Good morning on this very crisp November day. A beautiful way to start the day, that is until you remember that later today you are likely to be significantly poorer, unless of course you are on benefits. More on this shortly.

It was with great sadness that I read of the passing of Mike ‘Spike’ Watkins former Wales, Cardiff and Newport legend. He first came to the notice of those in the know playing for Crumlin RFC in the Gwent valley. My old club. He captained all three sides with both my brothers playing at Newport alongside him over several seasons. I played in two charity games with him at Crumlin, realising he was probably one of the dirtiest players I have played alongside, or against. One of the great characters of the game. He will be sadly missed. Rest in peace, and our thoughts are with your family and friends.

Staying in Wales the game that nobody wants, except the WRU, is turning to farce. As mentioned yesterday Wales are without 13 front line players. It turns out, for the same reason, club demands, Rassie Erasmus will only have 25 fit players at his disposal. Money, money, money. Even a half full Principality Stadium with heavily discounted tickets will generate millions for the beleaguered WRU. Yes, of course I will record and watch on my return from Gillingham. Gillingham Anchorians being the challenge that lies ahead for the boys from Steel Cross this weekend. Team announcement later today.

Steve Borthwick might be sat at the breakfast table this morning scratching his head. The RFU have announced turnover at a ten year high, and a much reduced loss, just £2m. This is a dramatic turnaround from previous seasons when losses were significant. So with the results going very much in the right direction, and the finances quite clearly recovering, Borthwick will be asking why are the men at the top saying there are no plans to extend his contract beyond 2027 World Cup. There is still plenty of time for things to go pear-shaped, so I agree, it is too early to start thinking about that. That said, if England head the Six Nations for the next two seasons, and continue this excellent winning run, and perform at the World Cup it would be madness not to extend Mr Spreadsheet’s contract.

The debate about the complexity of the game and the officiating at the top rages on. Actually it is a topic for discussion rather than the hottest of hot potatoes. The dilemma is the incidents causing the debate are relatively few, and in a society where the tail now wags the dog, and turning the smallest of molehills into a mountain has become an art form, it was going to happen. I think overall the Autumn International Series has been a success. Some cracking games, great entertainment, and packed stadia to boot. The one major downside comes as a result of you needing access to TNT Sports to be able to watch from the comfort of your armchair.

Moving on to politics for a moment. David Lammy, another pretty hapless politician, has announced that trial by jury will be removed from all cases except the most serious. The luvvies are up in arms, mainly because it might limit the gravy they earn from that particular gravy train. It is unacceptable that victims, and to be fair miscreants, have to wait often years for justice, or punishment. Why do I mention this. Simply because I see how rugby deals with all cases of breaches of the regulations. At the top of the game there is a three person panel, often led by a judge, or barrister. The panel will look at the evidence put forward and make a decision on the fate of the person before them. It works exactly the same at grassroots level with a suitably experienced three person panel. Decisions are made quickly and people serve their bans. Now I know UK law is way more complicated but I can’t see a reason why this type of approach couldn’t work. As an aside my sister and brother-in-law both work for the CPS and on a regular basis see slam-dunk guilty miscreants walk free due to the vagaries of juries. At last a Government proposal I can buy into.

Back to rugby. A full program of games in the Premiership this weekend, as there are in the United Reform Church. Saracens v Bath is probably the pick of the weekend, but Bristol v Saints looks tasty. A full grassroots schedule of games lies ahead. We are at Gillingham Anchs as I have mentioned.

That’ll do for today as I need to lower my blood pressure ahead of The Hood’s budget statement. I fear those who have worked hard, paid their taxes and put a little aside for the future will get clobbered. As will the average hardworking, tax paying family living in a nice home up and down the land. If you are bone idle, living on benefits, with a huge family, likely to be destined to follow in the family tradition of scrounging off the state. It could be your lucky day. A windfall of many thousands could be heading in your direction. It is a travesty. It is madness, and all to appease the useless politicians who are more concerned about losing their jobs than the countries health and wealth.

Oh, one more thing on a brighter note. Do have a look at the articles about women’s rugby at Steel Cross on this here website. A real success story.

Tuesday 25th Nov: 09:20

Tom Curry is currently the pantomime villain post the clash with Argentina. Juan Cruz Mallia has suffered a torn ACL following Curry’s allegedly late tackle. The Daily Fail calls it controversial. It is the alleged bust up in the tunnel that is causing the most angst however. Plenty of acrimonious accusations flying around. Let’s see how this one develops.

Dan Biggar writing in the same rag has suggested that England fans are getting way too far ahead of themselves with talk of Grand Slams and World Cup victory in 2027. Will Greenwood in The Torygraph suggest otherwise. ‘England have to be Six Nations favourites now’. Perhaps!! England have beaten Fiji, the worst Australian side for a long time, a New Zealand team on the wane, and a tiring (after a very long season) Argentinian team. What they haven’t done this autumn is beaten South Africa or France or Ireland. Maybe Biggar is right, but I feel England are on a roll and will start as deserved Six Nations favourites.

Also in The Torygraph Brian Moore eulogises about how England have created depth, I told you so, and what Borthwick must do next. It is a good piece highlighting there is plenty to work on.

One thing is consistent across the papers and that is the game has to look at the officiating. The Ireland v South Africa game ran for over 2 hours thanks to stoppage after stoppage, a lot of which related to the officials pontificating. You also have the issue of consistency, or lack of it. The 20 minute red card and the bunker has allowed the man, or woman with the whistle, and by the way Hollie Davidson was very good in Cardiff, to be able to bottle the key decisions, or in the case of Franco Mostert get it wrong. It is more puzzling than trying to understand the vagaries of BBC’s Only Connect. The BBC and The Torygraph lead the charge on this. One recommendation, and I agree, is to get rid of the bunker. Overall I thought the refereeing was pretty good. What let it down was when it came to the big decisions, they weren’t always right, and the decision itself took forever to arrive at.

The question on some people’s lips is: why are Wales playing South Africa now the international window has closed. The answer is easy: money. With 13 of Wales best players heading over the Severn Bridge to England or France the fixture makes little sense. Steve Tandy has drafted in four new players to bolster his now meagre squad. The loss to New Zealand, whilst still a loss, included some positives. Four tries for instance. The dilemma now however is a big, embarrassing defeat to the best team in the world could set the game back even further.

Despite Scotland’s very comfortable win over Tonga, Gregor Townsend is not out of the woods. The vultures are circling with headlines like ‘ Scot’s eight try haul proves nothing in grand scheme of things’. To be fair, of late, Scotland have punched way above their weight. Another small nation with just two top flight teams almost beating the All Blacks.

Australian rugby is in a tailspin ahead of the World Cup in 2027. A series loss to The Lions and a woeful autumn tour has those down under in a state of panic. The Australians wouldn’t want to see their side not make the knockout stage of the tournament in the same way England crashed out in 2015.

Just thought I’d mention Sussex 3, the league our 2s are in. Currently Hove II top the table alongside Burgess Hill. Both are 5 wins from 5 games. We are 6th in this ten team league.

Ok, that’s about it for the rugby. What a bizarre incident during the Manchester United v Everton fixture last evening. An Everton player sent off for fighting with, yes you guessed it, a teammate. I have to say it was a pretty poor slap. Mrs Bleater packs a meatier punch than that.

Then you have the two McLarens being disqualified at the end of the Las Vegas Grand Prix. That has thrown a spanner into the title race. Seeing the bright lights of Vegas, I can’t think of a worst place to visit.

Then we have the countdown to Armageddon, yes I’m talking about the budget. As far as The Hood is concerned, none of the current economic issues the country faces is her fault. She is now saying the criticism from her own party is sexism. Do me a favour.

On that note I’m off. Lots to do today.