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Extraordinary, absolutely gutted for Italy, they deserved that. A draw is a great result but that’s one that got away.
You cannot to the best of my knowledge charge down a penalty. And France should have been penalised for doing so. That would have taken Italy ten metres closer to the line and settled any nerves the gamesmanship caused.
Great great display of running Rugby by running on to the ball. Which begs one very very big question for the England set up.
At the very least the kick should have been retaken. Take nothing away from Italy, they got my show on the road and the festival of free money begins all over again. ( albeit not as lucrative as the World Cup as real odds compilers are being used here).Don’t believe so Sam no. I’m sure one of the commentators was talking rubbish about that after Ford got mugged off on the conversion against Wales. Made some reference to it later on a penalty.
You make a fair point about Italy improving Sam. People often mention Georgia but they aren’t really doing enough to justify being in the conversation. They are highly passionate about the game there and people do know their stuff. I was there when England and Scotland had that ridiculous draw a few years back and had a good chat with a Georgian bloke about rugby on the plane home. But all that said, I think any expansion is a way off. It is a shame but I just don’t see it.
There is a standard style of play in union, be it at club or international level and those that play to it stood out at the World Cup. Italy and several of the minor teams enjoyed plenty of good moments by sticking relentlessly to this system of play. The beauty of it is, it’s a great leveller regards teams who should be gulfs apart. The fact is the defence cannot cross the gain line, the further back the players stand, the harder the momentum of the player running onto the ball. You’ll have noticed the speed of the Italian players in the latter stages of the game. The passing was well drilled and confident and half backs and ball players knew without looking exactly where their intended passes were to be aimed. They were a coat of paint away from pulling off a deserved win and only gamesmanship grabbed victory from their grasps.
I am minded to include a Scotland Handicap victory v Italy in a X Sport Double bet this weekend.
My very general assumption is that the Scots can beat the hosts at their own game, their place kicking is more reliable and possibly their discipline too. Can Italy really put two solid performances together? What say the Savvies?
Sorry to bore you with this epistle, but hopefully there will be a winning bet added to it later on…..
I’ve been to two wakes this week.
Both of the chaps were forwards and teammates Tyrone Woodward was a larger than life Welsh prop forward whilst Andy Darke was an Englishman.
Darkie was a spirited sportsman liked a pint and then another and absolutely loved sport. He went to test matches and particularly those played at Trent bridge. Tyrone was an enthusiastic coach and prided himself in bringing on the colts and also put the emphasis on teaching them the social side of the sport organising parties and activities on a regular basis. He lost his wife unexpectedly seven years ago and everything seemed to change for him from thereon in. He’d already retired from lorry driving by then and suddenly decided he’d have a total change in life.
He was reknowed for a near theatrical approach to his “apre rugby” hi jinks and his renditions of Delilah were legendary in the clubhouse and although it is frowned upon these days, His impression of Mr T at a fancy dress party was amazing. Mr T as Tyrone would have been very interesting indeed.
His “change of direction” was a massive suprise given he’d been a lorry driver crane driving Docker and an insurance salesman. He decided he reach out to his theatrical side bought a load of costumes and became an entertainer on a cruise ship. His fortunes took a huge setback when Ty suffered a massive heart attack on his maiden voyage.
Flown to Southampton hospital he suffered a stroke and returned home, dream shattered admission to a care home followed and ironically the home backed on to the Felixstowe rugby club. The effects of a stroke as we know can be very disabling and wheelchair bound Tyrone was in an alien landscape having played both codes of Rugby beyond the age of sixty five. He was noted bending the ears in the clubhouses of Ipswich and Thetford of both Jason Leonard and Ray French!! One thing Tyrone was very good at was talking people to a standstill so he was made for selling things. He’d often “ corner someone, engage them then his prey was trapped and unless they had very good diversion skills they’d be hemmed in under Tyrone’s shallacking for the next half hour before being led away shell shocked at the salvo of words and the sheer intensity of his conversation.
If a referee had had a particularly poor match club members would lead them over to Ty and introduce him as the club chairman and leave him being lectured initially gently by the verbal legend who was of course not the chairman at all.
Like I said Darkie was a heavy drinker who’d regale us at work of his exploits at darts the previous night. We never knew the outcome of the match just how many pints he’d consumed and it was never less than double figures. His drinking never got in the way of the job and whilst he may have been hung over on many a day, he switched on to totally to his craft and as a team leader he excelled at both man management and detection. He pissed off management because his knowledge of a ships manifest was exceptional and his understanding of both imports and exports were second to none. We had a lot of management who were pen pushers or fast trackers with no operational skills no interpersonal skills and no knowledge of entries or shipping or containers, however much training they’d undergone. Darkies analytical skills and knowledge of the industry meant he’d often run rings around them and as he was also a beer drinking maverick He tended to also infuriate them. We’d often land jobs they had overlooked. And despite his success, going against the grain didn’t endear him to his superiors. He retired and returned on a part time basis for a brief while but not being in the middle of things didn’t suit and with a few health scares he retired fully about five years ago.
He’d always looked out for his staff and often went that extra yard to reel in anyone going off the rails and would help put them back on track. He helped me when my circumstances changed and I had to go part time after 27 years in the job to look after my three year old.
I was hugely greatful and never went back full time.
He was an adopted son of the parish of Walton a very large part of the town and it’s high street a village track a century is now the main road leading towards the twin villages of Trimley Saint Martin and saint Mary. Along this road is the towns comprehensive school and on the school run I’d often see the retired Darkie sat on the bench outside st Mary’s church Walton. He’d be waiting for the bus to corals where he’d go to place his bets for the day and play on that awful fotb machine. On the way back from school I’d pull over and join him for a debrief. Retirement had not been kind at all to him and the security blanket and sobering effect of responsibility had kept him away from the abyss for many years but now that blanket like a carpet had been pulled swiftly away from under his feet.
I’m convinced he’d been one of a handful of gamblers who’d kept the local corals afloat in the high street. But as his health and appearance careered out of check even they turned him away one day.
Another stroke victim and he finished his days in a care home at a cruelly young age barely reaching mid sixties.
Whatever he’d done to piss off his managers it didn’t bear them failing to inform staff correctly of his demise. They also failed to send condolences to next of kin and also failed to strend his funeral in December an unforgivable faux pax.
His funeral was small by the usual standards and his wake similarly down in numbers.
So I contacted many of his old colleagues and the teams he played for including the rugby club and darts team and rearranged his wake for last Tuesday. By a huge coincidence Tyrone’s funeral took place on the same day and the Rugby club were brilliantly instrumental in not only organising Tyrone’s wake in the clubhouse but a large number went on to Andy’s wake at the local pub in town the Grosvenor. Where they joined the darts team and some of Darkie’s workmates to celebrate and drink to his life.Not at all Sam, a great read as ever. You grass roots rugby players are a different breed. Here in the West country one of my local pubs is run by an ex-league player from ‘oop north’. A nicer man you could not meet and a great landlord, he’s a complete natural. Union rules around here of course and he’s fully embraced the other code, always showing international matches and the Premiership.
I am struggling with the Italy match, Scotland should be too strong but at home Italy could keep it close, although they may have one eye on next week’s trip to Cardiff which despite being away is surely a good opportunity for a win, especially with it being a wooden spoon playoff in all probability. I wouldn’t put anyone off either handicap, go with your gut.
As for England, every logical bone in my body says we’ll get pasted by an Ireland side who are far superior in just about every way imaginable. However, and I am probably going to end up with not just egg on my face here but a good half dozen, there is something in me that has a feeling about this one. I don’t know why, I did not see us beating Scotland last week so it’s not blind optimism. Back us at 4/1 with a saver on the half time lead at 5/2. If you (quite rightly) think I’ve taken leave of my senses then England HT, Ireland FT at 11/2 is the play.
As ever, I will make it clear that I don’t punt, but always enjoy reading about others and doing a bit of ‘paper trading’ myself.
Some very interesting contemplative notes there, Sam. Sport is superfluous in the greater scheme of things but at least it offers us all an escape from life’s harshness.
Gone for a longish 5/1 + Double Chance interest bet in todays matches
Italy v Scotland Under 48 Points
England v Ireland – Caelan Doris Try Scorer
Scotland may decide to save themselves for the Ireland game and take a more containment approach. Doris should have opportunities at back of scrum to get over at Twickenham
Your instincts were right there, Richard! Another uneven Irish performance and England deserved to nick it in the end Exciting but fairly scrappy game not up to NZ/Boks standard. Still would expect Ireland to bounce back and beat the Scots handsomely.
Holy f*** where did that come from?
Best day of the championship so far and I’d have said that if we lost.
“Maybe Sam will be more forgiving towards Borthwick now
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Tremendous result and I certainly enjoyed the outcome.
Good to see the attack minded approach in the first half. Some excellent defence at times. Two teams who wanted to play the game properly.
Credit to Borthwick where it is due.
I think he was also pleasantly surprised/ relieved that he could play a part in untapping England’s potential.
A win in France is the next step and certainly was the match I thought they might come good. The flat line defence conceded a penalty after two minutes to Ireland. A change of tactics from defence to attack showed great intent and a big change of course. Sinfield deserves plenty of credit in ringing second half changes.Grand Slams are hard work, two in a row even more so. Ireland were on 11 match wins in a row in the 6N. These things do weigh heavily sometimes. They still nearly pulled it off too, if we’re being ultra critical, England should probably have won by more but I will happily grab any win against Ireland with both hands. I thought we should have got more out of the first half and that we would come to regret it. Thankfully I was wrong. Amazing what can happen if you attack and score these things called tries
Even at the end, it was the attacking intent that won it. We were still 30-40 metres out after the lineout but got right up there, won the first penalty advantage which took some pressure off, then got better positioned one that made the point blank drop goal a sensible call. Some have said we should have gone for the bonus point try but we actually had 14 due to injury and match winning penalties can be missed, just ask Garbisi.
Speaking of Garbisi, I was pleased to see him make amends yesterday. He even saw the funny side when the ball fell off the tee again.
Need 46 pts between Wales/ France to get a small 9/1 double over the line (after Brom & BTTS) in the hope that Wales can at least contribute a decent measure to total points tally, Good game expected!
I’ve only just got home, good start for you Zilzal with more than a point a minute. I do think this will be close.
Ireland were totally over-rated; took England (-11), and was never worried. Rugby is actually a minority sport in Ireland, but because so few countries play it to any standard we can seem relatively decent. Imports are a big help also. England were always likely to bully us at home, but why Conor murray kicked the ball away with a minute to go is beyond me.
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