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Post by newby on Apr 16, 2024 18:56:08 GMT
A bit of a break now before the Challenge Cup semi-finals due to take place on the weekend 18/19 May.
Doncaster's eco power stadium (ex keepmoat) hosts the first semi at 1345 on the Saturday between Hull KR and Wigan.
York Valkeries take on St Helens in the women's semi first up at 1115.
The Huddersfield v Warrington semi will take place in St Helens at the Totally wicked stadium on the Sunday at 1515. That will follow the ladies of Wigan v Leeds at 1230.
Both men's game will be on BBC TV.
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Post by davemorton on Apr 19, 2024 17:42:05 GMT
Some big rugby derbies this weekend. Not so much in RL, though Leeds v Huddersfield...well, not a huge game historically, I think. Certainly not Toulouse v Whitehaven! The mind boggles.
RU sees the grudgiest game of all, Northampton v Leicester in the Prem, and also Exeter v Bath, as 8 teams battle for 4 play-off places, with 4 games remaining in the 'regular season'.
Especially intriguing is Sheffield Tigers v Rotherham, rearranged from a week or two ago. Roth need 9 points from 2 games to be 100% sure of title and promotion. They must get a bonus point win in one of them, because no way will Leeds slip up next week. Rotherham's complication is that next week they play Billingam, who would almost certainly escape the drop with a win, and you don't want to be pressing for four tries against a desperate side.
I have a feeling it was Sheff Tigers who knocked Rotherham out of the title race last season, leaving Sedge and Fylde to battle it out at the death.
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Post by newby on Apr 20, 2024 7:47:53 GMT
Watched a totally baffling game last night where two teams came in and out of the match at different times. Looked like some kind of energy saving strategy by Huddersfield and it totally worked. When they turned up the gas Leeds couldn't live with them and in 3 periods of total dominance they managed to win 24-30. The rest of the game they were just going through the motions and Leeds should have been out of sight but weren't sharp enough.
Rhino's dreams of being a top side slipping away for another season.
Hull FC suffered another of a succession of nightmares losing 58-0 to St Helens.
While Wigan beat Castleford quite comfortably 36-14
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Post by newby on Apr 20, 2024 19:17:13 GMT
I too was on twitter for the Rotherham Titans game. They left the bonus point very late, they had about 4 penalty kicks at goal before scoring their third try and I though they had lost the plot. It seems they were playing downhill in the second half and they timed it well enough.
Theirs for the taking next week, as long as they win.
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Post by hawke on Apr 21, 2024 5:36:43 GMT
Oh dear I think Leeds Tykes have been top for months. perhaps all season. They are staging their last match at Headingley perhaps with the idea of a promotion special… I think they are ambitious but just tensed up at Fylde. At least they are missing out to a Yorkshire club
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Post by davemorton on Apr 21, 2024 6:27:13 GMT
It's tough at the other end of the table too, and the relegation battle is mixed up with the promotion one.
Leeds Tykes play Sheffield, who will finish 3rd no matter what, but that makes them a decent side, of course.
Hull Ionians (39 points) play already relegated Huddersfield - so make that 44 points in all probability.
Rotherham travel to Billingham, who have 43 points, and need one more for safety, having 2 more wins and a better pd than Ionians, so they will not be easy opponents for Roth who, however, need only to win, with the try bonus secured yesterday.
And, as we know, Harrogate and Macclesfield will replace the relegated clubs next season.
I see no one has mentioned yesterday's big game at Toulouse, where Whitehaven were beaten 40-4. I wonder how many supporters they took? Probably more than Toulouse would take to Whitehaven!
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Post by hawke on Apr 21, 2024 7:58:56 GMT
It's tough at the other end of the table too, and the relegation battle is mixed up with the promotion one. Leeds Tykes play Sheffield, who will finish 3rd no matter what, but that makes them a decent side, of course. Hull Ionians (39 points) play already relegated Huddersfield - so make that 44 points in all probability. Rotherham travel to Billingham, who have 43 points, and need one more for safety, having 2 more wins and a better pd than Ionians, so they will not be easy opponents for Roth who, however, need only to win, with the try bonus secured yesterday. And, as we know, Harrogate and Macclesfield will replace the relegated clubs next season. I see no one has mentioned yesterday's big game at Toulouse, where Whitehaven were beaten 40-4. I wonder how many supporters they took? Probably more than Toulouse would take to Whitehaven! yes interesting stuff…Harrogate’s late push was greatly helped by 2 of Ilkley’s best backs moving there ha! Toulouse v Whitehaven was scarcely imaginable a few years ago … the developing French connection is great for RL…
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Post by donnylad on Apr 22, 2024 17:51:34 GMT
My ever-loving younger daughter has booked tickets for Bedford Blues against Doncaster Knights on 4th May.
I am really looking forward to seeing some Championship level rugby! It doesn't look as if Mr McG has raised the game - Knights got tanned by Ampthill 25 - 9 or something similar last weekend.
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Post by davemorton on Apr 23, 2024 8:25:21 GMT
The Championship is in a strange limbo. No promotion, because of the greed of the Prem clubs; no relegation for the last two years, and no one knows what will happen after 2024/25, as the RFU yet again restructure the leagues, only three years after doing it last time.
Will Newcastle survive? The standard of play in the Prem is incredibly high (except them), but it bloody should be, with only 9 clubs + Newcastle, and England selecting only from within those clubs.
The Championship is such a strange mixture now; town teams like Bedford, Nottingham, Coventry and Penzance & Newlyn (Cornish Pirates) - all famous old clubs. Then Doncaster and Cambridge, relatively newly risen. A university, Hartpury, and now two village clubs, Caldy and Chinnor. London Scottish, the one remaining London Exiles club. Yuppie upstarts like Ealing.
There's one more, annoyingly. Ah yes, the above=named Ampthill, who probably are the third villagers. Somewhere near Bedford?
The RFU say that all these clubs 'lack ambition' to be in the Premiership, except Doncaster, who are not good enough. Meanwhile the ghosts of Wasps, Worcester, London Irish and Jersey haunt the Twickenham corridors, clamouring to be reinvented as franchises, debts disgracefully written off with a stroke of Sweeney's mighty pen.
Meanwhile, there is a bunch of wealthy London clubs, Blackheath, Rosslyn Park, Richmond, Ealing and the like, who would like a league all of their own, with level 3 status, so they don't have to travel West or North to places where the working classes play the game.
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Post by donnylad on Apr 23, 2024 14:20:18 GMT
... The Championship is such a strange mixture now; town teams like Bedford, Nottingham, Coventry and Penzance & Newlyn (Cornish Pirates) - all famous old clubs. Then Doncaster and Cambridge, relatively newly risen. A university, Hartpury, and now two village clubs, Caldy and Chinnor. London Scottish, the one remaining London Exiles club. Yuppie upstarts like Ealing. There's one more, annoyingly. Ah yes, the above=named Ampthill, who probably are the third villagers. Somewhere near Bedford? Yes DM, Ampthill is near Bedford / Woburn. I used to play regularly against then when they were a 'village' club and a right lot of hard nosed lads they were too. They had a pair of props who could bind together and get over a tackled player quicker than you say 'get in there'. No change of rucking the ball so, as you did then, you rucked them ... and hoped not be on the ground when it was their turn. Then we all shook hands and had a pleasant social drink together. Those were the days!! A town now with a cricket club as well, about 10 or so miles south of Bedford. They gave Doncaster a pasting at the weekend. If their current facilities are anything to go by then they are ambitious - certainly better than they had 45 years ago. As I type that I realise how long it is since I stopped playing rugby ......... ouch!
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Post by davemorton on Apr 23, 2024 21:46:12 GMT
Yes, I have to smile when I see centres / wingers 'clearing out' rucks, these days. When I played, my only thought after being tackled was to get up and away and back to my position. You didn't fight props, you ran round them! The ball was in the forwards most of the time, but when the fat boys did let it out, there was loads of room to run.
The one Law that has totally transformed rugby for the better, is allowing the tackled player to pass from the floor. But there was another one, which changed when I was about 14, which said that after a tackle, and the released ball that followed it, the first player to arrive HAD to play the ball with his foot. Only then could players use their hands. They changed the Law to speed the game up, and brought in three decades of mud wrestling! Bill Beaumont and Terry Cobner, the gigantic mole - that era.
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Post by donnylad on Apr 24, 2024 15:51:02 GMT
My recollections differ DM. I can remember vividly being clobbered and walked all over by oppo forwards to get the ball to our number 9 who would either (1) kick it out of hand over his head, down the line for another lineout ... followed by a ruck followed by ... you'll get the picture or ..... (2) 9 passed to 10 who looked at the oppo centres and open side heading his way and would put his foot through the ball downfield for a line out followed by a ruck followed by .... yes you've got it.
I started life as a lock because I could jump and catch but more usually deflect with the outside arm on our ball or the inside arm on theirs - with the help of a decent lift from one of the props. They they let me play in the back row ...... I think I preferred being a lock. All that running around, corner-flagging I hated that.
One law change I would love to see is the end of those blasted crocodiles at rucks. I think I saw one with 5 players in it during the 6N and three of those joined after the scrum half started poking his toe in to move the ball backwards.
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Post by davemorton on Apr 28, 2024 11:15:17 GMT
All done and dusted at the 'recreational' level of the game. Leeds Tykes won their high-scoring game v Sheffield, but to no avail, as Rotherham picked up the win they needed, whilst allowing Billingham their 4-try bonus point for safety. Despite sticking 90 points on Huddersfield, Ionians are relegated, after a dreadful season...along with Huddersfield, of course.
At level three, the relegated clubs are both from the West, Cinderford and Taunton, so there will have to be some geographical juggling. I imagine it will result in Chester being re-allocated to the vacancy in 2 North, which culturally is where they belong.
Sedgley got stuffed at Richmond (London, not N Yorkshire) so finished 9th/14, and ahead of Sale FC, most importantly.
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Post by newby on Apr 28, 2024 11:34:51 GMT
I was briefly hopeful as Billingham took an early lead over Rotherham but a win was never on. The tykes did what they could, built up a big lead but seemed to lose heart and ended up letting Sheffield get pretty close towards the end. That's following it on 'X' of course whilst simultaneously keeping across the football scores and watching the cricket. So no deep analysis of anything and I ended the afternoon feeling rather guilty and promising myself a long walk today.
Still a bit wet here but no longer torrential so I might keep my promise.
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Post by newby on Apr 28, 2024 11:47:30 GMT
In the other code, Sorry Hawke, but Leeds badly need to boost their points difference stats so the bigger the wins over Hull FC this afternoon and the next game against London Bronco's the better.
Though I would like to see some signs of Hull turning it around, I'm generously willing to wait for their next game for that to happen.
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