Planet Rugby Forum

DeDoc

Exactly this. I'd say Busby is less upset by the hot-headed comments from Hansen after the game that refs are out to get Connacht (or whatever) and much more peeved that Connacht and the IRFU almost behaved as if he had a point and completely left him (Busby) out to dry in the process. Nailed. :thu...

DeDoc

Now I remember Bottom line is that we need refs, so Hansen needed a strong reprimand, and more particularly the IRFU and Connacht needed to be unequivocal in condemning what he said. I can understand a player, in the heat of the moment immediately post game, losing a bit of self-discipline, but he h...

DeDoc

irishrugbyua wrote: ↑Tue Jul 01, 2025 9:50 pm

Remind me what the story was here?

DeDoc

Da's patented Lions depth chart (trademark pending). To be refreshed after each game, or when I can be bothered. Squad members, by original squad position, in order of likelihood to feature in the upcoming test. Asterisk denotes lack of gametime. LH Prop: Porter, Genge, Schoemann Hooker: Sheehan, K...

DeDoc

Christ , just looked back at the thread, Jack,Willis is the best 7 in the world right now by a f**king country mile. No one watching last night would be in any doubt of that . Except stupid …. If he’s looking for a point of reference post his ACL’ s and few caps last years European final where the ...

DeDoc

Fair chance of a majority Scotland backline for the Lions now. It's when you see that in black and white in front of your face that you realize Faz will never go for it. Russell backing up could be read in three ways - Farrell has him inked in and wants to see how he goes with JGP - Farrell would l...

DeDoc

"I wasn't really proposing that ... but let me double down on that logic for a moment". Christ. I feel like I'm losing IQ points by having this discussion. I don't think A beats B, B beats C over one match samples means A>C, no. That is very simplisitic... But it at least has some basis of evidence...

DeDoc

Either way... "Australia beat England, England beat France. France>Toulouse. Therefore Australia>Toulouse" ...is the sort of logic that 14-year olds employ to figure out the toughest kid in school. Did you really think I was proposing that as serious logic? :lol: It does at least have the merit of ...

DeDoc

Non French? As the final showed, it's a very close call between Chocolatebars and Moefana at 12. Willis is the best 7 in the Top14 right now, so they'd be mad not to pick him. 35 turnovers and 10 tries in a season is ridiculous. There's a very good reason why Toulouse players made up half of the in...

DeDoc

And there is the flaw in your assumption, and an assumption that is rooted in that 'old clubman at the bar' lore. Ok then, I'll bite Which (presumably non-French) Toulouse starters make the French team? Non French? As the final showed, it's a very close call between Chocolatebars and Moefana at 12....

DeDoc

Da iawn diolch wrote: ↑Mon Jun 30, 2025 10:51 am
DeDoc wrote: ↑Mon Jun 30, 2025 10:37 amEngland beat France. France>Toulouse. Therefore Australia>Toulouse
And there is the flaw in your assumption, and an assumption that is rooted in that 'old clubman at the bar' lore.

Ok then, I'll bite

Which (presumably non-French) Toulouse starters make the French team?

DeDoc

Since the last RWC, Oz have lost more than they won, 7 wins 6 loses so not sure your argument holds up. True. But, as (currently) ranked 8th side, they've also played the following ranked teams: 1 - twice H&A 2 - twice H&A 3 - once A 5 - twice H&A 6 - once A 7 - once A 11 - once H 12 - three times,...

DeDoc

My argument rests on: - Man for man, very few of those Aussies would get into the Toulouse side. Prove me wrong . - Toulouse spend 11 months a year training together, while the Aussie lads get together for a few weeks in camp. You seem to think "it's a long flight and the Aussies would be more up f...

DeDoc

Your argument rests on the intangibles. Let's ignore the reality, like the fact that the Toulouse lads spend 11 months a year together too. But sure, just like the old soak down the clubhouse would tell you, it's all about "motivation". So does yours :lol: The Toulouse side still lost 8 and drew 1 ...

DeDoc

FWIW - Toulouse have lost to Perpignan, Racing, UBB (x2), La Rochelle, Bayonne, Castres and drawn with Lyon this season UBB have lost to Toulouse, Toulon, Montpellier, La Rochelle (x2), Racing, Bayonne, Lyon(x2) and Clermont, Pretty big leap to say either would "handily see off Australia", in Austr...

DeDoc

This nuance is lost on them. This really is an alliance for the ages. You can tell the mongs who don't watch the Top14, and still think that all test rugby is somehow better than all club rugby. It's like listening to some old soak committee man down at the local clubhouse. Both sides in Saturday's...

DeDoc

I think Williams could be a bolter for the test side if there's any doubt about Gibson-Park. I think he did a good JGP impression off the bench against the Pumas where as Mitchell didn't really do too much. Agreed. The pace went up a step when Tomos came on. If he gets the coordination with his run...

DeDoc

DVdM - He's more a donkey than a rugby player, but a helluva physical handful. Was (pleasantly) shocked to see him pass at one point! Lots of hairy moments. Schmidt (as said above) will torture him Like he didn't manage when Scotland beat the Wallabies in the Autumn. DvdM is what he is, he has stre...

DeDoc

Beirne is from a one street village in the middle of farmland called Eadestown. It's about 30 km from Dublin

DeDoc

Here is what I made of the team Genge - generally excellent, both in loose and tight LCD - didn't lack for effort, but looks a bit short of class. Goes to ground too easily. Takes some blame for lineout Bealham - does what he does most weeks, a ton of work with little fuss or showiness. Itoje - some...

DeDoc

Ireland had a very, very good side in the mid-70’s and again in the 80’s. We really didn't.... Just less shit than the surrounding years. I know we had had the Welsh/Scottish no-show in 1972(?). We couldn't even win a triple crown in the 70s. We managed 2 in the 80s. No grand slams. No victories ov...

DeDoc

Dai wouldn't disingenuously be comparing ticket sales for a match that's been selling tickets for months (longer?) to one selling tickets for a week? That wouldn't be like him at all, at all. And yet, despite having teams from five different countries, two continents and two hemispheres, more peopl...

DeDoc

All of which goes back to my original point. Huge in Dublin, largely ignored by the rest of the NH. But what is your point? French don't watch he prem, English don't watch the top 14 etc. etc. This isn't unique NH don't even watch super rugby anymore, which used to be quite a big thing. It's more t...

DeDoc

In fairness, of all the top tier rugby nations, Welsh rugby seems to be the most depressed currently. Very little in terms of success and excitement in recent years. Da iawn diolch as a died in the wool fan is not dealing with it well. The phrase is "dyed in the wool". :thumbup: In the context of t...

DeDoc

Honest question. Does anyone in the Northern Hemisphere outside of Dublin actually care about this one? I think people care a lot more when their own side is playing. But plenty of 'other' fans will still watch the final IMO. Last years figures from the URC show 4.7M watched the play-off games (7 g...

DeDoc

Honest question. Does anyone in the Northern Hemisphere outside of Dublin actually care about this one? I think people care a lot more when their own side is playing. But plenty of 'other' fans will still watch the final IMO. Last years figures from the URC show 4.7M watched the play-off games (7 g...

DeDoc

I remember the first time I saw John Hayes in the flesh. Was at a game where Shannon were playing (away). Their bus arrived, and I saw this guy coming out the doorway who literally filled all the space. I could see there was someone immediately behind him, as I could see a hand, but Hayes completely...

DeDoc

I reckon Prendergast will be fine. His frame is big enough. He mightn't have natural 'dog' in him to smash people, but he can still learn better technique. Putting on a few kilos in his upper body should be very doable, and won't hurt the rest of his game, as well as giving him more confidence going...

DeDoc

Our quota of useless backrows who hang around on the wing trying to look flashy was taken up by Ahern. Speaking of show ponies, Ryan Baird has (inexplicably) 27 caps - has he deserved even half of them? I doubt it. Aged well. If Baird can regularly produce performances like Saturday's, he'll have a...

DeDoc

Are we assuming the Argentina selection (starting team anyway) will be picked from the guys in camp this week? So: Genge, LCD, Bealham, Itoje, Beirne, Morgan, Curry, Earl, Mitchell, Smith, VDM, Aki, Jones (is he fit?), Freeman, Smith :?: VdM not fit and unlikely to be so for the 20th. Not sure on J...

DeDoc

While obviously the 'cramp' and the wink was the most visible part of the Sharks shenanigans, the much much bigger issue was all of their staff on the sidelines shouting abuse trying to put off the kickers. A better ref would have asked him what was wrong - refs regularly do this. And if he said cr...

DeDoc

The half of the Scottish team that’s out there for Glasgow must come pretty cheap, so. Only half? Compared to Leinster's 30-odd internationals. Must feel great battering the minnows at home. :thumbup: Glasgow literally have 30 capped full internationals on their books in the current squad. https://...

DeDoc

Ye lads will argue about anything. Two of France's all-time top five points scorers in that side, and you didn't think they were "amongst the better players"? Two of France's most capped forwards of all time, and you didn't think they were "amongst the better players"? On the "I could probably add ...

DeDoc

Charactising the 2011 French team as 'loaded with all-time greats' is pushing it a bit! I stopped reading after this bit. The French side that beat England in 2011: Medard, Clerc, Rougerie, Mermoz, Palisson, Parra, Yachvili, Poux, Servat, Mas, Pape, Nallet, Dusautoir, Bonnaire, Harinordoquy. Replac...

DeDoc

It wasn't just a pretty brand of rugby, it was very effective Leinster had an 80%+ win rate during his tenure 4 league titles and a European cup. Additionally 3 Finals, 2 semis and QF in Europe, and 3 Semis in the league, only once failing to finish the regular league in first (the exception being ...

DeDoc

It wasn't just a pretty brand of rugby, it was very effective Leinster had an 80%+ win rate during his tenure 4 league titles and a European cup. Additionally 3 Finals, 2 semis and QF in Europe, and 3 Semis in the league, only once failing to finish the regular league in first (the exception being a...

DeDoc

This. The revisionism and circlejerk around Lancaster's "transformation" of England is always a bit mad to me. They won the 2011 6N, as the only team to win 4/5 matches. They went out of the 2011 RWC to a French side loaded with all-time greats (albeit in not a great match) who'd eventually lose th...

DeDoc

He's an excellent coach. Just not a head coach. It's not hard to understand. Connacht is a good fit for him as expectations are low and he'll have been a success if he brings the promising Connacht players through to be in contention for Ireland. English rugby is worse off without him but that does...

DeDoc

Interesting article here about French rugby and the extent to which they are loss/profit making

https://thepiraterugby.substack.com/p/i ... in-trouble

DeDoc

I watched his podcast from a few weeks ago and he basically said he’d be happy to go back to the role he had with Leinster, basically saying he was happy to have part of the pressure taken off him. He won’t get the same level of scrutiny in Connacht and they’ll follow him so it suits him. Seems lik...

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