The Dew Drop Inn Virtual Rugby Pub, Ballycastle Bar, Hong Kong.

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 Hong Kong, host city for the British & Irish Lions first Tour match before their arrival in Australia - land of the Giant Budgie Smuggler.

So grab a beer, cider, whiskey or wine.... or a warm beverage and sit back and enjoy 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 Rory Best, Sam Warburton, the Limavady Luge Team, Papa Rodders, Mrs Rodders and our newest & sweetest member, Katelyn.    

last Pawb: https://www.606v2.com/t43001p1000-the-dew-drop-inn-virtual-rugby-pub-pyongyang

Stag, I'd say Jonathan Davies has played better at outside centre than O'Driscoll on tour, but I can't see Gatland dropping O'Driscoll to accommodate JD2 there. Tuilagi meets Gatland's inside centre brief better than JD2, so I can see him coming in. He looked good against the Rebels (albeit at outside centre).

Tommy Bowe's just as good as Cuthbert in attack, if not better in a different way (if that makes sense) and he's much more sound in defence, so I can see that switch happening too. Cuthbert could find himself out of the 22 altogether, with Maitland offering more versatility off the bench.

Some posters on another thread were taking the fact that Dan Lydiate played 65 minutes yesterday as a sign that he won't start on Saturday, but he'll be so much fresher than alot of players after missing a good few months of the season. Having Lydiate at blindside would allow Warburton to concentrate on pilfering. But if he doesn't start, he shouldn't be on the bench, as Sean O'Brien can cover all three back row positions better.

Breaker, going well. Been fairly busy with work but greatly enjoying myself.

I'd agree Davies has arguably been better than O'Driscoll but form is just one factor to be considered.

Agreed. It's a tough call, but JD2 to the bench, I think.

red_stag wrote:Breaker, going well. Been fairly busy with work but greatly enjoying myself.

True meaning of a working-holiday but I hope it's more of a holiday (and working) for you and you are taking long lunch breaks.
It must all feel a bit surreal and exciting at the same time.

Croft and O'Brien both on the bench at the expense of a 2nd row.

JD2 to keep his place. Philips too. Bowe the only change to the backline.

Parling and Vunipola promoted from the bench. Grant in and Cuthbert at 23

Remember you heard it here first.

Do you think Ryan Grant might leapfrog Vunipola into the starting XV?

Lucky, my cricket game on Saturday starts at 12 (not the usual 2) . So I'll probably be able to manage a quick catch up, and (maybe) see the 1st half of the test

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:Do you think Ryan Grant might leapfrog Vunipola into the starting XV?

Nope. He was looking good during the season, but when a loose head prop gets held up by Rob Kearney (Rabo semi) you begin to lose faith in him.

Decent but not quite Lions test material.

Lydiate will be sent out to help out Philips and to hit Genia every time he looks at a photo of a rugby ball.

Hit him hard, hit him often, and then after that, get up and hit him again. Just for the crack like.

You know Genia is made from rubber, Jen?

He loves that kind of attention.

Well technically Rob Kearney held him up, but that's only because Ryan Grant knocked him over and fell on top of him!

Pete, how easy would it be for you to get to the Temperance? I don't have my heart set on going there, so if there's anywhere better and closer to you, I'm happy to travel. I have an Oyster card and everything.

LB, I did not know Genia was a masochist!

Linebreaker wrote:You know Genia is made from rubber, Jen?

He loves that kind of attention.

I heard he loved it when Stephen Ferris carried him along the pitch for a while.... Gave him a little rest.... and a bit of a flutter in the trouser dept.

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:Well technically Rob Kearney held him up, but that's only because Ryan Grant knocked him over and fell on top of him!

Pete, how easy would it be for you to get to the Temperance? I don't have my heart set on going there, so if there's anywhere better and closer to you, I'm happy to travel. I have an Oyster card and everything.

The Temperance is 20 mins drive from the cricket ground, I'll get a cab there at half time . (That's assuming a 10.30 kick-off right)

No, kick-off time is 11.05 again.

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:No, kick-off time is 11.05 again.

Do you fancy a half-hour catch up at the Temperance before kickoff then?

State of Origin on Setanta here. Don't have Setanta on my Sky sub so can't watch on my phone.

They have Setanta in the canteen but wouldn't look good to sit out there and watch the game. Also it would be harder to work on my phone in there.

May have to break out a laptop in the 2nd half...

Can't afford to watch Origin unfortunately but I will be mentally cheering on NSW

Sounds good Pete, I was planning on getting there around half ten anyway to get a good view of the big screen (assuming it's a big screen!).

ChequeredJersey wrote:Can't afford to watch Origin unfortunately but I will be mentally cheering on NSW

Me too. And obviously LineBreaker

I believe Queenslanders marry their cousins a lot. They play in red too..... Hmmmmm. I wonder do they eat much in the way of turnips?

Jenifer McLadyboy wrote:I believe Queenslanders marry their cousins a lot. They play in red too..... Hmmmmm. I wonder do they eat much in the way of turnips?

Legends

Qld 14-0 after 38 mins. Unstoppable tide of maroon in the first 20 mins.

Looks like it's going to be a big night for Qld... with Kevin Rudd our new PM (again!)

There had been some pretty nasty stuff in the press about Julia Gillard, hadn't there?

It's all nasty ALP in-fighting here, Lucky. It reached fever pitch today and things moved quickly late in the afternoon.

This morning, 2 Independents (ALP minority supporters) said they would not contest their seats. The Opposition asked for an early election this afternoon in the house. They lost 73-74. The ballot was supposed to take place tomorrow at 9am but Gillard cut him off again and called for a count at 7pm. Rudd's people had obviously got a head start and JG was caught out. Her main backer Bill Shorten - 'the union numbers man' then switched to Kev at 6:36pm. Ironic, because he was behind the coup from Gillard in 2010... against Rudd.

At 5pm, JG held a live meeting saying "whoever loses the ballot must quit politics" Ooops! You can imagine how the media are going to hammer her even more now. Also, the Libs have miles of footage to play back to Kevin Rudd. So many f-ups, broken promises... and nothing but personality fights these last 6 months especially. However, the ALP Caucus had decided that their only chance is with KR despite the fact that they are so far behind in the Polls. It's a poisoned chalice... but you never know. They might get close but it will be a miracle. I think the Australian people have had enough. It's sort of an exact mirror image of your Cons/Lib-Dem Coalition situation except in our case its ALP/Greens/Ind.

I saw a talk show host accusing her of marrying a man who may once have been gay, as if that had any blydi thing to do with politics! Bizarre!

Oh, was that something about him having a background in hairdressing? Yes, because all hairdressers are gay, and vice versa!

That was a nasty shockjock from Perth called Howard Sattler. He got sacked and is now trying to sue the radio station.

Timmy, Julia's partner, had a hairdressing salon but he created the "man-shed" thing where blokes can potter around with tools, etc... and do some gardening. He has a large following here. A place for men with mid-life crises to 'chew the fat' and get their minds off whatever problems they might have in their day-to-day lives. He's a nice bloke but he put his foot in it too. Forget exactly what (a disparaging remark about women?) but it was caught on film.

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:Oh, was that something about him having a background in hairdressing? Yes, because all hairdressers are gay, and vice versa!

My brother had a gay dog once...... No wait... Not gay...Diabetic.... Some affliction like that anyway...

My sister had a gay cat. He'd had the snip, so he was non-practising.

Breaker, they just played that radio interview on Radio 2 here - they're discussing Julia Gillard's treatment.

Linebreaker wrote:Qld 14-0 after 38 mins. Unstoppable tide of maroon in the first 20 mins.

Looks like it's going to be a big night for Qld... with Kevin Rudd our new PM (again!)

Ah Jaysis. I was reading that score backwards.

Messages from below tell me that it's 24 nil to the muck savages with about 15 left and 4 players sent off.

Yee Haa Queensland won....roll on game three.

Yeah, NSW got smashed. Sets up Origin 3. Deja vu...

Back to our current situation:
To summarise... they (politicians) are all pretty bad. This guy who resigned this morning gave an emotional speech... tears streaming down his face. All very much part of life but for me - that's not what Politics is about. It was an embarrassing soap opera which went on for nearly an hour. A sign of incredible weakness to wallow in your own decision to stand down.

Move on please! The Asians call it 'losing face'. He didn't know how or when to stop his sobbing. I found it distressing to witness.

Meanwhile, the farms are being sold off, manufacturing industry dismantled, 'leave the coal in the ground' talk (and let Asia have a monopoly on manufacturing top-of-the-line steel, guns, bombs, whatever...we'll email them the blueprints if they haven't already stolen them) - whilst we all go back to a basket-weaving lifestyle like in the stone age (that's all we'll have!)... and all against the massive backdrop of the silly, childish, nasty behaviour, dirty washing which defines the politics of today.

Add to that the irresponsible spending (they spent $300b in a flash!), 45,000 boat people and the incoming numbers are out of control; thousands of deaths at sea (I feel very sorry for those poor asylum seekers but ALP ripped apart the successful schemes we had in place and now they are more economic rather than political asylum seekers), a carbon tax expected to fetch $30b but so far has only raised $200m, a mining tax (the big miners don't pay their tax or move profits offshore), embarrassing/sordid behaviour of MPs caught with their pants down (one guy $100k on 'gentleman's clubs... 176 itemised banks statements and he still says 'there has been some sort of mix-up... he can't remember'), and right now - reduced sentences for the most brutal murderers - because the 'prosecution panel' is made up of a strange mix of people who have been bought by the Gvt and who are used to horrible violence in their former countries and don't blink an eye to the horrors that have occurred here lately -they have been completely de-sensitised. Murderers let out on parole with all the warnings from family, etc... who then go out and do it again within 24 hours of being released back onto the streets.

There seems to be a deliberate attempt to f-up our predominantly Anglo-Saxon society. I'm for a mix of cultures but there needs to be a balance - we shouldn't bring in too many Al-Qaeda or unskilled folk who go straight onto the dole queue and get all the Gvt assistance - medical care/jobs training/put in the spotlight on the Voice even, whilst undoing all of the achievements from the last 225 years and water it down so it's all the New World Order, Animal Farm, Agenda 21 type society.

It's quite frightening actually. I feel Australia is so vulnerable... not just in sport    but right across the board. Forget your average Aussie stereotype - he/she is fast disappearing. They will soon be obliterated from the social map and be both psychologically and physically crushed with nothing to their name after generations of hard slog. Well that's the way it seems here. Excuse the rant - but it's like the alarmist mentality has swapped sides and there's nothing you can do to save what we once cherished and valued... and if you mention some good things from say 10 years ago... you get shouted down and called all manner of things.

So, in a way, Julia made a bold attempt to change things (some good; some bad) but the net result is that she has almost ticked most of the boxes on the Fabian Society checklist. We, the people are paying for it now and will be for a while yet. Whether the Libs can turn it around (unlikely... they are bound by the same global treaties; damage done!) remains to be seen. Still, we've all got to forge our own paths somehow and be one step ahead of the game.

Breaker, you should never feel like you have to apologise for ranting in here. It's a great place to let off some steam!

I feel a lot better now, thanks Lucky.

Last thing I'll add. The ALP is great when it comes to building things - infrastructure like roads, rail, public housing, people's parks... all great acievements. Our conservative governments aren't so good at that.

They also have helped 10s of thousands of people with disabilities and broken down the barriers for many parts of society so they can better contribute to the country as a whole. So there's a lot a good in that too.

However, I feel as if they have gone too far to a point where they are almost contradicting themselves. By opening up the way for all these new freedoms for various groups - it is sort of an act of discrimination in itself. I am willing to accept this... fair enough. All pluses. But they shouldn't 'wage war' based on class, sex, beliefs, etc. It should all be added upon; not replace one group with another.

Does that make any sense?

Sure, many people have benefited by these kind acts but equally there have been many victims whose lives have been literally turned upside down and ripped out from under them. The pollies still give themselves pay-rises and feather their nest for retirement by virtually 'stealing' from others who have actually tried to earn their money legitimately.

I don't know... it's sort of a case of 'righting the wrongs' but also 'wronging the rights'. Makes life more interesting that's for sure!

I think I know what you mean, Breaker. I think in some circumstances people are so scared of causing offence - or being seen to cause offence - that they go too far the other way.

Oh MrsP. How are you? Is summer treating you well?

I did say at that time "I might pop in from time to time"... or something similar.

I feel better now. The break did me good. I'm just easing back into the swing of things.

Hi Linebreaker,

So glad you didn't disappear.

We are fine but.....you guessed it.....busy.

Peak athletics season. We had Lord Coe over yesterday at the official opening of the refurbished Mary Peters Track. Us officials even got special Polo Shirts for the occasion.

Mind you, I was left to sort out the HJ while the rest of the team downed tools and went to hob nob with the dignitaries and get their photos taken. Still, a good day.

MrsP wrote:Mind you, I was left to sort out the HJ while the rest of the team downed tools and went to hob nob with the dignitaries and get their photos taken. Still, a good day.

A horrible day! I'm all bunged up with man-flu but I didn't have the heart to call in sick knowing that this was the big day for Athletics NI since the track re-opened. God I feel awful. But my boss was very good about it, letting me off as much of the hard work as possible and letting me go home once the pole vault was in.

No it was brilliant to see the track looking so well and some great athletes over to compete.

Awwwwhhhh1

And yet you still came and moved the HJ mats for me without a word of complaint!




If it's any consolation, I'm feeling a bit rotten myself today. Maybe Lord Coe brought a nasty bug over with him!

You've probably caught his Coe-ld, MrsP.

Lucky!

Naughty step!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/athletics/23055852

That 110m Hurdles was the highlight for me. I just had to stop the LJ to watch!

Such a brilliant run by Reynolds. Especially on the back of his weekend performance too.

The word on the street is that we have such a fast track that lots of athletes will be very keen to come over to set some super figures.

MrsP wrote:That 110m Hurdles was the highlight for me. I just had to stop the LJ to watch!

Such a brilliant run by Reynolds. Especially on the back of his weekend performance too.

The word on the street is that we have such a fast track that lots of athletes will be very keen to come over to set some super figures.

Fast track? Just what the doctor ordered. That will bring the big-guns in.

Sounds like a great day was had.

Love Mary Peters. It is right and proper that stadium was given her name.

Evenin all. Specially those out in Oz.

I know people complain about the likes of  Delon Armitage, Digby Ioane, Kurtley Beale and Hartley damaging the reputation of rugby but comparted to American athletes, these lads are angels.


29 fellas been arrested in 3 months. 2 being charged for murder!

Evening Gibbo.