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Rugby and The Lions Tour 2017
Started by Frei me a river




475 posts in this topic
Zizou
Drunk Cretin & Hassle Magnet

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12-01-2017, 10:25 PM -
Is England being in the rugby league final a big deal or is it diddy? I know zero about rugby league.
shaun.lawson
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12-01-2017, 10:33 PM -
(12-01-2017, 10:25 PM)Alan Partridge Wrote: Is England being in the rugby league final a big deal or is it diddy? I know zero about rugby league.

Given only three countries (Australia, New Zealand, England) have taken international rugby league seriously over the decades, it's diddy.

Winning the thing wouldn't be - that'd be amazing, because it's massive in Australia, yet only played seriously in about two counties in England - but that won't happen. The Kangaroos should win pretty easily.
Herman Boyce
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12-02-2017, 01:14 PM -
(11-27-2017, 12:19 PM)Vieri Wrote: Where are you getting these figures from? I was just looking at these statistics - https://pulse-static-files.s3.amazonaws....-FINAL.pdf

It looks like we have a massive disparity between registered and unregistered players compared to other nations. If you include unregistered we are pretty much top ten. I'm not really too sure how it operates, is a registered player someone who's playing for a team currently?

The figures I quoted were from the build up to the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

To play for a club competitively at any level, including mini-rugby, you should be registered. That number gives you the player base for the country. Unregistered players will include pupils who just receive rugby as part of their curriculum. I know from when I was a PE teacher schools were asked to reply to sports governing bodies telling them whether their sport was being offered in the curriculum in that school, and how many pupils were exposed to it.

The SRU site says it has around 47000 registered players, which is close enough to tally with the figure you quote from the IRB of 49000. So Scotland are up on the figures I had from the build up to the 2015 RWC, but looking at the figure for registered players that you’ve provided, we’re still way below the other established rugby playing countries.
Vieri
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12-02-2017, 01:42 PM -
Seems to me as if we've been approximately where we should be for most of the time I've watched rugby and now we are slightly higher ranked having not actually achieved anything of note as of yet. Hopefully we do in the next Six Nations (4th this year) and World Cup.

The football team is widely considered shite (fairly), despite being far above where it should be given the number of players we have in comparison to other nations.
Sarko
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12-02-2017, 04:46 PM -
Wales cling on for a 24-22 win over the Saffers having been 21-0 up early doors. Both teams looked absolutely shite Monty Ooh Definitely nothing to fear from Wales when we go to Cardiff first up, they'll have some big names back but actually think we're superior just about all over the park these days (maybe not the back row). Hope they have to use the boy who was at scrum half today, he was frighteningly out of his depth. jjay

Worth a word for Glasgow as well. 10 wins from 10 in the Pro14 including 8 bonus-point wins and 44 tries in total. Good news for the national team. Pretty good
Frei me a river
Nelson Seegero

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05-10-2019, 08:42 AM -
Gatland Fat Cunt
pondlife
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05-10-2019, 08:43 AM -
Warnock wtf!
Sarko
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05-10-2019, 09:32 AM -
Fat Cunt

There are so many exciting players in the Home Nations these days that you could almost have a Barbarians-style team who would put on a great show and win convincingly.

Nah, let’s have Biggar and Halfpenny kicking an attritional Welsh pack to scrappy wins.
Frei me a river
Nelson Seegero

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05-10-2019, 09:42 AM -
The lions have never been about stats and results. The whole point of it from the beginning was to bring the home countries together for a tour every 4 years and under garlands watch we’ve been completely swept aside. Can’t even begin to explain how much I hate not seeing scotland players in lions shirts these days. If the squad was picked tomorrow he’d have to take Russell, Watson, macinally and Hogg as an absolute bare minimum.
Felix
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05-10-2019, 10:22 AM -
Crowe Monty LewLew
shaun.lawson
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05-10-2019, 11:08 AM -
I'd understand the complaints above if Gatland wasn't still delivering. But he is. Arguably, he's somehow got even better given Wales are an entirely justified 2nd in the world rankings.

Achieving results with the Lions is notoriously difficult. It's incredibly hard to generate the right spirit amongst a squad who spend 99% of their international careers as rivals; petty jealousies happen very easily; the coach gets accused of favouritism; the local media and fans do anything to undermine the tourists, as do many local teams they play.

Against that backdrop, he won a series in Australia, drew another one in New Zealand (where the Lions almost always lose), has won 3 Grand Slams and reached a World Cup semi-final which Wales were arguably robbed in; as well as 3 Premiership titles and the European Cup with Wasps. His record is unbelievable: he's far and away the most successful coach of a home nation there's ever been.

He deserves it. And in any other sport, we'd acknowledge as much too.
Frei me a river
Nelson Seegero

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05-10-2019, 11:24 AM -
(05-10-2019, 11:08 AM)shaun.lawson Wrote: I'd understand the complaints above if Gatland wasn't still delivering. But he is. Arguably, he's somehow got even better given Wales are an entirely justified 2nd in the world

Pretty sure we had this debate last time. Is the point of the lions to win at any cost or to go on a tour as the home nations? Because if it’s the latter it’s been an abject failure.

He’s a fantastic coach btw.
shaun.lawson
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05-10-2019, 11:27 AM -
(05-10-2019, 11:24 AM)Pete Seeger Wrote: Pretty sure we had this debate last time. Is the point of the lions to win at any cost or to go on a tour as the home nations? Because if it’s the latter it’s been an abject failure.

He’s a fantastic coach btw.

I'd say it's about winning nowadays. The old school aspects to the Lions are still there to an extent; but professionalism has transformed the sport. And besides: a happy squad is a winning squad. An unhappy squad (Clive Woodward and Alastair Campbell - boy oh boy) is a losing squad.
Frei me a river
Nelson Seegero

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05-10-2019, 12:56 PM -
I don’t think a lions side is weakened by playing a Hamish Watson or a Hogg and that’s all it would take to get Scots onside. * I get Hogg was injured and might’ve played.
Professional sport has changed things but should it change beyond recognition to the point where we get to 4 tours without a Scot properly testing for the lions? I don’t think so, that’s not what it’s all about for me.
Who were the last real lions from Scotland? Gordon Bulloch? Even Mike Blair was a replacement call up when he was potentially the top scrum half in the northern hemisphere.

* Token final test appearances for Ritchie and Ford don’t count.
Ray Winstone
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05-11-2019, 01:51 PM -
(05-10-2019, 11:27 AM)shaun.lawson Wrote: I'd say it's about winning nowadays. The old school aspects to the Lions are still there to an extent; but professionalism has transformed the sport. And besides: a happy squad is a winning squad. An unhappy squad (Clive Woodward and Alastair Campbell - boy oh boy) is a losing squad.

Agree with Shaun - win at all cost these days, especially given the commercial pressures to deliver these days.
No rep, no problem Shitwine
Frei me a river
Nelson Seegero

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05-11-2019, 02:36 PM -
Just as well we could rely on giants of the game like Corey Hill and Kristian Dacey to bring it home. Little surprise given the financial benefit call ups brought to the WRU. Monty Oh Well



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