The Dew Drop Inn Virtual Rugby Pub, Pyongyang

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 Pyongyang in a bid to persuade Kim Jong Un to pack away the missiles, grab a beer and watch the rugby.

The only rule in this pub is one of mutual respect for everyone in it, oh and no tampering with the pictures of Donal Walsh, Chris & the late Hannah Eaton, the retiring Marcus Horan, the recently hospitalised Schalk Burger (with meningitis), the recuperated Jacques Burger, and the three-peating ANBL champion NZ Breakers





Previous pub: https://www.606v2.com/t42107-the-dew-drop-inn-virtual-rugby-walkabout-covent-garden

Sorry, did that sound very saracastic?

It was supposed to

No, not at all, Glas. Must say I didn't detect any.

What are your thoughts on the HEC semis?

Will it be an all-French affair, French-English, Irish-English or Irish-French Final?

All French.

Who's the fourth team? I know it's Clermont v Munster, but who do Saracens play?

That's what I tipped, Rocheberie. (have a feeling Sarries will win though...)

Toulon, Lucky.

Ah, that's right. I don't feel that strongly about it, but I'd like to see an all-French final. If it's an Anglo-Irish final, I won't be upset. I haven't watched much of the Heino this year so (whisper it) I don't really care.

I bet I've watched even less.

Also no Rabo Pro12, Amlin, Jeff or LV=mc 2 or whatever that is?

What was the one Prop was on about? Is that the local Welsh regional comp under the big 4 regions? Do they feed into them?

Below the Pro12 is the Premiership, then the Championship, then Divison 1, Division 2 and so on. I think all the divisons are divided again by region (but not 'region' as in the regions, if that makes sense).

Prop and Penfro will correct me if I'm wrong!

so they were talking about Div 1 which Cardiff Sarries won?

Division 6, South East.

OK. Quite a few teams then. Does Newport also have teams in Division 6 or is it Cardiff only?

I know they have Hartridge, but they might have more.

Can't stand Heineken Cup finals where the teams are from the same country.

Much prefer when you have something like Leinster v Saints, Munster v Biarritz, Tigers v Leinster, Toulouse v Wasps etc compared with Toulouse v Biarritz or Tigers v Wasps or Ulster v Leinster.

You can see those match ups in the league. I feel a bit cheated when its all from one nation.

Yeah, I prefer teams from opposing nations too. A clash of culture and rugby styles is much more interesting to watch.

I can understand that a Clermont v Toulon game would be appealing for some. They play the 'nicest' brand of rugby from the teams remaining. They are both newcomers to the cup. They aren't Saracens. It would make tickets easier to source for those neutrals attending.

But isn't enough. The very best Heineken Cup days involve neutral opposition.

OK,that"s sorted;
ASM(French qualified)vs ASM(non French,but will need a few frenchtomakeupthenumbers,gotyourbootswithyou)

Biarritz for RDS:

Bosch - Ngwenya, Baby, Traille , Brew - Barraque, Yachvili - Lakafia, , Harinordoquy (cap.), Dubarry - Taele, E.Lund - Broster, Heguy, Synaeghel.

Missing- Balshaw, Gimenez, Thion, Genevois, Barcella, Gray

Although a Saracens v Munster final would be interesting. Very much one for the purists. A guaranteed full house and a thronged Dublin City. It would be the decisive third meeting of the teams this season with one win each.

How's Aled Brew been doing for Biarritz, Chef?

Mick,
French XV:

01 Thomas Domingo
02 Benjamen Kayser
03 Vincent Debaty
04 Loic Jacquet
05 Julien Pierre
06 Alexandre Lapandry
07 Julien Bonnaire
08 Elvis Vermuelen
09 Morgan Parra
10 David Skrela
11 Julien Malzieu
12 Wesley Fofana
13 Aurelien Rougerie
14 Anthony Floch
15 Jean Marcellin Buttin

That team has 14 French international on it.

Foreign XV:

01 Davit Zirakashvili (Georgia)
02 Ti’i Paulo (Samoa)
03 Daniel Kotze (South Africa)
04 Nathan Hines (Scotland)
05 Jamie Cudmore (Canada)
06 Julien Bardy (Portugal)
07 Gerhard Vosloo (South Africa)
08 Vito Kolelishvili (Georgia)
09 Kevin Senio (New Zealand)
10 Brock James (Australia)
11 Napoleon Nalaga (Fiji)
12 Benson Stanley (New Zealand)
13 Regan King (New Zealand)
14 Sitiveni Sivivatu (New Zealand)
15 Lee Byrne (Wales)

Ah its ok but do you have a Duncan Williams type player?

I'd play Chouly ahead of Elvis
and rado in front of Senio(only cos his name doesn't have a French ring)

The Toulon side looks pretty awesome too. I can't believe they lost to Bayonne, Grenoble, Begles (is that right?) then draw with Toulouse.

Are they targeting the HEC or Top 14 or both? Were those poor Top14 results due to them putting out weakened sides or were they simply caught out by some lower ranked sides on those occasions? (If so) It's a bad time to be taking the foot off the pedal.

They've signed Drew Mitchell... they must have oodles of cash!

Linebreaker
ASM have been putting this squad together for 4/5 years(only that skunk Schmidt skipped ship )
Toulon have bought/fought their way back into the Top14 and are now looking to benefit from the ex internationals from all countries with a sell by date that is now beginning to show.I have said this(but not here) since November,powerful,impressive,but lacking longevity over a season.
Cotter has perhaps got it right for ASM this season(but a victory against the combined force of Munster and Nigel seems difficult), at least one crown for the best exponents of NH rugby is realistic.
It would be a shame for rugby that an HCup final comes down to a dour Saracens vs Munster.

I see Chef.

So ASM to do the double unless Toulon can upset the season trend? Quite a fascinating tussle isn't it? Maybe if Toulon were to get knocked out then they would have even more incentive to get that Top14 trophy given how close they came last year. Or you still reckon they will fall just short to ASM this year?

red_stag wrote:I can understand that a Clermont v Toulon game would be appealing for some. They play the 'nicest' brand of rugby from the teams remaining. They are both newcomers to the cup. They aren't Saracens. It would make tickets easier to source for those neutrals attending.

But isn't enough. The very best Heineken Cup days involve neutral opposition.

I think you'll get your wish; Saracens vs Clermont

If ASM get the HCup,then they will be happy;but having recently drawn against RCT(away,with the B team) and trounced ST at home, they can seriously think of doing a double.If they beat Begles for the last match of the regular season, they get to choose the date of the semi(both are at Nantes).there they will probably meet Castres,and the other semi should be RCT vs ST(the teams eliminated in playoffs,going by form' being RM and MHRC)

On paper(and on the pitch) there is only one CLUB in France atm, but knock out games are another bouilloire de poisson

..and here we go

http://www.planetrugby.co.uk/story/0,25883,16024_8667320,00.html

better than a kick in the head,Pauly?...

the only Irish ....

Ah, those dangerous paperwork anomalies...

Glas a du wrote:Ah, those dangerous paperwork anomalies...

ERC paperwork,glI bet they didn't check Brad Thorn's registration so thoroughly last season

Mick(TEFC) wrote:..and here we go

http://www.planetrugby.co.uk/story/0,25883,16024_8667320,00.html

better than a kick in the head,Pauly?...

the only Irish ....

Surely you're not on that bandwagon... all the conspiracy theories miss the fact the incident didn't merit a penalty. Anyway- http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/news/16259.php#.UXaqB45c_zI

Brad Thorn in on time.

Are you saying that having the ERC based in Dublin is having an effect on their impartiality Chef?

No,Notch,no conspiracy as Schmidt said, anything goes.It will always be the ref's decision,and unfortunately there are 7 cameras there to prove him wrong(where is soccer in this field?)

BUT for people over here it seems a little strange that Delany is not qualified this week, whereas last week there was no problem,and that ERC rules(for a maximum of 9 games)outweigh national rules(and not laws).And of course, Pauly's foot in Kearny's head was only in the spirit of the game.

Glas a du wrote:Are you saying that having the ERC based in Dublin is having an effect on their impartiality Chef?

#Pantwettigmoment

Mick(TEFC) wrote:No,Notch,no conspiracy as Schmidt said, anything goes.It will always be the ref's decision,and unfortunately there are 7 cameras there to prove him wrong(where is soccer in this field?)

Except I've seen the replay, MANY times, and for the life of me I still have to say it is in no way a penalty. Think we'll have to agree to disagree here. The only victim in all of this is O'Connell by the media hype.

I'm only quoting Joe;haven't seen the supposed misdemeanor myself,because nothing was done during the match,and I rarely spend time following Irish(franchise) rugby.

Mick(TEFC) wrote:I'm only quoting Joe;haven't seen the supposed misdemeanor myself,because nothing was done during the match,and I rarely spend time following Irish(franchise) rugby.

So you think it's a disgrace and a conspiracy that O'Connell wasn't suspended- for an incident that you haven't seen?

Relax. ASM are overwhelming favourites. Munster are deeply average this year. The IRFU/ERC/Illuminati could parachute Dan Carter and Richie McCaw into the Munster squad the day before the game and you'd still have no excuses for failing to put them to the sword.

Qui ne saute pas .....

I have as yet said nothing on the subject,and will stay silent in front of the ignominious decision of the IRFU to not even question an act that,apparently, will be jurisprudence in professional rugby.

I Frak hate jurisprudence.

Glas a du wrote:I Frak hate jurisprudence.

Love it....

I try to avoid it if at all possible.

MrsP wrote:Cari!

Are you working on Eastern Standard Time or something?

Or have you got a terrible "satellite" delay on your internet connection?

No I was being silly.

Evenin' All - woss occurrin'?

Hi,Cari,
trying to talk rugby,but as per,anything not pro IRFU gets ignored.Be back in a few weeks.

Err, evening all.

Check out this eejit. He's about 5' 4" and a regular at my local. Bizarrely he is being feted for this...

Wealdstone raider

We had a bloke like that in Uni. Couldn't lose could he? If you lamped him one you were a bully, if he lamped you, a coward or soft. Fortunately Subsbench was about the same size as him and would arbitrate. On one memorable occasion it was as much as I could do to hold Subsbench back from a little overly physical arbitration...

Just found out I'll be in Dublin for the Pro12 final.....what's the odds of it being held there?

prop_lyd wrote:Just found out I'll be in Dublin for the Pro12 final.....what's the odds of it being held there?

Very good. Should Ulster and Leinster win it's an Irish 1-2 seeding and both have nominated the RDS as home venue. Odds of getting tickets? Oooooh...

Lets put it like this. Ulster have about 6000 or so season ticket holders (guestimate, real figures?) and would like to go with 2 per season ticket, but 12000 is more than our maximum allocation in the RDS (50/50 split) I would say they'll guarantee one per season ticket and then season ticket holders will get first refusal on the rest- and then if last year is anything to go by the rest will be offered to people purchasing new season tickets for next year, then the URSC and only then will there be any chance of tickets going public. Leinster have 11500 season ticket holders which is already more than their maximum allocation so they're probably going to go with a ballot.

I'd say there's no chance any tickets will go on public sale in the event of a Leinster-Ulster final. You want Glasgow to make the Final against Ulster or Scarlets versus Leinster to have any chance whatsoever.

I think Ulster will go for 2 per season ticket and first come, first served and it will be a mess. If you want to go start befriending Ulster and Leinster fans. And I'm not getting you one

I CLAVDIVS...

Prop there will always be tickets floating around Ballsbridge area of Dublin. Just just touts. People with a casual interest who fancy staying in the pub and having another 5 pints and a meal by selling their €35 ticket.

red_stag wrote:Prop there will always be tickets floating around Ballsbridge area of Dublin. Just just touts. People with a casual interest who fancy staying in the pub and having another 5 pints and a meal by selling their €35 ticket.

Ok cool will play it by ear and pub it if not!!

Yeah, either Ballsbridge or Cockford. Nothing much in Funtclaps though...