Scrumbag

As Aussie rugby stars get shot at on whore lined streets, are Britain's egg chasers too boring?

Previously on Scrumbag I've laid into British rugby stars for being naughty rascals. Gavin Henson got a shoeing on this very blog for unleashing his trouser snake and urinating on a train. Mr Oliver Barkley also got a hunk of grief for his alleged part in ruining a wedding. However their news worthy tales are nothing compared to a few Aussie rugby stars, who have caught the eye in the headlines today. It makes you wonder if our rugby players are just too dull.

According to ABC reports Australia's Parramatta Eels rugby league team star winger Jarryd Hayne was among three players shot at in Sydney's Kings Cross red-light district early today. Shot at! With real guns! How exciting! Makes train urination seem like knitting.

No body got hurt, and the players are cooperating with police inquiries and are victims, not offenders, but still, it makes our rugby stars seem dull dull dull. Or is that just me?

Rugby League cracks America, should Union follow?

Football has been trying to break America longer than Oasis. But now it seems Rugby League are trying too, and its going down quite well. So should Union follow?

A fat 12,000 people have turned out to watch Leed Rhinos battle Australia's South Sydney Rabbitohs at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday.

The Leeds team took the lead early, but the Rabittohs (what the hell is a Rabittoh?) staged a dramatic second half comeback which very nearly saw them snatch victory. However it was the Rhinos that ran out winners, clinching the win

The Aussie coach, who oddly is employed by Russell Crowe chirped, "The best results seemed to be off the field. Over 12,000 people came out to watch when it's raining, the merchandise all sold out and the number of new Souths supporters in the U.S. is phenomenal. I think we have helped promote the game over here over the past ten days and we look forward to getting that opportunity again."

So the event seems to have been a success, so surely a top British Union side should go out too? Let me know what you think...

England to lose to All Blacks in November

Get on the Twickers Ticket Line pronto, as its just been announced that England will play New Zealand in a Test match at Twickenham on November 29.

England's two other opponents in November will be Australia and South Africa, so that'll presumably be three defeats on the spin for 98 year old Brian Ashton's boys.

Oh dear...

Injury List: Bad News For Wallabies

Australia may have thumped Japan - 91 points to a measly 3 - in their opening game of the Rugby World Cup, but it was not all a box of pink fluffies for this Wallaby team.  Mark Gerrard, a star utility back for the Australians, only played 68 minutes in his first game of the tournament before rupturing his knee ligament and being carried off the field.  This sadly means curtains on the World Cup for Gerrard but hopefully not the final call for his rugby career. 

There is no doubt that the Wallaby backline will continue to be able to string some half decent moves together; but Gerrard's presence will still be sorely missed.  Bummer.

Rugby World Cup: Mortlock V O'Driscoll

Some believe the Wallabies skipper is set to eclipse Brian O'Driscoll as the best centre of the rugby world.  Admittedly - most of those saying this have Australian accents; but after Mortlock's, ahem, stirling form in the Tri Nations series, many a rugby fan since has sat up and taken notice of this old devil.

Meanwhile, Brian O'Driscoll, the man who can cut through a defence quicker than a rat up a drainpipe, has bounced back from injury.  The hopes of Ireland must surely rest on his shoulders to rejuvenate a distinctly tired looking shamrock outfit (if the pre-Rugby World Cup 'friendlies' were anything to go by).  If these two wise heads do actually clash, the results will be fascinating.  Who will win out?  The cunning of Mortlock or the tenacity of O'Driscoll.

Focus On: Matt Giteau, Aussie Utility Back

There won't be many more talented players at the Rugby World Cup this year than Matt Giteau of Australia, the man modelling the "Errol Flynn in Lycra" look on the right. In a world where you can get paid £200,000 every week to play soccerball, a salary of £200,000 a year is virtually a king's ransom in rugby terms and you have to come up to the cash-rich club leagues of England and France to get it.

A measure of Giteau's swashbuckling talent is that he will pull in at least £2.5 million over the next three years but he'll stay in his native Australia, and in rugby union, to do it. He's the creative spark that makes the Wallaby back line fire, and was the number one target for the Australian Super 14 expansion franchise, Perth's Western Force.

The Force haven't done so badly, either, compared to the three franchises in Australia's traditional east coast rugby heartland. The New South Waratahs and the Queensland Reds propped up the Super 14 log at the end of the regular season, and only the ACT Brumbies showed anything like a run of form. The Force finished in a respectable 7th place, beating the eventual champions the Natal Sharks along the way.

Giteau played in 12 of the 13 games and kept the outside backs ticking along, helping Cameron Shepherd - inexpicably left out of the Wallaby squad for the World Cup - up to third in the Super 14 try scorers' table. Question marks remain over his best position, whether he's better at inside centre or can deputise for George Gregan at scrum half, or even, as the clip below shows, at fly half.

Whatever his "natural" position might be, Giteau is one of the most devastating runners against a drift defence or a broken field in world rugby; where you play him matters less than putting him on the paddock. So far, he has amassed 47 caps and 219 points since making his Australia debut in 2002 at the age of 20; 2007 could be his tournament. Scrumbag has a few quid on Australia making the final and, to do that, they will probably have to beat New Zealand. If they can front up to the All Blacks at scrum time and gain parity with the vaunted Kiwi back row, the class behind the scrum tips in favour of the Wallabies. Giteau will be licking his lips about using his guile to get in behind the All Black midfield; up against a slightly naive partnership of Luke McAlister and Isaia Toeava, you'd have to fancy his chances.

One for the Aussies - Giteau finding a hole against a Pommie back line in 2004 before offloading to Gloucester player Jeremy Paul:

Related Posts: Focus On: Ali Williams | Try Time: Habana Libre!

Josh Lewsey on Mat Rogers

This is what pain looks like.  Even now, in particularly echo-ey parts of Australia, people are still hearing this hit.  It's Josh Lewsey on Mat Rogers, and it's sore even to watch.  The commentator, incidentally, is heard to say "he's a tough guy, Mat Rogers, he'll get back up!".  Perhaps so, but it took him a while and a lot of medical assistance.

England to lose to All Blacks in November

Get on the Twickers Ticket Line pronto, as its just been announced that England will play New Zealand in a Test match at Twickenham on November 29.

England's two other opponents in November will be Australia and South Africa, so that'll presumably be three defeats on the spin for 98 year old Brian Ashton's boys.

Oh dear...

Injury List: Bad News For Wallabies

Australia may have thumped Japan - 91 points to a measly 3 - in their opening game of the Rugby World Cup, but it was not all a box of pink fluffies for this Wallaby team.  Mark Gerrard, a star utility back for the Australians, only played 68 minutes in his first game of the tournament before rupturing his knee ligament and being carried off the field.  This sadly means curtains on the World Cup for Gerrard but hopefully not the final call for his rugby career. 

There is no doubt that the Wallaby backline will continue to be able to string some half decent moves together; but Gerrard's presence will still be sorely missed.  Bummer.

Rugby World Cup: Mortlock V O'Driscoll

Some believe the Wallabies skipper is set to eclipse Brian O'Driscoll as the best centre of the rugby world.  Admittedly - most of those saying this have Australian accents; but after Mortlock's, ahem, stirling form in the Tri Nations series, many a rugby fan since has sat up and taken notice of this old devil.

Meanwhile, Brian O'Driscoll, the man who can cut through a defence quicker than a rat up a drainpipe, has bounced back from injury.  The hopes of Ireland must surely rest on his shoulders to rejuvenate a distinctly tired looking shamrock outfit (if the pre-Rugby World Cup 'friendlies' were anything to go by).  If these two wise heads do actually clash, the results will be fascinating.  Who will win out?  The cunning of Mortlock or the tenacity of O'Driscoll.

Focus On: Matt Giteau, Aussie Utility Back

There won't be many more talented players at the Rugby World Cup this year than Matt Giteau of Australia, the man modelling the "Errol Flynn in Lycra" look on the right. In a world where you can get paid £200,000 every week to play soccerball, a salary of £200,000 a year is virtually a king's ransom in rugby terms and you have to come up to the cash-rich club leagues of England and France to get it.

A measure of Giteau's swashbuckling talent is that he will pull in at least £2.5 million over the next three years but he'll stay in his native Australia, and in rugby union, to do it. He's the creative spark that makes the Wallaby back line fire, and was the number one target for the Australian Super 14 expansion franchise, Perth's Western Force.

The Force haven't done so badly, either, compared to the three franchises in Australia's traditional east coast rugby heartland. The New South Waratahs and the Queensland Reds propped up the Super 14 log at the end of the regular season, and only the ACT Brumbies showed anything like a run of form. The Force finished in a respectable 7th place, beating the eventual champions the Natal Sharks along the way.

Giteau played in 12 of the 13 games and kept the outside backs ticking along, helping Cameron Shepherd - inexpicably left out of the Wallaby squad for the World Cup - up to third in the Super 14 try scorers' table. Question marks remain over his best position, whether he's better at inside centre or can deputise for George Gregan at scrum half, or even, as the clip below shows, at fly half.

Whatever his "natural" position might be, Giteau is one of the most devastating runners against a drift defence or a broken field in world rugby; where you play him matters less than putting him on the paddock. So far, he has amassed 47 caps and 219 points since making his Australia debut in 2002 at the age of 20; 2007 could be his tournament. Scrumbag has a few quid on Australia making the final and, to do that, they will probably have to beat New Zealand. If they can front up to the All Blacks at scrum time and gain parity with the vaunted Kiwi back row, the class behind the scrum tips in favour of the Wallabies. Giteau will be licking his lips about using his guile to get in behind the All Black midfield; up against a slightly naive partnership of Luke McAlister and Isaia Toeava, you'd have to fancy his chances.

One for the Aussies - Giteau finding a hole against a Pommie back line in 2004 before offloading to Gloucester player Jeremy Paul:

Related Posts: Focus On: Ali Williams | Try Time: Habana Libre!

Josh Lewsey on Mat Rogers

This is what pain looks like.  Even now, in particularly echo-ey parts of Australia, people are still hearing this hit.  It's Josh Lewsey on Mat Rogers, and it's sore even to watch.  The commentator, incidentally, is heard to say "he's a tough guy, Mat Rogers, he'll get back up!".  Perhaps so, but it took him a while and a lot of medical assistance.