The Dew Drop Inn Virtual Rugby Walkabout, Covent Garden

First topic message reminder :

Hello and welcome to the Virtual Rugby Pub, a place where you can come in for a sly beverage and discuss whatever's on your mind, or just eavesdrop on the regulars if you fancy a break from all the rugby chat.

The pub has made its way to the original Walkabout pub in London's Covent Garden, as it is set to close its doors at the end of the month.

The only rule in this pub is one of mutual respect for everyone in it, oh and no tampering with the pictures of Mark Ella or recent birthday boys Gibson and Glas a du above the bar.




Last Pub: https://www.606v2.com/t40864-the-dew-drop-inn-virtual-rugby-pub-come-by-chance

MrsP wrote:Just noticed that the Treviso v Connacht game is off. Was that because of the weather?

The wee fella was supposed to be playing in Treviso tonight.

It was rained off I'm afraid! Dunno about anywhere else in the town if they couldn't get their main pitch playable. I'd say with the rain they are getting there he wouldn't have seen the ball. Might have had to get his shirt dirty. Think he's dodged a bullet there! Wingers can't be doing with that

I guess so. Haven't heard from him so the form might be understandably poor if he's stood out in the wing in the tipping rain all game. His team are not exactly renowned for getting the ball wide at the best of times.

The Dragons weren't as bad as Lucky had feared although Faletau was binned which cost the Dragons. I was shocked the O's didn't get any binnings for a change!

Don't mention yellow cards.

Payne was YC'd at the very end of the game for being held back by a Leinster player.

Oh that's frustrating MrsP. Still, at least Ulster got the win. S4C are repeating the O's match at 11:15pm tonight, so I'll watch that I think.

Buenas tardes, amigos. Been a good day of rugby, it would seem, although I have been out and about all day. We have a young (second) cousin over from Argentina staying up here for a few days so we (Rosanne and self) took her out to Scone Palace. When we arrived it turned out that there was an antique fair on, so we couldn't get into the Palace itself. Not a problem for me, not that interested in looking at other folks' furniture, so we went to the Crannog Centre at Kenmore (I now know how to make fire by rubbing two sticks together), home via the Sma' Glen. Some serious snow drifts still on view. Cup of tea and a toasted teacake at Crieff, then home. So ... watched most of the game (Leinster v Ulster), cracking spectacle and well played Ulster.

Just heard from the wee fella.

Their game was called off because the pitch was unplayable.

They were taken for a surprise visit to....the Treviso v Connacht game!

Very very damp boys!

MrsP - the weather over there must be really bad for games to be cancelled considering the boggy conditions that the Welsh U20s played the Italian U20s in a few weeks ago.

MrsP wrote:Just heard from the wee fella.

Their game was called off because the pitch was unplayable.

They were taken for a surprise visit to....the Treviso v Connacht game!

Very very damp boys!

Oh dear!

MrsP wrote:Don't mention yellow cards.

Payne was YC'd at the very end of the game for being held back by a Leinster player.

He's a Proddie. A yellow card is good enough for him.

Have you seen the Wikipedia entry for George Clancy?

Notch wrote:

MrsP wrote:Just heard from the wee fella.

Their game was called off because the pitch was unplayable.

They were taken for a surprise visit to....the Treviso v Connacht game!

Very very damp boys!

Oh dear!

He will have a good time. Nature will lead him there.

Just realised the date is

31.3.13

I gather Dan Evans was MOTM in the Dragons v Scarlets game. He must've had a stormer to get it after being on the losing side and with North scoring twice (I think)

He did (Ammanford boy)

Morning!

I hope you all remembered to put your clocks forward. If not then get you reading messages from the future.

I didn't hear any MOTM announcements yesterday. I'll find out who the O's Seren Y Gem was when I watch the repeat later.

Ha! I think Gibbo had too much last night.

Oh and Happy Easter! Enjoy your choccie eggs and roast dinner later.

Cari wrote:Morning!

I hope you all remembered to put your clocks forward. If not then get you reading messages from the future.

very good

https://www.606v2.com/t42532-wru-speaks-out

Why is it that these clowns can't sort each other out without resorting to playground behaviour! Blydi hell...

Evening pub.

I'm on a beer tour of the UK. Scotland (Deuchars IPA), Wales (Brains SA - and the first ale I got mashed on ) and now down to the West Country (Exmoor Gold).

Good company too.

That's about the fiftieth time round this year isn't it!

Enjoy, Hound.

Happy Easter to all. Just back from my sister's where we had a lovely roast leg of lamb. Washed down with a couple of bottles of Malbec (argentine, of course!), followed by my world famous (hem, hem) lemon meringue pie. Nom, nom, nom.

Hi all - congrats to Ulster and Glasgow regs! That should be the final.

On another note - is 37,000 not a really really bad attendance for a double header between the Welsh regions. London double header gets 80,000. Munster v Leinster in the Rabo is getting 50,000 on its own.

I dont see why regions and WRU are both talking about the success of Judgement Day

Evening Stag.

Easter seems to be a happy time to be an Ulster fan.



On the Welsh double header, 37,000 would be a lot more than they would get for the 2 separate games would it not?

Just checked back and the head to heads in september had 7.331 at one and 14,111 at the other.

I suppose yes but its an astonishing mediocre achievement.

Bank holiday weekend, rugby is on crest of wave in Wales (back to back 6 Nations), all four Welsh regions involved in double header in the Welsh capital with more marketing thrown at it both by WRU and regions and they get a measly 37,000?

They need to be aiming to have Millennium full for these.

I suppose it's something to build on. Maybe folks will start to buy into it since it seemed to be successful this year.

Still, more folks paying to watch Pro12 rugby in Wales than any other weekend throughout the year has got to be good, no?

The one at Christmas had 10,243 at CAP and 19,443 at the Liberty.

It's pathetic.

Welsh rugby as ever has the seeds of destruction in the fruit of success.

Scrum V line up a report on the PRGB and it kicks off an internecine war. And we know how they end up...with a phallic victory

Ah yes compared to their usual rubbish attendances its fine but its just so weird to see such support for national team and nobody turning up to watch the regions.

red_stag wrote:I suppose yes but its an astonishing mediocre achievement.

Political schitt ruining the beautiful game in a country that was/is so passionate about it. Would prefer it if other fans wouldn't use it as a means to wind up Welsh fans mind which seems to be the case on this forum. Yes the London double headers get more, they've been doing them for ages and as little as I know about English rugby, it doesn't have the problems Welsh rugby has I think. There were differences between the WRU and the regions (as they were) before the creation of the professional regions in 2003. Those issues have never been resolved, it's depressing and I'm fed up with hearing about it. I personally had a great time yesterday. Considering it was the event's debut it went OK I thought. My only moan was the O's started making errors in the second half of their match but they won, they're in the top 4 (which is great considering the abysmal start they had to the season), so every cloud...I just want to watch rugby and let the players and coaches get on with it.

Maybe there just aren't enough rugby fans around. I get the impression that quite a few who attend the internationals would not really be rugby fans. Is that a fair statement?

MrsP wrote:Maybe there just aren't enough rugby fans around. I get the impression that quite a few who attend the internationals would not really be rugby fans. Is that a fair statement?

Absolutely. You get people going to internationals for personal occasions - stag/hen do's, holidays, birthdays...I suppose a big international game is a great day out even for a passing sports fan - like any other big sporting event I guess. I would imagine when the Ryder Cup was in Newport not everyone who went was a golf enthusiast.

I suppose they fill the seats and you hope some will have a good enough time to want to return to watch the regions.

How many do you think we would get at Landsdowne if we did the same? Which combination of head to heads would get the most and fewest seats sold?

Don't shoot the messenger.

The natural order of Welsh rugby is to play domestically in England. That has been disturbed since 1990. The Rabo and HC is electric shock treatment. It has saved the patient, but she is still critical.

Wales has two choices. Grab the Rabo by the scruff of the neck and sort it out or take the begging bowl to the rich neighbours. Status Quo ain't an option and the other two are not attractive.

I think the tone of the WRU press release was very worrying.

I'm afraid most of the politics of the thing have sailed far above my head too Glas.

red_stag wrote:I suppose yes but its an astonishing mediocre achievement.

Bank holiday weekend, rugby is on crest of wave in Wales (back to back 6 Nations), all four Welsh regions involved in double header in the Welsh capital with more marketing thrown at it both by WRU and regions and they get a measly 37,000?

They need to be aiming to have Millennium full for these.

I was also quite stunned at that being trumpeted. We could easily beat it here in a country where rugby is considerably less popular than Wales (we're told). Wales should be dwarfing Ireland in terms of attendances when you think about it. But that said it's not bad. It works out as an average 9,250 per region which is an improvement on how things are now. But these figures are still less than the better English Premiership clubs could get and less than Leinster, Munster and Ulster all average and thats for vanilla games in smaller stadiums with no special marketing. So in that sense, its still a worrying turnout. Compared to the london Double Header and its a big disappointment, but like I say it's the first year and even a small improvement is cause for hope.

Swansea City get an average 20,351 fans through the gate every week which is just a few hundred short of their total capacity. Thats one team playing English opposition. Two local derbies in Wales' national sport gets less than double that. And people are talking about it like its a big success. It's a building block, and they can get more next year but I'd say you're in danger to missing out to football as your national sport. Which is a shame, because you're not all that good at it. You're genuine contenders to be in the Top 4/5 rugby teams world wide but football in Wales is going from strength to strength.

It also goes to show the folly of thinking playing the English will solve everything in terms of interest. It'll help aye- but if you can't get 'em out for your showpiece derby double header, its not going to be the miracle cure. Right now people aren't interested.

I'll tell you Wales have won a good few Slams under Gatland but when I look at everything underneath it I would not trade places with your average Welsh rugby fan for one second. No Grand Slam is worth your bread and butter regional rugby having an uncertain future. Ireland is a nice distraction when it rolls around- the cherry on the cake- but week to week is what the whole thing is built on.

Notch,

I am now 1 billion per cent behind the Anglo-French proposals to have Heineken Cup in the Rabo decided by league position.

The intensity I saw in Glasgow v Munster and Leinster v Ulster; thats the benchmark. All those teams had something to lose and the game was made all the better.

I would say the MS double header was a success attendance wise. Look at it realistically; there are about 9m people in Greater London* (about 14m inside the M25), which has much better transport links.

* About twice the total population of Wales.

We also get plenty of 'hangers on' at the London d/h. Mainly students who are more interested in dressing up in themed clothing, jumping up and yelling stuff at each other, and starting Mexican waves. They are not interested in the rugby - just being there.

We had three rows of these idiots in front of us at Twickenham, and I've never come closer to clumping someone at a match. To be fair the girls with them were trying to get them to sit down so people behind them (e.g. us) could watch the rugby.

We won't be going next year I suspect.

Very interesting Hound. Sounds closer to 7s.

Glas a du wrote: Grab the Rabo by the scruff of the neck and sort it out

Glasgow, Leinster and Ulster have at various times this season played rugby which compares favourably to any league in Europe. But Welsh fans still don't care. Whats to sort out? This has the look of a thrilling run-in. After beginning a typical World Cup season- sluggish and lacking its stars- the Pro12 has burst into brilliant life post-Christmas It's a great product.

Its the internationals missing which is going to be the problem. Players are going to be no more available to them in England though, and once they realise the English clubs have less internationals per side and less restrictions on foreign journeymen they''ll realise its a disaster.

I actually think Ireland need to find a way to make the provinces play less games to preserve our players and the Welsh leaving could be a blessing in disguise. We'll be able to have an 8-team league with a potential extra inter-pro championship which is seperate to that. And in many ways, the Welsh and the English deserve each other!

I should add that we take friends who don't normally watch rugby. They were pretty hacked off too.

Plus the LDH normally gets around 65k - the top tier is not open.

red_stag wrote:The intensity I saw in Glasgow v Munster and Leinster v Ulster; thats the benchmark. All those teams had something to lose and the game was made all the better.

I actually agree. I'm just deeply, deeply saddened to have to do so. I fear we may be derelict in our responsibility to Scotland and Italy. Anyway, I predict

1) Pro12 to adopt qualification for placings
2) Welsh regions to do one anyway and join up with England
3) Ospreys to finish inside Top 6 of Aviva Prem
4) RFU and English clubs to officially object to deciding qualification by league placing
5) PRL to advocate that ERC guarantee a certain number of places for nations
6) Italian rugby to enter crisis as top club officials, administrators, officials, coaches and players commit accidental suicide by facepalm

Thanks Hound puts the Welsh one in perspective to be fair to them.

" And in many ways, the Welsh and the English deserve each other!"

Would you care to elaborate on that?

Hound of Harrow wrote:" And in many ways, the Welsh and the English deserve each other!"

Would you care to elaborate on that?

It just seems that lately there's been the same problems with the Heineken Cup and Pro12- that some parties take the attitude towards these competitions that they should be run for their exclusive benefit. The PRL are actively trying to dictate to other competition stakeholders how they should decide qualification for their places in European Cup competitions by using 'negotiating' tactics any schoolyard bully would be proud of. RRW are very actively investigating a future outside the Pro12, in an unnecessarily public way, because they can't sell out their own stadiums. Projecting their own failings to engage with the grassroots and natural fanbase onto a competition they'd be quite happy to leave in the lurch for the meagrest of English crumbs failing down. Both are showing a lot of hubris in different ways.

Were the Welsh regions to join the English Prem we'd have a situation where they realised that playing English sides isn't a higher standard than facing Irish, Italian or Scottish sides and that the crowds are going to stay away whatever teams they play until they stop making such a mess of regionalisation.

If the Ospreys finished in the Top Six the PRL/RFU would realise the knock-on financial effects and sporting disadvantage having less teams in the HC has for the national sides. They would also realise they'd seriously have to consider alternating the show piece of English rugby- the Prem final- to Cardiff every year or two.

All of the above would make me chuckle.

Wonderful self-parodying guardian April Fools, based on Google Glass;

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/video/2013/apr/01/guardian-goggles-video

"Guardian Goggles' anti-bigotry technology will automatically redact columns by Melanie Phillips or Richard Littlejohn- because life's too short to think for yourself!"

Happy April Day Fools!

Our 2 middle girls sewed up the arms and legs of MrP's jammies last night. It took him a while to realise why he couldn't put them on and why his wife was hysterical with laughter!

Like.... the Guardian one is clever and all but it didn't have me unable to speak as I was laughing so much!

That is brilliant