Nothing rose tinted about my view at all mate.

Good for Graham, realised he would never make it in tier one test rugby and gone to get some caps and money with the SRU

(of course I am joking, good luck to the guy)

Yeah and you can remove him from your lies, damned lies and poaching stats.

Was it you or SARS who asked about the location for the Old Fartonians do? I'll email you or maybe WhatsApp.

Interesting selection by Toonie against the Saffers. Looks like he's gone for street wisdom rather than out and out ability in the front row. Skinner at 6 is interesting. It's something we need to try but I didn't think he'd go for it in this one. Strauss on the bench is good back up for that though. With a bit of luck the defence coach will have been working with Huw Jones for a fortnight. Be a pity if such an attacking talent was overlooked for a few defensive frailties, but such is the game these days.

DDA wrecked our centre pairing (albeit an unfit Te'o and average defence Slade) so it might be a problem. That said I've gone for Scotland on my accy

comment by Aristodemus (U3765)
posted 16 hours, 55 minutes ago
DDA wrecked our centre pairing (albeit an unfit Te'o and average defence Slade) so it might be a problem. That said I've gone for Scotland on my accy
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Now you're just trying to get on my good side. Sadly, I ain't got one.

I've gone for Scotland too, along with Ireland.

BTW, is that one of the Wiltshire Cokanasigas making his debut on Saturday?

Maybe he had a granny who was born in Sodding Chipbury.

The fact you don't consider people like Yarde and Cokanasiga (who is awesome btw, best signing we have made in ages) just shows how stupid your outlokk is mate. You think Shields has more right to wear the shirt than someone who lived here his entire life

My my, you are struggling now. By definition, someone who has lived somewhere his ENTIRE life is qualified. The problem starts when you let administrators decide on arbitrary dates for qualification.

I think the problem here is that Sassenachs tend not to understand the concept of heritage and belonging as well as us Celts.

That said, Yarde is an interesting one. There has to be an accommodation for guys who would otherwise never get the opportunity to play the game for a tier one nation.

In Scotland's case I'd say Visser, yes. Pountney no - he was English. Kilted Kiwis with grandparents, fine but Saffers who've lived in Edinburgh for a few years, sorry, not qualified.

What we should all be focussing on is developing the international game around the world. The South Sea teams are not as strong as they once were and we all know why. Big countries focussing on winning the RWC. Without that Fiji would have an amazing team, probably capable of winning it.

Japan were brilliant today in the first half, really took it to us and deserved to lead. I was getting a little concerned I admit

It's not a struggle to see that Yarde and Cokanasiga are English mate, came here at 2 and 3, they see themselves as English. They are nothing like the plastic Scots filling your team

Reasonably happy in defeat yesterday. Some scintillating stuff from us. Hogg is just awesome. His vision of where to find space is unbelievable, as is his pace to exploit that space.

I managed to watch Scotland too, it was a good test match. Glad to see SA back playing better this year, what happened last year wasn't good for the game. Politicians still need to let it be a meritocracy though, you can't force it.
On to the big story, a huge congratulations for Ireland. What a great win for them, they fly the NH flag and have a real shot at taking the number one spot in the world. That's massive, only three nations have ever done that! Haven't watched the game, but I will.
Just one more weekend now, only England and Wales have big games.

P.S I think Hogg has made a great move in going to Exeter. He could be a final cog in them stepping up in the HC!

Green is the new Black 🍀

Barry . Your boys were feckin awesome.

D'ya see yon Demus fella trying to wind me up? He knows fine that Argentina are a big test for us. I'm liking the games we've had this autumn. Allows us to learn a fair bit about ourselves.

Two tier 2 nations squaring off isn't a big game

comment by Aristodemus (U3765)
posted 5 minutes ago
Two tier 2 nations squaring off isn't a big game
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Interesting selection again by Toonie. Hastings at 10 and Russell at 12 with Jones at 13. Hogg, Kinghorn and Maitland in the back 3. Prepare for swashes to be buckled.

Impressed with Gregor this autumn. Has really moved things around to learn what his squad can do under 4 very different sets of circumstances. Lots learned for 2019.

All joking aside I'm not sure that 10-12-13 channel will be up for much defensive resistance. I'll still be picking Scotland to win I think.

Channel ye say.

Whatever happened to attack is the best firm of defence? Or maybe that's exactly what he wants to find out. You only find things out by experimenting.

In Toonie We Trust.

I see Ole Bumface is back as some kinda "leadership mentor". What's all that about then?

I think he is doing a great job too, ad he did at Glasgow. Maybe it will fire you guys along to a big win, I just have my doubts. Haven't seen much of Hastings since he left us but he is being backed that's for sure.

Not impressed by the Carling thing, could have picked loads of the WC side for that. They even have JW in the setup as it is! Jonno would have been perfect but that's never happening now.

Hoping Hastings is the real deal. Be good to have decent back up for Finn. Exciting times compared to what we're used to. God, when I think back to the days when forwards like Murray, Kellock and the Killer Bs won decent ball only to watch Blair or Cusiter pass it out to to$$ers like Parks, Morrison and Webster.

So what did you make of all that then chaps?

The Northern hemisphere seems to have staged something of a come back, but will this be yet another false dawn, before we’re put back in our box? You could probably make a half decent case fo New Zealand, Irelnd, Wales, England, South Africa and Australia as Wordl champions next year but who will do it? I do wonder slightly about the Springboks, who seem to have taken giant steps forward and though they perhaps didn’t finish well might have somehing of an advantge in teh heat and humidity of Japan - as might Australia

Elsewhere, in the England Australia game there was a stat showing Michael Hooper had taken more turnovers in 2018 than the next two highest players out together - in international rugby that is - what a player!

Finally, great to see the Barbarians win yesyerday and in such an entertaining game

Hope all is well with you guys!

Hey SARS, it was certainly a positive international window for the NH sides (except France!) and I think we all have good reason to feel confident going in to next year.
From an English POV I think big Joe made a good impact, and of course Wilson and Underhill may have led to Robshaw and Haskell not seeing another white jersey. For me the most positive player from the AI was Sinckler, I thought he was superb. I still prefer Brown at FB over Daly and prefer Ford/Farrell in the 10/12. Can Manu stay fit for a year? Will Binny get back to his best?
A very interesting 6N awaits, and we start with a nice easy trip to Dublin!