Agreed - The tournament itself was a stupid idea , looking to host it in the Middle East was just offensive.
Here, here!!
It would be a great pleasure to hear if the Welsh and Scottish are hoppin mad.
Hope the tournament never happens. Although I would like a watered down version (Emerging Ireland type) in the US.
Same lads who were the only ones reporting on Sexton's investigation and potential ban to be fair. It is a bloody weird paper that clearly has one odd contact somewhere deep in rugby.
Cityam.... Nah.
Leigh halfpenny has signed for harlequins
The southern hemisphere unions are particularly unhappy with France and Ireland, whose reluctance to sign up to what was billed as a Super Bowl of rugby led to the Six Nations blocking a deal worth £200m each for four events to be staged every two years in Doha from 2026.
Good work France and Ireland.
Why would 6n need to compensate SANZAAR
.
Like Sexton never having been to South Africa.
Ah it is not similar at all. That's just a quirk of history - he still has series wins against Aus and NZ. Dupont has played 24 minutes in the SH in total.
He's definitely the biggest star since Lomu and maybe a lot bigger. He's a fantastic player too.
Dupont has not lost a final since he played u18 club rugby.
I'd tend to agree but I saw a fact that I was amazed about in a contrarian post about whether Dupont was the greatest of all time.
Outside of World-cups he has not played outside of Europe since the very start of his International career before he was a starter.
He's never toured SA , NZ etc. as he has not gone on a French Summer tour in years.
The argument being made was that he can't be a "GOAT" as he's never won a series in the Southern Hemisphere and so on.
Not sure I agree with the point , I think he's incredible , but I was shocked to see that he'd never travelled outside of the 6N's countries for a French test match.
Im still in awe of what Dupont did in the 7s final earlier....it reminded me of Lomu in 1995....had me off my seat every time he got the ball.....
He is definitely one of the greatest players of all time....he is just so unbelievably influential....
I think his performance will be one of the highlights of the whole Olympics....
I went to this Lions Fans talk last night in Aviva and paid on the door 35stg, Gordon D'Arcy & Simon Zebo on panel previewing next years Lions Tour in Australia and picking potential squads etc , think its on in Murrayfield, cardiff, London over the coming months with different guest speakers , interesting evening even if it is a year away, about 250 people seated in the premium area .
It is on BBC Red button if anyone has that
Discovery plus have all the games
Irish game should be on rte2.
Is there anywhere to stream teh Olympic 7s?
Doesnt sound like i can rock up and pay at the door so ….
It seems like it might have been an event exclusive to Lions members. I checked my emails when I received an invite to buy tickets but the page to buy tickets is now showing an error.
I saw somewhere there is a Lions Tour Talk in the aviva tonight with Gordon Darcy …im trying to find where one can buy tickets but cant seem to ..anyone able to help ?
Sbu Nkose - 16-cap Springbok tested positive for an anabolic steroid in May. Facing a 4 year ban if the B Sample tests positive too.
Good for him, hope he can build a successful career in coaching
McKinley returning to Italy as an assistant coach to Vicenza. He'll be a huge loss to VM rugby coverage.
Yeah I didn't mean when so much as what exactly he was taking to get himself caught. HGH is quite hard to get popped for. Whatever it was was also allegedly supplied to him by the WRU which is even more interesting.
"According to our information, scrum-half Rhys Webb, who has 40 caps for Wales, tested positive for growth hormone following an unannounced test carried out by the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) during training in July.
This would be the first athlete to be pinpointed in France since 2016, as synthetic growth hormone is difficult to detect directly (a window of only a few hours). In 2021, a method developed by the Chatenay-Malabry laboratory using an indirect marker (IGF1) made it possible to extend the detection window to one week. The product was allegedly supplied by the Welsh federation and Webb did not declare it to the Biarritz club doctor. "
https://www.lequipe.fr/Rugby/Actualites/Rhys-webb-biarritz-positif-a-l-hormone-de-croissance/1415831
He was tested in pre season last July by Biarritz.
HGH (ab)use is endemic in the players over 30 by all accounts. I wonder how Webb got caught.
Tom Daly to Stade Nicoise (ProD2)
Sam Arnold to Newcastle Falcons
Never accordingly to most people here when the topic is brought up.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jul/10/rhys-webb-four-year-ban-rugby-union-wales-biarritz
Rhys Webb getting a doping ban, I do wonder how much of this goes on.
Also, his less than salubrious character aside, he is playing in the 4th tier of the Japanese league.
