I think Owen Farrell sums up the English Rugby Union Supporter . Great Kicker Great kicker's win games . IMO the lad hasn't an ounce of flair in his body (but his kicks wins games) so they love him enough said .

Regards , EW

I'd slightly disagree, but, you know what? There's too much RU talk on this forum these days (largely thanks to the trolls). Let's stick to talking about our game!

I disagree. This is a very relevant thread to RL.

Every time a mercurial talent emerges, RU try to pinch him. Now, I'm not taking a moralistic position on this. We did the same to them and these lads have to go where the money is, so there's no blame in that regard.

However, the British game can't afford these losses indefinitely. So, when one of our genuine stars defects and then finds himself unused, underused, misused, abused ... whatever you want to call it, it seems perfectly legitimate that we discuss it with a view to working out whether it means there's more chance he'll come home.

As you said, we'd all love to see Sam Burgess back in RL, even if it's downunder. I see no reason why we can't talk about that and hope for the best, and if that means finding reasons why RU is a dog's breakfast of a sport that will only regress an athlete like Sam, so be it.

When it was first announced that he was moving to Union, Burgess stated was that if he stayed in the NRL then he wouldn't play past the age of 30 due to the intensity he plays and impact on his body.

He will be back there I think after May next year (when Bath's season finishes) as I don't think they will allow him to leave mid season to join Souths for the start of the 2017 season.

He looks to me like he has lost some muscle too, so he will need to add that back on

Well, RU's attempt to sabotage the Grand Final next Saturday by moving an England game to Man City on the same evening is looking pretty silly now. Up yours. Schadenfreude.

How funny is it that the game will be on prime time tele? (Presume it is).

Ginger nuts (prince Harry) will be trying to round up viewers.

ITV will be shttng themselves over the ad revenue they're about to loose. Likewise 5live's commitment to home nations & significant others coverage looks like a boast a tad too far.
O2 might be looking at sponsorship value for money as well - I certainly would be.

Ebay will go into meltdown next week with the Hooray Henrys trying to shift match tickets and Hotel bookings for next weekend.

It's Lancaster and Robshaw's fault this week.

Just heard that Englands best player 'Armitage' was deliberately not picked because England have a policy that if you don't play in England you don't get picked and he plays in France ha ha ha what a bunch of goons

One of the reasons for England's failure will be the picking of Burgess, he was slated for last week now the team are out the fact that Burgess was in the squad will be rolled out as one of the factors that England are the first hosts never to qualify out of the group.
The English RU have everything in their favour, playing at home , more money , more players and the backing of the media. They blew it.

From what I've seen of them in this tournament, they look like they don't have the first clue.

Yesterday was one of the most crucial, vital, essential, do-or-die matches in English RU history - or so they were telling us on the news all week - and not only were they defeated, they suffered a record defeat. If they can't get motivated for that one, what can they get motivated for? The simple fact is they were ought-thought, out-muscled and out-enthused in every part of the pitch. They looked like a bunch of toffs playing at being professional sportsmen, with no real idea what it was going to entail. Reminded me of the Wigan v Bath game at Man City. Beforehand, the Bath fans who attended that match actually thought they were going to win.

Anyway, the hooray Henry RU journalists can blame Burgess all they want. By his body language yesterday, he's clearly already decided that RU won't be part of his life much longer. But the real thinkers behind the England camp - the ones who've managed to con the world that this is a major sporting event - will know where the real blame lies.

I think we can expect the heads of Lancaster, Farrell etc to be on the block very, very soon.

Like we care.

Quote stillinthepast="stillinthepast"Ebay will go into meltdown next week with the Hooray Henrys trying to shift match tickets and Hotel bookings for next weekend. '" www.stubhub.co.uk/rugby-world-cu ... 5-4420484/ 670 tickets available at the time of posting this link!

Quote stillinthepast="stillinthepast"Ebay will go into meltdown next week with the Hooray Henrys trying to shift match tickets and Hotel bookings for next weekend. '" www.stubhub.co.uk/rugby-world-cu ... 5-4420484/ 670 tickets available at the time of posting this link!