....then again, maybe "Rasputin.."??
Showing posts with label rugby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rugby. Show all posts
3 August 2011
AUSSIES OVERSEAS AND WELSHMEN HERE!!
Congratulations to Gareth Delve for making the Wales squad out of the Super XV, and what a great surprise to see Adam Byrnes playing for Russia !! I'll bet his nickname will be either Boris or Comrade at the Rebels next year!!
....then again, maybe "Rasputin.."??
....then again, maybe "Rasputin.."??
TV COVERAGE OF RUGBY IN AUSTRALIA
For those of you overseas, we have these rules called "anti-siphoning" which means that nationally important programming, including sports, must be shown on free-to-air TV. I'm sure lots of other places in the world do the same.
Anyway, we have a new Rugby franchise, the Melbourne Rebels, trying to make its way in the fanatical heartland of AFL (Aussie Rules, or "aerial ping pong" or "cross country ballet").
So one of the national broadcasters gets the rights to show Rugby in Melbourne, and promptly shows it at some ridiculous hour in the wee smalls .... bastards!!
So the boys at the Rebel Army, bless their hair shirts, go on a campaign and get the TV stations to show the Rugby live, after all, albeit on one of their satellite stations. A victory!!
...but did they know that for about twenty bucks, you can get a subscription to an internet channel that shows just about any Rugby game in the world, on streaming video?
Anyone interested go to http://www.watchliverugbyworldcup.com
Been using it for about four weeks, on my laptop and it has never let me down!!
Anyway, we have a new Rugby franchise, the Melbourne Rebels, trying to make its way in the fanatical heartland of AFL (Aussie Rules, or "aerial ping pong" or "cross country ballet").
So one of the national broadcasters gets the rights to show Rugby in Melbourne, and promptly shows it at some ridiculous hour in the wee smalls .... bastards!!
So the boys at the Rebel Army, bless their hair shirts, go on a campaign and get the TV stations to show the Rugby live, after all, albeit on one of their satellite stations. A victory!!
...but did they know that for about twenty bucks, you can get a subscription to an internet channel that shows just about any Rugby game in the world, on streaming video?
Anyone interested go to http://www.watchliverugbyworldcup.com
Been using it for about four weeks, on my laptop and it has never let me down!!
31 July 2011
20 June 2011
WHY I'M NOT A GAMBLING MAN!
The reason that I don’t gamble for a living is that I would starve. Here is what I wrote on my blog in mid-January: The Rebels will be a force to be reckoned with and won’t finish in the red. The Brumbies will come home in a canter and the Waratahs will whither on the vine, as usual!
The Reds will play vintage rugby, but not at full bottle; the force will be with someone else and, again, the Brumbies will chase every hurdle!
I couldn’t have got it more wrong.
What a topsy-turvy season it has been; I was sure Rod MacQueen would pull a rabbit out of a hat and I was sure that the Brumbies would finally earn their “Real Madrid” tag. Instead, they became a friendless society.
The Force showed only glimpses and the Reds surpassed all expectations, showing what a canny coach Ewen Mackenzie really is.
I hope that Robbie stays a bit longer with the Wallabies, Link hangs around at the Reds and all will be well with Aussie Rugby.
As for the Wallabies, watch this space for more.
Actually, every RWC, my theme is usually “we’ll slip into Camp quietly, let all the other teams hype it up, and bight the big boys on the bum!!..”
I do think that we can still do that – technically, if you gave the Super 15 teams points for where they finished (eg 15 for 1st place and 1 for last) , despite the Reds and Waratahs finishing strongly, we (the Aussie conference) still came third, I think. But I think that that belies the depth of the Wallaby squad and the fact that Robbie has blooded young guys.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall at the first Wallaby camp, because I reckon the enthusiasm will be infectious.
Whether or not that translates to lasting the distance is another story – because in the RWC, just about every game is a final!!
…so don’t take my word for it, on past experience!!
However, if you want me to put the mockers on someone, I’d say “Go the AB’s”!!
The Reds will play vintage rugby, but not at full bottle; the force will be with someone else and, again, the Brumbies will chase every hurdle!
I couldn’t have got it more wrong.
What a topsy-turvy season it has been; I was sure Rod MacQueen would pull a rabbit out of a hat and I was sure that the Brumbies would finally earn their “Real Madrid” tag. Instead, they became a friendless society.
The Force showed only glimpses and the Reds surpassed all expectations, showing what a canny coach Ewen Mackenzie really is.
I hope that Robbie stays a bit longer with the Wallabies, Link hangs around at the Reds and all will be well with Aussie Rugby.
As for the Wallabies, watch this space for more.
Actually, every RWC, my theme is usually “we’ll slip into Camp quietly, let all the other teams hype it up, and bight the big boys on the bum!!..”
I do think that we can still do that – technically, if you gave the Super 15 teams points for where they finished (eg 15 for 1st place and 1 for last) , despite the Reds and Waratahs finishing strongly, we (the Aussie conference) still came third, I think. But I think that that belies the depth of the Wallaby squad and the fact that Robbie has blooded young guys.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall at the first Wallaby camp, because I reckon the enthusiasm will be infectious.
Whether or not that translates to lasting the distance is another story – because in the RWC, just about every game is a final!!
…so don’t take my word for it, on past experience!!
However, if you want me to put the mockers on someone, I’d say “Go the AB’s”!!
16 January 2011
THE REBELS GET OFF TO A GOOD START
As usual, Rod MacQueen is playing with his poker face on.
The score line was good, there were apparently flashes of brilliance, sounds like the combinations were not quite there, but who would know. I can't wait to see some analysis and surely someone must have taken a video:
The score line was good, there were apparently flashes of brilliance, sounds like the combinations were not quite there, but who would know. I can't wait to see some analysis and surely someone must have taken a video:
24 September 2008
WHY NOT GET SOME REAL DEPTH INTO A WORLD SERIES OF RUGBY
Recently, we've seen an idea that the IRB want to start a World Series of Rugby, but confined to the top ten teams!
Here's a great suggestion.....
Why not play it in three pools - A the top ten, B the second ten and C the third ten, with promotion and relegation. Play matches on the same day, even as double headers in some cases.
Based on World seedings - an absolute no-brainer, I would have thought, with at least the final of each pool, being played at the same place on the same day, or weekend. So you could have, for example Georgia v Namibia, Canada v Japan and Australia v New Zealand all played on the same day at whatever venue (Wembley, or Homebush).
If you played it over two days you could maybe have two doubleheaders, maybe a Barbarians type fixture or something or a Sevens final
Here's a great suggestion.....
Why not play it in three pools - A the top ten, B the second ten and C the third ten, with promotion and relegation. Play matches on the same day, even as double headers in some cases.
Based on World seedings - an absolute no-brainer, I would have thought, with at least the final of each pool, being played at the same place on the same day, or weekend. So you could have, for example Georgia v Namibia, Canada v Japan and Australia v New Zealand all played on the same day at whatever venue (Wembley, or Homebush).
If you played it over two days you could maybe have two doubleheaders, maybe a Barbarians type fixture or something or a Sevens final
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