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

WillyGilly wrote:Kidney has gone!

x 100

I wish the man well. I am sure he is a decent and lovely bloke and I will miss him in lots of ways but I am sure this is for the best.

Glas a du wrote:Don't they reverse every few millenia or so anyway? I seem to remember that being how they proved plate tectonics, by the polarity of the rocks on the floor of the Atlantic

Anybody else see that there is more ice in Antartica as a result of the Arctic ice receeding? Apparently the net effect of the melt water has been to cool the seas to the South of the equator, an example of negative feedback. (I knew my GCSE geography would come in useful one day! )

April fools was yesterday Willser.

Glas apparantly the North Pole has shifted from Canada towards Russia and has been doing so at an acceletarting rate over the past 10 years. The Earths magnetic field has been declining which usually predates a shift.

Don't you find it a strange coincidence that not only is the Northern lights further south but so is the gulf stream..... a more suspicious mind might think that they aren't actually further south rather we are further North .......

Rodders,

http://www.irishrugby.ie/news/28869.php

Its a shame that a guy who won an U19 RWC, multiple Heineken Cups and a Six Nations Grandslam will be so badly remembered.

Apparently he is still on sabbatical from PBC Cork as a teacher (that sums up the public sector in Ireland BTW)!

MrsP wrote:Rodders,

http://www.irishrugby.ie/news/28869.php

If Nasa can cover up a pole reveresal then the IRFU are capable off pulling of an April fools prank.......

Maybe Kidney leaving is a monumental enough event to cause the "Flip" Rodders!

MrsP wrote:

WillyGilly wrote:Kidney has gone!

x 100

I wish the man well. I am sure he is a decent and lovely bloke and I will miss him in lots of ways but I am sure this is for the best.

The same. Its his decency and humility that makes me wish him good luck, but I feel a sense of relief too- I think this is best for all parties. However badly you want to keep your job, if you fundamentally can no longer bring what is needed to it... it's as bad for you as anyone else.

I'm glad they've framed it like this- decide not to offer new contract. A slightly more dignified exit than the sacking we all felt was necessary after the New Zealand tour, albeit unproductively delayed.

I wish Declan well. It wasnt to be and he didnt get the best support from his Coaching team either. They must go also - en masse.

A new Head Coach would be expected to pick his own specialist coaching staff. We cant trust the IRFU to decide this. The next step is vital for Irish rugby.

We dont want to waste another 5 years do we?

The new Head Coach should be given up to and until the RWC2015 is over for us. Then decide again. NO built-in overlaps. That's just silly.

Evening All

Do you think it would help if the next Irish coach wasn't Irish? May be less provincial than DK...? Anyway, good luck to whoever takes over. It's never an easy job taking over as head coach of any team when someone's just left under a cloud.

I'll tell you what, I think you have it upside down. Irish national coach of a declining national team, foreign coaches of three European powerhouses at provincial level. If you get a foreigner at National level you should look to get Irish coaches of the Provinces by the end of his contract or you will have a vacuum of understanding at elite coaching level. A foreigner is necessary now at national level to rise above interprovincial faction fighting. I would say that the aim should be to get Irish coaches to back room standard in five years.

No need to thank me, invoice in the post

Anyone got any idea how much it would cost to send a mobile phone and it's charger to Belfast from Italy?

£5

According to the Irish Indo, Kidney was 'sacked'.

Has anyone turned off the 'Kidney clock'? And did it lose an hour at the weekend?

Glas,

Is that a guess or do you have experience of such international retrieval of "left behind" objects?

Complete guesstimate.

Evening pub

MrsP, don't know about the Italian postal service but I do know a little about courier services. It's not cheap, you're possibly looking at £30.00. DHL do a collection service for individuals, as opposed to businesses who have an account with them. UPS and TNT probably do too. You could check their websites but you'll need an idea of weight and parcel dimensions to get a quote.

I had to send an original A4 piece of paper (for signature) Sydney-Tokyo by UPS. I think it was under $18 (£12)? so shouldn't be too much from from Italy to Belfast.

Then again, as Swanny says... it may be a bit more depending on weight.

Finally raining here. The temps have dropped a few degrees. I've just spent about 20 minutes in a panic looking for a pair of jeans. Out of 25 boxes I still have about 3 or 4 with some 'winter' clothes/ linen in them. After emptying all of them 3/4 of the way... I suddenly saw a pair neatly folded over a chair under some beach towels. Panic averted!

Yeah there's a big difference between sending documents and parcels. They stitch you when something falls into the parcel bracket

Still got a fair amount of snow here on the tops, some serious drifts I treated myself to a summer frock over the weekend so the weather is now guaranteed to continue to be pants!

Thanks for the help guys. I am kind of hoping someone at the other end will do us a favour and check how much it would cost to send them back in the post. Bit tricky when we need to have the price before we decide if it's financially viable to get it returned.

Oh to speak Italian!

We have just about reachd the tipping point today where we have more green than white round the house. Some areas are still under a fair bit. One farmer found a ram alive after about 9 days under 4 feet of snow.

P1 is supposed to have her first practice expedition for Duke of Ed this weekend. Hopefully it will not go ahead.

Post is usually cheaper than courier MrsP, from here to there would be about £10 I think, to give you a vague idea. My mum does speak some Italian so shout if you get really stuck, she might be able to help.

The snow kind of reminds me of the winters we had when I was a kid. The ploughs have been out, you can tell by the piles of snow at the side of the road with a flat front to them if you know what I mean. Haven't seen that in years!

Thanks again Swanny!

I never remember snow lasting this long and I am older than you.

This is Co Down today.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-22005872

(You may need a translator!)

You're welcome MrsP

I wonder if the geographical differences have a bearing on this? I was talking to my mum about it over the weekend. I can clearly remember heavy snowfall as a child, snow ploughs came out and did their thing, but the piles of snow did last for days, or at least I thought so. She says I thought correctly, the snow did last for some time, though definitely not this late in the year!

I'll have a quick look for some pictures of round here.

My ear must be tuned in, no translator required

red_stag wrote:Its a shame that a guy who won an U19 RWC, multiple Heineken Cups and a Six Nations Grandslam will be so badly remembered.

I'm not sure he'll be remembered badly, outside Ireland at least, and even by posterity within Ireland. He was at the helm when you won only your second Grand Slam ever. I'd say that that will be his legacy rather than the negatives. There were wins over southern hemisphere opponents, too - maybe you were spoiled by those and began taking them for granted.

MrsP wrote:Thanks for the help guys. I am kind of hoping someone at the other end will do us a favour and check how much it would cost to send them back in the post. Bit tricky when we need to have the price before we decide if it's financially viable to get it returned.

Oh to speak Italian!

We have just about reachd the tipping point today where we have more green than white round the house. Some areas are still under a fair bit. One farmer found a ram alive after about 9 days under 4 feet of snow.

P1 is supposed to have her first practice expedition for Duke of Ed this weekend. Hopefully it will not go ahead.

Very little chance of her expedition going ahead mrs p. There will be snow in the mournes well into April and that means there is a good chance of avalanches, plus the roads around spelga dam are still only just about passable with at least 6ft drifts on either side. Is she doing it through school or elsewhere? Either way it should have been called off by now. Far too dangerous.

Ah bollix with your health and safety gumph Willser, when I did my DoE practice in the Mournes it was covered in snow......

That was before the polar reversal began though ......

Hey anyone else find it extremely suspicious that scientists haven't (publically) made the connection between the weakening if the earth's magnetic field, the growth of the South Atlantic Anomoly, the acceration of the magnetic North Pole towards Russia, the melting of the arctic and freezing of the antarctic, the weakening of the gulf stream, colder than average winters in North Europe, hotter than average summers in the SH and increased tectonic activity across the pacific rim?

Hound of Harrow wrote:

Notch wrote:Just waiting for Kiwireddevil to pop in with big sack full of the stolen emoticons and shout "APRIL FOOLS!"

I wouldn't put it past him.

I wish I'd thought of it

Morning all, hope everyone had a good Easter break. I bought a new laptop on Friday, so have a little RSI from reacqainting myself with a couple of old computer games, and bought a new bicycle on Saturday - hadn't ridden one in 7 years, so have a few more aches and pains from that too!

At least Sainburys had 1/2 price NZ lamb, so the Sunday roast was fantastic - ditto the shepherds' pie* leftovers


*Yes I know technically it's not a proper pie (no pastry). But it tastes great!

My high for the weekend: Crusaders winning in Cape Town, without McCaw, Carter, Read or Dagg.


My low: Western Force (and ex Hurricanes) half back Chris Eaton's wife Hannah was killed in a car accident, aged just 25 http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8494659/Former-Hurricanes-wife-dies-in-crash

That lamb looked good Pete, judging by the photos on Facebook!

Shame about that player's wife, kiwi.

My high over the weekend. Being able to ask for a 'leg over' in my pub and getting away with it.

Daleside Brewery's, Old Leg Over was on.



Low - losing to Sarries having been 13-0 up


Morning all.

Morning, Hound. Good weekend then?

Aye lucky.

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:That lamb looked good Pete, judging by the photos on Facebook!

That was the inferior New Zealand stuff Lucky. Most prime British lamb ends up in France. I'm not being snobby, but when it comes to a choice between British Supermarkets and the French housewife in culinary matters, I know where my money is...

P.S. you can get cracking British lamb at independent butchers, OK it's a little more money and you have to do shopping in more than one place, but you are helping preserve your High Street and putting two fingers up to the Supermarkets. Just saying...

I really want to try mutton. I saw one of the TV chefs cook a mutton tagine, I could've eaten the telly.

Condolances to Eatons family

Pete/Glas whats the best way to cook a lamb. I always just shove a few cloves of garlic and a couple sprigs of rosemary into it, stick it in the oven in til foil.

Am I missing out?

You're using the wrong foil for a start........

Buy some roasting bags, stag. Excellent things - they help keep the flavours in.

red_stag wrote:Condolances to Eatons family

Pete/Glas whats the best way to cook a lamb. I always just shove a few cloves of garlic and a couple sprigs of rosemary into it, stick it in the oven in til foil.

Am I missing out?

I grew up on mutton - why slaughter lamb for the table when you can sell it instead. Dad would move older ewes into the "killers" flock (he was brutally honest - there was also the "dogtucker" flock for those sheep he didn't think were even kitchen table quality). Mutton has much more flavour than lamb, you just have to be more careful when cooking as it generally isn't as tender.

And Glas, I'm patriotic enough to prefer NZ lamb if I can get it


Lucky, garlic and rosemary is the classic. At the weekend I didn't have any rosemary handy, so I opened up a couple of bags of bouquet garni from the spice rack (rosemary, marjoram, oregano, thyme & bay leaf), mixed that with olive oil, salt and a clove of crushed garlic and rubbed that into the lamb. I sat the lamb leg in the pan on top of some sliced carrot & cherry tomato, plus a few garlic cloves and a couple of quartered onions, one of those Knorr jellied stock concentrates, a tablespoon of soy and a glug of red wine. Every 30 minutes I basted the lamb with the juices, and added another glug of wine (I used about 150ml in total). The lamb & the carrots came out tasting heavenly, while the (strained and thickened) liquid made a superb gravy.

Pete, you're making me sad that I only have ham sandwiches for lunch!

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:Pete, you're making me sad that I only have ham sandwiches for lunch!

I had shepherds' pie made out of the leftovers


The leftover roasted potatoes & sweet potatoes mashed up OK for the pie topping too .

As PJ might put it -

6 FINGERED KNUCKLE DRAGGER'S GUIDE TO THE WEEKEND



.......... (Hopefully, I'll see you on Saturday Prop )

rodders wrote:Hey anyone else find it extremely suspicious that scientists haven't (publically) made the connection between the weakening if the earth's magnetic field, the growth of the South Atlantic Anomoly, the acceration of the magnetic North Pole towards Russia, the melting of the arctic and freezing of the antarctic, the weakening of the gulf stream, colder than average winters in North Europe, hotter than average summers in the SH and increased tectonic activity across the pacific rim?

Not really man.

PenfroPete wrote:As PJ might put it -

6 FINGERED KNUCKLE DRAGGER'S GUIDE TO THE WEEKEND



.......... (Hopefully, I'll see you on Saturday Prop )

Biggest game of the weekend that one!!

evening guys..

Evening CF and lurkers.

Didn't have the best day today. You can't choose your colleagues...

Still, this super news made my day better.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/22010003

had a very bad day as well

Is there a less likable/self-aware player in rugby than Ronan O'Gara?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Dq8AM4hgvk&feature=youtu.be

"In this ruthless business you've got to move on for the next person." on Declan Kidney.

"For the Scottish game, I was the better option." on himself.

It was good of ROG to acknowledge Ulster as the trail blazers in Ireland by being the first to win the HEC wasn't it?




Cari



Great news on Our Tommy, eh?

Just spotted your post CF.

Everything okay?

Would swap ROG for Roger Lewis any day...