Rival Angels

[Prestwick]

For Albone who asked elsewhere, highlights from the Six Nations game between England & France (or, Le Crunch)

Also, some of the best tries from last week's Super 14 action from down under.

And finally, why I like rugby!

God, if only they could teach some of the guys in American football how to offload the ball in the tackle then you'd have touchdowns all over the place...

I'll post some more highlights later.

[albone]

Rugby is mad cool. It just so happens that Sabrina was a Lady Rugger for Penn State.

Looking forward to more! Moar!

[Prestwick]

Because Sabrina is quite tall, fast and agile I'd probably put her at Full Back. There as an extra attacking option, and the assured platform of defence so she'd have to make that last ditch tackle and be safe under the high ball (i.e. not be afraid to jump and catch the ball knowing you're probably going to be knocked out of the air)

Anyway, Six Nations has ended with an Irish Grand Slam (i.e. Ireland were able to win all of their games). This is basically the top prize, winning the championship is nothing without a clean sheet, the Pats should know go ask them when they've finished removing the bees from their behinds

But here are the tries of the tournament.

Specific tries to look at is number three (Leigh Halfpenny for Wales) and Riki Flutey's second try. If you need an example of why American Football NEEDS OFFLOADS then look no further. Shane William's flick to Leigh Halfpenny is as Johnathan Davies says in the film "the money ball"

[albone]

Full Back, eh? I'll definitely keep that in mind as well as any other questions I may have when going back to Sabrina's collegiate career.

The youtube clip is awesome! Especially 1:20. Max Evans looked kick ass too. So was Flutey.

[Prestwick]

Yeah Shane Williams (the guy who did the offload) got Player of the year in 2008 which basically as close to MVP as you'll ever get in rugby. He's small and aged 33 but absolutely insanely fast. 2007's player of the year was South Africa's Bryan Habana.

My favourite winger of all time though? Jason Robinson. Quite possibly the most successful Rugby player of both codes. He started out for Rugby League side Wigan Warriors and won with them and for Great Britain before switching to Rugby Union and Manchester based club club Sale before instantly being picked for England and then the British & Irish Lions for the tour to Australia where he produced this peach of a try. His finest hour though came in the final of the Rugby World Cup in 2003. The game ended with a real Superbowl moment which won it for England

The British & Irish lions is a legendary team which only comes along once every four to six years. Basically it is the best of the UK & Ireland that the selectors can find who go on a month long tour of either Argentina, Australia, New Zealand or South Africa. This year they're going to South Africa who are World Cup champions and this tour the Lions may well be stacked out with Irish and Welsh backed up by a few Englishmen and Scots. Gonna be a great month of June.

[BrendaRua]

I never did understand rugby. But that club used to meet at the same bar, same time, as the sail club and wrestling club. They had great songs and could drink most of us under the table too.

Roll me over, in the clover |
Lay me down, roll me over |
And do it again!

LoL

[Prestwick]

Beer, song and the occassional silly crossdressing games are integral parts of Rugby and long may they remain! What can I say, Brenda? You experienced something special there!

This week I'm posting a few fun clips!

First of all, a weekly challenge that goes out "The Rugby Club" on Sky Sports: Scott Quinnel's Cross Bar challenge. This week, Scott takes on the pride of North London (and my favourite club) Saracens! In the end, two players manage to get the ball over the cross bar and between the uprights from the 40 meter mark. Something which comes pretty easy to one who plays American Football but not to one who ususally passes the ball a mighty meter and a half to the next guy

In the end, American Full Back Chris Wyles (known as "Wyld' Thing!" by the Sarries faithful) and Fijian winger Kameli Ratuvou got it over the bar!

Next we have Rugby props doing what they love to do best: fight. Here England props Julian White (Leicester Tigers) and Andy Sheridan (Sale Sharks) get into a bit of handbags after mixing it up in the scrum. Whats happening is that the scrum is that two masses of bodies shoving against each other. The ball is put underneath and they've got to compete for it by trying to push the other off the ball. In the front row you've got everything happening in there, trash talk, biting, punching and even licking and kissing anything to unnerve the opponent. England and Bristol Hooker, Mark Regan took especial pride in the fact that he was hated by opponents and fans alike on the pitch. A real heel if you've ever seen one

Anyway, Sheridan's obviously done something to upset White as he lays him out with a sharp punch to the jaw. Cracking stuff but White gets sent off for the deed.

Could be worse, you could be playing in France but then when you invite some of the hardest men in Argentina, Italy, Romania and Georgia to play in France...what does one expect?!

But its not all madness in the world of rugby and while (sadly) unlike in Gridiron the refs aren't mic'ed up to speakers (you have to pay £5/6 Euro/$8 for a radio which listens in to the ref) they do have a mic which is on all the way through the game which thus makes for one of the more interesting facets of Rugby as you can literally listen in to what the ref is saying at any point of the game. Here Referee Wayne Barnes pwns England hard men Martin Corry and Steve Borthwick.

In Rugby you listen to the ref or you'll be sitting out the rest of the game on the naughty step

[albone]

Dude, great clips! The fight clips are cool. I couldn't tell who the french were in the second fight clip. Are they the ones in purple? I've seen some calm refs but wow. He even got the other guys to be cool which would be unheard of in Basketball, football or baseball. The scrum does not seem like a fun place to be.

Would a full back be involved in the first line of a scrum?

[Prestwick]

The ones in Purple are Stade Francais and are based in Paris. They have all the snooty airs and arrogance of a team like the Yankees or the Pats but with none of the silverwear to back it up. The ones in red are Toulon and are from the deep south of France where working class men beat each other up for laughs.

There are better referees than Barnes and most just love to put the players in their place. Because millions can hear what they and the players near them are saying, swearing would result in a ban spanning weeks (if not months) for bringing the game into disrepute.

The Full Back would be well away from the scrum but it depends on whether their team has the ball or not. If it is an attacking scrum, she would be behind the scrum and the attacking line. Lets look at a diagram:



Now, red team is attacking and black team is defending. Both full-backs are denoted by the number 15.

The red team and the black team both have their full backs sitting well back but for differnet reasons. If you look at the red team, players 10 to 14 are stretched back as if line abreast with a gap between 13 and 14. This is so they can create a chance either through slick passing and fast running or by tricking the defending team by either kicking the ball through along the floor using a "grubber kick" or by missing out a player using a missed pass. All of these will use the full back as an extra attacking option.

On the defending side, the 15 is in a different situation, he has to watch for several things. Firstly that the scrum half (the red player marked 9) doesn't try and dart through and make a run and secondly he's praying that 300lbs worth of number eight comes at him after the scrum is over either because he's gotta take that guy down if he gets past the line.

Next, he's got to see what the red team are doing. Are they going to pass it out wide or keep it tight? Are they going to kick or are they going to drive? Where will the red team most likely get through and how? He's got to be ready for all of those situations.

And here is just such a situation. England full back Josh Lewsey wiping out South Africa's answer to Edge, the ultimate rugby opportunist: Jean de Villiers.

The situation is this, de Villiers intercepts an England pass and looks to be running away for the try. Lewsey is sitting back in that position the black 15 is in the diagram and he has to make a decision there and then to chase, what angle to go at de Villiers, how to usher the guy into touch.

In the end Lewsey times it perfectly and the tackle is just enough to get the South African into touch. No try. England go on to win.

[Prestwick]

Okay this week is a special week. A VERY SPECIAL WEEK INDEED.

Why? Its British & Irish Lions week!

The British & Irish Lions are a legendary force. They are the stable to end all stables. The team to end all teams. They have been touring far away lands since time immemorial and it is (rightly) billed as "the last great rugby adventure."

The Lions are basically the best players in the UK & Ireland picked and sent to tour for 12 to 15 matches down under. They only happen once every five to seven to ten years so to be picked to play is an enormous honour and privilege. Some people value a Lions jersey above even their own country's jersey. When people talk of Rugby greats like David Duckham, JPR Williams, Jason Robinson, Gavin Hastings and Martin Johnson, they when to mention first their heroics in the Lions...because everyone is a hero when they play for the Lions. This year they're touring South Africa.

So it seems fitting that in a world today where glitz, hype and glamour rules everything, the announcement of the 2009 Lions squad was done by a Lions great (Gerald Davies) very calmly as if he was a School headmaster announcing the under 15s summer trip. The proceeding video tells everyone exactly what they need to know. It is a sombre occasion because as they say: its one thing being selected for the Lions but an entirely different thing to play and win for them..

So here are a few videos! First of all a video of past Lions greats talking about the mystique of the Lions. And this is what the Lions magic brings with this specific beauty of a try, possibly the greatest in Lions history.

EDIT: you want to see what happens behind the scenes? Here is a classic clip from their 1997 tour to South Africa where they eventually won the Test Series 2-1 which is now part of Lions folklore. Here Lions coach and Rugby's answer to Vince Lombardi; Ian McGeechan, delivers a rousing speech to his team and later Lions and England legend Martin Johnson calmly has a wound stiched up before getting back into the fight. WARNING: NEITHER SAFE FOR WORK OR FOR THE SQUEAMISH. There is Blood and swearing.