It is plain yoghurt all the way through, no fruit stuck at the bottom or anything. Not a complaint, just relatively interesting lol. (UK)
Been following the Exeter sale to Foley's group closely and it's hard to separate it from the wider financial picture. Prem clubs are carrying £342m in debt and not one turned a profit last season. That's the third year running. Is the franchise model and the end of pro/rel essentially the price of attracting the kind of money that might actually fix that?
Foley's group at Exeter, Red Bull at Newcastle, Dyson at Bath; there's clearly an appetite for it. But it's hard to ignore what it means for Championship clubs who are now effectively locked out permanently. Whether that's an acceptable trade-off probably depends on how much you think the current model can actually survive.
There's part of me that wonders if I am being too kind on American investors who clearly only have one thing in mind and are slowly sucking the soul out of rugby and seemingly all sports in the UK right now?
Genuinely not sure how to feel about it all. There's a decent breakdown of the whole situation buried in this RugbyPass piece here on the Exeter sale which started me off thinking about all this.
TL;DR:
Another one gone. How many more can lose to France before it becomes a real problem?
I love Sparky, she was my second ever legendary and I have pretty much exclusively used her since then. Obviously in lots of different deck variations. However, the last 2 seasons have been extremely tough to use her.
With bait and cards with shields everywhere (evo night, dark prince etc.) is if finally time for a sparky rework/buff?
I am not sure which angle I would take?
With Palace starting Lacroix, Richards, Canvot, Muñoz, Mitchell, Sarr and Mateta — all getting 90 mins except Mateta (65'), and Riad on the bench adding even more uncertainty at the back, who are the key Palace assets to be bringing in right now for the DGW?
Hi, I thought it would be a decent idea to have a thread covering key differentials for those looking for that final boost to catch up in their mini league/chase rank goals the last few game weeks.
Here are a few I have my eye on but please don't hesitate to contribute any other ideas you have, with the reasoning, the more the merrier. :)
Thanks in advance for any other ideas, just thought it would be nice to have a list of differential punts in one place as we arrive at the tail end of the season. Good luck in the next few weeks, I am sure you will all win your mini leagues! :)
Bit of a controversial take here from RugbyPass, not entirely sure what to make of it.
TLDR: Basically arguing the altitude Tests could actually suit the All Blacks if they go high tempo, especially with Rennie involved.
The Rennie angle is the most interesting part to me, his Chiefs sides won a huge proportion of games vs SA teams (2012–17), and his Wallabies pulled off three straight wins with some clever lineout/phase play. The suggestion is that he knows how to exploit SA's patterns better than most, and that a high-tempo, wide game at altitude is specifically the kind of thing that gasses out a big Bok pack once they're chasing.
Still feels like that should favour the Springboks overall though, right? I’m not fully sold. The Boks have specifically built their rotation system around altitude, the bomb squad exists precisely to keep fresh legs coming while the opposition fades. And Cape Town, where SA historically performs better, is only one of the three fixtures.
Still, the Rennie track record against them is hard to dismiss entirely.
Curious what people think: genuine tactical edge for NZ, or clutching at straws before a series SA should win?
With the amount of strong defenders this week, and the city/palace doubles. I am guessing most people will have at least one defender from each, is 4/5 at the back the strongest setup this week?
I am currently on Henderson, Richards, Canvot, Gab, Saliba and O'Reilly. I can see them and the other strong defenders this week that lots of people have (Van Hecke, Bournemouth Def con defenders etc.) out scoring most of the midfield/forward options.
With players like Thiago, JP, Palmer, Bowen, DCL (to a certain extent), with tough fixtures/ out of form and Arsenal/Palace rotation, it seems like the obvious option to me.
What do people think of this strategy? Are you doing similar? :)
p.s. It feels a bit boring that everything has become so defcon focused but I guess it is what it is, gotta just play the game how it is. Maybe a change next year to up the threshold to 12 for defenders would be better?
I was reading an article the last night (I think this one, or similar) and just wanted to comment on the insane comeback O'Brien has had given his injury record.
He basically went from U20s one to watch, to disappearing into a horrible injury black hole (ACL, Hamstring and ankle I believe).
But he's pretty much left that behind now, scoring big tries vs England/Scotland, getting returns of top tier wingers. I know small sample size, but promising nonetheless.
Fairly mad to go from almost quitting rugby to only properly breaking through pretty late at 27. Shows some serious grit and determination.
Do people reckon he can establish himself in the back three when everyone is fit, will he fit in long term?
I hope so as it would make a great happy ending to the story. Would definitely recommend having a read about his story if you get a minute.
What is the best Arsenal triple up for their good fixtures up to the end of the season?
I feel like if goal difference becomes a factor an attacker would be very nice, especially before Burnley and with them all being relative differentials.
I don't really like Rice as a boring pick, especially as def con is less of a factor over a shorter period.
I think Saka is too expensive with the uncertainty on mins/pens.
Are Eze/Gyokeres nailed enough in the league to consider them?
I am on WC35 and was originally gonna go simple with triple Arsenal defence (Raya, Saliba, Gabriel). I am now tempted by Raya, Gab, Eze) given mins last night, but really struggling to make up my mind.
What triple up/attackers is everyone else getting behind?
With the confirmation yesterday of the City/Palace doubles, I can't help but feel DGW36 is being massively overhyped.
Or am I missing something?
Edit: Grammar
Hi,
I got my UK drivers licence just over a year ago and I am looking to rent a car on holiday in Cyprus this summer. Does anyone have any tips for going about this/ what was your experience/ is it even possible?
Thanks in advance for any help : )
Hi,
I got my UK drivers licence just over a year ago and I am looking to rent a car on holiday in Cyprus this summer. Does anyone have any tips for going about this/ what was your experience/ is it even possible?
Thanks in advance for any help : )
