What astonishes me the most is how Farrell got promoted to head coach despite never doing that job, at any level. Tells me all I need to know about the IRFU.
10 days later
Rob Howley found guilty of illegal betting on rugby matches, including Wales matches and Wales players - 18 month ban from all rugby.
Stupid all round from Ollie (Edit: I mean Stan) but this takes the biscuit for sheer idiocy:- "Howley, 49, used his Welsh Rugby Union phone and email account to place bets."
From Stuff:
Howley was found to have placed 363 bets with three separate bookmakers covering a total of 1163 rugby matches over a period of five years.
(Something wrong with their maths. May have mixed the matches and bets around.)
The WRU said Howley lost about £4000 on his bets
@booboo said in NH International Rugby:
From Stuff:
Howley was found to have placed 363 bets with three separate bookmakers covering a total of 1163 rugby matches over a period of five years.
(Something wrong with their maths. May have mixed the matches and bets around.)
The WRU said Howley lost about £4000 on his bets
Likely there were some accumulators going on.
Or decumulators if you take your second point into account :face_with_hand_over_mouth:
@booboo said in NH International Rugby:
From Stuff:
Howley was found to have placed 363 bets with three separate bookmakers covering a total of 1163 rugby matches over a period of five years.
(Something wrong with their maths. May have mixed the matches and bets around.)
The WRU said Howley lost about £4000 on his bets
Great coach - losing 4k
The court heard that a conviction would likely see Mafi lose his lucrative contract in Japan.
Stiff shit.
28 days later
Be an interesting 6N with new coaching staff, rebuild after players retire. fallout from not doing the job etc.
@antipodean said in NH International Rugby:
Be an interesting 6N with new coaching staff, rebuild after players retire. fallout from not doing the job etc.
Same as the RC I guess. Always a bit of frision after the RWC!
I see SexCockWomble is Capt, so more of his sour-puss-grumpy-face action on our screens.
Gotta agree with Mr Lam here
@mariner4life also once your hands are on the ball, it is out (like it used to be) not hands on, roll it back, re-position to make a pass easier, then holding it on the deck for what seems an age, then passing/kicking...
I expect if the 5 second rule was enforced properly, ref calls ball available, 9 knows he has 5 sec to use it - be it kick or pass, then the is less Faffing about at the back, directing the forwards, moving the ball into a better position and angle
Just penalise twats standing as pillars with a finger on the 'ruck', don't allow players to join once the ball is available (i.e. creating a 'snake') and once the halfback has touched the ball they can't reposition it.
All actions should be penalised by strapping tape over the halfback's mouth.
The halfback rolling the ball back and just waiting is probably my most hated thing about rugby at the moment. TBH, I hadn't seen it before the Lions tour.
Refs not pretending the ball is still in the ruck after the halfback has rolled it half a metre away would help too.
@Stargazer newbie Welsh prop Willgriff John played about 15 or so games for Northland around 2014/2015...
Is this guy or his brother ever fit?
And yet they always look like supreme athletes...
@taniwharugby said in NH International Rugby:
@mariner4life also once your hands are on the ball, it is out (like it used to be) not hands on, roll it back, re-position to make a pass easier, then holding it on the deck for what seems an age, then passing/kicking...
I expect if the 5 second rule was enforced properly, ref calls ball available, 9 knows he has 5 sec to use it - be it kick or pass, then the is less Faffing about at the back, directing the forwards, moving the ball into a better position and angle
Liked for bringing a verb into use. Faffing: To extend the game of rugby longer than 85 minutes by continued inaction at the ruck.
@Stargazer said in NH International Rugby:
Jacob Umaga
.
What's your point? Within the rules, his uncle and father played for different countries, he represented England at under 18 and under 20.
@Catogrande Wow, defensive much? If you weren't on the other side of the equator, I'd think you got up at the wrong side of the bed this morning ...
I only mentioned his names because I noticed the young lads name for the first time. That's all.
@Catogrande it's bullsh!t and you know it. It's clearly a massive poach and poor ole Jacob should be representing his country of birth... Tokoroa.
the ongoing and cynical exploitation of the South Sea islands by money bags northern unions is nothing short of a disgrace
Has Jacob Umaga’s tackling improved? He was incredibly weak in defence for Auckland. He did not appear to be making any effort.
From Ruck.co.uk. For some reason England stats are missing from this article. I never knew that French wing Virimi Vakatawa was Kiwi born.
Foreign-Born Players at 2020 Six Nations:
IRELAND – 7 (0% change)
Seven of Ireland’s roster are foreign-born. Of them two gained eligibility after arriving as adults on professional rugby contracts – CJ Stander, and Bundee Aki. Stander captained the Baby Boks while Billy Burns and Will Addison both played for England U20’s.
Rob Herring – Hooker – Cape Town, South Africa – Grandparent
Ultan Dillane – Lock – Paris, France – Parent
CJ Stander – No.8 – George, South Africa, Residency (2016)
Luke McGrath – Scrum-half – Ontario, Canada – Parent
Billy Burns – Fly-half – Bath, England – Grandparent
Bundee Aki – Centre – Auckland, New Zealand – Residency (2017)
Will Addison – Fullback – Penrith, England – Paren
FRANCE – 4 (+33%)
With four foreign-born players France has the lowest of the rosters named from the Six Nations unions. France also has a different requirement as in order to play for Les Bleus players must carry a French passport.
Bernard le Roux – Lock – Western Cape, South Africa – Residency (2013)
Paul Willemse – Lock – South Africa – Residency (2018)
Virimi Vakatawa – Winger/Centre – Rangiora, New Zealand – Residency (2013)
Gabriel N’Gandebe – Winger – Douala, Cameroon
WALES – 11 (+22%)
WillGriff John – Prop – Plymouth, England – Parent
Jake Ball – Lock – Ascot, England – Parent
Will Rowlands – Lock – London, England
Aaron Shingler – Flanker – Aldershot, England – Residency (1992)
Taulupe Faletau – No.8 – Tofoa, Tonga – Residency (2001)
Ross Moriarty – Flanker – Liverpool, England – Parent
Hadleigh Parkes – Centre – Hunterville, New Zealand – Residency (2017)
Nick Tompkins – Centre – Sidcup, England – Grandparent
Johnny McNicholl – Wing – Christchurch, New Zealand – Residency (2019)
George North – Wing – Kings Lynn, England – Parent
Jonah Holmes – Fullback – Stockport, England – Grandparent
ITALY – 8 (-11%)
Dean Budd – Lock – Whangarei, New Zealand – Residency (2015)
David Sisi – Lock – Rinteln, Germany British Military Hospital – Parent
Johan Meyer – Flanker – Port Elizabeth, South Africa – Residency (2018)
Sebastien Negri – Flanker – Marondera, Zimbabwe – Parent
Jake Polledri – Flanker – Bristol, England – Parent
Braam Steyn – Flanker – South Africa – Residency (2015)
Callum Braley – Scrum-half – Bristol, England – Grandparent
Jayden Hayward – Fullback – New Zealand – Residency (2017
SCOTLAND – 16 (-16%)
Despite a decrease from the 2019 tournament, Gregor Townsend’s roster still contains more than any other competitor in the Six Nations. Of note is that that over half of the Foreign-Born players qualify via a Grandparent. This very qualification path may not survive should World Rugby adopt additional tightening of eligibility laws.
Simon Berghan – Prop – Christchurch, New Zealand – Grandparent
Allan Dell – Prop – Humansdorp, South Africa -Grandparent
W.P. Nel – Prop – Loeriesfontein, South Africa – Residency (2015)
Ben Toolis – Lock – Brisbane, Australia – Parent
Cornell du Preez – No.8 – Port Elizabeth, South Africa – Residency (2017)
Thomas Gordon – Flanker – Rotorua, New Zealand – Grandparents
Nick Haining – Number 8 – Fremantle, Australia – Grandparent
Hamish Watson – Flanker – Manchester, England – Grandparent
Ali Price – Scrum-half – King Lynn, England – Parent
Henry Pygros – Scrum-half – Dorset, England – Parent
Chris Harris – Centre – Carlisle, England – Grandparent
Sam Johnson – Centre, Dysart, Australia – Residency (2018)
Sean Maitland – Winger – Tokoroa, New Zealand – Grandparent
Kyle Steyn – Winger – Johannesburg, South Africa – Parent
Ratu Tagive – Winger – Sydney, Australia
Byron McGuigan – Winger – Namibia – Parent
Edit - England stats now added.
ENGLAND 4 (-50%)
Eddie Jones’ foreign-born players is halved compared to a year ago. It would likely of been higher if Joe Cokanasiga and Billy Vunipola had been available. Ben Te’o is not longer available while Brad Shields and Jack Clifford aren’t currently even contention.
Mako Vunipola – Prop – Wellington, New Zealand – Residency (2008)
Sam Underhill – Flanker – USA – Parent
Manu Tuilagi – Centre – Samoa – Residency (2007)
Willie Heinz – Scrum-half – Christchurch, New Zealand – Grandparent
@MiketheSnow said in NH International Rugby:
Ruck's stats are typical stats - lies, damm lies, abd statistics.
So they're not lies, or damn lies, but facts. Not 'alternative facts' but truth. Obviously ranting without basis is what people want today! Edit: Or maybe it's a conspiracy hiding all England's dirty foreigners!
" Of note is that that over half of the Foreign-Born players qualify via a Grandparent. This very qualification path may not survive should World Rugby adopt additional tightening of eligibility laws." If that's true, Samoa and Tonga are in trouble, unless NZR, AR etc can convince certain Nations that playing for a tier 2 country after already playing for a tier 1 should be allowed
I kind of get Mike's point.
A Welshman born in England is kind of understandable. I mean it could be only a mile or three over the border.
Some poaches are more egregious than others.
But to rate them is subjective.
Listing players born in another country is objective, but may lack context.
@booboo said in NH International Rugby:
I kind of get Mike's point.
A Welshman born in England is kind of understandable. I mean it could be only a mile or three over the border.
Some like Moriarty were only born in England because his old man was playing RL there. It could have just as easily been in France or Aust. But he is obviously Welsh.
Once the residency requirements go to five years and the grandparent rule is removed, Scotland, Tonga and Samoa will forever be tier two.
In the case of the Islands, poaching will genuinely become an issue as clubs send talent scouts down to the schools and they'll ultimately end up serving residency in some of the richest unions.
@antipodean said in NH International Rugby:
Once the residency requirements go to five years and the grandparent rule is removed, Scotland, Tonga and Samoa will forever be tier two.
In the case of the Islands, poaching will genuinely become an issue as clubs send talent scouts down to the schools and they'll ultimately end up serving residency in some of the richest unions.
I think oner of the French clubs actually has an academy in Fiji, all altruistic of course. But the French Union, too it's credit, is actually enforcing much stricter rules on representing France and also tight club limits on foreigners. Sadly islanders and books aren't foreign under stupid EU rules. Going to possibly fuck over premiership UK next season unless they change the rules to be the same as EU.
From Scottish Rugby Twitter -
Official STATEMENT | Scotland team spokesperson: “Stand-off Finn Russell will play no further part in preparations for Scotland’s Six Nations opener against Ireland, having been disciplined for a breach of team protocol during the week’s camp in Edinburgh. He has returned to his club."
BBC reporting that he actually walked out himself rather than being sent home:-
However, it is understood the Racing 92 playmaker left the team's training camp in Edinburgh of his own accord.
It remains unclear whether the 27-year-old will play at all in the campaign.
After last season's epic 38-38 draw with England, Russell said a half-time "argument" with coach Gregor Townsend helped spark a remarkable comeback.
Scotland trailed 31-7 at the break, but roared back to lead before George Ford's last-gasp converted try denied them a first Twickenham win since 1983.
"I actually had an argument with Gregor [at half-time]," Russell told ITV after the game.
"I said to him 'you're telling us to kick and when we kick, they just run it back and cut us open, and when we run it, they're just hitting us behind the gain line and winning the ball back'.
"Second half, we just came out with nothing to lose, played our rugby, kicked out of our half and scored some great tries. We played good Scottish rugby."
It's hard to imagine a more devastating blow to Scotland's Six Nations hopes just nine days before they kick-off their campaign against Ireland in Dublin.
Russell is the one player in the Townsend's side you would describe as irreplaceable. He's the creative heartbeat of the team and when he's missing Scotland are a much weaker proposition.
His decision to leave the Scotland training camp will send shockwaves through the Scottish support and the Six Nations as a whole.
Townsend was already under enormous pressure going into this championship off the back of a failed World Cup campaign.
Having his star fly-half walk out on the squad just over a week before the Six Nations opener only heaps more heat on the head coach, who must surely be hoping this situation can still be salvaged and Russell can be tempted back into the fold.