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Season 2- Episode 40-Finally The Fantasy Returns (Super Rugby Aotearoa Round 9 & Super Rugby AU Round 6)
31 Plays5 years ago
It's another episode of your favorite American rugby dopes! Just a heads up, you might want to drink a beer with us on this one, it's a rather lengthy one. In this episode we take a look at recent additions to our New England Free Jacks and yes we finally get to talk about rugby in the Northern Hemisphere too! We do a restart preview (12:30-32:40 in case you want to jump to or over it) and also have a look at some new faces in new places. We also, have a look at all the action going on in the Super Rugby comps, including a couple of surprise results in Super Rugby AU. Finally, we get to bang of the rust for start or sit. Kick em back, relax, crack one and enjoy!
Ask us questions via Twitter: Jarrod- jdyke8man & Ben- admrablsnackbar. 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. Once again, we are back at with the #AskTFRY Friday's on twitter before the kickoff of the first match in the Premiership.
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Transcript
Rugby Season Returns
00:00:08
Speaker
Hey, everybody. Welcome back. It is the fans here at the Yanks. My name is Jared Dyke. I'm Ben Glaser. Let's do this. Oh, man, this is going to be a fun week. So much fun. It's coming back. Finally, we're.
00:00:20
Speaker
We're back to having more rugby than we can probably handle, but that's a good thing. As football season dwindles, rugby season comes calling. So I'm pretty happy about this. We're going to have some contact sports in August and September and whatnot. Hooray. Yeah. We're going to be able to start with that over here, it seems.
00:00:40
Speaker
Yeah, I'm ready. I'm ready for this thing.
Podcast Promotion
00:00:45
Speaker
Let's pop these. Oh, yes, sir. Everybody make sure that you find this on your favorite podcast app for the likes of Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, that works. Download us, rate us, review us, subscribe, whatever it is that tickles your fancy with our podcasts. Go ahead and do it. We'd love to hear reviews if you have any thoughts.
00:01:11
Speaker
Yeah. So in this email, if you want, if you don't feel like putting it out there in the public forum, that's okay too. That is perfectly fine. Yeah. And especially as you, as, as it becomes closer to 10 lineup time, um, we'll be, uh, Oh yeah. We'll, we'll put our, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll be on, we'll be into that in a little bit, but yeah. And we'll be available and all that. So yeah. Bring back the, uh, the old hashtag. Um,
Fantasy Rugby Excitement
00:01:35
Speaker
All right, and then obviously, hey, speaking of which, we want to thank our guys at the Rugby Mag. This is going to be so much fun to have them back in the fold and getting back into this fantasy game. This is so much fun. I mean, I've been waiting to get back into fantasy, but especially with these guys, it's been too long to not do this, so I'm really excited to get into this. We'll talk a little bit about previewing that and a little bit with the Premiership Restart preview,
00:02:05
Speaker
Thanks a lot to Ed and the guys over there. They are awesome. And if you aren't playing the rugby magazine, you're doing it wrong. That's all I know. Obviously, and thanks to our friend George. Go check his page out for some easy pickups, especially for those of you that
00:02:25
Speaker
Ben and I were just discussing off record guys that you lost. So there's definitely gonna be some replacements that have now come in that you need to consider. So George's website is obviously a great one. So a fancy Ruby geek, check him out, make sure that you buy the man a coffee, a beer, whatever it is that you think you're buying him, go ahead and buy it for him because it's right there on the website, just a little button there. So hook him up and give him a, and I think there's a place to give him a review. So go ahead and do that as well.
00:02:52
Speaker
He's a good dude and he provides really good information. So if you don't want to listen to us, go read him at the very least. And he's, I didn't even see it. He's such a, he's such a gentleman. He put us on a podcast list with like the house to rugby and rugby pod. I'm like, you sure? Did you get that right, George? Is he tipping in my stash again?
00:03:15
Speaker
Thanks buddy, we love you. Yeah, I appreciate it. I hadn't read that blog. I was like, did I miss this one? Is this like one of the ones that went over my head? I guess so. But yeah, so we like George and we'll probably have him back when the restart hits here and we get into full flow.
00:03:32
Speaker
And then obviously we've talked about it before, we'll keep talking about it until we're blue on the face.
Support for Black Lives Matter
00:03:38
Speaker
Black Lives Matter, it's not going away. We're here for the long haul. I think we had a good discussion about it last week with people standing, people kneeling, whatever. I think people need to understand that we can't have a double standard in this. If we're going to call somebody out for it, then we have to be willing to be on the other side of it as well and just be like, all right,
00:04:02
Speaker
It's not about the flag, so he can kneel. Well, it's not about Black Lives Matter, so these guys can stand. As long as they're showing their support and doing other things, really the feeling is just the gesture.
00:04:15
Speaker
unlike a certain standard from recent days.
Rugby's Inclusivity Celebrated
00:04:21
Speaker
We don't speak his name, but there was a recent league match where there was a... He's not liked in either code. Nobody likes him. Nobody likes him. He thinks he's doing this great bit of work for God and he doesn't realize,
00:04:41
Speaker
Do you understand that what you interpret as God's work has made you the biggest piece of shit in the world? I mean, that's, yeah. Maybe not the biggest, but you're going into like top 10 for sure. Yeah, no, he's not the worst. He's definitely going into top 10. Let's put it that way. But yeah, it's unfortunate to see in a sport that's so...
00:05:00
Speaker
Generally so inclusive. Um, I feel like I will and always will feel as though, you know, rugby has a place for everybody. You're welcome here. Um, no matter what you bring to the table, you bring something to the table. Um, and that, that needs to be celebrated. Um, I mean, when you have a guy the size of,
00:05:18
Speaker
Dan Robson, the size, and then a guy the size of Will Skelton that can be on the same field at the same time and contribute greatly in different ways. Yeah, it's a sport for all, you know? Yeah. And so we don't, we don't get, you know, the only people we exclude are people who are intolerant of that. So, and I'm okay with that, you know, you tolerate intolerance and things go bad. Yeah, things go sideways. So there's, yeah.
00:05:45
Speaker
The person in question in Australia was right to get rid of him. And yeah, it's too bad. It's too bad. The whole thing kind of bankrupted them and put them into a real financial situation because they were in the right. Let's put it, we all know that, you know, whether you, I breach my, you know, they, they breach my contract. Actually, no, you breach your contract. You fucking dumb ass. But you know, the core arbitration just took too long to figure out. So they had to settle. Cause if it had gone on the, the length that would have been required to get to the right answer, which I think it would have been,
00:06:16
Speaker
I think we all know what the answer would have been, then they would have just been, RA would have been belly up, and that would not have been dead. So that sucks, but it is where it is.
Free Jacks Player Signings
00:06:27
Speaker
Some things that we didn't cover, and I feel really, really stupid that we didn't cover this, player movement, free jack signings. Yeah. Karen and Tembu from the Sharks. Doogie Fife is coming over from Scotland. And then, so those are two great additions to what will be, I believe, already a quality team.
00:06:46
Speaker
Um, like so, you know, we got Kenny, we got Poland, hopefully he's coming back. That looks like a real, he looked a really good Scrum halfer. And that Kiwi Trio back in the back. Yeah, I'll take either one of them if they want to come back. You know, if only one comes back, whatever, I'll take it. Um, so I don't blame them. Um, but yeah, these will be, uh, two really quality signs for
00:07:06
Speaker
for the, for the free jacks here and the coach, the new coach, we haven't talked too extensively about that. No, we hit on it. That was it. I want to bring one thing to the table with that, which is, um, I saw, I saw an interview with him recently. They, they posted, you know, what he,
00:07:22
Speaker
his mindset, all that. And one of the things, if you're not from New England as we are, you don't know because there's different rugby style everywhere. New England is very old school, very Exeter rugby. We just smash you and eventually we break through and score.
00:07:42
Speaker
Um, and that's it's not even fair to to exit her because they do it so much better than we do um, but it's it's like heavily based in defense and and smash mouth rugby, which Is not the way it's played anymore. Um and and He came in and he said, you know
00:08:01
Speaker
Defense has done a lot of places, but if all you do is defend, even if you defend it but you don't score, it's still a zero-zero game, or you're still gonna give up points. So we're gonna focus on attacking. We're gonna measure ourselves on the scoreboard, and if you can outscore us, great. But we're gonna bring that heat, and that's what I like to see that, because real good rugby, when you watch good rugby, it's...
00:08:24
Speaker
It is high scoring and that's not indicative. It's not like a foot of american football game where if you see like a 40 to 30 score That means that oh, there was no defense. It was just it was just you know, nothing there Whereas if you watch a 40 to 30 rugby match you saw some good shit. Yeah, like good rugby not just like
00:08:44
Speaker
Crappy. Oh, we managed you don't score 40 points by accident. Like that's a That's you being good. It's I feel like rugby is a pretty good measure that scoreboard's a good measure in general of how well you played
00:08:56
Speaker
Yeah, so afforded a 30 game. Hey you you were 10 points better than the other team. Good job not you know, rather than a You know 15 to 5 game where? Right you couldn't even score 15 fucking points what the fuck so yeah I Like that attitude because and they also put butts in the seats too, which yes you also have to like
00:09:22
Speaker
you know, anybody at this point in, especially, you know, in New England area, anybody who plays really tough defense can win. Anybody's game is anybody's game at that point. So it's like, if you bring that to the table, at least you're like, Hey, we're going to try to, we're going to try to do some things with the ball and move
Focus on Attacking Rugby
00:09:35
Speaker
it around on you. Um, and, and that'll lead to points that yeah, you might lose, but at least you'll have fun. And then by the time, but eventually, you know, you do that over time and you'll be the best team in the area.
00:09:48
Speaker
Yeah, you get, you can get defense right with a little bit of hard work. Yeah. A little bit of work and desire and communication. You get those three things. You got your defense. Um, attack is so is, is a lot more complex. And if you, if all you do is focus on defense, your attack's going to be garbage.
00:10:04
Speaker
100%, yep, no doubt. And then, hey, we can't not mention him. Front of the podcast, tight leaders, we signed with New England. I think it would have taken a whole lot to shake him from the New England area, but certainly glad that he's back. His skills and leadership, his skills on the field are just really something that were missed when he was out for the brief time the free jacks were playing.
00:10:31
Speaker
You know, it shows, it shows. I mean, God, that match that we watched before New England was an official team, oh my God, with him and just that foot is quite educated of his. Yes, yeah. I mean, you know, he was never, I don't think he's really going anywhere. No, I didn't think he was either.
00:10:56
Speaker
He's not gonna mean he's not like he's gonna be starting the premiership anytime soon or in the pro 14 so Or even you know crack that kind of roster and he's good But he's you know that they're gonna you know, they're gonna save that kind of spot for a developmental play or not not a
00:11:14
Speaker
mid-career guy. Right. So yeah, this is like the perfect spot for him and he'll do really well here and it'll give him, you know, an excellent platform. So, I mean, and we love him here. So why would he go anywhere else? Yes, we do. We love him. You know, though, I know San Diego worse had to lose him when he left there. So, but they, they seem to be okay. So they're just fine out there. I mean, granted, you know, San Diego, Boston,
00:11:43
Speaker
I don't know, man. I don't know how you pick Boston, but we're glad he's here. Yeah, that's all right with us. Um, they wouldn't love him. I don't know. He's the, they do get quite a bit of sun in, in San Diego. Not so much tags thing. We've, we've, we've hung out with a man. Uh, he's, uh,
00:12:05
Speaker
He's as tasty as we are, which is why we like him here. Definitely. He gets to hang out here. He's definitely in the right spot in terms of the skin tone, that's for sure. You fit right in, Ty. You fit right in, buddy. Mark Flyhalf missed the game. Why? He's got a really bad sunburn. Yeah, that's not good.
00:12:28
Speaker
That would not be great. Okay, let's get into
Premiership Rugby Restart
00:12:32
Speaker
it. Premiership restart. We won't go too deep into game by game, but obviously we need to have a look.
00:12:42
Speaker
We got nine more games to get through this, or yeah, nine more games to get through here. So it's gonna be, you know, it's a blitz, obviously. We know we have some midweek fixtures and the culmination will be the end of October, which is, you know, gonna line up pretty well with a lot of things it sounds like. So looking forward to it, obviously. Currently sitting in our playoff,
00:13:05
Speaker
It's the Chiefs, the Sharks, the Bristol, and the Saints. And the Saints are only in there by two points. So they're just hanging on by a thread with Woss. And Woss and Bath really have a shot at taking them down.
00:13:21
Speaker
They kind of do, but I mean, you look at the losses from both of those teams and it's hard to see them gaining much ground. Yeah, no, but I think, and then Europe is just like Champions Cup is wide open. Like Wasp, Bath, Quinn's, Gloucester, Irish, they're all right there within spitting distance. So, you know, with nine games, yeah.
00:13:46
Speaker
Yeah, way way off. Sorry guys No, I mean they're gonna if honestly if Lester want a shot at it They're gonna have to run the table and be perfect and I I don't see that happening They will they will slip here and there for sure
00:14:02
Speaker
looking at their roster moves, they're not really into trying to make that move. Yeah, it'll be, it's really, it's really a tough ask, you know, you get, and we know, we know the faults with their team, you know, if you can get them on the back foot, then they have no idea what to do after that. So they have a tough time with it. So there's, there's that. Yeah. I mean, uh, in terms of, in terms of the playoff,
00:14:29
Speaker
I don't see, I don't see another team besides those four getting in that are sitting at right now. Um, no, I don't think that top four is going to change because really who else is going to, I don't see, I don't see them breaking it, although it could happen, but Quinn's maybe they're not that far out. We'll see. Yeah, no, they're not. I mean, with nine games to go, nobody's completely out of it, but you have to consider who can keep pace.
00:14:55
Speaker
Yeah. I just don't, I'm not sure given the, you know, the, the, the player movements, we don't even know what the hell is going to happen. So, uh, like we don't even know what teams are going to show up. I mean, the Quinn's got a bunch of, actually the Quinn's got some, some decent help. They did get some decent help. It's just a question of, is that gonna, are they going to be able to fit in?
00:15:15
Speaker
Mm, I mean, yeah, and they had a couple of losses too, so hopefully they're, yeah, well, yeah, that remains to be seen, I suppose. I mean, I think they'll be a tough out. I think, I mean, if loss played the way they played against the Saracens before the break, they are gonna be a tough ask.
00:15:38
Speaker
but I don't know which was team's going to show up now. Cause they only had their, their new coach. I don't remember who it was once die young enough. Um, they only had him for a couple of games. Um, I assume he's still going to be the guy cause he, he won one and lost one or one bolt, uh, whatever it was. Um, I don't know if he's what, what was team was going to show up cause they, whatever the momentum they got from that is gone now, obviously. So yeah, that's up in the air. We'll see. Um,
00:16:09
Speaker
Yeah, those are big ones. So let's just have a look on. Yeah, I guess I'm being a little harsh on the wasps. Although, I mean, they did lose Ashley Johnson. About time. About time. Come on. We all know. In the same car. A car did a- A car is a loss. That's a loss. That is definitely a loss in my book.
00:16:31
Speaker
Yeah, because they didn't replace him. That's the only reason why it's a loss. I don't think he's difficult to replace. He's a solid player, but not like irreplaceable. It's just tough if you don't bring anybody in to replace him. 100%. And I know they believe in... I know it's a crazy, crazy take to take there.
00:16:51
Speaker
Well, I think they believe heavily in the Willis boys. So that could be part of it. Hey, yeah. I mean, Jack Willis was amazing before this thing went into shutdown. So really hard to knock him. And then even his brother has definitely showed that he might be just as good. So that might be the answer there. I don't know. And they still have, don't they still have shields?
00:17:14
Speaker
Yes. And then they like barely took him off the, off the bench. Right. Um, so I mean that take that toy out for a ride. Yeah. So there you go. Maybe, maybe they already have cars replacement already there. Perhaps. Um, throw, throw shields back there at eight and right. Yeah. And I'm looking at the final round match-ups. Um,
00:17:37
Speaker
Yeah, Bathgar have a hard-ass great route if they're kind of on the edge because they're playing Saracens. Say I'll kind of have a cake walk to play in Worcester. So they'll, they'll clinch whatever they can clinch at that point. If they haven't yet. Wasps is playing Exeter. Exeter might be all set, all set. So that might be to wasp advantage. So especially with all the matches getting compacted together,
00:18:04
Speaker
You know, I think I just gonna look look to rest guy so that could again play to an advantage for the wash So we'll see how that goes Gloucester and Northampton play each other on the final day. That's
00:18:15
Speaker
that's not advantage for either one of those teams. Sure. That'll be hopefully whoever is chasing whatever they're chasing at that point is clinched and they're done. They don't need to do much more. Um, and then Quinn's are playing less or so that might be up for them. So we'll see. Uh, it'll be, yeah, I still don't see how the top four change much.
00:18:36
Speaker
I guess the first week will kind of be a big teller, but right now, don't know how it changes.
00:18:46
Speaker
So it'll be, but it's going to be fun to actually watch it happen now instead of talking about it. You know, finally. Yeah. Yeah. Let's just get to it. Yeah. Okay. Excuse me. Um, faces in new places. Um, let's, let's kind of, uh, I don't want to hit everybody, but, um, you know, we have,
Rugby Player Transfers
00:19:08
Speaker
You know, bath, the notable one is probably Ben Spencer who's there now. And I don't see how he doesn't start mostly games. So if you're looking for a scrum half replacement, yeah. And Spencer is either within your budget or on your, on the waiver wire, depending on what format you're looking at, uh, snap him up. Probably should have been on your team already anyway, but, um,
00:19:31
Speaker
Like, yeah, this, this, this really helps them. Cause now there's not really much competition for him. Definitely isn't he's, and he's going to play probably most weeks. So, um, yeah. And he's two 44 on TRM. Not bad. Not bad. Not bad at all. Uh, Bristol, lots of names to talk about, but let's talk about the three, probably the three biggest ones that we can talk about. Sinclair, Rod, Rodra and Ben Earl. Um,
00:19:54
Speaker
Sinclair obviously is gonna just make that front row even more dynamic. So if you have the Bristol front row, hang the hell onto them. Rodradra is dirt cheap compared to his skill level at 276. Wow, that's it? Yeah, that's it. And then Ben Earl is Ben Earl. And if you haven't been paying attention before the lockdown.
00:20:11
Speaker
and you don't know who Ben Earl is, then welcome back to Earth. It's 2020. We're in the middle of the COVID pandemic, and Ben Earl is amazing. So there you go. Go get him. He's at 251, I think. So, yeah. Yeah. Big ones there. Right. Yeah. And then Exeter, the two names that... Earl, yeah. Oh, yeah, he's 252. Yep. 252, close enough. Sorry, the last time I checked, he's obviously going up. He's going to be what? You think he's probably going to be there 7?
00:20:41
Speaker
Uh, yeah. Cause it'll, if I had to predict the, that, that back row, it'd be Louis to a Hughes and him. Yeah. So Dan Thomas is going to make a good Joe at that and probably we'll get playing time somewhere in there and probably we'll need to get a start or two. Um, but if I, if I'm picking my best back row, it's probably those three. Um, I'll disagree. Yeah. Um, Exeter, the two names that everybody, the one named everybody knows is there now, uh, Mr. Gray.
00:21:11
Speaker
Big ol' lock from Scotland, Johnny Gray. That's all right. Not bad, not bad at all. He's an expensive buy, but he does get the points. So if you have it in your budget and need a lock, Gray is not a bad joke, because he's gonna make a lot of tackles. He's very good at that. And Fakundo Cordero, who's obviously Santi's brother, only at 137.
00:21:39
Speaker
Is he worth the he might be worth a gamble. It's a dark throw. That's a dark throw. That's a total dark throw. The thing is, you got to be careful with those guys who are in the low hundreds
Harlequins New Signings
00:21:48
Speaker
because once you get them. They're really hard to cut because they don't get you any. It's not like can be like, oh, well, so I'll cut
00:21:54
Speaker
you know, Cordero, cause I, I don't need him anymore, but he doesn't get you anything. So it's, it's a, he's one that I, you know, I, I, I watch him if he gets, you know, if he has a big game, then buy him for one 50. Right now he's basically free, but the problem is you're locked in. Um, yeah, even my, my, my George Furbank, I can finally get rid of him because we have all these drops. There's like a couple that I'm looking around. I'm like, yes, I can get rid of this guy and get rid of that guy.
00:22:23
Speaker
Yeah, I just I'm hesitant to get involved with players who are too low in the salary scale because it just makes them uncuttable. There's nothing I mean, there's nothing wrong with the sit and wait with somebody that cheap either because you'll still get a barely inexpensive exactly, even if they have a big game. So
00:22:39
Speaker
Nothing wrong with that. Um, down to the luster. Johnny May is obviously returned back to Kings home. Um, so if you have him already, just prepare for more tries. That's all. Cause that's all he does. Um, Jack Singleton's probably going to be the starting hooker of this team. So because they lost my Ray, right? So hang on to that. Um, log, log on, will Apollo, whatever. Um, alamano, um, there's no, there's no most hurt. There's no grubler. So alamano might be your replacement for one of those guys. If you had them, um,
00:23:07
Speaker
Big Argentinian lock. Ed Slater's obviously there as well still. I'm assuming he's healthy. He's not a bad go either. He gets lineups and puts the work in. So again, if you had a Gloucester lock and it needs to be a Gloucester lock, either one of them is probably fine. Nothing wrong with that. You know, Alamayo's only $2.25, so it's not like he's, you know, super expensive by any means. Quinn's.
00:23:33
Speaker
They got, well, he's not a new face, but he's a new face returning. Joe, Joe Marchant's back from a stint in New Zealand. He left like right before this all happened anyway. Yeah. Cause he played like five games to the blues and now he's back. So there's that in the center again, Esther Hazen. Yeah. Oh, he's 180. Wow. There is no reason not to go get Andre Astra Hazen right now.
00:24:04
Speaker
No, no, not that for that Mount. Yeah. You're, you're probably pretty good. And talk about dark throws, Tyrone green. I personally really liked this guy. Um, I liked what he did with the lions. Um, every time he played, he did well, so he might not play every game. He's only one 57 probably worth a shot. You know, he'll be an outside back in your, in your FRD league. So go ahead and maybe just throw that, throw that little dart out there as well.
00:24:30
Speaker
Um, Lester, obviously the big name Nadello he's three 66. It's a lot, but you'll probably, you know, you might get the return on it though. That's the thing. Cause he's going to make a lot of people miss. Yeah. But is he going to get the ball? Who's giving it to him? Yeah, that might be the only problem. Um, whatever it takes to him is going to probably regret it. So that's all I know. Um, Murray, Murray Volo, very cheap, very cheap outside back. I see him taking, uh, the departed by on his role almost immediately.
00:25:00
Speaker
Now, are they going to get Van Vic right after the Super Rugby season or is he not coming over till the beginning of next year? I don't know. All I know is he's gone, so they might get him, they might not. I don't know.
00:25:17
Speaker
If he, if he is there and he come, uh, he's on the list right now. He's on TRM. So he's there. Yeah. I think he's probably coming in. Yeah. So he might be coming in. That's probably going to have a week or two off, but yeah. So they're going to have an Adolo and then the account in the wing and nobody to get them the ball. Yeah. Well, I, you know, the problem I suppose. Yeah. Cause well, they still have, yeah, they're getting, you know, Harry Potter. Maybe the wizard will get them the ball.
00:25:47
Speaker
Uh-huh. That's gonna we'll see if that happens. Tom Homer goes back. I'll make that joke. Yeah, no Tom Homer goes back to London Irish. She's a he's the big addition over there. Not bad 242
00:26:04
Speaker
They play some decent rugby in as far as how expansive they are all the hassle cons didn't become good By accident Ben loaders still a decent option as well So if Homer's the one that get gets picked either in the back three or whatever Not a bad. No, I think you can do really well as you know with those wings and then you know That's actually a good question though is is Voldemort Back, I don't know if he's healthy
00:26:31
Speaker
That's the other thing. That might be the other question. I don't know.
Worcester's Team Dynamics
00:26:34
Speaker
He should not be named. If you don't know who I'm talking about, I'm sure you can look up who's played 10 in fullback for them in recent weeks. And I mean, this year I should say, and this season. Before he got hurt. Yeah, before he got hurt. And you can figure that one out. Northampton, biggest edition over there is a big one. Literally. It's a huge one. He's 300 on TRM. It's a lot.
00:27:00
Speaker
but he can play flanker, he can play, I don't know if they'll deploy him at flanker, but even if they stick him in the second row next to Courtney Laws, that's gonna be a tough second row to play against either way. That's gonna be a ridiculous second row to play against. And then, yeah, and the line outs are just easy money right there. Yeah, no kidding. So, is there still Mikey Heywood that's the hooker there? Yeah. And maybe consider grabbing him. Yep. That might be worth a shot there.
00:27:29
Speaker
Um, sale, uh, obviously the biggest name there is Tui. Um, he's three 40. He's not that good in either. If he, he's better for FRD purposes only because you're not spending a whole lot on him. If you don't have him already, you're spending your waiver wire pick.
00:27:46
Speaker
Yeah. Um, and that's it. And that's not a bad thing to throw in there. You know, and he's still not bad in FRD. It's just here. I mean, he didn't do well last year in this format. He didn't do well in the world cup format. He doesn't do, he didn't do, he doesn't do well in the six nations. It's just, this isn't his format. No, but he's also being, he's not really being used to, you know, that's, that's a, yeah, he's not being used, right? That that's ultimately what that, that tells me. Um, cause he, he can tear it up. We saw him, um,
00:28:15
Speaker
like the like right after he came back from injury uh before you know before the world cup i remember i don't remember if it was 2019 or still 2018 and he looked incredibly mobile he was breaking through through gaps and like not through not with power but with speed yes um and then looking off like doing doing a lot of good stuff and then you see him at that club and then the way they used him in in the world cup but it just wasn't the same um maybe maybe sale can can get
00:28:44
Speaker
that out of him again. No, I wouldn't. I mean, they, if they go with their, their two distributor system with McGinty and Dupree, I bet you that there's some space they're going to use. So that'll be interesting. And they really did have a gap at 13.
00:29:00
Speaker
Yeah. It was hard to really, you know, the James brothers are both very good, but it's just hard to, hard to justify, but I'm putting, putting them at 13 and you know, we know JBR. It wasn't working. So yeah. Johnson van Rensburg was not, was not, was not great. He had his spurts, but just still not, not as good as you need them. Um,
00:29:20
Speaker
So yeah, really for Saracens, because they're obviously going down, they're trying to shed some weight. Swinson's a decent add at 208, not bad. He'll probably play second row. If you need a Saracens second row, that's not gonna break the bank. Kapoku's probably your guy.
00:29:36
Speaker
Obviously, no Cruz, no Skelton, but yeah, Kuboku could be a good one for you. Yeah, he could. That could be it. That was fine as well. Was, there's only one big name, Mills. He's 267.
00:29:51
Speaker
If Jacob Umaga and Jimmy Gopf have continued to open up gaps in the midfield, Mills will have room on that outside edge, on that corner, and he's gonna make them pay. So it could be worth it. Yeah, I just- It's not too bad. My hesitance with Wooster Bex, former Wooster Bex, maybe they can get something out of him that Wooster couldn't
00:30:16
Speaker
You know, I'm, you know, I'm not sure they, there were a lot of Worcester tends to, to fuck up tries that they should score. That's really what I'm like. Maybe he's a good individual player, but taken as, as a whole, his team, his unit wasn't doing their jobs. So, um, I'm not sure if that's, uh, maybe was maybe was we'll fix that.
00:30:44
Speaker
Right. Maybe a whole fit in better there. And it's just the fact that Wooster, whatever they're doing with their backs isn't working right. When you get that many blind breaks and you're not scoring tries, something's wrong. So I'm hesitant on Mills just because of that. Yep. Yeah, not bad. And speaking of Wooster, I mean, this is a guy that couldn't
00:31:06
Speaker
That was a great player last year for Exeter and somehow, someway, like the man couldn't get time. Matt Kovacic.
00:31:16
Speaker
Like what the heck? And he comes to a team where they have a pretty set six, seven and eight. Well, I think he's, I think just to ignore him is going to be stupid though. Like you're going to, I agree. Like it's just, you can put him in, you can stick him in eight. Listen, I like GJ. I like Dupree. Yeah. But he will do way better than both of those guys. And the story, you know, you can put either one of them at six or mom at six. You're going to put Ted Hill at seven. There's no, there's no question about that. Um,
00:31:44
Speaker
Yeah. Stick, stick Mac. He, he showed he could play eight last year. So definitely, definitely would be the way to go. Right.
00:31:53
Speaker
You know, if you, if mama's kind of, Marco mama's kind of your leader on that, then yeah, just stick that right there. There you go. Yeah. Problem solved. You're up. I'm just looking at, yeah. Hill Lewis and, and, and Cornell Dupree did, did a pretty good job. So I wasn't sure. But again, you have Kvesse. I, it's just a question of who, who Worcester likes, you know, better if it's Kvessek or Dupree. And then they signed Kvessek for a reason.
00:32:17
Speaker
Yeah. They didn't just go and sign him to ride the bench. If they did, then, well, I know why roosters are so terrible. Right. And he signed knowing what they have. So it's, you know, he could have, there are, there are, there are potential other options for him. So. Correct. It does mean a lot that he went there. Yeah. I think so too. All right.
Surprising Super Rugby AU Results
00:32:39
Speaker
We'll get more into the fancy stuff.
00:32:41
Speaker
After in a little bit, but let's go visit some actual match match action fuck's sake Let's start in super rugby AU Rebels 30 Brumby's 12 or toss 45 of Reds 12 These are not the results that you and I were expecting that's for sure and I think we can say that for a lot of people honestly and
00:33:04
Speaker
likely just if you'd watch the first five rounds of this competition. I'm not sure you expected either one of those, but let's go to the, let's go to the rebels match. Um, just, you know, they, they, they steamrolled the, the Brumby's more or less just it took control. The Brumby's it felt like, you know, that, that slippery ball with the weather. Yeah. Well, it was, it was worse than that because the rebels, you know, right off the opening kickoff couldn't quite, uh,
00:33:33
Speaker
They couldn't handle the ball, but that was really their biggest handling error just because of the rain. You know, they're most impactful. They kind of, you know, sorted themselves out then. The Brumbies just never did. They couldn't hold on to the ball. They couldn't hold on to Rebels.
00:33:52
Speaker
They weren't holding on to anything, which is what helped the rebels build up that lead. You're not making tackles and you can't hold on to the ball. It's not gonna go well for you. Nope, definitely not. I mean, we'll play another fun game after we talk about the other match, but I mean, Matt Samoa continues to quit himself quite well.
00:34:16
Speaker
It's really hard to ignore how good he's played for this team. Deegan, very good. Very good for Canvas spot start out of nowhere.
00:34:31
Speaker
I can't say that I was expecting to see him in the lineup, but yeah, it was, yeah, Andrew Deacon just like, I thought he played really well. I thought he made some pretty good decisions. He certainly didn't need the T. I think the fact that he didn't have to take the T still because Tumu was at 12 probably helped him a little bit in his brain.
00:34:55
Speaker
taking that pressure off yourself and just being like, Oh, he's got the kicks. All I have to worry about is playing 10 and getting this ball moving. That's all I have to worry about. So that makes life a little easier. Yeah. And especially again, given the conditions that's that, that was, uh, maybe, and maybe that's what the idea behind it was, was, you know, have,
00:35:13
Speaker
have two 10 really two tens out there because You're gonna need somebody who can handle the ball if you if you know if you have your your you know Your second first receiver is uh, you know stone hands McGee It's not gonna go it's not gonna go well, no yeah, what about the was it the hard way the
00:35:33
Speaker
the Wilken tribe from coast to coast. Great. Slippery old ball comes back again. I went back and tried to field it. Was it Muirhead? I think it was. I think it was Muirhead. It just squirted all over the place. There was nothing that he could do. He was like, oh, shit. He was the one chasing him, but yeah. I was like, oh, that's not gonna go well.
00:35:59
Speaker
Yeah. It was, you know, you could kind of see the frustration on all the Brumby's face and Cusack's face kind of set it all for the first half when he got that yellow card. So. Right. And I think that was, that was pretty much the end because not so much, but the yellow card really right, you know, right around halftime. That's one of those.
00:36:23
Speaker
matches where you say, all right, look, they scored 27 on us in the first half. We can come back and do this. There's nothing that says we can't do the same to them. Um, except when you're a man down for, for like 10 of those 10 of the, of the second 40 there, put yourself in too much of a hole. And, um, and that was just, you know,
00:36:42
Speaker
the kind of shit that happens in a match in conditions like that. Eventually, you know, you're, you're on the back foot, you're on the back foot. It's going to lead to a card at that level. Um, so it was kind of a, kind of something that was coming. I think, um, not necessarily right there, but just in general, when you're not doing well, um, and can't defend and can't, uh,
00:37:08
Speaker
and can't play with the ball. Eventually you're going to keep your discipline is going to go out the window. Yeah. And I mean, yeah. And I mean, you look at the rebels were finding the trial line quite often, you know, and that was the one thing that you could say about it. Like the, that like, if you want to beat the Brumbies at their own game, you got to find that trial line a bunch and you know, four to two.
00:37:31
Speaker
says they did it pretty well despite the fact that it was a shitty ball. So get on the Rebels.
00:37:39
Speaker
And it could have been worse. They, they, they almost had to try with that right off of that, uh, the bread off of the yellow card. Like it could have been, could have been much worse. Yes, it could have been opportunities. Yeah. Rees-Hodge obviously stood up well and put himself in a double for the situation. It was just, it was a, you know, it was a slippery ball that the rebels figured out how to handle it quicker. And Rumbi Brumbi's just basically never did. Yeah. That's how it ended. Yep. 30 to 12 rebels and keeps us kept this thing interesting at the very least.
00:38:07
Speaker
But the door was open and the Reds fell before they could even take a step towards it basically. Wow, this was a, I mean, I think it's just scored another try. This was a bad match. This was a bad match. There haven't been many bad, like bad matches since we had this restart. This was a bad match.
00:38:31
Speaker
Like the Reds, I can imagine the freaking absolute talking they got from Brad Thorne in the locker room afterwards. Like maybe it's definitely at halftime, but like afterwards, maybe he was out of energy by then, hopefully for their sake. Just like, I'm out of energy, go fuck yourself guys, just go home. I mean, God, that was not good. Well, I mean, if you're Jake Gordon, it was a pretty good match. Yes, wow.
00:38:59
Speaker
comes back and gets a hat trick and his first start since you know since getting hurt I mean you had a hat trick less than 30 minutes into the match yes yeah I was like oh this is gonna be one of those types of matches okay and he did it in the right in the way that you expect the scrum have to score in terms of the inside ball and the support lines I'm like this he's got everything right in terms of how he got him you know yes he got the
00:39:21
Speaker
He kind of got the, yeah, he got, you know, that, that tap in more or less is what it would be in like hockey or soccer, but yeah. But hey, that's a, he's running in those spots. So that's the, yeah, he ran a given go with Harrison. So that's a, you know, he helped set himself up.
00:39:39
Speaker
Um, you know, finished it looking pretty, but I, you know, I, you got to, yeah, but you do have to love that, you know, to actually, no, I'm sorry. All three were classics. Crumb have tries that inside the support line. Um, and then a little bit of ball play and the quick tap.
00:39:54
Speaker
Like that's yes. Like if you're, I love seeing scrum have to do quick taps when they can like that and just, just get yourself over. Like it's a free, free money taken. Um, you know, I don't, I, I don't like forwards being like, all right, let's just gather up a second. Go, you know, let's, let's, let's gather. Let's gather. All right. Now we're going to tap it. Cause the defense is like, uh, we know what you're doing. Dumbass. But yeah, the quick tap, right. You know, as soon as it's called you're right over the mark, just go for it. Yeah.
00:40:24
Speaker
Absolutely. Correct. Yeah, I agree. I agree with that one. Um, I mean, I liked the Jack Dempsey is wedgie. I can't remember who you did it to. I don't remember. It might've been Blythe. They knew what they were doing too. He's just like, listen, you dick, come on. My butt already hurts. He's like, yeah, maybe I should have done that, but it was fun.
00:40:50
Speaker
but did you die? No, you didn't. My team did. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. They were already dead at that point. Good Lord. How acrobatic was freaking Newsom on his tribe. My goodness. They were like, Oh yeah, we have to touch, touch and go. I'm like, I don't think you have a touch. Check touch. He's in.
00:41:07
Speaker
he was clearly in i was like that i think they just wanted to look at it again maybe wait a minute we were officiating look guys just look right there look right up there yeah let me see this again because i i kind of would just enjoy this yeah
00:41:22
Speaker
Oh, I'm sorry. I mean, I want to check to make sure he's in play. Yeah, he's in play. You want to, what again? Oh, we need to check and make sure he's a touching goal. Oh, okay. No, that was, that was good. That's great. It was a great one. That was, and then he, was it him that almost had one end up putting it down on the line? Um, maybe I'm crossing my games here. Yeah. Yeah. But really good stuff. Harrison, the Harrison's conversions.
00:41:49
Speaker
he was missing he couldn't miss no that kid couldn't miss I was like so I'm looking like I looked at the scoreline afterwards I'm like was it really wow this kid was on fire so good on him but you know the one the one guy I have
00:42:09
Speaker
Personally, I have a bit of a feeling for, because I didn't think he played that terribly, but he ended up on a really shitty team was O'Connor. He played his balls off. He did. He was giving it his all. He was trying everything. You could see it in him. He's just like, all right, this hasn't worked yet. Let's try this. Or this hasn't worked. He's trying everything.
00:42:28
Speaker
And, you know, he got his due, he got to try at least. Yeah, good. And he deserved it. It was well-earned. But, fuck's sake, you know, you feel bad for a guy like that that's playing on a team that's playing terribly and he's playing his ass off and looks good doing it, but the rest of the team is just not helping him out at all. That sounds like Lachlan Bashir.
00:42:51
Speaker
Yeah, kinda was, kinda was, yeah. So, Waratas get the better of their rival Reds, 45-12, and this competition is still alive, obviously this playoff and all that stuff, but...
00:43:06
Speaker
The the red stuff I didn't do them. Are they having a playoff in an AR? Okay, good. It's gonna be it's gonna be first get to buy and two and three two and three play a Semi-final play in whatever you want to call it. Okay. Well, well the first seed waits and then they'll play the final good I believe they actually wherever there is
00:43:26
Speaker
Yeah, a little bit of a postseason. I'm like this commie BS that out here I was doing. Oh, we played our games. That's it. Well, okay. All right, cool. That's it. I mean, you know that you know, the rest of New Zealand's like, can we
00:43:41
Speaker
Do we do a playoff? Are you sure? Right. You know what would be great right about now? More New Zealand rugby. I'd be alright with it. Be alright with it. Let's go to it.
Chiefs' Struggles in Super Rugby
00:43:52
Speaker
So over to Super Rugby Atero of the penultimate week. Hurricanes 31, Chiefs 18. Where's my dollar? Crusaders 32, Highlanders 22. We'll go the Hurricanes and Chiefs first because I'm sure Ben has a few thoughts and prayers here.
00:44:10
Speaker
I'm just glad it's over. Let me tell you something. So I've been thinking about this and like the Chiefs season can be summed up by Damien McKenzie, looking up at the posts, having the crowd give him a little bit of shit and he smiles at them all cheekily and then he misses the fucking kit.
00:44:34
Speaker
That's the C that we're smart. We're good. We can do all this stuff. And then you fucking miss because you can't and you're not like they're they're just bad. And as soon as Bashir wasn't playing, I saw the line. I was like, Oh, you gave up. I was like, Oh, they gave up. I mean, for the sake, I hope he had a reason to miss this match. And this was not a a a Warren Gatlin decision.
00:45:00
Speaker
because that just screams stupidity to me. I'm not sure what would constitute a good Warren Gatlin decision anymore these days. I know, I don't know if there is one. Yeah, it was just never, they were never in the match. So it was never really like,
00:45:21
Speaker
I mean, you know, at least with, you know, even with the crusaders, they were still kind of in it. You didn't think they were going to win, but you thought maybe, maybe something cool could happen. Uh, with this match, it was like right from the start. This is not, they're not really that interested. And I'm sure Sam Kane getting knocked, knocked, we're knocking himself silly on, you know, on, on Jordy. Didn't really help. That didn't help at all. Um, but yeah, they're just not good. I mean, I'm kind of, I'm,
00:45:51
Speaker
I'm starting to wonder if Damien McKenzie ever was good or if he just kind of got away with some things that he can't get away with now anymore and he doesn't know how to change it up. I think he's been good. It's hard to say he wasn't good. This is a bad year for him. I will give the man the
00:46:12
Speaker
the benefit of the doubt because he has done it for many years before this, this, he was even doing it before. Yeah. I'm just wondering if it was just, you know, he was just coasting on natural ability and didn't learn anything. And now that I don't, I think it's, is he's slipping a little bit and he, every decision he makes is a bad one. Like he didn't make, there was never a time where I'm like, Oh my God, thank God, Damien McKenzie has the ball. That's, that's not good. That's not his game. Um,
00:46:42
Speaker
So that's, that's why I'm wondering. It was never like, okay, he'll do something good with it. It was okay. Let's see how he's going to fuck this one up. And usually he did like, so it's, it's hard. I'm struggling with it. There's certain players who, who do really well until all of a sudden they can't just coast on their physical ability. It becomes a mental game and they're just not prepared for it. I'm kind of wondering if that's him.
00:47:06
Speaker
Yeah. It's again, I'll give him, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt until, you know, he has, he strings together a couple of bad years in a row in which case we might be on something. Yeah. Um, I mean, can we go the other side of the ball at least? Couldn't talk with, with, you know, we've some, I've been harping on Curry if he's hair. And in this match, he went with the head gear for a half.
00:47:28
Speaker
for a half. And then he, so he's, he's switching it up mid game.
Hurricanes vs. Chiefs
00:47:31
Speaker
This guy with his hair game. I never know what he did. What career if he's showing up? He did. He did resign for the club too. So he's going to be at least there for I think two more years. So more hairstyles. He's going to be hanging around.
00:47:45
Speaker
No, no, no, I'm up a no problem. Peter, my agenda, stand yourself up, sir, and take a fucking bow. He is. Yeah, he's playing very well in this in this competition. I mean, do an uncle proud for sure. Definitely do an uncle proud. Yeah. Great, great game. He he he looks every bit the part of a good center that plays for New Zealand. You know, so we'll see what what his future looks like. I'm excited for him.
00:48:14
Speaker
You know, it's funny. We were talking, I was talking about it. Like, you know, people don't get into, here's, here's the funny thing because they have the, the, the lower provincial competitions in New Zealand. If you get to a simple rugby team and you're like 19 or 20, there's usually something going on with you in terms positively. Um, Jordy Barrett was one of those exceptions and he is,
00:48:37
Speaker
He's now coming to fruition. Brothers John, he's playing for the Blues, and really he's taking the opportunity. And I'm not saying that he was in Bowdoin Bet's shadow, but what I'm saying is he's taking this as an opportunity to rise up and show.
00:48:51
Speaker
we don't need Bowdoin, I'm here. And he really has done a pretty damn good job in my opinion. Wow. Is it weird that I expected this to happen for him? I mean, no, because you look at the bloodline, it's at least gonna give you an indicator. Yeah, but it's also like there's from a talent perspective and just overall skills, they're very similar as far as what they can do.
00:49:19
Speaker
So it's one of those like, it's great to have two barrets on the field. But if you can only have one, one's still probably okay. Yeah. I mean, I don't think Jordy has the, um,
00:49:37
Speaker
You know, he's not going to be winning player of the year anytime soon. Um, and that's no disrespect to him because fucking, but Bowdoin was, had an unreal season for him. So it's not that Jordy can't do it. It's that it's like, man, he's going to have to have an unreal season of his own. Um, he can. So he has all the talent. I mean, he's got a little bit of a leg.
00:50:00
Speaker
Yeah. Fucking horse leg, man. And if, you know, if we, if we can also, you know, we talked, I talked about the chiefs, uh,
Highlanders vs. Crusaders
00:50:10
Speaker
season there, what their image of the season is with the whole DMACC smiling and missing the kick. I got to say for both the hurricanes and the blues, do you know what my moment of the year would be? What's that? It would be Dane Cole's scoring that fucking booking of a try on the blues and then Bowdoin getting caught up in the celebration.
00:50:34
Speaker
Oh yeah, that's true. That is true. I mean, the canes just, they just rolled and Colsey, you know, we haven't talked about him yet, but he's gone. He's been excellent. He's been unbelievable. Yeah, he's been excellent.
00:50:47
Speaker
back certainly back to the form that we would expect or we have expected from him. Absolutely. Yeah. No, this was missing last year, really for the hurricanes and definitely a double showed. Can we talk about the already severe dummy?
00:51:05
Speaker
I'm going to tell you this much right now. Nobody bought that dummy. Nobody. I mean, I mean, it's hysterical, but especially he's doing it on fucking
00:51:20
Speaker
Brad Webber, I'm sorry. No You are running over Brad Webber I'm over everybody knows it Brad Webber knows what's happening Yes, please throw that pass so I don't have to tackle you. Yeah, please Man, you know, it's we talked about Finlay Christie last week and you know having to sit behind TJ Paranar and
00:51:45
Speaker
I don't think people understand how good Jamie Booth was for the Sun Wolves. And he showed it in this competition. I believe it was Billy Proctor, he ended up setting up. But I mean, the scoots on this dude are real. This kid moves. And to just, you have to, because he does like to run that taxi line. So if you don't respect it, he's taking it.
00:52:08
Speaker
He's definitely made some, some teams pay. So, uh, you know, Jamie Booth again, another guy that's, you know, he's stuck behind a really good scrum half. And if he got another opportunity, I wouldn't blame him for taking it. Um, you're just living in the wrong time of scrum halves for right now. If you're playing in New Zealand, you need to either play for, um, the blues or you need to play for
00:52:35
Speaker
Who else? The Crusaders. But the Crusaders are kind of locked into theirs as well. So it's tough. So yeah, I mean, this is the wrong era to grow up as a scrum half and dealing with Weber and Smith and TJ. It's like, these are guys that are world-class and to have three of them playing in the same country is just like really shitty luck. If you're playing, if you're like, I want to be a scrum half. I don't know. Good luck. You're not playing for the All Blacks anytime soon. Unless you're those three guys, you are not playing.
00:53:04
Speaker
It's the thing like they might need, you know, starting to, they might be starting to look for a new scrum half. I'm sure they'll start to look towards the future. So if you're like, if you're a young and then you probably have a shot, but you better be like 17, 18 right now. Otherwise these guys are still, these guys are still fairly a decent age, all three of them. So, um, certainly I would say the three of them are going to be the ones to unseat, um, on the, on an all box squad in terms of scrum halves, half backs, whatever you want to call it.
00:53:34
Speaker
Let's go over to Orange Theory Stadium in Christchurch. Can the Highlanders keep it alive? The answer is no. They gave it a damn good go, but nope, just wasn't gonna happen. So, Crusaders, 32 Highlanders, 22. I thought they had a chance. They definitely had a chance, and there's no doubt about that. And I was excited to at least keep it alive for another week, and unfortunately, it did not happen.
00:54:03
Speaker
But I mean, yeah, I mean, hounders played their balls off. Yoani at 10 made a huge difference, in my opinion. Yeah, he did. Not to knock on Hunt, and he's been very good. But I don't remember what the try was, the cutout pass that came from Yoani on one of them. I was like, that is a fucking pass.
00:54:21
Speaker
And I don't remember who it was on, but it was a great pass. Just skipped three guys and got it all the way to the wing. It was a phenomenal pass. And I was like, this is why he's that good. This is why he belongs at 10. And Hunt did really well at 15, right? Yeah, no, I thought that was a good move. That was fine. Another distributor there. Go ahead, do it.
00:54:42
Speaker
Go ahead, do it. Especially because you know, you're not going to get into a kicking contest with, with the Crusaders and they're back, they're back three. So it's like, all right, well, we don't, you don't need a, they're not, they're not big on like just kicking it to kick it. So you don't need like a, a 15 back there who's just a fetcher. Um, you want, you want to, someone who can be that distributor.
00:55:04
Speaker
Yeah. The Highlanders finally sat your guy Gregory. I was like, Oh, all right. Finally. Yeah. And it paid off with the record getting over. So, Oh yeah. How about this? For, for, you know, we're watching, um, a tri scored and all eyes are on several Reese and he's not the one with the ball. Like as soon as new rec, he broke that, you know, he's, he's, he got that intercept and he's gone. Hmm.
00:55:31
Speaker
Well, he may be gone because he's like, come flying up right behind him. He's like, Oh shit. Uh, cause he, they showed it. He looked on the inside and he said, Oh no, I got a scoot. He looked at once he got his eyes are back around the other side. I was like, Oh, run, run, run. You better go. He's not fucking around. Yeah, that, that was a, that was a great try. And, and just, yeah, the, the watching that foot race was, was a hell of a lot of fun.
00:55:59
Speaker
Go, go, go, go. Very, very unusual to see, like I said, re-losing a foot race like that. Not very often does that happen. No. I do want to point out. And Ioani, you aforementioned Ioani, kisses it off the upright. Oh yeah, just glances it off the, I was like, ooh, that's the right side of the upright to catch. Yeah. I do want to point out two more guys for the Highlanders before we go into what ended up being a fairly
00:56:26
Speaker
A fairly comfortable win for the Crusaders in the end. Josh Mackay saves two tries. Pure effort, pure effort on the kid. And I like the kid anyway, but you know, pure effort to, especially that Bryn Hall one where Bryn Hall, all he has to do is fucking fall in and he gets him and stops him. I was like, that is just all effort. No, no quit on the guy. And we talked about him last weekend, you know, this is gonna make all black selection hard. I think Fauzi was in attendance.
00:56:55
Speaker
Brazil just, you know, he got the quick try off the bat, but he continues to just show that I can play for the all blacks again. His defense was what was outstanding. Yeah. Um, I, I want to see him mate. I mean, I want to, it doesn't, but that fuck do I matter? Oh, I want to see him do more on an attack. Really? Um, yeah, that, that, that try was, was good. That was set up by, uh, Tompkins and ran a hell of a blockers line. So that was like, he just cleared out all the inside support basically.
00:57:25
Speaker
Opened it wide up and all you know, all Frizzell had to do is get it over right
00:57:31
Speaker
And I had the coach in me, I'm looking at it, and I didn't like the way he extended his arm in contact in the tri-zone. Right. Because that just can get stripped. Some other defender comes in and smacks the ball instead of hitting you. And you're like, shit. All he had to do was fall. He just had to fall on the ball rather than put it out. Because he was already over by the time he had contact. He hit contact. They tackled him, I think, in the tri-zone before he could get it down. Yeah, he got a little bit of that clarity to go with him. Yeah.
00:58:00
Speaker
I was just a little bit like, I'd like to see him do better with, with, with making a little bit of a smarter decision there on attack. But I can't, his defense was unbelievable. His, his physicality. Yeah. He is a tough bugger. He is a tough, tough bugger. Um, let's go on the other side of the ball. The guys that were wearing red, that eventually won and won super rugby at a row. Um,
00:58:26
Speaker
It's really, the debate has been up there for a long time and it'll continue to rage.
Richie Mo'unga's Standout Performance
00:58:32
Speaker
I don't care. Mwanga's gotta be your 10 if you're the All Blacks.
00:58:36
Speaker
He's so good. He's so fucking good. He's got another thing about him, and it's not something I can put my finger on right now. He's just got it, you know? And I'm not saying Barrett doesn't, but Mwanga, you can just see it. He knows when he needs to make a difference, and somehow, someway, he finds a way to do it. And it's just really like... Well, he makes the right decision. He makes fantastic passes when he's looking to pass, and when he...
00:59:04
Speaker
decides it's his turn to take a run. Boy, does he do somebody out. Right. And, you know, look, even look at their loss. He, you know, take a boy is kicking, whatever. It was a tough kick to make. But he still got them the try that gave him a shot at freaking keeping the thing alive. Like, and because he decided, he just decided that he was going to
00:59:26
Speaker
get this thing back to potentially even like that's what he does and when you have somebody that can do that, it's just special and you want them to run the show. Yeah, so in this case, yes, he is your all blacks 10.
00:59:38
Speaker
is Bowden Barrett at 15, your best option probably not, which means he's probably coming off the bench, which is terrifying to think about. So, you know, that in itself is terrifying to think about it. The rest of the world needs to be scared of this all black scene. As if they aren't already. I mean, if they weren't already, they should be because the worst part is when you're fine, when they're finally done with Malonga, when it's time for him to move on from being the 10,
01:00:04
Speaker
There's there's joshuani. I mean, oh, yeah, could he like as you said like he could not have looked any more mawanga like if he Unless he was wearing my longest Jersey being my longer like right put a wig on We're seeing is that the other present in the future of that of that ten jersey on the black ten Jersey
01:00:26
Speaker
Bowdoin, I still think Bowdoin can, he can do, he can play 15 and should, and then slot in to 10 when it's time to play longer. Yeah, not outside the normal possibility. I mean, he's done that before with a great 10, so. Yeah, I think that, I don't think you can keep both Bowdoin and Moonga, I don't think you can, if you can put them both on the field, why wouldn't you? Yeah, it's not necessarily a bad idea, but.
01:00:57
Speaker
I was disappointed. Tomkinson lit up Goodhue, but it didn't fix his hair. No. Goodhue had a bad game. I have to say Goodhue had a very bad game, which is very, you know, he seemed to be getting stood up and run over, which is not Jack Goodhue by any means whatsoever.
01:01:17
Speaker
You made some good passes, though. I thought he distributed really well. And this is what you're saying. Nice things about Jack Goodhue. So take it for what it's worth. I thought he did all right. Yeah, as far as what I see in him in terms of a 12 and his ability to just be that battering ram when need be. Yes, he has the distributor in him. That's why he's a 12 and that's why he can play for the All Blacks.
01:01:40
Speaker
But it's just, yeah, the dude was getting, he got punished. That's for sure. He definitely got punished a couple of times and it was really shocking to see that from him. I was like, did he just, does that, is that good? Yeah, that's good. That's the mullet. That's good. He was like, holy shit. How did that happen?
01:01:57
Speaker
Let's talk about George Bridge and then the thing that surrounded it, which was the CEO Tompkinson yellow card. I'm okay with the yellow card. I thought the wisdom kind of prevailed on that one and that was okay, which was really good to see. It also gives me a little bit more.
01:02:15
Speaker
There was that, and then who was the one in the previous match? Oh, was it Wainui that jumped or Stevenson that jumped in? Oh, jumped in the tackle. I think it was Frazier or Dolman, whoever it was that decided it was nothing because the dumbass jumped. I was like, yeah, there's nothing Jordy could have done. He was already going into that when the dumbass jumped. That's your fault. But yeah, and again, I thought this was, this definitely had the potential for a win. The high shot on the, yeah, when he braced himself, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:02:46
Speaker
I'm okay with that decision. He leaned into him. You can't, you can't lean in. That's the thing. Like if you get, if you get, that's, that's your job is you're putting your body on the line and you're not attacking the other team, especially if it's a prop, you get run over by the prop, you suck it up like socks, but that's, that's the way it's got to be. And I don't, you know, especially if, you know,
01:03:06
Speaker
going high on a prop like that. I'm going to take that a little personally. Um, but also just because of the situation, it's like, you kind of, he got lazy and decided to protect himself at the expense of the other team's players safety. And that's, yeah, no, you, you, you go sit for 10 minutes. Yeah. And he said, forget, um, I, you know, it wasn't malicious or nasty or anything like that. So red was not something in my brain. Hopefully all Jager is okay. Um,
01:03:32
Speaker
I think it seems like he had a thumbs up on that. He gave the crowd. So great. Um, but surrounding it were two pretty decent tries from George bridge pretty decent. All right. Two minutes. Wow. I mean, just, I was like, you know, I thought it was a replay. I thought it was a replay. The second one I was like, does that, nope, that's, that's, that's a second try. Yeah. And that, that, that was the flood gate. That was the end. So that was a shit.
01:04:00
Speaker
But so I mean it was like you can only hold them for so long and you got you know You got that 60 minute mark and that's when he started scoring tries and it's like well That's the crusaders time to so that didn't help them at all at all. Um, so Well, we're not gonna talk about the the crusaders their first try. Um For that mawanga finished. Oh, yeah the little like
01:04:24
Speaker
First off, I mean, we talked about Milwaukee quite a bit. But the structure of that was just fantastic. They're throwing off loads, but the guys are in position. They're making eye contact before they're throwing passes that are normally, you know, you tell your players not to throw so much, but only because they're not making that eye contact. They're just like, I think you should have the ball now.
01:04:44
Speaker
I was like, no, I thought I was going to rock. And, and, and, you know, eventually somebody, but yeah, but they had, it seemed like they were communicating the whole time. And then the, uh, that, that skip pass out to Reese. Yeah.
01:05:00
Speaker
Yeah, not bad. Not bad. And then after that, that's it. Once, once he gets the ball and he's behind the defense, um, you, you know, somebody in red scoring. So yeah, really tough to stop him, you know, and the terrifying thing you gotta die. Um, yeah.
01:05:17
Speaker
Um, the really terrifying thing is they have guys like, you know, have really used has been hurt the whole year. Um, Brett Cameron didn't play much this year and he's very talented. Lester Feinga Nuka. We saw him in the first few weeks of, um, the competition, the full super Rebby competition before lockdown. So, and he's obviously a monster. So it's like,
01:05:37
Speaker
Um, it does. Does this train ever stop? Like, holy shit. I mean, we know the hurricane found a way to derail it a little bit, but you know, one loss out of, you know, nine, eight, nine matches is really hard to say that it's derailed.
01:05:53
Speaker
So we'll see what happens next week with the Blues. It should still be a fun match, but good on the Crusaders. Good on Razor for getting these guys over the line. Sounds like he's on the cusp of signing another contract with the Crusaders again. Why the fuck would you let him leave?
01:06:13
Speaker
You wouldn't. And he wants to stay in New Zealand in case Fauzi slips up a little bit. Fauzi's gonna have a tough job because a lot of people wanted Robertson to be the guy. But New Zealand have a system that they've followed for a long time and they're sticking with it. But because Robertson was a guy a lot of people wanted, if Fauzi slips up even a little bit, he's gonna be really under the gun. So I kind of feel a little bad for the guy.
01:06:40
Speaker
Yeah. But hey, he chose it. You know, it's one of those like he, he could have said no. I mean, not that you ever say no to the all blacks, but correct. He could have been like, you know, I don't, I don't want this kind of pressure and having to do it this way with, with this guy looming over my back. Like there's a lot of, uh, you know, in, in what's a bad, what's a, what would they consider a bad performance?
Sports Coaching Expectations
01:07:05
Speaker
You know, like if he if he loses two matches in a calendar year, is he fired? I mean, seriously, are we going? Don't be shocked, man. There's high expectations on these teams, man. I mean, Hanson, you know, he didn't do as well as, you know, his predecessor this past World Cup, but, you know, he still had a pretty high strike rate. So I think higher than that, higher than even New Zealand's average. So that was why he was able to ride out his job for so long.
01:07:33
Speaker
you know, despite drawing with the Lions as well, which was a big result for the Lions. So yeah, it's a high pressure job, man. Like you talk about like jobs here in the States, like, you know, managing the New York Yankees and, you know, being the coach of the LA Lakers, like high pressure jobs, man, lots of expectations that go with it. So, you know, being the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys is another, let's say I know I had another one in my brain. Well, yeah, but you know, you know, there's
01:08:00
Speaker
That's a whole other bagging. Yeah, there's a lot of that. There's a, there's a lot of can of worms that we just opened up there. We won't get into
Crusaders' Dominance
01:08:07
Speaker
them. Um, so yeah, crusaders went, take the, take super rugby out to a row with one round and round to go suckers, um, assholes, but we're going to still play around 10. Um, no, and see what happens. I hope at this point, I'm just, at this point, I'm just going to hope that
01:08:24
Speaker
The hurricanes leapfrogged the blues. I am just happy that in the final week of the season, the cheese will not lose. There's no cheese. There's no cheese till they can't lose. Hell yeah. Oh, shit.
01:08:36
Speaker
That's, that's where, that's where we're at. That's where we're at. I'm so glad. Yeah. I don't have to see Mackenzie or Peter got so cool or Quinta Paya for another couple of months and I'll be happy. We can get, yeah, please. Keep moving on with that. Bring back the Saracens, bring back all these other, bring back the premierships so I can. Yeah. Well, speaking of which, let's go start or sit kids.
Quinn's vs. Sale Analysis
01:09:02
Speaker
Let's go. Um, it's going to be fascinating because we don't, again, we're going to take, we're taking, you know, we're going off previous information and shots in the dark at this point. Yeah. And at this point with, we don't know the lineup, so we'll have a little bit of clarification before the matches. Right. Um,
01:09:17
Speaker
But until then, yeah. So let's go Friday night, Quinn's and sale. Bad news, Quinn's. You are starting off against the toughest team in fantasy, up and down, both formats. It is really hard to say you want to start anybody against the, against the Sharks. They are first in TRM against flyhaps, flankers, props, scrumhaps, back three, back row. Like you name it. They're, they're tough. Everyone.
01:09:42
Speaker
Third against the midfield and hooks, FRD, they're either top, they're either one or two in everything. So yeah, tough week to do it. There are guys you're gonna start because they've either done really well or they're no brainers because you spent the money on them. Danny care is gonna be somebody you go with. Stephen Luis has done really well if he's still there and if he starts. Marcus Smith is a Matt Simmons.
01:10:07
Speaker
Don branch another der la cica is a frd-only guy as well as Esther Hayes and Tyrone green Same format there. Caden merley has actually got a really high ownership percentage. Get no just now
01:10:21
Speaker
No, none of that. Joe Marler have a seat along with the Quinn's front row from the Quinn's. Sale, they've got obviously a lot of new faces and there's only one spot that kind of presents a problem in TRM for against the Quinn's and that's prop. You might have played Ross Harrison and that was it, so don't play him.
01:10:43
Speaker
if you have any other props to sit them. But they are exposed in backs in general, but fly half centers back three. Half backs not as much, but so you can feel pretty good about starting a lot guys there. FRD, they're two and three against half back. And outside backs 12 against fly half. So the fly half position is probably gonna be one you wanna jump on either way. That means all the Dupree is earned play, Beaumont, Pfaff, Acker.
01:11:12
Speaker
AJ, like I said AJ.
01:11:14
Speaker
Front row is a go. Manu, yes. Especially in FRD. Maybe wait and see on TRM. McGuigan's an FRD only. Either Curry Brothers is TRM only. And I say that because their FRD scores are actually quite bad. But the TRMs do well. So there's that. John Ross is actually a really good play. Probably, maybe in bulk, but definitely FRD. And then, like I said, Harrison, no. Salomonas got a really high ownership. Where would Ross, I guess, would he move?
01:11:44
Speaker
Yeah, where is he going to play?
01:11:46
Speaker
I don't know if he's, I mean, he's their captain. So we'll see. Yeah, that's what, that's the thing we talked about. So we talked about their back, their, their, um, back row. Yeah. But that's, you know, we're probably going to see, you might see John Luke play at second row DDP play at eight, one of the curries at seven and then him at six. So that might be your answer right there. Um, and Danny Salamona has, uh, unusually high ownership position, uh, percent, uh, percentage for somebody that's not very good. Pine him.
Worcester vs. Gloucester Uncertainty
01:12:17
Speaker
Yeah, oh, that's right yeah, I fucked that up I haven't for some reason I was never mind don't worry about it I've had a beer Yeah, all right are we on to uh the stirs yeah stirs both stirs Wooster versus Gloucester Again
01:12:44
Speaker
going by previous information that we had because it's kind of, who the hell we got, especially with this, just with Gloucester having a new coach, not sure what exact changes they, they might be making, or if they're just going to keep everything in place for the time being, but it's still, you know, his new personality, new, new focus on different aspects of the game. For now, Gloucester has been kind of shitty against eight men, but,
01:13:10
Speaker
very strong against the flankers. So sixes and sevens are not the best start, but eight men are. So for Worcester, I'm going with whoever's their eight men, if it's Kvesic or Cradle Dupree, give them a start.
01:13:27
Speaker
Uh, who guard of course, cause you can't take him out and Gloucester are surprisingly bad against fly halves. So we're, we're as a good option. Um, it's just a question of now what, what's going to happen outside of that. So my sits are whoever the looses are sixes or sevens. Um, and then basically they're, they're back line. I don't know that I would touch them. Um, you know, we talked about that earlier, but I, again,
01:13:51
Speaker
They've lost without, I don't think, replacing enough. And they weren't that good to begin with in the back line. On the other side, Gloucester, Singleton.
01:14:03
Speaker
They're gonna have a pretty darn good line out. I think a cluster with with the the players they have in place and plus He's gonna he's gonna get loose a little bit and attack because they're good at that Their entire back line whoever it is. I'm sorry back row Ackerman Ludlow Morgan
01:14:23
Speaker
And then they're back three. Whoever that is, May, Thor, Lo, Sharples, you resam it. Those guys, I don't know if they're gonna keep, oh shit, they're full back. Marshall's already gone. Okay, well then, there you go. Yeah. And then.
01:14:42
Speaker
Yeah, I'd sit Ed Slater for this week just because Worcester are the best defense against Locks. And Cipriani, 12 trees in Atkinson. Cipriani's expensive. You might not have him for now. I'd consider him a watch player because you never know which Cipriani you're going to get. True.
01:15:02
Speaker
So for right now I'd hold off I that's hard and Although it's maybe a little bit of a soft set if you've got him play him, especially in in like FRD you got it this is more of a if you have kind of a choice of Any scrum half or if I have play as you would in in the rugby mag. Yeah, I Kind of have him on the reserves for this one or a backup
01:15:27
Speaker
Yeah, that's my start since it's for that one.
Exeter vs. Leicester Analysis
01:15:32
Speaker
That's all I have to say about that. Exeter and Lester. Exeter are surprisingly weak. Like they're, they're soft in some places, you know, for being a team that's at the top of the prem, props backs backs as a generality, but especially scrum house and centers and TRM. They're tough against fly house in both formats.
01:15:54
Speaker
pardon me, half backs, midfielders, just overall and outside backs. So yeah, there's, they can be had. So if you can, if you have confidence in a Leicester player, then you can probably be feel okay. And as long as it's not, although Ford's probably still apply, even though he's tough against fly house, if it's not Ford, then bench them. That's the only thing. So anyway, let's get into that. So you're going to place, you're going to play Simmons, either yeah. Cowan Dickie or Yandell, Johnny Hill and gray are both, are both fine.
01:16:23
Speaker
Simmons is Simmons is a play I'm sorry. Yeah, sorry. I'm losing my mind. Those are Lester ranks that I gave before I'll give the ugly I'll give the extra ranks actually those are there's still kind of gaudy and really shocking Pardon me hog slate You have if you go with for Kanuka gordero play him. Oh flarity's fine vermulan
01:16:50
Speaker
Um, yeah, the back three are going to be somebody that you should feel comfortable with either way. Um, so Noel Flaherty hog, you know, uh, Cordero if he's there. Um, so the, the, the likes of that's okay. Steenton is an FRD only because you're probably going to need a, you need a, you need a fly half. And if he's the one that's starting, then fine. FRD go for it.
01:17:10
Speaker
not worth it in TRM, don't pick them up. Bench Moon and Hepburn, bench the front row, the hookers the only thing that are worth it there and I don't think they'll get it done in FRD. Armin, Dave Dennison, Devoto, and Dolman are, although I think Dolman's done, oh no, Dolman is finishing this part, nevermind, that's right, he's finishing this and then he's gonna be done next season. So Armin, Dennis, Devoto have a pine. Lester, again, so, the ranks I gave before were,
01:17:38
Speaker
Points against for Lester. Points against for Exeter are still kind of crazy. Second rows and back rows, props. Yeah, they're all kind of freewheeling there. So feel free to play some of these positions against Exeter. Scrum half, fly half are tough. Midfield and FRD is also tough. Loose forward locks are good to go.
01:17:59
Speaker
in FRD. So let's go with the start sets for the Leicester Tigers. Gens Ford, Levenberg, if he's in there, Green, if he's healthy, I think he was hurt, lest I saw he picked up an injury in training. Talfool is fine. The front row is actually probably okay. Murray, Murray, Valo, if he's in, play him. Nandolo, probably an FRD only. Wait and see on the TRM and
01:18:24
Speaker
Youngs, you're gonna need a scrum, scrum half, probably an FRD play, if he's your scrum half and an FRD play him, otherwise don't bother. Aloha Fella has a high ownership percentage, which I'm shocked about. Bench him and then the new guys, Montoya, Endeavor, and Brink, I would play the wait and see game with them on FRD, but you can roll the dice on them.
01:18:45
Speaker
Play the wait-and-see game on TRM with these guys, especially bright Brink and Endeavor but play them in FRD if you are in a tight jam because of guys that you've lost Onto bath for still London Irish for bath They're gonna be forward-heavy.
Bath's Forward Strengths
01:19:05
Speaker
I likely just looking at their their their makeup and
01:19:09
Speaker
and how they've spent their points, you know, how their points have been accrued in fantasy, very, very heavy in the forwards. So I'm looking at their hookers, especially Dunn and Walker. They're guys who are going to get your points. Stuke and McAnally, if you can afford them.
01:19:26
Speaker
That they're excellent options, you know them and then Mercer and Underhill in the forwards I'm assuming Underhill is gonna play a little bit more now Yeah, now that he doesn't have to worry about England, right and then Ben Spencer as we talked about in Priestland I think you might do well signing Priestland. He's had he had a pretty decent Return on points and now he he doesn't have to give way to Freddie Burns. Yeah, so in FRD He was one of my type. He's one of my big guys in FRD. I
01:19:54
Speaker
Yeah, so priestling should be racking up the points. Right now, I think he's either only really kicking real kicking options. So yeah, probably take that for what it's worth. And then don't
01:20:07
Speaker
don't do anything with their centers and outside backs until they can prove themselves as point scorers. Again, unless you have no other option in something like FRD TRF and don't, don't touch it. So I have, I have Watson in FRD, so I might have to roll that out there if he's in there. Yeah. I mean, he'll, he'll get your points. You just don't know when or how. Um, yeah. Uh,
01:20:30
Speaker
for the alumni-ish, the props. I'm guessing Dell will also, now with Scotland not being a thing at the moment, will be available.
London Irish Strategies
01:20:41
Speaker
But Hoskins, Dell, Kepu, whoever starts should do well. Maybe even reserves too, because obviously they can't start all three of them. So if one of them is a reserve and you've got them,
01:20:53
Speaker
Yeah. Sometimes you just got to bite that on TRM because you're like, Oh shit. And you know, I've, I've got five props. And sometimes I still don't get them all. You don't get to that start. And all it takes is a little line break late in the game. And that's like 20 points. You never know backup, you know, starting where the props are, are sometimes worth starting its backups. Um,
01:21:17
Speaker
And then a Coleman at lock. Yes. He's been, um, it's pretty good and scoring. He's been excellent. I don't see why that wouldn't continue. Certainly not against this team. Um, and then start whoever the eight man is, whether, you know, they have their options. Yeah. Start them. And then Ollie Haskell Collins is a must start. Yep. No brainer. No brainer. Um, no brainer. As far as sits, you know, they have guys, again, that we're not sure if they're going to be healthy. We've mentioned, um, Voldemort, we mentioned just now, um,
01:21:48
Speaker
Shit, who was it? Oh, Dell, who might be coming back. But there's another international player in Sian O'Brien who allegedly is on the level of an Irish hire. Get to see him play. Get to see him play. Maybe he's finally healthy enough to get out there. I just don't know. Yeah. Either way, those are guys hold off, wait and see on them. Totally. Yeah, I definitely agree on that one.
01:22:14
Speaker
All right. This will be interesting. We're still in Saracens. Gonna be an interesting match. We'll talk about that in a little bit.
Saracens vs. Bristol Preview
01:22:23
Speaker
So, notables for Saracens in terms of their ranks against hookers, second rows, forwards in general.
01:22:30
Speaker
and their total are pretty stingy. So this could be a rough match to play a bear. It might not be. We'll see what happens. This could be a completely different Saracens team. We'll see what happens. Fly-offs are the only position that are exposed in TRM. Add midfielders to the fly-off in FRD.
01:22:46
Speaker
So, what are we gonna do? Well, you're gonna play Harry Thacker even though they're against strong against hookers because the thing that makes Harry Thacker good about TRM is not his throwing, it's his running and his open play. So, go ahead and roll him out there. Vooey's too good to sit even though they are stingy in second row. Again, another guy that can do something good in open play, so that's not a concern. Sheedie Pietal, Luitua Hughes, Rod Rodra, yep.
01:23:12
Speaker
I don't know what the loan terms are for Ben Earl. If he can't play against his parent club, then obviously you're not gonna play him, but if he's in there, go ahead. He's top five in both, so you're playing him. The rest of the front row as well, Sinclair, Fowa, go ahead, front row in FRD, yep. Harry Randall's a TRM only guy, his FRD score is terrible. So, nope. I wouldn't play Urine, and I wouldn't play O'Connor, who's a big,
01:23:40
Speaker
who's a big name for them that people seem to like. No, no, no, no. Max Maylands is probably not ready to light the scoreboard up like he did against Saracens. I'm not sure he'll open it up as well as he did when he was wearing black. We'll see. That's the way you can see one for there. Hell, again, for the Saracens, the Bears ranked
01:24:00
Speaker
Pretty tough in a lot of TRM categories. Scrum half, second row, pretty much all the vital ones. Their third total overall, it's tough. The one place they can be had is in FRD at their fly half spot as well. So that's probably the one place I...
01:24:17
Speaker
I would look to expose them. You know, there's a guy named Owen Farrell that plays for the Saracen that you can probably start there. Also start him in TRM. Mako, play him. Maro, obviously. Kopoku's worth it as well. Jinx, the Saracen's front row is definitely going to be worth it. Wiggles is worth it in TRM. He's not worth it in FRD. So get rid of that. Vice versa for Billy Vanapola and Roti and Sean Maitland. They're all FRD guys, but I wouldn't touch them in TRM.
01:24:47
Speaker
Billy's way too expensive in TRM anyway to roster him for what he's worth. Jax is a no, I love him, but no. Daly is a wait and see right now. I don't know what's gonna happen with that back with that back three. Lewington is maybe an FRD. That's it. I wouldn't touch my TRM. Brad Barrett's got a really high ownership percentage in TRM for what he's done. So I love the cap, but no, no. So pint him in either.
01:25:19
Speaker
And the last match, Saints versus
Northampton Saints Key Players
01:25:21
Speaker
Wasps. This could be a doozy. On the Saints' end, I think they lost a little bit. I lost my, my Cobas Reinak. I'm very sad about that. We all are, trust me. The whole world is. But you know who's not upset right now is, is, I think we talked about him earlier, but Mike Haywood. Yeah. It meant he got a lot of help with targets there. In Ezekiel.
01:25:47
Speaker
as you get in laws, as we said, are going to do some serious damage in the line out, especially. And then Harrison and Wood, they've been scoring some points and there's no reason to think they will continue doing that. Whoever's at nine, I'm guessing it's going to be Henry Taylor? I think so. Because he did really well when Rineack wasn't available.
01:26:12
Speaker
Hopefully he can slide in there and keep that up. So I start him, and then the trio in the back line of Bigger, Hutchinson, and Nairavoro. Those are definitely guys that you can roll out there, feel pretty good about it. For the St. Sitz, they're both their props. They're non Hutch Center, and they're not Nairavoro back three. Yeah.
01:26:40
Speaker
Just I don't trust them again, just yet. Maybe Pierce Francis as an FRD guy, but he's a fly-in FRD, which kind of sucks. So you're going to have to see what the lineup looks like. That's an option though.
01:26:54
Speaker
He still, he'll still probably get you decent running meters if you're in a pinch. So, um, you know, he's still pretty good player last at checks. So, uh, might not, might not be a bad idea. Right. On the wasps and, uh, start Roland, Roland's, if he starts, we'll Roland's might be their, their best block
Wasps vs. Northampton Predictions
01:27:11
Speaker
left. It looks like probably.
01:27:14
Speaker
Jack Willis, Tommy Young, maybe the other Willis too, depending on if he's starting. And I'm going to say have some soft sits on Dan Robson and Umaga, only because the Saints were really good at against nines and tens.
01:27:29
Speaker
Um, so I just in this being the first week back, I think, you know, uh, you know, Robson should be all right. Cause he's, he's experienced. Umaga is, is not, um, and, and who knows if it's going to be a little bit of a, you know, mental issue getting, getting back right back into it. Maybe Garbreath will be outside and that might help. Yeah. Um, so, but other than that, uh, yeah.
01:27:54
Speaker
You know, any other wasps I didn't name at the moment, I'd hold off. The big ones, they're not really...
01:28:01
Speaker
I mean Rob's new manga or other fantasy Studs so it's hard to you know, that's what this is more of a TRM where if you have other options Take them but if you're quote-unquote stuck with them, yes, you're doing all right. I don't know if that's stuck But yeah, I'll go with that. It's like yeah, if you kind of don't have any better options Okay, go with it. But I think there are better options out there if you especially in TRM correct Yeah, that's usually the way I kind of look at it, too
01:28:31
Speaker
All right. Hey, we got more games. We got a lot more games to do. Pick them this time. Hooray. We do. Yeah. We can finally maybe get some switching here. Not like that. Get out of here. Later. All right. Friday night. We'll
Quinn's vs. Sale Predictions
01:28:49
Speaker
start with this. We'll start with our Premiership games. Friday night, Quinn's and sale. I don't care what venue this is getting played at. I think I'm going to take sale.
01:29:00
Speaker
That's just my thought here. I don't want sale to win. I don't really want the Quinn's to win either. Um, yeah, let me go. I'm going to go with the Quinn's though. Okay. On this one. Um, let's go over to Saturday, uh, six over to six ways. Worcester and Gloucester. I'm taking Gloucester. They've added a lot, a lot of good stuff.
01:29:23
Speaker
Yeah. Just based on talent disparity alone. Um, that, that hope that I should say hopefully that should be enough for them. Yeah. We'll see. Um, over to Sandy Park, Exeter and Lester. Uh, I don't think there's any question about this one going with Exeter. Yeah. Only one of these teams is really playing to win.
Bath vs. London Irish
01:29:44
Speaker
Right. Um, bath and Irish. Hmm.
01:29:50
Speaker
Oh wow, this is interesting. You know what, I'm going to go with the power of the back road that Bath can distribute out there with the likes of Underhill, Fau Tao, and the definitive leadership skills of Reese Priestlin. So I'm going to take Bath. Yeah, I think I'm going to agree with you on that one. I think, you know, the Irish have shown great promise in the first half or so of the season.
01:30:18
Speaker
Yeah, I'm just not sure that again, the time off I think is going to affect them more than other teams that have, you know, been more established with each other because the Irish were kind of still getting to know each other when they started the season. Right. And now they got all that time where they had to be apart. Now they're coming back together. I, I, that could be a help, but that, that, that was only a help in the right circumstances. And I don't know enough about them to, to believe that it's the right circumstances. Correct. Yeah. So yeah, Beth.
01:30:47
Speaker
Beth, it is. All right. Potentially the game of the weekend.
Saracens vs. Bristol Tough Match
01:30:52
Speaker
Saracens and Bristol at Ashton gate. Oh my. This will be very interesting to see how this plays out. Um, I got the bears in this one. Yeah, I almost went with them and I think I will. Cause, uh,
01:31:06
Speaker
the Saracens are gonna have to figure themselves out. They do have some key pieces missing despite the fact that they have a lot of guys that are still with the club. But yeah, there's enough pieces missing. I think Wiggles and Farrell might still be able to get it done at 9 and 10. But man, it's gonna be close your eyes and
01:31:28
Speaker
Well, don't close your eyes actually for this one, because it's going to be a really good match. It's going to be a great match. Yeah, it won't shock me at all if the Bears won this thing. But the Saracens, maybe the Saracens still, and bully them over. I don't know. Last time this fixture last year, not in August, obviously,
01:31:45
Speaker
what did go to the bears, but it was also in the middle of Six Nations, so. Right. But yeah, at the same time, I think the bears have a lot to play for and the Saracens are kind of each other to play for. Yeah. Still quality, but good and bad. Yeah. Good and bad. And then let's go to Sunday, North Hampton in the Was. I'm going to take the Saints. Yeah. I think I don't think I can take anybody else in that one. All right.
01:32:11
Speaker
Let's go super rugby at hero of the final weekend. Um, whole lot of nothing to play for, but a little bit of pride.
Hurricanes' Recent Victories
01:32:17
Speaker
Um, Islanders host the hurricanes down at Forsyth bar. Hurricanes are on a roll. I'm going to change. Yeah. They, they, they're playing the second best in rugby in super rugby out to hero right now. Um, maybe they're playing the best actually. Um, as much as the crusaders, uh,
01:32:39
Speaker
Showed looked really good again. There looked really yeah great against the the highlanders last week The hurricanes have been looking equally just dominant And they even beat the crusaders. So it's kind of hard to Yeah to say otherwise right now, right? Um The canes kind of started slow, but they they've really come on strong. Mm-hmm. So i'm going i'm going canes They're gonna they want to they want to put their mark on this and they they still could make second place, you know if you know, you find out depending on the next
01:33:07
Speaker
This one blues and Crusaders. You know, I want to say the Crusaders will take their foot off the gas, but they also don't think they're going to. It's not their style. That's not how they do it. That's not how Robertson would do it. So I'm going to take the Crusaders. They're going to be mad about losing a single game in this competition. I am also going to take the Crusaders.
01:33:34
Speaker
Yeah, that's it. We are angry about the one. I'm not sure. Yeah, I'm not sure. Bowden's going to be enough to, uh, yeah, to overcome the sheer will of that, that 15.
Force vs. Waratahs Preview
01:33:44
Speaker
Nope. Probably not. Um, we'll see. Eden park might get packed and we'll, it'll be interesting to see how it goes. Um, let's go over super OBIU. The forest coming off there by, um, they're technically hosts here. We're tall, pretty good. And they got them last time as well. So,
01:34:02
Speaker
I love the force. I think they'll eventually get one. This might be it, but I'm going to deal with my rant and pick the toss. They could easily win this one, but I'm not going to pick it because that would be silly. Yeah. I think this game is going to going to be close. Um, you know, I wasn't, yeah, the toss played pretty well, but who knows the reds kind of had a hard match. So it's hard to know.
01:34:30
Speaker
how much of that was the toz being just excellent and or the reds just kind of. Yeah. Um, but that's an 80 minute match. So, and the force aren't really prepared to play an 80 minute match at this level. Not quite there yet. Close, but not, not there yet. Yeah.
01:34:48
Speaker
All right, and then this will be a tough one. This will probably be for whoever, basically who's going to host this playoff, I think. This first playoff game, this semifinal, this playing game, Reds and Rebels.
Reds vs. Rebels Analysis
01:35:05
Speaker
You know, I see this match and I see Matt Tamua.
01:35:09
Speaker
And that's what it is. And I think the Reds are gonna make wholesale changes. I think you're gonna see a lot, like this is gonna be faces. Petai is gonna return. He had a family bereavement that he had to go to last week, which sucks. It was really unfortunate for him last year, so he's gonna return. But again, I see the Rebels team on the sheet. And I'm like, Matt Tamua, and he's just played really well, so.
01:35:32
Speaker
I don't know if he's going to be enough. You know, they probably have the best hooker in the, in the country right now as well. So maybe that's enough. I'm going to go to the rebels. Yeah, I'm also going to go with the rebels. I, the reds I think are, are fading now. Um, they kind of, they, they, they had some juice here and there, they're there, but they're your curial, they're up and down. Um,
01:35:55
Speaker
If they do make, so there's the question, they may make wholesale changes. Is that going to help? It's been rare that I've seen a team where they would make wholesale changes after a game like that and have it be a positive. Yeah. Cause ultimately, you know, everybody at that point, everybody's just looking over their shoulder more than looking straight ahead at the other team. So I, I,
01:36:19
Speaker
And if they're not doing that, if they don't make wholesale changes, then the players who were playing, who played last week are doing the same thing anyway. They're looking over their backs. Right. Not wrong. Okay. Yep. So there it is. Um, apologies. It was a long one. We had to get some stuff in for the permission restart. There's no questions about it. Um,
01:36:42
Speaker
but it'll be worth it. I think we had some good conversation in there and hopefully provide some valuable fantasy advice for everybody that was waiting on it for this damn thing to start.
Premiership Rugby Restart Predictions
01:36:53
Speaker
I guess the boys in George Lee just abandoned that draft rugby, unfortunately, which doesn't surprise me, but it's unfortunate that it just didn't work out.
01:37:02
Speaker
So, we'll be back next week. We'll conclude. We'll recap the first weekend of the restart and the premiere ship. And it's gonna be a fun ride back into the fall here, guys. So hang on tight and buckle your seat belts here. So other than that, we'll catch you guys next week. Thanks for coming along and hang out. We'll start again later.