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Does a Hawaiian rugby jersey make you look good or what?

 By Rupert McCall

 When the battle scars have faded
 And the truth becomes a lie
 And the weekend smell of liniment
 Could almost make you cry.

 When the last rucks well behind you
 And the man that ran now walks
 It doesn’t matter who you are
 The mirror sometimes talks

 Have a good hard look old son!
 The melons not that great
 The snoz that takes a sharp turn sideways
 Used to be dead straight

 You’re an advert for arthritis
 You’re a thoroughbred gone lame
 Then you ask yourself the question
 Why the hell you played the game?

 Was there logic in the head knocks?
 In the corks and in the cuts?
 Did common sense get pushed aside?
 By manliness and guts?

 Do you sometimes sit and wonder
 Why your time would often pass
 In a tangled mess of bodies
 With your head up someones arse?

 With a thumb hooked up your nostril
 Scratching gently on your brain
 And an overgrown Neanderthal
 Rejoicing in your pain!

 Mate — you must recall the jersey
 That was shredded into rags
 Then the soothing sting of Dettol
 On a back engraved with tags!

 It’s almost worth admitting
 Though with some degree of shame
 That your wife was right in asking
 Why the hell you played the game?

 Why you’d always rock home legless
 Like a cow on roller skates
 After drinking at the clubhouse
 With your low down drunken mates

 Then you’d wake up — check your wallet
 Not a solitary coin
 Drink Berocca by the bucket
 Throw an ice pack on your groin

 Copping Sunday morning sermons
 About boozers being losers
 While you limped like Quazimoto
 With a half a thousand bruises!

 Yes — an urge to hug the porcelain
 And curse sambuccas name
 Would always pose the question
 Why the hell you played the game!

 And yet with every wound re-opened
 As you grimly reminisce it
 Comes the most compelling feeling yet
 God, you bloody miss it!

 From the first time that you laced a boot
 And tightened every stud
 That virus known as rugby
 Has been living in your blood

 When you dreamt it when you played it
 All the rest took second fiddle
 Now you’re standing on the sideline
 But your hearts still in the middle

 And no matter where you travel
 You can take it as expected
 There will always be a breed of people
 Hopelessly infected

 If there’s a teammate, then you’ll find him
 Like a gravitating force
 With a common understanding
 And a beer or three, of course
 And as you stand there telling lies
 Like it was yesterday old friend
 You’ll know that if you had the chance
 You’d do it all again

 You see — that’s the thing with rugby
 It will always be the same
 And that, I guarantee
Is why the hell you played the game!!

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-world/2011/11/23/samoa-rugby-team-boss-fined-100-pigs-for-world-cup-shambles-115875-23581488/

Remember, enjoy our latest fun coupon. PIGGYPIC saves you lots on your order!!

Peter de Villiers was in form at South Africa’s media conference on Monday morning, warning anyone who would listen that South Africa would get stronger as rugby in the tournament became less expansive.

The South Africa coach’s message was that as teams became concerned at the inconsistency of referees, especially at the breakdown, they would be less prepared to take risks and take refuge in kicking the ball down field. “It used to be that you only had to analyse opponents,” he said. “Now you have to do research on referees.”

Referees were one of the issues of the opening weekend. Media staff were besieged by telephone calls on Monday morning from journalists, almost all from New Zealand outlets, demanding to know what action would be taken against Wayne Barnes for not referring a James Hook penalty, which Wales thought had gone through the posts, to the television match official.

Barnes has not been forgiven here for the way he controlled New Zealand’s quarter-final against France in Cardiff four years ago. Oh No Wayne, You’ve Done It Again said one headline in a Wellington newspaper.

Barnes and his touch judges ruled that the kick had missed and did not feel the need to go upstairs, which was their right. There was, though, doubt and if he felt the need for Francois Steyn’s opening try to be confirmed, why not Hook’s kick?

The initial, erroneous message from organisers on Sunday night was that the television match official did not have the authority to rule on kicks, but that was rectified within 12 hours and all officials will be reminded this week that if they are unsure whether a kick is good, the referee should call on the television match official.

The Hook kick was, in one sense, a side-issue. There were deeper concerns about officiating in the opening games. Before the start of the tournament, the International Rugby Board’s director of referees, Paddy O’Brien, told referees and coaches there were five key areas where consistency of application would be demanded.

The third involved mauling. “The ball-carrier in a maul,” said O’Brien, “must be available to be tackled by the defending team.” So when England, trailing by six points, kicked a penalty to touch and then drove the lineout, why was Dylan Hartley allowed to carry the ball behind the rest of his forwards?

There was no way an Argentina defender could get to him within the laws. The referee Bryce Lawrence had penalised England for doing something similar in the first half, so why not when the game was at a crucial stage? England were allowed to go on and set up the base from which Ben Youngs scored the try that gave the 2007 beaten finalists a lead they were not to lose.

What is the point of issuing directives if they are ignored at key moments? And why is it that underdogs tend to be the victims? Upsets were threatened over the weekend, but not one materialised.

Some underdogs blew up but others were blown up. Argentina conceded seven penalties in the final quarter of their game against England and were awarded none. Wales were liberally supplied with penalties in the opening hour of their game against South Africa, but only one in the final 20 minutes of a game that ended when Mike Phillips was scragged as he went to pick up the ball from a ruck and the Springboks helped themselves.

Upsets help make a tournament, but they will remain rare in World Cups until laws and directives are applied equally to all. Argentina defeated France in the 2007 opener not least because the referee Tony Spreadbury did not buckle to pressure and spray the hosts with penalties in the final 10 minutes. And what happened to him for the rest of the tournament?

Credit to South Africa and England for, yet again, having the mental strength to get themselves out of a scrape, but it is time referees were seen to be accountable otherwise draw cards will continue to benefit.

England unravel

England’s number is up, or at least the World Cup organisers intend it to be. Officials were less than amused that the numbers on the back of England’s black jerseys unravelled against Argentina, making identification for touch judges and the citing officer difficult.

The numbers are not easy to make out from the sideline anyway, but that is not what is bothering the organisers. England will be told this week that unidentifiable numbers not only make it easier for miscreants to evade punishment, but are unfair on spectators and a repeat will not be tolerated.

Given England’s penchant in the last month for giving away penalties to deny opponents quick ball, are the dodgy numbers an attempt to gain an advantage?

We have had a glorious spring season and more is to come.  See you east coast, west coast and every rugbywhere in between!

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http://www.ballsoutrugby.com/tournaments/

http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/6935757/remembering-flight-93

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/04/sports/rugby/04iht-RUGBY04.html?ref=sports

http://talkingrugbyunion.co.uk/team-talk/state-of-womens-rugby-in-the-us-and-beyond

For my first post with Talking Rugby Union I thought I would give a quick overview of Women’s Rugby in the US and beyond. But first a quick introduction to me!