Have always found it hard to get enthusiastic about Hughes, though I can't explain why. One backrower who has really impressed me this year is Guy Thompson of Wasps. He is not even a regular starter but always seems to have a great game when he has the opportunity. Fast, smart and tough and with some ball skills too. He is 31 now and not likely to crack Eddie's radar but I think he could do a job at the national level as well as, or better than, some of the names currently batted around (Armand, Wilson, Graham, Ross etc..)
(His teammate Christian Wade should be on the England squad too. I'd like to see a back three of Daly/May/Wade - total gas/strike power to burn.)
Apart from the fact that May is just a fast muppet.
Wade being left out will be one those Sinbad things - I'm afraid he is destined to applauded by Twickenham crowds making consolation appearances for the Barbarians or non cap England games in a few years.
If he is picked for England his wing will get an aerial bombardment - but we know its coming - it might sound over simple but as soon as the forwards form up for the restart - just swap where he stands for a bigger back.
Yes. May is no Einstein. But he does play with enthusiasm, is lightening quick and a proven try scorer.
Yes. Wade is short. But he has improved under the high ball tremendously and often outleaps taller opponents. It's a pity he is still judged primarily on his size by many. He still has the reputation as a poor defender, simply because he is small, but when you watch him play his defence is really quite good. He is lightening quick too and a clinical finisher - maybe the best all-round wing in the PL.
Wade’s got even less chance now. The Barbarian backs (aside from being faster and more skilful) outmuscled England by some margin. I’d expect EJ will double down and pick bulk at every available opportunity.
Lizard wrote:Anyone know where I can find a good quality full replay video?
I don't think any exist - the BBC's highlights were pretty comprehensive though (about an hour long) - just watch it on mute, as they were utterly unbearable
Sky Sports website possibly?
Not Sky NZ. I’ll try Sky UK and BBC but might need to VPN around geoblocking.
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Dominating the SHMB
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Which Tyler wrote:
I don't think any exist - the BBC's highlights were pretty comprehensive though (about an hour long) - just watch it on mute, as they were utterly unbearable
Sky Sports website possibly?
Not Sky NZ. I’ll try Sky UK and BBC but might need to VPN around geoblocking.
I R Geech wrote:Wade’s got even less chance now. The Barbarian backs (aside from being faster and more skilful) outmuscled England by some margin. I’d expect EJ will double down and pick bulk at every available opportunity.
He really didn't pick bulk in the BaaBaas fixture, and his normal midfield lacks a certain bulk, which makes it odder our tactics seem so reliant on bulk
I haven't seen it, thankfully chose not to stay up to watch it, but it seems like the Wales SA game was a bit crap. Anyone who saw it reckon that either side would have done better against the Baabaas?
Raggs wrote:I haven't seen it, thankfully chose not to stay up to watch it, but it seems like the Wales SA game was a bit crap. Anyone who saw it reckon that either side would have done better against the Baabaas?
It was dire and both teams would have got dismantled by that Barbarians side, but that is with the acknowledgement that it was a shadow side for both (even more so than England's was), in a very different timezone, in front of a luke-warm crowd due to high ticket prices and no US involvement. It was the very definition of a pointless test match.
Raggs wrote:I haven't seen it, thankfully chose not to stay up to watch it, but it seems like the Wales SA game was a bit crap. Anyone who saw it reckon that either side would have done better against the Baabaas?
It was dire and both teams would have got dismantled by that Barbarians side, but that is with the acknowledgement that it was a shadow side for both (even more so than England's was), in a very different timezone, in front of a luke-warm crowd due to high ticket prices and no US involvement. It was the very definition of a pointless test match.
Puja
It was the worst game I've seen this year, and by some distance (though I did simply give up on 50 minutes so maybe it improved)
Raggs wrote:I haven't seen it, thankfully chose not to stay up to watch it, but it seems like the Wales SA game was a bit crap. Anyone who saw it reckon that either side would have done better against the Baabaas?
It was dire and both teams would have got dismantled by that Barbarians side, but that is with the acknowledgement that it was a shadow side for both (even more so than England's was), in a very different timezone, in front of a luke-warm crowd due to high ticket prices and no US involvement. It was the very definition of a pointless test match.
Puja
It was the worst game I've seen this year, and by some distance (though I did simply give up on 50 minutes so maybe it improved)
It did improve, but that's more of a comment on the first 50 than suggesting the last 30 was worth your time. The only reason I made it through was that I was watching on delay and could fast forward through huge swathes of scrum resets and aimless kicking.
The winning try was hilarious - SA scrum-half charged down, they regather, reset, the ball is passed back to the 9 to clear and he's again charged down, the ball flies off towards the winger who gets hit in the face and the ricochet lands for the Welsh hooker to flop on in for the try.
The ref had a total mare when it came to the scrums, there's no way I can see that game did other than regress rugby in the USA. Hopefully we'll stop taking matches there and the US can crack on growing their own game
Puja wrote:
It was dire and both teams would have got dismantled by that Barbarians side, but that is with the acknowledgement that it was a shadow side for both (even more so than England's was), in a very different timezone, in front of a luke-warm crowd due to high ticket prices and no US involvement. It was the very definition of a pointless test match.
Puja
It was the worst game I've seen this year, and by some distance (though I did simply give up on 50 minutes so maybe it improved)
The winning try was hilarious - SA scrum-half charged down, they regather, reset, the ball is passed back to the 9 to clear and he's again charged down, the ball flies off towards the winger who gets hit in the face and the ricochet lands for the Welsh hooker to flop on in for the try.
Digby wrote:The ref had a total mare when it came to the scrums, there's no way I can see that game did other than regress rugby in the USA. Hopefully we'll stop taking matches there and the US can crack on growing their own game
After the delight served up by Saracens vs Newcastle in Philadelphia, it's a wonder the game in the US is surviving this "help".
I mentioned on the N.America board that Washington are actually setting up a pro team to enter Major League Rugby in 2020 and have been investigating whether they want to bring that forward to 2019 with an eye to piggybacking off the back of this game. If I were them, I'd be sticking to 2020 and hoping everyone had forgotten about this by then!
Digby wrote:The ref had a total mare when it came to the scrums, there's no way I can see that game did other than regress rugby in the USA. Hopefully we'll stop taking matches there and the US can crack on growing their own game
After the delight served up by Saracens vs Newcastle in Philadelphia, it's a wonder the game in the US is surviving this "help".
I mentioned on the N.America board that Washington are actually setting up a pro team to enter Major League Rugby in 2020 and have been investigating whether they want to bring that forward to 2019 with an eye to piggybacking off the back of this game. If I were them, I'd be sticking to 2020 and hoping everyone had forgotten about this by then!
Puja
I like the way we offer help in the form of hoping beyond hope we can cut into the US sport market, no ulterior motive to be seen no siree. I also like our odd belief that in the event of there being an interest in rugby they'll be less interested in US teams and keen to get behind teams from areas of Europe they've never heard of
Digby wrote:The ref had a total mare when it came to the scrums, there's no way I can see that game did other than regress rugby in the USA. Hopefully we'll stop taking matches there and the US can crack on growing their own game
After the delight served up by Saracens vs Newcastle in Philadelphia, it's a wonder the game in the US is surviving this "help".
I mentioned on the N.America board that Washington are actually setting up a pro team to enter Major League Rugby in 2020 and have been investigating whether they want to bring that forward to 2019 with an eye to piggybacking off the back of this game. If I were them, I'd be sticking to 2020 and hoping everyone had forgotten about this by then!
Puja
I like the way we offer help in the form of hoping beyond hope we can cut into the US sport market, no ulterior motive to be seen no siree. I also like our odd belief that in the event of there being an interest in rugby they'll be less interested in US teams and keen to get behind teams from areas of Europe they've never heard of
To be fair to them, that is the way that it's worked in football. MLS does very well for itself, but the EPL gets a lot of money from the US television rights. Not quite sure it'll work the same in rugby though.
The Wales vs SA game wasn't even an attempt to help though - that was just a symptom of the stupid US rugby politics. They paid both teams a sizeable fee to appear, with the idea that they'd get a huge crowd, lots of interest and would turn a heslthy profit. However, the tickets were overpriced, the marketing was poor, and no-one seemed to realise that Wales vs SA wouldn't be a huge draw to people who were neither Welsh nor South African, so I'd be surprised if they actually broke even. Would've made far more sense to pay a slightly larger bung to Wales and have Wales vs USA.
Puja wrote:
After the delight served up by Saracens vs Newcastle in Philadelphia, it's a wonder the game in the US is surviving this "help".
I mentioned on the N.America board that Washington are actually setting up a pro team to enter Major League Rugby in 2020 and have been investigating whether they want to bring that forward to 2019 with an eye to piggybacking off the back of this game. If I were them, I'd be sticking to 2020 and hoping everyone had forgotten about this by then!
Puja
I like the way we offer help in the form of hoping beyond hope we can cut into the US sport market, no ulterior motive to be seen no siree. I also like our odd belief that in the event of there being an interest in rugby they'll be less interested in US teams and keen to get behind teams from areas of Europe they've never heard of
To be fair to them, that is the way that it's worked in football. MLS does very well for itself, but the EPL gets a lot of money from the US television rights. Not quite sure it'll work the same in rugby though.
The Wales vs SA game wasn't even an attempt to help though - that was just a symptom of the stupid US rugby politics. They paid both teams a sizeable fee to appear, with the idea that they'd get a huge crowd, lots of interest and would turn a heslthy profit. However, the tickets were overpriced, the marketing was poor, and no-one seemed to realise that Wales vs SA wouldn't be a huge draw to people who were neither Welsh nor South African, so I'd be surprised if they actually broke even. Would've made far more sense to pay a slightly larger bung to Wales and have Wales vs USA.
Puja
The talk is the promotional arm who arranged the Wales match could go bankrupt from the game, I don't know if that's to avoid the appearance fees
And football is very different to really any other sport, they could play NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL games in my back garden and unless they gave me free beer (and not mass produced Yank rubbish) I wouldn't watch, and I'd assume it's the same there for rugby
Digby wrote:
I like the way we offer help in the form of hoping beyond hope we can cut into the US sport market, no ulterior motive to be seen no siree. I also like our odd belief that in the event of there being an interest in rugby they'll be less interested in US teams and keen to get behind teams from areas of Europe they've never heard of
To be fair to them, that is the way that it's worked in football. MLS does very well for itself, but the EPL gets a lot of money from the US television rights. Not quite sure it'll work the same in rugby though.
The Wales vs SA game wasn't even an attempt to help though - that was just a symptom of the stupid US rugby politics. They paid both teams a sizeable fee to appear, with the idea that they'd get a huge crowd, lots of interest and would turn a heslthy profit. However, the tickets were overpriced, the marketing was poor, and no-one seemed to realise that Wales vs SA wouldn't be a huge draw to people who were neither Welsh nor South African, so I'd be surprised if they actually broke even. Would've made far more sense to pay a slightly larger bung to Wales and have Wales vs USA.
Puja
The talk is the promotional arm who arranged the Wales match could go bankrupt from the game, I don't know if that's to avoid the appearance fees
And football is very different to really any other sport, they could play NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL games in my back garden and unless they gave me free beer (and not mass produced Yank rubbish) I wouldn't watch, and I'd assume it's the same there for rugby
The difference is that there is a pretty solid base of participation and fans of rugby in the US, whereas there's bugger all baseball in England. So there is some method to the madness.
The promotional arm was in trouble before the game, mostly due to a history of this kind of idiocy. They set up a Rugby Channel. That you had to pay extra to subscribe to. In America! That's barely profitable in New Zealand, so I'm not sure why they're taken aback that it's losing money hand over fist.
Both SA and Wales are already paid, so they're fine. USAR on the other hand is likely to need a $10m bailout from the IRB, as they built their budget around the promotional arm paying them regular dividends which has not happened. On the bright side, the RFU are also one of the stakeholders in the promotional arm because they wanted to turn a profit from a Tier 2 nation's television rights, so they've lost out for their greed too.
