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Season 6- Episode 7- Losing Their Touch (RWC Semifinals & Premiership Round 2)
80 Plays2 years ago
Those American rugby knuckleheads are back from their 1-week hiatus with more of the goods! On this episode of TFRY, it's about those Semifinals and how quite honestly they were a letdown compared to the Quarterfinals (which we touch on). We also touch on a couple of the game's legends who had the curtain drop on their careers a couple of weeks ago, but did not get to pay tribute to last week. Then we dive into the Premiership and what the hell is going on at the StoneX? Also, what's cooking over at the Rec and so much more. Kick back, get a drink, and join us for the fun!
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
Introduction and Unforeseen Break
00:00:00
Speaker
The Fantasy Europeans. My name is Jared Dyke. I wanted to say it's stupid and let's move on, but then you kept going. I'm Ben Glauser. I don't like any way anybody handled that. Collusion. Collusion.
Chaotic Work Trip and Communication Issues
00:00:21
Speaker
Hey everybody, welcome back. It is the fancy rugby angst. My name is Jared Dyke. I'm Ben Glauser. I hope you missed us at our little week off, but shit happens. It was like, that was the most ill-timed week off ever. Yeah, we kind of missed a lot. We'll cut Sammy's opening of Prem. Like, I don't know if we've ever had a worse ill-timed week off ever.
00:00:41
Speaker
Yeah. Although my boss did promise me that he, so it was, I got sent on a work trip by not my boss, but my boss's boss with like two days notice. And I think my boss was like, yo, you can't do that shit again. Please don't do that ever. I need, I need Ben for things. Like you can't just send him away and not tell like, cause my boss was traveling for work.
Podcast Promotion and Fantasy League Invite
00:01:03
Speaker
So there was a lot of, a lot of ill communication there and it was extremely last minute. So, um, it sounds like it.
00:01:09
Speaker
You know, the, like, look, my boss has your guys back. Um, you know, you, you need us to hear to, to tell you about rugby. Otherwise you'd never hear anything. Yeah. Right. So I apologize. It shouldn't happen again. Shit happens. Yeah. Let's crack them. Fuck. Yeah. Smoke them. I forgot them. Find us on your favorite podcast app, download, review, share.
00:01:43
Speaker
Don't forget to join our fantasy leagues. Yep. Join the official pod league for the prem. Not too late as long as I was already signed up on Subaru. I mean, I guess you could still sign up for Subaru, but you're going to be way behind.
Fantasy League Success and Humor
00:01:55
Speaker
That's all I'm saying. Yeah. You're going to be at like fantasy Rutgers level. My wife will be in front of you. Let's put it that way.
00:02:04
Speaker
That says a lot. She's doing all right. If I remember correctly. She's not dead last, which is pretty good. It's pretty all right. Yeah. I advise her away from the really terrible choices and then just let her make her own. It's like, don't do that. Because one, the person's not going to play. Two, they're expensive. But other than that, she's pretty much making her own decisions at this point.
Supporting Fantasy Rugby Geek
00:02:29
Speaker
Make sure that you buy our good friend, the Fantasy Ruby Geek, a coffee or beer. If you're in front in certain leagues, make sure that you are contributing to him because you're probably in front because of his help.
Non-Discrimination and NHL Pride Tape Discussion
00:02:42
Speaker
So of course he's always worth it anyway. It doesn't matter if you are or not.
00:02:46
Speaker
But yeah, I buy George a coffee and I just recently did. So yeah, yeah, I don't have to sit here and say, oh, I really need to do that anymore. I just did. He knows I did because I. I referenced two principles, of course, as one does. Yes, yes. Got it. Every time it comes on at the last few times it's come on, it's been in the car, too. Yeah, I was like, I can't jam out that well to this. No. Well, yeah, not in the car, not while I'm driving on the flipping highway here in Massachusetts. No way.
00:03:16
Speaker
That's true. That's not a good idea. That's a terrible idea. I was on the road. You never know what to do. Or on Jamaica Way, you know what I'm talking about. Yep. Oh, shit. That is what we call the Hunger Games, the real life game. Yes, it really is. That's what that is. It's like driving with an inch clearance on either side of- Uh-huh. And Ben is not kidding. Ben is not kidding.
00:03:42
Speaker
That's why I'm like, Oh, maybe the odds ever be in your favor. Yeah. And it's a curvy road and the people drive and everybody goes pretty fast around them curves too. So it's like, yeah, right. There we go. Let's see what kind of roulette we got going on today.
00:03:56
Speaker
Yeah, and the question isn't if somebody's gonna cross the the
Hockey Observations and Flyers Disinterest
00:04:00
Speaker
double yellows. It's if they're gonna get back in time Anyway, there is no discrimination here on this podcast nor should there be in sports or in life. We're gonna go good news We actually just talked about on the last pod NHL has lifted the pride ban
00:04:25
Speaker
And because who was it last night that did that had pride tape on it? And they were like, yeah, OK, maybe we shouldn't do that. Travis Dermott defense was for for Phoenix or whatever errors or the coyotes, whatever team that is that they don't know what's what they're representing these days. But, you know, right. But yeah, he he slapped it on there. He's like, fuck you guys. I'm going to do it anyway. Yeah, we knew it was going to be somebody. And it what did they find him?
00:04:51
Speaker
That's what I would have said. I would have been like, find me. Yeah. And and they're like, you know what? We're just going to not care anymore. It's like, there you go. There you go. That's how that's how it. Yeah. But that's, you know, the wrong way to do it is to ban it in the first place. The right thing to do is to say, you know what, this ban is stupid. We're not. We're just not going to enforce it. We're done. It's over.
New Patreon Supporters and Rugby Points Update
00:05:13
Speaker
There you go. And there we go. And actually, because there's still an hour till the Phillies come on, yikes. A little pinch butthole about that one. But yeah, there's just hockey on, so I'll watch hockey. Otherwise, I wouldn't be watching it at all. Your fliers are going well so far. I'll find out. Yeah.
00:05:37
Speaker
I was looking at the standings the other day, because obviously I'm curious about my guys, but I was like, Oh, hello. Look who's kind of hanging out near the top. Okay. I've seen just from my Twitter feed that they've, I've seen them win at least a couple of games, but I've been like, I don't care. Yeah. I've just been moving on. I'm like, Nope. I'm sliding right past that. Yeah. No, but now I don't have to. Now you get to enjoy it. Yeah, you get to enjoy it.
00:06:04
Speaker
And then of course, don't forget to join our Patreon. We would like to welcome our two new patrons, Stu and Justin. Thank you very much guys for joining. Hey guys. For supporting us and giving us a little bit of help over here and you know.
00:06:18
Speaker
Making sure that we got a beer to drink. We appreciate it. We appreciate it. Just the same. Yes. So, World Cup points against are up. We're anticipating points against for Prem will be up next week, the new sheet. So, that'll be awesome. And
World Cup Semi-Finals Predictions
00:06:35
Speaker
that'll be all... We're going to have a shit ton of detail on that, by the way. Yes. Not to tease that out. We'll talk about it more in the fantasy...
00:06:42
Speaker
Yeah, as we like to do. Yeah, you'll- As we like to do. We're hoping, hopefully even giving more people more than their money's worth this year. Yeah. Well, it's what we try and aim for at least. Right. I just like putting out new and interesting factoids to tell people. Yeah. Frank and cheat over here.
00:07:01
Speaker
Fuck yeah. Yeah, and then I'll have boom bust up tomorrow as well, and rankings will come out later on this week when lamps are announced. All right, let's jump in. World Cup semi-final.
00:07:18
Speaker
First one, I was doing the ultrasound and I got home and I was like, huh, the bite's out of this game already. I was kind of annoyed, honestly. We didn't get to talk about it last week, but I sensed something like this would happen in at least one of these games because the semi-finals last week were so evenly matched and it was so
00:07:39
Speaker
just titanic battles back and forth with all four of them. So I just smelled this coming a mile away. I was like, yeah, one of these is gonna be bad, if not both.
Argentina vs. New Zealand Analysis
00:07:49
Speaker
And they both kind of were. Yeah, I mean, the rugby played, and we'll get to the other one, but obviously we're talking about Argentine New Zealand, the first one. Yeah, just Pumas weren't at it. And honestly, I think it's fair to say,
00:08:09
Speaker
those that have seen the other semifinal teams in from fifteen and oh seven make it. I think this is the worst of the three semifinal teams for Argentina. I really do. And that's and it didn't. Well, yes and no, because to me, hold on, let me I'm still trying to get to pull up the game page if you give me a moment. You know, because I want to get the exact time. Yeah. 35 minutes into the game, right? You're right before half. Yeah.
00:08:39
Speaker
It's 12-3. Right. New Zealand have scored, if I'm not mistaken, two, yeah, they've scored two tries, missed and got one conversion. Yep. Argentina have just kicked a penalty. And they kicked a penalty again. 30, you know, like. Yeah. And to make it 12-6. And that was the last time they scored.
00:09:01
Speaker
That was it. Yep. And I mean, I know, I know New Zealand kind of grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck after that one, but like, but where, where was the fight back? So that's my thing. Um, cause I'm, I'm, I'm noticing that with some, a little bit from my team, like when you don't pose a threat in certain ways to a team, they can just be like, you know what, let's just play. Let's just go nuts. We think we can contain them. And that's where.
00:09:31
Speaker
That's really where New Zealand were. They were like, you know what? These guys aren't even going to try to score a try. If we really go at it and we give away a penalty, they're just going to kick for points again and then event, but guess what? We do that two or three times and we're going to score a try. We hit sevens and they hit the three every so often. We're just going to win. They just started hitting sevens and Argentina never even threatened to hit another three even.
00:10:01
Speaker
It's just that, that style doesn't, you know, it's doesn't work. Again, unless you're unless you have a complete shutdown defense and that's not what Argentina does. No. Not this game anyway. Malanga had 95 meters and he was the second second on the field. I went to Telia. Right. Like I had like 12 defenders beaten or some shit like that. Yeah, he had a bunch. He was all over the place to look at, you know, you look at so and then you look at.
00:10:31
Speaker
tackles, the first two names on the sheet are obviously going to be Argentinian. Then there's actually a few Kiwis, most of which had good percentages with the exception of Verre, Frizzell, Frizzbutt, you deserve it. Then it's Montogia, Alemano, Kane. Yeah. I mean, there were a lot of players that probably shouldn't have been tackling, but at the same time, like the fact that
00:10:54
Speaker
your top two tacklers in the game or were Argentina and then followed by four Kiwis says, doesn't say that the Kiwis dominated this possession wise. It says that there were two guys that were doing the work and everybody else was kind of along for the ride, unfortunately. And that's not awesome either. And I mean, and then obviously I think we have to talk about Will Jordan and he could potentially break a record this coming week. Men's record. Yes.
00:11:25
Speaker
I saw that post today. I was like, OK, fair, fair, fair. Yeah, that's right. Well, well, even even Havana recognized. Nope, that's not the record. Right. So that's off to you, Brian. Love you. Yes, exactly. Love that guy. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he's he's excellent. And that's the thing. Like you have to know you're playing who you're playing against. And I don't feel like Argentina did. I feel like they were like, you know,
00:11:55
Speaker
just playing like, OK, if we play a defensive style, we play test match rugby. It's like, no, you got to play rugby. Like you're not going to win this playing anything other than rugby. Right. I mean, for me. Throughout most of the tournament. In the back line, I'm only I'm only thinking of Bafeli and Mighty Mouse Mateo Carreras as like players that really shine and stood out for this. Yes, for the entire tournament centers.
00:12:24
Speaker
Ghosts for the most part and then chocolate bars had a game one game since he had one game Yeah, I think those are against lesser opponents too. Oh, of course, but they they had the exactly that's that's kind of bars Actually might had his mighty coming against Japan. So I'll give him that I think I could be wrong I don't mind your mouse is dead, but it's the same time even when I
00:12:45
Speaker
Matteo Carreras wasn't scoring. He was shooting at meters. He was making it happen. You could see it in this game. He was fucking out there giving what he had and wasn't getting a whole lot of help around him. And if I was him, I would have been annoyed. And I think the worst part of it all is this is a team that we know that has traditionally been one that fronts up up front and can hang with most teams up front.
00:13:14
Speaker
I think it's fair to say with the exception of Kramer and Gaggio, I don't know if any of them did. He's actually had
Argentina's Lacking Performance
00:13:20
Speaker
a good game, too. I'll give him that. He did. He did all right. For a guy that was playing was supposed to be second banana. I think he was the standout back row forward in the two games he played in the knockouts here.
00:13:30
Speaker
So, at least for them. So, that probably says about... I think Gonzo and Sinti are more interested in playing for the better team they'll be playing for soon. Yeah, perhaps at this point. Lavonini is still... That's the other thing. Yeah, Lavonini needs to go. Bye-bye.
00:13:47
Speaker
Yeah. A little bit of a joke there. He didn't. So I was like, he actually got a card at all this. No, he didn't. Which is amazing. But what did he do? Right. And at the same time, he made plenty of other errors, which are still one of the reasons I don't like him. Like, all right, you're not a walking card anymore. Congratulations. Mainly, you need to eliminate the other bonehead errors that kill your team. Or at least- Just too many of them.
00:14:13
Speaker
like at least give me a reason to be like, wow, I'm really glad Thomas Lavanini was there to help his team at that point. Because those words, I think right there with the first time that they've ever been uttered by me. So like, yeah, they have speed of use. But yeah, that QUT, oh, speaking of on the other side, literally, same number opposite team. They need to give, when it's a blowout like this,
00:14:42
Speaker
Like maybe around like 45, 50 minutes, sneak Scott Barrett a fucking Ritalin. So he can concentrate more and not give away a card. He just gets bored. He's like, oh, I'm just going to act up and do something stupid. I'm just going to do something dumb. Right. Like, what the fuck are you doing? I'm too excited. Oh, I got nothing to do. What do I do? I'm just going to hit this guy really hard within the head.
00:15:07
Speaker
Oh, you tell me. What are you doing? Just end the game. Just end it. Or end his game, maybe, at least. Yeah.
England vs. South Africa Tense Match Analysis
00:15:16
Speaker
Be awesome. Don't be stupid. But yeah, he really gets... He loses it. A little bit of the shiny objects on your own.
00:15:28
Speaker
I guess that's a good problem to have because it really only happens if they're up a lot. When they're getting hammered or when they're hammering someone, either one. When it's no longer a game. Right. He does something stupid. Yeah, okay. Maybe it's bad if you're getting hammered, obviously.
00:15:46
Speaker
Yeah, it looks way worse when that happens. Right. But I think it was it wasn't the twice in this World Cup he's done. He's gotten a yellow. And I think there was a couple of other times recently. It just seems like a habit with him. Yeah. Yeah. No. Well, he got and he got the one in the.
00:16:00
Speaker
game at Twickenham against the Springboks where they were getting chomped. But he just gave away the dumb yellow, which I think was his second yellow actually. So I guess that was the end. It was a red. And I know we'll get to it more next week to really talking about Brody and Sam.
00:16:23
Speaker
Yeah, it's I get the sense Barrett's going to keep being the starter. It's just no matter which one of those two is going to come in to stand next to him. Oh, I mean, after this World Cup when they're gone. I know. And it's Scott and Vai probably. Yeah, Vai actually sounds terrible. Maybe. But it's just like they're going to need. What's the. There's another young kid. Josh Lord. I was trying. Oh, yeah. Joshua, it's good to lose him to as well.
00:16:53
Speaker
Yeah, there's there's guys. I'm not saying there's not guys. No, I think there are plenty of quality and it'll continue to kind of fester through the systems as well. I'm just where I'm getting at is they need they need Barrett to start maturing. Like, yeah, after after this weekend, he's got to start becoming the adult. Right. And, you know, I already tapped him as a potential captain for when Robert takes over. So that could happen. But again, he needs to
00:17:22
Speaker
He needs to pick that up. Yep. I agree. Not sure many would argue otherwise. All right. And then Saturday. Great game. Let's not take away, you know, that was obviously tense moments mean, it means it couldn't have been a terrible game. It was compelling. That's a good way. It was thrilling. It certainly kept your attention.
00:17:48
Speaker
I think the conditions played a part, but at the same time, and we'll talk, I'm actually going to, I actually want to hit on this when we talk about series. Um, I think there are still points where you just need to be brave enough to play with ball in hand. And I get there's a point where you need to just be like anywhere within our 22, get it the fuck away because a knock on can happen so easily when the ball's wet, I get it. But there's also still, you,
00:18:13
Speaker
The Springboks were the one team that decided to be brave every once in a while, and they got their reward. Right. That's exactly it. With that said, I think that's the team that won is the right team. Yeah, I agree. The team that actually tried to win the game won the game. I feel like England, they're content to hit three. But we talked about this, as you mentioned, the Sarries. But I was constantly thinking of,
00:18:43
Speaker
when Saris beat sail and I can't remember who it was on Saris afterwards talked about you had this is a team you have to beat multiple times you can't just beat them once they'll they'll keep fighting you have to you have to step it up and beat them a couple times if you're going to win the game and right that sounds a lot like South Africa
00:19:04
Speaker
Yeah. And I don't think England ever really won the game once. They put themselves in a good position to win several times. Yep. But they never took that step through and said, no, no, no, this is our game.
00:19:18
Speaker
And ultimately, it was the team that scored a try that won. And England were too busy sniffing their own farts about the intelligence of high ball. I guess here's the other thing. Farrell was really good in the first half. The kicking that he did was not
00:19:34
Speaker
aimless we had they actually I think we talked about this directly it was like at the time it was like he's every time he's putting he's putting exactly where it needs to be he had he forced a couple knock-ons with his kicks from from the wings because they were just in such shit position and it's not that they did something wrong is that Farrell put it right in a position to fuck them up really smart kicking and then I think it was after the job goal
00:20:01
Speaker
I think after that Farrell just started, he did that aimless kicking stuff that we were knocking forward about. That was when it just fell to shit. You still had something going, you could still baby do something, but then they went to that aimless kicking and it went really poorly for them. Right.
00:20:22
Speaker
This is the difference of the player and probably the quality of the player too. And we saw Lubach get pulled early for his kicking performance, which we talked about like the one person that you shouldn't be kicking at on England. Who do you keep kicking at? Freddie Stewart. Freddie Stewart. And like they had no answer for it. That's the one person on the field you don't need to kick at. Like everyone else, you got a shot at getting something out of them. But Freddie Stewart is going to eat that all day long. He's a foot taller than anybody on your team.
00:20:48
Speaker
Well, anybody except for the pack. Anybody chasing the kick, probably. Right. Yeah. And he kept. Yeah. And so Lebak hit one too many of those. And I think that's why you get yanked because Pollard probably did it once or twice. But, you know, I'll chalk that up to Russ because he hasn't played a ton. And also it still has woke up semi final. So pressure. Yeah.
Impactful Game Substitutions
00:21:10
Speaker
Well, it does. It does happen to everyone, including the people that seem flawless. Right.
00:21:17
Speaker
Yeah, so I hate that move anywhere but that spot. The pulling of someone on 31 minutes, like World Cup semifinal, I totally get it. Yeah. Makes sense. This is this is do or die time. You have been playing for this thing for four fucking years. Yeah, makes sense. Any old other test match? Hmm. Yeah. Let it write out. Let it write out. Like, you're doing this for a reason. Like, let it write out.
00:21:47
Speaker
Yeah. And there were other big calls that were like, ooh, eye opening. And. Policey off at 51 minutes. That was. And Ebonnet, Ebonoff at 46. That got shoved right in her face with his name and scoring a try. Right. And while we're on him.
00:22:04
Speaker
let's give a ton of credit to his name. That dude went through three knee operations between last World Cup and this one. He's come in and been a huge part of this team, especially coming off the bench. The few times that he's gotten to bust loose like he did, he's done some damage either with that or just
00:22:24
Speaker
eating defenders and then getting away an offload, whatever it was. So you got to give the big fella credit for just never saying die, never giving up and being like, I will make this fucking World Cup team and I will contribute. And lo and behold, here he is scoring a try in the semifinal that eventually wins it or helps win it.
00:22:40
Speaker
Right.
England's Player Evaluation and Future
00:22:41
Speaker
Good. Great for him. He's a likable guy. He's fucking huge. He's like... Every bit as frightening as Elizabeth, but he comes across as a puppy dog kind of thing for some reason. A little bit. Really, there's so... Honestly, and I just was thinking about this the other day.
00:23:02
Speaker
There really are so few of the players that I dislike heavily to the point where I just want to kick them in the face because yes, they're kind of dicks on the field, but they're too bloody fucking nice off the field. So it's like, God damn it. I want to hate you, but that's hilarious. But that I think that's what's hilarious is that like, remember when he was shaken Sinclair?
00:23:24
Speaker
Yeah. A couple of years ago. Yeah, yeah. Like he's just fucking with him. Yeah. Like he's not going to do anything. Like he's not going to lose that much control. He knows he knows that he can't anyway, but like he's just fucking doing like. Yeah, I don't mind that. That's that to me is hilarious. Yeah, it's like I know there's nothing like that. There's never anything bad that's going to happen here. Right. Like, come on, man.
00:23:51
Speaker
OK, I want to I want to go back to this because I do. Yeah, I do like this South Africa team. I like all the players on it. That's that's a good squad and they're going to they're going to be tough in the final. Right. England really had no business being here, though, but except I got to say they had some players really step up. Yeah, I mean, there's no way that they would have been this close without that. Right. But I mean, like Joe Marlar, like his this was like this was kind of it for him.
00:24:21
Speaker
Yep. I'd say that's definitely true. For sure. I think this is more of a for sure thing at this point. Mauro had a hell of a match doing Mauro things as much as he could. South Africa is always a tough team to do what he does best against because they're as tall as he is. George Martin
00:24:42
Speaker
I want to, I like this George Martin. I should play the game. Yeah. I played a fucking hell of a game and I want to see this. This is what I want to see. If this is what we getting from him, then that's good. Just don't go doing stupid things like no arms tackles. Right. You got away with it, but be very careful, sir.
00:24:58
Speaker
And I'd like him to get better with ball in hand because you still like the mobile, like, look at Elizabeth. And as you said, it's name it like these are guys who can do things in space. That's what, you know, it's not just their physicality. It's that they're physical in space. And Martin's got that defensively. Let's I'd like to see him run ball in hand more.
00:25:15
Speaker
Laws was immense. Yeah, Laws had a really good game, not bad for his second to last shift. He's got one more, but he'll be done after this. The most I saw Tom Curry was when he was getting treatment. Yeah, the most I saw two weeks was when he was coming off. Right. I was like, oh, he was in the game. Okay, that's cool. Oh, you were in the game, weren't you? He and Dale Enday were ghosts.
00:25:37
Speaker
Yep, agreed. Absolute ghost. Yeah, no idea where the hell you was in most of the match. Johnny May beat Willie LaRue for a ball. Yeah, Johnny May did like two cool things, and I think both were because Willie LaRue fucking sucks. Yeah, one of them was definitely because of Willie LaRue sucks. Oh, man, there's got to be. Oh, that's and that's the thing that just like, oh, they went. So they went for Mac Pippi's replacement was
00:26:06
Speaker
Was that arm or was that Paula? That was, that was arm, right? And they haven't done anything with them. Yeah, no, no, they haven't. And you're, you're, you have arm.
00:26:18
Speaker
And you have Cade Moody, and you keep picking fucking Willie LaRue. That's the one problem in this whole team I have, really. Yeah. And he started shit after the whistle, too, because he's a dick. Yeah, shocker of the day. So him, and certainly occasionally Faf, are the two that I just would love to punt in the face. The rest, fine. No issues. They do what they do on the field, but they're otherwise awesome.
00:26:42
Speaker
You know, the two of them, like, LaRue is one of those dickheads. It's like, you're not good enough and have not earned the right to be the amount of dickhead that you are on the field. So shut up and maybe try and catch a highball every once in a while. He's so inconsistent, like, Jekyll and Hyde. Like, you could not. There are very few players that I really like put that label on, but something awesome, something stupid, like almost within a couple couple sets of each other, like just ridiculous.
00:27:11
Speaker
Can't do that as an international player, sorry. Not something that's possible. Yeah. I guess my only wonder at this point is what does England do in the third place match? Do they just open it up and just say, go have fun? That's not their style. That would be nice. But yeah, I don't know. I hope they do. Yeah, that would be nice. Also, oh, that was it. Fucking Billy Vunapola.
00:27:35
Speaker
You had to bring Billy. You really had. You had to. You couldn't have brought even. I mean, even Dom Brant, even obviously Mercer Mercer has been tearing up Mercer and he's going to tear up the trip and the easy. That should have been the easy pick. Like, I don't know. Like, listen, I'm glad that we have Billy at series. I think for club level. Awesome. I think in terms of international rugby, the dude's been his
00:28:02
Speaker
Sell by dates way past. Yeah, you know, it's what he's way beyond so beats me If you would if he didn't like as he came in for for Tom Curry in the second in the first half For his blood sub and then bottled a potential scoring ball Yeah ball to carry and you know in a really important area and then you did it again at the end to end the game and it's like If you had someone who could do just a little bit of that like maybe you maybe they win
00:28:33
Speaker
Honestly, that's a, that's a point. That's easily a point difference. What he, what he did. Yep. His two major errors. I think so too. That's a win that that's just, that's in selection. I don't even care about the coaching after that. That's what do you, what the fuck are you doing?
Concerns on England's Player Development
00:28:47
Speaker
You could have, that could have been, um,
00:28:49
Speaker
No, Ludlum. Ludlum, yep, yep. Easily. I would give you that for sure. I throw them out there. And speaking of selection, I was just thinking about this shortly after the match when
00:29:04
Speaker
I love Jinx, but the fact that they're just going to roll him out there for two knockout rounds for 80 minutes in a row kind of speaks to how badly they did in terms of the selection at Hooker. I am excited about what Theo Dan could be and can be. Jack Walker is just a guy, nothing important or special about him. No, he's a camp body. That was it. That was like the old guy, the young guy, and that's it.
00:29:31
Speaker
So you have, I mean, there's been some good play from hookers in England the last, you know, these last two weeks. McGuigan, Blomire, Thacker, obviously, you have, you had options. You went and you went with these guys. And because you went with these guys, you felt obligated to roll. And not to say I don't believe in Jinx and everything he does. He's a wonderful hooker. And I'm sad. This is probably his last World Cup.
00:30:00
Speaker
Maybe, maybe not. I guess I guess we'll see. Yeah. But you might be the backup who ends up playing 80 by the end. Right. No shit. It does speak to how much they actually trust those guys. And that is not good at a World Cup in a team that made the semifinal. No, they better get to player development and then soon because you got areas where
00:30:32
Speaker
Now you're going to pay the price. Now going forward is when you pay the price for starting Johnny May for like five years straight. Well, not five, four years straight rather than blooding new talent and getting in the next generation ready.
Reflecting on Rugby Legends' Retirements
00:30:45
Speaker
Because Johnny May can't play on this team anymore. Manu Tulagi can't play on this team anymore. Like you're kidding me. I don't even know that Elliot Daly can play on this team anymore. Then that means that of your starters here,
00:30:59
Speaker
Farrell's probably coming back for one more go. He's got one more and I'm probably, whether or not he's going to be able to play the whole thing, it'll be a different story. Marchant's gone for two years and Freddie, you're questioning whether or not he's your fullback because if Marcus Smith was healthy for this game, he probably would be playing.
00:31:17
Speaker
Although he they might have done something smarter like Jerry the jury's out on Marcus Smith at 15. I don't love it. So well, I mean, you put him out there for a knockout. So yeah, either way, but I do like Freddy for this game. But like, yeah, with the bomb, with the bombs that these guys were going to be sending up, he had they got to start. So and then now, yeah, you're losing Courtney after this match, like and your props, there's the props got to get better.
00:31:43
Speaker
Yeah, those two will go. Yeah, it's just okay, but Sinclair's- Schedule hang. Sinclair's- Hoop. Sinclair's on the edge of whether or not he'll be there. I guess you got to hope those U20 kids pan out like now-ish. They might just be pulled right into the senior team. Right. Well, they had the Timmons kid training over there. Yeah, I watched the thing on Reggie Pass that had his school in it. I looked at him and immediately it was just like,
00:32:12
Speaker
This kid is way above this league. Holy shit. He's a big boy for these fellas. They could have a hard time holding him down. And they did. They did. Yeah. He was a nightmare for most of the players he was playing against. All right. Um, and so, and we won't get into all the goodbyes, but I do want to just, cause we didn't get to talk about them last week. Like.
00:32:37
Speaker
A couple of big ones last week that we didn't get to talk about were bigger and Sexton. And it's for as long as I've watched rugby, shortly after I started watching rugby, Sexton became a thing. And that was because of the guy I was still playing. So it's gonna be weird to not have Johnny Sexton hanging around. Like we're talking about,
00:33:03
Speaker
You know, he's been around this scene for, what, 19 years? Something like that. Ridiculous. I know. Like, absurd. Absurd. And as Andy Farrell said, playing some of his best rugby at the age of 38. That says a lot. He really is. That's... It's... He changed his game and made it so much better. Mm-hmm. And he needed to because he was getting, like, literally killed. That's why his ass kicked.
00:33:34
Speaker
Not every player can do that. Not every player is willing to do that, certainly at that age. Although it's helpful if you want to continue playing. Yeah, I. It's going to be weird. Not not seeing him. Yep, 10 shirts open,
Ireland's Future and Dan Bigger's Influence
00:33:52
Speaker
kids. We assume Crowley is going to be the incumbent. But yeah, lots of hats off to the man, just stellar career, deserve to end a little bit more.
00:34:03
Speaker
glittering than that, but it is what it is. The good, the thing I would give, I would say for Ireland and what's different about this quarterfinal defeat.
00:34:14
Speaker
is you look at it and you see the things Andy Farrell's doing and you know they're good. You know it's good stuff. You know there's development coming down the line. We saw Crowley coming in for knockout games. He's willing to bet on the youngsters when it counts and that says a lot about who he is as a coach and says a lot about the talent they have.
00:34:34
Speaker
This is more of a draw than anything else. It was. It was. It really was. Because like if they were if they were playing the other in the other bracket or the other team, like if they switched off instead. I don't remember what the matchups were exactly, but Wales, Argentina and Fiji England. Yeah. Like if it was, you know, Ireland versus Fiji or something like that, they would have fucking snotted them. Or even England, they probably would have snotted them. Yeah, I've done that before. Right. I've recent at that.
00:35:06
Speaker
So it's yeah, it's so for the sake of the Irish believe in what Andy Farrell is doing. I would be very happy about where he's at. Just it's real. I know it's hard to swallow and be like, yeah, but
00:35:17
Speaker
Yeah, but there's plenty. There's good things coming down the pipe here. Yeah, exactly. Like Sexton and the team, that team deserved better. That's hard, but there's a lot of good stuff there. And honestly, that team is so fucking talented on the outside. You get a moderately talented 10. They don't need to be Sexton. It's the other guys who need to step up.
00:35:39
Speaker
and start leading in that department. It's like, yeah, your ring rows and your henshaw need to start stepping up and helping the 10, take some pressure off of them by stepping up and being that guiding force through the team or through the backs, certainly, to connect the
00:35:57
Speaker
the half backs and the outside backs, it'll be all right. And then the next 10 will grow into it and you'll have a 10. You'll do just fine. And then Biggs, you know, he...
00:36:12
Speaker
He certainly helped guide a team that looked pretty shitty into the, through the warrock games and as did Farrell, um, Farrell and even forward to a point. Um, a team that looked kind of dead coming out of this, coming into this tournament, like everybody.
00:36:27
Speaker
We wrote them off and the fact that they got to the knockouts. Well, thank you, Australia. You sucked even more. So yeah, I guess three is a little bit more to Australia, but they did take they they really took care of business and he was a big part of it when it mattered. You know, they got the they got the wins that they needed to to get done. Yeah, the tech industry just looked awful. That did not look funny either. So but yeah, loads of credit is damn bigger and just
00:36:55
Speaker
Hats off to him. And I I I do like what they have in Costolo. I do. I barring that total blunder of a frickin pass that Sanchez grabbed and scooted for. But yeah. But you know what? You have to live with those mistakes at that age sometimes. Right. That's I mean, that's what it's hard to admit. But it is that I mean, Eddie does have that right. That young tens lose your games. That happens. You're in too much of a high leverage position.
00:37:24
Speaker
Eventually, you're going to throw a stupid pass. I think he was at 12 though at that point though. It's still. Yeah. Same idea. Same thing. That's the pass he threw because he's used to that maybe working at other levels, but you have to learn that what does and doesn't work. You have to learn to cut certain tools out of your toolbox because they're negatives at this point somehow. Yeah, they won't go well, unfortunately. That's what they got to learn.
00:37:54
Speaker
And, uh, it'll be, I mean, but Dan bigger made every team. He was on so much better. Yeah. And he'll, and I think he's still going with Osprey. So, which is good because he, he has always had a sense of responsibility. Like a little never, um, like the way he treated Finn.
00:38:19
Speaker
after that, yeah, he tuned up Worcester bigger did, um, just played him like a violin and, uh, then to talk to Finn about it, told him exactly what he did afterwards. Put him, put her arm around him. Right. And said, come with me. I'll help you. And then ended up training him and then leaving and so they could get it and like, yep. Yeah.
00:38:43
Speaker
He's done the right thing and I think that's what he, he'll feel that and he'll want to train, help train Costolo and anyone else who might be another 10, he'll help out. He's definitely that
Bath's Improved Performance Analysis
00:38:54
Speaker
kind of guy. I'm sure he'll end up in national team coaching. Yeah, he's going to end up coaching somewhere for sure. I agree. I agree. Okay, to the prem.
00:39:07
Speaker
We didn't get to talk about the opening weekend and- No, we didn't. For good and bad. For good and for bad sometimes. We didn't get to talk about that Saris game. That's a shame. Isn't that just too bad? Doesn't matter. We get to talk about this one, which is almost as bad. Yeah, one thing I don't love about the new premise is there's no fucking stats on the freaking match centers. There's no individual stats, I should say.
00:39:33
Speaker
That's a bitch. That's interesting. Yeah. We'll have to go. Maybe there's an app that Mike George has got a subscription to. I'd be interested to maybe grab that. That'll help out. Anywho, let's go up to the team. Bit of a wet one. Newcastle and Gloucester.
00:39:54
Speaker
Yeah, it was just, I mean, it was sloppy. It was all over the place. I think we're seeing what we finally, well, I finally wanted to see, and I think you'll agree. George Barton slowly becoming what they need him to become at Gloucester. And it's looking good. Like if he can handle a game like this in the wet, he's in good shape.
00:40:17
Speaker
I'd be very I'd be very confident if I was a Gloucester fan for sure. And he he did enough to to get the W in, you know, at the two. It's not an easy like Gloucester on a bad team. Don't get me wrong. But. Last year, they I don't do that. Do they lose? Up north, I can't remember. I think like they lost almost every away game, right? That's right. Yeah, they lost. It's been a while since they won an away match, so they
00:40:46
Speaker
They struggled to say the least, but it was in the, in the, in the weather and all that. So you kind of have to give this like a certain weight to it.
Saracens' Critique and Leadership Questions
00:40:55
Speaker
But the fact that they want is, I mean, that that's what I mean. Like if the score is 18, 14. Yeah. Um, but yeah, and that was the penalty try. They earned. Yep. But like,
00:41:08
Speaker
Gloucester really had this game pretty well in hand. It wasn't really too late till that Radway and Try came out of kind of nowhere. Can't do it ever. That all this. I mean, which that's what he does. So you can't really can't really be mad at him for that. But of course not. Yeah, that then suddenly became squeaky bum time. But I. Yeah, no, I thought this was a solid butt kicking, though. I don't think it's like what I'm saying is, I guess this tour doesn't do it justice. You know, it's Gloucester's away. No.
00:41:37
Speaker
There's a lot going into that ticket. There's a lot of work that went into that 18, um, more than it, than it showed on the scoreboard. Yeah. Yeah. Sands that Ludlow try at the, or tried penalty at the end that kind of saved their bacon. Um, that was probably the closest they ever looked like. He's some kind of, okay, isn't he?
00:41:55
Speaker
Yeah. Yup. Pretty damn good guy. Good player. He's been playing for, wasn't, wasn't it last week? He played like 200, 200 camp or something like that. Something ridiculous. I'm sorry. website.
00:42:12
Speaker
to the store next. So let's talk about Bath because I'm going to dig hard into series and I'm not going to be nice. Let's talk about Bath first because it needs to be talked about just the same because we talked about this at the end of last year and then also in our preview about there is definitely something cooking over there at the Rec. And between last week and this week, I'd say that's pretty much affirmed from here out.
00:42:39
Speaker
This looks like the old Tom to Glanville number one. This is the guy I've been waiting to see. We didn't get to see a whole lot of this guy last year.
00:42:45
Speaker
That looks like him. That looks like the player I love. He was supposed to be starting for me. I have him on my fantasy team and I kept him on the bench because I only half did my starters without realizing it. I think I only did the forwards. But I was watching this. I was like, oh my God, he's so good. Whoopsie. My team, I don't give a shit about fantasy. Whatever.
00:43:12
Speaker
Yep. Obviously Finn's in the house that helps extremely, you know, they have a nice, um, contingent of centers there and they'll get Lawrence back soon. Um, Ben Spencer seems to just be trying to drag this team along as well, which is something that you need from a guy that's leading, especially you want that from your nine in a lot of ways as well.
00:43:31
Speaker
And yeah, and their back row contingent is great. Although it looks like they're going to be listening. Couple guys for a little bit here because they were just given updates. Yeah. Didn't didn't Barbara. Wasn't Barbara hurt too? No, those those three should be okay.
00:43:52
Speaker
I think they're going to be missing, um, for a little bit though. Yeah. Quinn root came off as well. He didn't look, he did not look great. Um, so those guys will be missing for a little bit. Um, but yeah, this is, this is good. And this is, this is the element of rugby you need. And we talked about it. I said, I'd talk about, um, in this match when we talked about the semi-final.
00:44:17
Speaker
Bath were brave enough to try and play with the ball in hand and it paid off. The slip from Finn eventually led to the Glanville try.
00:44:29
Speaker
Yeah, you need to have that little bit of adventure in you to win these games. And if you're going to just say, well, it's bad weather games, you're in England. Bad weather happens all the fucking time. Right. You can't just use that as your default. I'm sorry. It doesn't mean you stop playing rugby. It just means sometimes you have to push it. But a lot of times you can make the same passes and do all the same shit. You just have to be a little bit more careful with the ball.
00:44:58
Speaker
It's like you have to make you have to make conservative decisions, but you still have to make the decision. You have something to try to play the. Yeah. Beth got a bonus point. They didn't just get a win here because they they they went for it. They they got a bonus point. Mm hmm. Yep. So there's a lot. There's a lot about the way they played. And, you know, meanwhile, well, the saris scored one time in the first minute. That was that was an attack. Right. Not charged on a kick.
00:45:29
Speaker
That flow looks pretty good on Chrissy, you have to say. Anyway, have at this. Yeah. I was worried that here in Miles Reed, we're going to get stuck together somehow though, because they have their hair. Well, Barbara's got some nice flow going on too. Yeah, he does. Yeah, the both of them, all three of them. Nice lettuce. Yeah, ball. Go ahead.
00:45:54
Speaker
I'm so, like, the one player I'm so fucking over in this whole thing, and McCall, I've got a bone to pick with you two. Aled Davies, you can just go, like, anywhere. You can come to the US and play an MLR. Like, I don't care. Go somewhere that's not the Saracens, and please stay there. Like, you are killing this fucking team single-handedly. And yes, the strategy is also there, but still, like,
00:46:19
Speaker
whatever reason, you just suck. And you do. And I would much rather see Charlie Bracken, Gareth Simpson, fucking a kid from the stands play Hipscrum half than you. Like fuck the fuck off and stop destroying the scene. That said, holy shit, do we suck. Like this is bad. Holy shit, do we suck. Like the question, and it's only two games in, but it needs to be asked because
00:46:48
Speaker
We have the talent. This is not a question of talent or being outmatched. We've competed with teams like this before and played wonderful rugby. All of a sudden we're now just dog shit. Don't blame it on the guys that are gone. We've been in this situation before. It's not a new place we're visiting here. This has happened before. How many of these guys are first team guys anyway?
00:47:10
Speaker
Like Mako, a good number of them, Mako, Marco, Nick, Theo, Tom, like, then you go through Aled fucking McCall loves Aled for some reason. So you're ramped aside. He's you're absolutely right. But Mark likes him. So he's the first team guy Tom Tomo.
00:47:30
Speaker
Laws. That's our starting center pairing right there. Right. Tompkins is always has long been a first team guy.
Exciting Northampton vs. Bristol Match Recap
00:47:38
Speaker
Sagan has been 1A. Goude has been the first team fullback. Yeah, you got Manu who's still
00:47:47
Speaker
Um, you know, not quite ready. Callum is a good interchange guy. Um, James Hetfield. Um, yeah, this is a, that's one thing that's telling us, but injuries and World Cup are killing us in that spot. The, the two, but it's like the point is you go through that lineup and you're like, wow, these are there. These are their guys. Right. So, and even Lewington's on the bench. He's a, he's a, he's a, he's a guy like, you know, these aren't the,
00:48:15
Speaker
The question must be asked, is Martin McCall losing his touch? It has to be asked. Because I just don't know. Last year was a good.
00:48:31
Speaker
Adjustment really thing that makes me tear my hair out like we've done this before we played this game before Two years ago. We were playing this shit and we realized fuck this thing's stupid Why are we doing this and we went back to the other thing and we got silverware out of it? Right in the actual fuck did we decide that this was a good idea again for I don't get it
00:48:52
Speaker
You know, and, you know, the extra game, most of those guys that are playing for Exeter that that day is their first team. I'm not going to worry about that. When we get our first team back, we can go toe to toe with them. I'm not worried. And also I know they ran us off the paddock. I'm not worried, though. There is the other thing that. You know, the first couple of games, you're not really who you are and it takes a little bit. And I realize you don't have that luxury for that long in this competition.
00:49:17
Speaker
But it's like you're at, you know, if you're, if you're saris, if you are set, like not, you know, if you're saris, I mean, if you are saris, if you're that team, it ends here. And so that's really it. Like it's this coming week. What, what are they pulling out? Oh, wait, I lost her, which is a nightmare for us. Right. But you got it. It's time to like, and I'm not saying you have to win.
00:49:44
Speaker
Although we got to get points. We have to get points. We should have got points last week. Right. We need to get points with at least one bonus point. Zero points in two games is horrible for a team that's defending champs. Zero points in three games is unthinkable. And with that, was there another three games last year that they played that they didn't score points?
00:50:09
Speaker
And like I'm saying the whole year. In a row? In a row, definitely not. No, in the whole year. I think there were two. Right. Which they did not get a point. And I don't remember which ones they were, but I'm pretty sure there were two. Either way, you can count on one hand for the whole year and you can probably count on, you know, half a hand. So it's like you start the season with three. Yeah, three games. Even actually three games without a win is probably pretty shit.
00:50:35
Speaker
at this point. That's pretty bad itself. But yeah, no, it is going to be. Yeah, Barfzilla. So I'm with you on that.
00:50:43
Speaker
Yeah. I have concerns. I'm, I will never tear off the badge. Don't, don't, don't get me wrong, but I am just really concerned that we might be already in trouble in terms of the prime this year. And we may have to just concentrate on maybe winning champions cup. Cause this is not good. Not good at all. Um, with that, let's go to two teams that actually know how to attack a little bit. And was the weather that much different here?
00:51:12
Speaker
I don't think so. Well, maybe a little bit less of a rain, but it wasn't as. Yeah, it wasn't as poor. But at the same time, it was not great conditions. I'm still wet, like a little wet, a little slip. So, yeah. And these two teams decided, hey, let's tack. Imagine that. Imagine that. And then they scored 60 points between the two of them. Right. Like, holy shit. Come on. I can read the goddamn room first off. So it was interesting. They mentioned that the
00:51:42
Speaker
the Saints backline has gotten heavier. They put on weight because they want to start being a little bit more physical and attack. And Tom Seabrook, of all people.
00:51:55
Speaker
Get in the double. He's a guy. Yeah, all of a sudden it's like, whoa, wait, he's only 24. Where the fuck does he get off being 24?
Leicester vs. Sale Match Insights
00:52:03
Speaker
I know, it feels like he's been around forever. He's been mediocre forever. He was in a good position. He was in the right position for a wing and he finished. Good for him. That's excellent. I don't remember seeing him do that much at Gloucester.
00:52:22
Speaker
So that in itself is a step forward for him. Finn played outstanding. I thought Ram had a quality impact. I think he was involved in both of Seabrook's tries. It was good the week before too. Pearson had himself a nice little sprint for a try too. This is that Saints team, right? Obviously they can still attack. They can still put up the points.
00:52:52
Speaker
Um, they still can't really defend all that well, I guess. Um, although they did pretty well. The first half was, um, like they, they got out to 19 points pretty quick. Um, okay. Like it was what? So they had, uh, just looking to see what it was. So 12 nice. Yeah. And within like 20 minutes or a little over 20 minutes, um, was when they got to, to the 19.
00:53:19
Speaker
They were chasing the scoreboard originally. 14 points at 14th minute. Bradbury put one over, but it was still a little iffy. The penalties kept them in it. I guess the irony here is that the penalties at least kept them within striking distance. They paid for it.
00:53:47
Speaker
Yeah, and then they they went out and they scored more tries. You know, Bradbury got another like the heif maximum. The heif, of course, they're the factor. You can't keep them, keep him off the board. You know, and she played really well. The the first Bradbury try I thought was excellent. Kind of. Off the training pitchery where they they they gave it to Vacatawa of his awful line out.
00:54:15
Speaker
I think I'm pretty sure there's awful line out. Anyways, give it a good things going to probably happen. Give it to Vacatawa and he turns his back and he's like kind of flinging himself backwards into the defense and said he pops it off.
00:54:27
Speaker
And then they, I think they went to Sheedy and then off to Bradbury. And there was nobody on Bradbury at that point. Cause everybody's like, Oh fuck, they're giving it to Vacatowis or everybody. I was like, Nope, see ya. Yeah. Um, yeah. And then obviously you have Sheedy looping around with Bradbury. You're looping around around him and yeah, try time. Nice. So good. You know, well done to the coaching staff, sorting that one out.
00:54:54
Speaker
Oh, Bristol hit in the years though. Hit the front two wins from two. They're the quality outfit right now. Um, yeah. Trust Pat Lamb. Yeah. He had, he had a rough go of it, but this team, it looks like they're, um, they look like they're back. They look, they've got their, their, their spark back. It's not even, you know, even when it's not firing, even when it's not going right, it's still looking good.
00:55:23
Speaker
So, and then the points come from that. Yep, absolutely. Over to Wellford Road. So, both the commentary was talking, the commentary was talking about it and I think, I think everyone would agree.
00:55:36
Speaker
last week at Bristol, that did not look like a Lester Tiger teams that we had known. I know it's a new coaching staff with Dan McKeller, but still I was like, hmm, are you sure this is the same team? This was much better. And they didn't end up coming out on the right side of the scoreboard, but much, much better. If I was Dan McKeller and I'm building a project here and they're not really building a project, but you know,
00:55:58
Speaker
Takes you a couple of games to get used to your team sometimes exactly even if you're talking even if you count the prime top games Those are preseason games basically. So Yeah, it takes a little bit especially when the and they said it like
00:56:13
Speaker
The amps go up when it turns into the prep, like the league, not the cup. Of course. The wattage just goes a little bit higher, and that's just how it is. So you got to be ready for it, and Tigers weren't, but they were this week. And yes, like I said, they did not come away with all the points, but they showed much better. This is very much a change team for Leicester.
00:56:35
Speaker
in a lot of ways, I should say. There's goods and bads to it, you know? The back five, okay, yeah, that's their starting. That might be their, well, maybe not Mike, no, because you have Freddie coming back too. Yeah, there'll be positions that are gonna get chopped and changed. Yeah, like nine, 10, 15, they're four and five. I mean, they're starting Mike Williams. Come on, man.
00:56:56
Speaker
No, no, that won't be a thing. They have Jessam. They have Martin. They'll they'll be using those guys for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Kyle Hatherill is not going to be playing back there and crack. They'll be playing seven like now. No, no, no. They got guys coming. So this is like about the sale team is pretty much. They're pretty good. You know, George Ford coming back. Yeah. But who else? I don't know either. I don't think they're missing anybody else.
00:57:25
Speaker
They'll get Gus Creevy eventually. Oh, right. They got Gus. Play two. So that'll go well. LCD for whatever that's worth. I mean, he's there. So slot two. Oh, he was. He didn't. I'll do he's healthy though. OK, he was wearing a South Africa kid at training today. Yeah. Because he lost a bet. Nice. That's funny. Yeah, he's yeah, he's not quite there. He's close, I think.
00:57:53
Speaker
They had the, they had the young kid Kane playing in the back. Um, yeah, two E carpenter drop late on this one as well. So that was not helpful for them, but they still did it. And you were asking if Rob Dupree was going to do it again. I think he's going to fuck. He's looked good in two games. So, and he looked really good in this game, scored a try. Like, yeah, looks like he's caught the same form. He left off with the last time he was playing 10. So, um,
00:58:21
Speaker
I think they'll be in good shape. I think their problem comes when Ford comes back. What do they do with Dupree? Because you don't want to bench him, but it's hard to justify putting him at 1213 because that's not really his, his place, you know? No, but I mean, come on, you're putting Sam Bedlow at 12.
00:58:41
Speaker
I mean, you're not, you're not playing. Well, cause you'll have, maybe you'll have to. So you can't put Bobby dupes at 13. Yeah. Or 15. It's not, no. It's hard. So I think they're, I think they'll have a bit of a conundrum to figure out and how to get every one of those players playing their best rugby in the shirts that they need them to wear in order to get all their best players on the field.
Exeter vs. Harlequins Match Analysis
00:59:09
Speaker
I think that'll be a small, small issue. And it was kind of a small issue towards the back end of last year when Ford came back and DiPrio was playing in that center area because he was not the same player and really was he contributing quite the same? Sometimes yes, but not quite the same. So I think they have problems that I think that it's a good problem to have, but I think they need to still find the answer because otherwise they're going to be holding their dicks by the end here. Not really going to be helpful.
00:59:38
Speaker
Sunday, to the stoop. So I'll give, I'll give Exeter credit.
00:59:48
Speaker
they've got some young talent that look really good. And they're fine. They, because of the guys that have left, they've unshackled them and let them play. You know, Harvey Skinner looks like he belongs. Hendrickson, same. Hodge, this Wyatt kid looks really good. Fe, Fe Woboso looks great. Frickin' Fisselow looks awesome. The Roots looks like a smart signing right now. They have some really good players that have just been unleashed because
01:00:19
Speaker
They I don't know if they were just trying to adapt to the players they had, but the players they have were obviously causing them to play some pretty, quite frankly, terrible rugby. And this is. Which doesn't make sense, because I would still rather have it. I'd still rather have Joe Simmons at 10 running this attack or and certainly Sam at eight with fizzle out. Right. Maybe at seven. That's sick. Like you've got. There's a lot of good shit there. Yeah.
01:00:49
Speaker
It felt really bad for Josh Hodge. Oh, man. I guess it was a really ugly injury. I'm glad they didn't show it. Yeah. They were like immediately. They're like, we're not showing it. Even I think there was a question of the play. And the TMO was like, no, we're not. Nope. We're just going to go with your own decision. We're going to keep going. We're not going to show that replay. There's no foul play. Let's move on. Yeah.
01:01:15
Speaker
No, no, no, we're not going to do that. Yeah. No, we're not reviewing that play. Moving on. Yeah. And yeah, that sucks. But again, at least to me, at least it's not a leg injury because. Yeah, that's so it's much harder to come back from. Yeah, it really is. You need that arm to be functional again, so that won't break again.
01:01:39
Speaker
But, uh, yeah. Yeah. And so there's, there's lots of good. The eggs are doing, but apart from their stupid chance that they shouldn't be doing, um, Quinn's okay. This is, this is better. Much, much better. It is. They, they, they were getting their last game and they just didn't quite get over the line. Um, I guess Gloucester, but yeah, this, I mean, that's, that's probably the starting back row right there. Cunningham, Don Brant Evans. I mean, that's a good back row.
01:02:08
Speaker
Yup. Kenningham had a stormer. Evans had a good one. Dom had a good one. Joe Launchbury turned about the clock. He looked really good and he's going to be a huge shining for the fans I have a feeling. Jared Evans, a nice smart signing. It looks like as well somebody to back them up and make sure that they got a quality 10 to play. So to me, all you need is a little bit of intelligence and an ability to pass the ball.
01:02:39
Speaker
He can do that. Look at this five people that he's got to work with in his back line. And, you know, not to mention those, you know, some of those forward, like those that the back row. I mean, that's right there. That's eight players who I will trust with the ball any, any time, like if they're calling for it. Yep, you're getting it. Like that. That's it. You just like one of them wants the ball. All right. Here you go, sir. All right. The next one, you want the ball. All right. There you go. Like shit.
01:03:08
Speaker
I could run that attack, except I can't run. Yeah. Although I am betting Northmore is going to miss a few weeks. He looked pretty.
01:03:19
Speaker
He was pretty much in pretty much pain, like pretty bad pain when he came off. He was grabbing for his hammy or his knee. So that's not, that's less than awesome. We heard from, we heard from Keaton Marley during the gate. I would not expect him back until well into next month, it sounds like. So those of you that own a lot of him, which we'll talk about in a little bit, might want to reconsider just saying, just saying, there's, there's a, and again, for the twins, there's a lot to, lot to love.
01:03:48
Speaker
Will Porter being in this team makes them good? You know, Max Green's not a terrible backup in terms of a time like this where Danny carries away. So you've got. Yeah, I like a lot of what's going on with the Quinn's naturally as I as I have the last few and they still have. So yeah, if they lose Northmore, then they maybe they bring in, you know, Lennox and Yanwu next week.
01:04:09
Speaker
That's a possibility as well. Oh that that that would be difficult Okay, and they'll get Andre back after the World Cup, right? Well, yeah, then they have other guys back. So it's uh, yeah Yeah, there's a lot to There's a lot to design was on y'all move with a player the match the little mirror I think he was I think he was I
01:04:30
Speaker
That sounds right. Actually, yeah, because I could see it behind him when they were interviewing him. You could see the two red, white, and blue striped shirts that were standing behind him, and that was you and I. That's hilarious. I was like, ooh, that's definitely us. Because we were in a sea of, I think we were sitting a bunch of Saints fans. So we were in a sea of black, white, black, yellow, and green. So the red, white, and blue is kind of a good contrast to stand out with those stripes. So it's like, hey, here we are.
01:05:00
Speaker
Anywho, yeah. Love what's going on with the Quinn's. I truly do hope that Exeter continue to attack like this and maybe just ditch the chant and then I can actually feel good about him.
Closing Remarks and Future Content Teaser
01:05:13
Speaker
Like ditch one. Stop playing well or stop being dicks. Yeah. One of the two, please. Make up your mind, God damn it. All right. Cool.
01:05:29
Speaker
And that is what we got for you. Hey, not bad. Look at us being officiant. I feel like this new format is pushing us in that direction, which isn't bad. Well, you know, it helps. It helps. It helps.
01:05:43
Speaker
So, um, yeah, so we're going to head over to the fancy pod soon here. Uh, if you're not joining us, then we will catch you next week. Um, if you're coming over there, we're going to talk champion's league, all the good stuff. Um, but until then we appreciate y'all enjoy the, enjoy the finalist week. Have a good one. Everyone later.
01:06:14
Speaker
If you'd like to ask a question or leave us general feedback, email us at fantasyrugbypodcastatgmail.com. You fart, you guy, by the way. Yeah, exactly. The ticky tackiness kind of absolutely pisses me off. Be sure you check out our Patreon at patreon.com slash the fantasyrugby. Yeah.
01:06:27
Speaker
This has been