Glasgow and Edinburgh: Ongoing Banter Thread VIII

[RuggerRadge2611]

First topic message reminder :

Ye Olde Banter:

https://www.606v2.com/t48240-glasgow-and-edinburgh-ongoing-banter-thread
https://www.606v2.com/t51313-glasgow-and-edinburgh-ongoing-banter-thread-ii
https://www.606v2.com/t53119-glasgow-and-edinburgh-ongoing-banter-thread-iii
https://www.606v2.com/t54519-glasgow-and-edinburgh-ongoing-banter-thread-iv
https://www.606v2.com/t55409-glasgow-and-edinburgh-ongoing-banter-thread-v-the-fun-continues
https://www.606v2.com/t56913p950-glasgow-and-edinburgh-ongoing-banter-thread-vi-banter-boogaloo
https://www.606v2.com/t57946-glasgow-and-edinburgh-ongoing-banter-thread-vii



A. Edinburgh
   

1. League Results  

Fri 5 Sep: Munster Rugby 13 - 14 Edinburgh Rugby

Fri 12 Sep: Edinburgh Rugby 13 - 14 Connacht Rugby

Sun 21 Sep: Ospreys 62 - 13 Edinburgh Rugby

Fri 26 Sep: Edinburgh Rugby 20 - 20 Scarlets

Fri 3 Oct: Ulster Rugby 30 - 0 Edinburgh Rugby

Sat 11 Oct: Edinburgh Rugby 24 - 10 Newport Gwent Dragons

Fri 31 Oct: Leinster Rugby 33 - 8 Edinburgh Rugby

Sun 23 Nov: Edinburgh Rugby 28 - 13 Cardiff Blues

Sat 29 Nov: Zebre 18 - 10 Edinburgh Rugby

Fri 19 Dec: Edinburgh Rugby 48 - 0 Benetton Treviso

Sat 27 Dec: Glasgow Warriors 16 - 6 Edinburgh Rugby

Fri 2 Jan: Edinburgh Rugby - 20 - 8 Glasgow Warriors

Fri 9 Jan: Connacht Rugby 13 - 16 Edinburgh Rugby

Fri 13 Feb: Edinburgh Rugby 24 - 16 Ospreys

Fri 20 Feb: Edinburgh Rugby 17 - 20 Ulster Rugby

Sun 1 Mar: Cardiff Blues 21 - 15 Edinburgh Rugby

Sat 7 Mar: Benetton Treviso 8 - 29 Edinburgh

Sat 28 Mar: Scarlets 15 - 26 Edinburgh Rugby

Fri 24 Apr: Edinburgh Rugby 3 - 34 Munster Rugby

2. European Results  

17/10/14: Bordeaux-Begles 13 - 15 Edinburgh Rugby

24/10/14: Edinburgh Rugby 25 - 17 Lyon

7/12/14: Edinburgh Rugby 25 - 13 London Welsh

14/12/14: London Welsh 6 - 24 Edinburgh Rugby

17/01/2015: Lyon 21 - 19 Edinburgh Rugby

23/01/2015: Edinburgh Rugby 38 - 20 Bordeaux-Begles

05/04/2015: London Irish 18-23 Edinburgh

17/04/2015: Edinburgh 45-16 Dragons

B. Glasgow


1. League Results  

Sat 6 Sep: Glasgow Warriors 22 - 20 Leinster Rugby

Sun 14 Sep: Cardiff Blues 12 - 33 Glasgow Warriors

Sat 20 Sep: Newport Gwent Dragons 13 - 33 Glasgow Warriors

Fri 26 Sep: Glasgow Warriors 39 - 21 Connacht Rugby

Sun 5 Oct: Benetton Treviso 23 - 40 Glasgow Warriors

Sat 11 Oct: Ulster Rugby 29 - 9 Glasgow Warriors

Fri 31 Oct: Glasgow Warriors 17 - 9 Benetton Treviso

Fri 21 Nov: Scarlets 19 - 9 Glasgow Warriors

Sun 30 Nov: Glasgow Warriors 19 - 15 Newport Gwent Dragons

Sat 20 Dec: Glasgow Warriors 21 - 18 Munster Rugby

Sat 27 Dec: Glasgow Warriors 16 - 6 Edinburgh Rugby

Fri 2 Jan: Edinburgh Rugby 20 - 8 Glasgow Warriors

Fri 9 Jan: Glasgow Warriors 22 - 7 Scarlets

Sun 15 Feb: Zebre 10 - 54 Glasgow Warriors

Sat 21 Feb: Glasgow Warriors 19 - 16 Ospreys

Sat 28 Feb: Munster Rugby 22 - 10 Glasgow Warriors

Fri 6 Mar: Glasgow Warriors 26 - 5 Zebre

Fri 27 Mar: Leinster Rugby 34 - 34 Glasgow Warriors

Fri 10 Apr: Glasgow Warriors 36 - 17 Cardiff Blues


2. European Results  

18/10/14: Glasgow Warriors 37 - 10 Bath Rugby

25/10/14: Montpellier 13 - 15 Glasgow Warriors

7/12/14: Toulouse 19 - 11 Glasgow Warriors

13/12/14: Glasgow Warriors 9 - 12 Toulouse

18/01/2015: Glasgow Warriors 21 - 10 Montpellier

25/01/2015: Bath Rugby 20 - 15 Glasgow Warriors

Hopefully this thread will keep GC off my back for a wee while...

[TJ]

For me the answr for Edinburgh is build a "little murrayfeild" onthe back pitches - you could still use allthe changing rooms and so on of the main stadium so only stands needed. 4000 seat on one side now with the options of making it bigger if crowds increase.

[123456789]

I think all of these alternatives are just moving the problem rather than solving it.

Most of them involve temporary stands, temporary being the operative word. Yes Glasgow use them but for big matches and not as a permanent option. Do we honestly believe if Edinburgh announce plans to build a temporary stadium outside Murrayfield we won't be having this conversation next year?

Edinburgh need a Scotsoun like stadium but not to "do a Glasgow", let's not pretend that Glasgow's "journey" to where they are now started at Scotstoun, it was part of the journey not the catalyst. Glasgow's journey started with improved performances from a team with a Scottish core in Kellock, Gray, The Killer Bs, Dan Parks and the Evans brothers. They were solid but unspectacular, sound familiar at all. With the results came the culture and the atmosphere to bring through the young Scottish players who play an exciting brand of rugby. Scotstoun gave a home to this culture.

I think the difference is that Edinburgh seem like a branch of the SRU in a constant state of transition whereas Glasgow seem like a club but arguably that's the result of geographical location and the years when Edinburgh dominated an unsuccessful and unpopular Scotland team. But let's not pretend Glasgow's success and superiority is permanent, Edinburgh beat us this year and finished within one win of the champions cup. Also is it not ironic that if Edinburgh want to be build a culture they ought to copy Glasgow's way of doing it? But Edinburgh have strong players in Ford, Nel, Bresler, Gilchrist, Denton, MacInally, Du Preez, Watson, Hidalgo-Clyne and Scott but letting solid players like De Luca, Jones (I'm not joking) and the shying Dutchman go is arguably a mistake.

If the SRU build a permanent stadium of about 10,000 with an additional possible capacity of a few thousand temporary seats then we could see improvements either on the grounds of Murrayfield or elsewhere. Anywhere else and there'll be grumblings. The idea of Edinburgh as a middle class club has to be shirked first and foremost, we have two professional teams we can't afford to have one set up for a small part of the community, it is also a problem of the middle class, and I should know I live and grew up in the south East of england that we can offer appear cold and aloof which isn't likely to attract passion or support.

However let's not lull ourselves into a false idea that Glasgow's way is the only way, Edinburgh need a home not another temporary solution, there's a key difference.

[George Carlin]

GC - are you responsible for the thread having [solved] at the start of the title?

Nope - 'twas weird so I have changed it back.

Radge - this is your thread so if that's secret Fifer code for something important, please feel free to put it back.

[jimbopip]

Bru has captured the essence of it very well as he is a damn clever fella.   fES has it too - we moan and moan and love nothing better than to bring down or snipe at success.    The game will wither and die here if we do not broaden our spectator base.   Edinburgh need a Nathan Bomphrys type 'manager' - a hard nosed business man who has fashioned the club but as Jimbo has said they also need a charismatic pitch leader and a few characters like Niko to get kids interested.    The Glasgow model really does work.   Playing at Murrayfield is very problematic.   Must admit I used to be jealous of the facilities for fans and players alike in the East.   Not now for all the reasons outlined above.

Anyway my road trip is over - Belfast, Uig, Lochboisdale and Tarbert.  Then St Kilda, where I planted a Glasgow Warriors flag in honour of the boys.  Unfortunately it lasted about 3 seconds and probably landed in Greenland or Nova Scotia about 5 minutes later !  

Did you finally find a pub where you weren't barred, then?
Welcome back by the way, now go to the end of season awards in the International section and do your duty. Fes has been unable to sleep due to eagerly awaiting your pearls of wisdom. That and the fact that the new under butler takes up more room than the last.

[RDW]

Bru has captured the essence of it very well as he is a damn clever fella.   fES has it too - we moan and moan and love nothing better than to bring down or snipe at success.    The game will wither and die here if we do not broaden our spectator base.   Edinburgh need a Nathan Bomphrys type 'manager' - a hard nosed business man who has fashioned the club but as Jimbo has said they also need a charismatic pitch leader and a few characters like Niko to get kids interested.    The Glasgow model really does work.   Playing at Murrayfield is very problematic.   Must admit I used to be jealous of the facilities for fans and players alike in the East.   Not now for all the reasons outlined above.

Anyway my road trip is over - Belfast, Uig, Lochboisdale and Tarbert.  Then St Kilda, where I planted a Glasgow Warriors flag in honour of the boys.  Unfortunately it lasted about 3 seconds and probably landed in Greenland or Nova Scotia about 5 minutes later !  

Did you finally find a pub where you weren't barred, then?
Welcome back by the way, now go to the  end of season awards in the International section and do your duty. Fes has been unable to sleep due to eagerly awaiting your pearls of wisdom. That and the fact that the new under butler takes up more room than the last.

It was indeed very eloquent 21st my friend, but can you throw a few more "feck, arse, drink"s in there so we know it's you??

As I've said before, building a new place is the answer but also probably the least likely solution until we can find an extra 10 million from somewhere That's not going to happen any time soon, and the SRU certainly won't take our another loan for it.

One option would be to team up with Edinburgh leisure or sport Scotland and try and make it a community sport hub or something like that, but it would still take millions from the SRU, which they just don't have.

[EWT Spoons]

There was talk a while back about Edinburgh rugby and Edinburgh leisure teaming up to create something (think the proposed site was where the high rises at Sighthill were) but I don't think anything came of that. Might have just been unfounded rumours. There was also talk at one point I believe of building something near heriott watt uni (on the green belt) which I think David Murray was looking to do, but given his financial issues I think that's dead now.

Back pitches makes the most sense from a fans perspective, but from a financial viewpoint it's probably a no go.

Easter Road makes little sense in general, but there are worse options so there is always that. Almondvale for example (livi fc's) ground would be worse

[RDW]

There was talk a while back about Edinburgh rugby and Edinburgh leisure teaming up to create something (think the proposed site was where the high rises at Sighthill were) but I don't think anything came of that. Might have just been unfounded rumours. There was also talk at one point I believe of building something near heriott watt uni (on the green belt) which I think David Murray was looking to do, but given his financial issues I think that's dead now.

Back pitches makes the most sense from a fans perspective, but  from a financial viewpoint it's probably a no go.

Easter Road makes little sense in general, but there are worse options so there is always that. Almondvale for example (livi fc's) ground would be worse

David Murray's proposals actually made a lot of sense, and was in a reasonable area. In their infinite wisdom Edinburgh City Council veto'd them and decided to grant permission to build hundreds of houses on the field that runs parallel to the Maybury road, despite significant local objection. For anyone that has used the Barnton or Maybury junctions at rush hour you will understand why!


We could do with some rich businessman planning a big development that we could hop onto, but that would be years in the making yet even if someone did come along.

If I ever won the lottery I would invest in Scottish rugby - 81 million in the Euromillions tonight! That's more than enough to 'donate' £10 million to build a stadium for Edinburgh. It would be on the condition that everyone on here gets free tickets of course!

[jimbopip]

There was talk a while back about Edinburgh rugby and Edinburgh leisure teaming up to create something (think the proposed site was where the high rises at Sighthill were) but I don't think anything came of that. Might have just been unfounded rumours. There was also talk at one point I believe of building something near heriott watt uni (on the green belt) which I think David Murray was looking to do, but given his financial issues I think that's dead now.

Back pitches makes the most sense from a fans perspective, but  from a financial viewpoint it's probably a no go.

Easter Road makes little sense in general, but there are worse options so there is always that. Almondvale for example (livi fc's) ground would be worse

David Murray's proposals actually made a lot of sense, and was in a reasonable area.  In their infinite wisdom Edinburgh City Council veto'd them and decided to grant permission to build hundreds of houses on the field that runs parallel to the Maybury road, despite significant local objection.  For anyone that has used the Barnton or Maybury junctions at rush hour you will understand why!


We could do with some rich businessman planning a big development that we could hop onto, but that would be years in the making yet even if someone did come along.

If I ever won the lottery I would invest in Scottish rugby - 81 million in the Euromillions tonight! That's more than enough to 'donate' £10 million to build a stadium for Edinburgh.  It would be on the condition that everyone on here gets free tickets of course!  

And if they're really naughty they get two.

[Majestic83]

There was talk a while back about Edinburgh rugby and Edinburgh leisure teaming up to create something (think the proposed site was where the high rises at Sighthill were) but I don't think anything came of that. Might have just been unfounded rumours. There was also talk at one point I believe of building something near heriott watt uni (on the green belt) which I think David Murray was looking to do, but given his financial issues I think that's dead now.

Back pitches makes the most sense from a fans perspective, but  from a financial viewpoint it's probably a no go.

Easter Road makes little sense in general, but there are worse options so there is always that. Almondvale for example (livi fc's) ground would be worse

Was reading about the sighthill stadium the other day. All parties had been very keen for that one to go ahead. What stopped the plans was that the money was going to come from the sale of Meadowbank for housing and flats but the pesky people who live in the past objected to Meadowbank being sold and the plans have been scrapped!

[highland_scot]

There was talk a while back (probably about 6 years back) of the SRU, Edinburgh Leisure and the University working together on an ice rink to be built at Peffermill. The SRU were basically willing to chip in to an extent so that they could get rid of that monstrosity in their car park.

A similar arrangement could be a means of getting things done if a new stadium was the plan of action (severely doubt it though) - if there was a need from the Uni's perspective, of course. You'd have to question what incentive there would be for the Council though. Why would they make any financial contribution? The best they could do is just grant damn planning permission without all the rigmarole!

Plus of Peffermill - dedicated sports facility, could be put to use by the Uni, on my doorstep Plenty of bus routes going that way (to Cameron Toll, anyway), and on the route for Tram Line 3 which admittedly will never happen.

Negatives - No bars nearby. Bit of a trek from the west (but then Murrayfield is a trek from the south).

[highland_scot]

Or a radical solution - put it in Princes St Gardens. Easy to get to, plenty of bars nearby, and think how iconic it would be to play in the shadow of the castle...

[RDW]

There are some good ideas here, and to be honest I'd much rather Dodson listed some of these as possible plans for the future instead of trotting out nonsense about moving to Easter Road which, given ER's Social Media response on the matter, was a load of Love sacks anyway.

[Majestic83]

We need to get Dodson directed across to this site for him to have a look at some of the ideas!

[highland_scot]

Think we should be given a collective seat on the SRU board - surely there's some old blazers that can be replaced?

[RDW]

We should maybe do an 'FC United of Manchester' and break away and form our own club/union.

Between us I'm sure we could cobble together a rugby team! Maj keeps going on about these amazing players he used to play with so he must be good...me and Jimbo play 2nd XV rugby, and we all know that's where all the proper rugby players play!

[Majestic83]

In all seriousness it is a good idea. There are a lot of sports teams around the world that have fans representatives on their boards.
I think we should have a place on it. As long as it didn't go to any of those fools on the Edinburgh forum! I'd rather stick with the 57 old farts on the board!

[Majestic83]

We should maybe do an 'FC United of Manchester' and break away and form our own club/union.

Between us I'm sure we could cobble together a rugby team! Maj keeps going on about these amazing players he used to play with so he must be good...me and Jimbo play 2nd XV rugby, and we all know that's where all the proper rugby players play!

I see our two teams are going to be in the same league as each other next season. Hope you are getting down to pre season and aiming for the firsts?

[RDW]

We should maybe do an 'FC United of Manchester' and break away and form our own club/union.

Between us I'm sure we could cobble together a rugby team! Maj keeps going on about these amazing players he used to play with so he must be good...me and Jimbo play 2nd XV rugby, and we all know that's where all the proper rugby players play!

I see our two teams are going to be in the same league as each other next season. Hope you are getting down to pre season and aiming for the firsts?

Dedication to training has never been my downfall - rugby skill, ability, strength, speed, stamina, tackling, passing, kicking, rucking and catching would need to be improved significantly for me to get in the 1s!

I take it you guys were relegated?

[highland_scot]

I'd like to think that between us we bring a fairly diverse set of skills that would aid in the running of an organisation... We have lawyers aplenty, engineers can bring a bit of imagination. Then as an accountant I can sit and say we can't afford imagination!

As far as rugby abilities go, I used to be a scrum half but haven't really played since u16s. So not much help from me!

[Majestic83]

We should maybe do an 'FC United of Manchester' and break away and form our own club/union.

Between us I'm sure we could cobble together a rugby team! Maj keeps going on about these amazing players he used to play with so he must be good...me and Jimbo play 2nd XV rugby, and we all know that's where all the proper rugby players play!

I see our two teams are going to be in the same league as each other next season. Hope you are getting down to pre season and aiming for the firsts?

Dedication to training has never been my downfall - rugby skill, ability, strength, speed, stamina, tackling, passing, kicking, rucking and catching would need to be improved significantly for me to get in the 1s!

I take it you guys were relegated?

Come and play for us, that seems to be our rugby ethos at the moment. with a lack of skills like that you'd be captain!

Yep we were relegated, very poor season. The youth of today just don't seem to have the same attitude towards rugby these days and have no staying power. Think over the season we went through about 50 players often being scrambled together on a Friday....on a few occasions we even fielded a couple guys in their 50s!
Didn't really play myself last season with living in Aberdeen but hopefully will get some games under my belt next season!

[George Carlin]

I feel really bad that I don't play any more - especially as our local sides like Abu Dhabi Harlequins and Saracens (yes, formally affiliated clubs - same kit and everything) are actually pretty good. Kudos to those people on these boards who do.

Thanks to RDW for doing a breakdown of potential venues. It seems absolutely astonishing that the SRU cannot make one of these work. How difficult is it to erect temporary stands and re-seed a pitch? I am not being facetious. Honestly.

[RuggerRadge2611]

GC - are you responsible for the thread having [solved] at the start of the title?

Nope - 'twas weird so I have changed it back.

Radge - this is your thread so if that's Fifer code for something important, please feel free to put it back.

I have no idea what that means.

[George Carlin]

GC - are you responsible for the thread having [solved] at the start of the title?

Nope - 'twas weird so I have changed it back.

Radge - this is your thread so if that's Fifer code for something important, please feel free to put it back.

I have no idea what that means.

I think that sort of justifies changing the title of the thread back to the original then.

Nothing to be done now, Radge.

[RDW]

We should maybe do an 'FC United of Manchester' and break away and form our own club/union.

Between us I'm sure we could cobble together a rugby team! Maj keeps going on about these amazing players he used to play with so he must be good...me and Jimbo play 2nd XV rugby, and we all know that's where all the proper rugby players play!

I see our two teams are going to be in the same league as each other next season. Hope you are getting down to pre season and aiming for the firsts?

Dedication to training has never been my downfall - rugby skill, ability, strength, speed, stamina, tackling, passing, kicking, rucking and catching would need to be improved significantly for me to get in the 1s!

I take it you guys were relegated?

Come and play for us, that seems to be our rugby ethos at the moment. with a lack of skills like that you'd be captain!

Yep we were relegated, very poor season. The youth of today just don't seem to have the same attitude towards rugby these days and have no staying power. Think over the season we went through about 50 players often being scrambled together on a Friday....on a few occasions we even fielded a couple guys in their 50s!
Didn't really play myself last season with living in Aberdeen but hopefully will get some games under my belt next season!

Bad year for your club then with both your 1s and 2s going down! We normally have some decent games against your 2s, and I think I've come across some of those 50 year olds! They may be old but some of them are still tough as hell. We won the home leg this season and had to forfeit the away leg due to a lack of props (pesky blighters!)

Sounds like your club has gone the way of a few clubs recently - invest heavily to work your way up the leagues but because it isn't sustainable you eventually fall flat on your face.  Livingston have also been relegated and Wandies have now been relegated from the National Leagues (and their 2s only just avoided relegation too). Musselburgh is one of the few that have sustained it. Wandies even had Simon Cross as their coach at one point.

Will be interesting to see how far my club can go because we are one of the few who doesn't pay players.  There is one club making great strides just now and going up the leagues (I won't name names) who have an annual playing budget of £30k.

I'd say 80% of our 1st XV squad either went to the local school or played for the club minis/youth teams.  Indeed some of our 1st XVs this year were almost exclusively FPs.

The problem is this means we lack depth in some positions, and are only a few prop injuries away from being completely screwed! I'm not sure what is going to happen to our 2s this year - 2 of our props have 'retired' and there is literally nobody to replace them, and we struggled enough to field enough props last season as it was.

[RuggerRadge2611]

We should maybe do an 'FC United of Manchester' and break away and form our own club/union.

Between us I'm sure we could cobble together a rugby team! Maj keeps going on about these amazing players he used to play with so he must be good...me and Jimbo play 2nd XV rugby, and we all know that's where all the proper rugby players play!

I see our two teams are going to be in the same league as each other next season. Hope you are getting down to pre season and aiming for the firsts?

Dedication to training has never been my downfall - rugby skill, ability, strength, speed, stamina, tackling, passing, kicking, rucking and catching would need to be improved significantly for me to get in the 1s!

I take it you guys were relegated?

Come and play for us, that seems to be our rugby ethos at the moment. with a lack of skills like that you'd be captain!

Yep we were relegated, very poor season. The youth of today just don't seem to have the same attitude towards rugby these days and have no staying power. Think over the season we went through about 50 players often being scrambled together on a Friday....on a few occasions we even fielded a couple guys in their 50s!
Didn't really play myself last season with living in Aberdeen but hopefully will get some games under my belt next season!

Bad year for your club then with both your 1s and 2s going down! We normally have some decent games against your 2s, and I think I've come across some of those 50 year olds! They may be old but some of them are still tough as hell. We won the home leg this season and had to forfeit the away leg due to a lack of props (pesky blighters!)

Sounds like your club has gone the way of a few clubs recently - invest heavily to work your way up the leagues but because it isn't sustainable you eventually fall flat on your face.  Livingston have also been relegated and Wandies have now been relegated from the National Leagues (and their 2s only just avoided relegation too). Musselburgh is one of the few that have sustained it. Wandies even had Simon Cross as their coach at one point.

Will be interesting to see how far my club can go because we are one of the few who doesn't pay players.  There is one club making great strides just now and going up the leagues (I won't name names) who have an annual playing budget of £30k.

I'd say 80% of our 1st XV squad either went to the local school or played for the club minis/youth teams.  Indeed some of our 1st XVs this year were almost exclusively FPs.

The problem is this means we lack depth in some positions, and are only a few prop injuries away from being completely screwed! I'm not sure what is going to happen to our 2s this year - 2 of our props have 'retired' and there is literally nobody to replace them, and we struggled enough to field enough props last season as it was.

We are brittle machines without the expensive care pro players get. I haven't propped for 7 years.

The knee has gone, the right shoulder still aches on a cold day etc. Being in the backs RDW you won't know too much about the wear and tear...

[RDW]

We should maybe do an 'FC United of Manchester' and break away and form our own club/union.

Between us I'm sure we could cobble together a rugby team! Maj keeps going on about these amazing players he used to play with so he must be good...me and Jimbo play 2nd XV rugby, and we all know that's where all the proper rugby players play!

I see our two teams are going to be in the same league as each other next season. Hope you are getting down to pre season and aiming for the firsts?

Dedication to training has never been my downfall - rugby skill, ability, strength, speed, stamina, tackling, passing, kicking, rucking and catching would need to be improved significantly for me to get in the 1s!

I take it you guys were relegated?

Come and play for us, that seems to be our rugby ethos at the moment. with a lack of skills like that you'd be captain!

Yep we were relegated, very poor season. The youth of today just don't seem to have the same attitude towards rugby these days and have no staying power. Think over the season we went through about 50 players often being scrambled together on a Friday....on a few occasions we even fielded a couple guys in their 50s!
Didn't really play myself last season with living in Aberdeen but hopefully will get some games under my belt next season!

Bad year for your club then with both your 1s and 2s going down! We normally have some decent games against your 2s, and I think I've come across some of those 50 year olds! They may be old but some of them are still tough as hell. We won the home leg this season and had to forfeit the away leg due to a lack of props (pesky blighters!)

Sounds like your club has gone the way of a few clubs recently - invest heavily to work your way up the leagues but because it isn't sustainable you eventually fall flat on your face.  Livingston have also been relegated and Wandies have now been relegated from the National Leagues (and their 2s only just avoided relegation too). Musselburgh is one of the few that have sustained it. Wandies even had Simon Cross as their coach at one point.

Will be interesting to see how far my club can go because we are one of the few who doesn't pay players.  There is one club making great strides just now and going up the leagues (I won't name names) who have an annual playing budget of £30k.

I'd say 80% of our 1st XV squad either went to the local school or played for the club minis/youth teams.  Indeed some of our 1st XVs this year were almost exclusively FPs.

The problem is this means we lack depth in some positions, and are only a few prop injuries away from being completely screwed! I'm not sure what is going to happen to our 2s this year - 2 of our props have 'retired' and there is literally nobody to replace them, and we struggled enough to field enough props last season as it was.

We are brittle machines without the expensive care pro players get. I haven't propped for 7 years.

The knee has gone, the right shoulder still aches on a cold day etc. Being in the backs RDW you won't know too much about the wear and tear...

Your 2s are back in my 2s league too having been promoted, so a trip to Fife will be on the cards this season.

Last time we played there the whole place stank of rotten fish, so that wasn't a pleasant experience!

And yes I don't know much about general wear and tear - concussions are my area of expertise!

[RuggerRadge2611]

We should maybe do an 'FC United of Manchester' and break away and form our own club/union.

Between us I'm sure we could cobble together a rugby team! Maj keeps going on about these amazing players he used to play with so he must be good...me and Jimbo play 2nd XV rugby, and we all know that's where all the proper rugby players play!

I see our two teams are going to be in the same league as each other next season. Hope you are getting down to pre season and aiming for the firsts?

Dedication to training has never been my downfall - rugby skill, ability, strength, speed, stamina, tackling, passing, kicking, rucking and catching would need to be improved significantly for me to get in the 1s!

I take it you guys were relegated?

Come and play for us, that seems to be our rugby ethos at the moment. with a lack of skills like that you'd be captain!

Yep we were relegated, very poor season. The youth of today just don't seem to have the same attitude towards rugby these days and have no staying power. Think over the season we went through about 50 players often being scrambled together on a Friday....on a few occasions we even fielded a couple guys in their 50s!
Didn't really play myself last season with living in Aberdeen but hopefully will get some games under my belt next season!

Bad year for your club then with both your 1s and 2s going down! We normally have some decent games against your 2s, and I think I've come across some of those 50 year olds! They may be old but some of them are still tough as hell. We won the home leg this season and had to forfeit the away leg due to a lack of props (pesky blighters!)

Sounds like your club has gone the way of a few clubs recently - invest heavily to work your way up the leagues but because it isn't sustainable you eventually fall flat on your face.  Livingston have also been relegated and Wandies have now been relegated from the National Leagues (and their 2s only just avoided relegation too). Musselburgh is one of the few that have sustained it. Wandies even had Simon Cross as their coach at one point.

Will be interesting to see how far my club can go because we are one of the few who doesn't pay players.  There is one club making great strides just now and going up the leagues (I won't name names) who have an annual playing budget of £30k.

I'd say 80% of our 1st XV squad either went to the local school or played for the club minis/youth teams.  Indeed some of our 1st XVs this year were almost exclusively FPs.

The problem is this means we lack depth in some positions, and are only a few prop injuries away from being completely screwed! I'm not sure what is going to happen to our 2s this year - 2 of our props have 'retired' and there is literally nobody to replace them, and we struggled enough to field enough props last season as it was.

We are brittle machines without the expensive care pro players get. I haven't propped for 7 years.

The knee has gone, the right shoulder still aches on a cold day etc. Being in the backs RDW you won't know too much about the wear and tear...

Your 2s are back in my 2s league too having been promoted, so a trip to Fife will be on the cards this season.

Last time we played there the whole place stank of rotten fish, so that wasn't a pleasant experience!

And yes I don't know much about general wear and tear - concussions are my area of expertise!

Kirkcaldy, what a town!

[21st Century Schizoid Man]

We should maybe do an 'FC United of Manchester' and break away and form our own club/union.

Between us I'm sure we could cobble together a rugby team! Maj keeps going on about these amazing players he used to play with so he must be good...me and Jimbo play 2nd XV rugby, and we all know that's where all the proper rugby players play!

I see our two teams are going to be in the same league as each other next season. Hope you are getting down to pre season and aiming for the firsts?

Dedication to training has never been my downfall - rugby skill, ability, strength, speed, stamina, tackling, passing, kicking, rucking and catching would need to be improved significantly for me to get in the 1s!

I take it you guys were relegated?

Come and play for us, that seems to be our rugby ethos at the moment. with a lack of skills like that you'd be captain!

Yep we were relegated, very poor season. The youth of today just don't seem to have the same attitude towards rugby these days and have no staying power. Think over the season we went through about 50 players often being scrambled together on a Friday....on a few occasions we even fielded a couple guys in their 50s!
Didn't really play myself last season with living in Aberdeen but hopefully will get some games under my belt next season!

Bad year for your club then with both your 1s and 2s going down! We normally have some decent games against your 2s, and I think I've come across some of those 50 year olds! They may be old but some of them are still tough as hell. We won the home leg this season and had to forfeit the away leg due to a lack of props (pesky blighters!)

Sounds like your club has gone the way of a few clubs recently - invest heavily to work your way up the leagues but because it isn't sustainable you eventually fall flat on your face.  Livingston have also been relegated and Wandies have now been relegated from the National Leagues (and their 2s only just avoided relegation too). Musselburgh is one of the few that have sustained it. Wandies even had Simon Cross as their coach at one point.

Will be interesting to see how far my club can go because we are one of the few who doesn't pay players.  There is one club making great strides just now and going up the leagues (I won't name names) who have an annual playing budget of £30k.

I'd say 80% of our 1st XV squad either went to the local school or played for the club minis/youth teams.  Indeed some of our 1st XVs this year were almost exclusively FPs.

The problem is this means we lack depth in some positions, and are only a few prop injuries away from being completely screwed! I'm not sure what is going to happen to our 2s this year - 2 of our props have 'retired' and there is literally nobody to replace them, and we struggled enough to field enough props last season as it was.

We are brittle machines without the expensive care pro players get. I haven't propped for 7 years.

The knee has gone, the right shoulder still aches on a cold day etc. Being in the backs RDW you won't know too much about the wear and tear...

I'll have you know my left knee and left hip are well and truly fecked through masquerading as a back/mascot for WoS and Bearsy   The gale force winds in the Outer Hebrides certainly did not help and the ibuprofen took a hammering !

[RDW]

Apologies Radge - I thought you were Dunfermline?

I'm sure Kirkaldy smells lovely..

[RuggerRadge2611]

I was born in Dunfermline, raised in deep inside the Fife quarantine zone of Kirkcaldy and no, Kirkcaldy is probably one of the most deprived areas outside of a major city in the whole of Scotland. It really is dire.

I live in Dunfermline now though. It's proximity to Rosyth Dockyard made it a sensible place to move to. In it's defence Dunfermline is strangely quite sophisticated by Fife standards. I though the fish smell was a Kirkcaldy thing....

[Majestic83]

We should maybe do an 'FC United of Manchester' and break away and form our own club/union.

Between us I'm sure we could cobble together a rugby team! Maj keeps going on about these amazing players he used to play with so he must be good...me and Jimbo play 2nd XV rugby, and we all know that's where all the proper rugby players play!

I see our two teams are going to be in the same league as each other next season. Hope you are getting down to pre season and aiming for the firsts?

Dedication to training has never been my downfall - rugby skill, ability, strength, speed, stamina, tackling, passing, kicking, rucking and catching would need to be improved significantly for me to get in the 1s!

I take it you guys were relegated?

Come and play for us, that seems to be our rugby ethos at the moment. with a lack of skills like that you'd be captain!

Yep we were relegated, very poor season. The youth of today just don't seem to have the same attitude towards rugby these days and have no staying power. Think over the season we went through about 50 players often being scrambled together on a Friday....on a few occasions we even fielded a couple guys in their 50s!
Didn't really play myself last season with living in Aberdeen but hopefully will get some games under my belt next season!

Bad year for your club then with both your 1s and 2s going down! We normally have some decent games against your 2s, and I think I've come across some of those 50 year olds! They may be old but some of them are still tough as hell. We won the home leg this season and had to forfeit the away leg due to a lack of props (pesky blighters!)

Sounds like your club has gone the way of a few clubs recently - invest heavily to work your way up the leagues but because it isn't sustainable you eventually fall flat on your face.  Livingston have also been relegated and Wandies have now been relegated from the National Leagues (and their 2s only just avoided relegation too). Musselburgh is one of the few that have sustained it. Wandies even had Simon Cross as their coach at one point.

Will be interesting to see how far my club can go because we are one of the few who doesn't pay players.  There is one club making great strides just now and going up the leagues (I won't name names) who have an annual playing budget of £30k.

I'd say 80% of our 1st XV squad either went to the local school or played for the club minis/youth teams.  Indeed some of our 1st XVs this year were almost exclusively FPs.

The problem is this means we lack depth in some positions, and are only a few prop injuries away from being completely screwed! I'm not sure what is going to happen to our 2s this year - 2 of our props have 'retired' and there is literally nobody to replace them, and we struggled enough to field enough props last season as it was.

I think I know what team you are on about, another East Lothian club in a less than desirable town?
There are a few clubs even in prem 3 and below that pay players. There is a very wealthy club just on the edge of Edinburgh that sold their pitches a few years back and now have a very nice ground(another Edinburgh option) and pay their players.

Haddington's down fall was being to successful. We got to the semi's of the Scottish cup in 2009, got beat by Melrose by a couple points got noticed and then lost a lot of our squad to the likes of Heriots, Watsonians and Boroughmuir. Never really managed to re-build and have just spiralled down a couple of leagues now.

[RDW]

I was born in Dunfermline, raised in deep inside the Fife quarantine zone of Kirkcaldy and no, Kirkcaldy is probably one of the most deprived areas outside of a major city in the whole of Scotland. It really is dire.

I live in Dunfermline now though. It's proximity to Rosyth Dockyard made it a sensible place to move to. In it's defence Dunfermline is strangely quite sophisticated by Fife standards. I though the fish smell was a Kirkcaldy thing....

To be fair the Dumf players themselves said it didn't usually smell like that. Maybe they're just used to it!

Worth pointing out as well that the home crowd that day as the most partisan I've come across in a number of years. Playing on the wing led to me being on the receiving end of a lot of heckling, and I was genuinely fearing for my safety due to a muckle dog chomping at the bit (literally) to attack me!

My touchline conversion that (almost) went through the posts shut them up though...

[Majestic83]

I was born in Dunfermline, raised in deep inside the Fife quarantine zone of Kirkcaldy and no, Kirkcaldy is probably one of the most deprived areas outside of a major city in the whole of Scotland. It really is dire.

I live in Dunfermline now though. It's proximity to Rosyth Dockyard made it a sensible place to move to. In it's defence Dunfermline is strangely quite sophisticated by Fife standards. I though the fish smell was a Kirkcaldy thing....

To be fair the Dumf players themselves said it didn't usually smell like that.  Maybe they're just used to it!

Worth pointing out as well that the home crowd that day as the most partisan I've come across in a number of years.  Playing on the wing led to me being on the receiving end of a lot of heckling, and I was genuinely fearing for my safety due to a muckle dog chomping at the bit (literally) to attack me!

My touchline conversion that (almost) went through the posts shut them up though...

At least that dog stayed on the touch line. We were playing Portobello 2s a good few years back at their pitches. We were a couple points down going into last few minutes. I put through a nice little kick for our winger to run onto, he got the ball, was clear through only to then be taken out by the Portobello coaches dog. Just as the winger got the ball he decided to let it off the lead. text book tackle from the dog right round the ankles and our winger falls flat on his face and knocked the ball forward.....scrum porty!

[RDW]

I think I know what team you are on about, another East Lothian club in a less than desirable town?
There are a few clubs even in prem 3 and below that pay players. There is a very wealthy club just on the edge of Edinburgh that sold their pitches a few years back and now have a very nice ground(another Edinburgh option) and pay their players.

Bingo! They have a very shrewd lady leading them who has managed to negotiate some very good commercial deals.  They pay some players quite a lot to play for them - one of our guys was targeted but he couldn't bring himself to want to play for them!

Lasswade have done very well for themselves and have a nice facility (the SA rugby team even trained there). They would have to lose their 2nd pitch to build a stand on the far side so that wouldn't happen, plus the fact that it is well out of town.

At least that dog stayed on the touch line. We were playing Portobello 2s a good few years back at their pitches. We were a couple points down going into last few minutes. I put through a nice little kick for our winger to run onto, he got the ball, was clear through only to then be taken out by the Portobello coaches dog. Just as the winger got the ball he decided to let it off the lead. text book tackle from the dog right round the ankles and our winger falls flat on his face and knocked the ball forward.....scrum porty!

Reminds me of the time we were playing Livingston 2s and their coach took a quick lineout without the ref noticing and they ran in and scored! We absolutely humped them though, and they were the biggest bunch of jakeballs I've ever come across on the rugby pitch (I was punched off the ball twice, one of them just for tackling the guy).

Whoever thinks rugby is a middle class sport should take a trip to some of the grounds I play at!

[Majestic83]

I think I know what team you are on about, another East Lothian club in a less than desirable town?
There are a few clubs even in prem 3 and below that pay players. There is a very wealthy club just on the edge of Edinburgh that sold their pitches a few years back and now have a very nice ground(another Edinburgh option) and pay their players.

Bingo! They have a very shrewd Cruella deville lady leading them who has managed to negotiate some very good commercial deals.  They pay some players quite a lot to play for them - one of our guys was targeted but he couldn't bring himself to want to play for them!

Yes they pay their players pretty well. Funnily enough they got a big grant from the SRU a couple seasons back to refurb a club house, weirdly their club house still looks the exact same and would all most think it hasn't been touched!!
They have poached 2 or 3 of our younger players in the last couple seasons as well. One guy was offered £150 a game to play for them.
Hopefully they will get taught a few lessons in prem 3 this season as they aren't a nice bunch. Shame drug testing isn't conducted at that level either!

[RuggerRadge2611]

I was born in Dunfermline, raised in deep inside the Fife quarantine zone of Kirkcaldy and no, Kirkcaldy is probably one of the most deprived areas outside of a major city in the whole of Scotland. It really is dire.

I live in Dunfermline now though. It's proximity to Rosyth Dockyard made it a sensible place to move to. In it's defence Dunfermline is strangely quite sophisticated by Fife standards. I though the fish smell was a Kirkcaldy thing....

To be fair the Dumf players themselves said it didn't usually smell like that.  Maybe they're just used to it!

Worth pointing out as well that the home crowd that day as the most partisan I've come across in a number of years.  Playing on the wing led to me being on the receiving end of a lot of heckling, and I was genuinely fearing for my safety due to a muckle dog chomping at the bit (literally) to attack me!

My touchline conversion that (almost) went through the posts shut them up though...

At least that dog stayed on the touch line. We were playing Portobello 2s a good few years back at their pitches. We were a couple points down going into last few minutes. I put through a nice little kick for our winger to run onto, he got the ball, was clear through only to then be taken out by the Portobello coaches dog. Just as the winger got the ball he decided to let it off the lead. text book tackle from the dog right round the ankles and our winger falls flat on his face and knocked the ball forward.....scrum porty!

Ellon was always rough as a badgers bottom. A terrifying place to go and play rugby. They had no such problems when it came to player shortages. If they were short on numbers they would go round the local boozers and ask if anyone was busy in the afternoon. Anyone who said no was handed an Ellon RFC strip and told to get out there and break people. Once the local boozers were empty the remaining places in the team were filled by players drafted from local prisons or mental institutions.

I kid you not when we went to play Ellon at U16 one of their props had a beard similar to Josh Strauss. His wife and 13 year old kid were cheering him on from the sidelines.

Strathmore were a big physical bunch too. Our coach nearly got into a fist fight with their coach over fielding players blatantly too old to play. One of our guys got really badly hurt in that game.

[RDW]

I think I know what team you are on about, another East Lothian club in a less than desirable town?
There are a few clubs even in prem 3 and below that pay players. There is a very wealthy club just on the edge of Edinburgh that sold their pitches a few years back and now have a very nice ground(another Edinburgh option) and pay their players.

Bingo! They have a very shrewd Cruella deville lady leading them who has managed to negotiate some very good commercial deals.  They pay some players quite a lot to play for them - one of our guys was targeted but he couldn't bring himself to want to play for them!

Yes they pay their players pretty well. Funnily enough they got a big grant from the SRU a couple seasons back to refurb a club house, weirdly their club house still looks the exact same and would all most think it hasn't been touched!!
They have poached 2 or 3 of our younger players in the last couple seasons as well. One guy was offered £150 a game to play for them.
Hopefully they will get taught a few lessons in prem 3 this season as they aren't a nice bunch. Shame drug testing isn't conducted at that level either!

Stories like that really annoy me. My club paid to uplift some changing rooms off a junior football club on behalf of the Council and transport them to our grounds, to give extra changing space for the minis. And by changing rooms I mean glorified portacabins with leaking roofs and no running water or heating. We then spent a lot of money doing them up (including, strangely, having to put in wheelchair ramps ).

We then put in an application for funding for floodlights which the council rejected because they said they had already given us the changing rooms! Never mind the fact that the council were going to demolish them if we hadn't taken them, and the fact that we paid all the costs to move them from their land.

It is very difficult not to get angry when you then see cash rich clubs being given lots of grants and funding from elsewhere.

[MacKnocked-on]

Or a radical solution - put it in Princes St Gardens. Easy to get to, plenty of bars nearby, and think how iconic it would be to play in the shadow of the castle...

On a srious note, I've thought in the past that Edinburgh should play some summer touch/7s style events in the gardens to raise awareness of the club.

[TheMildlyFranticLlama]

Lasswade have done very well for themselves and have a nice facility (the SA rugby team even trained there). They would have to lose their 2nd pitch to build a stand on the far side so that wouldn't happen, plus the fact that it is well out of town.

I played on that pitch a year ago on tour and agree they've got a good facility there, even if the ground was concrete hard at the time! Also agree that they weren't the most pleasant bunch and showed little interest in hanging about after the game to have some drinks with a touring side from down south

[123456789]

Apparently the Edinburgh Rugby Academy was set up the other day. Anyone have any idea how these will work? Will the academies actually have teams and play each other or will it be a case of a select few being hothoused and trained up to a high standard while playing their old standard of matches?
Don't get me wrong I think it's a great idea and the standard of facilities excellent but 90 players male and female across 4 academies and between 14-20 isn't actually very many. Not when you consider England have 13 or 14 similar academies much bigger than ours will be. All the training in the world can't make up for match experience, if you make a mistake in training you might get a bit of a bollocking, you might have to rerun the drill and at the most you'll get some form of punishment whereas in a Match you concede the ball or momentum at the very least. I think everyone's been in the situation before in a match where they've made a mistake that's swung the momentum of the game and you've got to face everyone after. A couple of season's ago I was stuck in at 10 against a side we'd won against every year for the last 5-6 years and comfortably as well, we were 5 down with two minutes to go camped on their line and our big back rower had joined our back line on a crash line, in a moment of stupidity I went for glory, got turned over and they went up the pitch and scored. I've never got out of a changing room so quick in my life, in training it wouldn't have mattered, a match is very different.

[Tattie Scones RRN]

Apparently the Edinburgh Rugby Academy was set up the other day. Anyone have any idea how these will work? Will the academies actually have teams and play each other or will it be a case of a select few being hothoused and trained up to a high standard while playing their old standard of matches?
Don't get me wrong I think it's a great idea and the standard of facilities excellent but 90 players male and female across 4 academies and between 14-20 isn't actually very many. Not when you consider England have 13 or 14 similar academies much bigger than ours will be. All the training in the world can't make up for match experience, if you make a mistake in training you might get a bit of a bollocking, you might have to rerun the drill and at the most you'll get some form of punishment whereas in a Match you concede the ball or momentum at the very least. I think everyone's been in the situation before in a match where they've made a mistake that's swung the momentum of the game and you've got to face everyone after. A couple of season's ago I was stuck in at 10 against a side we'd won against every year for the last 5-6 years and comfortably as well, we were 5 down with two minutes to go camped on their line and our big back rower had joined our back line on a crash line, in a moment of stupidity I went for glory, got turned over and they went up the pitch and scored. I've never got out of a changing room so quick in my life, in training it wouldn't have mattered, a match is very different.

You're Phil Godman aren't you.

[123456789]

Apparently the Edinburgh Rugby Academy was set up the other day. Anyone have any idea how these will work? Will the academies actually have teams and play each other or will it be a case of a select few being hothoused and trained up to a high standard while playing their old standard of matches?
Don't get me wrong I think it's a great idea and the standard of facilities excellent but 90 players male and female across 4 academies and between 14-20 isn't actually very many. Not when you consider England have 13 or 14 similar academies much bigger than ours will be. All the training in the world can't make up for match experience, if you make a mistake in training you might get a bit of a bollocking, you might have to rerun the drill and at the most you'll get some form of punishment whereas in a Match you concede the ball or momentum at the very least. I think everyone's been in the situation before in a match where they've made a mistake that's swung the momentum of the game and you've got to face everyone after. A couple of season's ago I was stuck in at 10 against a side we'd won against every year for the last 5-6 years and comfortably as well, we were 5 down with two minutes to go camped on their line and our big back rower had joined our back line on a crash line, in a moment of stupidity I went for glory, got turned over and they went up the pitch and scored. I've never got out of a changing room so quick in my life, in training it wouldn't have mattered, a match is very different.

You're Phil Godman aren't you.

Yes

[George Carlin]

Apparently the Edinburgh Rugby Academy was set up the other day. Anyone have any idea how these will work? Will the academies actually have teams and play each other or will it be a case of a select few being hothoused and trained up to a high standard while playing their old standard of matches?
Don't get me wrong I think it's a great idea and the standard of facilities excellent but 90 players male and female across 4 academies and between 14-20 isn't actually very many. Not when you consider England have 13 or 14 similar academies much bigger than ours will be. All the training in the world can't make up for match experience, if you make a mistake in training you might get a bit of a bollocking, you might have to rerun the drill and at the most you'll get some form of punishment whereas in a Match you concede the ball or momentum at the very least. I think everyone's been in the situation before in a match where they've made a mistake that's swung the momentum of the game and you've got to face everyone after. A couple of season's ago I was stuck in at 10 against a side we'd won against every year for the last 5-6 years and comfortably as well, we were 5 down with two minutes to go camped on their line and our big back rower had joined our back line on a crash line, in a moment of stupidity I went for glory, got turned over and they went up the pitch and scored. I've never got out of a changing room so quick in my life, in training it wouldn't have mattered, a match is very different.

You're Phil Godman aren't you.

Yes

[George Carlin]

I am assuming that RDW and FES will be first in the queue to join the Warriors' league winning celebrations in George Square at 6pm on Thursday but will anyone else be joining them?

I see also that the Warriors will be bringing out a range of "champions merchandise" which I assume our Edinburgh brethren will be snapping up in what is both a show of commendable solidarity and a fundemental acceptance of which part of the country decent rugby is actually played in.

In other merchandising news, I am proud to have finally received my "Sssssssssssssssh, you're at Murrayfield Library" t-shirt and my Scott Johnson action figure. The SJ action figure rolls its eyes, sh!ts itself, for authenticity comes already smashed and has a variety of hilarious phrases such as "I think that three number 8s works well", "the only thing left is to try playing underground" and "getting hammered every game is just like a bikini - facking embarrassing".

[RDW]

I am assuming that RDW and FES will be first in the queue to join the Warriors' league winning celebrations in George Square at 6pm on Thursday but will anyone else be joining them?

I see also that the Warriors will be bringing out a range of "champions merchandise" which I assume our Edinburgh brethren will be snapping up in what is both a show of commendable solidarity and a fundemental acceptance of which part of the country decent rugby is actually played in.

In other merchandising news, I am proud to have finally received my "Sssssssssssssssh, you're at Murrayfield Library" t-shirt and my Scott Johnson action figure. The SJ action figure rolls its eyes, sh!ts itself, for authenticity comes already smashed and has a variety of hilarious phrases such as "I think that three number 8s works well", "the only thing left is to try playing underground" and "getting hammered every game is just like a bikini - facking embarrassing".

I did see that. It is very brave of them to be getting on an open top bus. As good as an accomplishment as this was, most of Glasgow won't have a clue who these plonkers are parading on top of a bus through the relatively quiet streets of Glasgow.

700 people have joined the Facebook group to attend, so there should be a good number in George Square, but I just hope they don't start the open top bus tour from too far away!

[George Carlin]

I am assuming that RDW and FES will be first in the queue to join the Warriors' league winning celebrations in George Square at 6pm on Thursday but will anyone else be joining them?

I see also that the Warriors will be bringing out a range of "champions merchandise" which I assume our Edinburgh brethren will be snapping up in what is both a show of commendable solidarity and a fundemental acceptance of which part of the country decent rugby is actually played in.

In other merchandising news, I am proud to have finally received my "Sssssssssssssssh, you're at Murrayfield Library" t-shirt and my Scott Johnson action figure. The SJ action figure rolls its eyes, sh!ts itself, for authenticity comes already smashed and has a variety of hilarious phrases such as "I think that three number 8s works well", "the only thing left is to try playing underground" and "getting hammered every game is just like a bikini - facking embarrassing".

I did see that.  It is very brave of them to be getting on an open top bus.  As good as an accomplishment as this was, most of Glasgow won't have a clue who these plonkers are parading on top of a bus through the relatively quiet streets of Glasgow.

700 people have joined the Facebook group to attend, so there should be a good number in George Square, but I just hope they don't start the open top bus tour from too far away!

I'm assuming it will be a quick squirt round the Merchant City then back to Gregg's on Queen Street in time for any leftover Belgian buns.

[21st Century Schizoid Man]

Yes well GC I will be wearing my V Man t -shirt, which I snaffled in Belfast. Photo of V on front. Then on the back :-

15. Vernon
14. Vernon
13. Vernon
11. Vernon
12. Vernon
11. Vernon
10. Vernon
9. Vernon
8. Vernon
7. Vernon
6. Vernon
5. Vernon
4. Vernon
3. Vernon
2. Vernon
1. Vernon

16. Vernon
17. Vernon
18. Vernon
19. Vernon
20. Vernon
21. Vernon
22. Vernon
23. Nakarawa (impact for last 5 mins)

Plagiarised from Ws forum and met the guy who had it made - he gave me a shirt at the final - actually in the Guinness tent queue - the Big Welsh fella who was summarising for Sky Sports thought it was brilliant as did Jason White. Happy, happy days.
Big crowd in the Square tomorrow, then Waxy's for incisive discussion of all matters relating to rugger. Wha-hey !!!!

[George Carlin]

Yes well GC I will be wearing my V Man t -shirt, which I snaffled in Belfast.  Photo of V on front.  Then on the back :-

15. Vernon
14. Vernon
13. Vernon  
11. Vernon
12. Vernon
11. Vernon
10. Vernon
9.   Vernon
8.   Vernon
7.   Vernon
6.   Vernon
5.   Vernon
4.   Vernon
3.   Vernon
2.   Vernon
1.   Vernon

16. Vernon
17. Vernon
18. Vernon
19. Vernon
20. Vernon
21. Vernon
22. Vernon
23. Nakarawa (impact for last 5 mins)

Plagiarised from Ws forum and met the guy who had it made - he gave me a shirt at the final - actually in the Guinness tent queue - the Big Welsh fella who was summarising for Sky Sports thought it was brilliant as did Jason White.   Happy, happy days.  
Big crowd in the Square tomorrow, then Waxy's for incisive discussion of all matters relating to rugger.   Wha-hey !!!!  

That is brilliant. Other good t-shirts I have seen:

- "I Only Drink When McCaw Is Cheating".
- "Keep Calm, Piri's On" (last RWC)
- "He's Dan Carter. You are not".

[21st Century Schizoid Man]

Should add - The V Man had a monster game in the final and was my MoM

[21st Century Schizoid Man]

.... and the big Welsh fella was Scott Quinnell - another true gent !

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