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Season 4- End of 2021 Special (Top 5 Moments & XV Of The Year)
29 Plays4 years ago
It's an end of the year pod special. If you are one of those unlucky souls that has nothing to do or is stuck at home, we hope this makes your night a little better. It's some end of the year superlatives from The Yanks, we have our Top 5 Rugby Moments Of The Year and of course we pick our own XV of the year, with some names that are not on many other's lists I'd wager.
Pop the fizzy stuff and ring in the new year with those American rugby knuckleheads!
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Transcript
Top Rugby Moments of the Year
00:00:08
Speaker
This is something that we've come to do at the end of each year. And we enjoyed it, I think. So we're going to do top five rugby moments of the year for Ben and myself, each of us. And we're also going to do a 15 of the year. So we'll start with top five.
00:00:26
Speaker
We'll just do each our top five at once so I'll let okay age before beauty as it were. All right, so go fry all the way through. Yeah, go for it. All right.
France's Undefeated Run and Ntamack's Escape
00:00:36
Speaker
My five is friend you know you mentioned France, and they're.
00:00:42
Speaker
not being much of a joke anymore. Well, they're they're going undefeated in the autumn internationals, including the clip that will be played forever of Roman and Tomács escape that led to the try after, you know, I think there was maybe a whistle in between, but that that just. Escape and exit out of out of his own in goal area. Yeah, that was, you know, French are, you know. They didn't go French once in the autumns.
00:01:11
Speaker
France won and was runner up, then Champions Cup, they came in second in six nations. France are looking extremely strong. So for them, yeah, but that automatic escape was my, obviously gotta be a top five moment.
Ireland Women vs. USA: Emotional Dominance
00:01:26
Speaker
Number four was the Ireland versus USA women, the Ireland team just coming out.
00:01:32
Speaker
guns blazing, ready to fight against everyone, including their own union. And US is the unfortunate sacrificial lambs. I don't know what team would have really stood up against Ireland that day. Yeah, they were so high on emotion that day. Right. So good for them.
00:01:53
Speaker
Uh, number three, um, the end of the super rugby trans Tasman, uh, final weekend, um, Sean Wainui scoring five tries versus the Warren ties. Uh, so that was, um, you know, bittersweet, obviously at this point. So, but certainly now, uh, a major moment for the year. Um,
00:02:20
Speaker
Okay, happier things.
Marcus Smith's Breakthrough Year
00:02:24
Speaker
Harlequin's and specifically Marcus Smith's like six to 10 week stretch over the summer. Just, you know, thrashing through the premiership, making his debut and for England, being awesome and making the Lions and really that that moment
00:02:42
Speaker
where they pulled him off the field and had to tell him in the hall. He's like, what the fuck? You're building me up. It's like, yeah, you're wearing it. You ran the wrong color jersey right now. Go wear red. Go back to your bags, man.
00:02:58
Speaker
So, and then my number one moment for the year.
James O'Connor's Last-Minute Victory
00:03:02
Speaker
I know it's hard to top that, but for me, that James O'Connor's 85th minute try to win the Super Rugby Australia title for the Red. Absolutely. What a fucking...
00:03:13
Speaker
just gasser of a match and what a way to finish that end of the season. So, you know, Australia had a strong year too, not so much how it ended, but a lot to look forward to for them and, you know, a try like that and a competition ending like that. Excellent.
00:03:32
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely fun. Okay, cool. So we're gonna have five different moments on this night. And I am so much so happy about that. Nice.
Boston Rugby's New England Triumph
00:03:40
Speaker
Alright, so number five for me is a bit of a selfish one. It's a local one. That is Boston Rugby, our club winning New England for the first time in a long time. Like long time. It's been it's been a painful rebuild for our club for a long effing time. Ben was a big part of it.
00:03:57
Speaker
But fuck, just to finally put silverware on the goddamn shelf and, you know, start spraying some champagne a little bit here and there was fan bloody tastic. That's a long road. So, yeah, hats off to the Boston boys. Number four.
00:04:14
Speaker
And for me, it's the United
USA Eagles' Performance at Twickenham
00:04:16
Speaker
States Eagles. And unfortunately, they had bad moments, but they had great moments, including their performance at Twickenham this summer, which they put on a pretty good show in that second half. And, you know, when you can get any pissed off, you did something probably pretty good.
00:04:30
Speaker
I was like, yes, boys, we didn't win, but fucking hell, we gave them all we all they could handle. And that was great. You know, and we had some we found some new talent in that in that game, too. So there's a lot of guys that I'm excited about for the United States. So that that was so great. And to, you know, I guess England be in front of the world with them was fantastic. I loved it.
Quade Cooper's Victory Over South Africa
00:04:55
Speaker
Number three, Quaid the King slaying the South African World Cup champions. Oh my and you know, everybody's just got this thing against Quaid Cooper and I get it to a point, but at the same time, how could you not just sit there and clap for the man when he
00:05:12
Speaker
was steering the ship and bringing down the spring box in in the rugby championship citizenship. Yeah, he's also got his citizenship finally. Right. Yeah, if that didn't do it. Yeah, I didn't understand. I was like, how's this man? This isn't didn't make any sense. So, yeah, quite the king. Number two.
Post-COVID Live Rugby in New England
00:05:34
Speaker
live professional rugby here in New England, experiencing it for the first season, which we were robbed of because of COVID. Fucking hell, that was fun. And they only lost one match here. Yeah. They lost one match here. Freaking New Orleans. Cam Dolan. Yeah. So yeah. And that was it just to have
00:05:58
Speaker
professional rugby to watch in person, you know, in the stands and be able to fucking yell, yell at people like Danny Tussitala, who was a great sport, by the way, while I was the most immense amount of shit I possibly could.
00:06:13
Speaker
Yeah, that was, man, couldn't have been more excited. Couldn't have been more excited for those games, especially those first couple. We just kind of got to be like, is this real? Is this happening? Is this happening? Yes. It was good. It was good too. So it's not, it was not like previous attempts at high level rugby in the US have come out with some pretty piss poor product on the pitch. And, um,
00:06:41
Speaker
No, MLR has not been that and the free jacks in their first real season. We're not embarrassing at all.
00:06:51
Speaker
So, yay. Yeah. Gotta love it. Good. Gotta love it. It's like, okay, I can be, I can be, I can take pride in this. This is getting good rugby that we're watching. So, um, and it'll get better. That's the best part. Like this is the start. Excellent. Let's go. Yeah. Well, we'll talk about what's going on with the free jacks when we get a little closer to MLR, but we're excited to talk about all that shows. Right. There's a lot going on with them, but we'll get to that in a minute. In a wee bit.
Harlequins' Premiership Comeback Led by Smith
00:07:17
Speaker
Um, number one, my number one moment, and it has a lot to do with Marcus Smith.
00:07:21
Speaker
But the miracle at Ashton Gate, and the comeback for the for the Holocaust that they perform, you and I and everybody else and their sister have written them off and said not they're fucked, they're done. Good job, friends, for getting this far. Right. No, no, no, no, no, not a chance.
00:07:41
Speaker
made just, you know, Marcus and Dom Brandt and Marlar and freaking Green and just made life miserable for everybody at Ashton Gate when they were able to make that comeback and put the nail in the coffin.
00:07:56
Speaker
Bears don't seem to have recovered. No, I'm not sure they have. I'm really not sure they have. So yes, that was to me, it stood out as because obviously they they rode that momentum into the following weekend and use it quite well to claim the permission title. So, yeah, good on all of them. That was fantastic. Those pink jerseys, man, they were good luck. They were. I don't know what to tell you. All right.
00:08:25
Speaker
our 15 of the year. All right.
Selecting the Rugby 15 of the Year
00:08:29
Speaker
There were decisions here. There were decisions here and none of them were made likely. I feel like mine. There were, yeah, there were just, you're right. Yes, there were. I feel like I'm fairly confident in mine though. I feel like I am too now. Absolutely. I think we'll have some different things here and there. Oh, I'm sure we will.
00:08:53
Speaker
I think we'll be well represented here. Loose head there, Mr. Prop. Ellis Genge. Everywhere you look, you know, he's here. He's there. He's every fucking way. Ellis Genge. Yeah. Yeah. Great year for the boy. Excellent. And he's he's really turned into a player that you want to play with and, you know, making headlines just by going but going home.
00:09:17
Speaker
um says a lot and and the way and how he treated his his future team this week that's the competitive spirit and the boy that's for sure you gotta love it yeah you gotta love it um so i had a feeling one of us was going to go with him so i went with win jones actually who also had a stellar year for both wales and the lions um certainly put into yeah i know the fictitious lines tour that didn't happen um
00:09:43
Speaker
Yeah, he's not the modern day prop in a lot of ways, but he's still a good prop that can do some of the new stuff, but definitely has got all the old school stuff for prop nailed down. And I think he's quite good. So I really admire him a lot. So I wanted to put him in there for his performance this year. I thought he was quite good. He's one of the better parts of the Welsh team for sure. I agree. That's a good call.
Kleena Maloney's Advocacy and Performance
00:10:08
Speaker
Two. And Hooker.
00:10:10
Speaker
Kleena Maloney, the Irish hooker who spoke out on the conditions and really was, you know, put herself out there and said, Hey, I thought it wasn't bullshit spreading the season right now. And fucking good honor that took took some serious ovaries right there. So yeah, and then, you know, backing up on the pitch. So yes, I love it. Definitely, definitely helped.
00:10:39
Speaker
change the game in Ireland. So yeah, she gets like great credit for that in this 15. Yeah. I hope she gets, yeah. I hope a lot of good things. I think a lot of good things are going to come from it, but you know, just like with whales, it's unfortunately going to be a painstaking process and you know, we have to just hold on and freaking cheer for them when they get the good shit and freaking start kicking down doors when the bad shit comes. Yep.
00:11:08
Speaker
Uh, my hooker was a man that has provided a spark for both his club and his country.
Sam Matavesi's Role for Northampton and Fiji
00:11:13
Speaker
And that's Sam Mattabasi.
00:11:15
Speaker
I really enjoyed watching him play for Saints. He's made that two-shirt his. There's no question about that now. When he got signed, I was like, oh, they got the, you know, they got one of the Matt Aracey brothers. Everybody was like, all right, that's interesting. And that too, that two-shirt his. Nobody's questioned that. And it's now Fiji, his shirt for Fiji, Fiji as well. And, you know, in the fall, he looked really good for them. So, yeah, love, love seeing him do this. He had one kind of harem scarum game where he was a little bit on the brain fart, but
00:11:45
Speaker
other than that, very good. Very good. So yeah, Sam Atabasi is my hooker for this year. Lots to consider on that category by the way. Yep. I mean, I went with a favorite. I had Cody Taylor in there. Yeah. And I considered Gus and Montoya. So yeah. Yeah. And Martian. That was the other one. I was like, wait a second. There was another one. You know, who else was on my list actually was you and Ash from
00:12:09
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, I briefly had him in my brain, too. Like he had because he had a hell of a last couple of months of this year. But that's you know, that's not to me, that's not enough. Not quite enough. Like, yeah, so deserves deserves a mention. Yeah, no, I think that's a that's an agreement there. At a tight head, they'd be really the the only respectable proposition is a prop after my own heart.
Sarah Bern's Try-Scoring Streak
00:12:40
Speaker
who just doesn't stop scoring tries at any level that this prop plays in. And she's 24. And all she does is smile the whole fucking time. So I got to go with Sarah Byrne. Burn. Yep. Yep. Yep. That's a good one. Yeah. She just demolishes. She demolished this fall. That's for sure. Tupo was up there because he was, he almost scored that try that aforementioned Red's title, but, um,
00:13:09
Speaker
No, I got to go with Sarah. I think she had a better year. I'm going to go with so I'm going with actually also one of the England contingent for Simon Milton. That is Shauna Brown.
Shaunagh Brown's Contributions to England
00:13:22
Speaker
All things considered, the icing on the cake was her performance in the final. Yeah. Or for her quince. You know, just and
00:13:32
Speaker
her after speech as well will live on forever. And I hope it inspires an entire generation of girls to play. You know, I really do. And I think it will. So, loads of credit to her. This is something that I'll live on for a long time, let alone her performance, but also that. So, yeah. And I really like her. I love her as a player. So, Shotta Brown is my tight-knit. Definitely.
00:13:56
Speaker
absolutely deserves a mention and I don't know if you saw but and Simi Pam was the is the Bristol area I think was it sports woman of the year I just saw it I think athlete of the year athlete of the year yeah yeah nicely done yeah to her too she'll get a phone call soon I have a feeling right front row union love it
Top Locks: Etzebeth and Itoje
00:14:21
Speaker
So four and five to me were just no question about it. I didn't like the five, but people to me, the theme about this one is that they're, you know, making their newsmakers, not just not just players. So four is obviously Maru Itoji because it has to be. Yeah, it does. Number five.
00:14:42
Speaker
Um, I have Eben Etsibeth. I do too. I had people like, cause just because people are taught, I don't think he's for, for a couple of things. One. Yeah. He was a mountain of a man and, and incredibly effective for his club. Uh, what they never opened up. Sorry. First club, first country. They needed him. And, um,
00:15:06
Speaker
Yeah, I don't think he's like one of the best locks in the world, but dude just balled out this year. So he really couldn't. It was like a Toge and that's about up there. And it's like, okay, those are the top two.
00:15:18
Speaker
argue me out of either of them. And I can't get you out of either one, honestly, because I mean, they're mine, too. So, yeah, we're in agreement on that one. So it's just really Maro being, you know, Maro. So, but yeah, it's about, you know, he's, he's one of a few, he's one of many that live in that position for South Africa, but he
00:15:41
Speaker
When you can set yourself apart from everybody else in South Africa at that position, you've probably done something all right. And he did. So give him the credit where it's due and just kind of live with it. That's how it goes. Number six.
Zoe Aldcroft: Player of the Year
00:15:59
Speaker
Yeah. Blindside. I mean, mine's on a traditional blindside, but he can. Oh, mine is a traditional blindside who is also the player of the year this year.
00:16:09
Speaker
So that pretty much narrows it down to Zoe Eldcroft. Oh, yes. She's quite good. She's pretty damn good. I mean, you think about she's women's player of the year. Despite being honest, she was also nominated with Poppy Cleo with all these other fucking stars on that England side. And yet everybody looks to Zoe as just the best overall player.
00:16:36
Speaker
Yeah. She does a lot in her game and it's really hard to argue when people are just like, yeah, she's the best. Like, okay. They're proper fucking sex. That's what matters really. Who can play lock?
00:16:52
Speaker
Yes, she's been in the lock a couple times. Right. To me, I like her as six. Right. Yeah. Well, let Abby Ward take care of the middle of the middle of the pack there. She's got that covered. My six is a favorite at my own heart. And that's already survey. Just, you know, there was a lot that went awry with New Zealand this year. We know that.
00:17:13
Speaker
But the guy never, never left the field with a full tank. Like it was always on E and that goes for both New Zealand and the Hurricanes. Yep. And he never leaves that field without having emptied the tank. So and he's all he he's got so much skill and ability that you just love it. You know, you just love it. And he can play all over the back row. So it's like it's he makes rugby fun to watch. And he got signed by Roc Nation.
00:17:39
Speaker
Yeah. Yes, he did. That's right. Like rugby players are becoming a thing, getting good representation, which means they'll get something like Rock Nation. They're going to make them visible. They're going to work on their visibility and their marketing. And that's rugby really means that. Yeah, definitely. I agree.
Michael Hooper's Influence for Australia
00:18:04
Speaker
Open side.
00:18:09
Speaker
There's a lot there's a lot to consider it open side, but I did want to have I got through all my list without an open side was the last one to to make the cut. And I realized it didn't have anybody representing Australia.
00:18:28
Speaker
not a bad one there. Yeah. And he was on my head too. You know, you know, I love this man. So, um, Michael, it's hard to handle. He's just, you can see the difference when he's not there because when he's there, you're like, Holy, Oh, there's Michael Hooper do it. Oh, there he is. There's Michael Hooper. Oh, wait, there he is again. It's always doing something.
00:18:49
Speaker
Yeah, name a day he's done something like he's not been busy. You got him on one hand. Right. And just a player that you always want a player like that on your team and to be that much of a difference maker at that level against the competition they play against too. It means a lot.
00:19:07
Speaker
Yeah, and he's got how many caps, he's how old? Like Jesus. Yeah, man's ridiculous.
Hamish Watson's Impact for Scotland
00:19:14
Speaker
Mine goes to a man that we all will secretly love and it's not just for his mullet, it's for his play. And the moment that the game that stands out to me is his performance at Twickenham against England and that is Hamish Watson.
00:19:31
Speaker
I love Hamish Watson. I mean, he's a little small, don't you think? I'm not getting hit by him today. I don't know about you. I don't know about you, but I don't want to line up for a hit against that guy. I'm good. Yeah. You're like, okay, I'm going down. I'm going down. Just don't hurt me.
00:19:49
Speaker
Yeah, the man is just a monster and rightfully got onto the tour this summer. And yeah, he's been a beast for Scotland. And what else can you possibly say against the man? Really? Like he's, and yeah, again, just rewind it to that
00:20:07
Speaker
to beating, you know, England at Twickenham in the Six Nations. Something that doesn't happen for Scotland ever. It doesn't. And he was a huge part of it. Huge part of it. Huge. Yeah, he's a proper seven, just like Michael Hooper. He's everywhere doing stuff. Yeah. You know, both the hard stuff and the fun stuff. Definitely. Got to love it. Definitely. Yeah. Love the, love the mish.
00:20:35
Speaker
Number eight. I'm going to let you I want to let you go first on this one. I mean, so there was I was
Poppy Cleall's Influence for England
00:20:45
Speaker
torn on this one. I was very torn. There were there were a couple of people I considered, but. I love I love her and she played so well for England and the six nations and was really the standout player for them for quite a bit, and I know she didn't win player of the year, but Poppy Cleo.
00:21:01
Speaker
Yeah. OK. That's a good that's a very good pick. Yeah. Very good. And she played quite well in the Saracen's team that didn't play super well in their final. So, yeah, she was probably one of the best things about that team, which, you know, considering how they performed was probably saying a lot. That is saying a lot. So my is also an England player.
Alex Dombrandt's Rise with Harlequins
00:21:28
Speaker
Now he is. This is someone, now he is, yes. This person was talked about so much that a club that he doesn't play for had to, and this is what really clinched it for me, a club that he doesn't play for put out a statement about why they didn't sign him.
00:21:51
Speaker
Like, yeah, when you have like that much buzz around, wait, Cardiff should have had him and they didn't. How did they how do you just let someone like that get away? And they're like, they were never going to get them. Like, that's why it happens. Shut up. It happens. Never going to get like they were forced to say we didn't sign Dom brand for a reason because of all the buzz that went around. And I mean, you know, just as we're going to get to in a I think two slots,
00:22:20
Speaker
Dombrandt is just like, he is a huge part of all of that that we've been talking about with Marcus Smith. Dombrandt has been right there and a huge part of it. And as we've seen even on the weekend, like the guy can just dominate a game when he wants to. I wish he decided that more often for my fantasy team. Okay. I shouldn't say he can do it when he wants to. He can do it when he gets the opportunity to. And he got multiple opportunities on the weekend.
00:22:49
Speaker
And should we can do with all of them? And he's just been a terror everywhere on the pitch. It's hard to, it's hard to imagine a better eight right now. There are, you know, there are some that are as good or, and maybe a little bit better, but damn, that's splitting hairs at this point. Yeah. Yeah. I think our nine is going to match.
Antoine Dupont's Scrum-Half Prowess
00:23:10
Speaker
I mean, you know, I went with one player of the year. So why wouldn't I go with the other or the other one? Yeah. Antoine Dupont. God damn. He's good. Like just if there's a if there's a player that's more fun, more fun, maybe as fun, but more fun to watch. I don't know who it is. I don't know who it is. And again, I'm I talked about how much I love watching this French team play at this level. And he is at the helm of why. Yeah. Or after the night. So it's like.
00:23:39
Speaker
How am I gonna pick against that? Like, wow, just wow. And obviously beating New Zealand just clinched it for me. I was like, yep, okay, done. And next. What didn't he win this year? Besides Six Nations. That was basically it. And they came in second.
00:23:58
Speaker
And it was a weird six nations anyway. So yeah. Okay, fine. DuPont. And fine. And I guess our tens will
Marcus Smith: Cementing a Top Player Status
00:24:07
Speaker
match too. How could they not? It's got to be Marcus Smith. Who else? You know, if, if, if, if you're nine, 10 of the year, isn't DuPont and Smith, what the fuck are you smoking? I don't know what you're watching. I don't know what you're watching. Yeah, it's probably good shit, but you know, it's really good shit. He's he's a, he's a, he's a world cup winner in so many ways. Like,
00:24:28
Speaker
This is one of those guys and I'll mention a few other guys that are coming up as a 10 when we get to the games, but like there aren't many like him. No, there really aren't. And to ignore that is stupid. Right. There are some players who are just blessed and you don't know, you know, and it's not that it's not that simple. It's like, oh, it's just that, you know, they have it or whatever. He's making it himself. He's making it happen.
00:24:55
Speaker
He's using the talent he's been given, too. We know the spaces that are out there. There's plenty of those. He's not wasting it. He's using every bit. You'll love it. Alright, 11. He's making everyone around him better, too, so it's just... 11.
Jasmine Joyce and the Rise of Women's Rugby
00:25:17
Speaker
When you are so good that you get basically
00:25:25
Speaker
your home country has to actually professionalize your sport a little bit. That says a lot about how good you are. Yes, it does. So Jazz Joyce. Jazz Joyce. I love it. I love it. Yep. Yep. She's she's I was I remember watching her at the Olympics. I'm like, shit, they have Jazz Joyce. This game's over already. But yeah, it's one of those, you know, like you talk about with DuPont.
00:25:54
Speaker
And Marcus Smith, you know, and I'm pretty much all these people. These are the people that you make you want to watch rugby. You're like, oh, this person's on the pitch. I am sitting down and not being moved for, you know, until there's a half time or final whistle. Yeah.
00:26:09
Speaker
Yeah, you forget you forget that you were supposed to get up and pee five minutes ago, right? No, no, no, I got it. I got to stick around. I'll hold this. I'll hold this. I'll burst my I'll burst one of my kidneys before I get up. Yeah, definitely.
Harry Barlow's Promise for Future Caps
00:26:22
Speaker
So my 11 is a local favorite and it is the man known as the wheelbarrow.
00:26:27
Speaker
the wheelbarrow and is Harry Barlow and you talk about he's young, he's good and he's exciting to watch and he's ours too which makes me more excited. He's already gotten a phone call from Gary Gold like I'm so excited to see what this kid does because
00:26:43
Speaker
He was a tri-machine and he had limited action to a point last season as well. So with another year of maturity, another year of working with a lot of the same guys, it looks like coming through here. I cannot wait to see what this kid does. You know, was he 19?
00:26:58
Speaker
Oh, yeah, like some some he's a he's a baby and he is already pretty good. I'm excited to see him play again for the free jacks. I hope he wears another red, white and blue shirt at some point. Yeah, love watching him last year and certainly made me made me pay attention to him very quickly. Scrappy to like, you know, there's yeah, I got a little Philly to me because, you know, I may have lived in Boston for for a number of years now, but
00:27:26
Speaker
You got to have that scrappy factor, especially when you're you're, you know, as we as as the wheelbarrow is, but he does not back down. He's a freaking little, little rat terrier. Like, yeah, he's yeah, he's single minded and we'll get the job done. So love him. Love him. All right, inside.
Andre Esterhuizen's Versatility at 12
00:27:51
Speaker
struggled with this one. Um, and it, it's like, maybe I'm just going with them every other pick at this point, but, uh, I Andre Esther Hazen, just the ability to do so much from the 12 position as, um, both a battering Ram and, um, a dummy runner and, uh, you know, the offload, you know, bust the line and then offload it to for, for just try after try. Um,
00:28:22
Speaker
He's so much more well rounded than a lot of 12s who are just the battering Rams so correct. I, I thoroughly enjoy he's another one who I if. Yeah, I want to see what he's going to do in this batch. I'll sit down and watch is around for 12s, there's you know.
00:28:38
Speaker
not many 12s that I would sit down and watch. Correct. Correct. Well, I had to move mine from 13 to 12 because the 13 was not moving. And he's somebody that deserves recognition and probably won't get a ton. And that's Nicholas Freitas, who was the Uruguayan center that
00:28:56
Speaker
made a huge impact against the United States and getting them qualified as first from the US, causing problems left and right, both in Uruguay and in the US, mostly in the Uruguay match, the match in Uruguay, but also here too. Yeah, he was a huge problem in that midfield for them and deserves a mention for sure.
00:29:18
Speaker
Have you considered fuck that guy? I did, but also at the same time, if I'm on fuck that guy, he was probably pretty good, so. Well, yes, perfect counterpoint, but still.
00:29:34
Speaker
Listen, we both know the US was terrible in both those matches. So yeah, I know, but no, he was, he was good. Yeah. And he was rather good in it. So, um, usually plays 13 slither minutes long because I wasn't moving my 13. And I was like, you know, somebody, somebody between your grandchildren, I need to mention in this thing at least because they both performed way above expectations in those workout qualifiers. So good on them. Good on Freitas. I'm going to give him a nod right here at the center position. So who's your 13 then?
Damian de Allende's Midfield Strength
00:30:05
Speaker
DDA. Okay. There aren't many 13s out there that
00:30:12
Speaker
do as much as he does. And that obviously having, um, as, as his partner is helpful. Um, but yeah, there's a lot that he does that I like. And it's really hard for me to find at this point, a flaw in his game. And it's like, and that was actually my, yeah, he was, he, I was, I was struggling between him and Esther Hazen for 12 early. Okay. Um, somebody else with 13. Yeah.
00:30:41
Speaker
Uh, cause that was my, my Martinez, as you mentioned, look on your arm. Okay. Um, yeah. Doesn't get the ball enough, but that's not his fault. That's just the way they play. Correct. Um, but every time he does something beautiful happens and yeah. And to me, DDA and Esther Hayes and I.
00:30:58
Speaker
I feel like Esther Hazen did more for his team at the club level. That's really what put it over and he doesn't get the opportunity to play at 12 in the spring box for reasons that are beyond me. I think him and DDA would make a just like, if those are your 12s, you know, you're going against one of the two of them.
00:31:20
Speaker
fuck it. If you only have to deal with one of them, it's like, okay, well, if we just, you know, shut down, if, you know, maybe, maybe last week, DDA will have, you know, a bunch of carries, maybe he needs a bit of a break, but fuck, now we got to deal with estrogens. So, but not, not yet. So maybe, maybe, maybe. All right. Um, 14. So my 14, um, the,
James Lowe's Defending Against New Zealand
00:31:48
Speaker
Defensive winger position is going to go to a guy whose defense was completely underrated all year, but then he let them know. He let his haters know. After the match against New Zealand that they know his defenses is world class. This guy went up against Will Jordan, Damien Panno, LRZ. I think a couple of them scored tries, but not on his watch. It wasn't his responsibility where they were.
00:32:16
Speaker
he basically shut people down. And so James Lowe was my defensive winger of the year. Nice. Nice. Yep. That's a good pick too. Good. Glad we got different representation. So I have a guy that is not always going to play 14, but definitely plays wing and needs a mention in this year.
Duhan van der Merwe: A Must-Watch Player
00:32:35
Speaker
And again, another big part of Scotland's resurgent this year. And that's the man we call Duhan van der Merwe. Like, yeah, just
00:32:46
Speaker
He's not watch. He's one of those. Again, you talk about guys that you want to you see him and you're like, I'm sitting and I'm not moving. So somebody give me a piss pot because it's not happening. Right. I mean, we'll talk about it. But he did this this this past weekend. Right. Damn. If it wasn't a. All right. They've got a bottle. Oh, no, they do not like he's a guy who defies. You doesn't matter if you have him defended, you don't have him defended. Yeah. Well, I watch that do play every time.
00:33:15
Speaker
Um, and then fullback.
Will Jordan: Offensive Fullback Talent
00:33:18
Speaker
Well, speaking of guys who just do not defend, um, I think this guy has scored like two or three tries in the time we've been talking somehow, even though he's not in the season. Um, so my, but my 15, uh, will Jordan. Yeah. We need to see more of this guy. Good Lord. Yeah. I don't think, I think he's my only he's box office.
00:33:39
Speaker
I think he's my only Kiwi on the list this year. So yeah, I only have one Kiwi as well. So, you know, it's not him. Yes. The dude is box office. He needs to play more. There's a certain winger that I'm not approved. I don't approve of that. It's very much go away from New Zealand. So hopefully that happens. Thank you. Joe Schmidt, somebody get on the home with Joe Schmidt, please. He doesn't like those types of people, unless I checked. So which is good.
00:34:05
Speaker
Yeah. So yeah, I the dude is absolutely amazing to watch.
Tyrone Green's Call-Up Worthiness
00:34:11
Speaker
And every time he touches the ball, he's he's worth standing up for because something good probably happened. But I couldn't resist my my 15 is a guy that stormed onto the scene kind of end of the year last season for the premiership and replaced a guy that was a living legend.
00:34:34
Speaker
in Mike Brown and has continued on with such performances since then and needs a South African call up like, need a bar, like get on the phone right now. Like you need him. LaRue sucks. Colin Tyrone Green.
00:34:52
Speaker
watch the magic happen. Like, right. The guy is unbelievable. And it's never the first guy that gets him either. It's rarely the first guy that gets him. So in, yeah, just like an attack and quite good at scrambling. Like, did you see the friggin mark he had this past this past week? Like, that was like, I was like, that is brilliant. Like, oh, my God, most people would fuck that up for it. Looks like he was doing that for a long break.
00:35:19
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Like what was it? League of their own style. I'll just do a split while I catch this ball. Like no big deal. Right. Like no big deal. No big deal. So yeah. Tyrone Green absolutely deserves a call up soon. Right. He's been so much fun to watch since he's got to the stoop. Love it.
00:35:42
Speaker
Do you pick a coach? Yes. Yeah. Who's your coach? My coach of the year is the Harlequins group of Mattson, Evans, Jones, Flannery, and even Guzzi, who deserves a little bit of a nod. Yeah, a little bit of a nod because he tried to get in and you know, this is what he wanted. It just wasn't.
00:36:01
Speaker
it wasn't clicking. So he gets some love too. The way they handled things in his absence. And that's kind of what happened. You pulled him out and everybody had to pull together and do a little bit more and they did. And those guys just, can you say that
00:36:19
Speaker
No, you can't. It's impossible to say that they could get any more out of the team that they've got. It's yeah, Madison's done a pretty good job since he's come over. So yeah, but obviously the team before that was great. I mean, I just piled on with everybody else and I went with Simon Middleton.
00:36:36
Speaker
Yeah. First ever women's coach to win coach of the year. Like England were unbeaten this year and they thrashed like 90% of the teams they played. So I mean, yeah, absolutely. No, nope.
00:36:50
Speaker
No argument out of me on that one. Speaks to what he's able to do, speaks to where the the game for the English women is at. A lot of things speak to it, but he's listen, we have all known coaches that have a boatload of talents in front of them and fuck it up. We've all seen it. It's not a new thing. It's a new thing. Exactly. So, yeah, Simon Middleton, he's done a brilliant job with the with those women and
00:37:17
Speaker
hands down World Cup favorites going into the World Cup coming up this year. I don't think anybody would question that a little bit. So yeah, that was good. That'll do it for our end of the year special. Thank you very much for listening. Thank you very much for being awesome. Everybody out there. Happy 2022. See you in the new year.