Toulon buying Kolbe from Toulouse apparently
Toulon president confirming Cheslin Kolbe is signing for the club.
Must be some serious money for him to move. From a rugby point of view, I'd rather play for Toulouse than Toulon. More likely to win trophies.
great to be back watching some live junior rugby yesterday !! slow steps back to normality.
watched a provincial J2 league cup game, fantastic weather, decent enough standard
pitch about the pitch being quite hard and leading to niggles
Yeah was back at a j1 game yesterday. been to 4 games including my first game as a match official since last october. standard was good especially with people not having played in so long. not much in terms of new laws happening though. thought there may have been a few attempts at 50-22...
i think the ref in our game made a mistake by demanding a goal line drop out for a missed penalty.
Yeah thats still a 22 but wouldnt be too concerned as theres going to be bit leeway for the moment as everyones just delighted to be back playing as not been on pitch in so long. when leagues start back up in a few weeks the officials mightnt have that though
Josh Ioane released by the highlanders. Feck!!
This follows Ash Dixon being released to join a Japanese side. thats 2 first teamers in critical positions gone.
is the law about not being able to opt for a scrum from a penalty in place at age grade games.
Are you referring to this?
https://www.englandrugby.com/dxdam/7d/7d4df11d-caf0-4451-bf5f-3bcfdb601eb7/COVID19%20-%20Law%20Vartiations%20-%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf
Is that just for England then?
yes. well.... RFU and WRU. im not sure if it affects SRU junior rugby.
no mention yet of ireland bringing anything similar.
youths rugby has started back in a lot of places already so it unlikely that there will be any new law variation applied except the global trials
had a bit of a laugh listening to the latest eggchasers podcast today.
they had a quiz which highlights the sham that "official" players profiles are.
the player in question was sam simmonds and what weight was he in kg according to the lions official site. one of the lads guessed 104 kg, the other 97 kgs.
so... the exeter team site says hes 103 kgs..... and the lions site says hes 90 kgs !! just the small difference between 16 stone 2 lbs and 14 stone 2lbs... two stone difference !!!
This could be huge for the former rugby players taking a case against rugby authorities....but even for current players,it's a huge wake up call
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/58369271
Joe Schmidt announcing he will leave the DOR post at World Rugby by the years and to stay in NZ with his family.
At first I thought this was a p*** take.
They are trying to compare it to the IPL or The Hundred in Cricket, but the comparison is wrong as those competitions are still 11 a side.
I can't say I'm a fan of this idea to put it midly.
Seems like something that nobody will really care about. Cant see clubs being too happy that some players will miss a bit of pre season to play a weird exhibition. I’d have zero interest in it.
What a totally stupid idea, they should be encouraging top players to play less rugby and rest up, rather than another diluted form, for a quick buck.
If people dont likes 15 a side rugby, ther is already 7's, which is grand, already an olympic sport.
I had the same reaction - What an utterly pointless exercise.
What clubs in their right minds would allow their players to head off to play for a different club and coaches for several weeks at the stat of the season? - It's a 3 week playing window with you' have to assume at least that in advance to prepare.
Really can't see it getting off the grounds , certainly can't see Ireland letting any players be involved - If an Irish International went they'd be out for another 4 or 5 games from the domestic season under the player management plans , it's just a total non runner.
The French clubs won't let anyone go either.
If it happens at all it'll be a load of Aussies and Islanders with a few recently retired "faces" at best.
Jake White, who is a current coach of a team in the URC, being a bought and paid for 'ambassador' of this is interesting.
Philip Browne is to retire as CEO of the IRFU at year's end.
He is 61 and has been in the position 23 years, guiding the national framework from the birthing pangs of professionalism and a fairly dire period for the senior men's team, to the World class structures we see today and that have delivered every possible senior trophy in this hemisphere, except the elusive World Cup.
The game certainly owes a debt to his prudent stewardship and I think the greatest endorsement of his time will be that the job will be very attractive to quality candidates once he departs.
Indeed , it's to his credit that the organisation has been well run both on and off the pitch. He's also managed to do the job successfully for 23 years without any controversies of note that I can recall.
How many CEO's have the SRU,WRU and RFU been through in the same timeframe with varying degrees of financial mistakes and player/staff management issues??
i see waisake naholo has returned to NZ to play with waikato after a very uneventful season at London Irish.
at only 30 he'd still be a valuable selection for a super rugby franchise
Sarries dont look like the will struggle any bit this season back in topflight.
Beating a very good bristol side and probably on the wrong side of nearly every statistic like territory and possession, but bristol giving away penalties.
Bristol put 13 phases of their best play together on 50 minutes and sarries soaked it up and drove them back.
All while billy B looks a bit off the pace and no summer international players available.
This is fecking disgusting
https://twitter.com/PremierSportsTV/status/1439238912199778313?s=20
Good tackle!
Without looking at it, I presume that's the "tackle" from the French league that's late on a kicker?
Indeed it is.
some result this morning in the NZ NPC where northland, bottom of the championship beat Waikato, 2nd in the premiership by 10
Having seen this I'm suffering from terrible flashbacks from the 1970s.
I remember lining out against Durham Constabulary in the mid 70s when I lived in the UK. Carnage. Utter carnage.
https://twitter.com/Overthehillprop/status/1445296073120038914?s=20
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