Major League Rugby

[Mellsblue]

I’m sure all you unwashed, lefty snowflakes have already seen this in the Morning Sta, sorry, Guardian, but just in case you’ve been too busy saving the planet by smugly eating your vegan lunch, whilst taking offence that someone in a diesel 4x4 has ventured into your safe space with their pollutants and noise, whilst all the time knowing that you are superior to them as, even though you too have a combustion engine powered car, one day as soon as it’s in your price range and assuming you don’t give all your money to charity and/or the JC4PM election fund, you will buy an electric car so as to give a physical representation of your superiority when not eating your made to taste like meat vegan lunch, here is the link:

https://amp.theguardian.com/sport/2019/ ... ssion=true




Yes. I’m very bored. Still, it’s nearly time for me to head home in my big engined diesel car, for my steak (from Argentina as ive heard about this carbon footprint malarkey and I assume bigger is better, also the poor buggers need a pick-me-up after we have them a right good flogging over the Falklands....good times, a bit like the glory days of the Empire, no doubt) and veal supper, served with triple cooked chips (I don’t think they taste any better cooked this way but it’s three times the amount of fossil fuel burnt and the sooner it’s gone the sooner we can move on to that green energy stuff) and buttered spinach (flown in from NZ because I’ve got to keep my carbon footprint bigger than Tarquin’s next door, must check where the butter is from).

Did I mention I was bored?

[Mellsblue]

Foden at 13:

[Puja]

Foden at 13:

Foden making responsible use of his backs coach role I see! From the looks of the bench, I think he's covering 10 as well, as they've got a scrum-half, centre and winger as finishers subs.

Someone to look out for is the 22, Seimou Smith. He's a crossover athlete, coming from college football to rugby (with a brief stop-off in rugby league before coming back to the right side when RUNY formed) and is supposed to be massively promising.

If you want to see how your new second team goes, it's going to be live on Facebook at 10pm tomorrow: https://www.facebook.com/usmlr/videos/543071166189057/. There's the NOLA vs Toronto one on before it at 8pm. Sadly, the Seattle vs Glendale one, which I think will be game of the round, is on at stupid o'clock in the morning due to time zones.

Puja

[Puja]

Apologies - the RUNY game isn't until tomorrow. I believed Facebook, who have just admitted that they had the video set for the wrong day.

Watching the NOLA vs Toronto game - very entertaining match so far and definitely a step up from last season. NOLA leading 24-14 and have secured the TBP. Sadly the crowd's only around 1,000, which is very depressing. They need to do a lot better at getting people through the door.

Puja

[Mellsblue]

Have we not all learnt never to believe Facebook! I realised yesterday morning whilst planning my rugby watching for the weekend. Not sure I can stay up that late on a school night!

[Mellsblue]

RUNY’s second try is a beauty.

[Mellsblue]

RUNY win 25 v 23. I think lower Champ standard but with more physicality and the odd bit if class. Some of the tackles were huge.

[Puja]

That was a very entertaining game - good advertisement for the game for anyone tuning in for the first time in Yank Country. Could have gone either way, although I think RUNY just deserved the win. Not sure about Foden at 13 though - he's not that far enough ahead of the rest of the league that he can play where he likes with impunity!

Good crowd in SD as well - from Mk1 eyeball, I'd say 3,500 (it's a 6k stadium with the bulk of the seats on the side facing the cameras), which is 500 more than the high water mark at the end of last season. It was the same in New Orleans last night (albiet at a lower level - 1.5k attendance matching the best of last season) and Seattle we know is a 4,500 sellout already. Austin was a disappointment as it was a case of spot-the-spectactor in an 11k stadium, but it was a change of stadium from last year and it was pissing with rain, so I'm hoping it'll be better next time.

Puja

[Mellsblue]

I thought Foden went well. His line for the second try was superb as was the offload. He put a couple of good kicks in for territory and his catch and pass whilst getting munched, only for Wallace-Simms to drop, was top drawer. That said, assuming they have another good option at 13, I’d move him back to 15 and drop Hume, who was rubbish.
You’ve also got remember that Foden has only been in town a few weeks. Not much time to gel.
On first viewing I didn’t think much to Marsh. Hopefully he’ll improve as familiarity grows.

[Puja]

I thought Foden went well. His line for the second try was superb as was the offload. He put a couple of good kicks in for territory and his catch and pass whilst getting munched, only for Wallace-Simms to drop, was top drawer. That said, assuming they have another good option at 13, I’d move him back to 15 and drop Hume, who was rubbish.
You’ve also got remember that Foden has only been in town a few weeks. Not much time to gel.
On first viewing I didn’t think much to Marsh. Hopefully he’ll improve as familiarity grows.

Yeah, I think Wallace-Simms was paying far too much attention to how badly Foden was going to get munched, and wasn't expecting the pass to come out at all. I thought Foden looked like a very good player who happened to be playing 13, rather than a confident and qualified centre. He'll do a job there no doubt, but I think he'll be better in one of his actual positions. And, like you said, Hume was rubbish.

Puja

[Mellsblue]

Well, Hume has made the team of the week:

[Puja]

Some of those selections seem bananas. Moonlight was massively underwhelming for Toronto and you could have had Germishuys there who was great for Glendale. Wouldn't have had Windsor over Cima either. In fact, the team should've been mostly Glendale and Seattle players, as their game was a class above the other fare of the weekend. They'll be the teams to beat again.

Puja

[Mellsblue]

Foden has already formed his US boyband:

[Puja]

DC have now branded themselves as "Old Glory DC". Between them and the "New England Freejacks", I think the expansion teams need help with their names. I'm hoping they translate well and sound good to Yank audiences.

Freejacks also have a shirt now, which is... interesting:



Logo front and centre is weird and made weirder by the fact that the logo is a giant steampunk lantern. Where are they going to put the sponsors on that thing?

Puja

[Mellsblue]

Foden stays at 13:

[Puja]

Foden stays at 13:

Big game for NY this - NOLA have started the season with a bang and winning there would be a very big statement indeed.

Puja

[Mellsblue]

Especially after two bye weeks.

[Mellsblue]

RUNY win!!

[Puja]

RUNY win!!

That's good to hear. The feed cut out 7 minutes from time with the score locked at 24-24. What was the final score?

Puja

[Mellsblue]

RUNY win!!

That's good to hear. The feed cut out 7 minutes from time with the score locked at 24-24. What was the final score?

Puja

27 v 24

[Puja]

RUNY win!!

That's good to hear. The feed cut out 7 minutes from time with the score locked at 24-24. What was the final score?

Puja

27 v 24

Great win for RUNY that - hopefully a successful team will draw big crowds when their home matches come around.

Ben Foden was crap though. He needs to give up this vanity play of playing 13 - at full-back he would offer greater tactical knowledge than anyone else in the league, as well as getting ball from kicks with which to counterattack. At outside centre, he's at the mercy of lesser players inside for his ball and, more importantly, he's a very average 13.

Puja

[Mellsblue]

That's good to hear. The feed cut out 7 minutes from time with the score locked at 24-24. What was the final score?

Puja

27 v 24

Great win for RUNY that - hopefully a successful team will draw big crowds when their home matches come around.

Ben Foden was crap though. He needs to give up this vanity play of playing 13 - at full-back he would offer greater tactical knowledge than anyone else in the league, as well as getting ball from kicks with which to counterattack. At outside centre, he's at the mercy of lesser players inside for his ball and, more importantly, he's a very average 13.

Puja

Let’s give him a bit longer before writing him off. We should also give them all a bit longer to gel. It’s only been two matches. It will also depend on the makeup of the squad. There’s not too much depth and certainly not much full time depth. They may not have luxury of moving him to 15 and having a superior 13 to step in.

[Puja]

27 v 24

Great win for RUNY that - hopefully a successful team will draw big crowds when their home matches come around.

Ben Foden was crap though. He needs to give up this vanity play of playing 13 - at full-back he would offer greater tactical knowledge than anyone else in the league, as well as getting ball from kicks with which to counterattack. At outside centre, he's at the mercy of lesser players inside for his ball and, more importantly, he's a very average 13.

Puja

Let’s give him a bit longer before writing him off. We should also give them all a bit longer to gel. It’s only been two matches. It will also depend on the makeup of the squad. There’s not too much depth and certainly not much full time depth. They may not have luxury of moving him to 15 and having a superior 13 to step in.

Eh - if you're moving as a marquee player to a lesser league, you lose most of your rights to "let him settle in". That goes doubly so if you're going to play a position you've never played before because you think you'd be better at it than those who play it regularly. And New York do have Seimou Smith who can play 13 very nicely - it appears to be a selection decision and, when he's part of the selection panel, I'm going to say it's ego that's driving this, rather than necessity.

Puja

[Mellsblue]

Great win for RUNY that - hopefully a successful team will draw big crowds when their home matches come around.

Ben Foden was crap though. He needs to give up this vanity play of playing 13 - at full-back he would offer greater tactical knowledge than anyone else in the league, as well as getting ball from kicks with which to counterattack. At outside centre, he's at the mercy of lesser players inside for his ball and, more importantly, he's a very average 13.

Puja

Let’s give him a bit longer before writing him off. We should also give them all a bit longer to gel. It’s only been two matches. It will also depend on the makeup of the squad. There’s not too much depth and certainly not much full time depth. They may not have luxury of moving him to 15 and having a superior 13 to step in.

Eh - if you're moving as a marquee player to a lesser league, you lose most of your rights to "let him settle in". That goes doubly so if you're going to play a position you've never played before because you think you'd be better at it than those who play it regularly. And New York do have Seimou Smith who can play 13 very nicely - it appears to be a selection decision and, when he's part of the selection panel, I'm going to say it's ego that's driving this, rather than necessity.

Puja

When you play in a position that is so dependent on others and in a brand new team that has had so little time to gel I’d be inclined to give it more than two matches that are three weeks apart. From what I’ve read of Smith he only started playing the game at uni and hasn’t played above that level having only left this year. Doesn’t smack of him being a guaranteed success and superior to Foden.

[Mellsblue]

Nice!!