Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Season 4- Episode 21- Eagles Overseas The Yanks (Champions Cup Round 4)
29 Plays4 years ago
It's a very special (and yes a bit lengthy) episode of TFRY this week. On this week's episode the Yanks are joined by the one and only Bill Baker, aka Eagles Overseas and host of the Eagle-Eyed Rugby Podcast. Bills was kind enough to grace us with his presence as we do a full preview of Season 5 of Major League Rugby and the best part is, he's a Free Jacks supporter like us! He also is able to keep his sanity while we do our jaunt around Europe and the final round of pool play in Champions Cup. This is a good one, so you might want two beverages, get comfy and enjoy.
Follow Bill on all forms of social media @EaglesOverseas and his site https://eaglesoverseas.com/.
Get the TFRY Patreon https://www.patreon.com/TheFantasyRugbyYanks , subscribe and start getting a leg up on your friends.
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.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Special Guest
00:00:08
Speaker
Hey everybody, welcome back. It is the fancy reggae. My name is Jared Dyke. I'm Ben Glaser. With us today, we have a very, very special guest and Ben and I were very excited when he agreed to do this. He's talked to more cool people than Ben and I have, that's for sure. But yeah, so the fact that he's talking to us by proxy, I guess Ben and I now have, but you know, different story for a different day.
00:00:33
Speaker
But he's the man that is known as Eagle Overseas on social media everywhere. He talks to all the Eagles out there. Bill Baker, thank you so much for joining us, man. Thank you very much. So great to have you. Thank you, guys. First of all, let's set the story straight. You guys bribed me. I had no other choice but to be on this show. I think you also said you were going to kick my dog if I didn't do it. So I'm like, all right, fine. Never ever. Dog lovers, never ever. That would be known as a lie.
00:01:01
Speaker
That's a no lie. Now they know your line. Right. I love what you do. It's it's fantastic.
Bill Baker's Rugby Insights
00:01:10
Speaker
So I love I'm a big fan of cheerleaders. And for you, the way you compile all of the information about what's going on with men and women playing overseas, it's I can only imagine the work that you put in.
00:01:25
Speaker
Um, to, to make that happen. And we are incredibly, I'm incredibly impressed. I think I speak for Jared on that too. We know how much work we do, which is to do with the minimal stuff. We do what we're doing is, um, is really impressive. So kudos. And, um, you know, I'm feel very fortunate to tell you that, you know, well, screen to screen. Thank you so much. Thank you. You know, just like you guys, it all started up because of the love of the game. So it just, you know, it just grew from there.
00:01:51
Speaker
Yeah. Um, and it is a, it is kind of a golden era for Eagles going over for us players going over. So yeah, I think your job's going to get a lot busy, busy. Well, yeah. I mean, all, all the women, especially joining the premier 15, so it just has picked up. And I thought for sure we had more MLR players since last year joined, but they haven't as much. So it's no, yeah, it's all good. Yeah. I think we had Mikey and that was it.
00:02:17
Speaker
Yeah, he was on what he called the medical Joker, which is funny to say over there, but he's right. He's probably gonna be there for a while longer. I would say he's there for a while at this point. He's been there for the season. So exactly on him. Yeah, so so we do have a fairly sizable contingent of overseas listeners, comparatively, at least.
00:02:39
Speaker
compared to our US based. So if you you're big in Belgium, yeah, we're great. Oh, wait, Ben, hold on before we get too far. Yeah, crack. I'm thirsty, first of all. But Bill, while I do this, why don't you tell everybody a little bit about Eagle overseas and what the both a little bit about the social media and then about obviously what you do.
00:03:03
Speaker
talking to players like, you know, like Mike Friday, that was cool. I love Mike Friday. Yeah, that was a fun interview
Eagles Overseas Origin and Impact
00:03:10
Speaker
to do. Yeah. So I started Eagles overseas a number of years ago, first of all, just to kind of track our players and give Eagles fans a chance to find out how they can even watch them on TV, you know, and
00:03:23
Speaker
So some of my earlier posts were, hey, if you VPN into into Perth and do this and then and give five bucks to your buddy, Bill, you can watch the game online and only get three viruses. So, you know, it started off that way. But then but then we I started finding out more and more information. Oh, Tony Lambert did this. Okay, you know, I should repost that. So it started off as more of like a news aggregator. And it still mostly is but I'm starting to produce my own stuff, right? My own stuff also. But it's also in
00:03:52
Speaker
ever since I started the Eagle-Eyed Rugby podcast, which been about over a year and a half now, I've been interviewing guys like Blaine Scully, Kate Zachary from Extra Cheese Women, Dan Lyle, some really big names and I feel extremely lucky that they were even reply to my emails or my DMs.
00:04:15
Speaker
But I find it out like Blaine was saying, listen, he loves Eagles overseas because his mother would follow me to find out how he did with Cardiff. I know it's like, yeah, she had no idea unless I called her after the game and or whatever. And so she would see photos of your post or news clips or a news story I found that kind of thing. And so I found that to be similar for a lot of players. They said, yeah, there's just nothing in the States.
00:04:42
Speaker
I mean, obviously, you guys know the last few years or so there's more and more rugby on TV. I mean, Peacock has all these and this and that, you know, a lot of our players still hard to find them, especially the top 14 players, Prodi too. Oh, yeah. Yeah, exactly. And then he got the Southern Hemisphere, which really, I think there are actually a couple of players down in Southern Hemisphere right now that
00:05:03
Speaker
are lesser known players, but only have a certain amount of hours in the day to work on this stuff. Yeah, right. And they're playing when we're asleep.
Bill's Transition to Podcasting
00:05:11
Speaker
So exactly, exactly. So so yeah, start off like that. You know, I started the eagle eyed rookie podcast after
00:05:19
Speaker
I sent out questionnaires to players like Paula Sique, Joe Tapfaye, a few others, like the beginning of COVID, pretty much saying, hey, you know, here's a list of questions, go ahead and please, you know, when you get a chance, reply back. And basically, I asked them what they were doing during COVID and that kind of stuff. And then I'm like,
00:05:37
Speaker
My full-time job is I work in TV already. I'm a producer and editor in sports broadcasting and corporate work as well, and usually behind the camera. So getting in front of the camera was something that was like, only a certain amount of alcohol my listeners and viewers need to drink to enjoy it, but still. But the players jumped on board because honestly you guys know he's just
00:06:01
Speaker
to, to be recognized as a rugby player in any facet. I mean, you know, we have clubs, you guys played, oh, you play for what a club, but to be known as playing rugby overseas, playing your trade in a high level league is really big, man. Andra D'Artello interviewed him last year, he's played everywhere, you know, and, and he's, I mean, he almost kept for Fiji, which is awesome. And I still think about the interview, he was
00:06:26
Speaker
inches away from capping for Fiji International, so we never would have saw them. But those guys are 100% happy to talk rugby. And thankfully, I kind of built this trust or a brand over the years where I'm not just some guy going, hey, hey, Todd, clever, you want to talk?
00:06:46
Speaker
You know, and last thing about that, I mentioned I done the Blaine Scully interview last year. I jokingly, you know, you know, you guys have watched the games, I've seen those games, he was like, USA, when he scores in the corner, is it Captain America? Which is pretty much every American that goes plays overseas if they do well. But I asked him, so are you able to cross the street with being mobbed by fans? He says, Bill, it's rugby.
00:07:11
Speaker
I still go into bars. No, I mean, I might someone might buy me a beer, take a picture. That's it. But yeah, I mean, I know it's a long story than you guys probably wanted. But it's such a love for the game. And just just being able to relay their story. You know, some of the guys, it's more about how they got into the sport, which is still a thing for us, right? Yeah, for England, no one really cares if someone if the Williamsworth started playing rugby at six years old, because the soccer coach said he sucked. No one cares about that. For us, it does, because it's such still a grassroots
00:07:40
Speaker
sport. So, you know, I just I'm spreading the love. I'm just I, I'm a fan. Also, if you guys I want to talk to these guys, you know, I want to ask certain questions, I want to help them get the word out. And, and you know, if if in my search for good players, I helped Gary gold and the men's or women's team find a diamond in the rough, then I'm like, Yeah, I'm gonna buy that guy's t shirt one day.
00:08:00
Speaker
Absolutely. Absolutely. That is fascinating to me the way rugby is in the US as far as, I mean, it's so in its infancy, you know, and it does seem like we've been talking about for decades, really, about how we're so close, like the sleeping giant is about to wake up and, you know, well, Kiwi result aside,
00:08:30
Speaker
I feel like there's portents of great things on the horizon. What has been promised is about to be delivered. But we need people doing this, promoting American rugby players. Because when I was playing, when I was in my mid-20s, late 20s, when I was really at my peak and playing a little international, not really.
00:08:56
Speaker
Like there was no pathway. There was no, you know, there was no professional rugby in America. There was no, it was just like, okay, this is, we're all up for a piss up
Major League Rugby Discussion
00:09:05
Speaker
and that's about it. Like we'll go play, we'll kick some ass and then we'll have a beer or 20. But like that, that was it. And now it's, it's, it's good. I mean, it's great to highlight the successes. It's like these guys, yeah, for now it's, it's fantastic that we can follow them overseas. It'll be great when, you know,
00:09:25
Speaker
U.S. is the place to be for rugby. Hopefully that happens. Hopefully in our lifetime. Yeah, in our lifetime. Hopefully that's a place. No, you're right, Ben. It's like, but still you look at MLR is still grassroots. I mean, let's say these players like Chance Mungalewski is designing the logo for Atlanta, you know, back then. And San Diego was playing one of their first games. They had pretty much like conduit pipes as their their posts. It's like basically rugby guys come up with that.
00:09:55
Speaker
I do remember that one. I was like, Ooh, that doesn't look good. Oh man. My old club used PVC piping, but that was D3 and it was. Yeah, exactly. Club rugby. Big difference. Big, big difference. Yeah. So this is, yeah, it's, it's awesome to have you on.
00:10:15
Speaker
We're obviously good. The main reason we brought you on is to dig into MLR, obviously. We're going to go ahead and give ourselves the usual rundown that we start with. I won't spend much time on it. You know I love it all. Buy our friend, George, the fancy American coffee. Don't forget that. If we have a lot coming up, you're going to want his advice. Grab a hold of that.
00:10:38
Speaker
TRM upgrades, again, a lot of fancy rugby coming up. Make sure that you get yourself some of those and it supports the RPA restart rugby. Love that. As always, Black Lives Matter on this podcast. There is no room for racism. Yeah, there's a lot that we can talk about today. We've already dove into a lot of other things, so we won't burn the time right now, but it is always worth to remember that.
00:11:00
Speaker
And then our Patreon, make sure you grab that. We're back into the pram this week. You know that you want it. If you want to be cool like Duncan or Alex, grab ahold of that thing. Mark. Sorry, buddy. Mark's on his way. He's on his way. Yeah, he'll get there. He just started. But yeah.
00:11:17
Speaker
The latest update just dropped today. So if you have a Patreon, you'd already have it by now. There you go. There you go. All right. Let's dig into MLR preview. We actually haven't done a formal one of these since the inception. And this is year five. So it's about time we got off our butt and did this. And the free jacks look like they could be really good this year. So I am excited for that. I'm with you about that. Yeah. And not wait.
00:11:43
Speaker
So yeah, where do we want to start with the MLR? Should we start? Let's go west. Okay, fair. Let's go west. We'll finish with the best. Save the best for last. But yeah, so obviously the talk, right now the talk is two teams. It's Los Angeles and San Diego.
00:12:02
Speaker
uh because they're just both loading up and obviously there's a big more big bit of news today that dropped and Matt Kitto's going back to the Guiltini's I was like oh no now they're gonna be really good yeah not that Luke Carty wouldn't have done the job but like whoa that dude's gonna just make him infinitely better I'm terrified I'm scared don't hurt me well hopefully someone out there out west can take care of them so we don't have to
00:12:28
Speaker
Preferably. I'll ask you this, Bill, who besides Los Angeles or San Diego is going to take the, could take the West. So let's see who's in the West right now. Let's think here. Houston, Austin, and Utah might be the team now that I'm thinking about it and Seattle.
00:12:52
Speaker
You know what, none of them, I may be honest with you, none of them are going to do it. Seattle, they're not going to do much. I mean, Seattle still has, I mean, they have a CFO, which is great. One of my favorites ever, some of them are always still around, but that's, I mean, they really haven't done a lot. You know, the, the, the Texas teams,
00:13:11
Speaker
Dallas is a new team. They're not going to be the new team like last year, like LA was. They've had a hard time keeping a head coach. They do have the number one pick out of UCLA. He's supposed to be pretty damn good right away. And some crossover athletes, they're one of the only teams that really have a lot of more USA players than overseas right now. But still, they're not going to do anything.
00:13:36
Speaker
Houston I think has something. I think Houston is not going to be a bad team. They've kind of been the bottom for a while but if you look at, they just picked up like three props which is crazy. They got the former saying a Legion prop, Aaron Mitchell, Gil Guillotini's prop, DeBeer, an American Raptors guy,
00:14:01
Speaker
But you look, you know, they have a lot of sevens guys Danny Barrett, you know, I saw that. Yeah. Yeah. Christian Dyer. And then he got Mahoney from San Diego. Now, is that enough to really upset LA? Yeah. Who knows? Who knows how Danny's guys are gonna fit in right away with 15. So that's a growing team.
00:14:19
Speaker
And I guess my point is, nobody, they're not going to upset LA. Utah, again, even with Utah, they haven't really, they haven't done a ton the offseason. You know, I love, I was a Paul Moan in the front row, my Sean Pittman is a great coach. But, you know, other than, let's see, they lost, Michael Pasco, he's a hell of a player.
00:14:39
Speaker
I don't get that. Why did they get rid of Maska? That caught me by surprise. I thought he was one of the best things that we saw in the summer.
00:14:49
Speaker
for the Eagles and they're going to get, they're going to ditch him. Like what happened? Did someone, who knows? You make fun of somebody that he shouldn't have. Like what happened? Yeah. I mean, out of that, but out of that bunch guys, I mean, Utah, you know, Utah has a chance, but again, I think that's a really low chance. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not seeing anything on the ins that makes me jump and they needed some more ins and um,
00:15:15
Speaker
You know, Mikey Teo is great and all, but he's starting to go the way of the dono here soon. Yeah, he's definitely more of a sevens player than 15s. We saw that from the beginning, but that's a different story. Exactly. I wasn't really impressed with him this past summer at all, but same as me. Oh, man, I was screaming at the TV, and so was Ben. Well, because we've never really been outside of sevens. We've never been
00:15:42
Speaker
tail fan. Yeah, he does some exciting things but I mean, you know, he'll turn the ball over more often than, you know, he'll do something great that actually works and it's like, when you're living and die on that knife edge, you better be doing more good than bad.
00:15:59
Speaker
Yeah, he's definitely starting to do a lot more bad, unfortunately. Yeah, he just seemed to step behind everything and confused at times. But I mean, it was one of our first meetings back in years, but still he just felt like he was just so slow and just not there. Right. Yeah. But I do like freaking gigantic wing that they have that played for the US and why I'm spacing on this. Oh, I can't remember his name either.
00:16:28
Speaker
Why am I just having this friggin brain fart? He was great in the fall too, and I can't even, why am I frickin losing my mind here? Okay, that's gonna be it. Oh wait, there it is. Yeah, I miss it too. Crews, Mika Crews. Yes. Oh, Mika Crews, yes. Yes. I like him. I like him a lot. He was fantastic. I thought he was great. So he'll be a good piece for them to hang on to.
00:16:45
Speaker
I would not let him go anywhere but Europe if they if they could help it, right? Yeah, he's he's clearly the best though. The better wing of those two or the better back three certainly are those two. Yeah, I agree with that. So all right, so this so it's down to Los Angeles and San Diego likely in the Western Conference final.
00:17:03
Speaker
who's going to take it. Like there's a lot to like about both teams. I'm a big non, non, no fan. I don't care how old he is. Like I've been a huge fan of that guy. I, man, I, and I'm also a hurricanes fans. That's why. So then he played for, he did a lot of damage for them for in his youth. And they got Will Hooley. So, you know, yeah. So sad we lost him. I'm super hopeful that it's, uh, that it's San Diego over LA.
00:17:32
Speaker
You know, it's great to see Will over here, too. He and his wife are doing a love in California who wouldn't in San Diego. I'm actually interviewing him on Monday for the podcast. And I've had him a couple of times on over the years, but now I want to talk to him about his transition from Saracens to MLR. But he's had issues with head concussion issues. So hopefully he's back ready to go.
00:17:53
Speaker
Um, I like San Diego. I'm going to tell you right now, they have a really good chance of beating LA, especially late in the year. If Rob Shaw's can stay healthy and, and, and there's some which is gone. I never really thought watching was really that, you know, the guy who's going to do it for me to have a player, but just not that guy.
00:18:10
Speaker
But Rob Shaw, I knew, like you said, Joe Peterson's returning, you know, those guys, look at all these Eagles, Osburger, Mattias, Malcolm, you know, Ben Mitchell's returning also. So it's just a lot of international talent, younger international talent. When I say younger, I mean, like three years younger than Ashley Cooper.
00:18:34
Speaker
Exactly. And you look at the Guiltini's. Now, I don't know how influential this how big they'll be with their success, but Luke Carty is actually he may be out for a while.
00:18:43
Speaker
Um, I just talked to him the other day, he's having an MRI this week, and possibly surgery on his on his shoulder. So shoulder and pec. So he could be out for a while for them. And you know, I know, I think he did great with USA this summer. Oh, good. Okay. But there is, you know, they have the Australian Scrum half behind him, or in front of him, Harrison Goodard.
00:19:04
Speaker
Yeah. So again, there's a lot of you know, you got the you got the LA Australian old boys against older people from around the world and the other team or some guys. So it's gonna be a good match. That's gonna if that could possibly be the Kansas City Buffalo game at the end of the year, right? Back and forth. Last person with the ball wins. We're not complaining about that at all. No, no, not at all.
00:19:31
Speaker
they did they did grab a couple of notable mlr names with uh sears duru and hammer size i was oh yeah when they signed hammer size i was like oh that's not fair right that's not fair hold on hold on hold on his name is premises yeah i can't do that i'm not that good i'm not that good
00:19:49
Speaker
I try and it just gets butchered. I'm just like, I wish I wish I was better than that. I really do try. But man, that's just, I don't have that, that phlegm in the back of my throat to make that happen. Did you mention Tom? Did you just mention Tom Mitchell as well? I don't. Did I miss that one? Yeah, I don't think it was captain.
00:20:13
Speaker
So, yeah, there's a lot to like about both teams. I'm with you guys. I hope it's San Diego. I really do. You won't hear me complain one single bit. Shift to the east. That's a different story, I think, is more of a wide open can of worms at this point.
00:20:33
Speaker
every reason to think that the Freejacks might get into the playoffs, especially considering they brought back a lot of the really good parts of their team from last year. Are there any teams in the East that you can count out from winning the East? No. Yeah, I have Atlanta.
00:20:52
Speaker
Oh, that's true. They've been depleted. That's true. Atlanta's falling apart right now. They got no coaching staff. And, you know, Chance Mancusi's left. You know, one prop doesn't do it all. But still, he's he's influenced a guy in that team. He is quite a prop to lose. I know. But they're in trouble. You know, they also lost. What's his name? Robbie Petzer. Yes. Marco Keith, you know, they all left. And so I mean it. And I'm not sure who they got. I'll tell you the truth. So don't ask me.
00:21:21
Speaker
I'm looking I'm looking at the ends that I know that are listed right now. I don't see anything that jumps off the screen to me. So that's not great. Yeah, no, none of them. No. Yeah, they had a score. That's right. He's gone. Like, yeah, that's that was a good one as well. I honestly think in DC, I haven't really impressed me. I do think this is right for the picking for the free jacks. And I'm not just saying as a homer.
00:21:49
Speaker
New York will have a pretty good team too. I think this could come down to New York and New England, but we can't forget about Toronto as well. I don't know a lot about them. Here's the thing about Toronto.
00:22:05
Speaker
They're finally gonna be able to play a bloody home game for the first time in how many years? A home game last year was not a home game for them. The occasional fan here and there. Being able to sleep in a bed that's your own and having fans behind you that are your own is a totally different thing. And so I would not count them out by any means whatsoever.
00:22:25
Speaker
Hey, speaking of that real quick, Jared, San Diego again, they had a crappy year last year, a lot because of they had no home. Remember that? It's true. That's true. They didn't play it. They were all over the place. That's right. Yeah, they're in Vegas, other places. They that didn't help at all. I might talk with Ryan Mattius. He said it was really hard, which is the same thing. It was so difficult to live out of your suitcase. Yeah, every game. Yeah, no doubt. No doubt. No doubt at all.
00:22:51
Speaker
Yeah, so there's that as well. So yeah, give you know, makes me makes me more confident in the San Diego thought at least. Yeah, I
00:23:01
Speaker
Unfortunately, I've seen at least one, if not maybe two US rugby pundits, which doesn't count as much because if you're a US rugby pundit, you need to maybe find a new life. You're not paying the bills. You definitely are not paying the bills with that, no doubt. They put the free jacks near the bottom. I was like, nope.
00:23:24
Speaker
I am like 99% sure that is going to be very wrong. Yeah, I know very disagree. Just and again, not from the Homer standpoint, but from the big bait.
00:23:35
Speaker
We're a damn good team by the end of last year. I realize there's a coaching change and that'll affect things, but the talent is there. And there's a core group of players who know how to play together and know how to communicate and operate together. And then you add some of the talent that they've added and
00:23:57
Speaker
There's every reason to think that, you know, there's, well, there's certainly no reason to think that they would end up at the bottom. I mean, that's just, that's ridiculous. Right. Um, unless the, you know, some sort of major injury situation, which nobody wants to see.
00:24:10
Speaker
Well, you think, sorry, Ben, you think about the players they lost? Really? Nobody. I mean, you know, Kamarati went to the Premiership. Kenny, back to Japan, but Kenny didn't play. No, he didn't play. I don't think he played one match. He played one or two matches and then that was the end. I think he either got hurt or just decided that he wasn't playing anymore or whatever. No, he got hurt. He was in a boot. So I think he had like a high ankle injury or something like that. He was in a boot for way too long. Right. Yeah. We have. Sadlouz and Tembu and Wakanabao.
00:24:39
Speaker
and Tola too. Yeah, those are the three guys I that like caught my eye when we weren't getting them back a little bit less Mattembo more and more slow. May, but that's it. You know, who were the names we heard the most last year, you know, Dougie, right? You know, if Johnson, Johnson, Mars, he's healthy. Walker. Walker. Come on. Yes. Walker. Walker. We love the Walker. Yeah.
00:25:02
Speaker
I mean, those were huge and I mean, Dougie Fife almost could have made the Six Nations side for Scotland the way he was going, you know, we all talked about that. So the core from last year, I really think is still there and then you add in.
00:25:14
Speaker
I mean, I hope I'm not jumping the gun here, guys, but you add in who they picked up, like 20 new players and size. They already played great defense last year. I mean, they stopped teams from making the game line so often. It was just so much fun to watch and they added more size at center all over the place. They have no reason to believe why they won't improve on that.
00:25:37
Speaker
And you know what, honestly, I'm going to, you know, without mentioning these players yet, but I'm going to give a lot of credit to TK, Tom kindly, because he knows there's a few players from Mataga that he knew really well. And a lot of these signings has his in mind, I haven't talked to him about this, but has his name all over it. Like, they the new coach really, Matthew really relied on TK to help with the signing of players. And and I'm telling you, he got some gems here. And you know, I'm excited. Nice.
00:26:05
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I love it. The biggest one that jumped off the screen that wasn't here last year that's here this year is Jesse Peretti.
00:26:13
Speaker
Yes, the big Kiwi like, yes, I saw him and I'm like, that is a perfect partner for Josh Larson in the second row and can also play six when need be like, yeah, sign me up all day. I love that. Yeah, he's actually, as far as I know, I thought he was more of a back row player, but he definitely has a lock as well. I mean, six, six four, I think he is. He's a ginormous human. He could play. Yeah. And he's also one of the oldest of the bunch to sign at 28.
00:26:40
Speaker
He's so old. Send me back.
00:26:48
Speaker
That's why I don't play on any teams anymore. And that really was, that lock position was their, I mean, really was their biggest weakness. And there wasn't really a close second. So it got better as the year went on. I thought Deeb's really grew into it over the year.
00:27:11
Speaker
Obviously CAP's doing great, but we still needed some help beyond that. And reinforcements have arrived. So I think that's it bodes well. If everybody else can just do their job, sounds familiar. So four new locks, I think they signed, I think it is, or one of them's development contract.
00:27:32
Speaker
And a whole bunch of new props, which is excellent. Yeah. Need those front rowers, man. Right. I tell you what, our friend out there anymore, which will be really nice. Fingers crossed, please. Yeah. You know what? One of those props, I think, is on kind of my list of players who watches Defeated Soul. The Tongan U20 player. Oh, yes, yes, yes. He's 22, 265 pounds, guys. Jesus.
00:27:57
Speaker
He's a bowling ball. I love it. Yes. Give me the ball two yards out. He'll do it. He's a guy you don't want to drink with because you will be the one passed out.
00:28:10
Speaker
I agree with that. I love it. Yes. No, give me, give me that all day long. And we, uh, and in my opinion, we have one of the best young halfback combinations in the league with Boyle and Poland. I love Johnny Poland, especially really, really do. I think he's, oh man, just love this. The way he plays, he's got that Ben, you know, he reminds me of his Dan Robson.
00:28:33
Speaker
I mean, every good Scrum half should remind you of Dan Robson. I like Dan Robson a lot. But I mean, yeah, it's that do it all, the be a pest. And yeah, I'm going to just run, you know, 50 meters on you because, hey, you gave me this. You gave me the gap. Thank you. You can. Yeah. Can and will. Right. So yeah. So you know, sorry, the other lock there, by the way, Regan O'Gorman.
00:29:00
Speaker
OK, he's a great guy, but six Canadian international. I don't know how many cats he has, but but possibly a partnership with Josh. Right. You know, that could be a good area. I'm sure. Yeah, I'm sure there was a little bit of. Yeah, I mean, we've we've heard it in, you know, in other sports where guys get together on on like
00:29:20
Speaker
all-star teams that are like, hey, why don't we team up? In this case, it may have been, hey, why don't you come play for us? We can still build our camaraderie, our relationship as professionals here, and then we'll take it to Team Canada too.
00:29:39
Speaker
If that happened, if it didn't happen, don't care. That's the way I'm seeing it. That's my story. Stick into it. So one more thing. I know I'm probably screwing up your rundown. No, don't worry about it. Not at all. I'm enjoying this. So here is my favorite signing of Free Jax this summer. And it may or may not come as a surprise. It's Alex Johnston. And here's why. Do you know why?
00:30:03
Speaker
because he's the brother of Joe Johnson. Oh, that's right. I remember that. He's a prop. For Joe to be in this side of the world without family, although we have rugby family, we all love that, obviously, but to have his brother here. Yeah, it's different. I think that's going to be huge for Joe more than Alex. And I love the mechanic, Joe. Joe is already a great player, and I'm a little disappointed he didn't accept the invitation to play for USA this past year, which he was offered.
00:30:30
Speaker
He has his reasons good for him, but I really think having his brother here. I'm telling you that's going to really help. You know how it is. Sometimes teams signed players just goes like great clubhouse guys where I was not going to score tribes, right? But there they help the team. He's going to be the one.
00:30:43
Speaker
Yeah. Mark my words. I completely thought I completely spaced on that. And you're right. And he's a front rower, which is always valuable, whether he's coming off the bench or not. You know, so on top of that, have you placed anything like Joe plays? Right. That's the thing. Like you have you can have an energy guy or a locker room guy or, you know, a mascot type guy. And if they can't play, then it doesn't really matter. But it's like, OK, I have no doubt that Johnson can contribute because he's a Johnston.
00:31:12
Speaker
And I know his brother will kick his ass if he doesn't, so. Yeah. Oh, God. I'm actually. See, one reason I love Joe Johnson is because of his seeding hairline. It's just like the guy is like 20, 24 or whatever. And it's like he looks like the hair of a 50 year old. Anyway, cut it all off, Joe. Just be done with it. Right. It's not that bad. It really isn't. I mean, OK, now it's yeah. This is not voluntary anymore. But when I did it,
00:31:43
Speaker
I remember that. Any reason to not think that we have a battle of New England and New York in the Eastern Carpets final?
00:31:58
Speaker
are you coming to me? Sorry, I don't want anybody. Yes, I'll jump in because I don't I talk. Yes, you get to you put a beer in me. I'm like, Hey, people listen to me. Yes. All right. Here's why I think I can't say Rooney because they're not Rooney anymore. This is why I think recommend New York has a chance of upsetting New England because
00:32:25
Speaker
you got Sam Windsor, again, chance everything else. Actually, I'm gonna go back the other way. This is why they won't upset anyone. Okay. Ben Foden's out for a while. We're not sure how long he's saw that dancing on ice is what I read the other day. Whoopsie. Yeah, which is what the famous wealthy athletes do they get invited these things.
00:32:43
Speaker
He's he's important to that to that team. Like he's been a leader in that team for a number of years. Nick Savetta is awesome. He's a great leader. Brickley's right there also. But as far as leaders go, I think Ben's gonna be hard to fill in for. So and they're still I don't know if it's a big deal or not, but they still haven't announced where the hell they're playing this year.
00:33:04
Speaker
So we're 11, 11 days out to our first game and they're like, well, we're going to play in central park. Um, so they haven't done that yet. Also, I know, I don't know if that bothers the players, uh, cause they're probably not playing at home until.
00:33:18
Speaker
the fourth week in the season or something like that. Well, we don't actually further when our first game is against Toronto, right? Yes, it is. I'm not, I'm not playing, but. No, keep, keep talking that way. We like it. Right. But anyway, I do feel like there's going to be some issues as far as leadership on that team, which could leave a gap for players, for teams like the free jacks.
00:33:43
Speaker
Nola possibly jumping in. I don't even know why I didn't mention Nola earlier. Nola's a good team. Yeah, but we don't like Nola. But it annoys me. Still annoys me. You know what? I love Dino Waldron. I love Cam Dolan. I love to have a nucleus down there that I tell you why we can't. We should have won that game, by the way, in New Orleans. Oh, man, we totally botched that game. We totally botched that game. So I interviewed Cam. He was in Ireland getting ready. No, actually it was in England getting ready to move to Ireland for that game this summer.
00:34:11
Speaker
And I had a nice 20 minutes with him. And I said to him, so Cam, that short line out that you guys had the result of a try, there's no way that was straight. I don't know if you guys saw that at all. I remember that. I was yelling at it. I know. And he says, I don't know you're talking about. That's a confirmation. That's definitely the answer. And I believe he said, you know what? He said, you know what? We're a growing league. The referees are still learning. We're fine.
00:34:40
Speaker
Yeah, I'd say so. He's absolutely correct about that. We are so infuriating. Oh, yes, it was. Same as MLR being helpful for players. It is also helpful for referees because we need we need to get, you know, some of these these referees like the ones that are good. We need to get them at a higher level and they need to pull up the other referees because it's pretty shit house sometimes. It is. It is. No argument on me. OK.
00:35:10
Speaker
All right, Bill, we're going to go on a little trip around Europe here. This is what everybody else is tuning in for, probably. Yeah, a little jaunt around the Champions Cup. It was a big weekend.
European Rugby Highlights
00:35:20
Speaker
Obviously, we closed out pool play and got our answer on to who plays who in round of 16. Got thrown a bit of a curveball with the card of getting a 28-0 win over Toulouse. That did not.
00:35:33
Speaker
Toulouse still qualifies. Toulouse goes on it and Cardiff does not. That's pretty fucked. It feels a little backwards, I know. But yeah, that's how it is. That's where we're at. Lester, we probably thought that they would at least win against Bordeaux, so that's not a big deal. Same for Rossing. Rossing, we thought that 28-0 might be a favorite of Saints, honestly. That could have been 40 to 50 points easily. Because they hadn't played a lot of defense in this
00:36:03
Speaker
in this competition yet. So all bets were off on that one. So I was like, all right, I'm not going to worry about that one either. But Quinn's and Cast on Friday night. Ben, can we first of all, before we get into the good stuff?
00:36:20
Speaker
There are a lot of people that gave me shit for the guy that I didn't like about about that was in the middle of this game. Can I just say this is what I was talking about? Right. That was awful. There's there's no better about words than I told you so. And Addison is a poor referee and you put him in charge of an important match. Of course, he's going to bottle it. But to be fair, on the other side, how much sympathy do I have for cast?
00:36:47
Speaker
You don't have any, I know that. I have zero sympathy for cast. I know you do. They're a team that doesn't really care if they're in this competition. They don't really want to be a part of the competition. They kicked the ball dead when they still had a chance to win a game.
00:37:01
Speaker
against Munster, yeah. No, you don't, sorry. I remember that. Now, neutrals, yes, certainly neutrals can absolutely have a right to be pissed at Adamson. Whereas others, like ourselves, we're cheering the hell out of, like, Stombrand getting over somehow. Yeah, give it to him! Give it to him! Everybody. The whole time, you're just like, okay, yeah, this game is kind of close and all that, and you're just seeing that, like, you know,
00:37:31
Speaker
It's like Chekhov's gone. You know, Marcus Smith is there. He's just on the bench for now. You know, he's going to come in and that's always going to be the result. So, yeah. Yeah. No, it was. So, I mean, but loads of credit to Cas for rocking up.
00:37:50
Speaker
That was impressive. That was unexpected. Completely out of the blue. No, frickin' roar. I didn't see. I did not have Rory Cockett scoring a couple tries on my bingo boarder. You got two, right? I don't remember. Like crazy about that? It was two. Yeah. Okay. So, yeah. Did not have that on my bingo board by any means whatsoever. I saw him getting him marched back twice. Oh, yeah. Trying to try and assist. That's what it was. Still. Just the same. Still. You know.
00:38:17
Speaker
I did not have that out there. You know, I'm glad Tommy Allen at least survived most of the match. Right. The first couple of times he's been in there, it's been not great. First time he's come off for a tactical change, so that's good. Yeah. No, no, no. That was, oh, yeah. I'm so glad he didn't get knocked out again. Right. Like, God. And then Joe Marlar was Joe Marlar.
00:38:43
Speaker
He totally accepted that yellow card, too. Like, fair enough. I love him. I love him. I got caught on this thumbnail. That was so that was so great. I was like, OK, he knew he screwed up. Right. Well, the best was was his own scrum half because he basically stepped on both scrum halves hands there and his own guys laying on the deck like, what the fuck are you doing to me? Yeah. So friendly fire, bro. Well, yeah. Well earned yellow.
00:39:14
Speaker
So, oh, man, I love it. I love that. Yeah. But in the end, yeah, there's two things that are inevitable. And that's Dom Brant and Marcus Smith, right? And geez, they go both really good. Eddie, you watch Marcus Smith. Okay. He's no he's no AJ McKinsey. But that's just maybe impartial. I love me some AJ. And we'll talk about AJ in a little bit. He was rather brilliant as well. But yeah, Marcus Smith,
00:39:40
Speaker
should be bang on 10 shirt for England. I don't care who the hell you ask. Well, yeah, there's no, well, there's no doubt now, but I don't think there should be, but now with Feral, well, it's certain, it's certainty now with Feral on the shelf for basically the entirety of six nations from what I hear. Sounds like it. Sounds like it. Um, I'm actually, we won't spend too much time on bath. Lenster won't want no shock.
00:40:04
Speaker
just wow that's just killing everybody yeah yeah the only the only real um i guess talking point from this match was bath's injuries and what that means for them yeah under him oh yeah that's like as bad as the season has gone for them losing you know two of their best you know and bailis has been playing lights out and to lose two of them in in the space of a minute
00:40:30
Speaker
Um, you know, when they were already, they were rocking up, they were playing hard at the, the, the final doesn't show it obviously. But, um, I'm sure that those, those early injuries were really, I mean, once we were always going to win, let's not, I'm not, I'm not trying to say there was a chance. There wasn't a chance, but Beth were really showing a lot of heart and we're rocking up and.
00:40:53
Speaker
that really took the wind out of their sails. Just got a feel for him. And yeah, Underhill needs to sit for a little while now. That's two in like three weeks that he's gotten bang real hard. So have him sit for a wee bit there, boys. And Mike Williams came in and
00:41:08
Speaker
Didn't earn. Didn't get a car. How does that happen? I should have bet. I should have bet that. Damn. Right. I wonder how much money you could have gotten if you bet Mike Williams and Thomas Lavagnini get no cards in the same weekend or through champions up at all. Like that's pretty true. Yeah. And although I think one of them missed a couple of games, so still still they played more than 10 minutes each and they didn't get a card. That's pretty impressive.
00:41:33
Speaker
It's true. It's so true. That's why it's way too funny for anything else. Shit. All right. Let's go over to Belfast. Let's go to Belfast because that's way more interesting. And that is Ulster and Claremont and Claremont really putting a good performance in, but they saved it for way too late. Way too late. Way too late. What were you guys doing?
00:41:57
Speaker
Good Lord. Yeah, they hit the snooze button too many times in the in the hotel and just, you know, till about halftime. What the hell? What the hell? I can't remember when they started to turn it on, but right around when Rocca scored. Yeah. Yeah. Benton just scored first. That's what it was. When Rocca was no. Yeah, it was like late. It was late. Yeah. The first three tries came at sixty nine. The first try came at sixty nine minutes. Oh, did we lose Ben?
00:42:26
Speaker
Ben, you're there. I think you're ready. There you go. I'm here. Sorry about that. Attaboy. Yeah, but they had 69 minutes of their first try. Like, yeah. Also, we're already firing on all pistons by that point. Dopes. Did they qualify? They did. They're right at the bottom. Claremont? Claremont R.
00:42:49
Speaker
Okay. So, yeah. Oh, that's right. Because they got the ball. They didn't need it, but they got the point to... The bonus point. No. They wanted to make sure that they weren't going to get eliminated by two bonus points or anything like that. Yeah. So, probably a good decision on their part. Ben, did we see two potential Ireland starters scoring in this match in Herring and Lowry?
00:43:15
Speaker
I think so. Yeah. I really. Yeah. Yeah. His just lights out. I agree is fun. I mean, all that their whole back three has been fantastic to watch allsters. So Balacoon, we talked about him last week. Just delicious. So, yeah, I could I would I hope that they both play. I certainly. You know, Herring.
00:43:43
Speaker
Yeah. He's got Kelleher to deal with. That's the only problem for him. But that's it. Kelleher and Herring should be the one, too. I agree. But, yeah, Lowry, I hope so, but there's so much talent in the Ireland back three now. Extremely. Think about the guy that Ulster and Ireland are missing, too. Right. No, Zebo's back. Jacob Stockdale. Stockdale, yes.
00:44:12
Speaker
Shit, what's his name? Low is injured too. Yes, also. And they still have choices upon choices. Oh, I know. I know. It's a good time to be an Ireland rugby fan, no doubt. No doubt, especially with the excitement that they have in the backs there. But yeah, so Claremont finally put in a performance on the road, which is not usually their norm. But hey, I mean, kicking the first four penalties
00:44:41
Speaker
might not have been their best decision because remember you and I were talking about, oh, they only need two more tries because we thought they had a try unconverted and a converted try. And then we both went facepalm and realized, no, they have four kicks. Damn. Yeah, but you always at the points. You got to take the points, right? I know.
00:45:05
Speaker
I'm a hard disagree on that. If your momentum is kicked to the corner and drive it in, maul it in, then yeah, of course. To me, it depends. It depends on who the opponent is.
00:45:20
Speaker
what the score is. Yeah, if it's like early on in the match sometimes, again, depends on the kind of match you're playing and the kind of match you want to play. But with Ulster, with those, they're just the firepower on the other side. You're in a tri-fight. You're not in a... And I think this competition specifically is tri-fighting, not so much... You're not going to see many 12 to 10 games in this competition.
00:45:46
Speaker
Certainly not, not when you're playing, you know, the top of the, the top of the class. So, um, let's jump over to Wales and Linelli, uh, Scarlett and bears. Pat Lamb, something you and I didn't know, Ben, because you and Lloyd at 12 was working until he went off. It was working very, very well.
00:46:07
Speaker
I did not, like I was looking at that, scratching my head when the lineup came out and I think you were too, Ben. And we were just like. I was like, Oh, they're running. They're just going to run. I mean, clearly that was the only strategy they were going to go with. But obviously not putting him there to crash. They're putting him there to operate in space with Rad Radra. Oh, yeah. And whatever whatever lamb has gotten, you know, whatever happened in the first 10, 12 weeks of the premise season, I think lamb has started
00:46:35
Speaker
uh, pulling the right levers. I'm sure it has nothing to do with semi-rad dr coming back. No, nothing at all. And all the people that were shitting on him, right? Like, Oh, he's not that he's not good. I'm like,
00:46:50
Speaker
Well, look, are you sure about that? Yeah. I mean, like, but the whole you could go down the list of of Bristol and and, you know, who played well, like Brad Radra, Lloyd, as you mentioned, Pierce was lightning coming in for for Lloyd. Mm hmm. Purdy and Morahan. Same thing. You know, now Lago gets, you know, gets over from the bench. Pia Tal was fantastic till he got hurt. You know, Facker and Bubbles, Callum Sheedy and Chris Vuey and Luitua and Vuey, Vuey.
00:47:19
Speaker
Oh, that was dirty. That was so nasty. Oh, I was my jaw hit the floor with that one. I was like.
00:47:30
Speaker
What was that? I was like, yeah, I kind of, I mean, I could kind of see it coming, but I was still like, is he, is he, so you never know. He still could have done it. He still could have just done easy around the corner one. And nope, I'm going to do this one right here behind my back without you even knowing it's happening. Yep. There was no, there was no way for the defender to, to, to come off onto, onto Lloyd.
00:47:51
Speaker
That was that was filthy. And of course, we've got to talk about Ben Wyatt out there, Harry Randall. Also, you know, I had it in my notes as as Robson, like, because he was just a pest every single time he could get a chance to knock the opposition off their game. You know, every time he had a chance to just kind of stick it to Carlos a little bit, he did. And yeah, beautiful, well played. He's obviously been watching the film, you know, film of the greats that are, you know, right there in the prime with him.
00:48:22
Speaker
Yes, sir. I agree. But it was a yeah, and this is the this is the Bristol we all want to see fingers crossed with a week arrest for them. This is what we see when they come back. Glasgow and La Rochelle.
00:48:37
Speaker
30 to 38 is probably very generous to Glasgow in many ways. Yeah, they had a lot of moments they just stumbled and fell. Oh, like on their face. Like, yeah, I mean, this is the same kind of thing we were talking about before we're, you know, Glasgow this that's their game is is, you know, keeping it tight. Keep, you know, kicking for posts, and and kind of hoping their defense holds. And it did not.
00:49:05
Speaker
No, no, no, no. You know, I like, I like what I see at Papalan and I'm wondering how
00:49:14
Speaker
how long EIOS leash is going to be from here out for La Rochelle because EIOS is getting old too, number one. There's also that, but they've more or less been searching for an answer at 10 that wasn't him. And not to say that he's been bad, obviously they got to the Champions Cup final last year. That's nothing to sneeze at.
00:49:36
Speaker
but you still don't want that to be your answer long-term, so. Right, to make the Champions Cup final with a mediocre 10 is pretty freaking impressive, so. Agreed. But yeah, if they could do a little bit better than him, that they'd be super dangerous. I agree, I agree, I agree, and I'm looking forward to see what they do in the knockout rounds, because. I did like Duncan Weir coming on and just saying, fuck this, I'm gonna, you know, throw, you know, just throw my balls on the table. Oh man, he was just throwing everything everywhere.
00:50:06
Speaker
He wishes he was back in Worcester now. Right. Well, maybe not so much now. Oh, yeah, that's true. Not what we found out today, but yeah. Jeez. So we'll see. I hope La Rochelle go well, and I hope we at least see them in the semifinal because they are funding to watch when they are when they are clicking. Yeah. Yeah. Speaking of fun things to watch, France and Connick on Sunday morning for us here. Red cards ruin games.
00:50:37
Speaker
A dumb red card though, it will be said. Like two very, very avoidable things for Talulatu to not do. One, don't hit somebody with your shoulder in a ruck when it's already taken care of. Took away a try too, mind you.
00:50:53
Speaker
the one person you're not going to want to swear at is Wayne Barnes. He's not going to take it. And go ahead. Barnes, he warned him. Barnes, he said, shut up. Don't use that kind of language. And then he's like, all right, there it goes. And he goes, yellow, red. And I'm like, what just happened? And then he explains it. And it's like, oh,
00:51:14
Speaker
That's another yellow and that's a red. Yup. Cannot argue that. No, no, no. And, you know, to have two teams that just want to go for it really as well was just makes a hell of a match to watch. This is the one you want to show to somebody else that doesn't know what rugby is and be like, here, this is the fun stuff right here. This match right here is the good stuff.
00:51:35
Speaker
We can get a little bit of everything. Yeah. We got a card. We got two cards. Right. You got some space. This is where this is where I finally get to chime in because I didn't see all the matches this weekend, but Luke Cardi's brother match. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Dammit, Andy Farrell. You had to go do that. Right. And both just, you know, he hasn't he hasn't he hasn't been brought on to a match yet. So that's true. That's true. That's true. Until you until he appears in the match.
00:52:05
Speaker
So you're saying there's a chance. There's a chance. There's a chance. Yeah, quite good. Our old friend Nick Sanchez was standing tall on this one for the most part until he started to miss chicks. But as a as an open field play, very good. Yeah. And then some some idiot said to pick up Kaitlyn Blade.
00:52:28
Speaker
If you had, if you needed a nine, cause a lot of people needed nine since we can cause a no DuPont and such. That worked out all right. How did he do? He, he, he scored once or twice, I think at least once. Yeah. 57 meters. Yep. Got over the line.
00:52:48
Speaker
And then our old friend, Ben, our old friend playing 13 for stop front say and telling the all blacks to pounce and love my pay. Yes, absolutely all day. Yes. He got the ball in his hands. I'm thinking, oh, this is this is in because I don't care what's in his way. He's he's already rolling. You're not getting and you're not getting him over like no way. So sure enough, bowls over and.
00:53:13
Speaker
You know, this is this is really good to see staff on say firing again, because this was like a team that from yesteryear that was always fun to watch. And everybody knows the pink jerseys. Everybody knows those pink jerseys. And, you know, you want them. That's a team you want to do well in this type of competition because they just bring it up. Yeah, I love that they look like Capri sons to like, that's the perfect sponsor for that team. I mean, the owner.
00:53:37
Speaker
That also helps that part of that. Oh, I had no idea. Yeah. Oh, yeah. He owns part of that. Well, good for him. That's why they're the sponsor. But hey, very good stuff for San Francisco.
00:53:51
Speaker
And we'll get to what's going on with on the other side of this whole eight team per league thing when we get to Washington second here. But I don't want to gloss over sale, but we can because they just dominate. They did. They absolutely dominated. I mean, you know, you roll out AJ. What do you expect? Right. I mean, I love that. So I started AJ and and quirky as my my battery for my fantasy team.
00:54:17
Speaker
thinking that they would go, you know, it would be kind of a slog. They'd get decent points and they play, you know, well into the match, but they had to go and get a bonus point. Like, you know, it's in or whatever. Yeah. 10 minutes into the second half. And it's like, all right, we're pulling everybody. That's why I had 10 in my head. Well, this is just typically one of his matches where he's on his game and controlled everything. Just even that kick that led to a try. He tried it a couple of times earlier.
00:54:43
Speaker
Uh, just the confidence from him just to the place of the balls in the right spot. I mean, just there's one that could happen earlier, which just, it was in his hands. Uh, get the player on the wing there in his hands came out, but, um, yeah, AJ way played like 52 minutes. Something like that. Still had eight points. Yeah. I mean, that's, that's pretty efficient.
00:55:00
Speaker
Yeah, good day. Good day of work at the office there. Yeah, and we've fairly well maintained. And again, we're not being homers. There's no homeroom, homeroism in here whatsoever. You know, outside of Marcus Smith, he's the best 10 in the prem.
00:55:17
Speaker
And yes, that's arguable. But if you start putting if you start putting totals of points together now, think about the kicking the AJ does also, if you start putting stats together, like like we do over here in the States and major league baseball, whatever else, yeah, AJ would be higher. If you think about that.
00:55:36
Speaker
Yeah. Well, you also look at, there's the tip to me again from Philly. So it kind of all refers back to that. There's the Donovan McNabb factor. Like he's doing great things with nothing around him. Like they've got a forward pack, but who do they have? You know, once you get outside of the 10, there's just nothing there. That's about it. Yeah.
00:56:00
Speaker
And, you know, that's still what he's been there for. Like this is his second year and he's played like three matches or so. So. And who knows how much better he'll get when he's once he's under Pat Lamb next year. Oh, he loves Lamb. He loves him too. So it's like it's it's so it's going to be so fun to watch him play there and what he can also then bring to the Eagles. And yeah, I am. I was so excited when I saw that movie now. So I was like, yes, this is awesome for everybody. And Sinclair and.
00:56:29
Speaker
Yeah, he's just got to stay healthy. Yeah. Knock on wood. Yeah. Touch wood, man. Keep that guy healthy. Yeah, we need him. But thankfully, we do have Luke Cardi kind of pulling up the rear now as a 10.
Player Performances and Predictions
00:56:41
Speaker
I do like him a lot. I hope he gets healthy quickly for the MLR season because the more MLR time he gets, the better it becomes. And the more notice he might get from somewhere else. Absolutely. Nice. Which would be nice.
00:56:57
Speaker
Another match that doesn't need a whole lot of talking about, unfortunately, Munster and Wasps. Wasps had to put out a bed. They kind of had to put out a dog lineup. Yeah. I mean, there was still some great names on this thing that I was excited to see Robson, Odawu. Right. Like, yeah, I was really happy to see those guys get some game time again because they've been benched and sidelined for so long, but
00:57:21
Speaker
You know, when Michael Aboshua had to come in for Ryan Mills at the last minute, I was like, oh, there goes that. Sorry. Yeah, it's like, you know how we were talking about, you know, and Lloyd at 12. Michael Aboshua, the problem is wasps don't really have that kind of attacking
00:57:40
Speaker
intent and the bourgeois certainly I don't know he's he's a guy he's a jag at best yes he is and that there were a lot of like they could they kept going through him it's like no let him like cut out the bourgeois because he doesn't do anything good either on attack or defense he's just a warm body and you know
00:58:01
Speaker
give it to a dog woo, give it to Watson, give it to crossed it like boss, like they have to have some some attacking intent out there. But it just the bourgeois just killed it early. And that by the time, you know, they took him out, it was or, you know, they had no answers at that point. No, they were they were already in in deep trouble. Here's, here's my just my Eagles overseas twist. That is Roman Solanoa. You guys, I think it's the name at all. Yep. Pretty much sealed the deal as far as ever playing for USA.
00:58:30
Speaker
after signing a three year deal with Munster.
00:58:33
Speaker
Which means, and I don't ever see him actually playing for Ireland, because he's been off injured. He didn't play in this match also. I had a lot of injuries, so I'm not sure what he's thinking. He just loves living over there, great, good for him. But he's definitely been invited to come to the USA camp. So there you go. Someday maybe. Yeah, someday maybe. Keep asking, I'll say yes, hopefully. We'll see, yeah. One day. But Ben, one of your favorite players on the other side for the guys in red,
00:59:03
Speaker
sparkled quite well. I mean, I'm not even sure who you're talking about. They had a bunch, but Tigeburn was fucking excellent. Yeah. Think faster. Well, I mentioned Zebo already. I know. Still, that's the guy I'm thinking about. All right. Yeah. And it's crazy. Like, he just signed with Monster, and he's already like a crowd favorite. They love him. They changed his name. Can't imagine why.
00:59:28
Speaker
I it's amazing. Can't imagine why. Yeah, nothing to do with the fact that he was there like three years ago, whatever, for the entirety of his career. Yeah, two or three years at wrestling. But, you know, nothing to do with that whatsoever. No, just more to the point about wasp. And I actually saw somebody finally point this fucking thing out on Twitter. I was like, thank you. That's my point. Seven and eight on both sides of France and
00:59:55
Speaker
The only reason that one of the seven or eight teams in France got in is because the two seven and eight teams from England were awful. So, and they were awful and the eighth team for France was not good. So that didn't get in. So really, I know the last, the previous format before COVID wasn't amazing. It is better than this. So we need to go back to that. Pretty pleased with sugar and cotton.
01:00:22
Speaker
The bottom four teams on, on, you know, in both pools just really didn't have much business being there. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Um, yeah. And like, even though, cause they brought, did they bring the three out of four Welsh teams? They were all bad, unfortunately. Um, uh, rock gave us some entertainment, but weren't great. Um,
01:00:47
Speaker
The one Scottish team they gave us was poo. All four Irish teams qualified, which is great. Didn't they do that? They did that last year too. Did they, I don't think Connick did. I thought they did. I don't recall that. If they did, it was like one and done. They were in and out. That was the end. So that's all that bit of fun there. And then the last one of the weekend, you know,
01:01:15
Speaker
This is why people were upset that Montpellier were playing the way they were in the first two matches of this comp, because people know that right there is exactly what they were capable of against, you know, a team that's very, very much heralded despite, you know, what Ben and I say in Exeter. You know, it's... Yeah, it's...
01:01:38
Speaker
I mean, guiding coach Reinach was pretty good. So he's really fast. I wonder if he's got runners in his family. No one ever talks about that. But to me, this was Exeter. Like this is kind of what Exeter are. They gave their best shot to Montpellier. And Montpellier said, okay.
01:02:00
Speaker
I'm like, we're good. We'll, you know, we'll, yeah. I mean, that's, I mean, it's really the score sheet shows it. It's the Sam Simmons show for, for, for Exeter. And boy, did he show, but I mean, geez, he was how he was stopped dead at least twice on one of the, on each of his tries. Right. So, or at least on two of his tries, like he was stopped cold on one for sure. And still muscled his way over. And I was like,
01:02:29
Speaker
How the hell did he get through? Like, I mean, he is that good. We know that. That's not a mystery. But like, yeah, Sam is just absolutely amazing. But it's like for all the praise that, you know, they give to like the day viewers who get smashed back, you know, every time he gets a carry, he gets like double tackled because of the way he runs and gross driven backwards. And it's like, that's why is that's not good run. But that's what you could not pay me enough money.
01:02:57
Speaker
Well, if you notice when they get to the goal line too, I could tell like you can almost tell when exit are going to score versus when they're not, if their rotation is off. So if their rotation is on, it was, if I remember correctly, um, LCD gets a pick.
01:03:12
Speaker
Skinner and Simmons. It's those three, I think, at least in this match. If those three were in the rotation, they were going to do well. There were times when they weren't. They were support players in the rock. It was just the way the numbers worked out and they couldn't get unstuck from that. And it didn't work. And it's like, well, if you only have like three players that are going to do anything,
01:03:33
Speaker
You know, unless you're, you know, certainly in this competition, you're not going to, you're not going to do that well. Right. No, I don't. Generally speaking though, is this is like the perfect bounce back for Montpelier after getting wiped off the pitch by Leinster last week. I mean, how, I guess the coach comes in after a match says, okay, we have to play better against Exeter. I mean, I guess I did, right? I mean, even just get a win. I mean, is, is Exeter just that bad or is Montpelier just had a bad day?
01:04:01
Speaker
Well, I think Montpelier last week, they were missing a lot of their guys. Covid and named a soft lineup on top of that, so on and so forth. So so like it's great to see things. You know, we love Zach Mercer. We're huge Zach Mercer fans. Mercer. Right. And and and Reinach and all that. So there's a lot to like about the Montpelier's lineup when they're rocking up. But when when they don't when they're playing. Yeah, that's the other one. I know there's another one.
01:04:28
Speaker
when they're playing a Leinster, you got to rock up and they didn't. But against Exeter, if you rock up just a little bit, this year anyway, I don't know what, I really don't know what happened to Exeter.
01:04:41
Speaker
unless they've just been exposed and found out and have their teams know how to beat them, because it's not that complex. Like you said, Ben, toss the ball around against them and they have problems. Not to say that they will lose every time, but when you chuck the ball around against them, they you will have success and whether or not at least you win different
Strategy and Match Analysis
01:04:57
Speaker
story. But you know, you have a shot. That's your only your only shot is to agree is to play expansive rugby against them because they don't defend it well. Yeah. But and don't but don't try and play their game because there's nobody better at their game than them.
01:05:08
Speaker
Exactly. And a lot of teams are like, oh, it's the same thing as the South Africa, you know, where they, they get you in that you got to play this way, and then it works. But the teams that don't do that against Exeter, you see this. Yeah, no, I totally agree.
01:05:26
Speaker
This is so I mean, hey, we have another fun team to watch in the knockouts with Montpellier in there instead of, you know, Glasgow, which is not bad, in my opinion. Yeah, I'll take it. I'd rather have Montpellier than Glasgow. Certainly. I mean, I look at the names like I really like Rates and Butye, you know, Garbisi didn't start this game, but he's he's a possibilities there. I do like Paul Villem, so we obviously love Zach Mercer. Cameron had a decent day, even though he's been pretty banged up over his career.
01:05:55
Speaker
But yeah, and then Gerardo and I don't love BPA, I wish they would start Gerardo. And I do like Philip Santandre, who's in charge at Montpellier too. So, you know, and I know it was most of the chairman that came out and said, oh, you know, this is a punishment for us doing well, but still like,
01:06:14
Speaker
That doesn't strike me as the type of person that San Andreas. So thankfully, that's not what happened. And we got ourselves a fun team to watch. And they were having a good time out there. I can promise you that. Yeah. And I could almost see it being, Bill, to your point, like a plan, right? You don't throw a fastball at Leinster because it's not going to end well for you. So maybe save up your ammo for Exeter. And that was enough to get him in.
01:06:43
Speaker
That's my only explanation for what happened last week, I guess. Last week to this week. Between the differential between the two weeks. So here we are. Wow. And now we have round to 16 ties. This is going to be so much fun. Again, it's a leg, which is cool. So home and home. Home and home. Yeah. Two leg series. So we have Toulouse and Ulster. We have Bordeaux and La Rochelle. Ooh, fun. Montpelier and
01:07:09
Speaker
Quinn's. That should be very interesting. We have the Parisian Derby with Stavrounce and Rossignac 92 going at it. Claremont and Leicester. Hmm. That should be fun. Wow. That's what a contrast in two styles, honestly. Conenact and Leinster, old friends. Sail and Bristol. Again, old friends. Exeter and Munster. Now, the last time Exeter went to Limerick, they were
01:07:33
Speaker
on the edge of getting into the knockout rounds of champions cup I think at that point it was still quarterfinal and played a decent match but did not put together the match they did they needed so maybe this will be better off for them this time the first round will be at sandy park and then the return fixture yeah so if you're the higher seed the return fixture is um
01:07:55
Speaker
is the one that's at home. So, like, Leinster, Lester, Bristol are all playing at home on the second leg. So, it's up to the lower seeds to lay down the marker around one and see what happens the following week. Honestly, I'm looking forward to watching the Connick-Leinster match, I think, at Galway. Who knows what could happen? I just, especially Zebo back, that kind of thing. Connick, when they play in front of that crowd, there's something about it. It's electric.
01:08:20
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, we saw what they did with Stop Francais out there. Even put in a, you know, Lester needed to win at the death the other week to beat them there. So, yeah, Sports Ground is not an easy place to go. Leinster will know all about it. No doubt. But they both like to attack. So, that should be a fun one to watch. Although, Irish Derby might change things. We'll see. Too many, I mean, for my taste, too many derbies. I like seeing the cross.
01:08:49
Speaker
uh, cross league competition. So I'm looking forward to the, you know, to lose Ulster. Yes, please. Yeah.
01:08:58
Speaker
Yeah. Montpelier Quinn's Claremont Lester and Exeter Munster. Yeah. Those, those should be fine. Those four. That's it. Everything else. Well, I mean, trust me, I'm not moving from my seat from on, on that weekend anyway. So I have no reason to not watch the other beer. That's it. Yeah. Go to the fridge, go into the fridge and make a deposit, but that's about it. Yeah. That'll happen too.
01:09:21
Speaker
Hey, we're all up close enough. We should be meeting somewhere to watch these games if we're allowed to. I mean, April, Hey, we'll see. I mean, fingers crossed. I mean, listen, Ireland just looked at all their sanctions and they've been one of the strictest countries around. So fingers crossed gents will be there. And you know, we can talk free jacks and all that stuff. Free jacks open on St. Patty's day weekend as well. So it's going to be fun.
01:09:45
Speaker
Um, should be a good time. Yee-haw. All right.
Conclusion and Farewell
01:09:49
Speaker
Um, damn, that was fun. So that'll do it for this one kids. Um,
01:09:58
Speaker
I cannot thank you enough, Bill, for coming on and you're a gentleman. Thank you so much for having the heart to jump on with a couple of knuckleheads like us. You guys know a lot, man. Going through the championship rounds here, I'm like, I've watched a few of these games, but Jesus Christ, you guys know a lot.
01:10:21
Speaker
We have no lives. We have no lives. Let's figure out about this. That's the only reason. Even when I missed, like, I was away for a weekend a few weeks ago and I came back and binge watched every match. My wife was like, are you moving from that spot? I was like, no. We also have very patient and understanding lives. Yes, that's key. Yes, a success. My wife played rugby, so she gets it.
01:10:49
Speaker
She was actually, so if it helps, she was excited that I was getting to talk to you. She's like, Oh, well, where is she? No, just kidding.
01:10:58
Speaker
Yeah, she's cooler than him, I know. I know, I do appreciate you guys having me on here. Anytime guys, I love talking to you guys. And just one quick pitch here. And I think you guys heard about the live show we're doing coming up in two weeks. The USA Rugby Happy Hour on Twitter spaces. We used to be on Clubhouse, now we're on Twitter spaces. And we got George Killebrew, man.
01:11:20
Speaker
Yeah, don't lose it. Killer Bruce coming on and we're going to obviously talk MLR. So more and more people get on there. I think I'll be on that. Yeah. Tell Will Hooley that a couple of Saracens fans are huge fans of his.
01:11:38
Speaker
But yeah, we appreciate you so much for coming on. Everybody out there. Follow, follow Bill at Eagles Overseas. Especially if you're a rugby fan in this country. If you're listening to the show and you live in the US, you should be a rugby fan for the Eagles. That's the end of that. So follow Bill to keep you informed on both the men and the women. Certainly it's where I go and I want to figure out what the hell happened in a weekend that I kind of got caught up in something else.
01:12:05
Speaker
But yeah, we appreciate everybody out there for listening to us. We'll be back for the fancy corner in a little bit here. If you're coming along with that, we'll see you there. If not, we will see you next week. Thanks a lot again. And we'll talk to you guys next week. Have a good one later.