CWC1983

Very late to the party but I reckon Gomorrah must be the best show I've ever watched. 
I'm nearly at the end of series 3 and the tension building to the end of the penultimate episode regarding a hostage handover was incredible.
Some boys (and girls) those neopolitans.
 

My very favorite series of all time, currently rewatching from the beginning.

Very late to the party but I reckon Gomorrah must be the best show I've ever watched. 
I'm nearly at the end of series 3 and the tension building to the end of the penultimate episode regarding a hostage handover was incredible.
Some boys (and girls) those neopolitans.
 

I'll have to take a trip to my local tesco tomorrow. I normally have a browse of their beers but havnt seen mint stout in loughborough yet. 
 

No, don't worry - you'll have to be a bit more blunt than that if you want to have a dig ?
I find the 'hate' against Lineker really surprising, I had no idea there was such bile against him until this episode. I have always thought he seperates himself pretty well, if you only want to hear his views on football then don't follow his personal account on Twitter. I also find it really surprising (been an education, every day's a school day) that he makes one comment on the tone of government messaging and a week later he's a tax dodger who does nothing of any help and favours immigrants over homeless on our streets. 
I'm with you on tax btw, but I have no different view on him than I have on Rishi Sunak heating his swimming pool with money his wife garnered via her non-dom status or Jimmy Carr paying accountants he can afford to save money we don't have. It's not political for me, it's not where you came from - if we continue to allow the gap between the richest and the poorest to widen then we are in for trouble. Interestingly, without wanting to cross pollute this thread with the one on Ukraine that I have chosen to avoid now for a few months, history tells us that the single biggest leveller of society is large and sustained war. First World War was a great example, Hundred Years War in the Middle Ages another. Rich end up funding the conflict, poor end up getting paid to fight rather than grow their masters business, the gap closes. Every (nuclear) cloud and all that....

A terrific game. Scotland showed immense heart and no small amount of skill too, but these Irish lads are so well drilled and so skilled that I never really thought they were in trouble. I hope the English lads were watching. That's what trying to compete with the best looks like and I think the Scots can hold their heads high. Let's hope after yesterday's abject and callow performance, we can say the same about our lads next week.

One of those games for England where almost everything France did in attack came off. 
France in the breakdown had the game of their lives and their strength on the gainline was immense. 
I guess Borthwick will come under scrutiny for letting Smith go back to Quinns while the backs were training with Ford and Farrell for a week. 
No better place for redemption than Dublin next week. 

It's not been great from England thus far.
Felt a bit for Italy, some of their play deserved a bit better but the final execution wasn't great. Could've been closer.
 

England got a kicking too, though I have to say, that's the worst I've ever seen them play. Hopefully neither a portent for tomorrow ?

I don't really get it. The BBC decided it was fine to broadcast an expose of the Qatari government's violations of the human rights of migrant workers instead of broadcasting the opening ceremony of the World Cup last year, but Lineker raising concerns that our own government's policies violate the human rights of migrants on his own channels isn't fine? I can't really reconcile that.

Every game this weekend has a fascinating element to it. 
Welsh players being part of a fire sale from after having had a 70 to 80% wage cut from their club.
Cardiff have 30 players out of contract in the summer and a £400k wage budget to replace them.
Italy with a level of expectation that they've never had to deal with before. 
I think Wales might sneak it. 
 
Are the French on a downward spiral? Is England's progress over the last few games genuine or a consequence of playing Italy / Wales
The French have not won at Twickenham since 2005......
It will be brutal up front, but I'm going for a boisterous Twickenham to shout the English home after some ill discipline will leave the French playing with numerous yellow cards. 
 
Can Scotland manage to play their fluid game v Ireland or will the Irish juggernaut keep on rolling? They could go into Sunday's game knowing a win secures the title.
I think the Irish pack have power that we can't match and they will win penalties at crucial moments to put points on the board. 
I'd love to see us get a 10 point lead to see how they react to chasing the game. Ireland have managed the refs really well so far, it will be interesting to see if they loose a few contentous decisions. 
Ireland to win by 2 clear trys, and win the title before week 5. 

Really looking forward to this weekend's fixtures. We've had some cracking games already but as you point out, there's some intriguing match-ups. They say in boxing, that styles make fights. I think sometimes the same can be said of rugby.
Wales and England still look a little more metronomic (the politest way of describing it), than inspired. The Welsh face a team that plays without fear and will be up for the physical challenge. The Italians will themselves be desperate for and perhaps confident of a win and I expect them to secure it, though I think it'll be a close call. 
France ought to be overwhelming favourites against an England side looking for identity. I don't feel that the French are on a downward trajectory myself, just being typically Gallic. Even the greatest French sides seemed a tad bipolar and they'll have one eye on the RWC. Seems to me there's a few of them minding themselves a bit, which is not going down terribly well with French fans. My guess would be France will exert enough pressure to win. Their scrummaging will be key.
The game at Murrayfield should probably be the best of the round as both sides are happy to go wide when they get quick ball. Even though I expected Scotland to do well this year and tipped them on here to beat England at Twickenham, they've still surprised me a little. I'd expect Ireland to win the game as they are the best drilled side in the world right now, but will the officials allow them to stifle Scotland ball in their Scot's own backyard? I can't wait for this game as it really should be a cracker.
It's a great time to be an Northern Hemisphere rugby fan, that's for sure, unless of course, you're Welsh. The way those lads have been undermined by their own governing body is nothing short of a disgrace.
I'm heading to the lakes tomorrow for a long weekend on a lad's get together. There'll be plenty of ale drunk and all nations repped, so it'll be a good craic in a wonderful part of the world. It's become a kind of yearly tradition now and we all make sealed predictions for the three games with the loser (or losers if there's a tie) paying for Sunday night's dinner.  I'll wish my fellow egg-chaser fans a good one now and will be back for my weekly moan about England on Tuesday (ish)! 
 

Every game this weekend has a fascinating element to it. 
Welsh players being part of a fire sale from after having had a 70 to 80% wage cut from their club.
Cardiff have 30 players out of contract in the summer and a £400k wage budget to replace them.
Italy with a level of expectation that they've never had to deal with before. 
I think Wales might sneak it. 
 
Are the French on a downward spiral? Is England's progress over the last few games genuine or a consequence of playing Italy / Wales
The French have not won at Twickenham since 2005......
It will be brutal up front, but I'm going for a boisterous Twickenham to shout the English home after some ill discipline will leave the French playing with numerous yellow cards. 
 
Can Scotland manage to play their fluid game v Ireland or will the Irish juggernaut keep on rolling? They could go into Sunday's game knowing a win secures the title.
I think the Irish pack have power that we can't match and they will win penalties at crucial moments to put points on the board. 
I'd love to see us get a 10 point lead to see how they react to chasing the game. Ireland have managed the refs really well so far, it will be interesting to see if they loose a few contentous decisions. 
Ireland to win by 2 clear trys, and win the title before week 5. 

England squad for the French game as below. Lawes out for the foreseeable as he's now done a shoulder. Big loss against a huge and physical French pack. Tom Curry and Luke Cowan-Dickie unlikely to play again this 6N.
Ford dropped and Smith back in, so effectively the same 5/8th options as the Wales game. George Ford sent back to Sale which would seem to confirm that Farrell retains the 10 shirt.
Manu might have been showing a bit as he's back in. Some reckon he's there for drills and still suspended. Not sure about that as CBA to check whether he's served the full ban as yet.
Watson, Malins and Arundell the wing options and I'd expect Borthwick to go with the more experienced Malins - Watson pairing. Would dearly love Arundell to get 20 minutes rather than 80 seconds, but I'm not holding my breath. In fairness, the other pair are better than decent, so no real gripes as such.
The JVP experiment continues. Harry Randall's return to fitness and him netting another brace at the weekend is not enough to earn him a return. Quirke out long-term, so Mitchell remains as cover. Be nice to see the latter given some proper game-time.
Not seen the French line up but would assume not too many changes. With Haouas on an enforced holiday, I'd expect to see Uini Atonio come back in at tighthead. He's @6' 5" / 155 Kg so the baby Rhino has his work cut-out. It's a worry.
Fingers and everything else crossed! 
England squad
Forwards: Ollie Chessum, Dan Cole, Ben Curry, Alex Dombrandt, Ben Earl, Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Nick Isiekwe, Maro Itoje, Lewis Ludlam, David Ribbans, Kyle Sinckler, Mako Vunipola, Jack Walker, Jack Willis.
Backs: Henry Arundell, Owen Farrell, Ollie Lawrence, Max Malins, Joe Marchant, Alex Mitchell, Henry Slade, Marcus Smith, Freddie Steward, Manu Tuilagi, Jack van Poortvliet, Anthony Watson.

Your support is top drawer. 900 mile round trip getting to games & boundless enthusiasm on here for all things Derby ?

No conspiracy from the refs. Just worse the further down the pyramid you go. 

The difference being, 99% of opinions expressed about male footballers are about their ability as footballers.
We have one thread about a female ref and people are asking about her breasts and making comments about her ability to park. The difference in treatment is night and day.

Watched the France vs Scotland game and to be honest, it just made me even madder about the state of the English game. Two sides, the Scots in particular, who are quite happy putting the ball through hands, who when kicking, did so with precision and purpose and who laid on an astoundingly good game for us neutrals. When I watch games like this one I'm reminded why I honestly believe rugby to be the greatest game ever invented. 
Bravo to the Scots. They ran the ball from literally everywhere and were it not for an intercept, well who knows how this might have gone. They were relentless against a French side with a monstrous pack, never taking a backwards step and out-Frenching the French with ball in hand. They are now perilously close to joining the absolute top table and muich as it pains me to say, it's nothing less than they deserve.
France, for their part, were pretty ruthless, without necessarily showing the flair that we know they have in their armoury. I'm a little disappointed that their progress seems to have stalled a little, but they played their part in an enthralling game and probably just about edged it in the end. Call me crazy but I suspect it will be Townsend who is the happier of the two coaches after the game, despite the loss. 
A last word for the colossal clown that is Mohamed Haouas. As nasty and thuggish a headbutt as you could not wish to see. Accidental collisions and that kind of behaviour should not be treated the same as what was an out and out assault, especially when it's a 130Kg front rower putting the nut on a number 9 half his size. I hope Fabien Galthié kicks this lad into touch until he learns to play hard AND fair, or at least fair-ish. Even his own teammates were giving him stink-eye after the replays went up on the big screens and it's not hard to see why. Man's an immature bully-boy who left a stain on a otherwise wonderful game of rugby.

f***, I knew I was doing it wrong! ?

? take the win, I did the 6 Guinness watching it. 
England killed Wales at the breakdown and should have been out of site in the 1st half. 
Both teams did far too many box kicks, it's was like watching Ireland from 3 years ago. (it's boring) 
Wales looked clueless, kicking to Steward time after time ?. 
The building blocks are there for you to mount a decent challenge at the world cup. 
I honestly think you'll give France and Ireland a good game. 

I'm the same, can't fully enjoy watching my national side. 
Italy giving Ireland a decent game. 
As for tomorrow, we will probably give it a good go but France are a step up that I don't think we will conquer. 
 

Cheers buddy. Will try to enjoy it but I do tend to get a bit tense watching England play. Much more so than when I'm watching footy. 
Agree with your assessment. Honestly, I expect us to win, but better England sides than this have gone to the Principality and been dismantled, so it's never a game I take for granted. 
As for Wales rugby, it's a terrible mess. I'm not going to rant on again but I do think that it's time to tear it all down and re-build from solid foundations. I'd pretty much same the same about England though for slightly different reasons. 
Enjoy the games yourself in any case. Tough one for your lads tomorrow as I'd expect a reaction from the last game, especially in front of the typically partisan Paris masses. Suspect the opening 15 will be absolutely brutal, but weather the storm and you never know. I fear for Italy today; suspect they are in for a royal tonking from the Irish ?

My head says that England have had 2 weeks to build on the Italy performance and should win, but Wales might be galvanised by the events this week. 
Get a start like Ireland did and Wales could crumble. The longer Wales stay in touch the more confidence they get. 
Its weird, there's actually more pressure on England to win today after the week Wales have had. 
Must admit, I didn't realise how much of a mess Wales rugby was in, if you have some spare time listen to this weeks 6 nations podcasts on bbc sounds. 
Enjoy the game, should be a cracker. 
 
 
 

Good scrap though! Wood looked pretty good. Just felt like it was going to happen for Lara. It was a pretty close fight but Lara had an extra level of spite in his shots. 
Too many knobbers at boxing now. 
Even worse when it's a domestic fight. 

Yep, they wound everyone up, including the family. Had them believing all sorts and fuelled the speculation.