RugbyRebels

Off work sick today and it's a perfect thing to sit and watch under a duvet. Mike Ford's Bath, off the back of putting 50 points on Leicester in the semis, versus Saracens featuring Wyles, Strettle, Burger and Barritt.

Fun to see [Redacted] playing 6. Quite apart from the reminder of how he got that nickname from his being crowbarred into commentary and into every close-up camera shot between phases of play, he was a very useful back row and probably could've gone on to become a great one had he not turned yellow the minute things got tough for him. His exit was probably the main thing that took Bath from being Prem finalists to "should be relegated" over the space of 7 seasons - let them lose Devoto and Fearns to the cost of keeping him happy, let them sink a chunk of salary cap into him, before fucking off a few games into the season and leaving them with a massive hole in the squad and a dressing room issue. Mike Ford lost the confidence of the side and then his job, the money was spent on available make-weights, and we all know how Stuart Hooper's appointment went.

On the bright side, who misses that "Stand up for the Saracens" song that was played every time they scored? Nobody? Me too.

Puja

This young 6 Itoje looks all right. Not sure about them shoving him forward into the second row though - does he even play there?

I miss Eastmond. Missed opportunity for England.

Puja

Eastmonds 2 games against the ABs were two of the best 12 performances an England midfield has seen for a while in my mind. Think he started losing his head a bit much towards the end though.

Absolute crime that any England XV was named without Joseph at 13 in that year. He was just in such good form.

[Redacted] is having very vocal opinions to Wayne Barnes about a scrum collapse. Amusing.

Puja

Odd seeing how players have grown. Ford is a very different player in 2015 - far more error-strewn and less control of his backline. Itoje as well - you can see the bones of the player he'll become, but the interventions are far rarer. Wayne Barnes as a referee as well is nowhere near as good as his 2022 version.

Nick Auterac hasn't notably improved, mind.

Puja

That Bath backline was, in my biased opinion, one of the most exciting to grace the Prem. The Ford/Eastmond/Joseph midfield axis was glorious, and the Banahan/Rokoduguni/Watson back three not shabby either. Ojomoh reminds me a lot of Eastmond in that he is excellent at making metres in crowded midfields through footwork and acceleration as opposed to brute strength - there's more than one way to be effective. Kyle should've had many more caps at 12 IMO; really unique skill set and an unrivaled range of passing. Eastmond/Tuilagi is possibly the great lost centre partnership of recent times for England.

And by the end of that season Burgess was starting to play brilliantly: thunderous on the carry and in the tackle, hit rucks like a bull elephant in heat. He just didn't have enough time to make the WC as a back row though, even if I feel Ford was correct in identifying it as his best position, but it was difficult to commit to him at 12 as the aforementioned Eastmond was so good there. I suspect had he landed at a different club to Bath, he might well have stuck around a lot longer.

Puja wrote:Absolute crime that any England XV was named without Joseph at 13 in that year. He was just in such good form.

[Redacted] is having very vocal opinions to Wayne Barnes about a scrum collapse. Amusing.

Puja

Joseph's basketball feint against Wales in the 6N that year that mugged off even the man who was tackling him at the time *chef's kiss*

SDHoneymonster wrote:

Puja wrote:Absolute crime that any England XV was named without Joseph at 13 in that year. He was just in such good form.

[Redacted] is having very vocal opinions to Wayne Barnes about a scrum collapse. Amusing.

Puja

Joseph's basketball feint against Wales in the 6N that year that mugged off even the man who was tackling him at the time *chef's kiss*

Spot on. I can still see that crystal clear in my mind's eye

Danno wrote:

SDHoneymonster wrote:

Puja wrote:Absolute crime that any England XV was named without Joseph at 13 in that year. He was just in such good form.

[Redacted] is having very vocal opinions to Wayne Barnes about a scrum collapse. Amusing.

Puja

Joseph's basketball feint against Wales in the 6N that year that mugged off even the man who was tackling him at the time *chef's kiss*

Spot on. I can still see that crystal clear in my mind's eye

A gif/clip of this is required.

I might go back and watch that. Be interesting to see if my memory of it is true to life.

I seem to remember the best attack in the land being smashed by the best defence.

Eastmond could have been a very good 12 for England but his tackling technique was awful. For a little bloke he made too many head shots.

[Redacted] and his England Vs Bath performances could accommodate their own thread quite easily. Puja, don't forget that Blackadder came in and made a complete balls up of the Bath job before Hooper carried on the farce for two more years.

Mellsblue wrote:

Danno wrote:

SDHoneymonster wrote:
Joseph's basketball feint against Wales in the 6N that year that mugged off even the man who was tackling him at the time *chef's kiss*

Spot on. I can still see that crystal clear in my mind's eye

A gif/clip of this is required.

Enjoy! My browser won't cooperate with the embed function (sorry)



Oh. Guess it will. Absolutely mugs off Biggar, North and Webb, you love to see it.

ETA Halfpenny gets diddled as well. Hahaha. That really is a beaut.

Cheers

Danno wrote:

There's loads of them - 2017 final is on now and 2018's on later. Presumably they'll play them on rotation in the run up to this year's game.

Puja

The 2019 final (assuming that’s Sarries v Exe with Sarries pinching it at the end) is the best match I’ve ever been to.

The prem final has actually produced some reallly good games over the years.

I'm biased as hell of course, but 2021 will be a future vintage classic. Should be a double header with the Bristol Semi for maximum entertainment.

Danno wrote:I'm biased as hell of course, but 2021 will be a future vintage classic. Should be a double header with the Bristol Semi for maximum entertainment.

Oh absolutely. I think it might even be the best one I've seen.

Puja

Puja wrote:

Danno wrote:I'm biased as hell of course, but 2021 will be a future vintage classic. Should be a double header with the Bristol Semi for maximum entertainment.

Oh absolutely. I think it might even be the best one I've seen.

Puja

Quiet you, I'll not accept your judgment while you're off sick

Danno wrote:

Puja wrote:

Danno wrote:I'm biased as hell of course, but 2021 will be a future vintage classic. Should be a double header with the Bristol Semi for maximum entertainment.

Oh absolutely. I think it might even be the best one I've seen.

Puja

Quiet you, I'll not accept your judgment while you're off sick

Some might argue he makes better points when on the meds.
2021 was a classic. I was at Bedford Athletic RFC to watch both that and the Lions match. One had the viewers talking amongst themselves whilst the other had them jumping up and down.

Mellsblue wrote:

Danno wrote:

Puja wrote:
Oh absolutely. I think it might even be the best one I've seen.

Puja

Quiet you, I'll not accept your judgment while you're off sick

Some might argue he makes better points when on the meds.
2021 was a classic. I was at Bedford Athletic RFC to watch both that and the Lions match. One had the viewers talking amongst themselves whilst the other had them jumping up and down.

The playoff and the final with Quins from last season were fantastic. The final was a definite classic, real ding dong game. Could have gone either way, I think all the neutrals were hoping for extra time (I was).

From a being there and entirely bias point of view my favourite was Tigers Vs Sarries with Hipkiss snatching the late try from the kick off. That was a good game as well, before Sarries entered their phase of kicking the leather off the ball every time they got it outside the opposition 22.