Whose bright idea was it to launch a rugby site on the eve of the World Cup Final? Just when we should be knee-deep in fine wines, traversing France on the TGV, lapping up every day of The World Cup like it could be our last, here we are in Brighton, knocking out the first few pages of what we reckon will become the best goddamn rugby site on the planet.
'If Bobby Windsor had been born a middle-class ponce from Swansea...'
For the next few weeks we’re all about France – with regard to the Home Nations I’m too scared to hazard a guess how Wales will perform. The big difference compared to four years ago is that we all knew that with a bit of risk-taking they could be dangerous. This time round there aren’t any surprise packages like Shane Williams waiting in the wings.
England? They’ve watched the 2003 footage, tried to build another forward platform to rock the world, hoping the backs will minimise the errors and find inspiration on the biggest stage. It’s the only game they’ve got – let’s see how good they are at it.
The Scottish approach is even more pragmatic and for 40 minutes against Ireland you thought: ‘Blimey, they might have something here…’ Then they got the rag-doll treatment against South Africa. If only they had the faintest idea behind the scrum…
And then the Irish. Celtic jealousy perhaps, but I just don’t go for the theory that they’re the pick of the bunch. If they emerge from their group they’re doing well and after that, they just don’t have the firepower. Feel free to quote that back at me when I’m proved wrong…
And just when you think it’s all about the rugby you find out the IRB are locking horns with the world’s picture agencies – we could have a photo blackout on our hands on the eve of the tournament. You find out that there are tickets still available for Wales v Australia (In Cardiff for crying out loud!) nearly three times the cost of Six Nations seats.
But forget about all that for now. We’re live, we’ve got exclusive players diaries from Danny Hipkiss, Alun Wyn Jones, James Hamilton and Andrew Trimble. And better still we introduce our delightful and delectable 1st XV to the world in a matter of days. Stick us in your favourites and check back for the full story. Safe to say Phil Vickery didn’t quite make the grade…
Over & Out…