates.
01:06:56
Speaker
Yeah. Cause then now in space with what, like one defender to beat really. And yeah, a lot of moving defenders at that, which, which makes it a little easier for his sake. Right. He just ran where they weren't a guy like him can do that. He can, um, who's Alex Mitchell, by the way.
01:07:16
Speaker
I don't know. I don't know who this character is. They talk about it in the Hampton because their Scrum half right now is Tom James. Yeah, he was excellent. He was really good. You know, looked like he'd been learning a lot from Alex Mitchell, if we're honest. Yeah, with the foot too. And let's not take that away from him. You know, it's not just
01:07:37
Speaker
That that's a, that's a huge part of the game. If you, if you're going to play well as a nine and he did so well for bank was great off the tee as well. Like that, that's, that's things that they kind of had a little hit or miss sometimes. And I know Finn Smith's really good with it. Burbank's worst match was the other week and he was awful off the tee. So this, this makes up
Saracens vs Bristol Analysis
01:07:56
Speaker
for it. I would say if you're good on him, good response from him.
01:08:03
Speaker
And Proctor and Hutch, both with double digit tackles, each with just one missed tackle. Like that's, that's what they've been missing. Yeah. That's huge. And they had to be big because they don't have Dingwall right now. We suspended. So had to be big. Right. So they've knew they were, they were playing 80 going in and, uh, they, they rocked it. They did. They did. They did.
01:08:29
Speaker
Let's go to Barnet. Wow. Yeah, I was worried but also like never thought we couldn't do it.
01:08:45
Speaker
Mm hmm. That's what fucking pissed me off about this was that I still had to fucking care because it was still like they could do this. There's only nothing to have. So. Right. It's like as shitty as they're playing and they were playing shitty. They were. It was only eight points. They were. They were. Mm hmm. Before we dive into the dive into the match.
01:09:10
Speaker
got to give it up for Jack's 300 appearances in the sherry shirt, like really not a bad thing to say about the guy. You know, is he, is he beyond the days of being an international player? Yes. But would I trade him for anybody else? Probably not.
01:09:28
Speaker
at the same time. He's another one of those guys who, yeah. He's certainly the glue. Right. He's going to provide more value than his athleticism alone provides. So it doesn't matter that he's like, it doesn't matter that he's just a step or two slower than he used to be that, you know, this little, you know, late getting around sometimes, but
01:09:56
Speaker
Again, as you said about Pogg potentially, he knows where to be. He's gonna be a step ahead just because he knows where to be.
01:10:04
Speaker
Mm hmm. So even though he's not as as as fast as used to be, he's getting in the right spots. So he might not be picking off passes and taking the house like, you know, Ben Earl does now. I mean, he kind of used to sometimes. But he'll still grab the, you know, he'll still get that ball out of the, you know, if you don't get your support there fast enough and he'll get it out and somebody else will play instead. Absolutely. Absolutely, absolutely.
01:10:31
Speaker
And I never felt like, and I think most people would agree, it was definitely a tale of two halves for the Saracens.
01:10:38
Speaker
I don't think Bristol ever went up or down per se. I think they stayed the same throughout the whole match. I agree. It was more about what the guys in black were doing in terms of good or bad. And did the Bears maybe take a little dip towards the end? Yes, of course they did. That's when that happens sometimes when the other team is going up, you know? But for the most part, I would say it was pretty much level play. Yeah, but Toya got his try at 70 minutes. So it's not as though they
01:11:03
Speaker
really fell off, I don't think. I thought Bristol were still a threat and it was still... I still thought that they were going to win until the end. Until I tried when I was like, fuck this at the end. Yeah. Do the Sarries have one more in them? Because now they're hitting the dregs. Because
01:11:23
Speaker
You know, if you've listened to the pod, you know how we feel about Duncan Taylor. I am. And especially after this, if I don't see Duncan Taylor again, I'm okay with it. Like maybe in a reserve role here and there later in the season. Um, but every time the ball gets to him, something bad happens. Like that's not a good thing. Um,
01:11:48
Speaker
So there's that. And then who guard coming in at wing? Kitchener got the shit kicked out of him for a half. He was getting his ass kicked for the first half. Right. There were there were issues. Yeah, I know. Tizard played really fucking well, though. He had it. Yes, he did. It's offload. He's starting. That was that's the huge hazard we saw last year with with Quinn. It is. It is. So that's good.
01:12:18
Speaker
Bomber had to come off a little, or he was kind of screwing up, but Maui had a decent match himself. Yeah. Like... Yeah, his slop went off for, I think, an HIA, but I was like, don't... That's what it was. Don't bring him back. Don't bring him back. You can leave him off. I thought he was playing kind of poorly. He was. Yeah, for us. You're right. And he failed the HIA. Either way, they were bringing him back. I think Maui and Clary came in and really solidified that scrum, and it was huge. Yeah.
01:12:47
Speaker
Theo Dan eventually got the drills right. I will say- Piffletti did okay. And Piffletti did all right. I will say for the most part, between Wollstonecroft, Jinx, Theo and Piffletti, the open play for the hookers that are at Saracens doesn't drop off a ton between the four of those. What it comes down to is what's going on in the set piece. And we know Piffletti's had struggles and we know Theo Dan has struggles. Willie and Jinx are money.
01:13:16
Speaker
So it's though there too for the two of them, that is the thing they need to fix the most. Piffley's a little older, so it might be a little too late for him. Theo Dan clearly has something going on for him because they had him as a back row sub for a little bit here too last few weeks. So remember that. So they clearly believe in his open play. He needs to fix his line out throwing, or he's going to turn into, you know, he's going to be Alfie Barbary. They're going to shift him right in the back row and that'll be the end. Yeah.
01:13:42
Speaker
And he'll be okay there too, but at the same time, I'd rather have him on hook. Same, same. We have enough back rowers. We don't
Saracens Hookers & Set Piece Issues
01:13:48
Speaker
need another one. I'd like to see him step it up at hook and do what he does. But speaking of stepping up, Roddy Shagan just fricking, he knew, he, he needed to put his hand up and say, I am still a part of this team guys. And you're playing me and he did it so well. And, and.
01:14:10
Speaker
I've been critical of others more than him, but I've been critical of shaking in the past.
01:14:16
Speaker
Fuck this. This is if we can see this week in and week out again, like why is why is Maitland out there? True. You had this in the garage here and you could just bring him out now. I mean, I get it. It's it's, you know, Six Nations guys. Maylands are away, but and Maitland. But God damn, Sagan was better in for 80 minutes than Maitland has been. For like five of his combined minutes, like
01:14:46
Speaker
He was, yeah, ridiculous. 12 carries, 99 yards to try. Fuck. Yep. The offload from good. That was, yeah. Oh, naughty. Naughty. Naughty, naughty. And I thought, I thought, um, Matt had played really well this game too.
01:15:08
Speaker
Uh, he did. He wasn't involved in the kicking much, but we're ball in hand. Uh, he showed some real intent. So did he did? This is what welcome to Saracens. Yeah. Welcome to series. That's a way to open your account right there. And Tom Ellis, I know, I know he wasn't exactly like, you know, heavily involved, but we're happy to have him. We need, we need certain guys in the engine room there. Certainly.
01:15:34
Speaker
But yeah, this is what good teams do. They find ways to win. Even in really weird, shitty situations, they get it done. And Saracens did it. So I'm not mad nor and I really am not ashamed. Was not, was not disappointed to see Thacker gone right after half. Oh, good Lord. But Toye was, was a, was a problem all game. Roger was a problem all game. Um, as he is.
Exeter vs Gloucester Challenges
01:15:58
Speaker
Yeah.
01:16:00
Speaker
I thought I liked that they kept Batley and Vooey mostly silent and Lewa to her. So yeah, Max LaHeef was problematic though. He was getting the scrum. Agreed. And he went 75. That's no, that's no fucking joke. Yeah, that's no joke. Let's, um, let's jump down to Sandy park real quick and then we'll go to the Sunday game.
01:16:24
Speaker
And I said real quick, even though the score line says, you know, 24 17, but really, we only need to talk about the first half because it was just two penalties in the second half that changed things. So even the second half, like really it was, that was everything. And I think, I think glosser had a lot to be happy with in this game.
01:16:54
Speaker
But they but they got ticked by Exeter. And this is just what they do. You know, it's just how they do it. And if you don't quite have it to stand up to it, you're not going to be able to hang with them. And they couldn't. Right. And Gloucester are good this year. They're decent. But just like we were saying about Bath going to the A.J. Bell, Sandy Park is not something you can just you don't just walk in and win there.
01:17:22
Speaker
And I feel like they took a pretty pedestrian team for at least the play was somewhat pedestrian. Like, you know, Seb Atkinson didn't really run. I mean, he had a couple of good plays here and there. Johnny May had a of the walk in. But like set up by thoroughly.
01:17:47
Speaker
Yeah, Ackerman was our, Mattia Alamana was meh. Tui Tui was physical, but not, you know, not, yeah, they just didn't have that much, you know, dynamic play going forward.
01:18:03
Speaker
Yeah. Chapman came on and I thought it was going to be good news and he struggled. He did. Mightily. He did. Mightily. Yeah, me and was was shite. Oh, didn't he fucked up like a, didn't he give, he basically gave away a kick, like then you step in touch or something. I think so. Like just giving away field position. Um, silly.
01:18:27
Speaker
Right. Pavaroskin got hurt, which is no, nobody wants to see. Nope. No good. And for, you know, for, for Exeter, we talked about lineup throwing problems. They've got a few of their own inert head issues and sort of Dan Frost. So I don't know if this seems to be a common thing across the board too, because even Yandel had some issues the other week, like,
01:18:54
Speaker
I don't know if the system is. Yeah, if it's the jump. That's what I wanted. Yeah. And maybe that's what maybe it is. The jumps are not getting there when they should be. And right. Because there's a commonality here. It's a matter of who's the culprit. You know, is it the system? Is it the jumpers?
01:19:09
Speaker
We got three hookers that can't hit the damn thing. I'm guessing it's the system or the jumpers. You know, if there's anybody who's going to jump in and just go straight to it's Rob Baxter's fault, it's going to be me. I don't think so. To me, I think it's just, it's just the execution. I think the hookers, these hookers know what the fuck they're doing out there. Like it's not the coaching that's it's the player, like, especially, you know, when you get down to the,
01:19:38
Speaker
You know, yeah, Johnny Gray, David Jenkins, they're both technically internationals, but like, you know, you was in Kirsten or like, and Harry Williams has been poop lately too, just in general. So it's, yeah.
01:19:54
Speaker
To me, it's if it gets more like either the timing's off or there's confusion as to who's going and the, you know, again, as a hooker, if I see, you know, I get a call and I'm not really, you know, it tells me what I need to hear. But all I'm thinking is, okay, thinking about the movement that I'm going to see and the timing of when I throw. And that's so if they're seeing the movement and throwing,
01:20:22
Speaker
Something, you know, something's going wrong in the execution. The right person's not getting lifted at the right time. That's what I'm seeing. Cause they're, you know, they're getting throws, you know, so if one case, what didn't somebody just not even lift? Yeah, there was no lift. Yeah. That's not the, that's not the hookers fault. No, that is definitely not the hookers fault. Lift the guys up dummies. Yeah. Um, positives for Exeter.
Exeter's Backline Strength
01:20:48
Speaker
Hollywood burns, like the one guy that people aren't talking about that could be an England team and isn't. Yeah. I think, I think, I think of the back three players over the last couple of years, he's been the best. I think Hodge is better this year though, but that's been amazing since he's gotten his chance. No doubt. Right. And they, they did the, they did one smart thing and they re-signed him thing for their, for their sake, thankfully. Um,
01:21:15
Speaker
Although I'm sure there would have been another team out there that would have happily taken him off their hands. Absolutely. I would not have minded had Sarri swooped in. Fuck them. Yes, I realize that we've got, it was a part in coming in. We had a plethora of backyard tigers. I think we're good. Anyway, but you know, Woodburn has been fantastic. Noel and Whitney, like, why do you...
01:21:45
Speaker
Why is Witten out there for 75 minutes? I don't get that. But yeah. Not in a million years would you convince me to play Ian Witten. Yeah. Didn't he have a line break though? Yip de do. Did they just like invite him through the hole? Probably like, oh, fuck. There's no way it's going to Witten. We'll catch him anyway. Let him go. Like, yeah. Cover everyone else. Cover Hodge, cover Woodburn. But if someone's breaking this line, it's going to be Ian Witten. No doubt.
01:22:15
Speaker
All right. Let's go to Sunday real quick. And we'll wrap this thing up.
London Irish Victory
01:22:20
Speaker
Um, when an Irish and Quinn's fucking butt kicking, absolute shit kicking. Uh, someone's going to have to tell Michael Dyches. This is not how it works every day. Like the equivalent of a Gordie, how hat trick though he had a hat trick and he had a card. What are you doing?
01:22:44
Speaker
Um, yeah, especially against like this, this Quinn's team, even with the guy, some of the guys being gone, it's just no, no joke. And that's not a, that's not a bad team. He tore up. No. Um, and obviously he had help. Yeah. Nick David. What a day. I mean, like Nick David was excellent himself. Like, so it's, it's just one of these, that they were active. All these wings were active. They were, they were, um,
01:23:16
Speaker
I want to talk about a little bit about the Luis Red card. Wasn't red, I don't think anybody would ever argue it. And it's a good point that Matt, this is how you know it must be a really good point, Matt Carl, if I'm saying about Matt Carley.
01:23:30
Speaker
with the, and I know it's like kind of a tendency because of the way some guys tackle with the fist clenched. It doesn't paint the picture of I'm trying to grab. So, and that's what happened with the visa and with the fist, with the fist open and, you know, maybe a little bit wider of a, of a wingspan there.
01:23:50
Speaker
I agree. I like the tightness anyway, so that's just me.
Ruck Strategy Discussion
01:23:54
Speaker
But, you know, with some sort of attempt to grab, it can paint the picture a little bit better. I think you still need to do a lot more to avoid the right card than that. Yeah, like that. I do agree with that. I think that idea could be implanted in players' heads a little bit more. Yeah. And that would help. And it would help with the coaching of
01:24:14
Speaker
So this was always my favorite kind of ruck, right? This is the ruck where I don't have to do any work because the defender is just laying there. He's made the tackle, but he's just kind of laying on the tackled player. So all I have to do is just gently move him over.
01:24:30
Speaker
and hold him down and nobody can do shit. Like, especially with, you know, I'm a prop. So nobody's coming through that anyway. Like, you know, in general, but like at that point, if I'm a defender, seeing someone like me in that position, I'm like, yeah, I'll get the next one. Like this truck is one, that's it. And instead he's in this, I have to punish this person. I have to hit this person and you don't have to, like not every time.
01:24:55
Speaker
And that's to me why it's reckless. It's like you're going in for a shot because, hey, free hit on someone. And then he ends up, as you said, he has a close, he ends up punching his own team. Also not awesome. Good job, dude. You get a red card and you punched your teammate. Well, fucking done. Yeah, no, that was not. I didn't like that. Yeah, very poor. Couple notes on the on the exiles back row and then we'll wrap things up here.
01:25:23
Speaker
cutting himself finally gets a shot and needs some needs a little bit of fine tuning and a little bit of polishing, but performs well overall. I don't think there's anybody that would deny that impact player.
01:25:36
Speaker
Big time. There's whatever else, whatever mistakes he made here and there, he made an impact. And when he got the ball, you had to pay attention. Or even when he was around the ball, you had to suddenly be like, OK, something. And it's easy to see him. The hair makes him very easy to spot. Something cool is about to happen. And that's the ah. 11 tackles. You didn't miss any of them. I love ah.
01:26:06
Speaker
So only 15, only 17 meters on five. I don't, but he did do a lot of the picking go and a lot of the, the hard, hard meters, but, but damn, but damaging just the same, you know? Absolutely. I mean, it's where to try. Like, yeah. Yeah. Look, the threat all over the place and, and Pearson back there too. Yeah. On Tom Pearson, like of the guys that are in the, that are, that aren't in the squad, like,
01:26:35
Speaker
He's got to be like the next name on the list. No, like he's been playing so well. He's got to be there. Like maybe he's not right. Maybe he's not the next name. But man, so close. He's been so good. I feel like he's where Dom Brant has been there, where it's like everybody. And like this is and this is maybe Dom Brant of like three or four years ago, maybe longer than that, when it was like, is he ready yet more than anything?
01:27:07
Speaker
Because I think it, I don't, I think I feel like he's playing, um, Pearson's now kind of playing as much as Daubert was back, you know, a couple, as I said, a couple of years ago. And it's really a question of, okay, like, let's see him keep consistently at this one. Like I would definitely, he's another one I'd be looking at for 27. Like, yeah. Oh, totally. It's like, he could be, he could be something extremely special.
Tom Pearson's Defense Highlight
01:27:30
Speaker
19 tackles, no misses. Shut up.
01:27:35
Speaker
and scored and did what he did on the attack. Dude, go four turnovers one. He was a monster. He was a monster. If, if Michael Dykes doesn't score a hat trick, this kid's the player of the match easily.
01:27:49
Speaker
Although Stokes also had it. I was impressed with Stokes. I was like, yeah, is this the right James Stokes? Are we sure about this? Because I don't see the pile of trash that I usually see with his name on it. This is this is why I like James Stokes, because every so often you see this and it's like it's just one of those. He needs to make this happen consistently, because as you said, there's way too much of that pile of trash out there. But damn, it does help. I mean, yeah, he just fit right in with especially with both those winnings.
01:28:18
Speaker
having slightly different styles, but he worked well with both of them. And Arendelle came back too. And he didn't score a try. He got one touch. He didn't score with it, damn. He had seven carries. Wow, and he didn't score a try. Right. Everything he touched seems to turn to gold.
01:28:40
Speaker
It does. So yeah, that was nice. Even, even though he was, um, you know, mortal, he's still coming back from injury. So you got to give him a break. Yeah, right.
Episode Wrap-Up
01:28:51
Speaker
All right. Cool. All right. That's this one.
01:28:55
Speaker
Sorry, it went so long, but we had a lot to talk about six stations, all that stuff. We haven't been able to talk about it for a little while. I'm glad we did it on this one and not the previous two, because way worse, way worse. So I'll put time codes in this. So hopefully if you're listening, you can, you've seen, you saw them and found, found use of them. Um,
01:29:13
Speaker
fantasy rugby podcast at gmail.com. If you have any questions, if you're coming over to the fantasy corner, we'll see you there. If not, we appreciate you all for listening and your support. Enjoy the opening round of Six Nations. Go out there and enjoy it with your friends. Head to the pubs. We'll see you all soon. Have a good one, everyone. Later.