MichaelRobartes

Sinckler doesn't seem to be the guy he was right now. Hopefully he'll rediscover some form in France. Good for Bristol to get a high earner off the books. Frees up space elsewhere.

Sam Larner explains it far better than me. Such a pity we can't have this level of analysis on TV:

14 hours ago, And Its Smith said:

Can someone who knows more about rugby than me tell me why England would kick the ball in the air with four mins left instead of keeping it? Commentators didn’t even acknowledge it 

Not sure on the specific example as I didnt see the game last night, but it depends on the situation. England are an off-ball team, so their whole scheme is to kick the ball away and use their kick chase and defence to pressure the opposition into mistakes. Then you get territory or possession in a more advanced area of the field.

You can't put the ball up the jumper for four minutes, especially at the end of a game, when all your forwards are fooked and refs are looking for sealing off or other ruck infringements. You kick the ball (ideally into the stand to wind down the clock a bit) and you trust your defence when they're set and wait for an error.

For me George was absolutely world class. We've maybe forgotten because he hit the heights between maybe 2010 and 2014. 

End of an era for Wales. I'm really excited to see what they build from here.

36 minutes ago, northsomersetred said:

I missed this during the game, will he be cited for this?

 

I don't think so. I'm surprised it wasn't picked up, but I thought the ref was really good overall. Pretty consistent.

Ah lads. Now you resurrect the thread 

Well done to England. By far the better side. We got murdered up front. JVDF, Bundee and Crowley the only positives for us. Should've lost by way more.

Unreal game. Fair play to Wales. Retirements, injuries and bad vibes everywhere but they don't give up. Scotland were great first half but I think they still have a bit of fragility about them. 

Great first weekend. 

Good win for England. Few defensive hiccups but Felix's system will take a bit of time to bed in. Italy excellent first half and fell off second. Glad they got the score at the end. Deserved the LBP for their first half display.

20 minutes ago, spudski said:

So true...

 

Heinomite. Bloody Leinster fans...

Here we go again.

No analysis, just vibes. Jack Crowley is better than Sexton.

I will not be taking questions.

24 minutes ago, phantom said:

Two words "Bristol Sport"

The rugby club, like the football club is so entwined with other companies it is a minefield just to purchase one of the clubs

That could turn out a good thing if it ends up protecting the clubs from becoming sportswashing projects.

Just now, old_eastender said:

Yep, it was poor from Max BUT you also have to look at the woeful defending from their throw-in where we just seemed to switch off.

Agreed. It was a shocking mistake, but we definitely switched off there as well. Terrible goal to give away all round.

How does that deflected shot not go in? We are cursed.

BBC reporting it's the first time India and Aussie have lost home tests on the same day.

5 minutes ago, 1960maaan said:

Stats 

The previous record was Australia overturning a deficit of 65. I think that was about 60 years ago as well.

Brilliant win for England. Two of the biggest individual turnarounds I've seen in a test from Pope and Hartley.

Siraj charging down the wicket in that match situation 

To be fair England weren't very good for the first couple of days. It would be a great win given the first innings deficit and the injury to Leach. 

Would love to see them keep Foakes in as well. I know it's been discussed here a lot but having a proper keeper makes such a difference.

Great innings from Pope. What sort of lead gives England half a chance?

Great move for him. Racing seem to be in a bit of a transitional phase but I think he'll do well there with Lancaster. Top player who helped steer non-elite England teams to a World Cup final and SF and didn't deserve the rubbish he got from fans at the end. Playing 112 tests by 32 is freakish. The sort of player I'd hate facing as a Munster and Ireland fan. I can't really give him a bigger compliment than that. Nobody hates you until they rate you.

England should put everything on the two Smiths now. Fin was annoyingly superb against us last weekend.

Really worrying from Bristol. Being a player down doesn't stop you from hitting rucks and doing the basics.

57 minutes ago, Northern Red said:

I see Sinckler has been left out of England's 6 Nations squad, which would appear to confirm that he'll be off to France at the end of the summer.

That'll free up a decent chunk of Bristol's wage budget. If it's a straight choice between their two England props, I'd much rather keep Genge.

16 minutes ago, phantom said:

Seems a real extreme to bring in a side from so far away, I can't imagine it's too cost effective to be travelling that far?

It almost feels like the last throw of the dice to create a competitive competition

Do the sides all play home and away against each other?

I think it was a no-brainer really. The SA union have been interested in European rugby for a while. The travel isn't ideal, but their teams were playing in Super Rugby against Kiwi and Aussie sides before so they've always had to travel. This gives them access to the more-lucrative European market and synchronises their season with Europe, which is handy when you've a lot of internationals playing there.

Our league has always been talked down, mostly because there weren't enough tight matches (the Welsh and Scots haven't always been competitive, for example) and Leinster usually won pretty handily. The SA teams give us harder games and mini tours to SA which has - so far - been great.

No, there are 16 teams in total. You play home and away against the other teams from your country and once against the rest, alternating home and away each season. It's not ideal and I was sceptical, but I have probably watched about two thirds of the matches on average for about 5 or 6 years and the quality has gone up pretty sharply since the SA sides were introduced in my opinion.

45 minutes ago, phantom said:

How does a South African team get to enter a European competition?

Almost as confusing as Australia being in the Eurovision song contest :laugh:

Because they're part of the United Rugby Championship with the Irish, Italian, Scottish and Welsh sides. It's been fantastic for the league and a few new rivalries like Stormers and Munster have already grown. I think it'll have the same effect on Europe (if the competition lasts that long) and is worth persevering with.