Thursday 7th Sept: 08:10

Apologies for the absence of a blog yesterday, not that anyone would have noticed. I was pretending to be an UBER driver taking my mate to Sussex Eye Hospital. You know the UBER thing where the passengers says “where you from then, Delhi” and the driver responds “no my friend, me from Wales”. As expected the response was “you bloody foreigners!”

Moving swiftly on, it is almost upon us and after the hype, the controversies, Eddie Jones (tosser), that draw, yes, Rugby World Cup 2023 kicks off at 20:15 tomorrow evening. It should be a cracker from start to finish and there will be shocks. It is good the tournament starts with such a heavyweight clash, the loser tomorrow might not think so however.

Rumours abound that Alex Mitchell will get the nod at #9 for England when they trot out against Argentina on Saturday. If you are an English fan you should be happy with that. It is a bold call and could indicate a more attacking intent. That said the rest of the team will be the usual suspects. Dan Cole to start is another very distinct possibility. I think Cole is getting close to his best before date and is prone to concede penalties at crucial times but hey ho the choice is pretty limited.

Jacques Neinaber has gone early picking a very strong side. Faf de Klerk will win his 50th cap and the ring master will be Mannie Libbock at outside-half. When you run through the side I can’t see any weaknesses, and the bench is probably the envy of the rugby world. Is that South Africa lifting the cup then. No! As I have said before they are huge creatures but get them on the back foot and keep the ball moving around the park, as I’m sure Scotland will do, then they are not invincible.

Wales have declared the squad in its entirety is fully fit and raring to go. The sight of Taulupe Faletau in full training is heartening for the Welsh, and having already been written off they have nothing to lose. Warren Gatland announces his team later today.

Fiji on the other hand have been dealt a blow with inspirational outside-half Caleb Muntz having to withdraw totally due to a knee injury sustained in training. One player doesn’t make a team but this young man is something special. Fiji are the most improved of all the nations in my opinion and if Wales have any chance of progressing then they must be at their very best for the full 80 minutes.

If Eddie Jones bullshit is designed to take the attention away from his players then it is working. As I flick through the papers and scan the websites all the talk is about Jones, some positive, most derogatory. Australia v Georgia at 17:00 on Saturday. I guess that is all that matters. The Aussie’s losing will be the starting gun for attack after attack by the unforgiving Australian media. Jones will need more than a tin hat. A win and the media will simply mutter “its only Georgia”.

Now, if you wanted to portray the word “hypocrisy” as a nation you would go no further than France. Say one thing, do another. Aussie legend David Pocock has pointed out whilst the French organisers have pontificated about the tournament’s green credentials they have steadfastly avoided mentioning one of the lead sponsors; French oil company TotalEnergies.

Talking of energy, there is much in the press about Ireland. The No.1 ranked team currently are in the mix to lift the trophy. As mentioned on Tuesday there are some asking do they have the energy to take them all the way, or, as some fear, will the World Cup curse strike again and they are on the plane home before the “real” stuff gets underway.

Spygate is the latest scandal to hit the tournament. Are teams spying on each other using drones and other subversive means. Several nations, including Wales, expressed concerns, one going as far as to ask what the sanctions would be if teams are caught. Bit of a nonsense really. Let battle commence.

Battle won’t be happening over in Brentwood on Saturday. Sadly Mavericks couldn’t raise a side so that game is cancelled. I am led to believe an alternative fixture away at Old Colfeians 2s has been arranged if you are interested.

Talking of interesting, the RFU tackle champions are at the club tonight giving a presentation on the new tackle laws. I have seen it twice and it is pretty good and clearly outlines what is what. 19:30 and it is open to all. The bar is open and Jacqui’s curry will be available, £6 is amazing value.

OK, just a reminder that due to family and other commitments no blog until Monday when I expect I’ll be writing about tears of joy, a sense of relief, or in the case of England and Wales that sinking feeling.

Tuesday 5th Sept: 08:55

As promised a quick look at how the first week of the season went for those in our neck of the woods. It seems like things have got off to a good start. In National League 2 East Sevenoaks beat Canterbury, TJs beat Westcombe Park and Worthing came home from North Walsham with a 45-7 win. In Regional 1 South Central Brighton beat Bracknell and Tunbridge Wells beat Marlborough. The first blot on the landscape is Horsham losing at Havant. Dropping down one level to Regional 2 South Central Salisbury beat Chichester 19-17. This was a pretty competitive affair my sources tell me. Up in the Midlands Bridgnorth got off to a flier with a fine win over Banbury. Sadly it was in front of their still to be finished new clubhouse. Once it is finished it will be a magnificent edifice to be envious of.

World Cup fever, as opposed to Covid paranoia, is spreading rapidly. Plenty in the papers to get our teeth into. A spat is brewing between Danny Cipriani and Eddie Jones. Jones pointedly left Cipriani, who at the time was playing some of his best rugby for Gloucester, out of the 2019 World Cup squad. The former England fly half, poster boy and wild child has made some outlandish accusations in his autobiography which is being serialised in the Fail. Inevitably no-one wants to read how wonderful life is, they want salacious gossip. It seems Cipriani is taking that to the extreme. He has also hacked off Owen Farrell claiming Farrell was leader of the player “mafia” that drove Jones to push him aside. Farrell has responded as only he can do: bluntly. The timing of this bullshit is not a surprise but the game could do without it right now.

Talking of being blunt Farrell has now openly admitted he knew his tackle on Taine Basham was wrong and worthy of a red card the minute he saw it on the big screen. Good on him for admitting that so why couldn’t the three wise monkeys from Australia see it.

Steve Borthwick has said England will persevere with their tactics as they are. Fair enough, to a degree. There is just a couple of days before England face the might of Argentina and changing tack now might be a foolish thing to do. That said, some in the papers say the players need to take charge and change things. If that means have a plan but when things aren’t going the way of said plan play what is front of you. It is not rocket science. Just do it.

Msr Macron has waded into the Bastien Chalureau debate with Msr Galthie telling him to butt out. You have my view already but to repeat it: if people have committed a crime and served their time then they should be rehabilitated, BUT, if their crime is contrary to the latest pontification from up on high be ready for justifiable criticism. I am struggling with his selection for the national side.

The French organisers have said there will be no repeat of the horror scenes ahead of the Champions League Final recently held at the Stade de France. I would hope not as this is rugby after all. What happened was appalling by the way, made worse by weasels in the French Government trying to hide crucial evidence that eventually would condemn them.

They have also said there is no reason to worry about doping and dope testing. The French reassure us this under control and testing will be robust. Good but the French are great at telling you one thing and doing another, especially with a cloud hanging over Rhys Webb and Elton Jantjies.

World Rugby and the organising committee have stated very strongly the new “bunker” system is in place and it will work. This means we are unlikely to see any straight red cards leaving the ultimate decision to the chinless wonders in the TMO truck. Actually I like Joy Neville. They have also vehemently stated there will be no repeat of the Farrell cock-up. We’ll wait and see shall we!!! This is World Rugby talking after all.

France v New Zealand up first and plenty of trash talking already. This is the worst ever All Black side at a World Cup says French great Oliver Magne. Be careful what you wish for mon ami. The All Blacks will be without influential Jordie Barrett for the opener.

The noises coming out of the Welsh and Scottish camps are all very positive. Unlike our English cousins I think both nations have built a bond which will help them perform above expectations. I hope so at least. Of the two I am convinced Scotland will spring a surprise. I can see them beating Ireland.

Ok, that’ll do for now. Just a reminder that due to travel and family commitments Saturday and Sunday blogs won’t start until Saturday 16th. I wanted the two of you who read this drivel to be aware.

Monday 4th Sept: 08:25

Although a friendly we kicked off our 23/24 season with a 25-22 win over Hove. I wasn’t there but my very good friend The Bard assures me it was a cracking game played in a great spirit. We had a number of new players on show and they did “fine, thank you very much”. What was heartening was both teams seem to have embraced the new tackle height law, and, again according to The Bard, the game was quicker and more fluid as a consequence. Now that is good news! Next week the boys travel to Mavericks, remember them, the guys from Brentwood, for the second of our two pre-league season friendlies. This will be another genuine test of where we are at. Sadly I won’t be there as I’ll be in Salisbury but you can be. It kicks off at 15:00 and don’t forget the Dart Crossing charge.

Elsewhere Eddie Jones is stirring the pot AGAIN!!!! Anything to deflect us from the fact his side is not doing very well and he is under fire from the media. Apparently the failures of England had absolutely nothing to do with him. It was all the RFU’s fault. Yep, that must be true after the 10s of millions of British pounds pumped into the England set up, the amazing facilities they laid on, the free reign they gave to Jones to hire and FIRE staff at will. Mmmm!!! Was it the RFU that wrote the tactical plan for each game and insisted on who should play and who was cast aside. I don’t think so. I have heard from several in the game who have worked with him that he is a tyrant who does not like being challenged on anything, and his understanding of the game actually leaves something to be desired. The man, in my very humble and understated opinion, is complete joke and a charlatan.

Wales might not progress from the group but ahead of the tournament they are doing much right. At the ceremony where their World Cup caps were presented the boys behaved impeccably wowing the locals with a rendition of Calon Lan and Dan Biggar giving a heartfelt speech of thanks in excellent French. Not long now. Sunday 10th at 20:00 it is Wales v Fiji.

Another rugby legend Dai Watkins has passed away at the age of 81. An amazing player who represented both his country, Wales and Great Britain, in both codes of the game has left this mortal coil. The man from Blaina (Mrs Bleater’s territory) served Newport RFC for many years as a player and subsequently as an administrator which carried through to the Newport-Gwent Dragons. A sad loss. BBC Sport carries a nice piece on him.

Having sacrificed my weekend for the greater good of the game which included sitting through a 45 minute presentation on inclusion and diversity, Luther Burrell was very good by the way, I find it totally unsettling that Bastien Chalureau who carries a conviction for a racially motivated assault has been brought into the French squad. Yes we should forgive the sins of others once they have served their time but you cannot sermonise on matters then totally ignore them when it suits you. By the way the Owen Farrell thing was tackled head on but it is still smacks of hypocrisy that he wasn’t banned straight away, and banned for six weeks.

Oh dear, oh dear! Ireland, still ranked number 1 in the world, are seen as serious contenders for the trophy, or are they? A number of pundits and former players have suggested they have gone off the boil and could find themselves on their way home sooner than later. I’m not sure. There is a steely side to this squad and a togetherness that will take them deep into the tournament… or will it? I know nothing about rugby so don’t listen to me on how they’ll do.

The season kicked off for some of the clubs around us so I’ll do a league round-up tomorrow. The weekly Monday league round-up will start on September 18th and you’ll be getting a blog on a Sunday from the 17th. (We are at the ODI between England and New Zealand in Southampton next Sunday).

The countdown begins. ITV on Friday night. France v New Zealand. The Sauvignon Blanc is already chilling. It should be good, and the rugby. I only mention this as we are lucky that the tournament is free to air. It appears that South Africans are not so fortunate as a row has blown up meaning the lead sports broadcaster SuperSport has been frozen out in favour of a little known, high priced subscription channel.

The news is full of the same old dross which as it is the season of bullshit and scaremongering includes nonsense about Covid. It is a nasty cold or flu “lite”. Get on with it and leave us to worry about what is important such as Putin and how close to the nuclear button is his finger, or how the f*”) did it take so long for the powers that be to decide hundreds of schools, and possibly hospitals are unsafe. I know! The bone-idle, self indulgent, highly paid clowns in our civil service were busy “working” from home and no-one noticed.

Thursday 31st Aug: 09:50

After last night’s stunning super blue moon I had hoped to be waking up to lots of positive rugby stories ahead of the weekend. How wrong am I. The headlines make very depressing reading.

First up is WalesOnline; “300 players join timebomb”. The concussion litigation against World Rugby, the WRU and the RFU has gown with many hundreds more players coming forward to join the action. When you see Alix Popham and read about Ryan Jones, Steve Thompson et al then the issue is real. However, there inevitably will be those who will jump on the bandwagon in the hope of making a buck or two. Sadly I think there are more than a few “chancers” amongst the litigants, and of course the lawyers are never going to turn away the opportunity to line their pockets with ill gotten gains. The head injury/concussion issue is real and that is why I was so incensed when the Farrell fiasco blew up. It sent totally the wrong message about how the governing bodies are handling things. Just eight days from the start of the World Cup the game can do without these headlines.

As they can do without “Rugby will end as we know it after the World Cup”. A leading expert on brain injuries, and previously an advisor to World Rugby, Prof. Willie Stewart has said the moment the World Cup is over the game will have to change, this in the light of serious concerns about player welfare. He points to the increase in size and strength of players and therefore the forces extorted and the frequency of collisions and states they cannot continue. Sadly I fear he is right in some respects, but could a safer game be a better game?

We then have an interesting slant on things from the Torygraph; “Reaching World Cup semi-finals is the last thing English rugby needs right now”. This is an insightful piece that confirms the fear of many and that is: England doing well will only paper over the cracks, that are rapidly turning into uncrossable chasms, in the game. England’s performance has been totally unacceptable and as I have said previously if this was a business the rate of return on the investment would see the whole project scrapped. It runs deeper than that. Whilst millions have been thrown at England funding for the rest of the game has been cut to the bone. Not only that the lack of success drives apathy toward the game. Kids are not queuing up to play and emulate their heroes because there aren’t any heroes. It’s a good piece (thanks Bazza).

Then we have the French and the tournament itself. France is a very socialist country and in many respects much the worst for it, in MY opinion. As a consequence it comes as no surprise that French air traffic controllers have decided to strike at least once during the tournament which will disrupt several teams travel plans, including England, and cause mayhem for the millions of fans crisscrossing the country. The organisers have encouraged as much train journeys as possible to make the tournament as environmentally friendly as possible but I hear rumours that the rail unions are thinking about strike action too.

As the bad news keeps rolling in I might as well mention that France’s Jonathan Danty is likely to miss the opening game and could possibly miss out altogether. One player doesn’t define a tournament but your heart has to go out to those who through injury are going to miss this, the biggest spectacle in our game.

It wouldn’t be rugby without Eddie Jones spouting off. This time he has said he deliberately took a pop at the Aussie journalists as they left Australia for France to deflect attention from the players. Jones, you are a complete and under dickhead. You lost your rag because decent, hardworking journalists had the temerity to challenge you on your ability. They are quite right too, when it comes to your ability as a coach I think it is significantly less than your massively inflated ego!!!

Then we have Scottish journalist Martin Hannah of The Herald ripping into World Rugby about the unfairness of the World Cup draw. Yes, it is extremely lopsided, and yes, Scotland are in the wrong half of it, but eight days before the tournament is a bit late to be protesting my friend. That boat sailed nearly three years ago. I wonder if he would be protesting quite so vociferously if Scotland were in Wales’ position. I doubt it, Welsh journalists are rubbing their hands with glee at how fortuitous the draw is. We still won’t get out of the group.

That’s just about it for today. Walking rugby tonight at 6pm if you are interested. More importantly, Saturday at 3pm CRFC host Hove RFC in a pre-season warm-up fixture. The weather is set fair and the pitch looks amazing. Why not pop along.

One night this week I caught some mealy mouth lackey of Sadiq Kahn pontificating about how the poorest in society don’t have cars as they are on benefits and therefore the ULEZ won’t affect them. I have never heard such a tone deaf, arrogant piece of nonsense from someone who is supposedly a socialist. I’d like to see this woman go and talk to the hard working night shift workers who are busting their guts to put food on the table and a roof over their heads, and of course of great benefit to us, Why? These hardworking citizens will get hit twice per shift. Once when they drive to work, and a second time when they drive from the shift. If Kahn is a true trailblazing socialist that he professes to be, rather than a complete and utter prat, then he needs to scrap this highway robbery and support hardworking Londoners, not fleece of them of every penny they earn.

While I’m at it what are you doing about the appalling crime in the capital. I guess it is ok for looters and muggers and machete waving hooligans to carry on unmolested because they don’t drive a 64 plate diesel !!!!!

Wednesday 30th Aug: 09:30

The countdown has well and truly begun. Anticipation builds ahead of Sept 8th, the day France host New Zealand in the opening game of 2023 Rugby World Cup. This is some contest to kick things off with. France when on form, a Rolls Royce on steroids (of course I mean it proverbially as under no circumstances would I suggest any French player was actually on steroids), the All Blacks always there or there about come World Cup time. It should be a cracker. With all games on ITV the game should attract a new audience. However, if all they see is England’s kick tennis, Wales’ Warren ball, South Africa’s brutality then they ain’t going to be hanging around for long. On this point can I draw your attention to an excellent article in The Guardian by Robert Kitson who makes roughly the same point. There has to be a place in the game for the “big beasts” but equally we need guile and beauty. In a strange way some of the best games will come when the likes of Chile play Japan, or Uruguay play Namibia, or Tonga face Romania. That’s what I think anyway.

Ahead of the tournament can I also draw your attention to an interesting piece in the Daily Fail, an interview with the disgraced Bernard Laporte. He makes some interesting observations about many aspects of our game, and indeed about society as a whole. For me it was the point about those at the very top of the game, World Rugby, being out of touch with the game itself and not taking a more dynamic hands on approach to how the game is managed. Laporte comments on the nonsense with Farrell as an example of too many cooks.

Wales new CEO, Abi Tierney, will take up her position in January and her in-tray is already overflowing with crucial tasks to be resolved. Sorting the toxic, old boys, culture, getting a solid senior management team in place who know the game AND know business, sort out where the professional game is going, the regions basically, then there is the grassroots, the women’s game and of course you and I the fans who are sadly falling out of love with the game. Good luck to her, and lets hope the debacle at the Passport Office where she was previously in charge isn’t a portend of things to come. I’m sure it isn’t by the way. WalesOnline for more.

Ireland suffer an injury blow with Cian Healey being unable to play in the World Cup. For most countries this would be serious but for Ireland with their excellent pipeline of talent across the field it shouldn’t cause too much disruption.

I see Johnny May has been drafted into England’s squad to replace Anthony Watson. Is this another sign that England are not moving forward but stuck in the past? Why not pick Cadan Murley for example. In fine form for Harlequins and a player for the future. England, in my humble opinion, are now in the same boat as Wales, expectations are very low so actually you are in a no lose situation. Achieve ahead of expectations and everyone is happy. Get knocked out at the group stages and people will simple shrug their shoulders and say “I told you so”. Now is the time to be bold. Throw plan A into the bin and throw caution to the wind.

Things are bad for England but I find it troubling that some are already saying Steve Borthwick is on his way out and Ronan O’Gara is on his way in. Have the RFU suddenly turned into Watford FC and need a new coach every other week, or so it seems, not that I follow Watford.

Perhaps I shouldn’t write this…. But what the heck! There is a right todo brewing at the moment about the priorities of the game within the RFU. The grassroots game is about to make a seismic shift with regard to the tackle law. Referee’s are going to be under immense pressure to implement the new law fairly, and in a way that is not detrimental to the game. Why then has some twit from the RFU sent out a missive saying referee’s need to be mindful of discrimination and no matter how minor must report it. There is no place for discrimination in society and definitely not in rugby. Thankfully it is a very rare occurrence. Discrimination is already covered in the regulations so no new directive is needed. This is some twit sitting in a meeting who has no feel for the game but wants to be important. No wonder England are dropping down the rankings if, despite the biggest pool of players and the biggest budget, this is the sort of stuff people are prioritising.

Here are my priorities: Work harder on player retention and then recruitment, support other forms of the game; touch etc, be really serious about head injuries through harsher penalties, implement the new tackle height with excellence, sort out the financial mismanagement in the top flight, develop a meaningful second tier, get a proper player pathway for talent to develop. Yes this takes money so wasting time and money worrying about woke issues and being politically correct is not the way forward. The pillars of the game are there. Live by them and start worrying about the game itself. Rant over!!!!!

Tuesday 29th Aug: 14:45

Good afternoon. Somewhat later than planned due to a long morning working at the club, and personal stuff to sort on my return home. As I said I would blog, here it is.

Let me return to Paris where a dominant French side took Australia to pieces in the second half of Sunday’s contest. Whilst Australia played some good stuff in the first half keeping the game reasonably tight, they fell away in the second. France started to play with that Gallic flair we all love, and boy did it reap rewards. To be fair Australia weren’t bad (Wales should note), France were simply in a different class. Worryingly for those watching many of their front line stars were given the shepherds crook early on leaving the stand-ins to do the damage. There is plenty of rugby to played but right now if I was a betting man, which I am not, I would be putting a few guineas on France to lift the trophy.

The fallout from England’s performance against Fiji continues with much debate about the malaise that seems to be endemic in the camp. Chatting this morning several people made the same observation I did which is why after ten minutes of scintillating rugby did England revert back to the turgid and totally unproductive kick and chase. It made no sense then, and it makes no sense now. One thing that must be reiterated is the simple truth Fiji, more than most sides going into RWC 23, have made huge strides forward in terms of what they now deliver on the field. Yes, there is still that unpredictability but there is now a much more balanced and comprehensive approach to how the game is played. Time and again they took the right option based on the challenge in front of them. Fiji are good side, a very good side. England’s loss needs to be put into that context.

Argentine coach Michael Cheika is not taking anything for granted. He expects England will be ready come September 9th and the Pumas will need to be at their best to beat them. Cheika is a wiley old fox and I’m sure his tongue was firmly in his cheek when bigging up England.

There have been quite a few hacks questioning South Africa’s decision to go with seven forwards on the bench against New Zealand, and then to bring them on all in one go. There is nothing in the regulations that say you have to have a certain split on the bench. If it works for them, why not? Well, firstly, because I continue to think having eight replacements is way too many. Secondly it is dangerous enough when five hungry wildebeest enter the fray let alone an additional two. Thirdly, we want to see some open, running rugby, and not 80 minutes of brutality in the form of ruck and maul.

Scott Barrett has been cleared to play in the World Cup opener on Friday 8th September. The regulations are clear, so fair enough. Well, actually, no, because I for one thought his “attack” on Malcolm Marx was worthy of a straight red.

Rhys Webb has been suspended for allegedly failing a dope test in France. Webb has vigorously denied the accusations of cheating and has insisted his “B” sample be tested immediately. We’ll keep an eye on this story as it develops.

Johnny Sexton has had a good olde whinge about the time it took for his referee abuse case to be heard. To be honest, he is right. It took way too long to come in front of the blazers and that isn’t right. However, what makes it worse is the blazers bottled the tough decision and gave him a very lenient sentence for what was totally unacceptable behaviour.

Ok, that’ll do for now and I’’l be back tomorrow morning.

In the meantime if you intend to drive into London then don’t forget to pay the highway man. Stand and deliver!!! Yep £12.50 if you have the wrong type of vehicle. This has nothing to do with air quality, this is a budget filler because Sadiq Kahn has blown the budget on vanity projects.

Monday 28th Aug: 08:05

The sense of despair around England’s chances in the World Cup is palpable. Losing to Fiji was the final straw for those who were at Twickenham on Saturday, with many having given up long before that. The vast swathes of empty seats a testament to that view. The press, and the pundits within, are unanimous in their condemnation, most quite rightly pointing out the simple fact the demise hasn’t happened overnight, it started a long time ago. The lack of tactical clarity, the selection policies, the ill-discipline, and so it goes on have been evident for some time. Steve Borthwick, having been part of the Eddie Jones era, has to shoulder some of the blame and is now having to pick up the pieces.

On Saturday for the opening ten minutes I for one thought a miracle had happened. England looked hungry, playing imaginative and expansive rugby. Gaps were found and exploited. Support runners latched onto the ball with confidence. There was a zip and a zing to their play. Sadly all too soon, as Fiji shook off the dust and started to get up to speed, it all went backwards. The ball was in the air, the tackles were missed, the discipline fell away, and any semblance of having an attacking game plan went out of the proverbial window. Slowly, but effectively, Fiji wound through the gears and even down to 14 men started to play with skill, and more importantly with passion. This was not a game when Fiji were lucky, they were simply the much better side. To be fair the new structure, with many of the team playing either in Europe or in Super Rugby has raised their game significantly. I know many in Wales have for some time recognised the threat Fiji will pose in the coming weeks.

The way England, after that flying start, reverted back to type was astounding. The players seem incapable of thinking for themselves. There was no passion, no fire. It almost seemed from the comfort of my living room that they expected to lose and were happy to do so. The only spark came when Marcus Smith entered the fray and a like a whirling dervish brought a modicum of urgency to proceedings. England are not in a good place. Matt Dawson asked the pertinent question: what have they been doing over the many weeks the squad has been together. At times it looked as if they had only just met. George Ford was candid enough to say there had been too many errors in training. Surely they have had enough time to eliminate those.

It was a dark day at Twickenham on Saturday. Can England turn it around? The answer is yes but I fear that will simply cover up the underlying causes of England’s inability to succeed. If England can get out of the group, which with Argentina and a resurgent Samoa, who were not overrun by Ireland, is far from given, then they could reach the semis thanks to the very lopsided draw. However, much, much more needs to be done to repair the damage, and a long term plan based on a root and branch reorganisation of the game has to happen. More on this tomorrow. (Note. it will be in the afternoon).

Up in Scotland Gregor Townsend will be resting a little easier after what ultimately became a comfortable win over Georgia. The first half was a very even contest with, in my opinion, Georgia looking the better side. Their inability to exploit their opportunities being their weakness. Their pack looked strong and some of the back play was sharp and cohesive. Scotland looked somewhat overconfident and in some aspects overly ambitious. It was a different story in the second when the Scots got their act together and put the Georgians back in their place. I remain convinced Scotland will do well in the toughest half of the draw.

Friday night was a brutal affair. Who was writing South Africa off? I was, and I’ll be the first to admit after their demolition of Wales and the way they dispatched New Zealand I was wrong to do so. The Boks were simply a country mile ahead of the All Blacks at a packed to the rafters Twickenham on Friday. Not only was their well known forward power back to its terrifying best, their backs played some superb, heads-up rugby. The All Blacks by comparison were well off their normal dominant selves. Their discipline was poor incurring the wrath of Matthew Carley very early on. No matter how hard New Zealand tried the Boks had an answer. I won’t be writing the South Africans off anytime soon, especially when you have a squad where you make seven changes to the pack at half time and it makes no difference.

The second Scott Barrett yellow card should have been a straight red card. If he only gets a one match ban he has dodged a bullet. The Pieter Steph du Toit yellow was, just about. I think there was sufficient mitigation for that to stand.

Before moving on to France, the atmosphere at Twickenham, even through the medium of TV, was fantastic. At times I thought I was back in Pretoria with 60,000 Afrikaans baying for blood in the background. What a contrast to the muted crowd on Saturday.

Eddie Jones dismal run of results continued. France however were back to their imperious best, especially in the second half, so defeat might not be such a heavy burden to carry as some of the others. More on this game, and other matters, tomorrow afternoon.

Thursday 24th Aug: 09:20

What a difference a day makes. Weather wise that is. Damp and gloomy today versus glorious warm sunshine yesterday. Rugby wise it was gloomy yesterday and even more gloomy today. The news that Billy Vunipola, as expected, has been banned for three matches, one of which he can recover by attending the ridiculous “tackle school”, add to the woes of Steve Borthwick. He goes into Saturday’s fixture with Fiji with a truck load of problems to solve and very few clues on how to solve them. His decision to go early with the squad announcement is looking flawed, as is the decision to only pick one specialist No.8 leaving Alex Dombrandt and Zach Mercer at home. Not selecting these two remains a mystery to me.

Sir Knowitall writing in the Daily Fail suggests Borthwick should rip up the current plans and start again. Unfortunately Clive, that ain’t going to happen. The team is announced later today and I would hope to see Alex Mitchell at #9 and Marcus Smith #10. What is likely to happen is Ben Youngs and George Ford in tandem with the curve ball being Smith at full back. The Torygraph are pushing that theory quite hard. It doesn’t matter what team is picked, collectively they have to go out with fire in their bellies and put on a show. If they don’t then the gloom, verging on hysteria, will only worsen.

Many papers/pundits are saying the loss of Owen Farrell and Vunipola is actually no big deal. England can cope without them. In fact many of the people who support England with a passion that I have spoken to would prefer it if both were absent. Sadly for the game as a whole and England and English rugby specifically recent events have overshadowed much of the build up to the tournament. What happens from Sept 8th onwards is what really matters but for England another lacklustre performance, and worse, a defeat on Saturday would send them to France on the back foot with one had tied behind their back.

Fascinating story covered by a couple of papers is how the Australian Women’s team have been treated, which is poorly, compared with how the men are being looked after. The women’s team flew to Canada in economy for a tournament in which they had been promised financial support, which in turn failed to materialise. The WAGs of the Wallabies en route to France were flown business class. Rugby Australia needs to get with the times and recognise, as we have seen with football and cricket, women’s sport, especially rugby is a massive growth opportunity. Growth not only in participants, but also media coverage and therefore revenue. In typical Eddie Jones style he said he couldn’t be bothered with that, he had more important things to focus on. Yes the World Cup is vital for the future of the game down under but a more sympathetic response should have been forthcoming.

The officials for the group stages have been announced. Wales have English officials for all bar one game, which will be managed by Mathieu Reynal, who will also be in charge of England’s opener. Wayne Barnes will do Wales v Australia. Will any of this benefit Wales? It shouldn’t but there are sometimes subtle nuances to how northern hemisphere referees approach certain areas of the game versus their southern counterparts. On the other hand it could be a nightmare.

ITV have announced a stellar lineup to support their coverage of the tournament. I say “thank you”….. Austin Healey is not amongst them!!!!!

Scotland will field a strong team against Georgia, which I for one am pleased about. Why? Simply because it will given an indication of the strength of the Georgians ahead of Wales group game.

New Zealand will field a very strong XV for the game tomorrow evening. It should be a cracker, which sadly I might not now be able to watch live!!!!!

Before I wrap up there is an interesting piece in ruck.co.uk which states Maro Itoje is demanding a significant increase on his already eye-watering salary to stay at Saracens. If true it says a lot about loyalty, or the lack of it, to a club that has brought him to this point in his career. The article also summarises the reported salaries of the other top earners at Sarries. A rough calculation would indicate five players absorb c.£3m of the £5m salary cap. After the salary cap scandal Sarries were mired in previously it makes you wonder!!!!!!

In other news the plane reportedly carrying Yevgeny Prigozhin, the evil Wagner butcher, crashing makes many of the front pages. You can bet your bottom dollar this was a Vladimir Putin sponsored assassination if Prigozhin was in fact on board. If Putin was behind this then be very afraid of what he could do with the nuclear arsenal he has at his disposal.

Wednesday 23rd Aug: 08:15

You really couldn’t make this stuff up. If Monty Python was still on our screens you would see a sketch entitled “the red card rides again”. Why it took so long for the panel to reach a decision and then announce the ban on Owen Farrell beggars belief. How the Aussie panel got it so wrong will mystify those within the game for a long time to come. This was always foul play and a ban had to follow. With a myriad of TV angles to look at there should have been no debate. Am I happy it has been resolved and Farrell has been banned. Yes, and yes. Am I happy with the length of the ban. NO I am not. If this had been a second occurrence and the first had been sometime ago then 4 weeks (matches) makes sense, which it did last time. 4 weeks this time is a disgrace. Put to one side it is Farrell. A player who appears before a panel on more than one occasion can expect to be dealt with differently to a player who is on the naughty step for the first time. A player who has recently been in front of a panel for the same offence and at that time deemed to have been dealt with leniently should expect to endure the full wrath of the panel. The ban should have been 6 weeks as a minimum, which is the starting point for this offence. In this case apologies and contrition don’t wash as far as I am concerned.

It’ll be interesting to see what Billy Vunipola gets. I expect two matches and a visit to “tackle school”, which remains a massive bugbear for me. These are top flight, highly paid rugby players, sending them to “tackle school” to get a reduction is an absolute joke.

I’ll tell you what happens, lawyers get involved and things go to rat shit. You can’t do that under employment law, or his human rights will be impinged upon, or as he is now known as Jennifer you can only ban him/her/it for 4 weeks. The regulations are clear and should be unequivocal. It is going to take a long time to repair the damage from this sorry episode.

Moving on, you can expect Twickenham to be packed to the rafters and the ground shuddering as two leviathans of the game go head to head on Friday evening. The All Blacks v South Africa is a sell out. That is no surprise. How often do we in the UK get to see two of the very best in the world go up against each other live. It should be a cracker with the Boks naming a very strong team indeed. I expect the All Blacks to do the same. A loss for either would not be good, and hiding, as perhaps Wales did, behind the weakened team argument wouldn’t stand up in court I’m afraid.

Saturday will be in stark contrast with a round 40,000 expected at Twickenham to see England host Fiji in the last of their warm up matches. This is a sad indictment of the state of the English game, and a result of poor planning as many who would normally be in Twickenham to endure England’s kick fest will have been liberated of many British pounds to attend the Friday night game. England have to produce a performance if they are to avoid going into the World Cup with confidence on the floor and morale lying alongside it. Fiji will be no pushover, despite their disappointing showing last week against France. Steve Borthwick has a dilemma. Does he start with Ford at #10 or does he throw Marcus Smith into the fray and tell him to go out there and enjoy himself. Do what he does on a Saturday for Quins: be unpredictable. Ford will start and the ball will be in the air more often than it is in the hands. I don’t say this lightly, and I don’t say it with any sense of Welsh bias, but I wish for the sake of the game in England that England lose and lose badly. That is the only way things will ever change. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the very definition of madness.

Ireland v Samoa and Scotland v Georgia are also on Saturday. The Scotland game will be of some interest to us Welsh as Georgia is in our group with the defeat by them in the Autumn Internationals still sending shock waves around the principality.

England reject Paolo Odogwu has been selected in the Italian World Cup squad. Well done him for his perseverance.

That’ll do for now rugby wise.

It’s the same old rubbish in the news, if you read the Daily Fail. In The Guardian however there are harrowing and troubling stories of an escalation in drone strikes on both Ukraine and Russia, Moscow in particular. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that a very rattled Putin is seriously considering the nuclear option. That IS something to worry about!!!!

Did I read an article correctly where Prince William and Rishi Sunak have been called sexist because they wished the Lionesses good luck for the recent final. The world is going mad. By the way I think William was right not fly out to Australia just for that one game. In the same way I think it was wrong of the climate change pontificating BBC to send a myriad of people out there.

Tuesday 22nd Aug: 09:00

Good morning from a gloriously sunny Bridgnorth. Time is of the essence as the Ms beckon. Warren Gatland has rolled the dice and many think he has taken a gamble or two with his selection. The big news is the absence of Kieron Hardy meaning only two scrum halves are heading to France. I am surprised by this but can understand his logic: an extra back three player, and France is just an hour away by rubber dinghy. The other notable absentee is Alex Cuthbert, but to be fair he hasn’t featured in the warm up games or any of the squad sessions in either Turkey or Switzerland. Taine Plumtree misses out due to injury, however Taulupe Faletau, Dafydd Jenkins, Dewi Lake and Ryan Elias are all included despite all of them carrying knocks of one description or other. On balance the squad is what it is. There is a very low expectation of Wales in this tournament so Gatland and the squad have, in some respects, nothing to lose and everything to gain.

It’s a big day for England with Owen Farrell and Billy Vunipola in front of a panel. If things are done correctly then Vunipola should get six matches down to three with a further reduction of a match so he can attend “tackle school”. I believe he has an otherwise clean record. Farrell on the other hand should get six matches with no reduction as he “enjoyed” a discount last time and he has played his “tackle school” card already. Anything less would be a disgrace. This is NOT a dig at Farrell, or an anti-England sentiment, this is how the discipline process works, and works well at grassroots level run by hardworking volunteers.

World Rugby have confirmed the “bunker” system will be in use during the World Cup despite the hiccup with the Farrell situation. Good, but I want to see referee’s making the call where it is, like Vunipola, clear and obvious.

France have named their squad which includes a number of names those who do not follow the Top 14 assiduously wouldn’t recognise. The names that most will know from the Six Nations and beyond are all top notch players and if they remain fit and healthy I wouldn’t bet against France lifting the trophy. The French clubs, the union and the government have put aside all their differences and aligned behind the desire to lift the trophy and put the game on a solid foundation for many years to come. Oh how England could do with that sort of joined up thinking.

Talking of which, will I be cheering for England in the tournament? To a degree yes. Living in England supporting week in week out Crowborough RFC and the wider game in Sussex the grassroots game needs a successful and progressive national side. Look at what the Ashes series and the Hundred has done for cricket, and the Lionesses have done for women’s football. High profile success drives success. Right now all England rugby are doing is driving a clapped out Lada from slough to despond!!!!

Now, own up!! Who saw former World Cup winning All Blacks coach Steve Hansen working with Eddie Jones during the tournament? I certainly didn’t. The Kiwis are saying it is tantamount to treason and Hansen should be stripped of his citizenship. If Jones has done just one thing right since being back at the helm in Aussie land, it is this. Hansen is a hard-nosed, straight talking, no back tracking rugby man. If there is anyone who will stand up to Jones’ crap it is him.

Jumping around a bit, the venues for the 2025 Women’s World Cup in England have been chosen. Twickenham is of course the centre piece with Sandy Park and Franklins Gardens being included too. I draw your attention to the fact Brighton’s Amex Stadium has been selected alongside other football stadiums. Brighton did a fantastic job in 2015 and there is no reason why they won’t do the same again. Fingers crossed, being fit and able, those games will be worth attending.

How’s your luck Alun Wyn? Toulon are losing and you are called from the bench to bolster things up. A mere three minutes later you are back on the bench after seeing yellow. On top of that Toulon go on to lose 27-15.

Sorry I didn’t mention the football yesterday. Despite losing to Spain the England women did the country proud with their efforts, and how they have conducted themselves, with one unfortunate on-field indiscretion. England rugby could learn a thing or two from them.

Before I move off, Sadiq Kahn’s hated ULEZ scheme comes into force in a few days time. This is no more than a money making scam to refill the empty coffers due to his abject mismanagement of the budget. What makes it worse is the devious, self-serving weasel, has suppressed a well researched article that says the ULEZ is next to useless in reducing the problem of omissions. He instead commissioned, and of course funded, therefore it cannot be independent