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Season 5- Episode 1- Let’s Do This THING! (Season Premier)
27 Plays3 years ago
WE ARE BACK! It's the season premier of everyone's favorite American rugby knuckleheads. On this kick-off episode we hit on it all including recapping the summer tours and the atrocity that is the men's program here. We also look at the unfortunate situation down at Sixways and we certainly hope things improve from that. It's all this and oh so so much more, come along for the ride with a beverage in hand on TFRY!
Check out the TFRY Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/TheFantasyRugbyYanks
Ask us questions via Twitter: Jarrod- jdyke8man & Ben- admrablsnackbar, and #AskTFRY.
Send us your thoughts for the show and questions for upcoming shows via e-mail fantasyrugbypodcast@gmail.com. Of course we welcome feedback via e-mail, twitter or by rating/reviewing the pod on Apple Podcast.
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:02
Speaker
It is... The Fantasy Europeans. My name is Jared Dyke. I wanted to say it's stupid and let's move on, but then you kept going. I'm Ben Glauser. I don't like any way anybody gambled that. Collusion! Collusion!
00:00:26
Speaker
Hello everybody. Welcome back. It is the fancy rugby yanks. We are back for season five. My name is Jared Dyke. I'm Ben Glauser. Oh yeah. So yes. So yes. Five seasons.
00:00:38
Speaker
Didn't believe that until I looked at the stats from last
Podcast Milestones and Listener Engagement
00:00:41
Speaker
year. I was like, oh shit, that was season four. Six seasons in a movie is, is within sight. Oh God, a movie. Well, yeah, let's, whatever. Yeah. Hopefully it would be like a South Park movie and not some other lame movie horror movies. I couldn't believe it. Um,
00:01:03
Speaker
Yeah. So we're back. We're, we're ready to roll again. Um, despite all the wild happenings and we're going to talk about them all today, but first we must crack on, as they say, I missed doing that. Woo. I barely drink beer anymore. So my first beer. Yeah. Obviously you want to find this on your favorite podcast, share, share, download, rate, review, all that good stuff.
Fantasy Rugby Preparation and Challenges
00:01:31
Speaker
Um, also, also, also, of course we want to give our props to our good friend, George, the fancy rugby geek. It's a busy season for him as it is about to be for us because things are kicking into high gear, especially with draft, um, making its return and us all having to kind of figure out that out because whoops, no permit rope, no premier ships, numbers from last year. So yeah. Nope. Um, we got, we gotta, we gotta all fix our heads on that. But in the meantime,
00:02:02
Speaker
We're losing the one to one day that we have and then gaining the data we don't have, or giving the league from the data we don't have. So, we'll get to that on our fancy podcast. Yes, we will. Sad times.
00:02:17
Speaker
But yeah, so grab Georgia coffee and a beer in advance, because if you're playing that and it's your first time or as well, you're likely going to be leaning on his vice. So go ahead and give him a little pump up there. And he's already put out his advice. So yes, yes, yes. I totally agree.
Social Issues in Sports
00:02:35
Speaker
So we're not, we're not shying away from black lives matter, but we're just going to make a general, more general statement of there. There will be no discrimination here on our pod or on our Twitter spaces. So if you are that asshole, we're going to tell you to go pound sand. Um, and then this will be our chance where we talk about, you know, whatever discrimination.
00:02:55
Speaker
discriminatory act is going on in the world and maybe something good about it, which should hopefully be more often than not. Maybe, maybe not. Who knows? The one thing that I've noticed in a recent time is a lot of the
00:03:10
Speaker
Um, England women's, uh, footballers have been getting or reported on getting loads and loads and loads of misogynistic message messages from of course men because they're too stupid to know, you know, right from wrong. And yeah, so it's just that, that is, that is the, that is a sad world we live in if that's still happening. And I'm just really annoyed for them, but also like.
00:03:35
Speaker
Fuck you guys. I'm not like that. You're making me look like the asshole too. Exactly. It just makes it bad for everyone. And for what? Because you're a little upset that a woman gets to be an athlete and do athletic things and have that lifestyle. And you don't. You're just an asshole. There's no need for it. They're good. Just shit.
00:04:02
Speaker
Enjoy it. Like, just chill out and fucking enjoy it and stop making, you know, nobody should feel uncomfortable because of what they do.
00:04:15
Speaker
Um, you know, like if they're good athletes, let them be good athletes. Don't, don't try to demean them. That's, and yeah, it just makes everyone with that. Yeah. It's only the tiny minded ones and tiny else's places, ones that are really the ones that are doing it, but they're the ones that speak the loudest, unfortunately. And that really sucks for all of us.
00:04:33
Speaker
And you'd see that shit up in BYU, by the way. No, I didn't. What happened? It was a volleyball player, women's volleyball player, who was getting like every service or whatever, like that she was either giving or if she was like involved in the play, she would get they would yell the N word at her.
00:04:55
Speaker
Oh my Lord. And this was at BYU and the student, the student section was like kind of egging it on. And like, apparently it was pretty bad. I saw video from it and it was like, it's packed for, for the women's volleyball, but they were all.
00:05:08
Speaker
Um, yeah. Wow. That is being completely, completely racist toward a Duke player. And like the coach didn't step, none of the coaches stepped in. First off, if I was coaching Duke, I would have been fine. That would, no, like, how do you let that go? That's just bad for, for, um, yeah, it's just not a good situation. Nobody, nobody looks good in that. No, no. Yeah. No, I can't believe nobody stepped up. What like,
00:05:38
Speaker
No. Unacceptable. Unacceptable that they did it. Unacceptable that they, that nobody stepped up. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You stopped playing at that point and just say, Hey dude, you're, you, you can leave. Bye.
00:05:50
Speaker
That's awful. Well, yeah, so no that shit, please. Yeah, no need no need life sucks as is All right Moving on from that, of course our patreon will return As we discussed we will be obviously having to pump in new frd numbers into it.
Podcast Updates and Travel Plans
00:06:08
Speaker
But thankfully we have the ideas to it my my ideas going forward for this year will also be
00:06:15
Speaker
i will make some i will make the rankings free that i that i see fit um but also um i'm gonna do some writing and that's what that'll be uh only behind the paywall i don't need all you asshole seeing this atrocity i only want the people that are paying us money to see it you gotta want it
00:06:37
Speaker
but I will do some writing advice. I write in my job, so I was like, you know what, this'll be something I can just knock out at the same time. Yeah, I read your blog from your professional...
00:06:48
Speaker
I mean, it's good shit. Just put just batch the two of them together. And yeah, bango, I got one for one place and one for the other. Might as well. I mean, all I do is just sit on my ass on Sundays. Anyway, I don't even watch football anymore. Just don't put one in the wrong. Don't flip them when you go to send them out. Oh, keep that in mind. Keep that in mind. Oh, there's the training one. Shit. People are wondering why they got past today in their email, aren't they? Oops, that's not meant for you guys. Sorry.
00:07:17
Speaker
And you can't take that email back. He's gone. It's like, I did not mean to do that. But yeah, so that'll be a new contribution to the Patreon. So once we get that up, up and running, then go ahead and grab yourself a subscription to it. And we'd much appreciate it. Just the same. Right. And of course, we'll give you our special shouts and all that good stuff as we do. Um,
00:07:43
Speaker
Even better news. It's happening. The rugby eggs are invading London. Here we come, motherfuckers. We finally nailed it down. We are coming over end of next month, beginning October. It's going to be a blast. It'll be a whirlwind for us because we're only waiting for the weekend. Coming in Friday.
00:08:05
Speaker
Going to what, uh, sari's hosting last year on Saturday, Quinn's hosting saints on Sunday and flying home Monday. Yeah, that's, it'll be a whirlwind. So, um, my general plan for Friday evening is to hunker down someplace and we don't know where we're going to, what, what particular place we're going to be at when we are in London, but for the, it won't be far from our residents, folks that want to come hang out and say hi.
00:08:35
Speaker
We'll let you know where we're going to be. He will. Or you can meet us at one of the matches. Those are the other places. Right. Please be kind. We come in peace. Yeah, we're not we're not trying to break shit. Right. Promise. You know, we're not like other traveling Americans.
00:08:51
Speaker
much twat. No, I'm just saying, don't come to beat us up. Oh yeah. Also that like, if you're going to beat us up and you got problems at your own, please don't. Okay. Um, with enough of that, um, there's lots to get to today. We'll, so we got plenty to dive into despite the fact that we're not in league season yet. Um, because we're going to talk a little bit about what happened this past summer. Um, the goings on currently, and then, um, so obviously the new cycle as well, which is a little on the depressing side. Yeah. Um,
00:09:20
Speaker
So, uh, we'll start a little bit and we're not, I don't want to spend too much time on each team, but we can, especially the Northern hemisphere teams, we kind of give a quick recap because there's more action going on for the Southern hemisphere teams right now.
Ireland Rugby Performance
00:09:32
Speaker
Um, and we can dive in a little bit more into those because they are playing matches, which.
00:09:36
Speaker
We are gonna get in on the rugby championship and stuff like that as well. So looking back, let's start with the team that shocked the world and the Irish getting their first series win ever in New Zealand. And the talk obviously is, obviously, as they tend to do, are the Irish peaking too early? Let's hope not, but you never know.
00:10:05
Speaker
You never know, but this is a, well, so there's obviously the question mark of Jonathan Sexton. Because he's one of those guys who can be on form and just deadly, and then he takes a knock. And he's not the same for like a year. And it's like, you know, whether he's a little bit more hesitant to really draw on that contact, but he's also at the same time,
00:10:33
Speaker
He's also playing differently. He's not just doing that. He's doing that like he's picking his spots better.
00:10:39
Speaker
And I think that's what's really opening it up for for Ireland. Right. He's being less of a, you know, less of just attacking that line and throwing it really quick to making sure that it can get wide regularly. And they got guys out there who can tote it. So they do. They do. Are they picking too early? Maybe. Are they? But here's the question. Have they peaked?
00:11:05
Speaker
Mm. That is the question. We don't know. Like this is them playing decently. Like and extremely well. I mean, I'm not trying to to undersell it or insult them. But I'm saying that there's still room for improvement there. That's the fucked up part is that they're not, you know, they're they're making mistakes, too. But, you know, when the other team makes mistakes, they're just deadly.
00:11:32
Speaker
right? Yeah, they may make mistakes. That's the big thing is they can they're now putting the teams in position where they're making mistakes. You know, and it's because Ireland's forcing them into them. Right. And, and this kind of brings to and there's a lot of other players we can talk about, but I do want to just go to
00:11:52
Speaker
the coach, I want to go to Andy Farrell because obviously we it's been talked about for a couple years now since Andy Farrell took over. What a difference this Irish team looks from Joe Schmidt and the Joe Schmidt attack was just not that good. We know we know that it had one it was a one trick pony. It worked for a while and then people figured it out. And that is a fact. I don't think a lot of people would argue with that for the most part. So Andy Farrell has now positioned himself in
00:12:21
Speaker
to a point where if they continue to progress and they continue to go up, come next year, like after France, he could have any job he wants. And that includes the one where his homeland and he doesn't want to be because that has its own problems, we'll get into. But he is looking more and more like,
00:12:44
Speaker
the coach that everyone wants as of right now. We'll see. At a year's time, we could be talking different things here. True. But right now, I mean, even whatever could happen there, is there anybody you'd really want more though now? In this moment, no. Yeah. So yeah, you're right. We'll see.
00:13:10
Speaker
Yeah, he's done a great job there. I think he can write his own ticket anyway. No matter what Ireland do, he's shown his approach, his attack, and his defensive quality. You can increase the attacking flair and style without harming your defense. And that, I think, is what is going to help him elsewhere.
00:13:36
Speaker
wherever wherever the fuck he wants to go. And there's one more piece of this team I want to talk about and then we'll move on is it is the back row, which is I believe is made the midfield is a big one and then the black the back row. Everybody knows about the back three. That's not it. That's not something we need to go into into too deeply. But the back row
00:13:55
Speaker
has been something that's just really come up another notch. And it's it's Benderflier, it's Conan, it's Doris, it's Peter Romani, which has he has played back to form and people for myself at least. I was kind of thinking Peter Romani is going to be kind of on the edge of the World Cup squad in twenty three. Right now he needs to be in France. Yeah, that is. There is no question about that in my mind. And again, this is a credit to the coaching staff for the Irish as well.
00:14:24
Speaker
They're different when he comes off the field. Like he can't really play 80. I mean, he can, but I mean, damn, it's hard. It's hard to look at when he does. They take him off the field, you know, 60 or so in. It's a remarkable difference. And it's noticeable. So. But then Josh Vanderfleer, I mean. Flying Dutchman. Right. Like when when Omani calls
00:14:52
Speaker
You know, Cain, a shit, it's because it's like, look at my seven and look at you like. Yeah. Think into the bushes. Right. Vanderfleer is just maybe the best seven in the world right now. He's somebody that a lot of people would want, no doubt. Yeah. Sam Cain is not. Yeah. No, not right now. We'll get to them in a little bit.
00:15:18
Speaker
Um, so yeah, Ireland doing good things, you know, shot, you know, setting the wall to light with their, with the things they're doing. Um, so we'll see if this is, if there's an upward
England Rugby Critique
00:15:28
Speaker
trend, a plateau or if they're going down the other direction for me, I hope it's at least a plateau and no worse, honestly. Um, but then let's move over to, uh, England over in Australia and.
00:15:42
Speaker
I'll put it the way a colleague you and I put it. These were two not great teams and England just happened to be slightly better in the in this summer. And I can't argue with it. And there's a lot to go into about yes, they they won the series.
00:16:00
Speaker
Could they have played better? Absolutely. There is no question in anybody's mind, I don't think. And really, if this is the team that they're going to pick for the next year, I don't know how to get beyond the quarterfinal. No. Play in simple. They're playing too South Africanly, and they have the talent to do so much more.
00:16:24
Speaker
And South Africa has talent, but it's like, it's a different application of talent and the players that South Africa have England don't have, but they're trying to use to play that, you know, we're just going to kick it and be disruptive and hopefully one of us falls over the line. And it's like, okay, but you've got.
00:16:43
Speaker
players who can run with ball in hand, you've got, they can, they can just go, they can create like their, we use the kick to disrupt the other team. It's like, no, you can use the pass. Like these guys can run and, and like it and disrupt the defense. And, and Eddie doesn't want them to do that. It's really like, yeah. Yeah. That's frustrating. I mean,
00:17:05
Speaker
Yeah, I don't buy it. There's there's five other wings that are better than him. He's not international quality. You look at any of these competitions and like he's by far the worst wing. Like it's not even close. And so you can't tell me that that's the best England have.
00:17:21
Speaker
God, I hope not. If that's what they think is the best, they are totally screwed. And it's like he doesn't make mistakes. Well, OK, maybe that means he's in position, I guess, because I tell you what, I see him being in the right place and doing the wrong thing a lot. So it's like, no, he makes mistakes. But.
00:17:40
Speaker
that other, you know, he maybe, I don't know. I don't get it. Like other. Yeah. Other somebody else might not be on the exact blade of grass that Eddie wants, but when the ball gets there, they'll be where they need to be. Cause they're fast enough. And it's like, it's not a little either. Like he's not, he's not out running anybody anymore. No, he's not.
00:17:59
Speaker
Shaking anybody, he's not stepping anybody like he used to. Plays too much like a center for me, honestly. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, there's a wing now. I think Joe Marshant plays a better wing than he does in Marshant's center by trade. Yeah. So that's just my two cents on that one. Yeah, a lot of them. They'd be so much better. They have their problems. I don't know. And it's got to be laws in the Toge at your lock. Yeah. And then you have flankers. Like, you know,
00:18:30
Speaker
And I love Courtney laws and I think he's a, he gives great effort every time he's out there. And I just think the slight in it, it's all, it's actually only a slight lack of mobility on laws part as a flanker as opposed to a second row would, you know, they would benefit because it's not to say that on most teams, Courtney laws wouldn't play a flat, be able to play flanker as a six.
00:18:53
Speaker
but the options that England have are astronomical, so you need to consider those. That's the thing. Now you have some hump.
00:19:04
Speaker
at playing it at five. John Hill operative term. Right. Who offers nothing really? No. He was bad. He should have been red carded too. Yeah, he was lucky to not get sent home. Yeah, but Eddie loves him. And it's like, then you have, okay, so you have what, Curry at seven, who again, provides nothing in attack.
00:19:26
Speaker
Right. And and then you have an eight who is like who the fuck knows who the eight is right now. Yeah, that's up in the air. And but it's like your attack. You don't even have an attacking option. And, you know, again, you have some, you know, you have a pile on out there in that in that in that five or, you know, whichever lock jersey that you know, Jay's not wearing is usually one for. Yeah. So I don't know.
00:19:52
Speaker
The selections are poor, the strategies poor, and the results are poor. What do you know? Yeah, they weren't impressive by any means whatsoever over Australia. Australia still got room to grow, and they're going up. We saw that recently, and we'll get to Australia soon.
00:20:10
Speaker
but they are going up so that's the thing and that's why if i'm australia you know you're kind of annoyed that you are still where you're at but at the same time you can see what day bernie's trying to do and still trying to go upwards with this thing and there's a lot the law room australia are playing better now than they did during that series certainly so yes
00:20:29
Speaker
There's a lot to be said for that. That's just him getting the buy and getting the right selections and getting them to understand what you're trying to get them to do. Absolutely. Let's go to the Welsh. Yeah, they beat South Africa for one match, but they also beat South Africa's B team.
Wales and France Rugby Analysis
00:20:53
Speaker
Do you really need to put a whole lot into that, a lot of stock into that? I don't think so myself. And it's not to say that the players that were on the South African team are bad, but what their top of the line offers compared to some of the players that were in that lineup isn't quite on the same level. Let's just be honest. That's a good way to put it. So is there,
00:21:19
Speaker
I don't, Wales is another team. I don't know how far they're going to go in the World Cup. Will they get to the quarterfinal? No idea. Honestly, but they, they did play well. So yeah, they, I mean, they, I, the first game was obviously kind of a shit show, which we all, which was not, not, not talked about on Twitter for a long time. So, um,
00:21:42
Speaker
But yeah, and then the third one, like the South Africans just kind of brutally took him down like in a headlock and just called it a day like, no, you're going to stay here and you like it. Right. But if not for, you know, the favorable refereeing. That for some reason, for some reason, that wasn't a huge scandal from South Africans. There are there are when the referee plays poorly or does a poor job. But whatever. OK, never mind. We'll get to that.
00:22:12
Speaker
But well, yeah, I don't know what they are. Yeah, they could be good. They could suck. Pevac does not have an identity for this team right now, and I think most people would agree with that. If there's a true identity that's very easily out there, I don't know what it is. Well, here's what I don't understand, right? You've got a world class tent. Yes, I think we can all agree. Thanks, absolutely. Yeah, you've got a world class centers combo right now.
00:22:42
Speaker
Like, excellent. And you've got the best one, like, not the best right now, but one of the best, there's nobody better. Let's put it that way. Back rows. There's a lot of good, good back row play. A lot of talent back there. And, and your meh.
00:23:02
Speaker
Like, yeah, you're very good in the dynamic places you need to be dynamic. Let's put it that way. Right. You know, and you have some and you have, you know, you're not spoiled for choice for nines, but you have some good nines to pick from as well. So to say that, you know, and that's without even bringing in Adams and LRZ and Sanjay. It's like, you've got such talent there. How can you be meh?
00:23:30
Speaker
Yeah, like I said, I think, I think Wayne Peaback is meh. So we're talking about some coaches that are meh. I think he's on that list as well right now. We'll touch on the last two because they weren't super prominent in the summer, but France over in Japan brought their second team, which is what they do all the time. I watched one of the games. Man, they should have lost it. If not for a knock on, they would have lost.
00:23:59
Speaker
At the at the goal line and if the try was given but they reviewed it on TMO and I was like, oh, yeah He did lose that didn't he shit? so Not their best but again They're not they don't see the automations the way a lot of the other countries do they just this is a building opportunity And I'm okay with that. I have no issue with that whatsoever. I like that Ireland's doing that they're what bringing their like Younger star I've viewed their up-and-comers on a tour of South Africa like yes do that
00:24:30
Speaker
I give them some playing time together at least. Right. I mean, because last year was in down in Australia was how we found Melvin Jamene.
00:24:42
Speaker
And that was their same strategy. They were just bringing not quite their top players. They know what they need the top players for. They want them for the autumn, they want them for Six Nations, and they want them for the World Cup. That's what they want them for. So they're using these as building tools, and I'm not mad about it as long as you understand what you're doing and they do.
00:25:01
Speaker
If you're just bringing a bunch of helmets for the sake of bringing a bunch of helmets, there's a different story there. Bring some developmental players, bring some guys that you definitely want to see what they have and if they perform well, then reward them in the fall and in the spring. Great. Scotland.
00:25:19
Speaker
found out. Yeah, that was bad. They found that Argentina, like a lot of teams have found, not so easy anymore. Credit to Chex and all them, and we'll get to Argentina a little bit here. But Credit to Chex and that whole crew, Contempo, Fernandez Lobby, they are making life miserable. But
00:25:41
Speaker
Yeah, Scotland are going to continue to be on the edge and never quite see their true potential. I feel like that's just my opinion. Um, and I'm not saying, I don't know if it's Townsend. I don't know if it's some of the players that continue to hang on with combinations of two of that. I'm not sure, but it just, they have potential to really be dynamite and they're not. Yeah. You know, I think, and, and.
00:26:08
Speaker
It's hard. It's literally hard for me to say this. So I don't think that this is like a hot take that I'm just saying off the, you know, shooting off the hip here, because you and I have had this conversation as to there's a question. Is Stuart Hogg done at the international level? I think it could be asked. Yeah, like it could be as close. And I'm not. No disrespect to him, you know.
00:26:35
Speaker
Obviously he's been extremely entertaining and a fantastic rugby player throughout his career, but everything comes to an end, right? And he's given me kind of Raffles Burger vibes, as in like he's... A little bit beyond that expiration date. Right. And every so often, like he's at the point where it's like every so often he does something, you're like, okay, there's Stuart Hogg, but then that's like it.
00:26:58
Speaker
And he does a bunch of things. You're like, man, Stuart Hogg would be great right here. They had Stuart Hogg. That would be just fantastic. And he's like on the pitch. So it's like, OK, well, where'd you go? Yeah. Which way did he go? So, yeah, like there's a little bit of that for me, too, because he's one of those guys that you just lean on. And it's like, I don't know that he's there anymore and you can't really lean on them. So and the other positions don't quite know how to do it because this is the way we've always done it because we've had Stuart Hogg back there.
00:27:28
Speaker
Yeah, that can cause problems, no doubt. Yeah, so we'll see again. Yeah, there, I mean, talk about question marks, about quarterfinal, next fall. We'll see. I'm not convinced yet. All right, so let's move on to other nations, not in Europe.
New Zealand Rugby Challenges
00:27:51
Speaker
The one that we probably really need to talk about, and I think it's the one talked about the most, if not, it's up there, the All Blacks, New Zealand. And they've, and we can even bleed a little bit of TRC into this, they've now fired everyone they can, not named Fozzie and Kane. Right.
00:28:13
Speaker
and I don't know if that was the right move. I think the better move would have been to, one or the other, honestly, like if you want to keep one or the other, fine. I think the move would have been to get rid of one of them, honestly, because you're talking about something that's never happened to New Zealand with Ireland beating them in their own series. That is when it comes to drastic, drastic change needs to happen after something like that.
00:28:40
Speaker
in their storied history, it's never happened. That needs to be the immediate red flag that goes up and says, all right, everybody get to HQ right now. We need a powwow. And somebody's losing their fucking job. Sorry to say that's a fact. Instead, they got rid of two pretty good coaches. Right. And they've replaced him with, I like Jason Ryan. I don't have a problem with that. But they've replaced one with Joe, as Joe Schmidt. I'm like, oh, shit. He was supposed to just be a selector, not a coach. So yikes. Maybe if he's not running the whole show, it won't be so bad.
00:29:10
Speaker
Yeah, so there's problems and it's unquestionably and I'll say this and then I'll let you get your words in. For me, the biggest hole right now is that 12-shirt.
00:29:28
Speaker
without a doubt. Haveli's not international standards. And Topaya's not there and they use, uh, Jack could use apparently not an option anymore. So they got to fill that shirt with something better. Yeah. He's in that role too, for me. So, um,
00:29:45
Speaker
So they have to have an answer for that. And I'm sorry, I'm going to harp on this again. They let the best option walk out the door a long time ago. And that was none other than Bombay. And they shouldn't have. And they were really, really fucking stupid to slap him in the face and say, we want you to stay, but here's a pay cut. It's like, no, you idiots. That is your best, one of your best centers, if not your best center. Now he's walked out the door and he's told him to pound sand and he doesn't want to come back. He's certainly better than Haveli. Certainly.
00:30:13
Speaker
And so now they're they're trying to try to push to about the check, but he's not ready. He's not even ready at the club level. So it's like. They're trying, but it's not that's not you don't you know, you're the all blacks. You don't try. You just do. You know, if you're trying something, you're you're doing something wrong. Like you have fucked up.
00:30:35
Speaker
And they fucked up. Yeah. Like, you know, Sam, Sam Kane is first off, he's a six, right? Just make it like Peter Armani. That's kind of what he's good for. But he's not. He's not a seven at this level, and either way that. You have such options there between, you know, like.
00:31:05
Speaker
Papa Lee and Sevilla. Yeah. And you've got so many options there. And like, cause Sevilla is playing at seven as an eight and you just don't have, you know, when you're six is, you know, first off, Frizzell is not a, he's not international quality either at the moment. Um, and shouldn't be on the team anyway. Um,
00:31:29
Speaker
but you got these other options like Peter Gus is around and he's, his form has been ridiculous. That's a guy you want. And, and he's not really getting a looking again. And that's, that sucks. Right. You're there. They're shooting themselves in the foot with their selections. Obviously the style, the style of play is fine. It's just that the execution is terrible because the people doing it aren't very good. No, I agree. I agree. I agree. Um, and this might be, again, this is one of those,
00:31:58
Speaker
things. It's desperation time. Playing Mwanga and Bowdoin Barrett on the same field at the same time might be something you have to live with for a while because it's going to give you more options than not doing that. And I understand that means you're moving some players around. Listen, they were toying with the idea of Jordy Barrett playing 12. Honestly, try it. At this point. Try it. You have nothing to lose.
00:32:23
Speaker
You know, so just and I know and I've already seen the lineup. It's not much different than what they've been putting out. And somebody pointed out and I don't remember who it was, but they've really this is not the one they kind of hit the nail on the head with because I really thought about and like, holy shit, they're right.
00:32:41
Speaker
the two shirt. And I have no disrespect for Kohl's and Taylor. I love the both of them to pieces. Tanki Ajo is the form guy right now. But they haven't really blooded anybody else in that shirt. Right. So you need to find answers because
00:32:56
Speaker
And they have answered. There's possibilities abound in New Zealand to fill that shirt, but they haven't really given anybody else a shot and they think you really need to. His throws have not been great. No, but otherwise, open field play has been actually really good. So has Taylor's. Taylor's layouts have been shit. Right. So really, that's the question of is it the hooker then?
00:33:19
Speaker
Yeah. Or is it just the timing? Is it just the... Well, we saw the end of the game this past weekend. They totally fucked it. And Whitelock just did me. They went to him. And he's another one that I'm... You have to start questioning him. And I'm not saying that this is the thing to do, but you have to question some of the old heads. And he is a wily old son of a bitch.
00:33:41
Speaker
I think at this point you need to consider bringing him off the bench as your best option and starting to bovai or somebody like that. Bertie Vitalik's back on the bench this weekend, so that'll be interesting. I would be very interested to see what other young locks they could pull through. They gave Tuipolotu a small run. I think he's been hurt though, so that's not really been helpful. Again, some younger faces to get through this thing, especially when you go on this autumn tour, you can recon
00:34:11
Speaker
Do it like a freaking, you know, like your oil, change the whole fucking thing if you want. And I honestly think they could. Right. And they'd be in, it would do them good. Yeah. Would they, with their ranking stuff for overall, probably. Right. This matter. What the fuck do right now? They don't right now. They really don't. You're going to go play a small stipend, but you're going to go play a.
00:34:30
Speaker
a World Cup and and yeah. Yeah, so you have so and we talked about like how many windows like Eddie Jones has to get his team in shape. The problem is even worse for Ian Foster right now in New Zealand because you have the rest of the TRC, which is they only have a couple of matches to play after this weekend. You have the autumn and then you have three matches, maybe maybe six in an abbreviated TRC next year. That is all you have to get prepared for it. So
00:34:58
Speaker
I think you really, we talked about this being drastic circumstances for the all blacks. Do something drastic. Make a bold move for God's sake. Honestly, Ian Foster, what do you have to lose? You're already on the hot seat. If you get worse, your job's gone. And that's the worst time to lose it too. But if you get worse, your job is gone. And that is like plain and simple. Who would hire him?
00:35:26
Speaker
Uh, like a club team, but that's it. Yeah. He's like the opposite of, um, Farrell, like when Fauzi's done there, it's who's who'd really want him at the moment. It's just not, it's not going well. And it, and you know, I don't blame New Zealand for going through the hiring process. They did because it's been working for them. They had Hanson and then they had, and then they got Graham Henry out of it. Yeah. All of them did well. Got them all to all of them got to semi-finals, if not better, um, hard to besmirch that.
00:35:56
Speaker
But obviously this has just not worked out well. Either they picked the wrong guy internally or they just picked the wrong guy in general. It doesn't matter how you want to lay it out. They picked the wrong guy. And I think that's really obvious at this point. So, um, well, they'll get to the, for them, they'll get to the quarterfinal. I don't think there's a doubt in that. Um, semi-final is now the question mark for them. And that would be a very big disappointment for them after their last, you know, their last three World Cups. Right. So very, very hard, very ouch for that one.
00:36:27
Speaker
Um, to Ben's favorite team, the South Africans. I look, I like the team. Well, I like the team. Um, most of the team, but it's the fans. I can't stand at this point. I've done the stuff. Blaming the reps every time. It's enough. Yeah. It's enough. You, you, you made your point. You wind, you cried, stop airing out refs that better that happened to referee matches. You, you lose.
00:36:56
Speaker
All right.
00:36:58
Speaker
Do bad calls go, you know, do reps make bad calls? Yes. Oh, yeah. Do they miss calls? Oh, fucking all the time. Does it, you know, does it has it actually impacted these matches? No, it has not. And not only that, but the calls that they're whining about were fine. Like, stop it. OK, first off, Nick White, hilarious. That was the funniest fucking thing I've seen. And it worked only because it worked. But I mean, at the same time,
00:37:30
Speaker
faff, you fucking, you did no good there. But you're, you're taking the risk, right? You're taking the gamble. And that's what Paul said to like, I know what you're trying to do, but that's the risk you run. Right? Exactly. He got it. That's exactly what it is. You hit the guy, you make contact with his face, you now you've slapped him, strike to the head, yellow. That's, that's just what it is. And you went like, you know, you didn't have to do it.
00:37:55
Speaker
It didn't do anything except to punch a guy in the face and get you a yellow. So great. Good, good, good work. So, no, that's that's a yellow. Cora Betty did attempt to wrap. He's not supposed to be doing that anyway, so. Right. Yeah. Jumping into contact. Right. I saw somebody literally tweet about like, well, he hit him in the air. It's like, you can't jump into contact. Yes. So no. But either way, dial that aside.
00:38:24
Speaker
South Africa just aren't playing well. Their defense is not dominant at the moment.
South Africa Rugby Strategy Concerns
00:38:34
Speaker
We saw Australia just carve them up.
00:38:38
Speaker
Yeah, Australia's carving of the second McRite try. Yeah, I mean, well, yeah, like they're getting your tendencies. They're learning how to draw you in certain ways. And they're they're learning, you know, it's become obvious now how you defend. And when Australia can be like, you know, they're making them look like a normal, they're mortal defensively. And if South Africa are mortal defensively,
00:39:07
Speaker
And they're actually doing their role. They're playing fine. It's just all of a sudden, instead of running into, as everybody does, instead of running into the smashers, suddenly they're running into space. And it's like, wait, wait a second. They're finding space where there isn't any and then creating space where then that's the mortality. There doesn't used to be space here for South Africa where nobody hit that space.
00:39:30
Speaker
now they're hitting it, what do you do? Yep. You need to have an answer, guys. Right. And so now South Africa live off of that turning defense into attack. And now suddenly that's not happening. And yeah, they're going to look shit. Correct. And that's the problem with not really focusing at all on attack, because as soon as someone unlocks your defense,
00:39:53
Speaker
Yeah. You need to have an answer to respond. Right. And they don't have that right now. And that's, that's, that's disappointing considering the, the runners that they have. They got a plenty. They should be ready. They got a plenty. No doubt. Yeah. And look on your arms, been out of, out of this world lately for them as well. So it's not like they don't have foreign players by any means. And Andre over DDA that, that change has got to happen. Yeah. Is he, is Australian still banged up?
00:40:21
Speaker
I'm not sure, but that's the one thing I can think of. I don't think I mean, I think Dale and day is more of a club guy at this point anyway. And he made it may go that way by the time we get around to certain certain parts of the cycle here. Right. It may yet. Yeah. So let's go to their their most recent opponent, Australia. And the things that we saw both between them in the England series and recently now they get so.
00:40:50
Speaker
They, we saw what happens when South Africa do the normal thing, but it wasn't against South Africa. It was against Argentina with the high bombs. And they just had so much struggle with that. And, um, yeah, they had a couple of things that didn't go their way in that, in that, um, loss over in Argentina, but still like, so South Africa, of course, they're just going to harp in on that and be like, let's do it.
Australia Rugby Developments
00:41:10
Speaker
But.
00:41:11
Speaker
Wisely, Australia saw their mistakes, they saw their fuckups, they had two weeks to fix them and they fixed them. So credit to Australia for that. They realized, yep, we did not handle that shit very well at all. So let's get some guys in there that can handle these things and that are going to be problematic when they get the ball in hand in the air. And they were. Yeah. I think that's an easy way to say it.
00:41:35
Speaker
And a guy that you and I have not been a fan of by any means whatsoever for a while, but has played himself really, really well. Certainly in the recent games, and that's Corvetti. I took me a second.
00:41:55
Speaker
Was it in Korb? Didn't we not like, it was like, didn't we suck and shit on him? Like, or was that, it must've been a different guy. Like, I'm like, no, it must've been someone, you know, like, I'm like, no, it was, it was Korbetti. And it's like, it isn't the same player. So. Doesn't look it. No. Yeah.
00:42:12
Speaker
Good. I mean, it's amazing, especially the physicality. That was what we kind of were annoyed by. It was that he was completely nonphysical and and his first off, he's been punishing defensively now. Yes. Just, you know, it's not just my pimpi. He was dynamite earlier, too. Yes. Yes. And then he's just lethal in attack. He's he's because he's not running away from people. He's running like just off of them and
00:42:42
Speaker
and challenging them rather than trying to just avoid them. Just off the shoulder, just off that shoulder, which is a guy like him where he can thrive. Right. And especially when in the context of how someone's trying to tackle him, which is usually like a cover tackle situation, you run right off the shoulder. That's where they're almost like I would almost rather have to dive and take you out at that point than have you run right at me because I'm already off balance. So, you know, I think I think about this a lot.
00:43:15
Speaker
But yeah, and there's been some very impressive play for them all over the park as well. We've seen the return of Rory Arnold lately, and that's been nice to see for them. And they've been doing it really well in the TRC without their captain as well, because Michael Hooper was
00:43:35
Speaker
Obviously who he is, but he's done the right thing. And if he needs some mental time to take a step back so he's ready, come 2023, I think that's the right move for him. He needs to be ready. And even if he's not, that is okay. There's nothing wrong with that. You need to look after yourself in the end. There's more to life than the sport as much as we love it. So he's made the right move in that.
00:44:04
Speaker
I'm wondering...
00:44:08
Speaker
when we're going to see, and he's actually played really well lately and I'm wondering, can we see him get even better? If we can, he'll own the shirt and that's Noah Lilisio. Can he get a little bit better? Because if he does, he will own that 10 shirt forever. And he's beating out some good players too as well right now. He's playing pretty well, played pretty well on the England series, especially that first match where he was kind of like, oh, by the way, you're starting now five minutes before kickoff.
00:44:38
Speaker
played really well in that match. But, you know, I, and it's, I don't want to compare it to Marcus Smith, but they're about the same age and they obviously play the same position. Marcus Smith's a world beater. Like that guy will light up any team. Doesn't matter who he's playing for. Um, Lulu-Sio's not quite as talented, but still has monster potential and the potential to be a long time 10. Yeah. What's up? No, he has the potential to be a Marcus Smith. It's there.
00:45:05
Speaker
It's I mean, not I just don't I don't think it's quite come to the surface like it has for Marcus. Right. I mean, he'll just be one of those guys who becomes that at like, you know, late 20s instead of early 20s and that shit. There's no shame in that. But yeah, he's he's headed in that direction where in, you know, four years or so you're going to be he'll be maybe not this World Cup, but the next one, he could be one of those like
00:45:32
Speaker
box office type players that you you're you're excited to pay to see. Only good for the sport. Right. Only good for the sport. So a little bit too. He's not he doesn't look like he's gonna crumple. No, no, he's he's been sticking his nose and everything. So I appreciate that. You know, even if he falls off in a little bit, he
00:45:52
Speaker
You keep sticking his nose in there, it doesn't quit. So I've had a lot of appreciation for that. Really good stuff from the guy and a lot of good stuff from Dave Bernie's squad. If Rugby Australia is smart, they're going to make sure that they lock up Dave Bernie till 27. Especially since they're hosting it. Let's go to the Pumas. Argentina and their impressive feats of late. You know, didn't play well in their June series, but that's okay. Can be forgiven.
00:46:22
Speaker
But the main opponents that they've probably targeted are these games, this TRC. And they've played really well in all of them so far and come out with two wins. And now they're sitting on top of the TRC right now. And they've done so without a 10.
00:46:37
Speaker
Yeah, I don't. I mean, whatever. He's kicking. I mean, yeah, it's a very it's it's unorthodox. But that's putting stuff from Argentina. Right. You're putting a wing in 10. And he's just like, OK, well, just tucking around then. OK. Yeah, it doesn't know any better. Fuck it. Yeah. And it's it's working. I mean, that's you don't notice that they're not playing with that. It doesn't. It's not something you appreciate while the play is happening.
00:47:06
Speaker
It's just when it's over and you're like, damn, they have a wing at 10 and they're doing this shit. Ridiculous. It is. I don't think it can be, the guy can be pointed out enough. The, the Lester Hooker, Julia Montoya, like just wow.
Argentina Rugby Success
00:47:23
Speaker
The guy is playing out of his skull every day. And you know, I think.
00:47:28
Speaker
to checks credit, giving him that captain's armband has, I think it's up to his level, honestly. And to say that he was bad before is completely inaccurate. But man, he's just brought it to another level. There's something to be said for having to come up in the shadow of Creevy. Where you are, there's this
00:47:53
Speaker
You're the imposter. You know, it doesn't matter how good you are. It doesn't matter, you know, in some cases, how good you are. But fuck if he hasn't stepped out from that shadow and it's not the crevies playing poorly at all. I mean, fuck his work for London Irish is outstanding.
00:48:15
Speaker
But yeah, it's now Montoya it's been like Montoya said no, this is mine now and and did the right thing and yeah has stepped up ever sent and giving him to see his has stepped it up even more.
00:48:28
Speaker
Yeah. What else is there to say? He's been fantastic. And that back line is something else. What a bunch of like the right bastards on the pitch. But like, OK, so here's the thing. You're going to you're going to sit there on the Twitters and complain about Nick White getting slapped in the face and playing it up. Hilarious. But you're not going to say anything.
00:48:54
Speaker
When fucking what's his ass? Matera. Matera takes the okay. Yes, it was a hit. I fully agree. It's a penalty. No, this is the difference. No, no question. It's a penalty. Matera fucking dove. That was a Vlade Divac dive. Like, oh, I got touched and fought like, you know, that that was not a hard shoulder. Kane was quite obviously easing up and
00:49:20
Speaker
You know, one of those, he went harder than he should have, definitely. But yeah, that dive was...
00:49:31
Speaker
Yep. Yeah. Unseenly. Only big level diving. Alright. Last team we'll get into and then we'll try and shuffle through the last couple things here. I don't want to talk about it. Yeah, I know. But we need to because number one, we need to acknowledge the fact that the Chileans are going to the World Cup for the first time and that is all the credit to them and they won't
USA Rugby and World Cup Qualifiers
00:49:54
Speaker
Um, as someone pointed out, there will be no like issue like there was with Spain or anything like that. These are all homegrown guys. They play locally for the most part. Like there's going to be no question about it. They're, they're going to the World Cup, 100% legit. And for me, and we can dive into this at another point in time, um, deeply, but at the same time, like.
00:50:19
Speaker
you can make a laundry list with what's wrong with USA Rugby. You can make a laundry list, several laundry lists with what's wrong with USA Rugby, let alone a book. This is the smallest tip of the iceberg that I could find and it's
00:50:37
Speaker
refereeing in the MLR bit us in this particular series and the one particular point I can point to is that neck roll that cost us that last penalty because it is not harped on nearly to the level if at all in Major League Rugby. TMO is almost useless in Major League Rugby. The referees don't pick up on it as much. The ARs aren't allowed to make calls like that. No.
00:51:05
Speaker
no that's the bad part so this this guy who's been doing this for the whole league season rolls into this fixture which is right after the league season doesn't know any better and clears out the way he's probably been clearing out for you know 90 of the league season because he hasn't been pinged right and
00:51:25
Speaker
Luke Pierce and the TMO and all that, of course. They're on it. I don't care if the friggin Chileans bitched about it. I was annoyed, but I get it. They have their point. The TMO picked up on it. It doesn't matter. Right. It doesn't. OK, that is and that is the tip of the iceberg of the problems that we have with the United States Eagles. I
00:51:47
Speaker
jokingly said that i hope we miss it and i'm still kind of serious about that i really am they're not likable they're just not and and and you have a team with with aj mcginty and greg peterson on it and moving to hospital and you can't find a way to be likable right what the fuck it's it's it's it's embarrassed and i yeah um
00:52:13
Speaker
Who was it. Oh shit, who was the center who is normally 15. Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm over I remember seeing him at the mlr level and being like he every time he was getting the ball and at mlr level, I was when they were playing the free jacks.
00:52:28
Speaker
I was like, OK, that's fine. He's not going anywhere. He's not going far. Like he's not. He is an anti threat. He's just a guy with the ball. And and he's not even fast anymore. Like I'm I'm I'm 42 about a shape. And I'm like, of course, I'm thinking like I'm back when I was like maybe even 33 or so and and still had a little bit of a kick in me. I'm like back then I was faster than Rocky is now. And that's not good for anybody. Mm hmm.
00:52:59
Speaker
Yeah, I don't, I don't like it. No. And they got to have someone else. There's, there's, there's so many other options there. Will Hooley, where, what did will Hooley do wrong? I want to know. Like he's a, he's a true fullback. He's played at really good professional levels with Saracens and Bedford. What did he do wrong? Yeah. Really. You know, and I'm a big fan of his, but at this point, tell me why, why he's the wrong choice at fullback right now. No, I cannot.
00:53:28
Speaker
Yeah, he's not. He's not. Mitch Wilson played a brilliant game. Saw no time in the chalet series. Right. Right. The fuck. And then they weren't really getting much out of their backs. And and yeah, I'm sure I like AJ is so good that how do you waste that? How do you make it that look bad? And, you know, I see. So and the answer for me, one of the answers for me in the pack is.
00:53:58
Speaker
right now, and I honestly don't give a shit if this is even remotely controversial. You have Greg Peterson at Locke, pushed Cam forward as that. Buck, Brakeley, Buck, Savetta, they both suck. They do. Sorry. Find back rowers that actually give a damn. Have Samu Manoa, sorry, on the bench as a potential 19, 20, doesn't matter which one, he can do both. Yep. Okay.
00:54:24
Speaker
and buying dynamic back rowers because we have some. We do. We have some all over the fucking place, you know, find some. And then, you know, there will be a we can do a special. And I think, well, maybe we'll pick up the phone and call Bill on this one about how to solve these problems, because right now I'm annoyed to holy hell about what the hell we have in front of us right now with the rep massage tournament being the last chance. And could we do it? Yes.
00:54:53
Speaker
I'm still 50-50 on whether or not I really want us to, because if we don't, at least we can take a hard look at where we're fucking up, and we can maybe just rebuild the whole thing from the ground up. And that would be nice. I'd be okay with that. Give him a call. So, yeah, we'll see. But needless to say, I'm done with that. So let's do it before we run out of too much time here. Let's dive into,
00:55:22
Speaker
The unfortunate situation that going on at six ways and it's, you know, Worcester warriors are in dire, dire
Worcester Warriors Financial Troubles
00:55:29
Speaker
straits. They are.
00:55:31
Speaker
As far as we know, they are planning to play the season, but problems, left, right, and center, every way you look at Six Ways. And sadly, for Ben and I, Steve Diamond is not one of the problems. I mean, he's a sympathetic character in this situation. He's looking good in this situation. That's how bad the fucking ownership has fucked up. That Steve Diamond is like a hero here.
00:56:00
Speaker
That said, with all respect for what he's doing, I mean, he's he's a, you know, huge pain in the asshole. But he's also a club guy and he's absolutely doing the right thing. And yeah, good, good. Well done. You know, he's he's making sure they have a kit, he's making sure that the players have a paycheck and accommodations and whatnot for the for the travel. He's he's doing the right thing. Right.
00:56:30
Speaker
Yeah, much respect for him. Yeah, it's for the players. So that's just like it's a whirlwind for like a guy like Finn Smith who signs with Saints. And then suddenly, OK, no, you're you're going to get paid off. Yeah. OK, so that's off. But now all of a sudden, it's like, well, we're not getting paid like the fuck. Right. Yeah, I'd be super annoyed. Yeah, super annoyed than every player. Anything that any player has to has to say at this point, bar like anything derogatory.
00:56:59
Speaker
Do you have all rights to say this right now? Honestly, I'm good. Like, you know, they've been putting out videos today and Ferguson Warner did that. Ferguson Warner fucking moves continents to come play for your team.
00:57:14
Speaker
And suddenly he doesn't get a paycheck. Like what he's I would be furious. And he's there making sure I mean, it's also for the for the gets further. So it's not really for the Worcester warriors. It's for your guys. Yeah, it's for the guys that you're that you know, where they're trying to play with. Yeah, absolutely. But damn, it totally sucks. And so as far as we know, there is some sort of American
00:57:40
Speaker
a sports group that's looking to buy the warriors and hopefully dig them out of this bullshit hole that they're in. But I mean, clearly.
00:57:48
Speaker
Here's the thing, and it happens all the time where you have a beloved owner that gets the team to where it's going and people will never forget it. And then you have an ownership group that takes over and completely just cocks it. And it doesn't happen all the time, but this is usually the story. It's usually the beloved owner sells to another person and completely cocks it. Being a Fulham fan, I can tell you that happened with my club and I watched it happen. I still fucking hate the cons. I don't like them at all.
00:58:17
Speaker
And I forgot that to leave. They showed them on the TV the other day and I was like, oh, fuck. Yeah. Yeah. You fucker. And then the little piss ant son, I'm given the chance. Somebody find Tony Khan and plant him in front of our Airbnb so I can slap him when we're in London. Meantime, yeah, it's just really, you know, it's the story. And
00:58:40
Speaker
When you are that second owner that comes in after the beloved owner, you have to work really freaking hard to one up that guy or at least match it because you will be the devil if you fuck it up. And these guys did not do that. Plain and simple. Plain and simple.
00:58:57
Speaker
they did not do that at all. And that's painful for the people of Worcester. Like they're clearly trying to make it like, like vulture capitalism almost. Like I'm sure, you know, who do we think were the people who were buying up like the car park and, and, you know, shits on the grounds. Like it wasn't just random people. It certainly wasn't anybody who lived in Worcester. It's not anybody who's like a fan of the team. It's someone who just wants to profit off of the team falling apart. And it's like,
00:59:27
Speaker
Sounds like what the owner is trying to like, it just sounds scummy all around and like it's bad for the, it's bad for the league too. They got to step in at some point. Yeah. You'd hope PRL would get their, get their shit together and help them out. Yeah. Help, help sort this out very quickly. Cause for the sake of the, for the sake of the players, you gotta sort this out fast. Yeah. You know, cause
00:59:50
Speaker
You can't have these players just going into these half-hearted issues because the product's gonna be bad too. Now, that said, I hope that Six Ways is bouncing the first home game they have. I really do. I really, really do.
01:00:07
Speaker
I'm sure we'll wait and what you do in this is what so the here's the here's the model that I know because I have two friends that were Newcastle United fans and they used to have an owner named Mike Ashley for those that aren't 40 fans. Some of you probably already know this.
01:00:22
Speaker
He was the biggest dickhead possible as far as owners go. And what fans did were they bought the tickets, they bought no merch, and they bought no concessions. That's it. They went to support the team and that was the end. And honestly, in this situation, until you have an answer, that's your answer, Worcester. Go to the match, support the hell out of the players to the gills. Do not buy merch, do not buy concessions. Drink them at the pubs after and before.
01:00:52
Speaker
Support the boys in the in the in between if you have merch already great go get some knockoff merch if you don't okay That's the answer okay, that's my solution at least so I hope that's the type of thing that happens so the freaking owners finally get the message and they can fuck off mm-hmm cuz I think that would be best for a lot of people and then our final note on here
01:01:17
Speaker
We have another World Cup that's being built up for here. Very, very nice. A nice little slow burn, but we're getting there and it's getting fun.
Women's Rugby Progress
01:01:26
Speaker
We've seen black friends and walrus compete twice with each other. One little lopsided. The second one, quite good. Yeah, walrus agree with themselves quite well.
01:01:37
Speaker
And one thing I see Ruby two weeks interview after I love that interview. I love her. Yeah. I love her so much. Of course. You were correct. But like her her energy with for towards Australia to saying like, hey, they they watch film, they learn they're better. You know, that's that's important. Hey, you know, when it's that obvious that they that you notice as an opposite player and
01:02:02
Speaker
That means that obviously Australia are, are doing something right there too, which is good because the Walleroos deserve to be good. And right now they're not really, they haven't been as competitive as, as they should, you know, shocking for Australia to hear from Australia rugby that they're not as competitive as they should be. But it's a little bit, I think it's all the different women's rugby where there's more opportunity to be the best team. I mean, fuck the Eagles women are very good.
01:02:29
Speaker
Very good. They're just not, you know, the New Zealand standards yet. No, I'm not there yet. But yeah, that's it's that's not that far away from anybody. So now Australia are proving that so good for them. Yeah, no. And the one thing I will say and I think the best thing and it's been said a few times over the last couple couple of years now was as women's rugby has picked up the tread, the tracking that it should.
01:02:58
Speaker
people are being critical of the players on the field. And I mean that in the way they play. I don't care about, like we talked about the misogyny is not welcome, none of that. But they're being critical of, you know,
01:03:14
Speaker
Are they doing their job well enough? And that is something I think we need to just remember like continue to be critical because we don't need to because these these players do not just want a pat on the backs because they're playing women's rugby. They want they want that.
01:03:30
Speaker
They want to hear this player is not doing a good job because of so-and-so. So let's play so-and-so instead. That is what they want. And I guarantee you that's what they want. And I know to a level that will get really annoying for them and they'll be pissed. But overall, for the good of the game, that's what they want. So yes, let's serve things, be critical, and say this person's not doing the job or this person needs to
01:03:57
Speaker
this person has been found out, you know, stuff like that. There's standards. Yes. And that's, that's the, that's the big thing. And it's like, you know, sometimes there's, there were some players who want to be the best player on a bad team.
01:04:10
Speaker
Like they would rather that than be a bench player on a great team. And those are the players who are, you know, the, the, the former are the players who, when the team is bad, when a team like, you know, the Eagles or, you know, a Scotland or an Ireland where there's, you know, there's no real standards.
01:04:31
Speaker
They're cool that that kind of culture favors them. But then, you know, now you're making it when you start making a professional, you start having those standards and those get sussed out. And then suddenly you have just the overwhelming influx of good players. And and that's what the standards, you know, and then the standards go up. And that's how it that's how it ratchets up. That's how, you know, iron sharpens iron. Absolutely. Yep. I agree. I agree.
01:04:56
Speaker
And then we'll touch on said Eagles this past weekend playing Scotland. Two players that I want to talk about a little bit. One on you, the side of the coin. We'll start with the bad. And that way we can end up with a good note for myself at least. Mickey James. Sorry. Charlie Jacoby should be playing tight head. And I understand this is a warm-up match. So with that understanding, okay, fine. You're trying to figure out if she's good enough.
01:05:27
Speaker
That kickoff match, you better not be playing tight head. That's what I know. Charlie Jacoby should be the tight head. That is what I've gotten. And I said this about Hope Rogers last year, and then she got good. She got fit, she got better. And I clap my hands for her, so I want Nicky James to get better, or Charlie Jacoby needs to start playing, starting. That is... Hope Rogers used to be Nicky James, which means Nicky, there's a potential for Nicky James, but she's got a...
01:05:55
Speaker
Yeah, she's got to start moving. Yeah. Start getting in a running program. You're strong enough. Put down the weights. Well, you know, I mean, you can pick up the weights, but just, you know, but get fit, you know, substitute, you know, yeah.
01:06:11
Speaker
And I'm not one that's gonna sit here and judge body tape type. What I'm judging is she can't get around the park. I don't care what you look like. Listen, Bastero played for years and was brilliant. And he was the biggest motherfucker out there. I don't care about that. Get your ass around the park. I don't care after that.
01:06:29
Speaker
I don't care if you've got a friggin big head and small legs. It doesn't matter. Get your ass around the park. That's all I care about. Right. So that's there's so that's that the others. The other one I do want to touch on that's on the bad side of the coin is Olivia Ortiz. I think she I think Carly Waters again will be the nine going forward. Her footwork is off. Her footwork is very off. She's letting the defense get on her teammates. It's a problem for me. I see it. I don't know if she's fixing it or not. Hopefully she does. Yeah. On the good side of the coin.
01:07:00
Speaker
The best background in the world has to include Kate Zachary, doesn't it? Yeah. I mean, if you're picking your 15 right now, she has to be in it somewhere, whether it's eight, seven or six. It doesn't matter. Right. Well, because the other two are going to be Poppy Cleel and Molly Packer. So you kind of just throw her out there wherever. It doesn't matter. You just put any of them anywhere and then you're fine.
01:07:27
Speaker
Right. So, I mean, we saw what she does with ball in hand and it's... You can't do what she did, especially in that field flip that she did, picking up the ball in her own 22 and just nearly putting it home. You can't not be one of the best back rowers in the world if you do that, like playing simple. Right. To a respectable team, too. I mean, Scotland aren't
01:07:57
Speaker
you know, amazing right now, but they're not bad. Right. They're just not a, I mean, it's, you know, it's not, it's like, they're not top tier, but whatever. That's, you know, the English should be beating them, but it's fucking players on that team too. Exactly. So it's, I'm done.
01:08:16
Speaker
Yeah. It's, it's still a quality, quality play and quality standard that she said. Yeah. So I'm, I'm excited about what the Eagles team does. Um, in October, I've been, cause of course, you know, some of you know, I, I coach a high school team, um, girls high school team and I've been just pumping
Future Podcast Content and Sign-off
01:08:37
Speaker
this thing up. Like they should do, you know, they should do well.
01:08:40
Speaker
So I'm hoping I don't at this point. I don't think they're gonna let me down at this point. So might be a different story this weekend with the red roses. That'll be a different standard. But the red roses are a different standard compared to a lot of people. So this is where you're measuring yourself, right? This is where it's, you know, are you going to go make noise at the World Cup or are you really there to win it? This is this is what you kind of find out because right now if you're going to win the World Cup, that means you're going to have to beat England. You're going to have to beat
01:09:12
Speaker
If you can't do one, then you can do the other. That's going to be problematic, but at least you know where your expectations should be. Agreed. One thing before we sign off on this one, the old tip of the cap and a
01:09:32
Speaker
Nice clap for Kendra Cocksidge who is, she's going to call time at the end of this year. You talk about a legend. You think Blackferns, you think Kendra Cocksidge. That's not a question at this point.
01:09:51
Speaker
How do they play without her? I mean, they did the other week and they did OK, but yeah, but it's going to be it. Yeah. So, you know, she's like, oh, we'll see if I can get on the black currency. And I'm like, what are you nuts? You're getting on the black currency psycho. What's wrong with you?
01:10:09
Speaker
Of course, you're getting on the Blackburn's team, you nut. So, yeah, tip of the cap to an absolute legend. And she's done a world of good for women's rugby, especially, obviously. But in general, you know, the growth of rugby is the growth of rugby. I don't care how it is, honestly. You know, if it's sevens, if it's 15s, if it's women's men's, it's fine. You know, I don't want to hear anything about rugby acts.
01:10:34
Speaker
in the grand scheme of things, the growth of rugby is the growth of rugby. So yes, Kendra Crockstage has done a ton for rugby in general, plain and simple. That's my view on it. So kudos to her. We'll see how she gets sent out one way or the other this fall. So should be fine. Just the same. So well done to Kendra.
01:10:58
Speaker
Oh, look at that. My, oh my. Would you look at the time? Wow. So we're back in the saddle here. Um, yeah, we're back for weekly stuff. It's going to be fun. Next week might go over a little bit too, as we do our, uh,
01:11:12
Speaker
Prime preview. So we'll have a few more teams to go through and a few more matches to have watched after this weekend. Yes, but that's, I think we can all live with that, especially if it's the good stuff, like we think it's going to be. So yeah. And then we'll do.
01:11:29
Speaker
If you're coming over to the fantasy corner, um, yes, it's back. We're going to keep going with it. Um, it was, uh, I think it was a big success last year where we separated the two and some could just listen to the rugby stuff. Could some could, especially when you have a short week, like I understand we babble and you want the good stuff. So you just skip our babble about rugby and you go to the fantasy corner, then you go back to the other shit later and that's fine. I have no issue with that whatsoever. Um, but yeah, so if you're coming over there, we're going to talk, um,
01:11:58
Speaker
Division two of champions league. Uh, we're going to explain keepers. Um, we obviously have some sad news that we'll, um, we'll talk about, um, we'll talk FRD rankings and preview and FRD champions league draft order. So, um, yeah, we'll see you over there. If you're not coming over there, thank you very much for listening to us. We're happy to you back and we're happy to be, uh, entertaining your ears for a little while. And we appreciate you for hanging out with us. We'll we'll catch you next week. Have a good one later. Cheers.