Oh sweet sanity!

Pretty soon I can stop referring to them as 'Wycombe Wasps'. If this comes off I will be the happiest man in North London, and have three premiership teams within an hours travel.

http://www.espnscrum.com/premiership-2012-13/rugby/story/179241.html

'Don't get me wrong, the Welsh would have won anyway'

This is phrase that has been winding me up the past week.

Most commentators/columnists/armchair generals (a group I am clearly part of) have been saying it. 'Dont get me wrong, Wales would have won anyway, but that (insert expletive here) Walsh couldn't ref a scrum to save his life, and he clearly hates the English!'.

My annoyance is twofold. The statement of the title is, at its basis, true. Regardless of who was reffing thaty day, (deep swallowing of pride) Wales were simply awesome. The front-row on a good reffing day would have probably torn the South African scrum apart and their backs man for man (maybe with the exception of Farrell and Biggar) were, and simply are, better than us. Their back-row was electric. I have not seen balance to a back-row like that since Hill/Back/Dallaglio. And here it goes, I think they might actually be better. The old England trio used to just dog it, there was no where they would not put their head in the effort to get a turnover or slow opposition ball down. The Welsh boys do that, with the added bonus of them all being 'footballers'. With Lydiate still to return, this could well be the best back-row of modern times.

So this is my first point, Wales ARE the better team. That should be the first and last thing out of any commentators mouth. So why is it always used as a caviat to the main complaint about Walsh?

This leads me to my second point. The scrums have been a mess for about 4-5 seasons now. I was there in Swansea last year when Saracens played the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium in the H-Cup. This was the infamous game that sarries DoR Mark McCall announced:

"The scrums were carnage tonight. In the old days you used to practice scrum moves but coaches have stopped doing that as there is a free-kick or penalty at every scrum so there is no need for those moves."

You could argue things have got marginally better. You could but you'd be an idiot. Thanks to being able to hear the refs calls nowadays, you could clearly hear Walsh putting a pregnant pause in between the 'touch-set' phase of the scrum call, precisely what the new calls were brought in to get rid of!

So my second point, why are we surprised this area was poorly managed? The character that is Steve Walsh aside, refs have not got a bleedin clue how to manage a scrum, and haven't had for some time. The reason as to why it has become an issue again is because England lost. The same England that two seasons ago would have bitten your hand off it offered a second place finish (something they went on to achieve) whilst being in this transition phase. An England team that despite the result last weekend, I'm still very excited about.

Rant over. Wales are better. That is all that matters in the short term and its great for the British Lions. Yes the Welsh game was a lesson for England, but let it be exactly that. As in education, when a lesson is delivered you take the positives you can from the experience and look to see what areas you can improve on. You don't wail and bitch about the teacher regardless of how poor they were as compensation for your own shortcomings.

Woodward criticises Lancaster/Media relationship. Blogger laughs very hard indeed.

 

This from the man who employed Alistair Campbell to 'manage' media relations during the Lions series to NZ  in 2005, also announcing at a press conference he believed the Lions had the edge over the Kiwis because 'winning teams play in red'. The 2003 World Cup win has never felt so long ago.

http://www.espnscrum.com/england/rugby/story/179118.html

Rugby Simulator 2013

Reality TV usually means fake boobs, limited intelligence and 'real life' situations. We are meant to be jealous of these people. I personally just don't care. Admittedly I do have a cheeky watch of  Made in Chelsea though. Binky, big fan.

The above I could definitely watch for a hour every Tuesday, with adverts. No fake tan, no 'created reality', just sheer trench-view. Whilst the speed and power is impressive, being this close to the action lets us see that speed aside, the technical skills are the same throughout the sport. Hats off to FOX for getting us that bit closer to action and making a perpetual cripple feel like part of the match!

Thanks to my good pal Chris Aukett for making me aware of this. His hair is glorious.

Super Rugby, how you've been missed

Super Rugby is well and truly back with last year's whipping boys the Auckland Blues playing some incredible rugby and new boys Southern Kings giving the bookies a headache through some very impressive opening performances, not looking like the walkover everyone assumed them to be.

The tie of the matches so far was the one below. Chiefs vs Highlanders in round two. What a game. Check out the wheels on number 13, Tim Nanai Williams. He appears to accelerate whilst breaking stride, either an optical illusion or just bloody amazing. People were concerned about the Sonny Bill Williams shaped hole in the centre at the beginning of the season.
Suffice to say, not anymore.

Then four come along at once...

Below is the fruit of my shameless approach to having pictures with as many current and historically significant players as humanly possible. This was at the St Columba's College annual Sportsman's Dinner, always a good bash and an excellent fundraiser put together by Jimmy Lewis, our Old Boys 'Organiser-in-Chief'.  Rick O'Shea PA'd the event really well and I will be skimming down the Sky channels to catch him on Scrum V and RaboDirect commentary much more than I already do. He was a very funny man. 

First up, my rugby hero, Schalk Brits. Players like him and Keith Wood give a two fingers up to those effeminate backs and cynical pundits who believe a front row's role is to bend over and push, occasionally scrape back a ball in a scrum and throw the odd lineout. He is the rugby equivalent of Gareth Bale, and that is no exaggeration. 

Former Scotland international and British Lion Scott Hastings, what a bloke. Spoke to him about the local rugby scene as well as his role as an analyst for RTE. Gave a good account of his depth of rugby knowledge when being cross examined by the somewhat inebriated Old Boy crowd.

Former England Prop Victor Ubogu next. Hilarious man, especially when he dropped a clanger about some professional rugby coaches being 'too teacher like' not realising there were about 30 teachers in the room at the time.

Finally former Scotland international, Grand Slam winner and British Lion, Craig Chalmers. I love his articles in Rugby World, and he liked it when I referred to his pieces as containing 'brutal honesty'. He does some punditry for Sky Sports 7s coverage and he has just taken over as Head Coach at Chinnor RFC in Oxfordshire, who currently reside in National 2 South. Could not have been friendlier.

Credit to the game this lot. They didn't sit in the corner looking like they wanted to be anywhere else other than the Hilton on the A41 near Bushey, getting involved and working the crowd well into the late hours. In the future if you see me out and making a beeline for a professional player, iPhone at the ready, please intercept me. I am very wary of gaining a reputation as being the rugby equivalent of a screaming teenage girl at a One Direction concert.

Depression...big boys do cry

This is without doubt one of the most powerful things I have ever seen on youtube (apart from the one with that cat sticking its hands in the air).

John Kirwan was a feared rugby player to say the least and has turned himself into a very capable coach too. How humbling to see his warts and all insight into his struggle with depression, something that affects signifcantly more people than those diagnosed. As with Gareth Thomas coming out, it takes men who don't fit a stereotype to make people realise that stereotypes are in fact a load of s**t.

Its thirteen minutes long but please take the time to watch it. You won't regret it.