This topic contains 183 replies, has 18 voices, and was last updated by Expat 8 years, 5 months ago.
Am I the only Scot here? Really?
I’m hoping that psychologically (and perhaps physically) Japan will have put so much into the game against SA that they will be unable to repeat that performance against us. We have beaten the Springboks in the past and could do it again; meeting NZ would concern me more.
Ah well, ‘Here’s tae us, wha’s like us?’ 😀
I am English, with a great uncle who played in the Calcutta Cup before any of us were born. I played at a much lower level for 38 years. For the none – England games I am a happy neutral.
The last few minutes of the SA/ Japan game the Japanese were extremely brave – many a team would have taken the kick and settled for a draw. Physically they will be wrecked. Mentally it will be “We have beaten South Africa, who have been world champions twice. We can take anybody”
The reply, as I remember it, is “Damned few, and they’re all dead”
Elfstone
There are no spaces left in the Gloucester ground – I live about 15 miles away, tried very early and couldn’t get a ticket for any of the games.
Two snippets I picked up this morning on TV. The pipes are banned from the ground, which is news to me and sounds as daft as banning the Welsh from singing. Also something I should have realised: Japan play in Gloucester colours.
Hi, they’ve banned everything, so that those awful argentinian noise machines cant be brought in. Makes sense.
Personally I love the pipes played well, but wouldn’t like to be sat next to someone playing during a game, especially if the playing sounds like a tortured cat – at least the Welsh singing is tuneful, and it involves everyone.
Of course, the SNP are up in arms, but then they would be, wouldn’t they? Nowt like politicalising everything.
Should be an interesting game, froqm the interviews yesterday, I think the Scots are a tad worried.
“so that those awful argentinian noise machines cant be brought in” – I agree, but I think you are talking about vuvzelas which are South African? I’m not sure if I’m allowed to post links on this site, but if you search, wiki has a page on them, including this
“The vuvuzela has been the subject of controversy when used by spectators at football matches. Its high sound pressure levels at close range can lead to permanent hearing loss for unprotected ears after exposure, with a sound level of 120 dB (the threshold of pain) at 1 metre (3.3 ft) from the device opening.”
That’s a very different kettle of fish from bagpipes. Frankly if they’re going to ban the pipes (and personally I think that’s outrageous!) then they should also ban the Hakka and the Samoan equivalent and the Fijian one. The double standard is what grates.
I’m a bit nervous about this afternoon, but hey-ho we live in hope!
Penguin – do you know how many the Gloucester ground holds?
hi you’re correct about the instrument, having problems uploading pics for my work, got distracted, thinking of two things at the same time.
Cant see the comparison to the Hakka, its bagpipes in the crowd, they aren’t banning bagpipes for anything official, like pipe bands. Ive never seen anyone on the team playing, but played badly they sound like a captured haggis! Suppose though they have banned the Northumbrian pipes and the Irish pipes as well.
Going well at the moment, OH has only shouted at the screen twice so far, but Scotland are good at grabbing defeat from the jaws of Victory, so its tense as always in this house when Scotland play.
‘That’s a very different kettle of fish from bagpipes. Frankly if they’re going to ban the pipes (and personally I think that’s outrageous!) then they should also ban the Hakka and the Samoan equivalent and the Fijian one. The double standard is what grates’.
Sorry Elfstone I didn’t get your argument?? I assume the pipes were only banned in relation to the spectators. Also assume there was a good chance the pipes were played somewhere on the pitch but what is your comparison to playing bagpipes in the crowd throughout the game and the haka which takes all of, what, 3 minutes before a game.
Good win for Scotland though feel sorry for Japan who gave it there all on Saturday and had to play again so soon.
What’s the difference between a Wallaby, an All Black, Les Bleus and an arsonist?
An arsonist wouldn’t waste so many matches!
I’ve just caught someone accessing my online banking, managed to track the man to Auckland but when I approached him he started slapping his arms and legs and sticking his tongue out at me.
Must have been a haka.
and one to help you out!
Dai was on his way home from the England v Wales match at Twickenham when he had to screech to a halt and ended up in a massive traffic jam on the M4.
He wound down the window and thought to himself, This seems bad, nothings moving at all. He noticed a police officer walking back and forth, in and out of all the cars, so Dai shouts over: “Excuse me officer, what’s going on then?”
The officer replies, an England fan, so depressed about losing to Wales and the prospect of winning nothing again this year, he feels a right idiot for gobbing off saying England are the best team in the world, he’s actually threatening to douse himself in petrol and set himself on fire.
The officer goes on: “His family find him arrogant, and he hasn’t got many mates. I’m just walking around taking up a collection for him.”
“Oh tidy,” says Dai. “How much have you collected so far?
“So far,”, replies the officer. “We’ve collected about 100 litres, but a lot of people are still siphoning!”
Good morning rugby fans 🙂
Well wasn’t yesterday afternoon great! Scotland looked very nervous I thought, in the first half, but the second half was brilliant. Penguin – I’m not sure why you feel the score flattered the team? Scoring 5 tries (and when did we last do that?) surely means they earned the score line.
“Cant see the comparison to the Hakka, its bagpipes in the crowd, they aren’t banning bagpipes for anything official, like pipe bands.”
“I assume the pipes were only banned in relation to the spectators.”
– I may be wrong folks but I think pipe bands are banned also – and not for the first time if memory serves. In fact I have a suspicion that they are permanently banned at Twickenham? The comparison is a valid one I think. The playing of Flower of Scotland by a pipe band and the acapella second verse is as much a fundamental pre-match ritual for Scotland as the various Hakkas are for the Southern hemisphere teams; ban one and you should be banning all of them.
The playing of pipes within the spectators *is* a different issue, but there again we run the risk of double standards. Every time the French come to Murrayfield we are treated/subjected (take your pick) to their bands. I’ve never been close enough (fortunately) to one of them to see exactly what instruments are involved, but clearly clarinets and trumpets. Personally I can’t stand them – they are monotonous, the tone is very harsh and I don’t care for the music they play. I’d much rather they weren’t there, but would I suggest they are banned? – no. It is the French thing – in the way that ‘Bread of Heaven’ is part of the Welsh thing and ‘Swing Low’ is now (oddly ) synonymous with English games. Bagpipes are our thing. I understand that many people don’t care for the sound of them, but banning them … ?
Vuvuzelas are in a different category for the reasons I quoted above. I suppose the Scottish (Celtic) equivalent would be the carnyx and I don’t think I would want half a dozen carnyces around me at a game either!
Enjoyed the jokes very much. ““I did a search of ‘Rugby Jokes’ on Google the other day. The first selection was a picture of the England RWC squad”” – LOL! 😀
Elfstone
The Leeds Pipe band played at the Scotland Japan games, apparently they are allowing some pitch side pipes, but spectators still won’t be able to come in with pipes, not any other instruments.
I think its a bit of a sledgehammer to crack a nut, but it makes me feel proud to be from a Yorkshire rugby family and a mum of a Scot! Though for me there is nothing comes even close to Welsh voices!
A couple for today
“An Aussie bloke is having a quiet drink in a bar and leans over to the big guy next to him and says, ‘Do you wanna hear a Kiwi joke?
The big guy replies, ‘Well mate, before you tell that joke, you should know something. I’m 1.90 m tall, 125 kg and I played as a forward for the All Blacks.”
“The guy next to me is 1.85 m, weighs 115 kg and he’s an ex-All Black lock.”
“Next to him is a bloke who’s 2 m tall, weighs 120 kg and he’s a current All Black second rower. Now do you still want to tell that Kiwi joke?”
The first bloke says, “Nah, not if I’m going to have to explain it three times.”
There’s a man sitting in the front row at the Rugby World Cup Finals, but amazingly, there’s an empty seat beside him. Another man spots it, goes up to him and says: “Do you mind if I sit here?”
“No, not at all,” replies the first man. “It’s my wife’s seat, but she died recently..”
“So why didn’t you get one of your family to come,” asks the second man out of curiosity.
“They’re all at the funeral.”
The Pope was cruising along the beach in the Pope-mobile when there was a frantic commotion just off-shore. A helpless man, wearing an English rugby jersey, was struggling frantically to free himself from the jaws of a 25 foot shark.
As the Pope watched in horror, a speedboat pulled up with three men wearing Welsh, Irish and Scottish rugby jerseys. One quickly fired a harpoon into the shark’s side while the other two reached out and pulled the hapless English fan from the water. Then, using long clubs, the three beat the shark to death and hauled it into the boat.
Immediately the Pope shouted and summoned them to him. “I give you my blessing for your brave actions. I heard that there were some bitter hatred between the Celts and England rugby fans, but now I have seen with my own eyes that this is not true.”
As the Pope drove off, the harpooner asked his buddies: “Who was that?” “It was the Pope,” one replied. “He is in direct contact with God and has access to all of God’s wisdom.” “Well” the harpooner said, “he may have access to God and his wisdom, but he doesn’t know anything about shark fishing. Is the bait holding up OK or do we need to get another one?”
A couple of old ones to make you feel good AH
The All Blacks were playing England, and after the half-time whistle blew they found themselves ahead 50-0, Jonah Lomu getting eight tries. The rest of the team decided to head for the pub instead of playing the second half, leaving Jonah to go out on his own.
“No worries,” Jonah told them, “I’ll join you later and tell you what happened.” After the game Jonah headed for the pub where he told his teammates the final score: 95-3.
“What!!!!” said a furious Josh Kronfeld, “How did you let them get three points??!” Jonah replied apologetically, “I was sent off with 20 minutes to go.”
Before the 1995 New Zealand v England World Cup semi-final: “Remember that rugby is a team game; all 14 of you make sure you pass the ball to Jonah.” – Anon fax to N.Z. team
You know AH, you would have thought, with the antipodean love of sheep – and I do mean that in the quite literal sense – you’d have been able to clone the great man!!!
Sorry about that Chipmunk. Hakka is a variety of Chinese spoken in Guangdong Province and the spell checker recognises both. There is a small amount of Rugby played in Guangdong, but that is no excuse. Fingers working, brain wasn’t.
There is, of course, the old one about Jonah being cruel to animals – he ran over a Catt.
Cracking game. Unfortunate result for both sides – England for losing, Wales for the attrition they suffered. That has to make the rest of the competition difficult for them. The way he was holding his arm after the hand-off looked like a broken collar bone to me – I did both of mine with impact travelling up a rigid arm.
HappyNow, I wish you hadn’t raised the Red Dwarf issue – I’ll never look at him again without wondering if he failed his astro navigation exams.
As a neutral (sort of) I thought Wales/England was a great game to watch. Wales were heroic after all the injuries – I lost track of who was playing in which position. You’re right Penguin – those injuries along with what went before is bound to have an effect on the rest of the games. We can only hope that they don’t suffer any more.
And now to 2.30 today. Another 5 points would be wonderful, but I’ll take any win. 😀
lol AH perhaps just a little, well maybe a little more – I blame the media or the commentators – they come across so arrogant and biased you just want the smile wiped of their smug faces. No offence directed to any English supporters on this forum really. I really do feel for the Captain though, it was a brave decision and if it had come off he would be a hero not the zero! now begins the blame game – just get over it and move on. We also have an office in Cardiff so know lots of Welsh so yes my support was for Wales and it made for exciting rugby!
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