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Episode 23: Final 6 Nations Review & Super Rugby + Premiership Previews
32 Plays7 years ago
What a final round it was for 6 Nations, what did we learn in this tournament and what's in store for the World Cup? Is Johnny Sexton still the best player in the world? Also, we talk about the unusual amount of draws and comebacks in all competitions. Finally, is ring-fencing the answer for the Premiership? We touch on that and more as James joins us to talk some ruggers and other shenanigans.
Follow us on Twitter, Jarrod- jdyke8man & Ben- admrablsnackbar
Email fantasyrugbypodcast@gmail.com with questions, feedback or just to say what's up.
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Platforms
00:00:08
Speaker
Hey everybody, welcome back. It is the fancy rugby angst. My name is Jared Dyke. I'm Denny Glauser. And James. I'm back again. We still somehow keep you here. I don't understand how. Yeah, but well this time we are somewhere in the middle of the smartest part of, well, I'd say Cambridge, Massachusetts. Yeah. We record just outside Boston, Massachusetts many times. Now we're literally just outside Boston, Massachusetts. This place is called MIT.
00:00:35
Speaker
It's a lot of smart work at MIT, or study at MIT. It's a brain institute that we're in. Yeah, we all need a brain institute. I was worried that when I was coming here that you were going to, I don't know, strap me down and have you studied or something. Kvorkian or something. Yeah, I was like, I'm not sure that I trust this place. That's all right. Can't say I blame you there. Let's crack some beer.
00:01:02
Speaker
Don't have to ask me to us. Yeah, right. No glasses, but that's right. Everybody make sure you check us out on Google Play, Spotify, iTunes, Download, Raid us, all that good stuff.
Christchurch Incident and Rugby Community Response
00:01:16
Speaker
So before we get too far into it, we have to acknowledge the unfortunate incident that happened in Christchurch this past week. And we just want to send our sympathies and our thoughts to everybody down in Christchurch, New Zealand, and hope that you guys are doing well. And we're thinking, are you up here? Just awful stuff. And I turned on that first match on Friday morning, and you had just texted me that. And I said, no. I was like, oh, crap.
00:01:45
Speaker
Yeah, I mean that was I woke up to seeing that that picture of the guys in the in the circle from the Chiefs Hurricanes Oh, yes. Yes that I sent to you and It's like all right. What what happened? You don't see that normally pre-match. No It's it's sad for for a city like that that dealt with the
00:02:02
Speaker
earthquake in 2011 just before the World Cup that You know really took a toll in the city and then for something like this to happen which you usually see Unfortunately in in the US it's happened in a country that you know, generally everybody's very happy right and gets along very well, you know, everyone Comes from you know a different part of the earth there in the Maori, you know the English whoever
Crusaders Name Change Discussion
00:02:29
Speaker
So unfortunate to see but incredible response by the rugby community The New Zealand government So it's great to see I've heard we'll touch on this only briefly. I've heard name change for the Crusaders I don't know what word it what what's good. What's bad Sam white lock him out and said something. I don't know what he said though I'm not sure. I'm not sure where it is. That was that was said about it, but I
00:02:53
Speaker
uh, it's uh I can understand that the topic only because people are obviously trying to be very sensitive to What's what's occurred but? I mean, I guess it's up to the franchise really, you know, I think I think in most cases With the exception of a couple franchises around here. Um They'll do the right thing. I think this is a I think this is a place that's going to do the right thing if they
00:03:17
Speaker
Truly believe that a name change is required. I don't think this this organization is going to screw around in either case, but uh, you know, it's not Something that I think is something that needs to grab headlines over. Yeah, i'm kind of i'm surprised to hear it, but i'm also not Surprised that some that a new zealand based Rugby team would do something like that or at least start considering it. So yeah
00:03:42
Speaker
Well, you know what they do is they'd solve this issue way better than we do They'd you know commit to it if they're gonna change the name and that's that'll be it There'll be no more talk of it and they'll just focus on the rugby. Yeah Yeah, yeah, that's the whole print All right Well lighter note Our guy our guy in the middle here Just had a birthday. Oh, yeah birthday. Yeah. Thanks Last in the 30s. Yeah. Cheers to you buddy. Oh
00:04:09
Speaker
That and it was also St. Patrick's Day this past weekend. Yeah. So those two will always kind of fall in line. Do they really? I wonder even on leap years. Yeah. What a weekend to be in this city. Some incredible rugby that happened in the city, not to mention the six nations.
00:04:28
Speaker
All I can think of though when St. Patrick's Day happens is that episode of The Simpsons where Bart gets super, super drunk out on the street and a prohibition goes into law at Springfield. That is maybe the best episode. Really? Yeah. That's one of my favorite episodes. I've never been to Southie during the parade, but I have heard horror stories. Yeah.
00:04:50
Speaker
And it was pretty exciting to see the the New England free Jackson and the Connick rugby team Got to march in the parade. I'm sure they were accosted by all the young ladies and and Like light refreshments. Oh, I'm sure I'm sure all the connick players were being swooned Make people melt, you know half those kids think they're really Irish but then they met the connick rugby team and I
00:05:19
Speaker
It was a real Irishman. Yeah, there you go. Stick that in there. All right.
Six Nations Highlights and Analysis
00:05:25
Speaker
So quite the finish to Six Nations. It was a couple of fun. It was at least a few fun matches, one kind of ugly one. But the rest of them, the other two were kind of fun. I enjoyed all three, personally. Although, yeah, that first one, Italy, France kind of frustrated me. But it was still enjoyable. It was still somewhat close. Yeah.
00:05:48
Speaker
No, I mean the that was probably that was the one match I was actually really into I was so rooting for a little win waking up to live rugby on on TVs That's something I don't think I've done on a very long time, especially here So it was pretty exciting to not only oh, well, I don't have the cable package for NBC Sports But I streamed it on my computer. Yeah, and I didn't have to pay for anything and I didn't have to illegally stream it so
00:06:16
Speaker
Just that happening was pretty exciting. But that game, I mean, I feel bad for Italy. They had two, there were two of those try scoring opportunities that they completely muffed. And there are a couple penalties that Tommaso Allen should have hit or conversions, I can't remember. But if those had happened, they would have won that game. Yep, yep, no. And I was thinking in my head, I was like, I wonder if they're going to bring McKinley on to take kicks from Tommaso Allen, because I think he's a better goal kicker than Allen is. And he has one eye.
00:06:46
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, what does that tell you? But Italy, Italy, they had it. They had it in their grasp, 1425 to France. They're close. Yeah, there was. They're so, they're, it's not as, you know, we've been hearing all the talk about relegation. I can't believe that's still coming up again. Yeah, just stow it. Yeah.
00:07:10
Speaker
They beat Georgia. So I mean that really like that conversation should that should be that Congress should be over I think if England a bit of a scare like at least they were they were with them. They were there were like little and our own And it's like they're not that far away. It's just there's a little bit of extra class that's in some of these other club teams and
00:07:34
Speaker
Yeah. What do you make of Clive Woodward's comments about Connor O'Shea and he shouldn't be smiling and I was like, really, dude? Really? I don't know. Yeah, it's I didn't hear them personally. Almost lost the microphone there. I didn't hear them personally. I didn't read anything about it. Yeah. I don't know. You know, that was Sergio Perez's last Six Nations game. It was at home. It was in Italy. I think there is, you know, they should be proud of their
00:08:03
Speaker
the way they played, not proud of the result. I don't think it really speaks to the way that game was played. Italy, who also was, was it Campagnaro that went off injured as well? I think so, yeah. Well, they were decimated in the centers from the England game. Yeah, exactly. Campagnaro didn't play. Oh, that's right, yeah. I think that's what it was. So who was there, the hooker that is? He was seeing you went off on the injuries. Exactly, and that's not good to see, especially with the World Cup. That was really sad. I felt so terrible about that.
00:08:30
Speaker
So, I don't know. It was almost all too familiar with France, letting this happen. They've got some bright young stars there that you really want to see succeed. And they got lucky. And that's all they really can, I guess, say about their performance. Damien Pinot, it was a one-man show for him. Ujjay scored another try. He's, obviously, he's a great takeaway for that team. But other than that, something's not clicking.
00:08:59
Speaker
And they need to figure that out really soon because every World Cup France is always a pretty dominant team somehow they're in the quarterfinals semi-finals and They're gonna do themselves a disservice if they continue to go in this direction, right? Well, we talked about it like France in tournaments have one they have one in their hat somewhere they pulled out and it looks amazing and then the rest of the time is like, yeah, you know, I
00:09:23
Speaker
Well, they don't they don't and we've been talking about it the whole you know all through this this tournament That France are they don't play 15 is one they play basically 15 individual players And if it works out it works out and every so often they'll say you know what fuck it That's their one game where they say okay We're gonna really just just work with each other here and and fuck it. Let's go for it, right?
00:09:47
Speaker
So and I think that it's also a different atmosphere in the World Cup so that that they that may That that difference between World Cup versus a six nations. Yeah, we'll see what that would be enough for them to to just Pull it together and play with with each other rather than just do whatever the fuck they feel like doing great Well, we have new Grand Slam champions
00:10:12
Speaker
They put the red ribbons on. I saw it coming the whole way. All right, Jim Hamilton. That's, I mean, credit to Wills. They played a hell of a tournament. They didn't do it pretty at all, but they did it. So that's the thing. Who cares? You know, that first game against France, I thought, well, England has this in the bag. You know, only, and at that point too, they hadn't played Ireland yet. So I was like, you get through Ireland, they have the six nations, but the Welsh, they turned it around. Ireland did not do England any,
00:10:41
Speaker
And it didn't get them any favors at all, surprise, surprise. But really though, they didn't even show up that day, you know? Hard to say that they did, yeah.
00:10:51
Speaker
And that's not something you expect from, especially this Irish team that's beat the All Blacks twice. There's something a little broken in there. I don't know where it is, but it's a little off. Yeah, I don't know what it is either. If you notice, they've been giving up early points, I think, throughout the tournament Ireland have. At least in their losses to England and then to Wales. You get them on that early, on that back foot, really early, and they can't play the way they want to play.
00:11:17
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, no, I mean, because they want to suffocate the life out of the game for the most part and then open it up afterwards. They're not looking to get flashy early. They're looking to just hunker down for a little bit. So yeah, if you can punch them early and get ahead of them, then clearly that seems to be what gets them ahead. And you know, ants come with a nice little chip to
00:11:41
Speaker
Very nice. Very, very nice. Yeah, that was a great ship. I think a lot of people are saying that Johnny Sexton, he's had a dip in form. I don't know that he's had a dip in form so much as other teams are like, oh, he's just going to run to the line and then pop it off at the last second. So let's just hit the shit out of him. And whoever's right next to him will hit the shit out of him, too. Like, how hard is that?
00:12:08
Speaker
It does seem like it only has the one move. And that's amazing to say for a player who's his caliber. But there's so few 10s that'll take the ball to the line in the fashion that he does. So that's why he's
00:12:27
Speaker
probably why he stands out in that fat in that in that way, you know, not many will do it in such a way where they are putting their self at bodily harm. You know, so I mean, give him credit, but obviously he's kind of run out of ideas once that's no longer a part of it. So probably needs to find another plan B in there somewhere.
00:12:45
Speaker
Yeah. So we'll see what they do between now and the World Cup because they're going to have to do something. Well, I think they're going to probably stick with him. He's 30. Well, yeah, they're not getting ready. Well, no, obviously that. But I mean, you have Joey Carvery, who's decent enough that could come in at least at the end of the game. He could command it, especially if they're winning. He can play pretty well. Right. But yeah, he's 33. Clearly his last World Cup, I think. I guess the next World Cup is going to be on one leg.
00:13:17
Speaker
Way to take some news. And Leinster probably have a long season ahead of them. They're probably getting at least the semifinal of the Champions Cup, so that's a few more games to him. And at some point, obviously, now with the inclusion of the Cheetahs and the Southern Kings, they'll probably make a trip to South Africa if they haven't already. I don't know if they have or haven't yet, but I'm sure they have one on the cards if they haven't yet.
00:13:41
Speaker
That was, and this is a quick side note, that was, especially for the Welsh and all those Scottish teams and things like that, whoever's in the Pro 14, or whatever it's called now, the Guinness Pro, something like that. Getting to go down to South Africa, especially in the winter, which is their summer. That's true. Not bad. Not the worst thing. And they're there for like two weeks, you know? Because you've got to play both teams. You've got to play both teams.
00:14:05
Speaker
Okay, I think I'm a player Yeah, the travel kind of sucks, but that's that's a nice treat And Wales and Scotland a whole lot a little bit. Yeah, so Wales 25 and Ireland 7 Wales claim they're Third is this the third grand slam under war on Gatlin or second? Yeah, I don't know I don't want to give him too much credit because I think he's just obviously he's a good coach But I've just never really liked him
00:14:34
Speaker
Yeah, we we established that. Yeah. But I don't know if you guys saw that. That was the gesture from Alan Jones with his mascot when he took out. Oh, yeah. Because Ireland, who are the visitors, elected to keep the roof open, which was a dumb move. I guess they're trying to mimic Irish weather because it was awful. It was raining and it was freezing.
00:14:54
Speaker
So the visitors get to keep the roof open at the Principality Stadium, almost called the Millennium Stadium. So he took off his jacket and gave it to the kid he was standing in front of him during the anthem. He was shivering. It was crazy! So that was another thing that backfired with Wales.
00:15:18
Speaker
I mean ireland class act for alan jones. He's a good human. He is um, oh and and he was amazing this whole tournament and then that that yeah, he's just been He's been he's been the talisman. It's not a new thing for wales But you know, I it's fair to say that as he goes the team goes it's not Outside the realm of the realm of thought at least um, so Good on him. Uh, do they know they have they announced the player of the tournament yet?
00:15:46
Speaker
Uh, I don't know. I don't know either. He's probably up there. Yeah. He's probably in the conversation. Him and Hadley Parks and maybe Anscombe and. Johnny May scored the most tries, I think, right? Yeah. Well, a couple, a brace and a hat trick. We'll do that sometimes. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, just overall, no. Yeah. I don't know. Finn Russell. Finn Russell?
00:16:07
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, no, he's probably the round. Sorry. Play the round. Yeah. Don't screw with us like that. Well, perfectly then. Let's get into that. Holy shit. What a game. What a game. Not to mention it was again. So in case anybody missed it, the Wales Ireland game was on a delay on regular NBC, which is pretty exciting.
00:16:30
Speaker
But over on, you know, an hour later on NBC Sports, England played Scotland. I watched most of it at several bars in Boston. The first half I was sitting pretty, drinking beers and enjoying myself. You were happy. Having a couple shots here and there to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Next thing you know, they've come back. The Scottish have come back and I'm yelling at the TV. Half these guys are thinking I'm watching the Michigan, Michigan State game.
00:16:59
Speaker
Honestly, I don't care about college basketball until the tournament, because it's just something to do while you're at work. But the guys, oh, I thought you were watching something. You didn't see what I saw. It's like, man, I'm watching rugby. I don't care about college basketball. So I mean, England literally, they had their boots on their Scottish throw. It's the first stop. It looked like it was going to be a blowout.
00:17:27
Speaker
especially with Stuart Hogg missing at 15, it just didn't seem like Scotland were going to do anything at all. And then all of a sudden, the second half, it was two different teams came out. It was freaking Friday.
00:17:42
Speaker
Some guy like Ben just said his name, Finn Russell, he dazzled to say the least. He was the magic man that was making things happen. He could score interception tries.
00:17:57
Speaker
Nobody else could read and you know, he was he was making a lot of things happen for them, you know, just Ordering the troops around. Yeah, we were just talking about you know, the first thing that kind of started the whole thing at the end of the first half the McNally Mac and run and Run and try after the after the charge down from frickin 50 meters out. I'm sure he's used to learning that type of
00:18:21
Speaker
that type of front row forward distance there charging it down scooping it he's a converted back row thank god for for his sake so his fitness hasn't completely left him from those days clearly
00:18:32
Speaker
No, it was definitely an exciting match. It had everything that you really could want as an England fan. It was tough to watch, but as a rugby fan, it was really exciting. England coming back just past the 80th minute or whenever they did the 82nd minute to score that try. Of course, it was short.
00:18:51
Speaker
yeah george ford which is pretty pretty incredible to see because uh i guess you know fresh legs come on i don't think he's that outstanding of a player but he stepped up uh and scored that try also i think the scott of scottish defense was exhausted i think they were at that point you could see it there was just like how many more minutes but i just couldn't believe when they scored that when they scottland went up
00:19:15
Speaker
And it looked like England were going to lose it at Twickenham. Now the Calcutta Cup stays in Scotland because... You have to win it. You have to win it. And they were the last people to win it. Oh, okay. You have to win it. So it goes back to... Ryan Wilson on Scotland, he's actually English, but he plays for Scotland. He was injured. And Danny Care got into it on another podcast.
00:19:35
Speaker
Oh, really? Well, in a good way. They were joking around. And Danny Care jokes said he was going to pull a John Terry and come down and put on his kit and celebrate with the Scottish team when they host the trophy because, famously, John Terry, former Chelsea captain, both missed the Champions League final and the Europa League final due to yellow cards. And then when they won the trophy, he put on his kit and went down and joined the rest of the team. I remember that.
00:20:02
Speaker
So that was hilarious. I was like, um, wait, why is he there? Yeah, he he he didn't play Well, am I missing something here? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, buddy, you know Eddie Jones said after it he'd rather this happen now than in the World Cup clearly not a terrible thing just not a terrible thing but you come down to the last game of the six nations you're missing a lot of key players both as we saw in Scotland and
00:20:27
Speaker
uh and england but really at the end of the day england should have had that game by miles yeah uh they had it but they let it go so i don't know it's a you know a lot who was it it was also ben foadin and another former england player said england the england team have been overplayed and over trained and that's been the case for years and that's i think it's certainly the case this guy's beat up exhausted and and then they you know they're gonna go back and play for their club
00:20:57
Speaker
Yep. So you know, and very few clubs recognize in England how you need to rotate your guys up in and out. I
00:21:06
Speaker
You know, this is probably a biased opinion, but I think Saracens do a decent job of getting these, giving those guys as much rest as they can. Because at the same time, they know when it comes to Champions Cup, you know, knockout and obviously semi-finals and finals, they need these guys healthy. So never mind what England's doing. They need, they know they need these guys healthy. So they're going to rest for all when they feel they need to, tomorrow when they feel they need to, the likes. You look at the Saints in the the Prem Cup final.
00:21:35
Speaker
Basically started their almost their first team. Yeah. Yeah, it's like from a Theoretical standpoint, you know, what the fuck are they doing? But then they're not gonna they don't have you know, the Champions Cup playoffs coming up They don't have the same they don't have any guys in the England team, right? No
00:21:52
Speaker
Loss has been heard that's right. And you know James Haskell who's maybe played one game for this year link to You did post a funny tweet about running over Freddie Burns our funny Instagram post that was pretty funny One thing I wanted to point out back to the Scotland England is Finn Russell
00:22:14
Speaker
Let's, let's, let's make, you know, make sure he gets the recognition for playing with a broken fucking face. Yeah. Yeah. He, he, he apparently had fractured his cheek when playing for wrestling Metro. Yeah. That's why he's out of the France game. Uh, people said it was a concussion. He, he, I think he said that it really, that wasn't the case. His brain felt fine. I don't know. I don't, we're in a brain Institute. I don't know if my brain ever feels fine, but he had a fractured cheek, which is nuts pulling a Sam Burgess.
00:22:44
Speaker
Yeah, I mean give him give him a million percent credit It was a rumor too that he might have broken something in his face too. Yeah, turns out sure enough. He did And then and then maybe the last thing to say about this I just read today that Bento and Billy Bonapola got in trouble for returning pretty late to the England hotel after the game After the game? Yeah
00:23:08
Speaker
well they were out drinking a lot well obviously that's fine totally fine with that but uh... they were told by the hotel that they need to either
00:23:19
Speaker
Get they need to get out before they're kicked out. Oh Wow, so they probably came back and we're a little rowdy. Yeah, it wasn't just the time. Yeah, good luck wrangling those two guys I think obviously definitely have a couple beers after after your games, but England has had an issue. Well English players is that an issue right with this? And so I don't know oopsie
00:23:42
Speaker
Yeah, I just think go out have fun. Just don't be an idiot. Yeah. Well, yeah, you gotta blow off some steam but do it Positively not yeah And one last thing from from a coaching perspective for all you you players out there
00:23:58
Speaker
You know, a lot of times when you're down at halftime, it's easy. It's fun for a coach to say, Hey, they did it to us. We can do it back to them. You know, most of the time Jason point. No, you can't this time 30, you know, down 31 seven. Hey, let's, let's see what we can pull out score 31 points of our points and a half. Yeah. You know, so they, they revert. It was completely flipped in the second half. So it's possible. Yeah.
00:24:23
Speaker
Thank you for providing me with some coaching motivation material there, Scotland and England. Yeah. So 38 38 draw. This was a, this was a week of draws. We got a couple more draws and comebacks left and right. A lot of sister kissing. Yeah. I was just freaking Alabama out there. Is that arrested development? I'm kissing your sister. I don't know. Something like that. Yeah. That's weird. Um,
00:24:53
Speaker
World Cup outlook for in general for some of these teams Who's up? Who's down? Oh the Welsh are but they're playing it up This is what annoys me is that now they're number two in the world, right?
World Cup Team Readiness
00:25:05
Speaker
No, the Southern Hemisphere teams have played since October or whatever since the autumn internationals Yes, so there's real no there's no real measurement of it, you know, New Zealand's gonna stay at the top because
00:25:17
Speaker
I mean, you have to beat the best. Defending World Cup champions. To be the best. That happens, you know. But, you know, it doesn't really tell us anything. I think what will tell us is, you know, the matches before the World Cup leading into that.
00:25:29
Speaker
how people are looking. However, saying that, it was very different four years ago for England. But I think England's still top contender. I think Wales, if they can show up on the day, there's a good chance. Ireland, I don't know. They got to do something to fix what's going on. Right. Yeah. Yeah, I think Ireland have some serious questions going into it.
00:25:52
Speaker
Only because of what's expected of them. Yes, and that that comes down to from from my perspective How can they use Johnny Sexton differently or what can they do to change his game? Just a little bit at a wrinkle. Yeah. Well, I mean, I'm you know, I think we're all all three of us are pretty well read on rugby and
00:26:15
Speaker
And one of the principles in the All Blacks book is when you're at the top of your game, change your game. And, you know, Sexton was at the top of his game last year. I think there's no question about that. Now it's time for him to change it a little bit. Add something new to throw off the defenses and he'll be right back there. Yep, I agree.
00:26:36
Speaker
Point about whales though the last team to win their respective regional competition six nations TRC And win the World Cup in the same calendar year was England
00:26:56
Speaker
So So we'll see I They put the they've put the targets on their back. They can no longer fly under the radar. So we'll see you help What kind of pressure they deal with here? Yeah, there's a lot of rugby from now until then there's a lot of you know club play
00:27:10
Speaker
And sadly, there's going to be a lot of injuries. It's just the way that this game works, unfortunately. Plus, guys getting healthy. I mean, if Mako and Mauro are available for that match and Courtney. Yeah, it could have been. It could be a different match against Scotland. Definitely. Definitely. Also, England changed up a couple of guys for that Italy game. They looked pretty hot, obviously. Everybody wants to say, well, they were just playing Italy, but
00:27:36
Speaker
You have to give these guys opportunities. And, you know, Joe Kakinasinga really stepped up. Benteo started right against that. I know, going back in time here. That's a frickin' brutal midfield to him, too. Yeah, exactly. So, give guys more reps and it'll be exciting to see what happens. I personally will be seeing France play Argentina in Japan, in Tokyo.
00:28:01
Speaker
Nice. It will be pretty exciting. There you go. I may try and scalp tickets, but I feel like that's something that could get you in jail in Japan. It might be. I don't know the laws. I don't know. In Singapore, if you're caught spitting on the street, you get put in jail. Yay. Yeah, maybe you look that up. It's a little different from Japan to Singapore, though. That's fine.
00:28:20
Speaker
Yeah, so let's give a nod and a farewell to certain players. Rory Best. Last Six Nations for him. That's a tough one. That's a tough one to take. That's a hard one. I really enjoyed watching Rory Best play for all these years and I know he's a class act.
00:28:40
Speaker
He's 36. I keep forgetting he's 36. He's a tough S.O.B. on top of it all. Yeah. Parise. I saw some. I watched the post match. Man of the match. Yeah. Right. In a little loss. That sucks. That sucks. You know, and I saw some post match footage from Italian TV and he and Geraldine both playing with their children and it was just like.
00:29:01
Speaker
Oh, pull my heartstrings just a little harder there, guys. Oh, Lord. Plus, Alan Wynn and Rory walking off the. Oh, that was a freaking. Oh, I don't know how many cameras were being snapped at that moment. But yeah, I want one of those pictures, please. Yeah. Somebody sent me one, please. That was great. Try to think of who else.
00:29:22
Speaker
Not too many other notable names that I can think of off the top of my head. Alan, this might be his last go-around as well. At least, this will be his last World Cup. Maybe his last six stations will find out. I mean, he's getting up there in age, too. Wouldn't you want to go out on top like that? Not a terrible thing to do. Is there anything better that you, you know, Grand Slam and a World Cup same year? I'm not saying winning a World Cup, just playing in the World Cup.
00:29:48
Speaker
It might be time just to say, yeah, I'm done with international play at that point. Certainly a lot of guys whose last World Cup it'll be. I don't know about Six Nations, but we think of Key and Healy, Ken Owens, the older props from these guys, these stalwarts that were also part of these Lions teams that have at least some... Ken Owens maybe have three Lions tours underneath his belt. I'm not 100% sure. Not sure. But with Gatlin, he would pick a bunch of them, but always the Welshman.
00:30:17
Speaker
So, um, definitely, I think maybe one or two more years for some of these guys, definitely final world cup. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Um, superlatives. Who's your, who's your breakout?
00:30:31
Speaker
Cal Sinclair. No, I'm just kidding. Lies. So many lies. Breaks out of people's grip. Right. Shoot. Breakout player. That's a tough one for me. Because again, it's between two players for me. And they both wear the same color uniform. Oh, I would say Curry.
00:30:52
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. Oh yeah. Absolutely. He's an animal. Are you going to say entomac also? Oh, that's it. Yeah. Yep. Yeah. He played really well. Yeah. The two, the two of those guys have to be at least in that conversation too. Josh Adams has obviously made his mark, made a move as well. Yes. Now it's today. He's moving to the Osprey's away from, away from Worcester. Coming back to, to way others. Yeah. You know, so Worcester are going to be digging for some new wings soon here because they're about to lose him and him.
00:31:18
Speaker
Yeah, and while they might, what, they're in relegation. They're going to be in a scrap. Yeah, we'll get to a little bit here. But yeah, they're going to be in a heck of a scrap to keep themselves up here, sounds like. All right. Well, James and I both got our ass kicked in fantasy.
00:31:35
Speaker
Well, I was on vacation for a week, and then I lost track, and then I kept on living my life. Nobody can blame me for it. I know. It was a little deep down inside of me. I knew what was going on, but I just didn't care. But I should have. The beer in your hand looked way more appetizing. Yeah, you're drinking Medallos, which is the beer of Puerto Rico, and surfing was just way more appealing. I could set my line up, or I could catch some tasty waves. Yeah.
00:32:03
Speaker
But the third man in here Ben second in the US second in the US nice To finish top of any your any your groups there close you finish top of ours So I finished top of ours. I finished second in fantasy rugby geek nice I finished five in the events room Competition and fourth in the fab rugby not bad
00:32:32
Speaker
So and then what's 76th overall Yeah, and there's probably a good three four hundred people that played this thing So right Grant some of them went to sleep like well, my last rank but had it going into this weekend was 346 Okay, so you jump monster. I was ninth overall in the last game week too. So yeah, you were you jumped so that helps yeah, so Goods and beds, you know, yeah, you know some of the injuries certainly made it tough on people and
00:32:59
Speaker
It did I mean I had to get I thought I lost morrow macko. Yeah a bunch of people that was Slowly dwindled down. I'll you know, cj standard played the last game after breaking his face in the first game So that was no help But yeah, so we we tried
00:33:16
Speaker
We tried I got fairly fortunate. I only played lavati one match and it was it was this one Yeah, I played I had a bunch of injuries and I didn't like my matchups and he ended up in the You know, there's it's not it's not just skill if there's a little bit of luck involved Like go-to players you think for every every week Finn Russell
00:33:38
Speaker
Finn Russell was one probably. Wingers. Let me give you. Some wingers. Johnny May was a pretty good start every week. Intimac came on towards the end with a bunch of points. He scored a try, didn't he? He did, right? Yeah, he got that last one at the end there.
00:33:54
Speaker
McAnally was it was Consistent Jamie George was consistent aside from the Italy much Connor Connor Murray was probably the best halfback and yes in the thing. Yeah Ham and Dupont either one you went a gone wrong with Yeah, Abraham stain stain. Yes. That was a good one. Also, I think this probably even though we didn't play in this six nations Dylan Hartley's last six nations
00:34:18
Speaker
Yeah, that's probably would have been his last go, but he's been banged up and he is torn a little bit here Yeah, I think that honestly I think he won't be in the England Well, he may go to the World Cup don't know if he'll be the captain again. But yeah, I think that would that was his This is his last shot at least Yeah Anyway, sorry. No, that's fair point Yeah, and
00:34:49
Speaker
I Forgot to put it on the docket. Let's but let's hit it Let's talk about the women's sick nation they had they had actually the the pod pod pod had the women's captain on Oh did that? Yeah, Thompson, right? Wait from from England, yeah Yeah, if she's the captain, I can't remember who the captain was
00:35:09
Speaker
or whoever it was, if I messed it up. It wasn't Daly McLean. I can't remember. I thought she was the captain. Yeah, but they had one of the players on anyway. So I thought that was great for them to bring them on. That is great. Keep them included. And I got one of my predictions right. Which one was that? England sweeping. Yeah. Which they housed everybody. Fairly easy.
00:35:35
Speaker
To predict what was not easy to predict though was Italy finishing second Yeah, you sent me that and I was like, um, did you just send me a typo or is that accurate?
00:35:45
Speaker
Yeah, no, that is what happens. They took it to France 31-12 in that last match to take second. Just a shocking result because, as I've said, France beat New Zealand just last year. This is a massive failure on the part of France. So apparently, when we talk about the men being so French,
00:36:11
Speaker
Apparently it translates to the women as well. To the ladies too, apparently. Something in the water over there. Now, France also looked into this. I'm not sure why, but they did not have one of their strong forwards, India. I'm not sure what happened with her. She has previously played eight, but has recently moved to lock, as they've had a couple of other mobile back row players in.
00:36:38
Speaker
She was not in the lineup this week for reasons that are unknown to me, possibly injury. I would assume it's injury. I can't imagine that they would keep one of their best players out willingly unless she's really pissed off the coach. That's the only other thing I can think of. I'm guessing it's injury because she's a fabulous player.
00:36:58
Speaker
Yeah, Italy coming on strong at the end to win. Ireland I thought was going to finish third. They ended up in fifth. Wow. With only the one win. That's a bit of a disappointment. Against Scotland, yeah. Wales came in fourth.
00:37:14
Speaker
And it just kind of goes to show I wouldn't have, have a lot of talent, but, um, they're very young themselves, young and inexperienced. And you can tell Italy, um, being professional players is, is massive. Um, because they can, you know, train harder. And we were, so, uh, we were watching the England versus Scotland this past week, which was an 80 to nothing win for England. Absolute smoke job.
00:37:39
Speaker
It was. Scotland barely touched the ball. And you look at just the difference in the players, and all of the England players just look not muscle bound, not like, they're not Leicester Tigers. They're just fit and thick. They have functional muscles, not just, you know, power lifting muscles. Not Arnold. Right. They're rugby players. Right. Yeah.
00:38:06
Speaker
Well, they're all professional rugby players now, too. So they're filling out their uniforms. Some of the other players, you see some of the Scotland players, they're kind of hanging off of them a little bit. Get back here! Little coat hangers out there.
00:38:22
Speaker
Yeah, that's something that hopefully spreads to some other nations because they play some excellent rugby. There's no doubt about it. And the pace and the power, they can take these little gaps that some of these other teams, they can hit the gaps, but they can still get arm tackled, whereas England, you try to arm tackle them and it's not going to work out well for you. That's going in the tri-zone.
00:38:46
Speaker
Yeah I was watching a couple highlights from the England rugby team and they've got great set plays that just every time they're inside the opponent's 22 they're pretty much guaranteed to score. They're clinical and they're great at it.
00:39:02
Speaker
Yeah, it'll be exciting to see. I don't know when the when's the next woman's? Woke up two years two years. So next year technically. Yeah, I guess but yeah Yeah, so but yeah, you know, the the woman's game is is rising it's getting better and it's it's definitely pretty exciting to see Yeah, I don't have a standout player didn't watch much of it don't know much about of it to be honest but the number eight for whales her name is Siwan Lily crap and I
00:39:28
Speaker
Love that name. Go on. Go on, Williams! Yeah, for me, though...
00:39:37
Speaker
For it. It's always it's to me for me it begins it ends with with Emily scarot just the things she can do on the pitch are are magical She can beat you with speed. She can run right through you. She can chip it right past you and fuck. You never know what what's coming. So That's that's certainly helpful in in any competition. Absolutely
00:40:00
Speaker
So well done to England. Yeah, exactly. Thank you Super rugby Let's get into it We we often put them at the back burner, but since premiere ship didn't play this best we can guess what throw them right to the front Yeah for the line Jack. Um, can we talk about the news though?
Sun Wolves Controversy in Super Rugby
00:40:22
Speaker
Oh, Sun Wolves? Sun Wolves? I hope that's a lie. I really do too because this is the most poorly mismanaged professional sports organization in the entire world. The fact that Super Rugby is letting this happen. They added on these teams in Argentina and Japan to get a
00:40:42
Speaker
broader reach Across the southern hemisphere right and they got rid of rugby in Western Australia Which is well they axed the Western force Western force from super rugby was the force is still a team. They're playing that world 15 weird league Yeah, which will be pretty and they're playing
00:41:00
Speaker
A quick note on that, they're playing against the World 15, which is coached by Robbie Deans this upcoming Friday. And the Honey Badger is making his long-awaited return to Rugby Union after three years and a little bit of Bachelor Australia. So it would be great to see him back on the pitch getting a bit of meat. But if they get rid of the Sun Wolves, and look at how this team has improved in the past, I don't know, three or four years that they've been around.
00:41:25
Speaker
Beat the Chiefs. Yeah, exactly. They're playing really well. In New Zealand. Yeah, it's great for rugby in Japan and Singapore because they play there. I think it's really unfortunate if that happens.
00:41:41
Speaker
Apparently the ones that are calling for it though are the South African teams, which I call bullshit I call that they're pissed that Japan beat them Probably a little bit and they're they're taking it out on half the Sun Wolves team isn't even Japanese Right, but it's still fucked you know for them. It's fucked Japan rugby, so
00:42:00
Speaker
That's that again, completely. Yeah, I think this is I think this is a I think this is a terrible idea. I hope I it's a report out of Australia, but it's not not 100% confirmed this supposedly gonna be a statement made this this weekend here. So I think you know what it's it's again, there's a huge miscommunication in the you know admin of the rugby world.
00:42:23
Speaker
with this world rugby trying to have this world rugby league and not include some of the South Pacific teams that really, one, need to be brought into the picture big time to prevent some of their best players from leaving their home countries, but also just to inject some money into those clubs because they need it.
00:42:46
Speaker
So, I don't know. I think they have, there's a common theme of them announcing stuff before it's actually done. Or before someone's even thought about it. And that's the case here. Alright, so we'll talk about one game for sure. And then we'll kind of run through others and see what's on tap. Well, I didn't lose my dollar. No, and neither did I. Damn sister kiss, dude.
00:43:12
Speaker
Oh, you guys, that's right, Chiefs Hurricanes, 23-23.
Super Rugby Match Reviews
00:43:16
Speaker
It was, I mean... Damien McKenzie, the boot of Damien McKenzie, the little man with the giant leg. Yeah, and you know, he hit that, and it didn't even look like he hit that hard. He didn't look like he hit that hard, and he immediately just went and grabbed the tee, and was like, that's good. How cool were those jerseys, too? Oh, the old ones, yeah. Those were great. They need to introduce that. I know how, like,
00:43:39
Speaker
When the Waratahs play their Reds, they put on their old jerseys, because that is a really, really old rivalry. But I mean, come on, look at the NBA. They're throwing in these awesome throwback jerseys. Come on, Super Rugby. Throw some throwback jerseys in there. They're awesome. Right. Those are awesome. Jared and I were talking about that. And I love the Chiefs current jerseys. I appreciate the throwbacks, because you've got to love a throwback. Yeah. But I like their new.
00:44:07
Speaker
I hate hoops. Sounds like a personal problem. Oh, it absolutely is. It's completely personal. I have nothing against people who love hoops. I appreciate the classic look. Not for me. Take it a step further, though. All cotton.
00:44:23
Speaker
jerseys. That's what it is for me. I think of hoops, I think of playing in the summer in like 95 degree, 100% humidity in August, wearing who and just no, I'm out. However, that would be hilarious to see these guys.
00:44:42
Speaker
I remember when I saw these days they couldn't take it. In high school we got to design our own jerseys for the end of the year tournament. So every year I was hoping for finally we would commit to those, the skintight ones. But we never did, but there were then other teams we'd go play against that had tight jerseys. I was always pissed off. And I was like, guys, this is so cool. And I was like, no, no, no, you got to play like the, you know, like.
00:45:07
Speaker
the old guys but yeah take throwback a step further make them thick cotton jerseys those those cotton shorts that when they get wet they're a hundred pounds right so as long as both teams are playing in them yeah I mean I keep talking about them
00:45:29
Speaker
And we talked about him the other week. Chase Teatea does it. He keeps doing it. He keeps doing it. And the kid was all over the place. He's seeing the space. He's seeing it well. He's obviously got a couple of good teachers back there with the likes of Lamb and Barrett and Houston, and even the likes of Vince Oso. It certainly helps. I thought he looks every bit the part. And I'm looking forward to seeing him run around more and more.
00:45:59
Speaker
And I wanted to point out a contrast here because for me it's absolutely personal preference.
00:46:05
Speaker
We were talking earlier with England about having Teo and Tui as their centers and just the power there. Can we talk about the two inside centers from this match? Leonard Brown and Lamape? Yes. Yeah. Because that's a Titanic duo, right? If we're talking about the stylistic rugby, those guys are, I would take a smaller. Stick the two of them together and see what happens.
00:46:34
Speaker
Oh, fuck that. That'd be amazing. Yeah. I mean, with his power, Leonard Brown with the magic, magic feet that he possesses. He can run around people too. Like the, and his skill with the ball is the terrifying thing about that. Amazing. So I, you know, as much as I, um, I'm a, I, I'm a fan of, and I understand the appeal of the big bruising center, who's just a battering ram. Um, give me the, the, the agile.
00:47:03
Speaker
mobile Terror in the loose Yeah, well you want one of each probably and I'm a fan of one of each I'm a fan of one of each at least so yeah, I'd like to have one bruiser somewhere in the team probably in reserve or Somebody who you start to soften up the the opposition. Yeah, either way either way is fine but I my personal preference would be to go to the guy who's gonna break the line and take it to the house rather than break the line and
00:47:31
Speaker
Don't get tackled by the scrum half sweeping or the fullback who's neither one of them want to, but they'll get their nose dirty just for that. I'd rather have a guy who burns everyone and just runs through. I'm just looking at the squad for the Hurricanes. They're just stacked. Question. Is Wes Kucin, if I pronounce it correctly,
00:47:54
Speaker
South African, but can he qualify for I don't think he's been capped by South Africa So I presume as much he's good enough to play wing for the all-blacks. Yeah, I Mean she's got a break through the guy. I mean watching him behind the hollow and yeah, you're on a problem. That's true small problem. Yeah, I
00:48:13
Speaker
Well, then you have the other and then you well because then you have Barrett and they want to stick Mackenzie in there as well You know this they have a plethora and there's plenty of other talent too. I mean, there's lamb. There's yes Oh Crusaders
00:48:28
Speaker
Oh, I know you're talking about Bridge. Yeah, George Bridge. And then Izzy Daggs over there. Her beauty's over there. You know, they do have a plethora of stuff of talent in those positions, certainly specifically, but overall. Chiefs 23 and Hurricanes 23. We get a draw out of that. Oh, well. Oh, well. Did you watch, did you watch the Brumby's War talk as well? I did not see the Brumby's talk. Yeah, it wasn't worth a lot. What?
00:48:55
Speaker
No, no, I agree. Honestly. No, it wasn't worth a lot. Um, you know, Brumby's kind of just choked the life out of the game. They're really, it's, well, the Brumby's are okay, but it's, it's just not, if it's not the Rebels, it's not for me. That's what I'm saying. Yep. I'm with you on that one. Um, yeah. So Brumby's took care of business in 1913 over the Wartos. Uh, you know, kind of the same story. It's a bigger score line, but Stormers 35, Jaguars eight. Snoozer. Yeah. Bit of a snoozer. Just, you know, Stormers took the lead and then they choked the life out of the game. And it was in South Africa? It was in Cape Town? Yeah. So there you go.
00:49:24
Speaker
Yeah, so that was it. Highlander's Crusaders got declared a draw. Yep. For out of respect for everybody in Christchurch, which I totally understood. Yep. Sunwell's Reds. Sunwell's sure won this match. Yeah, they really should have. Again, you know. The Reds figured this thing out. I'm starting to kind of feel bad for the Reds. Not really. Just because I'm not a fan of Brad Thorne.
00:49:48
Speaker
Oh yeah, we talked about that. I know. I really wanted to see the Sun Wolves win that. The Reds celebrated like they won the World Cup. Obviously it was their first win, but still. Yeah, that's true. They hadn't won a match yet. Come on. It was against the Sun Wolves and they had to make it real interesting to win it.
00:50:06
Speaker
Queensland specifically Ballymore where they're like home turf is is According to Alex who we play with is the home of rugby union in Australia Really, you know, that's where like that's where more rugby unions played out of all of Australia. Okay Should so in theory they should be doing better Union Union Union for sure Union rugby league is bigger but still
00:50:29
Speaker
They should be, you know, with homegrown talent, they should be miles ahead. And it's not the case, and I think really it's the coaching.
00:50:38
Speaker
I'm gonna pat myself on the back a little bit for this though, because I snapped up Hamish Stewart as my fly half, because I had no options because of the cancellation of the other game, three other teams on by, and one of them was my guy, Robert DiPria. I'm thinking, oh no. And then Hamish Stewart's starting at fullback, I'm thinking, but he's listed as a fly half, so I was like, you know what, I'm playing him. And he scored 33.
00:51:08
Speaker
winner winner I'm gonna take I'm gonna take a big old victory lap for that one or at least a little one
00:51:16
Speaker
Yeah, so reds 34 some walls 31 reds pulled out of the fire in the second half Sam O'Kirby obviously doing doing a good bit of damage in that I know the Sunwalls were dominating that whole game. Yes, the Reds come back I'm an Aki Mafi made his Sunwalls debut. Yeah after you know a Little bit of running with a lock With what's his face to money?
00:51:41
Speaker
Or is that someone else? I think that's somebody else. No, I think he's out there. I think domestic abuse was part of his issue Yeah, so I'm not gonna celebrate him too much And then speaking of another comeback lines 36 rules 33 that was also the rebels were clearly in front without as well
00:52:02
Speaker
that was it that was a game that I paid attention to the most obviously because I like the rebels right they incredible incredible counter-attacks especially that quite croup a try yeah that came off of the Billy Meeks you know breaking a couple tackles up the line getting it over to their hooker I can't remember his name but he is good yes
00:52:22
Speaker
Rangi. Yes, Rangi. He is super good. And then, yeah, Billy Meeks sticking his hand up for that gold jersey. Yeah. The guy's been around for a little bit. Exciting to see. There was one try that the Lions scored that Quaid Cooper could have easily stopped. Yeah, I think that was Lionel Mapu's try.
00:52:40
Speaker
and and that's unfortunate yeah it is it was and um unfortunate to see because little things like that are going to count against them when it comes to playing for Australia and that's the thing people are looking for against him they are looking they're not they're you know they're looking for that they're just they're not paying attention to the good things they're just looking for the bad things and they're going to nitpick which is unfortunate because he is a player that's going to he's done so many great things for this team so far like
00:53:03
Speaker
I think it was two weeks ago, a couple weeks ago, against the Highlanders. Just the no look, whoop, and got it over the top of his own head. No look for a try. I'm like, that is magic that the Wallabies are messing with. It's going to be when he switches off or it looks like he's not trying, or whatever it is, is going to count against him. That's, to be fair—
00:53:25
Speaker
That's hot weather there in South Africa. He was probably worn out just a touch at least travel plus the weather probably did not help him at all. So I'm gonna be one of those people that cuts him a little bit. Yeah, for sure. I am too. But he's under a microscope. I think he knows that. Yeah, but you know, will this be the answer to the wallaby woes? We'll see. You know, there's so much speculation online that it's just it's not working for Michael check anymore, as we all know. And it'll be curious. I'm curious to see
00:53:53
Speaker
You know, they're going to retain him for the World Cup. I think it's too. This is not a good time. Yeah, it'd be like pulling a pulling a spain in the World Cup last year in the soccer World Cup. Yeah. Yeah. Firing their manager before this tournament. Yeah. That was dumb. So I don't know. Fire it anyway. Yeah. I think just, you know, encourage quite Cooper if ever listens to this. Just keep on playing his game. Keep it up. We like you. We're a fan.
00:54:26
Speaker
Who's Highlanders? Ben and I, we talk about it all the time. It's one of our favorite things. We wake up, we can roll over and turn on some Super Rugby Friday morning. So I usually get my lift in and watch the first Super Rugby match of the weekend. And I definitely don't watch on my phone at work.
00:54:44
Speaker
Course not who would do that you you work for one of those big companies that blocks it on your computer I've worked for startups where I've had several tabs open with a bunch of different sporting events And that'll be the case tomorrow with basketball. Yeah, right. Yeah Don't be alone. We get Specific emails about that like please do not choke on
00:55:10
Speaker
Too late. Took our bandwidth with basketball because everybody's watching. I know, right. So you want to put a dollar on that? Yeah. Yeah. All right. Dollar on it. Everybody heard it. OK. With that. Who you got to pick? Blues Islanders. This is actually kind of a tough one for me.
00:55:38
Speaker
I'm going Highlanders. I don't trust the Blues. That's unfortunate to say. I agree with with Ben there. All right. Well, here you go, Ben. You get a chance to catch up because I like Harry Plummer. I think the last time they played him at 10 and Savo Terry Black, they looked a lot better. Is it in Auckland? I mean, it doesn't matter, though. I think when it's in New Zealand, it's just it's slightly different. Yeah. All right. So the Landers for the other two and I'll be the lone wolf on this one.
00:56:09
Speaker
No mystery as to who the hell I'm looking at. Yeah. It's going to be, it's in New Zealand. It's in New Zealand. Let's see. Yeah. Crusaders. Definitely. Yeah. They have a little bit to play for. Yep. A little bit, a little bit of emotion to pick up their, their city.
00:56:36
Speaker
Yes. Oh, yeah, there's no question about that. I think that's something that you can't say. But it's going to be hosted in Sydney. Yes, it's at the Sydney Kirk account ground. But these guys are going to be so motivated to play for their their their team and their city and their and their, you know, their community.
00:56:52
Speaker
I think it's great that, you know, that they're doing work on that, whatever, Allianz Stadium in Sydney, given all these teams now, they're playing in smaller venues, which I think is way better. Yeah, the last one of the Sydney Cricket Crown looked to be fairly packed, so that was kind of cool. It looks like it's one hell of an atmosphere, the weather's beautiful, everybody's out there on the beers, you know, it's, I think it's a way more of a community feel, rather than this, you know,
00:57:19
Speaker
Playing in this half three quarters empty. Yeah Yeah, I really hate seeing these guys that are such high level players and you look around the stadium And just because of the just the size of it. Yeah, it looks empty and that's not That's the case in every super rugby game. Yeah, fortunately. Yeah, whether you're New Zealand
00:57:40
Speaker
You know, some of the smaller venues are going to be filled out, but Eden Park is never completely filled for... Unless it's an All Blacks game, no. Unless it's an All Blacks game. And Cape Town, Joburg, any of that in Pretoria, none of those stadiums are filled. So it's, yeah, that's... I don't get it. Yeah.
00:58:04
Speaker
Or if um, or whatever whoever plays halfback for for the crusaders, uh Maybe maybe find some find somebody else to play Veritas don't give up a lot of points and they especially don't give up a lot of points to halfback. So That's a big name to pine. I know but um Put a stop sign on that guy for sure. All right. So crusaders all around for everybody some wolves lions probably lions. Yeah
00:58:28
Speaker
Where is this being played? It's actually being paid in Japan. I'm gonna go against My instincts and say the Sun Wolves. Yeah. All right. I think why not. There you go Sun Wolves. I think you know, they're Especially with the news or fake news. I hate that term That's come out. I think maybe they're gonna be up for it the Lions I don't think are as good as they have been the past couple years. I
00:58:53
Speaker
No, and we talked about that. They're probably not the team to beat in South Africa this year. Yeah, it's probably the Bulls. Yeah, definitely the Bulls. You know, great players on the lines though. Quagga Smith, that guy is. Yep. He's got a. Tyrone Green looked really good last week for them too. They have, they have depth. And Quagga Smith definitely needs some, he'll get some springboard caps. Yeah. But it would be great to see the Sun Wolves pull this out of the bag. So I'm going to go with them. All right.
00:59:18
Speaker
I'm going to follow James. Yeah. You're going some wolves. I'm going some wolves because again, if, if, if the, the reports are accurate and especially the rumor that that South Africa that's really making the push. Oh, I found the sunwalls. Fuck these guys. I'm going to throw the kitchen sink and more at them. Right.
00:59:37
Speaker
Yeah. So what I'll do is I'll put, I'll put all my, uh, my stop signs and stuff, except for the big names that I'll put those up on my Twitter as well as the rankings. Um, bulls chiefs. Uh, I think this is in South Africa. Yeah. Yes, it is. Bulls, man. Yeah. Same. Yeah.
00:59:54
Speaker
Oh, man. No faith. Until, until, well, at least they didn't lose us. I'd like to see a South African rugby resurgence that, you know, you saw in the mid 2000s.
01:00:08
Speaker
where you would, you were afraid to go down there. Especially against the Bulls with Victor Matfield and players like that. This is big Afrikaners that just, you know. Big blonde assholes. Scary looking guys. Keep the shit out of you for 80 minutes. Exactly. You know, I think it would be kind of cool to see some South African rugby come back to what it used to be.
01:00:30
Speaker
Brings me in my green light of the week, Roscoe Speckman. Off you go. Chiefs give up a ton of points to outside backs, they give up a lot of fantasy points in general. And Roscoe Speckman is on fire. Defense is not really their thing. He should be an automatic start and if he's not then what the... Did you see him get smashed the other week? What's up? Did you see him get smashed the other week? I did see that. That was pretty cool.
01:00:56
Speaker
Sharks rebels James. I know who you're picking. Yeah, I think Also in South Africa in the shark tank in the shark tank Yeah, I want to pick the rebels for this yeah, yeah me too
01:01:10
Speaker
Yeah, the sharks didn't impress me the last couple of weeks. They've been in South Africa for the past week? Yeah, that's true. They didn't have to travel this time at least. You know, I've seen through Instagram that they've been enjoying staying at a game reserve. Quid Cooper getting physio work done in front of elephants.
01:01:26
Speaker
Not by elephants, but in front of them Dave Wessels at South African their coach. Yes. So Again, I think it's it's looking good. Yeah, I mean look They should have had that game last week too, really So, you know, you got to give them the bet for the Delta at least this time though They won't have the travel. Yeah, I will definitely try and tune in for this one. Yeah Reds and Brumby's Sunday game. Hmm
01:01:52
Speaker
I know the Reds really want this, but I don't think they're going to get it. No, this is in Queensland. Yeah, is it? Yes. Are they playing it at Suncorp? I imagine that's where they're playing, but I can't remember. Yeah, it is at Suncorp. I don't know. I have such little hope for them, and it's fortunate because I used to love them. I think the Brumbies are going to take this as well. Lee Leofano's in great shape, and he's playing really well.
01:02:20
Speaker
So he's currently yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think they're yeah, assuming he plays although some lineups are coming out as probably as we speak. But I know I know the blues and the highlanders lineup has been released. So I already know who some guys I'm starting at least we got Ben.
01:02:43
Speaker
I got the reds. Yeah. Yeah. All right. I trust them. I still don't trust the Brumbies in a match like this. And I realized the reds are coming off travel. Um, right. So that, that should factor in. Um, I, I could, but I think they're going to come back home and they, they might, you know, might have their butt up after, after, uh, the sun wolves gave him a scare. So, well, yeah.
01:03:10
Speaker
For sure. Alright, so yeah, I'm gonna go with reds too. I think I think they figured it out. Naivelou, Karanjani, or, um, Karebi, excuse me. Yeah, I'll give it to them. Alright. Couple quick fantasy free Asian finds for you in the FRD. Korobedi from the Rebels, outside back. This is not a bad week to start the Sunwells front row if you have them and or if they're available.
01:03:42
Speaker
Sword from the Jags, Isaac Lucas from the Reds, not a bad midfield replacement if you have, you know, one of the Jaguars midfielders on your team and that's who you lean on. Hallew from the Sun Wolves has actually done really well. He was the driving force behind their victory against the Chiefs.
01:04:00
Speaker
And I said his name before and I'll say it again, Harry Plummer from the Blues, if you need a fly half and you're in a pinch, he is not a bad option by any means whatsoever. And he actually got that Blues machine going pretty well the last time they played. All right, back to the North.
01:04:17
Speaker
Kings of the North. Kings of the North. I've been binging the hell out of it, waiting for the new season coming here. What's the date? April or something? April 14th. Yeah. April 14th. I'm already on season three, so. Yeah. We finished. Did you guys go through again? Oh, yeah. You guys could do it again if you want to. I'm not going to go all the way back. I'm going to wait until it'll be probably around April 1st and then start just the last season. Maybe the last two. Winter is coming. But I'm just here. Not here though. We've missed that.
01:04:47
Speaker
Yeah, I think we've definitely skipped winter Yeah, I really hope so I got a lot of hanging out outside to do in the next few days or next few weeks All right, so Back to the premiership preem cup final didn't go the way the Saracens, but that's all right You explained to me and for those out there that are curious. What the hell's the preem cup final? It's the old LV cup. Yes Okay. Yes, except no no Welsh
01:05:16
Speaker
So why do they have they have it for like the younger guys to play? Um, I presume well, that's what the Saracens use it for There weren't there weren't a lot of senior players in this in this final Um, you know if somebody needs a run Go play on the prom cup team. Yeah done. It's like the caribou cup in the premiership or something like that Exactly. Exactly. There's a capital one company cup cup Yeah, no one good to know as indygood and indygood puts it no one gives a shit cup No one does give a shit cup
01:05:45
Speaker
Yeah, nobody cares that much. Trust me. It's nice to bring the silverware home for the team that wins, but the team that loses is not losing their brain about it. I promise you. All right. So we got, as I said, we got we got loads to go over, but and I won't delay us too much. Your mortal enemy against my side piece. Lester and Saints. Yeah, I. That's easy. It's easy for both of us. Yeah, it is. Like it is, too. Yeah, I've gone since giving the Saints.
01:06:16
Speaker
Hopefully hopefully they have at least one or two of their Six nations back. Yeah, well after we'll have all the bluster. I'll have a couple of theirs back. I'm sure well they and that's the question Do they play them? I mean we guys get a rest. I don't know I mean again, I'm guessing Ford plays eat. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah We're part play
01:06:37
Speaker
Um Yeah, each each prem team is kind of does their own thing with them Some see the value in the rest Some say we need we need them now luster could be in a in a relegation fight fight That might be the deciding factor here if they lose this game and wuster and new castle can both find ways to get points We could have a problem
01:06:55
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not sure that they're in too much of a danger of relegation. I'm just telling you. But they do have to watch themselves. Yes. So I agree. But yeah, I think the Saints are, you know, there's a difference between fighting against relegation and fighting for, you know, fighting for a playoff spot.
01:07:17
Speaker
So the Saints I think have a little bit more to play for. Yeah. Whereas the Lester have a little bit more of a cushion. Yeah. So I'm gonna yeah, like I said, I'm going Saints. My green light for a premiership is Rory Hutchinson. Young Center for the Saints. Been on fire. He's scoring 30 and 40 points at a shot. They love them. Right. Again, there's a shit ton of youth in the Saints team. I'm guessing two is not playing. I think it's one of the ones that two he's probably not playing.
01:07:45
Speaker
Oh, probably not. I'd say he's probably rested for luster. Yeah, so that'll be advantage up as well. Unless he gives a ton of fancy points in general. So especially in the midfield, especially if Tui Le, he's not playing. Maybe keep an eye on that. That'd be the one thing to keep an eye on. All right.
01:08:02
Speaker
Bristol and Worcester. Yeah. I'll go to Bristol too. I'm liking them. There's just so much fun to watch. Yeah. As far as, you know, my new best friend, Calum Chidi. And you know, you know, you know how much I'm loving Harry Thacker. So. Yes. Yeah. We both, we both are. Right. What do you think James Bristol and Worcester?
01:08:26
Speaker
Yeah, I think Bristol has this, just looking at Worcester's current woes. Yes. They are plentiful. Yeah. They have a few of them. Bristol is good. Yeah, they have a rough run-in, too. Can I take this? Yeah. So we'll see if Worcester stays up. Newcastle seem to have found some sort of rhythm. So they got one win, and then they squeaked away with another one against the loss. That's the issue with premiership relegation, is that there's really only one team every time that's good enough to come back. And we've spoken about this before, to come back up.
01:08:56
Speaker
You know and they're always miles ahead now that one time where that didn't work was the you know London Welsh, right? But again, they don't have the infrastructure a lot of these clubs They don't have the money to compete with these premiership teams. Yes, you know, you almost want to do away with it but then there's always that one team that's miles ahead and
01:09:15
Speaker
In the in the in the you know, the league below right? Well, let's do pick them and then we can actually get into ring fancy and just a touch Okay, we don't we don't need to keep we don't need to dive bulge into to it too much But let's let's do pick them and then we'll just get into it. I think it's worth. I think it's definitely worth having a chat about. Yeah
01:09:32
Speaker
Gloucester and wasp side. Yeah, I know who you taking this not a mystery You know what and I and you and I both know that I don't care about that young So I'm gonna be Gloucester as well and they have all their players. They're all pretty much healthy, you know Cipriani seems to be firing on all cylinders in the last few games. So Rock and roll cherry and whites. Yeah I
01:09:54
Speaker
Last week was the Cheltenham races by the way, which is not far from Gloucester.
Cultural Events and Rugby Experiences
01:09:59
Speaker
It's a big... People get a little... Oh yeah. Especially on like Ladies Day. So all these women rock up in these stupid hats and outfits and just completely just get shitfaced.
01:10:11
Speaker
So they just wear nice clothes to get really wasted and destroy them and it's a mess The Daily Mail has like a field day with it. I don't so I highly suggest you go online and look up Ladies Day Daily Mail or whatever. It is hilarious He is writing it down
01:10:30
Speaker
Not fucking around here. All right At the London Stadium, which I've been to cool stadium fun atmosphere Saracen's not for West Ham, huh? Not for West Ham
01:10:43
Speaker
Is that the one we're talking about, right? Yeah. No, I went there for the woke up. Oh yeah, good for rugby, not for football.
Club Performances and Predictions
01:10:50
Speaker
Who is it? Saracen Tarlet, that's right. A London Derby. Yeah. I don't know. Quinn's got pummeled last round.
01:11:00
Speaker
Oh, okay. Now, the Saracens didn't do themselves a lot of papers either, but they went to Bath and kind of just had to slog it out in some really shitty weather. Yeah. You know, I think you put a couple, even if you put a couple of their England players or a couple of their six nations players in this year, you're talking about Saracens looking a lot better as long as they're going to be back here.
01:11:20
Speaker
I don't know. I know Brad Barrett is ready to rock and roll, though. So that's going to be a huge help. I'm sure Tompkins will play. Yeah, I'll be Tompkins or Wazowski either way. Yeah. So I'm picking our boys. I'm not getting cute about this. No, I'm not going to pick against them. We won this game last year at the London Stadium. We'll win it again.
01:11:42
Speaker
So big call for me this week my stop signs in this game Joe Martian Who I've been whose horn I have been 100% tooting as you have all around the block But with the likes of Brad Barrett staring him in the face along with that Tom if it's Nick Tompkins, especially Yeah, who's tenacious as hell Joe Marshall. It's gonna have a hard time finding room to play in this one So if he's playing I would certainly temper your expectations on what to expect out of him
01:12:10
Speaker
Well, I was he i'm already a little miffed at him because He got me 12 fucking points with the captain. So listen, I mean I gave I pulled in sheetie and he didn't do a whole lot for me So right, um, you know, it is what it is Um And then
01:12:28
Speaker
Oh, all right. One of our our our code arch nemesis clash of the Titans here. Yeah Dean Richards changes his mind. He isn't he doesn't want he wants ring fencing now, right? Newcastle and sale
01:12:44
Speaker
I'm going with sale. Yeah. Yeah. Again, playing for a playoff spot versus against relegation and Newcastle have been, they came on their last match. Yeah. But that wasn't exactly against a quality opponent. No. Certainly not a motivated opponent. So I see sale pulling away with this one. Yeah.
01:13:15
Speaker
Damn it. I hate when you're right Yes, I think sales good sales got some I think their players are healthy James O'Connell South African guy whose name I can't pronounce It's called Fafte clerk. No. Well Fafte clerk. Yes Yeah, yeah that guy he's no Fafte clerk The reverse simple oompa
01:13:38
Speaker
Yeah, we talked about that. Denny Solomona is healthy. I think they're good. They're good. The Curry's both Tom and... I mean, pick one and they're probably gonna do just fine. Those guys are twins. Like, they are twins. Rugby playing twins. All right. Wait, we didn't get... Who did you think for Quinns and Saracens?
01:14:03
Speaker
Oh, I think Saracen's the one. Yeah. Okay. Maybe I just maybe sat in my brain. I just agreed with you. Okay. Yeah. Didn't need to say much. Fair enough. And then the Sunday game, which I always love waking up for the Sunday game, Exeter and Bath.
01:14:20
Speaker
It'll be it'll be oh, it's the the West Country Darby as they call it. Yeah. Well, it's not gonna be much better. Yeah. No, it's not Sandy Park. It's gonna I think Yeah, as much as I would love Beth to give us a hand It ain't gonna happen. Do we have any disagreements? Are we all?
01:14:37
Speaker
No, there's something maybe not in this one, but there's something in the super rugby. Yes. Yes. Yeah. I think we went. I think we went across the board. The wreck is the one ground I want. I really want to go watch a game at. Yeah. It's just a lot of people love it. It's it looks just like it looks incredible. It's that's a really cool town. I've never actually been to Bath, but
01:14:58
Speaker
All that Roman history there is pretty cool. Yeah, and they just they love
Debate on Rugby Ring Fencing
01:15:02
Speaker
their rugby down there. Yes, they do. Yes, they do Let's go for like a three-minute quick chat about ring fencing So there was there was the last chat that was talked about was Okay, 14 teams in the premiership, which would mean London Irish are probably included now for me It's who's that 14th team and are they gonna absolutely get shit house every time?
01:15:24
Speaker
Oh, they definitely will you know, so what what the hell's the point of that? I but I don't know I think that also just gives the opportunity for that extra club That's kind of always on the cusp of going down and going up that doesn't have to constantly repeat that year after year Giving them a chance to I mean like I don't look at London Irish. They've had some huge signings recently. Yes, but
01:15:45
Speaker
Don't know who's it's gonna be. It's gonna be like eeling trail finders is always consistently a good team Jersey Jersey who else Richmond's usually up there. Yeah, they just beat the Irish on Irish to clubs are they're tiny Yes, they don't have the infrastructure. They don't have the buildings and have the money
01:16:03
Speaker
but for rugby to grow, I think you need, I don't know, I think you need to give these teams a shot, I don't know. I think that London Welsh was such a poor example of that, and it was really unfortunate to see them just suck. Yeah, completely. Shit the bed, I believe, was the term, and they did that in spades. It was not good.
01:16:25
Speaker
But I think if you do the ring fencing and you give a team or a club an opportunity for sustained presence and access to that kind of money.
01:16:40
Speaker
that over, yeah, they'll suck for the first couple of years. But I mean, hell, look at the Browns. They have a good shot at winning the division next year. So, you know, it only took them what, 20 years since they were back in? Sucking for so long. It only takes a little bit. But I mean, you know, that could have happened a lot earlier. So, yeah, you're going to bring in a club that's going to be like the league punching bag for a while.
01:17:08
Speaker
But that's why you have to look at the long view. And eventually they're going to get players. There's a lot of talk about, say, how much Saracens and their whole cap space and who they're signing and all that.
01:17:25
Speaker
You know, there's a lot of players that are that are leaving clubs that have been with their club since So There you know, the loyalty Isn't isn't exactly what it used to be which I don't have too much of a problem with So they'll get players eventually. It'll just take a couple years. Yeah, they'll get there and I
01:17:49
Speaker
To me, it's like you get that access you build up that club and now you're you're building depth for for england Not just for for the premiership. So I I think that um, yeah, you bring another club up that that's going to suck for a little bit and They kind of just deal with it. Yeah, but we've seen we've seen players come. I mean, you know, we're gonna talk about christian judge
01:18:11
Speaker
Yeah, I mean yeah, there's players pirates and there's a there's a couple other I've seen I've seen a lot of the name Cornish pirates a lot more than I've ever seen before That's true. They've been consistently a good championship team for I don't know the past
01:18:27
Speaker
I don't know, 20 years more than that, at least since I've paid attention, at least since I lived in the UK. They've always been one of those top teams.
01:18:42
Speaker
Promotion to the to the premiership every time but if you kind of get in There's there's avenues. There's you know, there's guys everywhere. It's not just the talent of the players It's also what you can do to build up the club itself so you give them access to that kind of money and especially that kind of ability to spend On some players and facilities and it'll it'll take a bit, but they'll get there, right?
01:19:05
Speaker
All right, fair enough. It would be interesting to see if Jersey, who's located on an island right by France, I'm pretty sure they train there as well. They're in the championship looking at a map right now.
01:19:21
Speaker
It's like travel there to go play that be hilarious Basically France half of the towns. They're all French look like people play people put on my accent Yeah, well, I mean a way to Jersey we'll see
01:19:41
Speaker
All right, um, so that's everything we got we covered a lot in less time than I was much much much better we're getting like we actually try this again, you
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
01:19:58
Speaker
So, email us, fancyraibipodcasts at gmail.com if you have any questions. Like I said, I'll put rankings and start sit stuff on my Twitter feed so you can find that stuff there. iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, all that stuff. Find us, review us, download. Tell your friends to download. They don't have to listen. I don't care. Just get the downloads.
01:20:11
Speaker
know
01:20:19
Speaker
And I'd say if you're located in the New England area, get down to the, well, check out the New England Freejacks. I think they're NewEnglandFreejacks.com. They've got some incredible games coming up. Professional rugby in the New England area. Playing some great Irish teams. And support your local club rugby, like Boston rugby. Those guys are awesome.
01:20:43
Speaker
All right, thank you. Thank you everybody for listening. We did get a new review, but I'll be it next time. I completely forgot about that. But thank you everybody for listening, and everybody have a good day. And enjoy the rugby. Have a good week. Cheers. Cheers.