General Rugby Discussion II

Jump_In_Jack

Former Former wrote: »

Jesus, that Peter Rob Horne news puts Warburton in perspective. Poor bastard.

FYP

Devastating for Rob Horne, I hope through therapy or further surgery there is some hope he can regain function in his arm.

It was such an innocuous hit, bit of a freak to be so severely injured, kind of put his shoulder into the carriers elbow but nothing about it would suggest the potential for so much damage.

bilston

Burkie1203 wrote: »

Fookn hell

https://twitter.com/RugbyInsideLine/status/1019567624760459264?s=19

I'm rugby mad but Injuries like that would make me think twice about letting my kids play rugby.

Horrendous stuff.

razorblunt

In fairness your kid could have that kind of accident in the schoolyard or green outside the house. Complete freak accident.
Saw a picture of him at the final Northampton game of the season and he was holding his kid in one arm while the other was in a sling.
Really hits home.

Burkie1203

What a price tag

https://twitter.com/Rubbish_No3/status/1021818525076344834?s=19

Squidgy Black

Burkie1203 wrote: »

What a price tag

https://twitter.com/Rubbish_No3/status/1021818525076344834?s=19

That's the 'players test jersey's not the standard supporters one.

They're always more expensive.

Quin_Dub

Samoa Sevens Player arrested and charged with GBH

Apparently he got stuck into a few Welsh players in the tunnel after a game , broke a guys nose & cheekbone..

Not good at all.

irishbucsfan

3 felony counts, that is not going to end well for him.

Dubinusa

Ben Foden to N.Y rugby. That's great news for NPR. The sport will grow over here and I predict the U.s will be a tier 1 nation in the future. 10 years or so.

umop episdn

Dubinusa wrote: »

Ben Foden to N.Y rugby. That's great news for NPR. The sport will grow over here and I predict the U.s will be a tier 1 nation in the future. 10 years or so.

When I read that it reminded me of Pelé saying an African nation would win the world cup in the 90's.
Unless the USA teams get some meaningful international club competition, they won't progress too far on the world stage with only world cup qualification games etc to play ..imo

Dubinusa

Just noticed that Dom Ryan is not on the Tigers webpage. Has he been cut?

ScrubsfanChris

https://twitter.com/threeredkings/status/1023167640108519424 :pac:

ScrubsfanChris

I know it was only a pre season game against Brazil, but Zebo scored his first try for Racing after 2 minutes.

https://mobile.twitter.com/i/status/1023320975402827778

kuang1

ScrubsfanChris wrote: »

I know it was only a pre season game against Brazil, but Zebo scored his first try for Racing after 2 minutes.

https://mobile.twitter.com/i/status/1023320975402827778

He looks a bit chunkier to me. Like he's added some muscle mass.

stephen_n

kuang1 wrote: »

He looks a bit chunkier to me. Like he's added some muscle mass.

Not sure if you were being polite or that’s sarcasm.

awec

Looks fat to me.

Squidgy Black

awec wrote: »

Looks fat to me.

"Big boned" or a "slow metabolism".

It's interesting given there was talk of the reason he fell out of favour with Joe was because of his training habits and keeping the weight down, and as soon as he leaves the country he's mimicking Andy Goode.

thomond2006

Did he fall out of favour with Joe? He was dropped because he announced his move no?

kuang1

stephen_n wrote: »

Not sure if you were being polite or that’s sarcasm.

Actually I wrote "he looks a bit chunkier to me" then thought it sounded a bit too harsh and added the muscle mass thing.

The 100% true version is that as I watched the clip I didn't realise it was Zebo that had received the pop pass and I was waiting to see him appear in shot to receive the final pass and trot over the line.

awec

Been enjoying the French cuisine and wine I'd say.

DGRulz

Not sure if it's the frame rate of the video but he seems to have slowed down a bit too.

stephen_n

kuang1 wrote: »

Actually I wrote "he looks a bit chunkier to me" then thought it sounded a bit too harsh and added the muscle mass thing.

The 100% true version is that as I watched the clip I didn't realise it was Zebo that had received the pop pass and I was waiting to see him appear in shot to receive the final pass and trot over the line.

In fairness he had put on a fair few pounds last season before he left, don’t think he’s fond of the strict diet thing.

Former Former

Horizontal stripes always make you look fatter.

(Zebo has been overweight for a good while now)

Teferi

thomond2006 wrote: »

Did he fall out of favour with Joe? He was dropped because he announced his move no?

He fell out of favour with Joe when he told Joe that he didn't want to play for him.

nerd69

Looks like fat Ronaldo tbh

Former Former

Teferi wrote: »

He fell out of favour with Joe when he told Joe that he didn't want to play for him.

But he only decided he didn't want to play for Joe because Joe didn't favour him.

Dubinusa

He does look bigger!! I think he'll be grand for Racing. He's a quality player and a natural athlete. His weakness is mental imo.

thomond2006

Former Former wrote: »

But he only decided he didn't want to play for Joe because Joe didn't favour him.

He started every game in the 2017 Six Nations. When exactly did this not in favour period begin?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Six_Nations_Championship?wprov=sfla1

He had his go at Joe when he was already out of picture after he announced his move to Racing prior to the 2017 AIs.

awec

thomond2006 wrote: »

He started every game in the 2017 Six Nations. When exactly did this not in favour period begin?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Six_Nations_Championship?wprov=sfla1

He had his go at Joe when he was already out of picture after he announced his move to Racing prior to the 2017 AIs.

Yes, Schmidt always favoured Zebo, he only stopped being picked once it was announced he was leaving.

I am certain that he would have picked up further caps in the AIs and 6N if he were remaining a Munster player. At the very least he'd have been selected ahead of Larmour on more than one occasion.

Former Former

thomond2006 wrote: »

He started every game in the 2017 Six Nations. When exactly did this not in favour period begin?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Six_Nations_Championship?wprov=sfla1

He had his go at Joe when he was already out of picture after he announced his move to Racing prior to the 2017 AIs.

It started when Joe took over. It was pretty well documented back then. It improved somewhat but never to the point where he was "favoured" - or maybe it depends on your definition of that word.

Zebo picked up a lot of caps - mainly when the players Joe genuinely preferred were not available.

The 2017 Six Nations, Zebo got five starts, fair enough, but Luke Fitz had retired, Bowe was on his last legs and Dave Kearney and Trimble were injured. The next players off the rank were Gilroy, who Joe really hates, and the uncapped Conway. Zebo starting ahead of them is not particularly meaningful.

He was never particularly rated by Joe, he knew it. This idea of "oh, I always wanted to play in France" is fair enough - but a year before the World Cup, with Ireland at their highest ever rankings? Why would anyone bail out of their national team then?? He knew where he stood and he didn't see any point hanging around. He knew he was going to continue as a supporting actor and I don't think that ever sat well with him. He'd have been looking at Stockdale's subsequent performances and telling himself he did the right thing.

He never particularly made peace with being dropped for the final day of the 2015 Six Nations win, or being completely sidelined at the 2015 RWC.

Edit; he would also have watched with interest as the central contracts held by Bowe and Trimble expired without one being offered to him. Given that it left Earls as the only winger with a central deal, there's a reasonable chance he was expecting to get a step up.