I still don’t know how many people read this nonsense so I have no idea if anybody wondered why there was no blog yesterday. The simple answer is I was putting the NHS to the test and quite honestly it passed with flying colours. If there is one positive thing that has come out of this Covid-19 situation it is the ease with which you can now access a doctor for everyday ailments. More on this in a moment.

Another big rugby weekend ahead with, in my mind, the potential highlight being Australia v Argentina. Dave Rennie has made a couple of changes to the side that beat the All Blacks but will that being enough?

Talking of Australia how envious must the rest of the world be? 50,000 fans in the Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane for the State of Origin decider. There are murmurings that fans might soon be allowed back into stadiums here in the UK. That would be good.

As expected King Eddie has dismissed Jack Willis, he can now return to Wasps for their clash with Bristol at 13:00 on Sunday. In comes Sam Underhill, as do George Ford and Lewis Ludlam. I am surprised Jonathan Joseph has been included as he looked as if he had taken quite a knock last week. Max Malins and Ollie Thorley have been retained in the 25 man squad but it is likely both will miss out on match day action. Jonny Hill or Ben Earl could also miss out on Saturday despite both impressing last weekend. George Ford has said England are looking to play a more expansive game. This would imply he will be on the bench but in terms of slinging the ball around I’ll believe that when I see it.

Ireland have made a number of changes. Ross Byrne gets the nod ahead of Billy Burns as replacement for the injured Sexton. Bundee Aki returns to replace Robbie Henshaw who is also injured. Jacob Stockdale and Iain Henderson, late withdrawals last weekend, return but on the bench. Jamison Gibson-Park keeps the number 9 jersey. Keith Earl replaces Andrew Conway and CJ Stander takes over from Josh van der Flier. One South African for another. On paper man for man England have the edge and Ireland have been pretty average of late so it will be fascinating to see if they can hold back a very confident English side.

Whilst it hasn’t been confirmed WalesOnline are predicting a much changed and very inexperienced Welsh side will take the field against Georgia. The main talking point will be the inclusion of James Botham but for me the half back pairing of Callum Sheedy and uncapped Kieran Hardy looks fascinating. With the possibility of uncapped Johnny Williams and Louis Rees-Zammit outside them the side has a new and exciting feel to it. Plenty of changes in the pack too but with Jake Ball and skipper Justin Tipuric plenty of experience too. We’ll know in a few hours whether Wayne Pivac has been this bold or not.

Sadly Fiji-Italy is already off due to Covid-19 cases in the Fijian camp.

Quite remarkably the Premiership 2020/21 gets underway on Friday with Quins v Exeter and Sale v Saints. Sale have been cleared of any Covid wrongdoing by the way. On Saturday Bath host Newcastle, Leicester host Gloucester and Worcester welcome London Irish to Sixways. I haven’t yet looked at the TV schedules to see which games BT will prioritise but I am sure along with the internationals there will be plenty of games to watch. Sadly the Pro14 will be hidden from view on the obscure pay channel Premier Sports.

Well done to Wales beating Finland 3-1 last night and England beating Iceland 4-0. The Premier League returns this weekend. I must remember to do my fantasy football team.

Ok, to the NHS. I had a slight accident a few weeks ago at Friday Club and hurt my back / hip. Over the last few days for some reason both have flared back up causing considerable pain (mainly at night which is why at 2 o’clock in the morning I am typing this). So, what did I do. I went to the minor injury unit at Crowborough Hospital and waited all of 15 seconds to be seen. I had a thorough examination but as they can’t x-ray hips I was referred to my GP to see if I needed an x-ray. If yes then a referral to Pembury, if no then some anti inflammatory tablets to speed the healing process. I left it until 3pm to ring the surgery and at 4pm with my notes in hand from the morning I was speaking to a doctor. Outcome was no x-ray required just physio or alternative. Excellent service indeed.
I remain horrified by how the government and the media continue to twist the Covid facts to keep the country in a state of fear. I could produce from the ONS and the NHS and the governments own statistics a raft of data that continues to show that people are dying but not OF Covid but WITH it. There is a huge difference. I can also produce a raft of data that highlights the more you test the more positives you get, something the BBC blatantly ignore, as they do the very important fact that many of the positives are “false positives”. Go on be brave and do some research into that subject.

So you are in hospital with complications due to say diabetes and you are 84 and seriously ill. Your life expectancy is limited. Due to the protocol you have a Covid test which comes back positive. Sadly you don’t make it. You of course, according to the bullshit we are living with right now didn’t die of age related complications due to diabetes you died of Covid.

Can you believe that the body who are driving us deeper into the mire: SAGE used data from Wikipedia to drive their model in the spring and didn’t have a single human coronavirus expert in their ranks. I read this in the Daily Fail but it is driven by a “damning BBC report”. Slowly but surely the tide is beginning to turn.

Back tomorrow with confirmation of the Welsh side, a forecast of results and anything else that might crop up.

Tuesday 17th Nov: 09:20

Not much meat on the bone today so plenty of sound bites to consider.

Ireland lose Johnny Sexton and Robbie Henshaw ahead of the clash with England. Of these the loss of Henshaw is the biggest. England’s Billy Burns is in pole position to start instead of Sexton but Leinster’s in form Ross Byrne might be given the nod. Slightly strange that Connacht’s Jack Carty isn’t with the Irish squad.

James Botham, grandson of the legend that is Sir Ian, has been drafted into the Wales squad ahead of their clash with Georgia. New Zealander Johnny McNicholl has been recalled. As nationality seems to be irrelevant I don’t know why Cardiff Blues Ollie Robinson hasn’t been given a call up.

Injuries are a concern with Italy’s Jake Polledri suffering a serious knee injury and France’s Romain Ntmack set to miss at least one game with an unspecified injury.

Leinster and Ulster maintain their 100% Pro14 record with wins at Zebre and home to Edinburgh respectively. Cardiff Blues beat Benetton to fly the flag for the Welsh regions. Three of the four Irish regions dominate the two conferences. Interestingly Ulster will be allowed to have 1000 fans in the ground to watch them play Scarlets this weekend. As Mao said even the longest journey starts with a single step.

Leicester Tigers reopen their training ground after the positive Covid cases, the Dragons game v Edinburgh is postponed following ongoing concerns in the Dragons camp and Ospreys have switched their home games to St Helens to protect the integrity of their Covid bubble.

King Eddie is set to “drop” Jack Willis ahead of the Ireland game despite impressing on his debut. Jones has an abundance of back row riches right now so Willis might have to be patient. His days in the sun will come.

Whilst mentioning England I was slightly taken aback by the vehemence of the criticism of Jones’ side by loyal red rose eye patch wearing Englishmen yesterday. A couple of the Friday Club thought England were one dimensional, boring, way too reliant on kicking and might as well have had one of the club’s tractors in midfield for all the use the centres were put to. Actually fair enough as I have been critical of Jones tactics for some time.

Plenty in the papers ahead of the Australia v Argentina clash. I hope the Pumas can replicate their performance against the All Blacks. The Wallaby camp are wary of the “Cheika factor” which is interesting. I do hope they can maintain their form but more importantly I hope for another great game with 15 players from both sides getting their hands on the ball.

Moving on. What an arrogant piece of work is that Matt Hancock. He has become power crazed to the point of concern. Acting like some ham actor in a Brian Rix farce he is doing a mighty fine impression of Dr Strangelove, that is having lost all grip on reality. His pathetic presentation yesterday and his portend of lockdown being extended beyond Dec 2nd without a shred of evidence beggars belief. The people brought on in his wake, as proven by several well respected journals including the BMJ are driven by their own self interest with a total disregard for the science. These morons have bankrupted the country and lined the pockets of friends and family with spurious contracts and putting people with zero experience of what is needed in high profile jobs. Dodo Harding being the classic example of cronyism.

There was an excellent piece in The Sunday Times (thanks Colin) which eloquently summarises what has gone wrong. “Groupthink” and once the hole was started no-one was willing to admit to making a mistake so the hole just gets deeper and deeper. If you haven’t read it let me know and I will forward on.

Need I say more when you have to look really hard for the news that new cases is plateauing at around 22,000 per day and not the 50,000 predicted by the Doom Brothers and nowhere do you find any headline screaming that yesterday’s death toll WITH Covid was less than 300 which is a very long way from 4,000 per day. The news coverage remains very selective. Whilst highlighting the plight of one hospital in Hull it totally ignores the SIGNIFICANT number of hospitals running at less than normal capacity. You work out for yourselves what is going on thanks to Project Fear II

Finally a word about the vaccination breakthroughs. If they can deliver them quickly and safely then this is good news, especially for the drugs companies who will make billions. The reporting has also focussed on anti-vaxxers. I want to go on record about two things. There are many mis-guided people, and groups who are doing more harm than good with their prognostications about vaccination, especially when their rationale for not having a vaccine is blatantly false. Generally vaccines are good e.g. MMR, small pox etc. However, and this is the worry, there is already talk of censoring ANY comments that goes against the Government’s line on vaccination. Those who can justify their objections or concerns must have a voice. Those who are spreading falsehoods do need to be silenced but mass censorship/indoctrination is NOT the way forward.

Monday 16th Nov: 09:00

It is a shame the England win over Georgia is to a degree being overshadowed by reporters making an unnecessary fuss about Billy Vunipola, Henry Slade and Ben Earl not taking the knee pre-match. There is no place in society for racism or any kind of prejudice but I agree with these three. I wouldn’t kneel in support of a group of people whose avowed aim is anarchy: close prisons, remove the police and smash capitalism. In my opinion it is the actions of the other 20 players that needs to be questioned.

There is much positivity around the win and the way the Georgians were dominated but equally plenty like me who are saying they now need to “turn on the style”. The bullying tactics will not be good enough going forward. This has been a criticism of England for some time and without doubt was a key factor in them losing the World Cup Final. There will always be a bigger bully if that is your only approach. England have the talent across the field, they simply have to unleash it. Certainly against Ireland they will have to approach things very differently otherwise they put themselves at risk of defeat, even against a pretty average Irish side.

Much praise has been heaped on Argentina after their historic win over the All Blacks. It is most warranted especially when you consider the preparation constraints and the sacrifices made to ensure they could take part. Unsurprisingly All Black coach Ian Foster is under some scrutiny after the start the team has made since he took charge. There is much praise for Mario Ledesma’s team but also a few who have pointed to the shrewd involvement of the much maligned Michael Cheika. Australia up next.

Wales coach Wayne Pivac is most definitely under the microscope but he might have an opportunity to redeem himself when Wales host Georgia next weekend. It is rumoured he will select a very youthful and inexperienced side for this one, a move which would meet most certainly with my approval. I think it is his only way forward.

As clubs prepare to start the new season Sale Sharks co-owner Simon Orange believes unless things change and change quickly a number of top flight clubs will go bankrupt in the very near future. I have bleated on about the clubs finances from way before the Covid nonsense started so this is old news in many respects but he is right: has the day of reckoning come.

Whatever happens Geordan Murphy after 23 years of loyal service will not be part of the Leicester Tigers’ scene. He leaves with immediate effect. It comes as no surprise after Tigers’ woeful performance of the last couple of seasons, the arrival of Steve Borthwick and of course the cost constraints clubs are now working under. He will join many good quality coaches now looking for gainful employment.

Munster kept up their fine progress in the Pro14 beating Ospreys but the Scarlets sprung what some would deem a surprise when they beat Connacht over there. Three more games tonight the pick of which is Leinster v Edinburgh.

Well done to England’s Women beating their French counterparts quite comfortably in the end. The first half was pretty evenly matched with England putting on an impressive second half to seal the win.

Well done Lewis Hamilton; seven time World Champion. That is some achievement and the way he drove to victory yesterday highlighted why he is a seven time champion.

Well done Dustin Johnson; that was a mightily impressive golf masterclass over the last four days.

New Orleans Saints continue their fine form by beating San Francisco 49ers 27-13. Go Saints!

England soccer came second, Wales soccer continue their revival by beating Republic of Ireland. By the way another issue Welsh rugby is having to face.

Ok that’ll do for now except to say thank you to those who responded to my conundrum of Friday and at what point in time does the Covid test become invalid. A couple of people said the minute the student walked away from the testing station. Others felt it was the minute she met her friends to tell them she was going home which is the point in time I would have suggested it became invalid. A few tried to convince me that as long as she wore her mask from the moment the test was complete to the moment she met her parents and she sanitised her hands every 20 minutes for the three days before getting back to Birmingham and otherwise kept human contact to an absolute minimum it would remain valid until she got home. Sorry that doesn’t wash with me.

The point of this is to highlight the futility of Boris’s incredibly expensive and very much flawed testing program. Scrap all mass testing of healthy people and only test key workers in the health care system and do so pretty much every other day. This along with testing those entering health care facilities would be much more valid than the bullshit of testing students.

By the way the photo and quote highlights why this Covid thing is being mis-managed: VESTED INTERESTS!

Back tomorrow, one hopes so at least.

Sunday 15th Nov: 09:50

Wow! I bet you didn’t see that coming. No, not Ireland beating Wales nor England beating Georgia nor Italy playing very well against Scotland. Argentina beating New Zealand was something else. This was no second string All Black outfit this was a very strong All Black team determined to put the Australia defeat behind them. Argentina were excellent. They fronted up from the first whistle and kept going until the last. Their defence was truly sensational; not a single missed tackle. It wasn’t all about defence, they attacked well playing what was in front them. It wasn’t all muscle, they threw the ball about with some aplomb and kept the All Blacks guessing.

On the other side of the coin the New Zealand side were somewhat lethargic and for the first time in a long time didn’t have any answers to an aggressive defence. One other thing went against them; Andrew Gardner didn’t allow them to cheat. He kept them honest and onside. It was a great game with plenty of skills on show, plenty of high impact contests, lots of mistakes too and the odd bit of handbags, which obviously I can’t condone. Brilliant stuff.

The same thing can’t be said of the Ireland v Wales clash. A pretty ordinary Irish side got past a woeful Welsh in what was a pretty tedious game. The New Zealander Jamison Gibson-Park was the bright light and the other New Zealander James Lowe also impressed. Neither side looked as if they could string more than two passes in a row leaving the game dominated by defence. Despite the score line Wales defended pretty well. They simply had no idea how to attack. It has been a criticism of Wales for many years. The defence has won the game rather than their attacking prowess. Wales have to be more creative otherwise they will simply continue to slip down the rankings into oblivion. Ireland have a few jewels to build a new team around. Sexton is certainly on the cusp of retirement, especially after the amazing achievement of reaching 100 caps. If there was one ray of hope for Wales it came from Lloyd Williams who did give Wales 20 minutes or so of energy and a bit of “get-go”, also Callum Sheedy making his debut was good news. One sad note was seeing Jonathan Davies limp off with what looked a bad knee injury. I fear that is the last time we will see Davies play our great game.

Then came England v Georgia. Lots of positives for King Eddie: the scoreline, the contribution of Jack Willis, Maro Itoje’s immense contribution, some of the defensive work across the board. I might be a bit jaundice but by comparison to the Argentina v All Black game this was pretty ordinary stuff. Will Stuart made a statement and Jamie George chipping in with a hat-trick of tries was no mean feat. There was a downside to that however in that it highlighted King Eddie is still basing his whole game plan on power; beat them into submission. It came as no surprise some of the back play was amiss but with the weather as it was that is no surprise. Seeing Jonathan Joseph limp off was a worry as it didn’t look like a “slight knock”. Max Malins running on for his debut was another positive for those who follow the Red Rose.

No fans is a disgrace and it begs the question why are the unions bothering. Well, based on the Guinness, Quilter and all the other advertising and the money from Amazon, Channel 4 and S4C there are several good reasons right there. In terms of Amazon I was hugely disappointed that despite having a pretty decent smart TV I couldn’t get the game to run. We watched it on my iPad which is far from ideal but at least that clown Austin Healey was nowhere to be heard.

I didn’t watch Italy v Scotland but understand Italy were excellent for long periods and it was only in the last quarter that Scotland finally broke them down. Real shame France v Fiji is off and you can guess how I feel about that.

That’ll do for now as the Turkish version of skating on ice aka F1 is about to start.

Back tomorrow with more analysis of the weekend’s rugby.

Friday 13th Nov: 09:00

The England team news is all about Jack Willis. Why his selection should surprise anyone is somewhat strange as he has been one of the truly standout players since the Premiership “restart”. He has proven himself worthy of being given the opportunity to step onto the biggest stage; international rugby. He will join Maro Itoje and Billy Vunipola in the back row. Itoje is no stranger to the back row but I would have liked to have seen Tom Curry and Willis in tandem, Yes they are very similar in style but surely players of their talent is exactly what the game needs I think. In fact those two plus Itoje at 8 ......... now you’re talking.

Ollie Lawrence will make his first start in an England jersey after making his debut in Italy. Will Stuart of Bath, Damper will be cheering, starts alongside Ellis Genge and Jamie George. No surprise that Elliot Daley is straight back in after injury. It’s a tasty looking back line so let’s hope for some width on the game. Out wide is where the Georgians could struggle so why not test that theory. Sadly it’ll be an arm wrestle ....... I think........ especially as King Eddie has resisted the temptation to experiment with “hybrid” players.

Ireland v Wales tonight on Channel 4. Even though Wales have strengthened their side with the return of the amazing Tipuric and Ireland have looked to the future by giving some new blood their opportunity I can only see the result heaping more pressure on Wayne Pivac; a Wales loss.

In addition to the England game New Zealand play Argentina tomorrow and there is a full program of Pro14 match ups. I fear for Argentina having read the press post the All Blacks defeat to Australia. They are smarting and have picked a strong side and I expect them to go at the Pumas fully loaded.

If you don’t have Amazon Prime then England Women v France Women is on BBC2. In fact this might be a better, more open game.

Interesting piece in The Guardian about the Amazon prime TV deal and how it could open up the door for interest from other non mainstream broadcasters outside the big two terrestrial channels and BT and SKY. From a money point of view the unions will be interested. From a supporter and devotee of our great game this would be another nail in the coffin.

The game is not dead but it is not in the rudest of health. The quality of the games at the top flight are poor, the fact grassroots has been closed down and will not reopen until September (in my view) is already putting the game at risk. To lose it from “mainstream” TV would be like holding a loaded gun to your head with the trigger half cocked. Madness!

By the way a good piece in the Daily Fail about the damage being done to grassroots sport in general thanks to this Covid lockdown bullshit.

Peace has broken out between the NZRFU and ARU. It has been agreed that once the series of domestic Super Rugby games has been completed there will be a Trans-Tasman series between the two leagues of five. I make this an additional 10 games of Super Rugby per team and a possible final. Excellent.

Following yesterday’s missive it is sad to see Saracens and Argentinian prop Juan Figallo having to retire at 32 on medical advice after a series of head injuries. This is why the red cards last week are important and NO the laws should not be changed so that after 20 minutes a new player can come onto the pitch.

When you go onto the website please take a moment to look at the RFU Wall of Remembrance. Nice mentions of Sandy Griffin and John Wilmshurst.

That’ll do for now. I’ll be back on Sunday with a review of the weekend so far.

I was going to finish with a rant about that pompous arrogant piece of human flotsam Jacob Rees-Mogg but I really can’t be bothered. He is an ass.

I will leave you with a challenge: tell me at what time in the following scenario does a negative Covid test become invalid.

A student wants to go home for Xmas. She studies in Brighton and lives in Birmingham. Her parents can’t pick her up and being a student she will travel as economically as she can. She has her test. She waits 20 minutes and it is negative. She then goes online and books her train ticket from Brighton to Birmingham. She returns to her halls of residence telling her friends she is off home in three days time because she has tested negative.

Three days later she gets the bus from Falmer to Brighton station, then the train to London Bridge. From there onto the tube across London to Euston station where she catches the train to Birmingham New Street. She then meets he parents and goes home.

Thursday 12th Nov: 08:00

Sorry about yesterday’s debacle. Having almost got to the end of the missive I managed to delete everything. With the boss standing over me waiting patiently for me to help her with the chores it would have been foolhardy to start again. As it happens there wasn’t much rugby to write about.

Today I could write about the shambles that is the WRU but that is an old and well worn path. Instead some of the team announcements for the first round of the autumn tournament have been announced.

Andy Farrell has shuffled his deck. Jamison Gibson-Park makes his first “run on” start with Conor Murray dropping to the bench. I am surprised he didn’t move Jacob Stockdale back to the wing after his woeful performance against France (accepting he scored a good try). Out of the squad go CJ Stander and Bundee Aki and as expected James Lowe will make his debut on the wing.

Wayne Pivac has rolled the dice and the standout selection is Callum Sheedy who is likely to make his Welsh debut from the bench. Justin Tipuric returns but Nick Tompkins drops out of the squad altogether. The Tipuric change is the only one to the starting XV that lost to Scotland with the other changes being to the bench. George North returns to the squad which is disappointing. The inclusion of Jake Ball, Samson Lee and Elliot Dee are all improvements.

As expected Duncan Weir starts for Scotland with Finn Russell and Adam Hastings on the physio’s table. Gregor Townsend’s hand has been forced due to injury but he has also made some tactical changes. Blair Kinghorn dropping to the bench is probably the most notable change.

In other news the lawyers have become involved in the row between the RFU and the Barbarians. It is claimed that the RFU gave a tacit approval for Barbarians’ players to leave their hotel prior to the game.

Thank you Damper for reminding me that you would prefer less Covid and more rugby. Over the next few weeks you might be in luck BUT I doubt it!! Anyway thank you for The Guardian article. It has been noted that top flight sportsmen and women are retiring earlier and more and more are retiring prematurely because of injury. Professional sport is now very lucrative and making it to the top can be the road to riches. As a consequence participants are being pushed more and more. You only have to look at our great game where the players are enormous and their power is terrifying. It is no wonder players are retiring early, or prematurely. You only have to read Dylan Hartley’s book to also see the long term repercussions of the pressure on players and you cannot ignore that the top flight 2020/21 season kicks off in a week or two to understand the impact. As injury and player damage gets more and more coverage so it ultimately impacts on the games future as parents, wives, girlfriends, boyfriends, the self employed etc consider rugby a game that isn’t worth the risk.

The two miscreants from the Bledisloe Cup; Lachlan and Tuungafasi, will both miss the Tri-Nations series. Good! In the light of the above the game does have to send a clear message that player welfare is important.

It has been confirmed that Super Rugby AU will return in February. Whether we will be able to see it is now in doubt as the ARU have left Fox and signed a complicated deal with Channel Nine and an online streaming service. Hey Ho!

I will make no apology for commenting on Covid because far too many people have their head in the sand and most of those have done no research other than listen to the propaganda machine that is the BBC. Yesterday nearly 600 people sadly passed away WITH a Covid positive test being recorded in the last 28 days. What you are not being told is where they got infected, noting many will have been infected IN hospital or a care facility, nor are you being told how old or how ill they already were. Most of the deaths are elderly sick people. PLEASE do some research of your own. The light might just come on, and don’t forget to look at what this has and is costing and the fraud and nepotism that is going on with those benefitting. PLEASE don’t be misled by the 50,000 number. It remains significantly less than the 500,000 the so called experts had predicted and is just 0.07% of the UK population. If you still are not convinced then ponder the question “why are they dismantling the 2,000 bed nightingale hospital that is the Principality Stadium, and why even during the height of the epidemic were only 46 beds ever used and they were for convalescence?”

Finally many will welcome the news about the vaccine. I have some concerns but if it means I get to go on the tour to South Africa in June/July count me in. What is not so loudly trumpeted is Matt Hancock suggesting this lockdown could be extended beyond December 2nd until the vaccine is ready. What supports this nightmare view is Rishi Sunak extending the (massively over) generous furlough scheme until March.

I leave you with a quote from a book I am reading........
“People will believe what they want to believe and it is truly frightening how easily they’ll believe it”.
This virus is not as deadly as it was made out to be but our children and our grandchildren will be paying for the mismanagement of it for decades to come. That is why I will continue to express my view!!

Wednesday 11th Nov: 09:30

Today is Armistice Day. Need I say more?

We shall remember them at 11am on the 11th of November.

As there has been a PICNIC (person in chair not in computer) this morning and my missive has been wiped I will now be back tomorrow as I no have no intention of trying to replicate it, and there is still little rugby to write about anyway.

Tuesday 10th Nov: 08:30

Thank you for reading this drivel. I intend to keep going as it is as much for my mental health as anything else. Anyway, lets do the answers to yesterday’s questions
1. A 90% error rate
2. 3,508 equating to being 87.7% away from the forecast
3. Only 41.5% accurate
4. I’d sack them in a heart beat for gross incompetence.

Not much in the way of rugby news. Duncan Weir is set to start for Scotland this weekend. His hair will be right up there with hairstyle of the week.

Questions are being asked about the wisdom of getting rid of Byron Hayward with the autumn games about to start.

The All Blacks have been told in no uncertain terms to stop whingeing about the red cards and get with the program. If they didn’t cheat and tackle poorly then there wouldn’t be a red card.

It looks as if James Lowe will make his Ireland debut on Friday. We’ll know soon enough.

King Eddie is doing the opposite of what he said by having Ollie Thorley running out at flanker during training sessions. Not sure what difference it makes as all Jones’ players are the size of semi-detached houses.

Former England and Bath coach Brian Ashton “decries the absence of innovation in modern game”. He is absolutely right and in the top flight picking 23 leviathans to run into brick walls for 80 minutes is not innovation.

Ulster maintain their fine form in the Pro 14 beating Glasgow comfortably noting most of the Glasgow squad is with Scotland right now. Unsurprisingly Cardiff Blues lost away at Edinburgh despite half the Edinburgh squad being with Scotland.

Thank you to “Damper” for sending me an interesting article in The Times about how the current lack of grassroots rugby today will ultimately be felt at the top of the game tomorrow. Kids are already drifting away as they can still play competitive soccer (returns Dec 2nd). Those hoping to catch the eye of clubs by playing for the county has gone and even the clubs academies are in lockdown. Talent similar to Thorley and Tom Dunn of Bath are likely to be missed. If you can find it it is a good read.

Thank you also to my good friend PK who reminds me that if you order something from Amazon today they will give you Amazon Prime free for a month. Simply cancel after the month is up. Even if you don’t want to buy anything it is only £7.99 for the month. I am not encouraging you to support this avaricious monstrosity but if you are desperate to watch pretty ordinary international rugby you have no choice.

I have a new blood pressure monitor!!!!!!

That’ll do for now as my granddaughter has arrived. I’ll be back tomorrow with another reality check on what we are being presented by the media re the “C” word.

Also an update on whether Trump’s new wall has been completed.

Monday 9th Nov: 09:50

It was good to see a fair few people at the war memorial yesterday. Plenty of former servicemen including a number from the parachute regiment. The fire service laid a wreath and of course the police were present. I hope that was to honour the fallen rather than to watch for people who stood closer than 2m to a neighbour or had the audacity to make a comment about this ludicrous lockdown.

The Scarlets beat Zebre yesterday evening and based on what I saw they were lucky to do so. I watched about 15 minutes of dire rugby before switching to a couple of hours of NFL Redzone. Eight games, flipping between each of them whenever there is action, and no ad breaks. I see the Saints have gone to 6 & 2 after demolishing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the late game.

The Ospreys were well beaten by Leinster. Perhaps it is a good thing fans aren’t allowed into the stadiums!!

Leicester City are top of the Premier League. Hoorah ..... but how long will it last?

Lots of whinging by Ian Foster about the defeat to Australia on Saturday: “we fell for Wallaby niggle”. Plenty of comment about the two red cards. I stick with my assessment in that the referee had no option in either case. There are plenty who support that view too.

Is Byron Hayward the fall guy for Wales woeful showing since Wayne Pivac took charge? He leaves his post as defence coach after just a few games. There is no immediate replacement so it will be interesting to see how Wales go in the up coming autumn tournament.

Many hacks are hoping that Fiji and Georgia will light up what could be an otherwise tedious set of games. BBC website has the best summary of the tournament schedule. Some games will be on Channel 4, all Wales games are on S4C but otherwise it is Amazon Prime. I guess many of you will have a subscription but I also guess many of you won‘t and therefore keeping us the loyal supporters of the game interested is clearly not part of the tournament’s objectives.

King Eddie has suggested he could pick nine forwards for the opener against Georgia. Dear Eddie based on the size of the players you currently select and the way your side plays surely you recognise that outside Ben Youngs you already have 14 forwards on the pitch.

Anyway it all starts next Friday at 19:00 with Ireland v Wales from the Aviva live on Channel 4 / S4C.

You’ll be pleased to know Rob Butcher of Bargoed RFC fame has beaten Ieuan Evans of Scarlets and Bath to become the next Chairman of the WRU following the departure of Gareth Davies.

In baseball parlance “it’s out of here” or in the case of the Big Umpa Loompa “he’s out of here”. Trump is still squealing like the spoilt brat he is about the result. He has to go. A word of caution however, and this in no way means I support that odious pile of bile, but be careful what you wish for. Joe Biden is NO friend to the UK and has already stated when he gets into office calling Boris is a long way down the pecking order. Perhaps, and please let it be so, this might just tip the Brexit negotiations (remember them) towards a viable settlement with the EU.

Today’s Covid questions.............
1. What is the error factor if you forecast 500,000 deaths and only 50,000 sadly pass away?
2. What is 4000 minus 492 (the highest daily death count of late)?
3. What percentage of 50,000 (the projected positive cases per day) is 20,752 (Yesterday’s number)?
4. If this was your data analyst would you sack him?

A man and a woman walking away from a Covid test centre in Liverpool bump in to their next door neighbour “Hi Ron, Rita, we’ve just had our tests. We’re both negative”
“Great news, we’re off for ours now”
Two hours later.......
“Hi Ron, Rita, how did it go for you?”
“Not great we are both positive. We feel fine but have to isolate, and so do you as we were together last night watching the football. I know we shouldn’t but we did”
“But we are negative?”
“Yeah but as this is an airborne respiratory virus the mere fact that we chatted this morning and the fact we were together last night means you could become positive anytime soon.”

The moral of the story..... the bullshit of mass testing.

Back tomorrow with more tales of Liverpool, and everyday life.

Sunday 8th Nov: 09:20

Mrs Bleater & I should be in Salisbury right now looking after our grandchildren while our daughter and former RAF Wing Commander son-in-law were in London for Remembrance Sunday. We are not, we are in Crowborough. Today is a day that we should and will remember those who have put their lives on the line, all too sadly and too frequently fatally, for us. Fighting against fascism and odious despotic rule, defending our freedom and our country. It is a disgrace that we cannot do so properly with humility and the ability to outwardly show our thanks. Today’s photo I think, as do many other people, is a poignant reminder of the times we live in and not happy times either.

Albeit a minor protest but a protest nonetheless I will be taking my “allowed” moment of exercise to walk to Crowborough’s War Memorial to coincide with 11am.

We will remember them.

If you watched it then I hope like me you enjoyed it. What, the US election? No, the Australians finally putting one over New Zealand. I thought it was a pretty good match; plenty of open play, plenty of talking points, some immense hits, plenty of mistakes and the odd punch being thrown. Obviously I can’t condone that but it added to the entertainment value.

Let’s start with the sending offs. You could argue the first one was marginal but fair play to Nick Berry he went through the protocols and came up with, in my opinion, the correct outcome. In these modern times players heads have to be protected and therefore based on the evidence it had to be red. Once that decision was made it was a no-brainer to send the debutant Lachlan Swinton off the field of play when he transgressed later in the contest.

Did Australia deserve to win? Yes, I think so. They played with commitment and heart and cheated significantly less than the All Blacks did. I know there will be questions asked about Berry’s officiating, especially as he is a former Wallaby scrum half himself but I thought he got pretty much everything right, ably supported by the others in white. Their first try was well worked and their final try was a reward for their commitment, and of course that thunderous last minute tackle by the dump truck aka Koroibete.

The All Blacks were unlucky with the odd pass that went forward and when you think of the players left out this defeat will be shrugged off as a learning exercise. Beauden Barrett has lost a little of his pizzazz and Sam Cane is no Richie McCaw.

Shame to see 100 cap James Slipper going off injured on his momentous day but I am sure that will be offset by the fact his side won.

By the way it was very remiss of me not to mention Cian Healey reaching the 100 cap mark last week in Paris. Another amazing achievement.

Can’t bring you any comment on the Dragons v Connacht as thanks to Covid there is nothing to comment on.

Couple of other things of note. The All Blacks brand is up for sale. The NZRFU like all the unions is strapped for cash so they are looking to sell their soul to the devil aka private equity.

Richard Wigglesworth is off to Leicester Tigers. Interesting move in some respects but with the plethora of international matches on the horizon and Ben Youngs still King Eddie’s first choice it is a shrewd move by the Tigers.

Anthony Watson will miss at least the opening game of the Autumn Internationals with injury.

We finally, or do we, have a result in the most divisive American election ever. Joe Biden ousts that Big Orange narcissistic megalomaniac out of The White House. It will be fascinating to see over the next few days whether he will go gracefully or the sheriffs will have to come and evict him. I am not one for gossipy intrigue but it will also be fascinating to see how long it is after he leaves office that Melania files for divorce.

I wish we could file for divorce from Matt Hancock and his dodgy scientists and their even more dodgy documents.

Back tomorrow with more of my upbeat and positive comment on rugby, life and the universe. In the meantime let us ............

Remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for us.

Friday 6th Nov: 10:00

It seems strange to be sitting here (present continuous tense according to Mrs Bleater) rather than being at Steel Cross with The Friday Club. It might sound bizarre but I have got to enjoy my Friday morning litter collection. One point however. It is not my place to tell anyone what to do, I can only share my opinion no matter how much that grates, but if you drink Red Bull.......... don’t. From the road over 60% of all cans we collect are Red Bull and that accounts for about 40% of the total rubbish collected (I am getting Chris the Doom Brother to make me a chart to explain it better!). This avaricious company has a total disregard for the environment and the only way they will wake up to their responsibilities will be when people stop buying their chemical laden drink.

I have had yesterday’s homework marked and got a B+. I was advised that I should have used “gilt” with “edged” and not “guilt”. Actually I was right as some of these politicians are earning guilt edged salaries because it is a crime they are being paid for their incompetence. I’ll leave that one hanging there if I may.

Not much rugby to get enthusiastic about. Bledisloe IV to look forward to tomorrow morning. As the cup has been won already both sides have rung the changes. It is clear that Ian Foster is resting players ahead of the truncated Rugby Championship whilst Dave Rennie is experimenting with players who might form the back bone of his side as they head to France 2023. It should be a good game IF the players who have been given their opportunity don’t get stage fright. All three Barrett boys start for the All Blacks with Beauden at 10 instead of Richie Mo’Unga. There is plenty of experience in the Aussie side but I’ll be watching out for Jordan Petaia the big centre who Michael Cheika threw into the mix in Japan during the World Cup.

Pro 14 spans tomorrow, Sunday and Monday. The pick of the games are Dragons v Connacht (not really but I always have to mention the Dragons), Ospreys v Leinster and Edinburgh v Cardiff. That is not quite true because the game of the weekend, even though they are weakened teams will be Ulster v Glasgow. Not sure which game S4C will be showing live but if you are desperate for rugby then it’ll be in the TV listings somewhere.

Much talk about the Six Nations moving from the spring to the autumn. That would be a real problem in terms of fixture congestion but why would the unions bother without crowds. As we saw last weekend much of the rugby was pretty turgid stuff and as we know the Six Nations is very much around the occasion as much as the game. Without fans at the stadium even if you are one watching from the comfort of your living room (other rooms are available) the occasion is non existent.

Many of the papers cover the closure of the Leicester Tigers training ground due to positive Covid tests. I really don’t know what else to say other than this is complete and utter nonsense.

The papers are also, because of the paucity of anything else to write about, commenting on Johnny Sexton’s reaction when he got the shepherd’s crook late on in the game against France. He is a grumpy git at the best of times but you want your players to want to play and therefore be agitated when they get dragged off. This is a classic non-story.

The Welsh regions have agreed how to split the £20m loan sourced by the WRU.

What is a story is Leicester City. Hammering Leeds United on Monday, thrashing Braga last night and sitting nicely in 2nd in the Premier League. They play Wolves on Sunday and could, but now I’ve mentioned it they won’t, go top.

We still don’t have a new President but we do still have a soap opera worthy of BBC4. The Big Orange sleaze bag is acting like a tin pot dictator of some banana republic. It truly beggars belief but sadly is a sign of how democracy and common sense and therefore common decency is being eroded and worse being played out on whatever media platform you choose every minute of every day.

I read with interest about the protest in London last night. I was dismayed to see important points are being hijacked by anarchists and full-time morons. The counter arguments for the lockdown, how the virus is being managed down to simple things like wearing masks are powerful ones and are being censored by the media and ignored by politicians. They will not get through if the protests become violent. This is so frustrating.

I am struggling to defend the action of the students in Manchester who tore down the metal fencing put up to imprison them during lockdown but I will. It is another example of how democracy is being eroded and our civil liberties are slowly being removed by jumped up powered crazed autocrats who have no idea about real life and have been brainwashed.

I was going to leave it there but as I type my daughter is on FaceTime with Mrs Bleater talking about my grandchildren. My grandchildren cannot understand why they cannot go to cubs and rainbows and gym and mini rugby WITH the SAME children that they were in school with just a few hours before. It is absolutely madness and if 6 and 8 year olds can see that why can’t those morons who sit on those green leather seats see it!!!!!!!!

Thursday 5th Nov: 09:30

Sorry folks but there is only one place to start this morning and that is with lockdown. A totally unnecessary and according to thousands of eminent scientists and those in the medical profession a totally counterproductive lockdown.

In addition, as today’s photo depicts, winter is coming. Based on the frost this morning one could argue winter is here already. I also thank my friend Colin for reminding me that now lockdown has started “Dominic Cummings - The UK Tour II” dates have been released. The highlights are:-
Nov 7th - Barnard Castle
Nov 9th - Durham
Nov 11th - Ikea Croydon
Nov 18th - Specsavers, Tunbridge Wells
Nov 21st - Barnard Castle (The GSK Special)

As expected the vote for lockdown went in favour of Boris and the increasingly odious Matt Hancock. The MPs who stood against it spoke eloquently of their reasons why, likewise some of those who voted for like Nus Ganhi made it clear that they did so with a heavy heart but more importantly with many provisos on the future handling of the situation. Fair enough. Some who spoke in favour were equally eloquent but there were some who made statements that were, and let us not beat about the bush, completely false. They wouldn’t have been out of place if spouted by Kim Jong-un.

We are where we are so can I draw your attention to another excellent piece in The Guardian by Robert Kitson. It is well worth a read but I give you two snippets.
“Walk past any local rugby club this month and the first team pitch will be looking as pristine as it has ever done. Sadly it is the question ‘I wonder when they’re next going to play a competitive game on it?’, that is now most pertinent”.
Then in the article a quote from the great John Inverdale “The big concern is that people will just find other things to do with their lives. That is not a concern if you’re Bristol or Leicester but it is if you’re Blaydon, Dings Crusaders or Worthing [Crowborough fits here too]”

Bledisloe IV on Saturday and as there is no Friday Club I will review that tomorrow. It sounds as if both Dave Rennie and Ian Foster have made changes.

Bad news for Gregor Townsend as both Finn Russell and Adam Hastings are out of the Autumn matches.

South Africa have finally quashed any rumours about joining the 6 Nations as they have committed to the Rugby Championship for the next ten years. What the implications are for the (exploratory) talks with the Pro 14 I have no idea.

Plenty of player movement between clubs but that can wait. Benetton v Munster is off due to Covid (yawn) and there have been 17 cases amongst the Premiership clubs as testing is ramped up again ahead of the new season.

Sad news for Bath fans as Nathan Catt prematurely has to hang up his boots because of an unnamed injury. Real shame as he was a player that could have gone all the way.

Matt Ratana’s funeral yesterday. His murder still raw in the memory me thinks.

Sky have a piece written in a very positive way that I find wholly depressing. The Irish Government are talking about allowing some fans back into sporting venues. “Hoorah” you might shout until you hear not until February at the earliest.

Finally, and this comes as no surprise, it is alleged the PRL are looking to replace Darren Childs with a “big hitter”. Quite frankly based on what I’ve read even Dodo Harding could do a better job and she is useless with a capital “F”.

Before I go can I remind you that not everything you hear on the BBC is true. With regard to Covid I think there is much that needs to be challenged. A simple example: the main man at the NHS talked yesterday about worries over capacity. That might be true in 29 of the 219 English trusts but that means 190 trusts are absolutely fine, in fact according to the official NHS figures they are running at below normal levels. Equally if capacity in the North West is a problem then why has the Nightingale Hospital not been brought into use? The simple answer is whilst the storage depot hospital is full of empty beds it is short of staff to manage them. Yes I admit yesterday’s death rate is troubling but it is a long way from the 4,000 PER DAY the Doom Brothers predicted.

It is all fine and dandy for the MPs to sit there and pontificate, likewise it is for me to be honest, with their guilt edged salaries and end of salary pensions and their non-exec directorships (I don’t have one of those) when tens of thousands of people in the private sector are being thrown on the scrap heap without so much as a goodbye card.

Wednesday 4th Nov: 09:50

We know that common sense has left us, and being woke and a snowflake is the order of the day. Here in the UK I think it is fair to ask if truth and decency has has also flown the nest, especially from the nests of our politicians. There are serious questions being asked about whether democracy is under serious threat, not just here in the UK over the Covid-19 situation but right now it is under serious attack from the Big Orange in the USA. It is extra-ordinary that Donald Trump can declare himself President way before all the votes are counted. Forgive me for thinking that I am watching the election results from Iran, or North Korea, or China, or Belarus, or Russia. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Moving on as this will run for many days to come. What else will run for months to come is the prospect of Premiership Rugby having to pay back millions of pounds as a rebate to BT Sport. BT Sport have honoured their contract for 2019/20 in full despite no crowds, the added costs of coverage and the fact they showed every game live. The discussion around no relegation, allowing Saracens back if the Championship doesn’t start and allowing Ealing Trailfinders into the tournament on the basis of being able to buy their way in changes substantially the contract according to BT insiders talking to the Daily Fail. This means BT Sport would be entitled to a significant rebate for the 2020/21 season as the lack of relegation in particular makes the Premiership offering less attractive.

For the record I am in essence in favour of a ring-fenced Premiership, especially as the Championship is now in part amateur. Without question ring-fencing is contentious but right now if there was ever a time to consider it, it is now. Many will disagree but isn’t that what democracy is all about.

You know how I feel about the lockdown and why I feel that way. In essence we are being led up the garden path into a cul-de-sac to a place where our politicians have no idea how to reverse out of! What sickens me is the fact that it is young, healthy children who are being made to pay for the, I was going to use the word “lies” but thought better of it so will use the phrase “dubious use of statistics” by so called scientists and those paid to defend our civil liberties. Up and down this great country of ours millions of parents and grandparents are delighted with the way grassroots rugby has embraced all the guidelines to allow our young kids to play our great game in safe and welcoming surroundings. Young people in years to come will be forced to pay for the madness. To have junior rugby (and soccer) taken away from them on a whim is a disgrace. We talk about about kids and obesity and behaviour problems and their increasingly poor social skills yet the one place these can be rectified is at well run rugby clubs (and football clubs). It makes no sense. It is yet another example of how far out of touch these people who we elect to REPRESENT US are.

All my grandchildren enjoy the outdoors and I am sure my kids will ensure they don’t vegetate outside the times when they are in school. Sadly there will be others who would at least once a week get fresh air and exercise will now find themselves in front of a screen with their hand hovering over a bag of fatty, salty and very unhealthy snacks.

That’ll do for now as I am going to have a coffee before going to the club to see the Friday Club boys who as I type are readying the club for another month of (TOTALLY unnecessary) inactivity.

Back tomorrow with more ranting and a discussion on today’s vote in parliament. I really don’t care whether you like this or not. You can vote with your feet and not read but please for a while give me the benefit of doubt and at least consider the cure is significantly worse then the virus and the current actions of many of our politicians and those supposedly in positions of trust are destroying the economy and worse could be destroying democracy for a very long time to come.

Tuesday 3rd Nov: 08:20

Granddaughter day today so an early start. Not much new rugby news but enough to be getting on with.

It will come as no surprise that Ulster beat Cardiff, albeit narrowly, Zebre scored their first win of the season beating a depleted Ospreys and Leinster came home from Glasgow with another win. Equally it will be no surprise that Leinster and Munster top each of the two conferences with the two Italian sides bottom.

As expected Wayne Pivac is under the microscope after the five match losing start to his tenure as Welsh coach. What needs to be done? In my opinion do what the French are doing which is be brave with selection and blood the youngsters, stop trying to out muscle those with bigger muscles and be way more creative in your attack play. All of that has to be against a backdrop of maintaining possession rather than simply kicking it away and hoping for a mistake by the opposition.

Lots in the papers about England’s confidence going into the Autumn games. It should be high as long as it is not misplaced. They beat Italy but they didn’t do so in the way that the All Blacks demolished Australia. It is that level of perfection and ruthlessness that England, again in my opinion, are quite a long way from.

Quietly Gregor Townsend is moulding his mix of the occasional star e.g. Hogg and Russell and otherwise okay rugby players into a formidable team. The sum of the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts.

Ireland are Ireland and can France maintain their momentum? I think the French will but I fear the Irish might need drastic action to avoid the greasy pole Wales are on.

The most interesting story of the day is in the Daily Fail where they hint discussions are already underway to allow Saracens back into the Premiership without a ball being kicked in the Championship and for Ealing Trailfinders to buy their way onto the top table as the 14th side. There is merit in having 14 teams in the league as ring-fencing then becomes a reality, and if as suggested Ealing become a shareholder it makes closing off the Premiership to others more plausible. Why would the Championship not go ahead? Simply because half of the teams are amateur so players have day jobs that come first. This makes the sort of isolation/bubbles that the Premiership were able to achieve virtually impossible. In addition with zero possibility of games being played before January the same non professional outfits would be keen to scrap this season altogether and start afresh next September. That makes a lot of sense as without fans costs would be greater than revenue. Either way it is a mess which should not exist: fit, healthy, young people should be playing competitive rugby.

Money continues to dominate the thinking of those at the top of our game. The IRFU have received £16.2m from their government to help them through this mess. World Rugby are already looking ahead to 2027 when god willing I will still be on this mortal coil and therefore able to watch a Rugby World Cup in the USA. For the record I think a World Cup in the USA would be............. okay but would it really inspire the locals. A World Cup in Australia would be amazing.

Right that will do for now except to say Friday Club has been brought forward to tomorrow so depending on how my back is, yes I have hurt my back, there might not be a blog tomorrow.

Before I go can I again thank those of you who have contacted me with your “vote of approval”. Covid-19 is something we cannot ignore BUT there has to be a better way than the path we are on at the moment. Our civil liberties are being eroded, democracy as we know it is non-existent as the government uses the emergency powers it granted itself to excess. Lockdown is unnecessary and all it will achieve is to “kick the can down the road”. Protecting the vulnerable has to be the priority but sitting alongside that is the ability for everyone else to get on and live their lives normally. These actions are saving a few elderly and already sick folks in the short term but condemning to death many more in the long term with untold misery from mental health and economic depression. PLEASE take some time to read the many alternative views than those put forward by the government and promoted by the British media.

Monday 2nd Nov: 09:30

Firstly thank you for the texts and e:mails of support. It is much appreciated.

The news we all knew was coming broke last week. All English league rugby except the Premiership and the Championship is cancelled. I expect rugby will not be allowed to return as a full contact sport until September. If it can before then obviously it won’t be in a league format but that strangely in these times would be no bad thing.

So to the weekend’s internationals. The game at the Parc y Scarlets was awful and the Welsh woeful. Scotland didn’t play amazing rugby to beat a good Welsh side. They did what they had to to overcome a pretty lacklustre and unimaginative Welsh XV. Stuart Hogg, Ali Price and the Scottish back row were the architects of Scotland’s win. When Wayne Pivac arrived it was with a free flowing Scarlets on his CV. What we have in Wales is a side with no back line flair and an obsession with kicking the ball aimlessly away. The forwards looked as if this was a training run trying to avoid injury rather than a full on 6 Nations test. Taulupe Falatau was anonymous and outside the brilliant Alun Wyn Jones the others lacked, lacked I’m not sure what but their contribution was lacking. Dan Biggar needs to have some time off, with Callum Sheedy given a chance. Louis Rees-Zammit should be given a chance even if that is at the expense of Leigh Halfpenny. How how we need Josh Navidi and Justin Tipuric back. Well done Scotland, much the better side and deserved winners.

Then came England. They did what they had to do and ultimately lifted the trophy. What that masked was a pretty ordinary performance in the first half and although better in the second still way below where I suggest the All Blacks and France are. A big round of applause for Ben Youngs not only on his 100th cap but the way he played. He was a bright light in an otherwise dim showing. King Eddie is currently blessed with a deep and skilful squad with players being noticed on the world stage like Tom Curry and Sam Underhill. He continues however to play a very conservative, and if I may steal Sir Knowitall’s phrase “a sterile” form of rugby. If England are to get to that number one spot in the world, and even in these desperate times they still have the resources available to them to do that, they must start to emulate the All Blacks and now France. They need to play what is in front of them and regardless of the number on the shirt be able to string passes together and focus on avoiding contact rather than that be the first objective. Winning trophies is important but I personally feel that if England are to once and for all break out of the perennial underachievers bracket on the world stage they have to alter their game plan.

Then came France and Ireland. France young, and exciting and imaginative vs Ireland who are looking old and predictable and unable to finish things off when the opportunity presents itself. Ireland created enough chances to win this game but their poor handling and the much improved French defence let them down. France on the other hand with Dupont and Ntmack lighting up the pitch took every chance they had. This was the best game of the three. I think Andy Farrell like Wayne Pivac has some tough choices ahead of him, especially with regard to Johnny Sexton, but at least he has some ball handlers across the field which sadly Wales seem to lack.

Overall there were glimpses of rugby to savour such as the French half backs and the Robbie Henshaw try but otherwise this was pretty unappetising fare. Can I be so bold as to suggest you go online and read the excellent Robert Kitson’s article in The Guardian about this weeks encounters. Not only does he hit the nail firmly on the head about the absence of supporters he is spot on about the paucity of flair and therefore lack of entertainment. Like him I cannot see anyone who watched Wales v Scotland as a first experience of top flight rugby ever bothering again. The article is well worth the time.

It really will be interesting to see what happens this month when the Nations cup gets underway. I fear for Wales. Can France maintain their fine form? Will England experiment? Can Ireland bounce back? Will Scotland maintain their progress?

As expected New Zealand took Australia apart in Sydney. This was not the greatest of Bledisloe games but there was enough to keep the neutral watching. The All Blacks were back to their clinical best with the Wallabies often being the architects of their own downfall; crucial passes going astray and straight forward tackles missed. I thought Jordan Barrett outshone brother Beauden but was lucky to get away with just a yellow card for that forearm smash early in the first half. Richie Mo’unga was clearly man of the match. By the way wasn’t it great to see fans in the stadium!!!!!!

The Welsh misery continued with Dragons losing to Munster and Scarlets losing to Edinburgh. Can Cardiff Blues recover some pride when they host Ulster and Ospreys come back from Zebre. Both games are tonight.

Back tomorrow with who knows what? Yes I will try and sound a little more upbeat and looking at the