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Season 4- Episode 3- The Wolfpack is Back..Like It or Not (Premiership Round 1)
33 Plays4 years ago
It's those rugby dudes from that country that loves to annoy people...or worse. On this episode we dig into the Wallabies second straight win over the defending World Champs and THAT offload from a bloody prop. OF COURSE, we dive into the opening week including that first match at Asthon Gate where we saw the Wolfpack defense return. All this and the rest of the action from Round 1 of the Prem, crack one and enjoy with us.
Keep your eyes and ears peeled for our Patreon subscriptions! Aiming for this week, gods help us. In the meantime, 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 Podcast Logistics
00:00:08
Speaker
Hey, everybody. Welcome back. This is the fancy rugby. My name is Jared Dyke. I'm Benny Glaser. Here we go. It's early for us over here. It is. We're going to be a little bit ahead of the game, pod-wise. Yeah, that'll be a first ever. I swear, ever. Potting before dinner. Crazy. Listen, I'm all set for dinner after this. But I'm opening beers just the same because I don't care what time it is.
00:00:33
Speaker
It's five o'clock somewhere. Yeah. Yep. It's five o'clock somewhere. Yeah. I really agree with that. Obviously you can find us on your favorite podcast apps, download rate review. We'd love, we'd love to hear reviews, whether they're negative positive, all that good stuff, or just somewhere in the middle. It's okay. Um, make sure that you buy it by our friend, George, the fancy wherever geek, your coffee guy's going to be pumping out some new stuff, especially
00:00:58
Speaker
Since we started playing a new format, which we're actually going to get to later on today or in the next pod. That's what we're getting to say. Wait a minute. I messed that up. Yes. For us today. Yeah, it'll be today in the next pod. We'll be reviewing a new format. So if you're new to that format, you better go check him out because it's going to be helpful.
Live Draft and Auction Format Discussion
00:01:16
Speaker
Right. We're doing a live, a live draft the way I mean, if those of you who are familiar with the pod over past seasons, you've heard our live draft episodes. This is as close to the guesses we're going to get without FRD being a go this season. So it's an auction draft. So it'll be interesting. We're all kind of on the group chat. Like, I don't know how this is going to work. Daddy's auction draft either. This is not like the.
00:01:40
Speaker
the ESPN fantasy football auction draft, which I was like, which is what I thought. And I'm like, nope, that's wrong. That's not what it is. Damn. So yeah, we're, we're all getting thrown for a curveball. So go check out George. He'll help you out. Grab your GM upgrades
Support for Restart Rugby and Patreon Preview
00:01:53
Speaker
too. Don't forget that they are supporting restart rugby once again, which is a great, great cause. It's, you know, yes. Could we, could it do better? Yes. But is it still a good cause? Absolutely do it. So I would absolutely have you all go over and check that out as well.
00:02:07
Speaker
don't forget to save some of that that fundage. Book out some money for our Patreon, which will be starting soon. There's not really much of a help we can give after week one. There's no sample size whatsoever. So look for it starting next week. The sheet's like 99% ready to go. All sorts of
00:02:33
Speaker
increased analytics that you won't get anywhere else about that. People don't think about, right? Cause they're not crazy like me. Yeah. Well, you know, mad scientist over here.
Racism in Sports: Fulham Match and Euro 2020
00:02:46
Speaker
Oh shit. As always a black lives matter on this podcast. There is no room for racism whatsoever. Um, you know, it was, it's funny. It was the same thing. And so I, I'm those that don't know, I'm a Fulham supporter and they lost yesterday and
00:03:00
Speaker
their match on pens and one of their guys missed the pen and immediately everybody that was associated with the club was like, please don't go after this kid, like support him, give him, you know, it's not, this is not something that we do, just go. And so obviously that relates back towards Euro 2020 with the missed pens from those young lads as well, so.
00:03:26
Speaker
And if I'm not mistaken, because I'm such a hardcore follower of the footballs overseas, which I'm not, I am to understand that Fullman made the same mistake that Eddie Jones made in that Euro 2020. Yeah, I know somebody else. I'm like, here, it's Eddie Jones. And had somewhat like the kid who missed the pen was brought on late and didn't really get into the flow of the game.
00:03:51
Speaker
No, well, he was actually I think there was one there was a kid that was brought on late that missed a pen. That was not him now that missed the last one. He was pretty gassed. He had played 90 the week though on the weekend and then he went and played that whole thing this past this past yesterday. So yeah, I will
00:04:11
Speaker
I will associate it to, to him being absolutely 100% exhausted. So yeah. Yeah. I'm glad people are kind of like getting out ahead of that. At least somebody's got to, you know, especially if you got to protect your players. I mean, if it's, if it's, uh, before they can be abused at this point, yeah. No one's saying that you have to assume that they will be abused and then say, you know what, please don't do this. It is. It is. Um, Silva, their, their manager is, uh, the players do love him. So that's, it sounds like, it sounds like it's with re was good reason.
Australia vs South Africa: Strategy and Performance
00:04:42
Speaker
Okay, let's tuck in. I'll show you something. We'll start with the stuff that's elsewhere besides the pram. Australia, South Africa.
00:04:50
Speaker
Australia do it again and well at that. Because they didn't hold anything back. Last play of the year. But no, it really was. They did a lot of work too. And it's interesting because I saw line break rugby, which we support because every time they're doing awesome shit all the time, I guess is really where I'm going with that.
00:05:13
Speaker
but there and they're talking about how you don't have to like that's not about going wide it's not about oh we got to get the ball wide and that's how you beat a defense it's you just make them reorganize and that the whole keep all alive thing instead of just take the tackle go down and recycle it that feeds right into south africa
00:05:28
Speaker
Um, and their defensive style, but Australia were like, yeah, we'll just keep that ball alive. We'll, you know, we'll run a switch and then pop from the deck and then go the way we were going originally. And now your defense has been running right then left and has to go right again. And they're fucked. Like, yes, that that's how you beat South Africa. Um, just clinical right there. Yeah.
00:05:47
Speaker
I thought it a wee bit shitty that 100 Paul R.Q. Mountain was complaining about the things that Australia were getting away. It's like, all right, now you're making excuses. And this is what people do after a loss.
00:06:01
Speaker
This is what people were shitting on the lions for, because they made excuses. I don't think any excuse was valid in that lion series. It was all terrible rugby, both sides of the park. It doesn't matter. There's no excuse really needed for that. We know the answer. It was shite rugby, end of story.
00:06:22
Speaker
Yeah, you know, though, oh, they were getting you know, they're blocking guys on on the kicks. Okay. They're allowed to hold their line. So if they're changing, then that's up to the then yes, that's up to you to nab it and say, Hey, this guy changed his line and intentionally got in the way. If they're not if they're not noticeably changing, then you need to just do a little bit better job of getting around them. Yeah, that's something that every
00:06:44
Speaker
Okay, first off, every rugby player does if they know what they're doing. And at this level, at the international level, if you're not doing that, what the fuck are you doing? Get off the field. Like, yes, you're gonna... You don't know when that kick comes in. Right. So, yeah, I'm not impressed there. No, same. And really not impressed with the discipline from either team in this match. I'm glad that they talked that the refs... First off, when they tried to tuck themselves into the red card for...
00:07:14
Speaker
Shit. Who was it? Six for Australia. Oh, Swinton. Swinton. Lucky boy. Yeah. I felt bad for him at first because it's like, okay, so first off, it's fucking Duane Vermeulen coming around a lock. You don't see him until the last second. Yeah. And then they both try to protect themselves and they clash. Yeah. And it's like the TMO is like, that should be like really trying to talk him into a red.
00:07:37
Speaker
Yeah, it was unfortunate. Luckily, sanity prevailed after that. Yeah, I was actually. We'll go red. Wait a minute. And I don't I don't like Matt Carley. And he actually impressed me with that one moment right there where he was able to say, nope, I don't think we need to go red. I think I think yellow is the answer. Swinton is a knucklehead. Can we just say that? Yeah. He came in and did an LCD. No arms. No. Yeah. No arms tackle like, you know, with his hands on the deck a couple of minutes after coming back in. And I'm like, you fucking.
00:08:06
Speaker
What are you doing? You're first off, you were lucky that you got in the end, you were lucky you got a yellow and now you're going to do that. What's wrong with you? And but Faf getting a yellow was hysterical. Boy needs a yellow now and you need to read it now and again, too. I definitely need to yellow to keep them down. And look, I want to in the interest of fairness, because we may be harsh on the pod.
00:08:32
Speaker
And I'm, I guess I'm talking about me. I shouldn't say we, I may be harsh at times, but I feel like I'm fair. So I'm going to give fast this, because it was hysterical when you saw the replay. So the balls in the, in the, in the breakdown. And it looks at first like FAF is coming around and trying to trap it in or all, you know, and slow it down even more.
00:08:51
Speaker
And then he snacks, um, uh, Nick white's hand late afterwards. It's like, but, but it's like, you're just being a dick. You're just in the replay. He's actually pulling the ball out to present to white. He's already saying, okay, we were on advantage, whatever here, let me help you. Cause you know, I'm half to scrum, half like, you know, friendship here. You need this. He's actually doing something good.
00:09:13
Speaker
but then he can't help himself from being a dick. Like, dude, this was like, this is like the best, most rugby thing I've seen Faf do in a long time. And he had to cock it up by getting himself a yellow. So there, Faf was being actually a good citizen of the game. And then went knucklehead. And then he went all bellied up with that one. Oops. Yeah.
00:09:38
Speaker
in dumb ass. That's that's how it is, man. Oh, Lucania, I'm the best 13 in the world. I do like him. I really do.
00:09:47
Speaker
Um, I think that, I think that center pairing is really hard to beat with him and TDA. It's, uh, it's definitely one of the top ones out there. I do like it. Yeah. I mean, there are other centers that are great, but at the international level, the two of them are really hard to, yeah, really hard to find a pair to that level. That's for sure. That are also very consistent and they, they execute everything to a T that their team wants. So it's, it's a, there's a lot to like about that pairing. So I do like them both.
00:10:16
Speaker
That is for sure.
Rugby World Cup Qualifiers Overview
00:10:17
Speaker
But Australians, when they get to keep some some hardware for themselves. Oh, good lord. Yes, that's right. Oh, I almost forgot about that. How could I forget about that? Just that was amazing. That was absolutely glorious. So so what a lot of props don't understand is and obviously Tupo does is he went for the fend. Right. And when like he looks so it looks like that
00:10:41
Speaker
defenders will react to that. If you're a large, and I know this, and you've seen me do shit like this, where you show them, oh, I'm going to take contact, but then you just move the ball last second. And every defender, as soon as you put that hand out, all the other defenders relax a little bit, because they're like, okay, it's a prop taking contact, no big deal. All of a sudden, that ball is gone, and fuck, it's over. Try time.
00:11:04
Speaker
what a just a great little he crossed his arms across his body like just not usual and really well done on his part extremely extremely yeah i mean he's definitely uh he's definitely in a category of its own in many ways as an international tight head i i don't think there's an argument against that either
00:11:25
Speaker
Right. So what's the qualifiers for the World Cup next year or continue? And we had the teams that lost take victories this week. So it's all to play for with one round to go. I mean, and yeah.
00:11:42
Speaker
It's really going to be interesting. So we'll see how it plays out. So it's Italy on top as it stands. This is all based on point differential at this point, too. Italy is on top. Ireland second, Spain, and then Scotland. But again, they all have five points, too. So it's not even like it's, you know,
00:12:02
Speaker
Yeah, so it's it's anybody's game. First place heads right to rugby World Cup next year, and then there's going to be one more qualification tournament that second place will be able to play for. So that'll be that you're not your season is not dead. If you're in second, if you're third and fourth, you're out. Sorry, that's the end.
00:12:20
Speaker
So, yeah, I'm glad to see this in parity there. And it's not just, you know, two teams running amok. That's that's always good for the game. Doesn't matter what variation we're talking about here. So that's great stuff for them.
Premiership Rugby Opening Weekend Highlights
00:12:32
Speaker
OK. To the brim and opening night and the wolf pack is back, boys. Hold on to your hats. It's yeah, they are back.
00:12:47
Speaker
And they're not going away. I mean, and that's without the lines. They're lying, too. Right. So that's without a Tojay, without Jamie George, without Owen Farrell. Yep.
00:13:01
Speaker
Yep. And Ellie's daily or also I don't have to say daily. Fuck. Mako. Yeah. Yeah. And Max, he didn't play. And mail-in was hurt. Yep. So there's a lot. There's a lot more to like, they didn't look perfect. Oh, this was a hideous match if you weren't a fan of either team. Right.
00:13:18
Speaker
Yeah, it's very much a lion's door match. Including the what? They were one try. It was just... Yeah, one try and there were 50 kicks in the first half. Right. A lot of going for 50-20. Well, I don't know how much it was 50-22s or just playing kick tennis, but a little bit of both. Probably a little bit of both, yeah. I think they were trying to sort out each other. That's happened sometimes, yeah. You know who has some quality footwork?
00:13:47
Speaker
It's Charles Pia Tao. Oh, man. You know, let's just let's look at it as who he was doing it to. He pantsed Earl twice. Twice. And Ben Earl is not nobody. So he's a pretty good player. So Ben Earl makes that tackle on pretty much anybody whose name is not Charles Pia Tao and Pia Tao skinned him twice. Oh, man. Poor guy. Just what do you like? What do you do with your Ben Earl? You can't really hang your head because it's like you see who the fuck did that to me?
00:14:17
Speaker
If you didn't do it to me, do it to you. And he actually kind of did do it to a lot of other people. It's just a lot of people. Yeah. He made a lot of people look silly. Yeah, that's for sure. Yeah. He's kind of good. That's not a new thing for anybody. But the rest of the team was kind of barren for Bristol, unfortunately, for their sake. Yeah. A lot of people hid. They did.
00:14:38
Speaker
And it looked like a typical first match kind of for both teams of the of the season. And, you know, I was kind of worried about how Saracens would step up considering they haven't played a match of this caliber and they're playing at the top 14 from last year. So they're not playing a slouch. It's like, hey, welcome to the prem. You're right back in it. And yeah, and these are and let's also bear in mind that these are two of the best defenses
00:15:04
Speaker
in the prem last couple of years, two best defenses. I mean, sale is up there too. But yeah, it's like, these are the best teams. And so it's going to look a little ugly, but yeah, a lot of players did kind of hide Dan Thomas.
00:15:19
Speaker
Aside from taking the bad penalty later in the second half, I didn't notice him or no, no, no, he just knocked on. It was a bad knock on. That's right. It was freaking dick hands. Yeah. Yeah, it was. It was a lot of guys hiding. And you need your seven to show up. You got to have him. And, you know, it was a little bit of
00:15:42
Speaker
Yeah. I'm not, I think they, I think Bristol really didn't have the game breaker. They wanted out of any of their guys. So it's a matter of figuring out where the hell it's going to come from at this point. Yeah. Piers O'Connor was way too quiet too. Yeah. Forgot that effect of the game so much last year. Yeah. He was, he was massive no matter what last year. And he just did nothing. Nope. You know, not having rad radra, him and rad radra at the centers would, would have made a little bit of a difference. Oh, absolutely. There's no doubt about that. So.
00:16:11
Speaker
But again, I'm not taking who was not there into account because he misses. He's going to miss games. Like here's the thing. He's going to miss games. So it can't be an excuse. No, it's not. It's not. They just. Yeah. And she wasn't really like.
00:16:27
Speaker
Now they, you know, and a little bit of, a little bit of hesitancy from, from, from Bristol attack, but also, you know, that goes to the other side of it, you know, credit to, you know, the guys in black and guys in red. Yeah. That wolf pack as well. I mean, they, like, they just shut it down, especially goal line defense a couple of times.
00:16:44
Speaker
a couple times, anytime they got close, Bristol got close, it was no, sorry, you're not. No, you're lucky to get this far. That's all you're going to get. That's the end. That's all you get. You can hit the five meter line. That's great. But that's it. Yeah, there's two guys on the Saracens I want to bring up or three honorable mention. Nick is equally look like he never missed a beat. Riccioni.
00:17:09
Speaker
tight head prop. That's, that's Italian. He's, he's fairly young. Right. Right. Again, especially for a prop. That's very young that, you know, if I'm the Italian coaching staff, I am licking my chops that watching him in this match alone.
00:17:24
Speaker
So let alone what he may do going forward with, you know, let's be real, he'll probably get relegated to the bench when talk comes back, but also talks not going to start every match. So he's going to need just he's going to need to kind of going to need to play. And I don't think there's a whole lot of drop between the two of them. So, you know, you look fantastic. I was a great signing by them. Right. And I think he has the look of a guy who could be a Sarri for a long, long time, potentially. I mean, he could also get back to you. I don't know.
00:17:50
Speaker
Ten-year deal. Riccioni now. Right. Easy guy. I would like the Saris to keep around for a bit if they can, because that's just such a great match. And it really also depends on what Italy wants if they're really protective of their borders, which they're not. I don't think they are, but yeah.
00:18:07
Speaker
He's all in and plus, you know, as you said, he's you know, he's incredibly young for a prop. So even if Saris have him for like eight years, he goes back to Italy when he's a little over 30 to finish his career and train the train up the next great boys. Yeah. Yeah. The tight heads for and props for Italy. So, yeah, that that's win win all around. And then, you know, the forgotten man, Alex Lozowski,
00:18:34
Speaker
was brilliant in that. It was a main man of the match without a doubt. I don't think it was a whole lot of questions. The way he kicked for post, Montpelier did them well clearly. He did play a lot of 10 over there, I will say that, and somehow he was able to keep Andre Paul out at bay, which is a little surprising, but looked very good in this match and did
00:18:55
Speaker
did the job of a center, but also knew what he was doing when it came to being, uh, being a 10. So he makes 17 tackles, something to that effect. I think he missed one, but yeah, that's still pretty good. I think he'll do all right at 12 with Farrell. If that's what they wanted, if that's the direction they want to go.
00:19:13
Speaker
That'd be interesting. You know, I think they have two very different, but very good options when the own fell is ready to go again with Lozowski and Tompkins. So they'll be very, they'll be very fun to watch as far as that go. And then let's go to the Wollstonecroft no, no call. And on the hell was it? Was it Holmes? I think it was that he hit a little high. But really, it was it was sensible. It was Wayne Barnes that went over and it was like, listen,
00:19:41
Speaker
I think I like Larry right, right, right. That's that one. Yes, I do. And it was it was sensible. You know, it's like, right. There's no foul play here. Wilson Croft's pretty well bent over his best. He's going to get right now. He's trying to wrap. Clary has changed this guy's ankle dramatically because he's tackled him a little bit earlier. And Wilson Croft's already committed. And yes, you can't. So here's the thing. I don't want to get into the habit of and I even saw it in our club game this weekend, penalizing outcomes. I want to penalize actions. There's a big difference. Yes. You know,
00:20:11
Speaker
Yeah, I used to call it intent, but that's not even true because sometimes it doesn't matter what your intent was. If you tackle someone high, you've tackled them high. But in this case, it was clear that Woolley was was low underneath, you know, underneath the ball when he started, you know, when he started to commit to the tackle. And yeah, the the ball carrier came down to meet him and came actually came across to meet him, too. It was like not only did did Clary bring him down, but also pushed him to the side. So it was totally not where
00:20:40
Speaker
Um, Wollstonecroft expected the contact to be so, and he was in good position to make the tackle where it should have been. So yeah, it was good. And I think they ended up penalizing Clary cause he did high tackle. And so it's like, okay, there you go. That's the outcome. Yeah. And that was okay with that. I was like, yeah, Clary's kind of a little high, but they're getting looking at Wollstonecroft. He's doing everything under the within, within his control to try and make sure he does not hit this guy. I was sitting there. I'm like, okay, he's going to get away with it. That's great. Like Clary is going to get away with it. Like everything is, this works out perfectly for Saris. And then they got, they got Clary. So it's like, okay, good.
00:21:09
Speaker
That's fine. Yeah, I wasn't nobody can complain about that outcome because you know, ultimately, the correct decision was made. Right. So the the Saracens return of the bang and now it's going to be hold on to your hats, kids, because let's it's gonna be fun. It's gonna be a ride. The season's gonna be right. Speaking of it's gonna be a ride.
Exeter's Challenges and Key Injuries
00:21:27
Speaker
Let's go to welfare road. Lester and exit Lester take the win over
00:21:33
Speaker
Um, the much touted champion, uh, defending champions or at least once them winning champions, very much every, a lot of people's favorite to take back the title this year. But man, um, Exeter are not going to be able to do more of the same and have the success that they've had in the past.
00:21:51
Speaker
Well, it's going to be incredibly hard without Sam Simmons around too. They're, they're, they're clearly a different team without him. Um, and, and yeah, now he has his, his mandatory rest period, but now you're going to have to deal with Exeter, not an Exeter going to have to deal with not having Sam Simmons for the autumn internationals and for six nations and, and all these things where it's like, okay, you know, Sam is, is he's not, he's made the cut, uh, clearly. So.
00:22:18
Speaker
What do you do without them? Right. They previously have had to deal without guys that they can deal without. Like Devoto and Slade, you know, have gotten looks and Slade obviously is more regular at that level, but.
00:22:30
Speaker
Slade doesn't have nearly the impact on Exeter's game plan that Sam Simmons has. And that's going to be really tough for them to make up. And that was evident there. I mean, Lester looked great. I'm not taking anything away from them. I'm focused only on Exeter. And Joe Simmons had to come out because he had to do so much more work that he broke a little bit. So something to keep in mind.
00:22:55
Speaker
And I kind of, and I'm gonna, you know, as much as we love to do it, there's a reason I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna shoot on Rob Baxter a little bit here because he has got the worst habit of leaving Simmons in till the very end of the match, even when it's way gone. And instead of, you know, bringing in Harvey Skinner, who could probably use a little bit of a run at 10, he leaves Simmons in till the 80th minute. Doesn't matter what the score is. Now, if it's close, I get it. You need your number one fly-off in there, no doubt about it.
00:23:22
Speaker
But man, when the game's gone, you've gotten all the possible points you can get on the standings. Why the fuck are you giving this kid a run? Like, he needs the time to run with these guys. And you paid for it here because he had to come in for what, 20 minutes? And they all but fell apart. So, yeah, no, I'm sorry. This is 100% on Rob Baxter in that case.
00:23:43
Speaker
And I also want to say something nice about an Exeter player because I love this guy and I want to see a lot more of him. Don Armand, he scored their try. He was fucking everywhere for that team. He's better than either yours or Vermeulen. Or Kirsten.
00:24:03
Speaker
or Kirsten, or fucking, yeah, most of the people they put out there whose name isn't Sam Simmons and Sam Skinner. Like who they would put at the flanks. So I don't know how he doesn't get more of a look in that team when they're- He just wants to, he's just got this thing in his head that like, you know, he wants to be a tank that rolls over everybody. And speaking of getting rolled over though,
00:24:28
Speaker
Poor Joe Simmons. Yeah, right. It was a speed bump to Nanana Minadolo. Right. Oh, that I think that's where you got hurt, too. I think that was. And then then it just got worse throughout the match. Like, yeah, that's what I would do. Shit. Like, why hasn't anybody run their biggest person at at Joe Simmons and said, hey, try to tackle this guy? I mean, not many people have no money in a dollar. Well, no. No, that's that was that was just cruel and very appreciated that run.
00:24:57
Speaker
Yeah, I will say this match had a battle of two very young, very good fullbacks with Stewart on one side and Josh Hodge on the other. And if you need a matchable fullbacks to just
00:25:10
Speaker
wet your appetite. That was a good one. Stewart looked every bit the part and now I can start to see why he looks, why he's getting looks from the guys in white and Josh Hodge is probably not far behind him. Josh Hodge is making people look silly out there a little bit. He does a lot and then yeah, Stewart takes round one between the two of them because he played, he was fucking fantastic. Was he man of the match?
00:25:34
Speaker
Or at least in the running for it. I think he was like given like on a real mention or so, but he was just so fantastic to keep Lester in the game early and then put them on the front foot. Like that's yeah, Exeter couldn't do what they want to do because of the Stewart shutting it down. So yeah, he did a great job. And then last mention for the Tigers.
Leicester Tigers' Victory and Leadership
00:26:04
Speaker
One game, one win for the captain, Alice Genge, and he performed brilliantly. I like this look and yeah, I like this look from, from Lester. I like the way they played under Genge. I like, you know, he, he led them too. So.
00:26:18
Speaker
Yeah, Genji's never been shy about opening his face. So, might as well put it to you. Oh, shit. Let's go to Franklin's Gardens and Northampton and Gloucester, Northampton. Get off to a win, first home batch in front of fans for a long time. And I mean, they were missing some guys, but it didn't seem to be like a problem at all. No, Grayson fits right in and keeps that ball humming all over the back line, you know. And speaking of
00:26:49
Speaker
England 15s, George Farbank had himself a day. I've been waiting to see this. Yeah. I wanted to see like, like years ago. What the fuck? He hasn't done this since getting the original call up. He was called up, had like a match, a cup of coffee and a match and was pulled. Was he pulled or did he? I can't remember if he was pulled or stayed in. And then he just was dropped afterwards and he hasn't been the same player since. But if he's going to do this, yeah. Good. You know, it's better with better players playing well.
00:27:18
Speaker
Yeah, it was I mean, Alex Mitchell. Yep, just very good. The youth in this back line is very is very, very appealing. But by all means between he didn't play slave home didn't play in this, but you still have for a bank, you still have Dingwall, you still have hot shoes, not very old. Grayson obviously fits in when bigger is not in like, yeah, there's there's a lot to like about that. There's there's no question about that. So I'm I would be very excited if I was a Northampton fan.
00:27:46
Speaker
And I wouldn't be too put off if I'm a Gloucester fan. They had their moments. Their forwards are thin right now, unfortunately. And I guess they didn't want to start Hastings right away. I'm guessing he starts this week, though. Yeah. I'd start him in Varney, honestly. Right. Two of them. They'll make this team go. I thought, apart from the card he picked up, Jacqueline looked pretty good.
00:28:15
Speaker
Yeah, he did. That was not something I was necessarily expecting, but certainly surprised me. I do think Skivington is going to be given these boys a good ball again with 17 penalties and a couple of cards to go with it. So, not to debate. Yeah, we had Clement and Singleton both get sent to the bin.
00:28:35
Speaker
And they earned it. Yeah. Yeah, unquestionably, unquestionably. So it's yeah, it's a little bit. It's a little bit like Chris Boyd wanted once upon a time for Northampton. Let's let's see if they can keep that role. And I think I think we'll see better from Gloucester. As you said, Hastings going back to 10 Lloyd Evans. I still know I'm so over him. Yeah, I'm beyond him. He was pedestrian. Unfortunately, like, yeah, but he wasn't great. He wasn't terrible. He was just right in the middle. And that's not good enough.
00:29:05
Speaker
Yeah. Not if it's not, they want this Gloucester team to go the way, the way we all know they can. And we saw what thoroughly could do for God's sake. Right. To have a nine and a 10 play as mediocrely as Gloucester did, and they only lost by 14. Okay. They have something there potentially. Yeah, exactly. That's what that, that's really my point is that there's something there. It's just going to take a little bit. Yep. I believe so as well.
Worcester's Surprising Win Over London Irish
00:29:31
Speaker
two, six ways. And the surprise of the weekend, I think was 36 London Irish 24. Wow. Five tries. Yeah. That might be all that might be all they get, though, this year. Right. I'm going to say the five on the season makes sense. Not in a match.
00:29:51
Speaker
fuck okay you have it's like you got me now man Worcester you have my attention quite quite like i because hey you're gonna get do hon in there um yes there's there's there's a lot there where you settle and still unrest as well so right you know there's gonna be some this
00:30:15
Speaker
here with the Warriors. It was not spoken about enough, I guess. Willie Hines going over there and making a huge difference. Yeah, he was huge. Absolutely massive. Try assists and just a lot of meters. But that's kind of what we talked about. His style of play. And I think, didn't he score their first try? I believe so, yeah.
00:30:43
Speaker
was it on a break or I can't remember if it was in the in the 22 or I think it was a line I think it was a line break that he he finished because I think it was Kvessik that scored their first try from inside the 22. But yeah Heinz is that guy who's going to help them finish whether it's Heinz finishing or him dishing to someone who finishes that that it's that little bit extra. Sam Lewis got the first one.
00:31:06
Speaker
OK, close enough, close enough. He did get one, right? He did. That's right. Sam Lewis got the one off the but I was off a mall or something. Yes, it was. Yeah.
00:31:18
Speaker
Oh, yeah. But then to that point, Worcester scored many different ways. Like they scored off the mall, they scored off line breaks, they scored off of a little bit of pick and go action, you know, some some tight play on the on the on the line. Fuck. OK, let's go. I mean, if this if they become this type of team where you can't just sleep on them,
00:31:44
Speaker
This league is wide open at that point. It really is, you know, there's no, there's another match later of, of people that we thought were kind of teams that we thought were meth that maybe, maybe not. And that's not to say that the Irish didn't play well because the Irish played very well. There was a lot to like about what London Irish did. Yeah.
00:32:04
Speaker
So like they, they gave them a rod and, and Worcester didn't back down and, and indeed scored 36 points. Nope. No, no question about that. Um, yeah. Ollie Hasselkalens returns to form this. No surprise there. Right.
00:32:20
Speaker
I think this might be your favorite prop that's not like a Saracen or an England guy. All y'all skins coming off the bench and scoring too. He does that. He's like the best bench player. If I'm not mistaken, I'm pretty sure I said to put him on your bench this past weekend. He's maybe in one that you just start.
00:32:44
Speaker
flat out. Yeah, even if he's on the bench, if he's on the bench, because he just scores points, even in limited time. I mean, are you looking for and we'll get into the fancy stuff next pod. But like, yeah, like, are you looking for it on your prop is at least 20. And, you know,
00:32:59
Speaker
He'll probably get you that even off the bench. So, pretty good. He got me 20. Yeah, he got right. And so... Even though he scored 40. Yeah. He scored 40, but just the same. There's nothing you're mad about there. So, yeah, look out,
Sale vs Bath: A Tough Match
00:33:12
Speaker
everybody. The bottom of the barrel might not be the bottom of the barrel so much. Wooster are here to hang around, man. And then the late match on Saturday sale and bath.
00:33:22
Speaker
that happened yeah it happened it was it was a bit of a slog there's no question you know we had quirk leave early we had ben spencer leave early we had dc leave early um yeah ben curry left early like yeah this was a bit of a this was a bit of a arm wrestle as it were
00:33:40
Speaker
uh penalties almost down the middle um in terms of number that just you know it came down to territory and and sale are very good at that type of game so yeah there it was um right if you're telling me this is a one-point match between these two teams i'm telling you sales winning
00:33:57
Speaker
Thank you. Pretty much, right? Not much else to say. Raffy Quirk left early, but he's he looks every bit the part. So if the McWiggin tried and he just he wants to go, he wants to go. And really, that can only help. Unfortunately, he had Dr. Priya playing 10. So that doesn't help. So but still just very, very, very much ambitious and just ready to go, ready to go, ready to go.
00:34:26
Speaker
Yeah, and it came down to two young kids who could hit the kick and Wilkinson hit his and Bailey.
00:34:32
Speaker
When I think it was Yule's point to the post, I was like, this is on a bitch or an angle and it's way out. And I'm thinking, I think I might've gone to the corner and tried to either one, buy another penalty or two, just shove it over. But he did what he did. But Bailey didn't hesitate either. That's the thing. Bailey didn't hesitate and said, I want it. So to his credit, that's great. But sometimes you just gotta be like,
00:35:01
Speaker
You're not, you want it, but yeah, like it's good that you want it. I'm glad you had the confidence in you, but, um, you haven't made these kicks before. So, I mean, you know, this specific kick and yeah, it might've made a bit different decision to win. I'm always in favor of at least trying to win, you know, if, if, if, and if the, your, your kicker says he's got it, I trust him. So I don't, you know, the last, you know, last gasp situation. Yeah. Uh, I'd give him that shot.
00:35:30
Speaker
Yeah. It's just hard to say. Guy that we we've talked about a little bit here and there, JP Dupree, like, I just throw to him every time I watching that line out, like, if you could get up to that high point, there's nobody else getting it besides him. So if I'm a hacker, I'm like, call his number every time he goes to make it a fairly straightforward throw. That's not right in front, but, you know, somewhere in the middle and bang right at the top. It's him like that's all he's in there for anyway. So fuck it. Might as well use it.
00:36:00
Speaker
you
00:36:01
Speaker
Yeah, I thought that was good. And then well, well done for to DC Dangsebriani for he took a pretty good whack and he talked to the doctor and said, you know what, I need to come off. And the doctor didn't even didn't even need to make the decision he made for himself. So really looking out for himself and setting a good example, because everybody can be a hardo and then and keep going and then, you know, pay for it down the road. Yeah, so good. Yeah, that's good to see DC do that and more players should protect themselves. It's not
00:36:31
Speaker
Yeah. If you're hurt, you're hurt. Don't go on. And you're, you know, you're only, we've seen it where players, you know, maybe I had a little bit of a knock and should have come out and they, they're the ones who fucked the team in the end. Like, cause they made a stupid mistake and stuff. It's like, no, this is good for everyone. It's healthy and it helps make sure that someone who's, you know, in their right mind is on the field. Yeah. I mean, you gotta be fricking.
00:36:54
Speaker
You got to be there. Can't be going to fuck around or anything like that. You know, so that was, it was good on DC and he, you know, if there's anybody that's going to be an advocate for looking after themselves, I think DC is a good one.
Harlequins vs Newcastle: A Thrilling Encounter
00:37:07
Speaker
And to the Sunday game, which we were not disappointed by in any way, shape or form, uh, Newcastle 20, Quinn's 26. And I'm not even sure that says it all honestly. No. Um,
00:37:22
Speaker
Man, the Harlequins. So I forgot just how much I love Louis Lina.
00:37:29
Speaker
like watching him play that that 50 22 that he hit. I don't know if he was celebrating that he won his own ball back or that it was just that awesome of a kick towards the end. And it may have been both. I don't know. I mean, what? He's like 20. He might he might not be adjusted to the new rules completely yet. So but either way, that was fucking massive. I don't think his teammates appreciated it as much as he did, which kind of annoys me. You know, you love they should have gone over to him and been like, dude, fucking.
00:37:59
Speaker
Well done. Especially the full words go over and thank him for that. If nothing else, they're avoiding the kick tennis where they have to run back and forth. God in heaven. Thank you. I'd be like, thanks for making us do that bullshit. But he was fantastic. Him versus Radwan was every bit as box offices. I hope it is for the next 10 years. Then somebody else got in on the act.
00:38:28
Speaker
You and Stevens, you almost had two even. Like, yeah, shit. So if that's what they're pulling out in Newcastle.
00:38:38
Speaker
It could be fun, you know, right. And they have some talent and like, uh, Robinson, Sean Robinson played extremely well. Um, you know, that, that turnover and long-ass run that was, um, and then just smart, get it to the fast guy. You broke the line. Oh, there's a fast guy coming on my outside. All right. You take it. You finished. Cause I finished this. Yeah. Um, real smart work from him. Um,
00:39:02
Speaker
Yeah, I really have no nothing bad to say about the way that Newcastle played. I mean, they're playing the champions. Sure, they don't have Marcus Smith. But yeah, Tommy Allen can play a little bit. Yeah. I mean, we knew it going in, but he's he he's ready to play 10 for that team. Yep, I agree. That's scary. If you're not not a Harlequin's fan. Doesn't seem like they missed a beat.
00:39:30
Speaker
No, and they're going to get better because they, you know, that's without Levis. No, we'll call low. Right. No, we'll call low. Marlar was a fairly late serve. But, you know, we're going to do that. Yeah. And then if Evans comes back and you can have Evans, Kenningham and Dombrandt as your back three or back row. Yeah, it's pretty terrifying.
00:39:54
Speaker
Yeah, there's there's there's more to come from this team. Totally. From this Quinn's team. And they still have because Tyrone Green played OK and Caleb Murley kind of didn't know. I expect better from him. But who do they have? Is there a coming on or waiting to come on? Nick David, Nick David. Yep. Fuck. Yep. Yeah, this is going to be such a great season. I mean, this is you know, this has gone from
00:40:25
Speaker
Does, you know, the, the prem maybe has one of the best teams in the club teams in the world to this is might be this has got to be the deepest competition in the world. At this point, I don't think there's a ton of arguing to, we'll see how the new Celtic league forms out, but man.
00:40:44
Speaker
And that'll take some time to come to fruition, really. I'm sure we'll see a lot of lopsidedness in that league, unfortunately, especially with the travel that's involved. But, yeah, and France is a little top heavy. They tend to be. It's entertaining as hell, but it's still a little top heavy. Right. I don't know how many abject blowouts we're going to see this year in the prem.
00:41:09
Speaker
Right. And, you know, I guess I gets to the point of Dean Richards and, you know, there's a point and there's not a there's not a point he's got. And it's I don't want to see close matches for the sake of seeing close matches. Because that's boring as fuck. Right.
00:41:31
Speaker
Yes, if they're intense and, you know, there's a ton on the line and you see, maybe it's a wet ball and that's the thing that's really killing it. Okay. That happens. I can live with that. But at the same time, like, and, you know, I don't, and I get it. I don't, I don't, when I don't want to see Trifest either. Cause then yes, that becomes a try. MLR, if you need that, just go watch MLR. There's plenty of that.
00:41:56
Speaker
There is, but there's also not so much of, like, the lack of defense. It's that the attack is, you know, if your attack is that creative, and yeah, the MLR is not quite there yet, so it's a mix of the attack being creative, you know, minimally creative, and the defense not quite being ready. But like, say, you know, you take the, you know, Super Rugby Aotearoa teams that just will wail on each other, and it's like, yeah, they're playing good defense. They're just some of the best attacking players in the world, so they're going to score. Correct. But to me,
00:42:26
Speaker
Like there's stages of both a team and a player. And it's like, first off, there's competence. Can you do this? Can you throw a pass? Can you tackle? Can you rock? All that stuff. And can you do that? Yeah. Okay. You're competent. You can do the thing.
00:42:42
Speaker
And then there's playing at a professional level where it's like, okay, you can do all that and be fucking dead, not accurate every single time. But then there's championship level. And that's when you got to be an artist. You know, the best players in the world aren't the guys who just do only do the little things. Like, yeah, you need some guys who can only do the little things. I mean, you don't really need them if you have 15 to 23 guys who can do all the things amazingly well. But when you're at that level, I want to see players who can fucking
00:43:09
Speaker
pass. And like I was saying with Australia, they would run, they, I remember that, um, they ran a switch, like a two, three switch that like the 12 and like the 14 comes in and then they pops it to the nine and they keep going out the other way. It's like, that's fucking good rugby. And yes, can all
00:43:26
Speaker
professional players technically do that? Yeah, they can, but can they execute it well? The great ones can, the good ones can. And that's what you want to see. You're not paid because you can make a tackle. If you are, then you're not going to make much. If you can throw an offload like 10 yellow Tupo, you're going to get paid a lot. And there's a reason for that. It's because you are a spectator sport. You do need to entertain the fans.
00:43:52
Speaker
Yep. So it is a balance, but I think most people would agree, close games for the sake of close games is just stupid. No need for that shit. Well, opening weekend. What a doozy. Hang on, kids. We are in for a ride. We are in for quite a ride.
00:44:10
Speaker
OK, so that'll do it for us. And are we going to do what do we do in week two? Oh, no, we're going to do that. Nope. Do it later. Later. We do it later. So that'll do it for us here, though. Fancy where we podcast at e-mail dot com. Tweet it better. I get George yourself a coffee. Look out for Patreon. Pick up your tier of upgrades. But we'll we'll be back real soon here and you're going to be able to listen to us.
00:44:36
Speaker
Bumble our way through this draft and it's gonna be fun. So until next time, we'll catch you guys later. Have a good one. Later.