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Season 5- Episode 10- Actions, Not Outcomes (Rugby World Cup Quarter-Finals & Premiership Round 8)
30 Plays3 years ago
It is those American Rugby knuckleheads, and it's so much fun on tap. On this episode we look at the start of Autumn Internationals, including the sending off in Tokyo. Also, we have a look at the first knock out rounds down in New Zealand as we hit the Quarter-Finals of the the Rugby World cup and our reactions to the Eagles' exit. Of course, we head up to England and the Prem, including the wild happenings at the Stoop and Mr. 339's performance to match the occasion in Barnett. All this, so much more and lots of talking points. Grab something cold to drink, kick back and join us 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
Introduction and Light-hearted Banter
00:00:02
Speaker
It is... The Fantasy Europeans. My name is Jared Dyke. I wanted to say it's stupid and let's move on, but then you kept going. I'm Ben Glauser. I don't like any way anybody gambled that. Collusion! Collusion!
Podcast Agenda and Beer Discussion
00:00:27
Speaker
Hey everybody, welcome back. It is the Fancy Rugby Yanks. My name is Jared Dyke. I'm Ben Glauser. Let's tuck in. We got plenty to get to and be worse next week. So dive in. Beer's first. Yeah. You don't need one actually. Beer. You must be almost done.
00:00:45
Speaker
So this is our last week. So this weekend's our last match. There's still going to be practice sessions, but I'm probably not going to go to the 9 to 11 on Wednesday sessions anymore. If there's no game, yeah. If there's no game. I'll go to the Monday sessions.
00:01:00
Speaker
Fair enough. I think that's compromise. I think so. Yeah. That's a good job. Yeah.
Fantasy Rugby and George's Contribution
00:01:08
Speaker
So there's that, but the important stuff, um, make sure that you get our good friend, George fancy rugby geek, uh, a coffee slash beer, however you want automation series. Fantasy is kicking in and that is the guy that's going to definitely be a good resource for it. So show your appreciation for him, especially if you win your league.
00:01:29
Speaker
And get the get the guy beer. As always, there is no discrimination here on this podcast, nor should there be in life or in sports.
Dan Snyder's Potential NFL Team Sale
00:01:38
Speaker
We have new news over here in the US of Dan Snyder selling and speculation that he could be getting forced out. This is speculation for me, by the way. Oh, but still, I.
00:01:53
Speaker
I mean, he's an NFL owner who loves being an NFL owner and he's still fairly young. It's a completely stress-free thing. And yet he's selling like, of course there's all this.
00:02:05
Speaker
shit coming out about, you know, racism. And obviously he loved he did love having the name Redskins before he loved having that because it was racist. He could get away with it. And then, of course, there's also, you know, the sex trafficking that he did with his cheerleaders and that whole that whole business that's still bubbling under the surface. I think the I'm guessing the other owners, you know, in a in a well run league to be blunt.
00:02:35
Speaker
are doing the right thing and kind of saying get the fuck out. You go home. I think we saw a couple of weeks ago or something that emails that were like, or there was a report that somebody's trying to get him out. So they're getting him out. This is him going gracefully. Rather being forced out, he's bowing out on his own. And that's, yes, do they have to open the books for each other? Yes. Do they have to be like up each other's butts? Yes. But you know what?
00:03:04
Speaker
they also do, they protect the fucking league. So they don't have to like cut a team mid-season. So, yeah.
NFL's Safety Efforts and Criticism
00:03:15
Speaker
So, you know, it's, it's, I don't know what the other reasons are, but out for the reasons that, you know, matter to me as far as obviously the racism and the treating people like people thing. No concept.
00:03:32
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like the NFL is moving in that direction. I really do, which is kind of it's it's fucking shocking. I agree. But they're they're they're trying to, you know, make the game safer. They're trying to make the game more of and they kind of have to otherwise they're going to die. Well, I mean, geez, after two, they had to like, yeah. Just wait. That had to be a wake up call of some sort. Honestly, if that wasn't, then I don't know what will be.
00:04:00
Speaker
Yeah. I think they're like, oh, wait, you can't just have policies. You actually have to follow them. It's crazy. It's a fucking wild ass
Comparing Player Safety: Rugby vs NFL
00:04:07
Speaker
concept. I know. Yeah. We were at the airport on our way to London watching that and just like both of us just kind of horrified. Like first off that he was playing like I know you were like, are they like you were more. I mean, I kind of figured it but.
00:04:24
Speaker
We kind of both did, but it's like, I'm so annoyed. I was like, and then he basically dies on the field. Yeah. Right. They still being tried out there. Is it just absolute bullshit? That's scary. He should call me, call me nuts. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I know he took some, but still he needs more. Yeah. Yeah. Dude needed a month off at least like unquestionably. Make sure his brain's on scrambled eggs. Good Lord.
Podcast Promotion and Humor
00:04:52
Speaker
That's the thing. I feel like rugby is actually better about that. Yeah, with the 10 day rule at the minimum, I mean, geez, you have better protections. I was always an advocate for it too. There are better protections for players in rugby than there are most sports in terms of that. They were the first one. Stop me if I'm wrong. I'm pretty sure they instituted HIAAs before there was a concussion protocol for the NFL. Definitely. Yep.
00:05:21
Speaker
that that to me says a lot right there and when people come to me and say well why is it better than football that is the point that i go right to right and on the fact that we also teach them how to tackle not use their face but different story for a different day didn't stop me now and again but that's not what i usually do.
00:05:38
Speaker
Speaking of massive head trauma, our Patreon is still available, obviously. Is that your massive head trauma? Mostly. You get to see the leavings of our massive head traumas and what we think of the week and then our
00:05:59
Speaker
cold factual analysis that is not up to date. Unfortunately, sorry, I didn't get a sheet out ahead of the pod this week. I'll try to update the data and get it out. We have time. We do. Oh, I can get it out by Friday. Hopefully I have a chance. Yeah, there you go. There we go. Would you look at that? Would you look at that?
00:06:18
Speaker
Yeah, I got, I got boom, bust up this morning. I thought I published it yesterday and I opened up my computer. I was like, Oh, that's not published about that. Oops. Undraft this there. Cause I opened it up to take a look and I said, Oh yeah, it looks great. And I didn't bother to hit the button like an idiot. So good. Again,
00:06:43
Speaker
Head trauma. Head trauma is clearly, geez, something going on upstairs. All right.
Rugby Internationals Recap
00:06:50
Speaker
So we had a small kickoff to the Ottoman nationals this past weekend. We had, I think the, the more, the bigger talking points I think are coming out of Japan, New Zealand, than they are out of Scotland, Australia. I got a chance to watch them both. And.
00:07:14
Speaker
The all blacks were pretty poor. The Japan probably deserved to beat him, honestly. They really did. I thought that the Japanese played great. And they found different ways to score. They scored some really pretty ones. They scored a bit of a good luck one with Warner Derns blocking and scooping up the kick from
00:07:37
Speaker
He blocked it and just like looked at it floating in the air like, ooh, I can grab this after he blocked it, snagged it and ran it in. After Mwunga tried to kick it, I was like, hmm. So this is working out well so far. And to...
00:07:56
Speaker
To say that the All Blacks didn't had patches were as wrong, but like, or didn't have patches as wrong. They did, but it's just, you don't deserve to win in my book when you have shit bags like for Zell and Reese and your team. So all is that.
00:08:12
Speaker
Is that too the so let's so the one thing I think we probably need to at least address is the metallic red card. I don't know if you've seen videos of it or not. Yeah, he kind of came in like right it was it on the head? Yeah, it was on him in his head. The back of it. Yeah, that's right. Him and I was was in a jackal position, right? Or was he just over the and yeah.
00:08:33
Speaker
Yeah it was and it was no arms to the head and that was that was the big one. The shoulder was tucked and any time you do that it's bad news. It's always gonna end poorly. The comment made by Justin Marshall was kind of stupid and I really and I like him a lot and this made me think a little bit less of him.
00:08:54
Speaker
talking about how, you know, Hermano's not feeling the effects of it. We're not penalizing and punishing outcomes. We're penalizing and punishing actions. The action, listen, you can see when the force is there. It doesn't, you know, you don't need a guy going down holding his head to see the force. It's very visual when it happens and there was plenty in it. You know, Amukus really got a lot wrong. He got that one right.
00:09:21
Speaker
In my opinion, uh, there were, there was moments where I was like, I raised my eyebrow. There was a potential forward pass on, on try for the all blacks that I was like, okay. Uh, I guess we'll go with that. But he got that one bang on unquestionably. So I think we just need to remember that this is not actions. This is actions, not outcomes we're trying to punish. Right. Right. No.
00:09:47
Speaker
He went in, no arms and made contact with the head directly. And that is, and I've said it before, you know, that, that spot in the head is extremely dangerous. Anywhere in the head is dangerous. That spot particular is very dangerous. The back of the head can result in some really nasty things. So yeah, that, that, that for me, I was just like, that is a terrible spot to hit. So I was like, I was like, this must be the red card as soon as I saw it. And sure enough, that was it.
00:10:17
Speaker
So it's, yeah, I love, I love the way the Japanese played big ass crowd in Tokyo too. Big old crowd in Tokyo. That was, that was great to see. This is, they said it was the biggest crowd outside of the world cup that they've had for a test match. I was like, yes. Well, I mean, that's
Rugby's Popularity in Japan
00:10:34
Speaker
good. Yeah. For all blacks better be like, I mean, that, you know, I hope that draws a crowd. True. Right.
00:10:40
Speaker
And, but that just, I think that goes to show that their, uh, the support is there. Like if you're going to get massive crowd for a game, that that's the one you want. Yeah. Yeah. I'm going to get a massive crowd from New Zealand. If you're a good like rugby viewing community. Yeah. And I believe they are. Okay. That was, that was great to see. And very, very supportive crowd for sure. Every little moment and they're not, you know, Japanese fans are not going to be the same as, you know, fans that you and I experienced.
00:11:10
Speaker
Every little moment of hard work and appreciation and good little result that the Brave Blossoms got, the crowd were clapping and it was audible. So that, to me, says they really support it, they understand it, and that this is...
00:11:29
Speaker
There's something good going on in Japan once again, as we've all suspected, but this kind of just showed it to another level, which is super. It makes me happy. It should make everybody else happy too, even if you're a Kiwi fan, because that was a great performance by the Brave Blossoms. They deserve better. And then up to Scotland.
Scotland vs Australia Analysis
00:11:52
Speaker
And I...
00:11:58
Speaker
there was probably points in this match where you could just walk away. And there really were. And there were points where it's like, ooh, that's nifty. Like Blair Kinghorn's try was just a bit of individual brilliance. But other points I was just like, hmm, what else are we gonna have here? Tate McDermott was a better nine for this game than last year because last year
00:12:23
Speaker
They were talking about it too, and I remember it just very defensive, ugly grudge match. Not a lot of line breaks. And Tate McDermott, I think he had two line breaks in the first 10 minutes. I was like, yay, there we go. This is much better than last year. Go off to a good start here. And the one thing I think needs to be noted for, or at least I want to get out there is,
00:12:51
Speaker
I'm still not in love with Bernard Foley for the Wallabies. No, not so much.
00:12:56
Speaker
No, I don't think he's their best 10. I think they need to continue to nurture and push forward Lola CO. If they have another one available, another 10 available, great. You know, I think Lola CO should start and you bring in the steady hand off the bench if you need to. I think he needs way more game time. Foley's had his chance. Right. Long. Again, it's yeah, these are not there's nothing to these games. You don't win it. I mean, did they get a trophy at the end of this?
00:13:23
Speaker
They got one at the end of this. Whatever. I think I think also Scotland had beaten them three straight, so they probably didn't want to do the fourth. Well, there's that. But like. Well, I mean, you know, they're friendlies, essentially. You're trying to learn about your squad. What do you need to learn about Bernard Foley? Nothing at this point. He can win you. He can win you a game here and there if you know, if you're like, dude, fucking step up. We need you this match. You can do it.
00:13:52
Speaker
But like, can he win you a World Cup? Probably not. I mean, he couldn't he won't lose you a World Cup if he could be your guy. But like, you know what you got? He's a known quantity. You think you can work around him? Well, let's see who still needs to prove that he can play
Developing New Rugby Talents
00:14:06
Speaker
like, you know, three or four straight test match test, test matches without breaking. Right. Which is still his bugaboo. And.
00:14:18
Speaker
Yeah. Like, let's, let's see it. I mean, is he, is he injured now or? No, he came off the bench. Yeah. I would have, you know, I don't know. I would, I would have started him. Like, did he come in earlier? Or was it just like a, you know, 10, 20 minute thing? He came in with, came in with about 10, 15 minutes left, I think. Yeah. See, that's not.
00:14:43
Speaker
Well, yeah, you're right. It's not a ton. Let me look. Right. That's not even that six. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Unless he unless he's coming back from injury because I remember him being hurt. He was hurt, but less still. It's been time. But it's been time. It's been time for for that. Of course, if he's that not fit, you probably wouldn't have brought him in the first place. Right. I had a I had an issue and maybe it's just a lack of healthy, healthy, loose forwards as opposed to
00:15:13
Speaker
as opposed to locks with Dave Rennie picking up picking the net hand again again. He's not strong enough as a lock and he's not a good enough loose forward. So I don't like him at all. I think to put him on the international stage is a poor decision.
00:15:28
Speaker
at all times. You had Jed Holloway in your lineup, you put a second loose forward on your bench, you shove him into the second row if you need to. That would have been my decision. Again, it could have been a lack of, we don't have any other loose forwards that I believe can do it. They had somebody very green and lanky Gleason already on the bench, so okay.
00:15:49
Speaker
That should not be their formula going forward. They got away with this match only because Scotland could only pick from their two Scottish teams. They could not pick from anybody else because it's not in the official window. But from here out that they were near the squad, nowhere near the squad. That's just me. But yeah, big ups to Australia for getting it done. Yeah, and Blair Kinghorn missed the winner.
00:16:18
Speaker
Yeah, almost this time expired. There have been 30 seconds left and there would have been a restart, but that's it. That is it. So. Yeah. They don't honestly, I think a big problem for Scotland, which comes to shove.
00:16:37
Speaker
You'll bounce them all out off the tee all their choice tens right now aren't necessarily great No, so from that you have to figure out all right Who's at least gonna give you the best chance going forward and we all know the answer spins fin Russell. That's not right Well that and actually that's the other thing people were bugging out about fin Russell not making it and you should obviously she deserves to be on the squad however He's a known quantity, you know, he's your 10 when you go to
00:17:07
Speaker
the world cup. So I'm, that's why I'm, I'm actually like supportive of, yeah, play Blair Kinghorn for like, throw them to the wolves. See what happens. You only be better for it. Cause you know what you got with Finn. And I know that's not, unfortunately, I think that's probably not the reason that Finn wasn't selected, but no, it isn't. That's the only reason. Yeah. Which is fucking stupid. You know, as everybody knows.
Finn Russell's Impact
00:17:30
Speaker
Right. And we, and we know the,
00:17:34
Speaker
We know who Finn Russell is. He is a maverick. I haven't heard much in terms of Finn Russell and Townsend getting into a full on piss up. I think it's more to do with his style on the field and what he does. And if that's the case,
00:17:53
Speaker
You know, if it's like 60, 40, that that's an issue. You know, if it's the other way around where he's he's got a shit attitude and he's an asshole and dah, dah, dah, fine. All right. Get rid of him because he's going to just kill your team culture. But if it's the other way around where he's he does those weird, quirky things, which is why Rassing signed him to begin with. Right. Then just. Yeah, let it go. Let him be him. If you can't. Yeah, that's that.
00:18:20
Speaker
He you have to take the player as they are and still he's a world-class ten. So yeah. All right We had some we had some good stuff going
France vs Italy Women's Rugby
00:18:40
Speaker
on. Let's start with France, Italy and It
00:18:46
Speaker
nice for the Italians to be there, but really it was always going to be all France and the the try that Boulard set up. I was like, that's pretty much how this game is going to go, I think. Yeah, it is. And it was that. Yeah, they don't like that. Italy were struggling on the athletic front as it was like that's not their their thing. And France will just run you right out like they'll be smart and run you over in space and
00:19:15
Speaker
Yeah. Stretch out and then, you know, hit you where you're thin. And they did that all fucking match. It seemed.
00:19:22
Speaker
Yeah, they couldn't get Minuzzi the ball. I was excited to see, uh, Rigoni and, um, was it, Vernier go head to head? Rigoni had a terrible match. She was very bad. And I don't think I'm being mean when I say that. I think that's very accurate. She was very bad. Right. No, I think that's perfectly fine. They, uh, you know, she's.
00:19:46
Speaker
We were hoping for more and didn't get it. Yeah. Cause I liked the way she flies about and she's, she's a little missile sometimes, but this was just pretty poor from her on, if we're all honest about this one and France were just high quality. This, this was probably the best match so far this tournament. I've seen Carolyn drew on play.
00:20:07
Speaker
Yes, she was amazing this match. England, even the first match against South Africa, she was subpar. She did start that, I'm not crazy, right? Anyway, the matches I've seen so far have been subpar and France have got away with it. If they want to get to the final and they want to be that dark horse and win, she needs to play like this every time here out.
00:20:34
Speaker
Cause she was, she was imposing. I think that's the difference is that like she could play, she could keep up and she could get the ball where it needed to go. In this match, she was like a terror whenever she got near the ball, like an absolute, and like, I mean that in like every way possible, like seriously being physically dominant and both in physicality and speed, like she was outpacing people too. So this was like a,
00:21:02
Speaker
Hopefully this is a joint real coming out party like to the next level party like they're coming out like I am fucking You know, this is my 10 shirt like not that she hasn't really done that but more like this is mine and not only that but you're gonna put me in the conversation of best tens if yes Yes, that is where she needs to go if they want to win for sure. Right? How did you see the the man's? No foul play replay on that
00:21:31
Speaker
I'm sure I did, but you have to remind me. This was a late night match. It was. Yeah, it was. I was watching the Phillies, too. So. Oh, so yeah. You know what? I watched it in the morning. So that's why I was more. I was up. So I was watching this. So it was Magadi and she dropped into a tackle and they determine how I'll play.
00:21:48
Speaker
Yeah, no, I thought that was accurate. Yeah, I did, too. I was good. And I actually I happened to have this match on at the gym with the youngsters. And I was like, this watch this. This is not foul play. And that's because Beyonce had her tactical technique down and she and she knew what she was doing. And she was going in there to make a legal what would have been a really rough hit. But again, penalizing actions, not outcomes. Exactly. Did you take one on the beat? Yep. Yeah, that will happen. Was it kind of her fault?
00:22:18
Speaker
Yup. Also, if she got a card afterwards, too, she was probably all kinds of annoyed. I was like, oh, man, you are just all kinds of pissed off right now, aren't you? I bet. But in the end, deserved from France. They're in the semifinal as they belong. And I don't think anybody would really, really shake a stick at that. So, yeah. Moving on.
New Zealand vs Wales Women's Rugby Recap
00:22:41
Speaker
Let's go to the host country, New Zealand and Wales. Same.
00:22:47
Speaker
You know, same story, different chapter, unfortunately for the Welsh. I commend the Welsh so very much for coming into this tournament and doing what they did and making it a thing and making life difficult on some of the teams they have. But this is obviously the gap in between these right now. And I'm sure it'll close when we get to England in 25. And that'll be awesome to see that.
00:23:12
Speaker
So I, and I, and I hope the Welsh are one of those teams that have closed that gap. And that'll be really great to see. Uh, you know, they just, there was so many problems with their play in general, but especially against this mighty, mighty all last team, excuse me, black friends team, just, um, I mean, Portia Woodman just.
00:23:32
Speaker
What do you do? What else do you do? You can't. You can't. Record for World Cup tries, I mean. And she's, she's beasted away through a few of them. Let's not, you know, take that away. Like she hasn't just been had walk-ins by any means whatsoever. She has created many, many tries so far. This World Cup, let alone in past. So that is, yeah.
00:23:56
Speaker
Yeah, so just her alone is like, all right, there goes that. It's somebody needs to tell whales to it was it. I can't remember who did it. Was it crab who?
00:24:09
Speaker
Um, decided to body slam Ruby Tooey. That is not the thing to do to Ruby Tooey. She's just going to get mad. She's going to take it out on you. And she did. Yeah. I was like, yeah, it was a very bad decision on your part. Right. Like, Oh, why are you going to be that dumb?
00:24:29
Speaker
But why are you going to be that dumb? Don't provoke it. Don't poke the bear, man. Don't poke the beast. She'll freaking kill you. Yeah, I was happy she was OK. And then I was like, OK, well, now we know what's going to happen. Yeah, she's going to rip it up. Yeah, there was a friend for that. She said a Porsche and then scored a little bit later. Yes.
00:24:49
Speaker
Yes, that was good. She was great. That was another superb match from Ruby Toohey. Nice to see Stacy back in there. We knew she had a hamstring issue, but I'm glad they were able to hold her out until now to make sure it fully recovers because those things could nag for a long fricking time. I think she did.
00:25:05
Speaker
Did Stacey play all 80? No, she came out at 62. 62. All right, that's still pretty good. Yeah, I think that I can't remember if she was limping or not when she came. I don't think she was. I don't recall. But either way, I think it was probably precautionary.
00:25:20
Speaker
Yeah, good decision either way. Yeah. The the other another black firm we haven't talked nearly enough about is Sarah Harini for the open side for the black firms. So not getting a ton of notice, obviously, because she's not always on the scoreboard, but she was on this one. But she just she does a lot of that grunt dirty work that we don't that doesn't necessarily show up on the scoreboard. Obviously, it shows up on the stat sheet with tackles and such, you know, such. But
00:25:48
Speaker
She is just a minor and goes to work for every one of them. Let me see, I got her tackle. I just had her tackle numbers in front of me. Yeah, she actually had a missed tackle today. Who knew? She had eight.
00:26:06
Speaker
So, but still like the back row plus, um, Maya Roos where the, where the league tacklers for them. And then after that was Stacy as well. Yeah. So it was the back five and then Stacy for the black friends, but that also speaks to how little ball Wales had.
00:26:22
Speaker
They did have very little ball, you know, so I mean, possession all game. We have 44 percent. It would just they weren't. They didn't. Yeah, they didn't have much. And they got some of that at the end, really. Yeah. So it's commendable for the well. Yeah. Harini has been amazing. And especially to me, to me, it's shocking as a Jesus like I I know her from sevens and for her to translate a game from sevens to seven.
00:26:53
Speaker
is, is quite impressive. I guess I'll just, I'll put it there. Cause it's like, she has the, she clearly has the fitness and, um, and the strength and the, you know, the physicality to do it. So that's pretty cool. You can do that and play sevens at a high level too. Like she can obviously fly. Yes. I think we would think we would know that. Right. Yeah. So well done to that. Well done to the black firms and onto the semi-final they move. They they're playing France, right?
00:27:23
Speaker
Oh yeah. We've never seen New Zealand and France in a semi-final before, have we? No, I don't think so. With one of the countries hosting, was that right? Or was that, am I thinking of a different? Nope, that was different. That's right. That was different. Anyway, England, Australia.
Weather Impact on England vs Australia
00:27:42
Speaker
And Jesus did, did, did everybody get all like, is everybody pruned? Does everybody all dried out now? Like, has everybody fricking gotten on waterlogged? Like God, that was, I turned it on. I'm like, this is a mess.
00:28:00
Speaker
I turned it on. Yes. I was like, that was my first thought. And my second thought was, this is good for the US if the field can stay like this. We'll get to that later. Yeah. No, this was a... I like playing in rain and mud sometimes. Well, mud was always fun because it kind of brought everybody to my speed level. True.
00:28:25
Speaker
Not this kind. This was the bad kind. This is the kind when it happened, because you are literally soaked to the bone. And then even when it dries, you don't dry. This is one of those where everybody... This is not one of those things where when you're warming up and stretching, everybody's like, I don't want to get on the ground right now. This is one of those might as well, because it's going to be like this all day. Yeah, that's the truth.
00:28:53
Speaker
Let's go. Just embrace it. Like roll on the ground first. Just get it out. Yeah. Everybody slide on the ground first and just be done. Yeah. And then it just doesn't, but it doesn't get better. It just gets worse. So, and then the ball's hard to carry. Yeah. We saw a lot of just ball handling errors just in contact. Yes. And that to me was Australia's biggest problem. If we're going to actually get to the rugby is that
00:29:23
Speaker
They took the ball really hard into contact way too often. And they lost the ball when that happened.
00:29:33
Speaker
It's not their fault because England, when they took the ball hard into contact, they were losing it, too. The difference is that England transitioned their game away from that. They said, you know what, let's just move them. This is not the day to take hard tackles. This is the day you move the ball to space, take the soft tackles on the shoulders so we can control ourselves on the way down and place the ball like England started doing that. And that's when the game was just.
00:29:57
Speaker
Yeah, got a little high hand. Yeah. Really dead. Because it was close for a while. It was what? Eight minutes. It was when Hunter scored the first try and then nothing until 30 minutes. Right. Yeah, it was back and forth. Uh-huh. 19 to five and a half. Yeah, because Packer got two to end the first half.
00:30:17
Speaker
Yeah. And I was like, well, I guess that makes sense. Still kind of in reach when, when, when, um, yeah, Chancellor scored at the end of the half there. So it's like, okay, you got something, but they never, they never really kicked it into gear after that. They kept, they didn't adjust their game at all. And England did. Yeah. It was a lack of resources to a point for, for Australia at this point. Uh, I know that they've had.
00:30:45
Speaker
somebody came out and said that there are a couple of women on the sevens team that are like, we're definitely going for 15s next year. They're going to get away from the sevens team this year and start transitioning to 15s to help out. We won't see, there'll be some players that are calling good. I think Shani Williams is done. This is our fourth World Cup or something like that. So she's done and that is a big loss in them, but I'm sure they'll
00:31:12
Speaker
Quite like Cal, Tarita is a great little asset that they have. She's like 18, 19, something like that. So that's a long time player right there. They'll be able to lean on her for a little while. I thought Grace Kemp was actually really good for this team. She was not one of the ones that necessarily stood out, but at the same time, she did a lot of, you know, we were talking about her and you doing some of the grunt work and she did. So I give her a ton of credit. She's,
00:31:39
Speaker
She's got a lock jersey for them for a long time I think as well. I agree. So lots of good stuff to think about.
England vs Australia Player Highlights
00:31:48
Speaker
Certainly a lot of good stuff.
00:31:52
Speaker
Now you got to expand your game so that you can play. You can, you know, you have to be able to play in the conditions and the conditions get to them. Not here, not here, not here. And of course, you know, we look at the other side with England and we'd be silly to pass on, you know, recognizing Sarah Hunter's accomplishment as the most capped England player ever. Not a prop.
00:32:17
Speaker
Nope, but still pretty damn good. Just the same. Yeah. And I mean, she started at what? Eighteen. Fuck. Like, yeah. And now she and, you know, now she's in the capital mid thirties, I think.
00:32:35
Speaker
Oh wow, she's 37. Yeah, she's up there. So this is probably it for her. But at the same time, she's got potentially two more caps to add to that total and still 139. I'd say likely two more caps to add to that total. Right. More likely. We'll get into that, but still it's
00:32:58
Speaker
and a remarkable achievement for a great leader and a great player and a good ambassador for the game as well. So loads of credit to the woman they call Center and yeah, hopefully we'll see you more for her.
00:33:18
Speaker
And Marley Packer. Yeah. Well, we could always use more Marley, Marley Packer. So I'm looking at the player stats of the leaders, you know, points, 15 Marley Packer meters, 60 Marley Packer. Yeah. There's across the game line, 16 Marley. Yeah. She was, I believe this thing called everywhere.
00:33:41
Speaker
Yeah. That's, that's a place she was. That's one of the places she was. Definitely. I think she was everywhere else too. Yeah. And here, there, everywhere. I think she was still back at home doing, doing mom duties too. Yeah. Right. Superwoman.
00:33:58
Speaker
And then...
Canada vs USA Women's Rugby Analysis
00:34:02
Speaker
Canada and the US. First half, probably the best half that the US had played.
00:34:13
Speaker
Most of the tournament, which is bad because they still were losing 12 eight at half. Right. Right. And that speaks a lot. Apparently you and I had way too high of expectations compared to everybody else at us really, really, because they were thinking quarterfinals only you and I were sitting here saying semi-finals and busts. Right. And.
00:34:33
Speaker
I don't, I think that speaks more to the low expectations of USA rugby, which is bad. It's bad. I mean, we know it's a dumpster fire there. It's not, that's not news. Um, but still like, yeah, you, this is not a, semi-finals shouldn't be a thing that's like weird to us. Yeah. No, like, cause you gotta, gotta hit the next level. You gotta.
00:34:55
Speaker
they really should be one of the top four teams in the world with this that like it sounds silly but you know they have they have serious talent um all over all over they're just they're not good at rugby like add together with each other and that i fucking hate it i really do yeah i want to be on that one i want to be on that one it's just get like
00:35:22
Speaker
I don't know, put yourselves, like they just don't put themselves in good situations. They like tick the box and they, you know, they do something they've been trained to do, but it's not universal. It's not something, you know, the standard, you know, put your head down and run it into, you know, just off their shoulder into contact, whatever, which is at least now it's off their shoulder, but there's not nearly enough passing. There's no creativity. There's no really trust in their teammate. It's, I get the ball. All right, I'm going to run.
00:35:50
Speaker
Then that's not, that's not how you win rugby at the higher, at these levels. And they have the talent. Every single one of these players can pass a little bit and they just, they don't. Yeah. I mean, our, our back row is unquestionably our best asset to me. And I, I liked a lot of what I saw
00:36:12
Speaker
in individual moments, uh, hang a towel, especially in cheese, what? 19, 20. Yeah. Okay. Love that. Love that idea. Um, how old's Bridget? She's young. Yeah. She's, she's a pop ain't she? Yeah. Um, I don't know. She's 26.
00:36:34
Speaker
That's still young enough. She can do two more. I would be very happy to see her at two more World Cups, I think. So somebody get on the phone and get her over to Prim 15, shall we? So we got to get that going. We need to find a better option at 10. I thought Cantona had way too many
00:36:59
Speaker
Bad bad games, honestly. Yeah, I don't know if she had a good game. That's not that sad. Right. And I do like I like I liked what she was doing over at Exeter. Where it went during this tournament, I haven't got a clue. And you know what? That that might not be. That's why I'm trying to be fairer to the players, because I thought like, yeah, she can play 10. So why the fuck can't Rob Kane get her to play fucking like a decent 10 game? That to me is, you know, it's this, you know, we
00:37:28
Speaker
We're starting to talk about it with with Finn, but it's like you have these players and you can't get them to play good rugby like within their talents. It's it's annoying and like they are. In the quarterfinals just based on talent alone and that will get you about that far and that's it. So it's like you want to go further. You need better coaching.
00:37:48
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. And like the fact that that was their goal is pathetic. Because it's like, yeah, they're trying to get them in the quarterfinals. I was shocked at that. Yeah. Yeah. I really was. What? Like the number 16 in the world entering the tournament. Yeah. Seven. Seven. Yeah. I couldn't remember if they, I don't know if they dropped close enough. Yeah. Yeah. Whatever. Top 10, top eight easily. Yeah. That's quarterfinals.
00:38:13
Speaker
Yep, should be last night. Math. Yeah, math set up there. There's. And there is this this is a bigger, broader issue. The gap between coaches at this particular tournament is pretty broad. You know, you clearly have Simon Middleton and Wayne Smith at the top, like, and we all know how big of a fan I am of Wayne Smith, and I really like Simon Middleton, too.
00:38:41
Speaker
And then after that, you have, I believe the French and the Canadian coaching staff. And then after that, it's a huge drop off. And that might not even be fair to some of the teams that had probably better coaches, but they just don't have the resources, honestly. So right now, honestly, I think it's fair to put Rob Kane near the bottom.
00:39:03
Speaker
because he has the talent, he has the resources, or maybe he doesn't have the resources. He has better resources than some of these countries do by far. He doesn't have the resources he would love. He doesn't have the top tier resources, no, but you have enough. You have enough to, and now at this point, the resources you need are mostly virtual anyway. You really need, get the players fit, okay. Get them working on certain things within their game. You can send game film, you can do all sorts of stuff.
00:39:33
Speaker
So that doesn't really cost money. It's just, you know, real money. You can fit things around stuff, you know, whatever. You have the ability to get it done. I agree. Make them look like a team.
US Rugby Coaching Criticism
00:39:46
Speaker
That's the point. You know, you have them, you know, they're talking about the resources to do the things we, you know, no, you don't want to do. I don't know. I don't I don't like it. I think it's too too focused on fitness and strength, especially and not enough on being a rugby player.
00:40:01
Speaker
Yeah. I think we have the athleticism in space. That's not a mystery at this point. The rugby playing was the problem. But like, you know, again, you look at Hope Rogers and Nick James versus like Sarah Byrne or pretty much any other prop. Like they look
00:40:19
Speaker
Sloppy. It's like watching fucking Kyle for the free jacks. Yeah. Just looking fat and out of shape and barely helping. But then like you get a little bit of a hit in and everybody's like, oh, that's that's why they're a great player. No, it's not. That doesn't make it up. No, no fuck up. That's hitting is not what rugby is. It's part of it. But no. And I personally have I personally have the hope for for hope.
00:40:44
Speaker
and charlie jacobi as well more than i do any of the other props for the u.s i thought i like the two of them and what they bring and i think the coaching is what let them down right i really do um and to say and you know nick james could be what what rosalaya was for fiji by by all means
00:41:05
Speaker
if given the tools and given the coaching, she's not. So that's the other thing. Or she's not listening and she's just like, well, whatever. That's also, that'd be really bad, obviously, in which case she shouldn't be nowhere near a team. But yeah, Charlie Jacoby and Hope Rogers, I have higher expectations and hopes for, and I think they can still achieve them. They'll go back to, they're going to go back to their clubs over in England and they're going to get some good coaching, thankfully. So,
00:41:33
Speaker
And with some sort of fucking, you know, head out of bum process for the US, they will bring in a better coach. Cause if they bring back Rob Kane, I quit.
00:41:42
Speaker
I quit. I quit all rugby. They could not bring him back. And they talk about his connections over England. Great, make him like a director or something. That is where his role can come through and that is good. That does not make you a coach though, okay? Put him in the front office, put him somewhere else where he can help with that. That's not anything to do with actually coaching the team.
00:42:06
Speaker
Yeah that will be more of an asset than being a coach that just fumbles over you know four games in a world cup. And let's not take away anything from canada they they played some great stuff and they're good team so for the goody is a beast like.
Canada's Leadership in Women's Rugby
00:42:24
Speaker
And they had her, her mom was in the stands who also captain Canada was like, okay. So the legacy's there and the talent's there. Shit. I guess we kind of just got to put our hands up on this one. Right. You know, we say she's like 18 or something like that now. She's 24, I think, or something like that. Yeah, she's young and she's going to be a captain for a while. So hang on to your seats, kids. She's going to be around for a long freaking time. Um,
00:42:53
Speaker
You know, we saw the back of Caljubee and I thought, hmm, this could be a blessing in disguise. And it wasn't really, wasn't really, couldn't really get anything going. No, just too sad. And, you know, the.
00:43:07
Speaker
You know, the players and a lot of people are putting like, you know, obviously a lot of Kelter as like the player of the tournament for the US. And mine goes to pretty much the entirety of the back row. Yeah. You know, they, they were the ones that dug, that dug deep and dig the work every freaking week. You know, and they, they kept us in it, especially KZ and Rachel Johnson. Like they were, the two of them were just enormous. And I think they would plug into pretty much any back row in the world. Pretty much.
00:43:36
Speaker
So yeah, I give them loads of credit. Well done to Canada. Good luck with England. Have fun with that. They may. We don't know. We don't know. We don't know. We don't know. We'll find out. The only recent match they played each other was last fall.
00:44:00
Speaker
Should be interesting to see where that is. And if I remember right, Canada had not had much game time at that point either. So maybe we see something different here. We will see. I'm more, I think the New Zealand France match is going to be, I think that should be tight. The Corker this weekend. Yep. That should be the one to watch. I think, I think Canada England is going to look a lot like pretty much every match this past weekend. I hope not. I hope it's again.
00:44:30
Speaker
I will cheer. I will cheer for Canada. Neighborly. Yeah. The neighbors. Okay. Slightly less exciting competition.
Premiership Rugby Matches Analysis
00:44:41
Speaker
Let's go to the prem. Gloucester and Exeter on Friday night and I'm. I want to hear from the Exeter chief's fans. What is it you think you have this year? Really?
00:44:59
Speaker
What is it you think you have this year? Because I don't know. I don't know what you have, honestly. They got so. Gloucester, so this was this was my problem with with Exeter writ large, because first off, the things that Exeter does, right, the things that you're supposed to like the thing about being an overly physical
00:45:25
Speaker
And really like that's what you do to, to play rugby is just, just purely be physical out there. You can't be bad at it and do okay. And they're bad at it. They can, they don't mall. Well, they don't do well in context. Like the carrying into contact is not good. Like they're getting shoved backwards a lot. They're, they're kind of losing at rock time. Everything that makes exit or exit or Gloucester did better than exit or did not only that, but Gloucester also did the things that Gloucester does pretty well too.
00:45:56
Speaker
So I'm gonna talk about physicality. I'm gonna give you two numbers. 175 tackles made, 66 tackles made. The first number is glossed, the second number is Exeter. Guess who had the better tackle success rate?
00:46:15
Speaker
The 175. Yep. Yeah. They had 21 missed tackles. Gloster had 10 missed tackles. So they had half the missed tackles and they had, let's see, less than a hundred total tackle attempts and Gloster had almost 200. Right. And the thing is you can fucking exit or they're so goddamn slow that you can miss 20 some tackles.
00:46:42
Speaker
and be okay. They're not beating you. They're not burning you. That's the problem with starting basically five locks. Right.
00:46:52
Speaker
is that now you, okay, great. You get a line break. What do you do once you get the line? Oh, you just get tackled from behind. Because the guy who missed the tackle on you is faster than you. Just turns around and takes you down anyway. Yeah. Funny how that works, right? Yeah. I mean, fucking Ian, goddamn, Whitten. Oh, should be nowhere near a permanship team. How is he playing 80? What the fuck, Rob?
00:47:16
Speaker
Rob Baxter is their killer right now. He is their killer right now. End of story. And I know they brought an Ali Heifer to become the head coach. He still makes all the decision. I think that much is clear. And he and Eddie Jones need to go in a room and just talk about how much they, how much they're the smartest person in the room. Like honestly, it's the two of them. Like fucking hell. Josh Hodge comes in and makes the appreciated one.
00:47:43
Speaker
look silly multiple times in a row. He just pantsed Chris Harris twice early on in this match. And you'll never see him again. If Eddie wasn't stupid, you'd still be seeing Jack Nol anyway. And it's like, this guy just crushes it every time he gets on. Where's Salomoni Kata?
00:48:08
Speaker
I don't know. I like I would scorcher stick him back in the midfield, honestly. Yeah. But why aren't your why aren't your centers Rory and Kata for this? Like, why aren't you running? Why is you know? Yeah, I'm Hendrickson would be another one. Yep. I know those hurt. That's the but he'd be another one to throw in there as well. And I know Skinner got her. But Joe Simmons is not actually a bad 10.
00:48:33
Speaker
No, it's and for whatever reason, hopefully this is like the slap in the face that stupid needs Simmons last two games hasn't started. They haven't won. Right? You know, here's a hint. The dude won you a double. Right. When does that become a thing that wasn't worth starting 10 like what the fuck? He's a goddamn sir. So I'm going to give you I'm going to give you a couple more numbers. So
00:49:01
Speaker
How many Gloucester players do you think, let's put it this way, how long do you think the meters were for Gloucester, like individual player, highest number for Gloucester? Let me see if I can find the teams first and then I'll see who I can, without the stats. I'll just look at the stats without looking at the stats. Because if I'm thinking of like Gloucester players, like
00:49:28
Speaker
I know Kavadzalda had a ball a lot, but I don't think, like, Carreras. No, he didn't care. He had a lot of carries, but he didn't get a lot of meters. He got, like, one meter of carry. Yep. I don't think LRZ... Oh, no, did he have... I can't remember him having LRZ. LRZ was okay.
00:49:42
Speaker
Um, well, those are you two top carriers? I know he scored, but I can't remember how he scored. He was not that, you know, have that much main meters. So the furthest meters that were a list on the prime meters for Gloucester for the day where LRC with 40 and careers was 79. Yeah. And they had the ball. How much? Very low looking at it now. Three carries for LRC five for carers. Yep. And hog was the, was the.
00:50:12
Speaker
was the leading carrier for 45 45. And that was probably a fair few of that was probably off kicks, too. Yeah, honest. He's the only one who broke 30 meters. Yep. Jones came on with two minutes. What the fuck are you doing? What? Yeah, Jones came on with two minutes left for dumbass Dave, like 25 meters on 23 carries. Yeah. Good average. Right.
00:50:41
Speaker
Good average. What the what the fuck? Seriously, like I don't know what the point where the passes, tackles, missed tackle. OK, he had six tackles in this one, but he had six tackles like for for someone that's for people saying he's so busy. He's such a good defender. He only had six tackles. And so he has twenty three carries, one defender beaten. Whoo, big numbers there. Free trial was conceded. Dude, Cameron Jordan had 13 tackles and he didn't miss.
00:51:10
Speaker
And he had a fucking game for a youngster. He did, you know, and he's only going to get better. He's only going to get better. So, yeah, I consider they're too stuck in there. The players that they like, like you, where's like wit and. Yeah. And until they get away from that, they're going to be, you said at the beginning, they're going to finish outside the top four easily at this rate. Oh, I left further out that I thought it would be. They, yeah, don't be shocked.
00:51:40
Speaker
Be shocked cuz like they started out three and I'll hold on. Let me see if I can Yeah, one of those was Worcester though
00:51:48
Speaker
Right. Well, they played like nobody early on, if I remember. Oh, no, they beat, they did beat like a depowered Quinn side, I think. They beat a Quinn's team that, so it's so funny to hear in Tempest buzzing in for forward passes left, right, and center at the World Cup because he was just like, nope, not having it. I was like, the try they took away from the US clearly forward. And I was just like,
00:52:12
Speaker
Doy is like really trying hard to not take that try away, too. And I was just like, fuck you, Ian Tempest. Like, you are such a hypocrite. Right. Exit or beat Lester, week one, to completely depowered Lester. And they still should have fucking shickled and crawled on. When did crawling stop being a penalty? I've seen it too many times this year.
00:52:33
Speaker
Yeah. Knees on floor. You're going forward. You're propelling yourself over. It's crawling like college. Shickling crawled on that play. That was a that should have been a penalty like. And then they beat the Bears, which is really no great shakes anymore. No, it is. Yeah. Bristol's not as good as we thought they were. And then other than that, you've you've lost a sale who are also are I don't think are that good. They still may take make tough. They still they could. Yeah. But I think they're in for a fall soon.
00:53:03
Speaker
And then Sarri's obviously and then Gloucester, like they're, they're just now they're, they're starting to play real teams and it's, it's showing. Yep. So I'm not, yeah, they got, they got us the, if the, if you're an Exeter fan and the alarm bells aren't ringing in your head, uh, yeah, nothing for you. I seriously think that there should be some alarm bells going on. I agree. I agree. Let's go to.
00:53:31
Speaker
Stop me if you've heard this one before. A wild one at the stoop. A little bit. A wild one at the stoop. Little, little crazy little last minute finishy. Yeah.
00:53:46
Speaker
Loves, oh man, I was so happy to see Alex Donbrandt back. Like just, he is so much fun to watch in general. So with him back, I was like, yes, that is what I'm talking about right there. That is the shit right there. He's just, he's also a problem for most defenses too. So, and Jared, I'm not sure since you had, you had to watch this game later.
00:54:07
Speaker
Yeah, I was on I was watching me play. I had to go. I don't know if you I mean, you heard them talk about it, but I don't know if you I guess you probably weren't seeing the controversies on the Twitters surrounding the end of this with the Ben Hardion's Van Rensberg challenge and getting getting crunched in air. And this is why the prem again, there's another
00:54:37
Speaker
instance of why the prem needs better comms, who are not like their first instinct, it seems like is to criticize a decision and not understand it. And to me, that was two players going for the ball and making contact in the air. You cannot criticize, again, and just as we talked about earlier, you don't
00:55:01
Speaker
Yes, you need to change behavior. So you punish the behavior. What was the behavior that was wrong? It was, again, two guys going up for a ball. Contact happens. And who was it? Hammond? No, it was Matthews. When Matthews went up for it.
00:55:19
Speaker
Like, you can watch the replay. He's jumping and there's nobody in his line of sight. All he's looking at is the ball and then load. Was it? Oh, no. B.J. VR comes in from the side like they're just running it. It angles to each other. Mm hmm. And Ben hard comes in from the side like from from his I never had a chance to see him. Never like never intended to tackle and never intended to hit him. No. But Ben had got to the ball first. But that's what you can't go up for the ball unless like how do you make a rule?
00:55:49
Speaker
that makes that fair that you can say, okay, you know, if one guy's going up for the ball, you can't go up to, well, I didn't, you know, I don't see him. That's not, that's not, that's not something we can start doing because there'll be no more kicks on the air.
00:56:04
Speaker
And yeah, exactly. And that's the whole fucking thing, the high ball itself. That's what you're doing. It's an act of... It takes some grapefruits to go up for that ball. It does. Do you think I ever did it in my career? Fuck no. Hell no. I'm sitting on the ground. Right.
00:56:20
Speaker
I jumped, but that was in the lineup. That was it. Exactly. You had people helping you. It's a little different. And it's like, no, you go up, shit happens. So like, yes, they protect the players when they're in the air, but you can't protect them from this. So, you know, there was a lot of fucking moaning on Twitter, but it's not good for the sport. So and that shit all comes from the announcers themselves.
00:56:49
Speaker
just miss, they, they missed the play and they're, and they kind of blame the ref for it. It's like, no, you guys, you got the, you got the play wrong. The referees actually got it right. I mean, this is me agreeing with fuck. I can't remember who it was, which also made me wonder and it was, um, it was, uh, fuck Claire hot in it on the hot. Yeah, I know. These are not my, these are not my favorite people. Same.
00:57:13
Speaker
I thought they got this one right. They're not apples to apples, but if you look at the loader incident in the first half, it's not dissimilar. It's not the same, but it's not dissimilar in a lot of ways.
00:57:29
Speaker
If you're going to go up and you're going to, you have to let people compete in the air. And if you're going to be a dick and you're going to clearly come nowhere close and just going to bash into the guy, that's one thing. That is, you know, that, that is the series match too. We saw, I was in a goodie that got penalized because he never, he never left the ground or something. And, um, Am I right? Well, well, daily got a card, but that was really stupid. Yeah. Right. He shouldn't have been anywhere near. I was like, what are you doing? You tell me. Right.
00:57:56
Speaker
And it's different. He was on the ground the whole time. And basically it was take the guys legs out. I was like, that isn't going to go well, is it? No, it's not like that. Yes. Get that shit out. But the two guys going up for the ball value, that's got you. You put these highballs up. That is that is the thing that happened. And it sucks sometimes. And, you know, it's it's it is it's you know, we want to protect the players, but we're still playing a full contact sport here, guys. Just remember that. Right. You know, I don't want anybody hurt.
00:58:24
Speaker
but they're going to be incidents where it happens. Okay. We've all come off and Matthew's really shitty reasons. It just happens though. Right. Matthews doesn't like, you have to think of their also, yeah, but their coach, like if Matthews doesn't go for that ball, what is this coach going to say to him?
00:58:38
Speaker
I just got to rinse him. Right. And he's not going to play. He's already not like a normal starter. You know, he's kind of the fringe guy. This is his chance. He's got to try to make a play. So he's got to go up and you can't penalize him for that, because that's that's the job. Right. You know, yes. Have you gone out to clear out Ben Hart in the air? Fuck, yeah. Cardamom. Cardamom. Not what happened.
00:59:06
Speaker
But there was rugby play too. Let's suck it. Let's suck it. But that was the, I mean, that was the big storyline and it also led right to the try and all that. Right. And like you said, a wild one of the stoop. So.
00:59:22
Speaker
Uh, who was wearing the tensioner? We sure did Marcus like sneak back in or what happened? Yeah. Okay. So, and, and we, and we seen glimpses of this Tommy Allen before, and it doesn't always show up, but what it does, you see why Quinn said that's our guy and he's, he's actually now come to England. So he's going to Italy. So he's going to be playing with them for a little bit, but not a bad way to end his, um,
00:59:48
Speaker
the first part of the season by 80 minutes whatsoever. And it's yeah, really good stuff from him. And I don't know. And it's obviously, man, honestly, I can't wait for a New England coach because
01:00:06
Speaker
Guys like Ollie Hassel Collins should at least be in the conversation more often than not for an England shirt. And he's not. He's. Well, no, because I always will take him obviously. But, you know, why would Ollie Hassel Collins when you can have Johnny May or Jack Noah? Barf. Same thing. Like, why would you what would you want? Max Malency or why? No, I can't believe you got arcade. Merle. Ew. Gross. No, no, no, no. I put out the exciting guys when you can put a bunch of guys that just run into a fucking brick wall.
01:00:36
Speaker
cannot run the brick wall either no yeah definitely not anymore so it's yeah I'm very very much looking forward to that I
01:00:49
Speaker
I thought I, it was, and it was the, the turning point of the whole thing was the first red card for Danelle. And I was just like, Ooh, that's going to be bad news, isn't it? And it was, it was the catalyst of, of course. And Nick David, what the fuck are you doing? You dumb fuck. Like.
01:01:11
Speaker
I'm smart. You know, Danelle's was bad, but that was just kind of like poor technique. And you think David had all the data work to work out how to freaking tackle this guy. And he does that. Yeah. Like, dude, like my freaking high school kids can tackle better than that. What were you doing? Look, you can take you can take the guy out of Worcester.
01:01:34
Speaker
Oh, that's not what I was hoping for when he came here. I'm sure it's not what the twins were hoping for at least. No, Jesus. Oh, dummy. And and that put things back into balance. And all of a sudden we got a brand new game. And I was like, OK, this is going to be a fun finish, isn't it? So as I as I previously stated, wild one at the stoop, certainly a wild one. So I got to I got to say at this point, our by far least favorite player in the prem,
01:02:05
Speaker
I think he's kind of done. Yeah. But they don't have another 10. He's not been good at all.
Standout Performances in Premiership Rugby
01:02:13
Speaker
They don't have another 10. Well, that sucks for everybody. Yeah. Oh, no. I'm there's another kid that they had in there. God.
01:02:23
Speaker
He was playing for them for a little bit last year and hasn't, we haven't seen Hydra hair of him this year. Also when, when they brought on Joe Powell, I was like, Oh, this game's over. Sorry. Joe Paul has, has, was, uh, uh, somebody I was excited about. He's quickly become a very low on the totem pole person for me. I was more excited to see Inglefield and what he could do.
01:02:49
Speaker
OK, let's go to the gardens because there was no excitement there whatsoever. None. Hampton and Bristol. So let's start with Bristol, and I made the comment and we won't. Unfortunately, we won't see this combination for a little bit. Bradbury, Lewis, Fittarding, potentially their best back row. Could be, you know, I yeah, I don't know. There may be one or two other, I think Fittarding and Bradbury for sure.
01:03:18
Speaker
and that's kind of up in the air. But Sam Lewis, I'd like to at least see a little bit more. We know what he's got. He's shown mehness so far. So I'd like to see what Sam Lewis can do for a good match run. He'll get it. I assume I assume Fitz and him are going to be the back row stalwarts for the next month or so. So I like to see that and I hope I see it more like.
01:03:43
Speaker
You know, freaking, I think it was Bradbury and Lewis playing in the wide positions in the attack. So I was like, oh, this is gonna be fun. I thought for sure. And they showed good things. Bradbury obviously got over. But talk about, I don't know what the fuck else Alex Mitchell needs to do
01:04:09
Speaker
to get more England caps because, and we'll talk about another guy that didn't get England caps later, but fucking hell, like you see that and you see what he does. And I know it takes, it's a different story on the international stage, but that potential and that vision and just the ability to create an attack
01:04:33
Speaker
should be something that excites you. And if you're if you're England rugby and you want to get fans excited about rugby in general, if more eyes are on your national team than they are on your your club competition, you need to put the exciting players out there. Yeah. Alex Mitchell is one of those players that will get bums out of seats, put bums in seats, sell tickets, all that shit. And then, oh, what club does he play for? Oh, Hampton. All right, cool.
01:05:01
Speaker
I much rather watch Ben Young's box kick all day. That's so much more exciting. It's so much more engaged and entertaining. I don't know who plans on bringing in after Jones if they call him in for a third fucking stand. I'm so done. I'm boycotting. I'm going to URC. Yeah, we're going to top 14. We're going to have some fun. That's the one good pick. But anyway, yeah, Alex Mitchell was superb. Finn Smith.
01:05:31
Speaker
Hell yeah, kid. I love it. I love it. Great debut for him. Didn't play the whole thing, which I didn't knew he wouldn't, but yeah, look at the part, like plug and play. There you go, kid. And he's going to have a little run. It looks like so. Not bad. Not bad at all.
01:05:48
Speaker
Not bad. Not bad whatsoever. Um, a guy I kind of criticized to start with, um, in his career, but he's starting to come into his own and saw Kailoto. And I think he's getting better in this Northampton team as he gets more reps, which is going to be terrifying for teams. Cause then they're going to have ribbons and him and Coles and yeah, good luck everybody. Laws. Let's say, I know I'm missing some laws.
01:06:13
Speaker
It's only Chris. We're already lost. I'm sorry. I was looking at Chris Bowie. It's the yeah, it's only Courtney laws that hasn't played yet. I thought, fuck, does he ever play anymore? I know he played one match with Hampton. Then he got he picked up the injury. He did. He just seems seems to be always hurt, which is sad. It is sad. It is. It is sad. I'm like Harry Thacker, who is happy when he's well, who's also hurt a lot, but when he's in place.
01:06:44
Speaker
Yeah, he's he's fun. He's he's another fun one to watch as well. Unfortunately, we won't see the doesn't look like we're going to see the king much that he broke his arm, which sucks. So we're going to see he's going to be out for a little bit. Yeah. But this is. Have you ever seen? Have you ever seen that? OK, I have never seen a hooker injure themselves on throwing a line out.
01:07:04
Speaker
Oh, my God. So bizarre. So bizarre. That is the most bizarre thing I've ever seen on a throw in the bar, not shoulder out like. Yeah. Fuck. Yeah. And the likelihood is he did it earlier. Yeah. In probably one of the two phases beforehand and got there and was forced to really put stress on it and bang. There it was. But like, God damn.
01:07:33
Speaker
Goddamn dude never seen that before so now that was a new one on me Hopefully hopefully recovers and comes back. All right, they still have bubbles. He should we should be able to fill I think so. Yeah It's possible he's injured too. Yeah, that's a possibility as well I remember him being hurt but that was like, you know towards the end of last year you should have I think I can't remember what the injury was though. I
01:07:55
Speaker
True, true. Yeah. So the one mistake that Finn Smith made the whole freaking day, he he he handed the ball to Callum. She's on accident. Like, yeah, as soon as you let go, you could see he's like, oh, damn it. That's not what you want to do. Yeah. I mean, smart like they got, you know, he's he's on a new team. It's his first. He's going to be a little disoriented. So you never know. Yeah. Let's see if I can cut this off and maybe he gives it to me. Sure enough.
01:08:20
Speaker
Yeah, he did. I was like, Oh, damn. Well, thanks for, thanks for playing kids. Yeah. But, but there's for trying to make a match of it. Yeah, eventually. Yeah. They got four tries, right? I'm not crazy. Yeah, they did. Okay. All right. So they, they got that. They just, they just couldn't get the, yeah, they just couldn't get the fricking, the losing bonus.
01:08:41
Speaker
Right. Which was the unfortunate.
Grayson's Crucial Try
01:08:43
Speaker
Letting Grayson score there at the end was criminal. That hurt. Because then it was so clear, you know, you're... What were they points down? They were seven points down. And it's like you have the shot. Obviously, they have shot because they ended up scoring seven. No, just the five after that. McGinney didn't convert his own try. No, he didn't. Yeah, you were right there. So I guess it was less than that because that was 20. It was 26. I can do math.
01:09:12
Speaker
38. You still had a shot, but that was it. They were coming back. They were storming. They'd scored two tries in seven minutes. Actually, three tries in 14 minutes, which is a lot. And then, yeah.
01:09:26
Speaker
And then Grayson was like, no, we're just going to win. Nope. That's the end. We're going to stop this right now. This just seems to be the story of the bear season so far. They just they've dug themselves too deep a hole to get out of. And they just, you know, there were days and seasons where they could do it, but they can't live like that right now. Right. Their defenses clearly, clearly needs to be the thing that comes back to earth and not. Yeah. Their attack is clearly fine.
01:09:50
Speaker
nine times out of 10, right? But they need to be able to play defense and when, when a game a little bit uglier, this is one that they could have won had their defense been some semblance of a defense, but it wasn't. And that's, that's, that was this kind of the story of both these teams too, you know, saints would be great if they had some semblance of a defense. It's just, they kind of got lucky that, uh, that Bristol weren't, weren't firing on all cylinders, even on an attack early enough. Otherwise this could have been like a 50 point, 50 to 50 kind
Alex Goode: Player of the Match
01:10:18
Speaker
of game. Yeah, totally.
01:10:23
Speaker
Let's go up to the Stonex. 339. Mr. 339. That looks good. Like, yeah. And not only that, when you, and he was player of the match, not just because, you know, it wasn't just an honorary. No, that was not that by any means. And there were other contenders by all means, but he played a whale of a match on top of it.
01:10:52
Speaker
I mean, yeah, what penalty to conversions, a try, you know, like score, like, come on. He did. He did it all. And the Miss Zero Miss tackles. Fuck. Zero Miss tackles. Not bad. Not bad. Yeah. Just. Find me something negative to say about Alex Goode, like truly negative.
01:11:20
Speaker
He was too friendly when we met him. He thought we were Patriots fans. That's the winner right there. That's the worst thing I can say about Alex. Good. He was disappointed that we weren't. He's like, yeah, maybe that was even worse. Oh, but and also like. He it sucks so hard for him because
01:11:49
Speaker
He's played a good chunk of his prime rugby in an era for a guy that just hates him for whatever reason.
01:12:02
Speaker
You know, it was, it just really, he deserves more than 20 odd England caps. Like the guy should at least have 50 easily. You know, I think that, I think that, I think that's fair to say for the quality of rugby he's played. Like the year he, the year he wins European best player of the year and he still can't get into the team. Yeah. Mike.
01:12:25
Speaker
You know, it's the same. Yeah. Same thing as like, Gregor, wait, no, I can't. I can't use that guy. He's too athletic or too. Does he doesn't play within the mold that I like? He just does the right thing at all times. Yeah. Right. Even if it's not what I want him to do. Well, yeah, that's terrible. No, I don't want I don't want you as my coach. I can tell you that much. Right. The actual game was a little bit ugly.
Sale Sharks' Missed Opportunities
01:12:51
Speaker
Certainly for series with the cards, the cards. Yeah, the cards are a problem. I was like, ah, the cards were a problem. The cards were what really brought what kept the sharks in it. Right. And really, sale can just kind of look into themselves with that double yellow card period where they got what? Nothing. They get anything at that point. Not on the double. They got no, they got only they got a
01:13:22
Speaker
the Joe Carpenter try. Okay. 61 minutes. So that was daily should have daily was back in. It was just when, when Tomo was still out. Okay. That's, that's kind of the same thing, right? You're still recovering from being two men down. You're still, you know, a little tight that that single man down was still, but you gotta, you gotta take more advantage than seven points when you have like, let's see, they had what seven in a few minutes.
01:13:46
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. They have a few minutes with two off and really you add up the shit. Right. And then you add up the time period of 47 to about what, 64, where, where, where series are down a player the whole time and you get seven points. Yeah. Like you got to come away at least with double digits on that. Right. If you want to shout and yeah, that Sarah's yeah.
01:14:13
Speaker
Yeah. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Totally. And the thing is, I think they did. They're not, the sale are not built to score points still. You know, we still have, we're still having decent, you know, Alex is doing a good job. Don't get me wrong, but you know, you still have Robert Dupree as your 10 at the moment. I mean, I'm sure 40 will help, but yeah, I'm sure change will change a little bit when Ford gets in.
01:14:40
Speaker
but like, you know, Jono Ross is still at your six, who's kind of the guy, he's a jag at this point. Andrew Priya was amazing. Yeah, he's annoying. I don't like that guy. I don't like that guy because I wish. He's so good. And then he like, because he will just muscle through, break the line and run past people because he still has some decent speed and then offloads and then passes it out.
Andrew Dupree's Performance
01:15:08
Speaker
That's what his,
01:15:09
Speaker
Like, that's what makes him so fucking dangerous. And he was dangerous. But the thing is, they surrounded him with. Yeah, this very little, you know, when he's like about the rest of the team, the line break, that's got to be, you know, you're you're six or seven or you're 12 or 13 running with him. Well, it's all the 13 are both garbage. So the most for is it be in this case, Ben Kerry, who did score, but yeah, you know,
01:15:34
Speaker
If the only thing you're worried about is the seven and eight and everybody else is kind of like meh, meh. Like, duh. Even though Flaherty never really threatened, I didn't feel like. Yeah, he found room only on the kicks, but didn't really do much. Otherwise, uh,
01:15:51
Speaker
Obviously, Carpenter got loose, but and then, yeah, Aaron Reed, they got one carry. What the fuck are you doing getting Aaron Reed one care? Yeah, you got to get him more even. Yeah, he's got to at least hold up his. When asked how many times he's touched the ball, it needs to be as many as your hand, at least five, five minimum for when you bring in, you bring in Byron McGuigan with 62 minutes. Oh, good lord. Three carries for 21 meters. And it's like now imagine if you gave those carries to Aaron Reed. Yeah. Well, just a guy.
01:16:22
Speaker
Oh, then yeah. And that's, that's really where it was. And, you know, to cap it off was the, uh, was the Tompkins try that when the ball's going to bounce your way, it's just going to bounce your way. And that's exactly what happened to us. Like, Oh, these poor buggers are just hanging out to drive with that frigging bounce.
Saracens' Lineup Changes
01:16:42
Speaker
But that's why you got to chase those fucking things. Cause you never know when it's going to go that way. Exactly. You never know.
01:16:47
Speaker
So this is Sarah. We'll see what happens going forward for series, because yes, we're going to get mail-ins back. We're still going to miss a lot right now. Half our, you know, we're not going to have Tomo DeHaase has gone, so we don't even have a decent backup nine anymore. We have no Theo. Tizz is back. Tizz is back. Ben are all still around. Ben are all still around.
01:17:10
Speaker
Ray will play a little bit, I'm sure. So Ray's definitely going to get a run here. Callum and Tiz, you think? Yeah, probably Hunter Hill and Tiz. Yeah. I mean, the back three is going to potentially be still really good with Daly, Maylands and Lewington. So that's great. Midfield is going to be rough. I'm guessing we're going to see good at 10 because I think mine is hurt. Well, do you put laws that
01:17:34
Speaker
at 12 and daily at 13. Now, well, and that's possible, too. And then you got, you know, maybe we see how that would be nice. How? Yeah. I'm I'm I be into seeing him soon. We did see Kitchener, which we know was going to probably happen. Cracked me to fuck up when I saw him. I was like, Oh, I know that guy. You have three cards already this match. Maybe Kitchener is not the guy you put in. Maybe not. He played two minutes. It was the right kitchen. It was the right kitchen or anyway. That's also true. That's also true. If we're going to have one, it's that's the one you want. That's the one I want.
01:18:06
Speaker
Yeah, I choose you. All right, and we're probably gonna see the likes of like Toby Knight a lot more. God, I hope Willie gets healthy soon. Maybe Hallet will play 13 or something. I wouldn't be shocked if we see Hallet. We'll see how it goes. We've already seen him a couple of times and they've already been getting them ready. Yeah, we'll see. To the gate we go. It'll be interesting. Return to the scene of the crime.
01:18:34
Speaker
No, it wasn't a crime for us. It was a car for everybody else. So, all right. So that is that we have, Oh man.
01:18:47
Speaker
We're gonna have to fly through some stuff next weekend, some stuff's getting chopped, that's for sure. We'll pick out the big international matches for this coming weekend. As much as I'm probably gonna wanna talk about Italy, Samoa, probably not gonna, unless Samoa crushed them, in which case, yeah, that we need to talk about. And there's some others that can potentially get thrown by the wayside, but for now,
01:19:14
Speaker
We're just going to try and do our best to pick out some of them and then plus we get the Eagles are playing.
Upcoming Match Previews
01:19:20
Speaker
So the Eagles are on the rugby network for the qualifier. Thank God.
01:19:26
Speaker
That's free and it's better than flow. So win-win. It's already better than going to commercials in the middle of play. They've gotten rid of that. That's the good thing. They still had some ill-time split screens though. I was like, nope, this is not when you do it, you assholes.
01:19:47
Speaker
So there's that still. Yeah, so we can, I'd say we'll probably, the first few matches on the weekend, I probably will watch them, but we're probably not going to cover them. Scotland, Fiji, and Italy, Samoa. And we won't, you know, unless the US put up a real stinker, we probably won't talk much about them either. But we'll have that. Semifinals, World Cup, down to four. And then there were four.
01:20:12
Speaker
And then we got obviously prem, all that good stuff. And then just keep some coming. Be nice. If we could get the schedule for games. Yeah. Let's go. I know. It's a wild idea. I know. Four matches a week and three teams on by every week. That's, that's just smart. Yeah. That, that, that,
01:20:34
Speaker
I want to believe that they know that's a problem. But at this point, I'm not, I'm not giving the benefit of the doubt. Yeah. Cause I feel like maybe it's a problem, but I'd rather not fix it. That's where I think they are. Yeah. That maybe that's it. Maybe that's it.
Fantasy Rugby Discussion
01:20:48
Speaker
Anywho, we're heading over to the fantasy corner. We're gonna talk, obviously, FRD, but we'll talk a little bit on nations. Fantasy over there. So if you're headed over there, we'll see you then. If not, you're just coming for the Rutgers. We'll catch you next week after all the international action plus prem. Hang on to your hats. It's gonna be a good one, everybody. Until then, we'll catch you later. Have a good one, folks. Later.