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I remain to be convinced about Brown and Foden isnt hitting the heights he was. Goode is military medium. Armitage would be a useful addition to be around the England squad. If he were welsh he'd be 1/2ps back up.
Incidently Gav scored a try and won a trophy the other nigjt!
At least you have a "last time" a-a. 🙂
(Though Munster did thrash them 9-0 in 1978)
Leicester officially announce their interest in Priestland, looks like they're trying to force Flood into making a decision
The will be trying to force some decent decision making from Priestland too next season if they sign him!
Priestland at Leicester why? Priestland can't run a tap let alone a game 😆
I still remember "that line out" in '78, it has coloured my view of NZ rugby ever since.
Apparently Sonny Bill is coming back to proper rugby
The newly repaired David Denton has turned down glaws and tigers to stay up here...OK, A.A I better explain how that works; sometimes an important player comes to the end of his contract and his home union tries to keep him,I know,I know,hard to grasp for anybody following a Welsh province 😛
Is Denton an important player?
Well, depends how you define important of course,I would suggest that 16 out of the 20 ints played before you get injured makes you so, but teams in the league your provinces are so desperate to join also seem to think so. Is it true that WRU has changed the signage in the national stadium to French to make the national xv feel at home?
Duckman your tenacity is bordering on TJ like, you really have got a bee in your bonnet about the regions and WRU.
I can see why Tigers would have wanted him (Thomas Waldrom) but he'd only have played second fiddle to Morgan at Glaws. With Glaws problems in the front 5 and the recent retirement of Deacon; perhaps they wanted him as a second row, which would have been a waste. Denton is a fine player.
Is it true that WRU has changed the signage in the national stadium to French to make the national xv feel at home?
😀
Pigface - Member
Duckman your tenacity is bordering on TJ like, you really have got a bee in your bonnet about the regions and WRU.
What 4 posts a couple of pages ago about the big story in UK rugby,and a jibe about keeping our internationals? Your turning into A-A with your jumping on anybody who posts the slightest thing that is negative about the Welsh (see what I did there?)
No you will have to explain it to me 😉 classic Endiburgh defence (or a variant of) as well chapeau 😆
If I could be bothered, I would trawl back the pages,and quote them aS STW rules dicate. But alas I am about to go and hide in the book store so my born-again headmaster can't make me go and sing happy birthday to Jesus.
In a big money move away from Welsh rugby, songster, comedian and ex-Dallas Cowboys replacement kicker, Max Boyce has signed in a big money deal to Toulon. Local media have reported the move with the headline “Max Pour Toulon: 100 Millions” however the exact sum is shrouded in mystery.Roger Lewis, was interviewed in his secret underground, volcanic ninja-training base, stated that this was a great opportunity for Welsh rugby and just underlines how vital it is that we play Australia a further three more times next year, during the half time intervals of the Six Nations matches. The news is a further blow to supporters of the 4 ‘Regions’ as they have so far this year, already lost Ioan Gryffydd, Gareth Bale, Gelert and Kylie Minogue to foreign based clubs.
Good luck on them paying Denton if the welsh teams jump ship! I thought he wasnt that important as I mostly see him asa sub for scotland who just comes on late in the game and knocks on a lot.
Austin Healey on BTsport's rugby tonight show was quite vehement about not having the regions in the prem, citing too many games and a lack of confidence that the regions wouldn't jump back into the arms of the WRU after a season or two. Also made the point that its up to the Welsh to sort out their future, not for the English Premiership to help them out leaving the English clubs with a smaller slice of the financial pie.
Austin Healey is a ****ing idiot though
But its still a valid point, if it were the other way round would the WRU/regions be willing to help out the enemy? Don't think so somehow.
Wales needs to sort out its own problems without depending on outside help if rugby is to survive long term in Wales.
I like the HEC etc but i don't want the regions in the prem.
Looks like Flood is of to Toulouse, Leicester fans reckon Burns will be on his way to Welford Road
Pretty sure all the epl teams want the welsh to join for reasons that are not altruistic.
Heard on 5Live a few minutes ago Flood "rubbished" statements he'd signed with Toulouse and re-iterated he'd make his mind up in January. Doesn't mean he's not going of course.
Ospreys win against the city slickers 😆 horrendous conditions.
Sale beat London Irish, it was bloody horrible out there!
Fortunately the nice young man with beer on his back kept me topped up 🙂
Irish really are crap at the scrum..
Embra beat Leinster!
Habberfield looks promising at 9, better than that donkey Trebaldi. AWJ and Tipuric were the difference.
Tipuric was so good, surprised the Pie men didn't do better after the young O's prop got carded.
Biggar was good. Tipuric was excellent. Am pretty sure that many a team would want to have him playing at wing, he's that good at reading the game.
anagallis_arvensis - Member
Austin Healey is a **** idiot though
That maybe yours (and others) opinion but I think he makes a good point [url= http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/news/10531928/Austin-Healey-Money-cannot-buy-you-fighting-spirit.html ]HERE[/url]
Personally I love Wales and Welsh rugby but don't want them in the Premier League
Just read that the Italian sides have to pay €3m per year to play in the rabo!!!!
They aren't going to be able to sustain that for long. As I understand it, the rabo financials benefit the Irish quite a lot!
http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/25478970
now if I could be bothered I'd trawl back through the thread and find out who it was that stated that the stout yoeman english players would never leave whilst still in the england set up!
Helps explain why Healy is talking shite.
Take a look at Mike Phillips, the Wales scrum half, for example. I think he is quite a good player, but is he twice the player Ben Youngs is or three times the player that Lee Dickson is? I don’t think so. If anything I think those other two players are better than him, yet their respective salaries would suggest Phillips is far and away the best.
set down the crack pipe Austin. Youngs you could make case but Dickson! Jesus. Its a bit unseeley when a bit part former england scrum half/wing comes out with such shite about a multi tour multi test lion who is also the most capped welsh nine ever.
Scarlets robbed in Cork.
But it's only the Pro12.
Only the pro12!?!?!?
I may have forgotten a smiley.
@aa I for one didn't think Flood would leave with a home world cup so close. I suppose like a lot of players he thinking his club career will be extended if he's not playing internationals and that makes financial sense. Plus he may be of the view that his move will not impact his selection chances.
Can you blame him. He's playing second fiddle to a bloke who is second choice 10 for his club behind Charlie hodgson. He isn't young any more and wants to earn a few quid. Hes done his bit, good luck to him. Hopefully gives a chance for the likes of slade etc to come through earlier too.
I dont blame him at all. It explains why the premership teams want to get the welsh on board to boost revenue though. If the top team cant hold on to their star player who will be next? Oh and he's what 28? Hardly old in his prime I'd say, bit early to be topping up the pension.
AA, tigers got 22,500 to their home games in a 24,000 capacity ground,and generate the third biggest revenue from replica strips etc in Europe. Having a couple of Welsh teams in the lower reaches of the EPL isn't going to increase their revenue. 10 million euro salary cap compared to 4.5 million UK has more to do with Flood going. Can't work it out myself,why would you want to swap t midlands for the south of France? 😉
So why are all the premership teams wanting the welsh in if not to boost funds?
And we are off 😆
Can't be bothered pigface,so...AA;you are right,the Prem is desperate for the welsh,who would be massively funded by as yet undiscovered millionaires.Merry Xmas.
So as far as your concerned Wray et al are just closet welshman and the regions would be better off sticking in the rabo and playing in glasgow on a wet friday night in front of 50 people 3 dogs and a stray cat?
So why are all the premership teams wanting the welsh in if not to boost funds?
Because there are free weekends. Madness not to fill them. If the welsh don't/can't join, I expect the AP to be expanded with clubs from the EC. this hinges on a HC resolution.
And why do they want to fill free weekends? To relieve boredom or increase income?
Either, both......does it matter?
The English are going to do what's best for the English. Just as the welsh, Irish, Italian etc are trying to do what's best for them.
Why do you think the regions want to join the AP?
I agree wrecker everyone wants the best for themselves. Duckman seems to be under the impression that the premiership teams are offering a way in to the welsh out of kindness and the regions would be daft to go. At least thats how it seems to me. I dont really get his point of view. The current set up is not working for the welsh regions they are being slowly throttled by thw wru's lack of funding and control not helped by out of window wales games a week before heinekin cup games. Currently the regions are playing in a shit league that has no value, they want the opportunity to live or die thru' their own control. Sticking with the Rabo means they are srewed anyway. Why does Ducky reckon the Scots or Irish with there superior teams havent been offered a premiership place?
There's a bit more to it than that of course. One thing I'm absolutely against is a british and Irish league. I like the AP.
On another note, 12trees is playing at 10 for glaws with burns on the bench. No idea why, I think 12trees is the most over rated player in England. They're beating words 6-3. Worcs haven't won or even drawn a game all season.
There's a bit more to it than that of course.
such as? I said pages ago I doubt it'll happen and its moat likely being talked up so regons can gain leveridge over wru and epl can hold out for a better deal v europe.
With apologies to pigface.
AA:Your one eye must be blurry,I have never said the English are offering the Welsh in out of kindness:I think you lot are a bargaining chip and a way of splitting the home unions stance on the HC,nothing more.I refuse to believe the English clubs don't have sponsorship ready for their "new" cup,and so cannot reach a settlement.
Also I have asked how you will afford it,not that you would be mad to go. Feel free,I agree the rabo is crap and needs to die for many reasons,but you lot are too late to the party as far as England is concerned. It was in the papers when Saints got the North fine that it represented 20% of their GROSS annual profit,and they have bigger crowds and more euro revenue than any of the regions get.Lastly,how do they become competitive? I saw the Cardiff game,both sides would be at the wrong end of the table.
I think it's broadly accepted that the English teams cannot play in the HC as it stands due to their BT deal. They want rid of ERC for a variety of reasons, and now the French have said that they're not happy with ERC. Looks like curtains for them now. God knows what will replace them.
I think the regions are in a terrible position. They are definitely stuffed if they sign the WRU deal, but they [i]might[/i] be stuffed if they get into the prem. It could be suggested that the regions are vocal about AP talks just to coax a better deal out of the WRU.
They would be at the wrong end of the table too but they'd beat worcester and newcastle or whoever replaces worcester next season. At t least they'd have a chance of growing as opposed to just being. slowly sent bankrupt by the wru so that they can pick up the scraps for free. I would hope the people running the regions are not as daft as you think and may have costed it and maybe even have a deal or two lined up.
The English teams know they can fill the HC weekends more profitably with Welsh or South African or in fact more English teams, to be fair it's allow hurdle as ERC give such a low payout.
As for Flood, 28 isn't that young for a rugby player and if he waits till 2015 he'll be 30. You can't count on making it to 30+ as a rugby player, so why not broaden your horizons and play in France, it's been done many times before and is nothing new, been going on for 30 years probably longer.
David Moffett, the former chief executive of the WRU and the man who devised the current structure of Welsh regions, has urged them to break away and join the English Premiership to survive.In an interview with the Rugby Paper which will anger the current board, Moffett said the regions had to break away to bring the current shambles to a head.
"If I were the regions, I would be going to court before the Union. It will end up in court anyway. They've [the regions] got to bring the fight on. It has to be a major fight, one which means that a fresh start can be made in the best interests of Welsh rugby as a whole. Bring it on."
With time running out for a compromise solution - the WRU has given a deadline of December 31 - and neither side showing any sign of being willing to compromise, Moffett said the impasse was "an indictment" of the WRU hierarchy.
"Why are the WRU asking the regions to exist on half the money for competing in Europe that the Scots are getting from the same competition?" Moffett said. "You don't have to be a genius to work out what's happening here. The clear inference is that the Union want the regions to go broke so they can take the players over and put an alternative system in place."
He said the chance to join the Premiership was one "they should take it with both hands … so should the WRU because it will bring more money into the Welsh game and consequently reduce the threat of the top players leaving for France. It would be good for the English clubs and it's a winwin for the Welsh clubs. It would be a huge step in the right direction by giving the fans the type of matches they want to see."
Moffett brushed aside complaints that the Premiership deal ignored the Scots and Irish, arguing in other major sports the natural fit was between England and Wales.
"The WRU has no control over the regions other than financial so they keep the funding as low as they can. The WRU have to be extremely careful that they don't end up like Welsh football, a feeder country for other countries. It's almost like that now. The players don't know what's happening. No wonder they're saying:'If I get an offer, I'm off'.
"There are now three choices: 1: The regions continue to exist but with the English clubs. 2: The regions go out of business and the Union tries to run alternative teams which would be a disaster. 3:Wales pick their best players from clubs outside Wales and the domestic game goes back to 13 professional clubs."
Read more at http://www.espnscrum.com/wales/rugby/story/209571.html#EwRlq034JD0PTDWL.99
Happy Christmas you bunch of anti welsh, argumentative gits. 🙂
And to you a_a.
Best wishes to all.
Happy Christmas to all. Come on Glasgow 🙂
Amen,mon the weedgie!
Great Ospreys win, always good to beat the Scablets in there own back yard.
Oooos they have broken the ref 😆 I don't know why but I always find it funny. Sorry hope he isn't to hurt.
He gets marked down for that as well,poor sod.
Biggar completely lost his head against Scarlets which is worrying. I had hoped his petulant days were behind him. Quite funny when the ref moved the ball at a penalty a yard or two back inside the Ospreys half and Biggar went nuts at him. Later on the ref asked AWJ to tell his 10 to hold his mouth otherwise he'll start giving away penalties. Hibbard was getting knocked all over the place and Dirkson had a tough old day. An interesting game for the derby niggle and individual battles going on.
Northampton were fined £60,000 by Premiership Rugby for releasing North outside the agreed International Rugby Board window for Wales' 30-26 defeat to Australia on November 30.Mallinder revealed that fine was a "one-off" that will cover the entirety of North's three-year Northampton contract and confirmed the Saints would continue to release North for all Wales matches.
Interesting way for the fine to pan out. Still a hefty fine for 3 years of internationals and questionable if it should be enforced when English players are exempt from the rule. Probably a sensible compromise to just get on with these and keep both parties reasonably happy, and credit to Northampton for supporting North
SOB out of 6N. Balls
With Healy looking a bit doubtful for the start, if not the whole campaign, that's not looking so good for us BM. 😐
Welcome to Scotland DD,I have switched to wine from beer as part of a training regime in case I get called up. I wonder if there is a points deduction built into the 6n for not raising a team?
Ireland unlikely to have trouble finding enough back row forwards, Chris Henry is likely to be fit again, at 22 Jordi Murphy looks like the real deal at Leinster and one of the the reasons they decided to reduce the salary on offer to Heaslip which may prompt his move to France. SOB a massive loss though.
Halfpenny off to Toulon apparently. I thought we had known this for months.
Look on the bright side you irishers, Wales are being renamed as the French Foreign Legion for this years six nations.
Good piece in the times on Sunday about how home nation players will not be improved by going to France.
@aa will be intersting to see what Armitage does. I look forward to seeing h/p. French season starts in August.
Whichever of the Armitages is the chunkier one,he should be nailed on for the England 7 shirt,judging by hiney/French league performances.
That'd be Steffon. Not seen much of him tbh.