OP
OP
Wafer
Veteran
- Location
- Somerset/Devon border
@GrumpyGregry do you also have the Richie McCaw variation laws? 
2015 Rugby World Cup **Potential spoilers**
- Thread starter Wafer
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GrumpyGregry
Here for rides.
Nope. But I did once spend an evening in the company of Wayne Barnes where WB demonstrated that though McCaw is indeed a cheating bar steward, like all good opensides are, he actually doesn't cheat as much as folk like you or I or WB might think because McCaw really is really really good, and really really quick.@GrumpyGregry do you also have the Richie McCaw variation laws?
It was educational, I can tell you.
the first thing you do as a ref, on meeting the players is sus who the 6,7 and the 9 are. 6 & 7 are born cheats and must be watched at all times, given a chance they'll steal your whistle and swap your cards for mucky pictures, and set your watch to the wrong time, and 9 is always a motormouthed gobshite who will bring on a headache after 10 mins.
martint235
Dog on a bike
- Location
- Welling
Before the NZ game didn't one of the commentators point out that McCaw was the most penalised player in the last Super Rugby series. He may be getting slower with age or refs are now on to him. Flanker does seem to be a dark art particularly to a simple lock like me.
GrumpyGregry
Here for rides.
Don't think it is perception. The lower you go the straighter the put in tends to be until down in the weeds it goes crook again as they ape what they see in showbiz. This is because the higher you go the less material the straightness of the put in becomes, and the lower you go the quicker everyone wants to get the scrums over with!
GrumpyGregry
Here for rides.
I got too tall in VIth form to play front row and then too slow to play back row and ended up as lock. I much preferred the unlikely casting of me as the team enforcer. But I was a terrible line out jumper. Thought I was useless at it and thus hated it.
I then only got to play back row, or my fave, inside centre, if I dropped to the III's or IV's.
I like to kid myself that if I was born 30 years later I'd have been a 7's specialist.
GrumpyGregry
Here for rides.
Oh yes... the trouble is they've started to ping him for the second offence and completely miss the first...
martint235
Dog on a bike
- Location
- Welling
Back in my day, locks weren't required to do a great deal (I wonder why I played there). We just kind of lumbered between scrum and lineout unless a foolish back got within arms reach.
It all seems much quicker these days!! I was certainly more comparable to Wade Dooley than Courtney Lawes (just about 20 levels below both)
OP
OP
Wafer
Veteran
- Location
- Somerset/Devon border
Heh, yeah, weird little bits of promotion as they are, the Samsung ads with Jack Whitehall are quite amusing, with him racing a prop and losing.... that's not what you expect of a prop. Like realising the 'little guy' in the professional rugby team is still pretty huge compared to non-elite sportmen!
martint235
Dog on a bike
- Location
- Welling
Yep going back a while, I'd always though Mickey Skinner was quite small from seeing him on telly. Then I met him in a pub. It was a bit of a shock!
Beebo
Firm and Fruity
- Location
- Hexleybeef
You cant compare Wade Dooley with Courtney Laws, one was a police man playing for preston grasshoppers at the weekend, the other is a highly paid professional athlete.
The amatuer game that you and I played hasnt changed that much.i played in the surrey leagues about 10 years ago and when i go back to watch them it is still the same speed and standard.
martint235
Dog on a bike
- Location
- Welling
Well you can compare them as they are both England locks but I agree they are world's apart.
I don't know if it's good or bad that things haven't changed lower down. It's about 20 years since I played (London North leagues). I only got my place on the team because the previous occupant was around 5'10 and the captain met me at the bar in a pub on a 5 Nations day (I'm 6'6). It took me a while to learn the rules.
Kestevan
Last of the Summer Winos
- Location
- Holmfirth.
I'm forced to agree that this is probably true.... (I primarily played as an 8 - I wasn't quite crooked enough to be a flanker
[QUOTE="Beebo, post: 3922630, member: 14569"
The amatuer game that you and I played hasnt changed that much.i played in the surrey leagues about 10 years ago and when i go back to watch them it is still the same speed and standard.[/QUOTE]
Not sure this holds true in the RL heartlands. When I played (20 yrs ago) I was a typical size back row (6' 2" and approx 16 stone). Looking at the lads at the local team these days, I'd just about fit in as a winger. The forwards are now considerably bigger, and a lot more mobile than back then.
OP
OP
Wafer
Veteran
- Location
- Somerset/Devon border
Out of interest, as I'm sure there are a few here, what do Welsh fans think of Burgess and Barritt in the centres for England? And are you more or less worried (though I'm sure none of you are actually worried ) than if it had been either Burgess or Barritt along side Slade?
My thoughts are somewhat tainted by virtue of being an Exeter fan....
) than if it had been either Burgess or Barritt along side Slade?My thoughts are somewhat tainted by virtue of being an Exeter fan....
martint235
Dog on a bike
- Location
- Welling
Burgess against Roberts could be interesting.Out of interest, as I'm sure there are a few here, what do Welsh fans think of Burgess and Barritt in the centres for England? And are you more or less worried (though I'm sure none of you are actually worried
My thoughts are somewhat tainted by virtue of being an Exeter fan....
Against Fiji, England just seemed to play rugby by numbers, there doesn't seem to be an original thought from any of them. "We did this on the training ground and then we did this. If it fails, we do this ad infinitum". The only spark of hope is that with Halfpenny missing, we won't be punished points wise for all the transgressions we'll make at the breakdown.
swee'pea99
Squire
It does actually. Ta. (Tho' I can't remember the last time I saw those things happen 'the instant'....must be rarer than a straight lineout ball...Hope this helps....
