0:00

When you wake up well rested on

0:02

a great mattress, Everything becomes clear how

0:04

I do make everything about me:

0:06

things you missed when you are

0:08

tired finally reveal themselves. My passport

0:10

is in the pocket of a duffel bag. I

0:12

took the Mexico. Mattress Firm. We

0:14

know they're right Mattress Matters. We also know

0:17

that priced as too so if you see

0:19

a lower price somewhere else will match it.

0:21

Plus you get free and fast delivery shop

0:23

in store or online and Mattress firm.com The

0:26

right Mattress Matters will find yours. Restrictions apply

0:28

see store website for details. Introducing

0:31

Allbirds new Wool Runner 2.

0:33

Redesigned to redefine comfort. Extra

0:35

cushioning offers a plush ride, and premium

0:37

materials deliver a cozy fit. Go

0:40

to alberds.com and use code FRESH24 for

0:42

a free pair of socks with purchase today. Acast

0:47

powers the world's best podcast.

0:50

Here's a show that we recommend. Are

0:54

you mindlessly swiping on Hinge? Coaxing your hubby

0:57

to binge Love Is Blind? Wondering where all

0:59

the row ceremonies and romantic getaways are when

1:01

dating IRL? Welcome to Two

1:03

Black Girls, One Rose. A podcast uncovering what

1:05

we can learn about modern dating, love, and

1:08

relationships from popular television. I'm Natasha. And I'm

1:10

Justine. We're best friends, TV and film fanatics,

1:12

and hopeless romantics. And every week on our

1:14

podcast, we're dissecting your favorite TV show and

1:17

seeing if it can teach us a thing

1:19

or two about love. Look, if I'm going

1:21

to spend hours watching Love Is Blind, I

1:23

better learn something from it, whether it's

1:26

how to end my situationship or how

1:28

to not marry a man child. Listen

1:30

to us on all podcast platforms every

1:32

week. And for bonus and video content,

1:34

join us on Patreon at patreon.com backslash

1:36

two black girls, one rose. A

1:42

cast helps creators launch, grow,

1:45

and monetize their podcast everywhere.

1:47

A cast.com. I'm

2:00

doing the intro this week because I've

2:03

just had a Baraka. I've

2:05

just had a Baraka energy tab. I

2:10

know what that means. I'm basically on steroids

2:12

now. When you

2:14

go to the toilet, just remember you've had

2:16

a Baraka and you're not dehydrated. Yeah. Because

2:18

it comes out like, take

2:21

time. If I have

2:23

one like in the car on the M4,

2:25

M5, the M4 Corridor

2:28

and I stop at the services for wee whee's,

2:30

I often feel a bit self-conscious because I

2:33

wonder if someone's looking over thinking he's

2:36

dehydrated, unhealthy bloke, how

2:38

long has he got left? Not

2:40

long. I feel great. I

2:42

feel great. I ate six nations

2:44

time in it, Tommy. So are

2:48

you allowed to talk about being busy

2:50

without sounding smug or like you're complaining?

2:53

No. Is there a middle ground? No, no, because

2:55

you're not allowed to complain about being busy since

2:57

COVID. All right. Oh God, absolutely

2:59

not complaining. But are you so the

3:02

standard conversation when you

3:04

see people is quite busy

3:06

time for you in the six nations, but

3:08

you're all over the place. And the answer

3:11

actually is yeah. Great. Which

3:13

is, you know, very grateful. But how when

3:15

someone asks you at the moment, if you're busy, what do you

3:18

say? Like

3:20

a Japanese prisoner of war, but a

3:22

happy one. That's

3:25

Alan Partridge. All right. That's Alan

3:27

Partridge. Before anyone starts

3:29

to complain. Yeah. So

3:33

you're busy. You are busy. That's

3:35

great. I've just been to Ireland, haven't I? Just on

3:38

a tour to Ireland, locker room tour to Ireland, where

3:40

I also have Baraka every

3:42

morning. Yeah. I

3:44

take it with me when I travel. Every morning. Milk

3:46

Fissile. Apparently that's really good for hangovers according

3:49

to Reese Williams. Okay. Yeah.

3:52

Okay. Yeah. And

3:55

any other goodness I could get inside me,

3:57

like gourmet burger

3:59

and chip? Yeah Guinness

4:01

for the iron baby Guinness

4:04

just for the sweetness need a little bit of

4:06

I know like People

4:09

always say look if you if

4:11

you want if you want it enough

4:13

if you want to work out if you want to

4:15

train Enough and if you want to eat well enough

4:17

if you want it enough you can do it the

4:19

matter what your schedule Yeah, I don't want

4:22

it quite enough Not to

4:24

see my exercise and nutrition regimes not

4:26

I've got a regimes But my nutrition

4:28

and exercise just drop off a cliff

4:31

through the six nations just drop off a

4:33

cliff I mean Haribos

4:35

at 10 in the morning, mate Well,

4:38

I I got back on Sunday. I did a 15

4:41

K bike ride yesterday to sweat it out

4:44

watching masses of

4:46

the air oh Yeah,

4:48

which is good. All right, and

4:51

I've just done a Two

4:53

and a half hour walk with my lovely wife

4:57

Because I've got a wall coming up on Monday Yeah,

4:59

which was I showed it about eight

5:01

miles eight and a half miles, but I got

5:04

to do twenty six miles on Monday train

5:07

together stay together No

5:12

Together live together stay together

5:14

trying together stay together. No, oh Dear

5:20

Walk together talk together. They say when

5:22

you walk alongside someone That's the best

5:24

way to have a conversation because the

5:26

lack of eye contact The

5:29

passivity of walking shoulder to shoulder instead of

5:31

sitting face to face is

5:33

better Well, if she wants me to say she

5:36

can she can just tap me on my shoulder and I'll take my

5:38

air pods out I say what's up, love? What

5:41

you doing it? If

5:44

I do oh great,

5:47

so That's so it says

5:49

good things about your relationship then you okay at the

5:51

moment Yeah, thanks Dave. Yeah

5:54

Checking in. Yeah, it's not your busy time at the moment

5:56

because we're away and you know,

5:59

it's tough on that but

6:04

it will soon be over. Make

6:07

hay Dave, make hay. I've

6:11

scheduled in, I share my diary

6:13

with my wife and it just

6:16

makes it easier so when something pops up, I

6:18

put something in my diary, it pops up in

6:21

hers and today she got up, she was in bits

6:23

because of a rough night with a baby and

6:26

hadn't really slept so she went back to bed for

6:28

an hour before I took the kids to

6:30

school and all that, so it's like, you

6:33

know when you're getting an extra hour in bed before the

6:35

kids go to school at 8 in the morning, you know

6:37

you got up early so she's

6:39

like, what are you doing today and I was like, check your diary so

6:42

she checks it and she's like, right, are we having any

6:44

time together today on your day off? Tuesday

6:46

off? I was like, yes, I

6:48

will be free from 2.30pm until 4.30pm that

6:52

is family time. Wow, what are

6:54

you going to do? Monopoly? Hopefully

6:56

watch telly and eat toast is what I'm hoping. That's

7:00

not a bad option. But going to

7:02

the footy tonight, so I'm out tonight you see, going

7:04

to the footy tonight. Millwall plane are they?

7:08

Yeah, I'm wearing my stone island. You

7:11

were the first person I remember to add

7:14

stone island. There you

7:16

go, see, I'm original mate. I'm on a

7:18

rigid casual. And what?

7:20

Burberry. I don't think

7:22

I have Burberry. Oh, you did. You're

7:24

Burberry trousers. You're Burberry trousers. Patrick Cox

7:27

shoes. I'm Patrick Cox shoes.

7:29

Growing up in Maidstone, that's the

7:31

background I'm from where, you

7:33

know, it's easy to, I know you're not doing

7:36

that, but it's easy to kind of, people

7:38

look down on that or whatever but it

7:41

was the environment I grew up in, it

7:43

was aspirational to have those things and it's

7:45

like, I don't think you

7:47

could go out with that. Burberry,

7:50

yeah, Burberry was toast by then. It

7:52

had been taken over by

7:55

the people they didn't want to take it over. I

7:58

think Burberry's back now. They got it back. They're

8:02

high class. The problem with Stone Island is

8:05

like I really like Stone Island clothes, but

8:07

you do that massively care, but you

8:10

do look like you

8:12

are off to head but someone in a

8:14

pub somewhere. Um, that

8:17

should do some ace gear, but yes,

8:19

Robson, but you can like bath city against brain

8:21

tree town going. Who's your

8:23

favorite bar city player? Oh,

8:25

I like, um, I like Steven. Yeah,

8:28

he's pretty good on this. He plays, he

8:30

generally plays in front of another, um,

8:34

and he's a, he's a great communicator. He's got

8:36

good repeated speed and he's got a lovely touch

8:39

and the manager, seems

8:42

like a great, like the sort of guy you'd really play for. I

8:45

should have said who's going to the football. I'm

8:48

going with my two big daughters, bigger daughters.

8:52

They're not big, they're just bigger than the others. Um,

8:55

so we are, no, we're getting, we're going,

8:57

we're going for it tonight. We're going to

8:59

have a couple of darts, few pints of

9:01

cider, and then they're steaming into the football.

9:03

Apparently my mate, Samla told me

9:05

that, um, in non league

9:07

football, one of the best bits

9:09

is the fans swap ends at halftime so

9:12

that your team are always attacking the goal you're

9:14

going to attack in your end. Yeah. We

9:17

have a ball like both, like having to walk all the

9:19

way around this side of the stadium. Yeah,

9:21

it's not that big, mate. But also, I think

9:23

if you're losing, like if you're getting battered, you

9:27

actually want to be at the end where there's some goals scored, don't

9:29

you? No, if you, if I'm

9:31

at a stadium, this is my seat. I

9:33

don't want to move. I'm quite happy. I

9:36

don't think there are seats. I could be wrong. I haven't been

9:38

before. Wow. It's

9:41

the twerp, it's the twerp and park football stadium

9:43

in Bath and CrossFit used to be there. So

9:46

I went there a few times to do CrossFit, then I've

9:48

mentioned that, um, a few

9:50

years ago, but I never went into the actual

9:52

stadiums. This is my first time at Bath City.

9:55

I got out to have a break walking up

9:57

the stairs of the Aviva on Saturday. We

10:00

had category three tickets which you know

10:03

you get category two, category one, obviously one

10:05

being the best We all

10:07

went for category three. I don't

10:10

know if there's a four. Well, you've got to

10:12

manage costs every day We're all together. So yeah

10:16

But I was walking up the stairs and I actually had to have a

10:18

little break Halfway just to

10:20

catch my breath. Oh God,

10:22

it was a long haul truck Well,

10:25

I was thinking about this, right?

10:27

I Don't like air

10:30

travel and that's not because

10:32

I'm scared of flying. I just think it's too hard like

10:35

I think it's just too hard and Might

10:37

have mentioned this on the pod the other day, but I

10:40

flew to Dublin the

10:42

other week for whatever it was. I forget

10:44

where I flew. Yeah, I learned against Somebody

10:47

and anyway got to the Heathrow

10:49

wrong got out the car got

10:51

out the car and walked in

10:54

and because it was ITV and they're Good

10:56

up. They're good at what they do. I had fast-track security.

10:58

So I just walked into the fast-track queue Notice

11:01

that the normal queue wasn't full. Anyways

11:04

hardly anyone queuing up quite

11:06

a busy airport and I

11:08

walked straight through I said John. They said don't have

11:10

to take your laptops out leave everything in stick it

11:12

through mate I said take my shoes off belt. Now

11:15

you're right watch now. You're right Walk

11:17

straight through do a bit and like

11:20

nothing straight through picked up my bag

11:22

and went and I was like what's the guys

11:24

mate? It's the new machines. I think it was at T5.

11:26

It's the new machines. They don't you don't need to take

11:28

everything out Wow, so my shoes off

11:30

in Dublin No joke,

11:32

mate. I'm not exaggerate when

11:34

I say I reckon three minutes after

11:37

I shut the car door I'd buy

11:39

the taxi door outside the front. I Was

11:42

through wondering why I was gonna have coffee. It

11:44

was that quick It was like straight almost like

11:46

I'd walk straight through. Oh, yeah

11:48

heaven. So there the other terminals are

11:50

getting those machines now But

11:53

anyway, my point being I Was

11:56

went to wherever I went the other day. Oh god

12:01

Leal for France, Italy. And

12:03

I'm thinking the amount of walking I did

12:05

from when I left my hotel at Edinburgh

12:08

Airport at stupid o'clock Sunday

12:10

morning to fly to Brussels and then get

12:12

a taxi to Leal for the game. The

12:14

amount of walking I did before

12:16

I got on a plane and

12:19

when I got off the bike around getting

12:21

on and off planes, I was like, you've

12:23

actually got to be, if

12:25

you were less than totally

12:28

mobile, this would be a proper

12:31

trek. Like I said, imagine

12:33

my dad who is perfectly mobile, but he's nearly 80.

12:35

I was like, this would be verging

12:37

on too much walking for most people. It

12:40

was, I reckon I did 30 minutes

12:42

of walking. We

12:44

got to the hotel we all stayed

12:46

at called the Camden Court on Friday

12:48

afternoon, half past 12 in the afternoon.

12:51

Straight on the beers, was it? And

12:55

quite a few were doing their own thing, but there's a

12:57

big group. We said, right, let's go

13:00

find an Irish bar or

13:02

restaurant. We need some lunch. We'll go for

13:04

some lunch. We walked out the hotel. I'm

13:06

not joking, mate. We walked

13:08

for how long was it? It must

13:11

have been five

13:13

seconds. Found

13:15

a bar at the end of the hotel

13:19

road called the Bleeding

13:21

Horse. They were

13:24

eating their Bosch. Lee Burner ordered

13:26

for our table. He said

13:28

five burgers and chips, five Guinness. Perfect.

13:31

That was it. He

13:33

didn't even ask what we wanted. He didn't need to with

13:35

you, mate. You're always a burger guy. He

13:37

just went for it. So there's a few

13:40

fans in there. So Kieran

13:42

Azarati's dad. Oh yeah? Kieran

13:44

Azarati, yeah. His old man was in there. It

13:48

was Heathen. Dublin was Heathen with

13:50

Welsh fans. I just got

13:52

off the phone to Gep and

13:54

Hughes. Gep and Hughes, he's BBC

13:56

Scrum 5 producer now. Vine.

14:00

He ran me up for about the

14:02

game on the weekend on Friday. It's Edinburgh, I was

14:04

pleased. The first thing he said to me was, a

14:08

little bit drunken Ireland weren't you? I was

14:10

like, who have you been speaking to? I reckon

14:13

Andrew Coombe saw me and said there

14:16

was no point out of conversation with me. Ah,

14:19

because I'm a bloody lad. I said I was off the

14:21

clock. It was 12 o'clock at night. Am I

14:23

allowed to do what I want? So

14:26

tell me, Tommy, about your schedule please.

14:28

So you take all these lads over

14:30

there. Hang on, hang on.

14:32

I've made an assumption then. Are there

14:34

any women on the trip? Yep, I

14:37

was. So you take all

14:39

the lads and ladies. Yep. Tell

14:41

us what your trip is please. I don't

14:43

kiss and tell mate. You

14:47

don't bloody kiss, that's your problem. We

14:53

left Cardiff at

14:55

9.50. Erlingus

14:58

arrived in Dublin. We

15:00

somehow lost Leiburn from

15:03

departures. We

15:06

did a name check, everyone there, yep. And

15:09

we walked towards where the bus was. Lost Burney

15:12

on the way. Don't know how. It

15:14

came out the multi-storey car park. He was

15:16

looking for his sunglasses. I don't know mate.

15:18

It was the most bizarre thing ever. Straight

15:21

on the bus. Got to the cabin. You never know with

15:23

Burney, do you? You never know with Burney. Checked in. And

15:27

then we popped out. Bit of lunch. Shower

15:29

and change. Then booked a bar called

15:32

Fitzsimmons in the evening, which was like

15:34

a proper Irish bar. Three

15:36

floors. Put a tab on. And

15:40

then the next day got the bus

15:42

to the bath pub. We had a nice

15:44

little outdoor area where

15:47

we had a little bit of a sing song. Only my

15:49

crew could get in there. So it was a

15:51

complimentary bar. Loads

15:54

and loads of baby Guinness being

15:56

smashed. Yeah,

15:58

go for it. Yeah, as many

16:00

as you want, as many as you want. And

16:03

then, and then to the game, bus

16:05

back then to Lemon and Tuke, which was where

16:07

we had a bit of food, some

16:10

platters, watched Scotland, England, and

16:13

then everyone sort of went

16:15

to their own sort of

16:18

bar then after that about eight o'clock, we

16:20

I went to Cafe Insane, Bonsane,

16:25

Insane, if you

16:27

like me. And

16:29

then that was it boy, and then,

16:31

yeah, so all fine, all fine,

16:33

quite heavy. Well done. As you can imagine.

16:35

Sounds it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But

16:38

no issues, which is good. That's

16:40

good. Well, well done. Yeah. What

16:42

about your weekend? Oh,

16:45

God, Tommy. Oh, God. Where

16:47

do I start? Well, I tell you what I did

16:49

on Wednesday night. I went to Bristol to see Archie

16:51

Curzon. Oh, yeah.

16:54

Rigged, Rigged Biz Pod. An old chub

16:56

of mine. So we went

16:58

over to see him and we

17:01

did a little live show for some guests in

17:03

a pub in Bristol and that was good

17:05

fun. And

17:10

on Thursday to meet, I

17:12

went to London and met George Shooter and

17:15

did a, you know, the Under the Post lunch.

17:17

They're great, actually. Tony Andrews. They're really good. She

17:20

had a lovely lunch there and that's just a nice

17:22

day, really, and it's, you

17:25

know, you can't work if you want, but I just get

17:27

to see. So I live with George Shooter when I was

17:29

at Sarries, as you know, when we were

17:31

at Sarries. So really, I look at

17:33

that as, yeah, we do have a chat with the guests

17:35

and it's really nice and you sit on a stool for

17:37

an hour and have a good crack and

17:39

have a really good laugh. But actually, I get to spend four

17:42

or five hours with Georgie, which is good fun. Have

17:45

a lovely steak and then got

17:47

the train back to Bath and went out with

17:49

a couple of mates, including Louis Moody and his

17:51

wife and had a steak, which is

17:53

good. So that was nice.

17:55

Then Friday, Friday, Tommy, I

17:59

flew up to Edinburgh. and then hosted

18:02

the old

18:04

enemy dinner which we do

18:06

every year in the corresponding

18:08

city in the relevant city

18:10

and that

18:13

was great about 400 people it's

18:15

really good crack and quite often

18:17

there's loads of ex internationals

18:20

there, loads of Scottish legends there and

18:23

Scotty Murray was there our old mate

18:25

from Sarrie the Scotland second row he's

18:27

lived in San Diego for eight years

18:29

now just

18:32

stopped coaching out there he started his own business and

18:35

what a great guy absolutely brilliant and

18:37

quite a bit of weight as well

18:39

which I was pleased about he

18:42

still looks great so he's not overweight but

18:44

I wondered because he was naturally very slim guy

18:46

like tall and I wondered if he would actually

18:49

fade away when he retired but he looks a really

18:51

healthy looks healthy so

18:53

I had a good laugh at that on stage and did

18:55

a bit of fat shaming because even though I'm fatter than

18:57

him I had the mic and he didn't and he's not

18:59

fat which is why it works he

19:02

just hated it so that was great

19:04

but Martin Corey was up there

19:06

and Leon Lloyd and Darren Garf

19:08

was like sort of less than you

19:10

guys up so that's brilliant dinner

19:12

but yeah because there are so many

19:15

guys there like ex internationals there you quite

19:17

often you'll have

19:20

multiple sort of Q&A's and chats and all

19:22

that and the organizer who's a mate we

19:24

saw Stewart really he played played for Scotland

19:26

he's like here's an idea why don't we

19:28

just you you work with up

19:30

and tell me who you think's really good and

19:33

let's just have one really good chat

19:35

with one person and he said

19:37

up before I could suggest one he said

19:39

what do you think of Wayne Barnes and I said he's awful

19:42

but got him anyway no

19:44

I said just get Barnsy up there for half an

19:47

hour 40 minutes Barnsy's amazing so that was what we

19:49

did it was so it's a great dinner and Johnny

19:51

Gould did the auction and

19:54

raised a ton of money so it over

19:56

we did it but I did a bit of fundraising at the start

19:58

Johnny did an auction we did I think north of 300,000 quid. Oh

20:02

wow, that's massive. Among other charities,

20:04

my name's Doddy and amazing. So it's great.

20:06

And then spent Saturday

20:08

doing, oh my God, oh my

20:10

God. I spent Saturday doing

20:13

what we call corporate, but joshing around having

20:15

chats with people at

20:17

Murrayfield before and after

20:20

Scotland England. And I did

20:22

quite a lot of this stuff. Everyone I did, I did

20:24

with Ryan Wilson. Unlucky.

20:28

That, or lucky, that is,

20:31

now that is value for money. You

20:33

buy a ticket and you want to be entertained and

20:36

you want someone to

20:38

have a bit of character and personality instead

20:41

of just giving stock answers to sporting

20:43

questions. He

20:45

is definitely an option. I

20:49

work with him on a URC mate. Of course you

20:51

do, wild guy. He brings his kids to work sometimes.

20:54

When we're talking about ADHD, right?

20:56

And he said something like, oh you mentioned not your polyline. As

21:00

he's talking to me, I'm not joking. I'm

21:02

joking. I

21:04

said, have you ever been tested? He's jumping up and down on

21:06

the spot as we're talking. He's jumping

21:08

up and down as we're talking, holding a pint, he's

21:10

jumping up and down. And I was

21:12

like, you've never been tested. Don't need to be tested. I said, I

21:14

think you're right, mate. I think you're right. So

21:17

I said to him, don't ever change. Don't

21:19

ever medicate. You're amazing, mate. He

21:22

was flying around like a blue

21:24

ass fly at Murrayfield. He was everywhere and

21:26

he was nowhere. Mate,

21:29

you want to see him after games. Great

21:31

fun. He's obviously better at Glasgow

21:33

because that's where he played. But he does all

21:35

the chats with the boys after the games. It's

21:38

brilliant. Because he's newly retired, so he knows them

21:40

all. He's just grabbing people.

21:42

He's grabbing fans. Just have

21:45

a little chat with them. They just send them out. Ryan,

21:47

who have you got? And obviously all the Glasgow

21:49

players sign all the graphs outside after. He just

21:51

grabs whoever he wants. Yep.

21:54

It's brilliant. I must say I

21:56

really enjoyed it. And loads of

21:59

great lads up there. Tom Wood was

22:01

up there, haven't seen Tom Wood for a while. A

22:04

top fellow and met Stuart McAnally who I haven't

22:06

met before. He is about 6'4 or

22:08

6'3, 6'4. I had no idea how

22:10

big he was, but really nice guy.

22:13

It's a great day that, it's just a great day

22:15

and really, really enjoyable.

22:19

And John Barkley and Ugo

22:21

were on stage before us and they left.

22:24

And then Ryan and I went up and Ryan

22:26

was late of course and he runs in and

22:28

he says to the crowd, who was here just

22:30

now? And they were like oh John

22:32

Barkley and Ugo Monya, oh my God. That

22:35

must have been so fucking boring. The

22:38

lads are still in the room I think,

22:40

it's deliberate. He goes right, let's have it

22:42

then, let's have it. And he's just

22:44

like, that is absolutely brilliant mate. Just.

22:48

Ah great fun, I must say we

22:51

always have fun doing these things. You make your own fun

22:53

don't you? But he's the

22:55

first guy, he

22:58

might listen to this someone, he's the first

23:00

guy where I've sat there, because you've got

23:02

to be yourself. Because he's mad and wild.

23:04

I'm not mad and wild, I'm probably a

23:06

bit drier and I still get excited and

23:08

weathered. But I thought you

23:10

mustn't try and match this guy, you've just got

23:12

to try and feed off what

23:14

he's saying a little bit. But he's one of

23:16

the first guys that's made me really sit and

23:18

think about what I'm going to deliver instead of

23:20

just being complete. I was very relaxed and really

23:23

enjoyed it but in a

23:25

fun way it was like what this guy is. You

23:27

wanted to get on the laugher meter as well didn't you? Yeah

23:30

you can't be dominated and equally you can't

23:32

turn into Timmy Mallet or the crazy guy

23:35

in the office. But watch this, watch me

23:37

dance, watch me dance, you can't do that

23:39

because it's not me. Give generously to both

23:41

dancers if anything, mine was in contrary. It

23:45

was great, I really loved it, I really loved it.

23:49

Sharpen your senses is what he's trying to say.

23:52

Yeah that's exactly what it is, you

23:54

verbalise it perfectly. But then early

23:57

start, flew to Brussels, got a taxi to... Lille

24:00

and then um, commentating

24:02

on the France game which was not

24:05

that good right till the end, uh but got

24:08

myself back to London that night so people say are you

24:10

in Lille? Lille's lovely, like no no I got a taxi

24:13

to the stadium and then I

24:15

got went to the commentator on the game which was really

24:18

fun, I love commentating as you do and then a taxi

24:20

to the airport, no taxi to the euro star basically is

24:22

how it, we had a bit of dinner first but you're

24:24

basically in and out, I didn't see any of Lille at

24:26

all but that's how it works,

24:28

great fun, good yeah, it's

24:31

nice mate and the thing is though you

24:34

have a, I don't like

24:36

getting smashed, I don't like getting

24:38

totaled on the beers but you have a few

24:40

beers every day so you have a

24:42

few beers here and you don't have a few beers for the game,

24:44

you have a cup of glass of wine with dinner and you have

24:46

a glass of wine or beer on the train or whatever and you

24:49

then my mate picked me up from St Pancras

24:51

and he's, I've got a little you know a little fridge

24:53

in the front of my Land Rover in the armrest and

24:55

he's, oh there's a couple of cans of Guinness in there,

24:57

oh god go on then, it's only 11 30 at night

25:00

on a Sunday, it's perfect time, so yeah

25:02

go on then, see you kind of, I came

25:05

home and went straight to the spare room and

25:07

didn't get out of bed till quarter to 10, it's bloody

25:09

lovely, oh good good,

25:12

a sourdough with nice

25:14

salty butter, apricot jam and

25:17

a posh cup of coffee, that's living the dream mate. When

25:21

you wake up well rested on a great

25:23

mattress everything becomes clear, huh I

25:26

do think everything about me, things

25:28

you missed when you were tired finally

25:30

reveal themselves, my passport is in the

25:32

pocket of the duffel bag I took to Mexico, at Mattress

25:35

Firm we know the right mattress matters, we

25:38

also know that price does too, so

25:40

if you see a lower price somewhere

25:42

else we'll match it, plus you get

25:44

free and fast delivery, shop in-store or

25:46

online at mattressfirm.com, the right mattress matters,

25:48

we'll find yours, restrictions apply, see store

25:50

website for details. Sergeant

25:52

and Mrs Smith you're going to love this

25:55

house, is that a tub in

25:57

the kitchen, there's no field manual

25:59

for finding the right home. But when

26:01

you do, USAA homeowners insurance can help

26:03

protect it the right way. Restrictions of

26:05

law. At Southwest,

26:07

we set you free from hidden fees. That's

26:10

why we're the only airline that lets two

26:12

bags fly free for all. So you can

26:14

pack two free bags full of swag. We

26:16

also know finding a date when the whole

26:18

group can get away is tough. That's why

26:20

we don't have change fees. So you can

26:22

change your flight till you get it just

26:24

right. With Southwest, there's a better way to

26:26

fly. Get all the flexibility you need and

26:28

none of the hidden fees. But today only

26:30

at Southwest. There's some second check bags waiting

26:32

five limits to fly. No change fees, but fair difference may

26:34

apply. Begging

26:42

to the rugby now. We've warmed them up enough.

26:47

Good to go try and keep them

26:49

alive now. Yeah. Ireland v Wales was

26:51

the first game of

26:53

the weekend. I think we all guessed what

26:55

the result would be. I think

26:58

the only thing that was going to let

27:00

Ireland down really would be any ill discipline.

27:02

And I thought, I mean, how

27:05

much they want to win by? That was

27:07

it. Because they're a total different team to

27:09

Wales, as we know. They're a team that

27:11

is peaking right now. Wales aren't near

27:14

that level of

27:17

organization, of attack, of intelligence,

27:20

I think, yet. Because they're a new team

27:22

and there's lots of new players in Wales.

27:24

This island team. Yeah. I mean, they did

27:26

have Crowley and they did have Frawley. But

27:28

the core of that team have been together

27:31

for quite a while. I also thought Wales did

27:33

pretty well for

27:35

large parts of that game. But it's

27:38

just Ireland's ability to look after ball

27:41

constantly. Their attack

27:43

just, even if they

27:45

don't go anywhere, they realign really well and

27:48

they recycle the ball well. Then all they're

27:50

waiting for is some sort of

27:52

half break, whether it's from Bundy, Akki, where it's

27:54

from Tigeburne, all of a sudden,

27:56

then Wales backpedal, Ireland on the front foot, and that's

27:58

when they're most dangerous. I

28:03

think Wales did okay. They'd be quite

28:05

disappointed really that they let sort of,

28:08

I think, Tyghburn score that try where he

28:10

flipped through. Might have been Mackenzie Martin for

28:12

a try. I think they could count

28:14

themselves a little bit unlucky as well. They

28:17

weren't awarded a try towards the end. Not

28:20

that it would have made a difference to the game,

28:22

but just reward for looking after

28:25

the ball and redstone efficiency. Because

28:27

I think there was a shot where Anne Wainwright actually

28:29

scored the try before he was pushed back. And

28:32

then it was deemed no try. But I mean,

28:34

you look at, you know,

28:37

Ireland had nine entries into Wales

28:39

is 22. They came away with over

28:41

three points. Wales had five and

28:45

come away with like 1.4. So they're

28:47

not Wales aren't that efficient in

28:50

the redstone because they just don't have the power

28:52

that a lot of teams have. So they're

28:55

not going to do much damage. I don't

28:57

think just picking and going, picking and going against

28:59

big powerful teams like that because they'll

29:01

get hammered back. I thought Cam

29:03

won it. Yeah, let's talk about

29:05

it. As far as I can find me. And

29:08

it's not just I've said this before. It's not just his,

29:11

how brave he was in the air, or how good he

29:13

was under the high ball. It's, it's

29:15

his kicking game, I think, which is underrated as well. I

29:17

think he's counter attack game. He's good in his feet. He's

29:20

a good distributor as

29:23

well. So he has been the finder.

29:25

Aaron Wainwright at another good game. Yeah. At

29:28

number eight. He's better. He is, he

29:31

is, but it is a

29:33

bit of a one man show when it comes to carrying

29:35

for Wales. Yeah. Like, he's the only

29:37

one that really causes any huge

29:39

amount of damage. And, you

29:42

know, that's not Tommy refels job.

29:44

You know, his job is to affect the breakdown

29:46

more so and he's good in his feet. And he's

29:48

been excellent for his tournament as well. But terms

29:51

of big bruising carriers, they

29:54

don't have anyone like on

29:57

a level with Wayne, right? You know, imagine where I was at two

29:59

or three of them. Be amazing be wave

30:01

after wave of attack. It's good news feet

30:03

as well. So Quick.

30:07

Yeah, he is quite a specimen, isn't

30:09

he? He is I think Number

30:12

10 is still up for grabs with whales. Yeah, what do

30:14

you make it? What do you make a cost today then?

30:18

Work rate was good. Thank you was fine But

30:21

I don't think it matters at the moment

30:23

which 10 you have too much because they're

30:26

not good enough Clean front

30:28

football. Yeah, so it's so much easier when

30:30

you're playing behind a pack going forward You

30:32

also you don't want to be a young

30:34

inexperienced 10 in that you do because you

30:37

want to play for whales but it's

30:39

much harder to make a name for yourself in

30:41

a team that is struggling to Give

30:44

you the ball you want isn't it? Like you

30:46

think about you think about Crowley dropping in to

30:48

the island team and exactly as you said like

30:51

I'm sure Sam Costa and I see some great

30:53

things and I think he looks brave defensively and

30:55

lots of important things But then I I

30:58

think if you slotted him into the island team, he probably

31:00

would look twice the player That's just how it goes, isn't

31:02

it? Yes, same as what we

31:04

should say about the all blacks You know you could

31:06

fit the all-blacks you and I could fit into all

31:08

blacks easily and we probably still win World Cups Because

31:11

they just play a brand of rugby, which is Which

31:15

is good and which gives you go for balls. So

31:17

I mean, that's good. He made a career out of

31:19

it Didn't he ran a massive pack? It's

31:22

mostly joking good. He was class, but

31:24

it does help doesn't it as a nine or a

31:26

ten when you've got that from

31:28

football I still think as well The

31:32

center combination worked okay in the World Cup and

31:34

that was probably a big plus of Tompkins and

31:36

George North I'm not sure it's having the same

31:38

effect at the moment with whales I

31:41

think I've gained like a set pieces creaking a little

31:43

bit. It's not as it's

31:45

not where it should be line out and scrum

31:47

we look like we struggled in the scrum and We're

31:51

not team that a brilliant at creating Third

31:54

fourth fifth base, you know, so

31:56

then we rely heavily on getting over that game

31:58

on our first base that doesn't happen, that's

32:01

when we get ourselves in a little bit of trouble because

32:03

we either try and overplay and we're not quite there yet

32:06

or we end up kicking away ball and

32:08

possession. What I would like to see would be

32:11

I think Mason Grady coming in because

32:14

for me he's garlic bread. The

32:19

future, right? Thank you.

32:22

If he's getting 10-15 minutes here or there it's

32:24

like well there

32:30

are certain positions where he can make a big

32:32

impact in that, like look at Ox and Che

32:34

coming on for South Africa, like because there are

32:36

certain positions where you absolutely are going to get,

32:39

you are absolutely going to be able to get

32:41

a chance to use your super strength if you

32:43

have one, but he can come

32:45

into the game in those outside channels and actually

32:47

not see much ball for 15 minutes, almost like

32:49

well there are players being

32:52

afforded 60 to 80 minutes every

32:54

week for years and years and

32:57

they benefit because of it and you sort of think he,

33:00

apart from anything else, with those

33:02

genetics he's got to be worth a run

33:04

of games, like that's you know. Yeah,

33:07

I've said it from the start, like he's

33:09

been playing that well for Cardiff, but he

33:11

is going to be the future for Welsh

33:13

rugby, so get him in now, get

33:17

him ready then for next season,

33:19

the season after, you know, because

33:21

he's not gaining that much experience

33:23

by having cameos, especially

33:25

against big teams like Ireland, so yes,

33:30

but look I didn't expect

33:32

too much, I don't think anyone expected too much from

33:34

Wales at the moment because that's where they are, you

33:36

know, they're starting

33:39

again and it takes a little bit of time,

33:41

especially when you're playing a team

33:43

and a well-drilled team like Ireland, I

33:46

was impressed, like James Lowe has such an

33:48

effect on the game as a winger,

33:50

like his kicking game is

33:53

outstanding, he might sort of shank

33:55

the odd left with a

33:57

boot, but he's key to them. thought,

34:00

Bandiaki and Robbie Henshaw,

34:02

as soon as they start to get a little bit of go

34:04

for a ball, they change

34:06

the game around a little bit. But Ireland's

34:09

power was another level to Wales.

34:11

What they get from their front five is

34:14

different to what most teams get from their front

34:16

five. Like realigning,

34:18

I love how they're realigned because you can

34:21

see that they all know the exact distance

34:23

they need to be because they must do

34:25

it so often in training. So that

34:28

they all, like the second pod, are

34:30

always sort of making sure they're not too

34:32

flat, they're not too deep off the first

34:35

pod. So when that ball comes

34:37

out the back to another ballplayer, normally

34:39

Crowley, they're running onto ball and

34:42

they're either an option or it's

34:44

put behind them. But they're

34:47

holding defences. So yeah,

34:49

well on Ireland, thought they were,

34:53

they obviously deserve the win. Yep. And

34:55

it's going to be, I cannot

34:57

wait, I cannot wait for

35:00

England Ireland. That's punchy because

35:03

Ireland, we kind of, when I say we know all about,

35:05

we know all about how good they are, that they're one

35:08

of the best sides in the world. They're comfortably

35:11

at this stage, they were nowhere near their best

35:13

and they won comfortably at the

35:15

weekend. But they are comfortably the best

35:17

team in this tournament. But that doesn't mean they

35:20

go and beat everybody because it's

35:22

kind of, you know, the mighty Maidstone

35:24

United might have fallen last night. But actually,

35:26

you know, in there are certain sports where

35:28

to a point, someone

35:30

can come along and just, you know, win

35:32

games are not supposed to win. But

35:36

generally, you know, that's, it's not possible. But

35:38

in a game of pro rugby, you've got

35:42

15, you know, incredibly strong, motivated blokes.

35:44

And actually, you might find that England

35:47

might have such a chip on their shoulder at

35:49

the moment, because they're just, there's just nothing positive

35:51

being said about England at the moment, there's just

35:53

nothing and one

35:55

thing that can either have no effect on players because they

35:57

brush it off and don't listen to it or read it.

36:00

It can have a negative effect where their heads, you

36:02

know, push their heads down for them, cause

36:04

them to bow their heads a bit, or

36:08

it can actually really motivate them and say, well, we'll go out and

36:10

prove the point. Just

36:12

before we go on to England, I do have to

36:14

mention Calvin Nash, I think has been a great find.

36:16

He had a really good tournament. Very good,

36:18

been very good at Munster, but been

36:22

really impressed with him and the way

36:25

he sort of fitted into Six Nations Rugby.

36:27

He has a little offload over the top

36:30

for James Lowe's try,

36:32

which was excellent. They

36:35

know how to put teams away. They know where the

36:38

space is and how to get the ball there, which

36:40

I know sounds super basic,

36:43

but they do, they're very

36:45

good at it. England

36:47

Dave, very good start for

36:49

England. A brilliant start, and

36:51

then you talk about James Lowe having an effect on

36:53

the game. I was about to say, is there any

36:55

winger in the Northern Hemisphere, at least at the moment,

36:57

who has as much of an effect on a game?

37:00

I can't think of anyone. Duham van der Merweh had

37:02

a very big win for the game of the weekend. Of

37:04

course he does. I was joking. Overall,

37:06

no there isn't. James Lowe just jokes so much. I

37:09

was joking. But Duham van der Merweh was, I

37:11

mean, you can, there's

37:13

two ways to look at it. No, there's

37:15

not, there's one way to look at it. You look at, for

37:18

example, the try he scores around

37:20

the outside, where he just gases Slade initially

37:23

I think. And then, but

37:27

you've got a pass, I think, from memory now. George

37:30

Ford is reaching up and jumping up, but reaching up above

37:32

his head to catch a pass. So

37:34

that's not a great pass. He then whips it,

37:37

he bullets it into the forehead of George

37:39

Furbank. And

37:41

I think it's Cam Redpath, I forget now, but

37:44

someone picks up the ball, gets it, Duham van

37:46

der Merweh and it's bye-byes. I mean, there's still,

37:48

as we've said many times on this pod, there

37:51

is just something exhilarating about seeing

37:53

somebody that big move that quickly.

37:56

He is quite something. To

37:59

say... I think I read

38:01

that all round he's an all round elite all

38:03

round contributor. I think he is significantly better in

38:05

attack than he is anywhere else That's

38:08

not a criticism. I think that is

38:10

absolutely his super strength. I don't

38:12

think he is selected because he's That's

38:15

his MO. An all-rounder. That's what he does. He's

38:17

not for someone of that size. He's not destroying

38:19

people in defense His kicking game. I couldn't really

38:21

tell you I'm sure it's fine, but I couldn't

38:23

really tell you It's not what he's there for

38:25

but I I do love the

38:28

idea of Do being

38:30

a bit South African about it and picking specialists

38:32

for what they're good at and actually saying well

38:34

We'll work on the rest, but you're

38:37

good at that. It's a bit like the Emmanuelle Faye

38:39

Woboso thing He's only played a couple of minutes here,

38:41

but comes on and has an impact and

38:43

oh Unbeliefably

38:45

strong man quick and strong and you think

38:48

well watch his vision like when he's yeah

38:51

That's not that's just off the cuff. He's just

38:53

looking he's hanging behind and But

38:55

good real good communication. I'm not sure who was

38:57

on at scrum half there to pick him out,

38:59

but Brilliant brilliant

39:01

ears to hear him come around. It's

39:03

the pace that does everyone. Yeah, wasn't it? Yeah, of

39:06

course it is and just so you're strong in contact

39:08

and all those things but then Almost

39:11

like because we are Rugby

39:13

people or perhaps it's just us locks were English.

39:15

It's like yeah, but what's he like in the

39:17

air? What's he like defensively? Yeah, okay. I've watched

39:19

all his Chiefs games this year They running a

39:21

blitz which should help him with England and

39:24

there are times when he's looked out of position He's

39:26

looked at a bit a bit all at sea. All

39:28

right. Well, how about

39:31

when he gets the ball? He's an absolute nightmare and

39:33

we we help him with the rest. I kind of

39:35

I like that idea Fonda

39:37

murder is not he's not quite that he's not

39:39

a liability anywhere, but he is just so far

39:41

ahead in terms of attack Than

39:44

anyone that currently playing for England. He

39:46

was fantastic at the weekend and I

39:49

Think you've got a mate who's a

39:51

Scottish mate and he texts me instead All we're hearing

39:53

about is how poor England were and how we had

39:55

didn't have to work for this and that I said

39:57

Well, there is a balance here like Scotland was definitely

40:00

the better side there's no question but

40:03

I don't remember watching an England game

40:06

where they mate almost like you

40:08

know we're not allowed to you know we're high-performance nation

40:10

it's not tier one anymore is it but a tier

40:12

one game where a team makes so many errors

40:15

just simple errors I

40:17

know like yeah the fur bank

40:20

drop ball or the pass I

40:23

mean it's great pace from Van

40:26

de Merver but that is a mistake and I

40:28

know that's what happens in rugby you know you

40:31

feed off teams mistakes the blitz

40:33

defense was all over the shop when Hugh Jones

40:35

goes through and that's probably why but that

40:37

probably just shows you the the

40:41

combination takes a little bit of time

40:43

Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade Henry

40:45

Slade's looking for the pass out the back

40:47

Ollie Lawrence and Ford have basically

40:49

got the same person and that's

40:52

where the damage is done because Ford pushed

40:55

out with Danny care but

40:59

I think it's Turpaluto as just

41:01

held Lawrence and it just

41:03

goes through way too easy you shouldn't you should be

41:06

going through on a play

41:08

like that nowadays because you

41:10

would have you have done

41:12

that in training you were defending that in training every

41:14

single time because that's a standard stock play of

41:17

a 12 taking it so

41:19

miscommunication call

41:21

it what you want just combinations not working

41:24

a new combination you know

41:28

slave wouldn't play too many times with Lawrence would

41:30

he no the back line

41:32

never played together before and that's what that's that

41:34

is a real thing I mean it that these

41:36

aren't excuses from an Englishman it could make some

41:38

massive difference but they just looked so

41:40

disjointed and so

41:44

in cohesive I was you know shocked is

41:46

the wrong word I wasn't I had my

41:48

feet up with great charmers having a pint

41:50

and a plate of chicken yeah he texts

41:52

me to say that when who's got the

41:54

first try for England we've got now George

41:56

Fairbank George Fairbank he said when he

41:58

scored that try I used to up and shushed

42:01

everyone when they were

42:03

like, shh. I was quite chuffed. It was great. They're

42:05

a great start from England but they just,

42:09

I think, fell apart probably isn't quite

42:11

right but defensively they're still learning this

42:13

system so it's

42:16

easy to say we should be patient, what else are we

42:18

going to do? We're fans watching a team and actually of

42:20

course you're going to be patient and it will take time

42:22

but it didn't

42:24

quite come together. It just isn't happening

42:27

at all. That was a lovely

42:29

indicator of how England might play but that was one of

42:32

the last times I think they

42:35

sent a load of options steaming onto the line at

42:37

the same time and really caused

42:39

the Scotland defenders to think, oh my god, what's happening? Who

42:41

should I hit? Well, Fairbank was

42:43

in the squad for that reason, wasn't he?

42:45

To add more attack and shake to the

42:47

team. Now what do you do now

42:50

for the next game? Because there has

42:52

to be some

42:54

consistency in selection especially because England are similar

42:57

to Wales at the moment. They don't know

42:59

their best team so you

43:01

can't change the team every single week. Is

43:04

it a case of right, Fairbank, we need him in

43:06

our team because he's that good and he's been playing

43:08

that well and he adds another element

43:10

to our attack or does

43:13

Freddie Stewart come back in to shore up the

43:15

back and to be a safe pair of

43:17

hands? Where do you think selection should

43:20

change? What I think is

43:22

if you're playing against the team, now you played in

43:25

the backs right so you tell me if this is

43:27

inaccurate and of course it's not a rule, it's just a

43:29

tendency. I think if

43:31

you're against the team that you absolutely know is going

43:33

to steam out of the blocks and try and blitz

43:36

you, it's hard to deal

43:38

with but there are various things you can do.

43:40

You can stand really, really deep and actually pass

43:42

back really, really deep and actually work your way

43:44

around them because they're narrow and they're flying up

43:46

so you work your way around them in that

43:48

sort of that wide channel and you

43:50

almost go back and around, that

43:53

can really work. You can run

43:55

intricate really, really last split second,

43:57

last second plays at the line,

43:59

went like the one that sent Hugh Jones through against

44:01

England. You

44:04

can do that but another thing in

44:06

terms of kicking is quite often

44:08

you'll find that people pelt the ball effectively

44:10

because if everyone is steaming off the line,

44:13

if you leave your wingers back to cover

44:15

kicks with your full back there is quite

44:17

easy space to access by going back and

44:20

around or cross field kicks so quite often

44:22

you send the wingers up to a point

44:24

as well so you just boot it

44:26

over their head so the ball is instantly behind 14,

44:28

13 or 14 oncoming defenders. My thoughts think

44:34

against blitz defenders there's a bit less kicking to

44:36

compete there's a bit more boot

44:38

it long because the further you

44:40

kick it the further the

44:42

ball is behind all of these advancing defenders they've

44:44

got more work to do so to

44:46

that end I think you almost don't need Freddie

44:49

Stewart because most of the kicks are going to

44:51

be reasonably long and easy to

44:53

take so you're better off having a counter

44:55

attacking fullback so I think you don't necessarily

44:57

need a king of the air when

45:00

you've got a blitz defense because people aren't

45:02

necessarily putting it up as

45:04

much they're kind of just booting it back over

45:06

your head almost going for distance and grass because

45:08

you've got so far to get back to help

45:10

your fullback so I think

45:12

but I don't know maybe. I don't

45:15

know what you mean but it's not all of

45:17

first phase is it? It's second, third, fourth phase.

45:20

The challenge. Yeah it's

45:24

I mean Finn Russell is probably the ideal

45:26

player to play against the blitz mind like

45:28

if you're playing against the blitz you

45:30

need someone like that at 10 maybe

45:32

George Ford as well because they

45:35

see things that other

45:38

players don't and your kicking game has to be

45:40

spot-on but you're attacking kicking game I

45:42

think I think if you

45:44

play against a team like England there

45:46

is so much space in those

45:49

wide channels but the key is set

45:51

piece because if you get

45:54

four quality set piece ball that blitz

45:56

defense is amazing because that has

45:58

a knock-on effect doesn't it? going back

46:00

if it takes a little bit of time

46:02

if the delivery is not right off the

46:04

line out. It's an extra two or three

46:06

metres that that blitz can just gobble up.

46:09

I don't know, I think,

46:13

I mean, the blitz does

46:16

work for England when they get it right, but

46:19

it is such high risk that if it doesn't go

46:21

right, then you're making big gains,

46:23

aren't you? Huge gains. Yeah,

46:25

and I keep hearing people, tell me what you

46:27

think about this, I keep hearing people like, I'll

46:32

tell you I bumped into, it was Mark Atkinson, you

46:34

know, Akky from Gloucester. Every

46:37

time I see him, I forget, he's

46:39

about six five, he's enormous. Yeah, mate, he's

46:41

a huge lump. Huge guy. So I bumped

46:43

into him and we were just talking about

46:45

it because we're boring guys but he

46:48

was like, you know, he made a, we had a

46:50

conversation around, yes, you're blitzing, but

46:52

if so and so or Henry Slade or whoever,

46:54

Ollie Lawrence sees that a drifter, you've got to

46:56

step out and take your man and you've got

46:58

to be flexible. And it's like

47:00

that's fine if you're all about to shoot up and

47:03

someone makes a call and you change, but actually, if

47:05

you're steaming up and you step out

47:07

of a system that everyone's learning, what you've done is

47:09

step out of a system. So next

47:11

time it happens, the lads unconsciously or consciously

47:13

won't rely on you to be in the

47:15

right place. So it's easy to

47:17

say, oh, we should have drifted down

47:20

or whatever, but everyone has to do it. You

47:22

can't step out of a system because

47:24

then you will show off to everybody and

47:26

they will, you know, so you

47:28

can't just say move up and read it. It's like

47:30

you, you almost have to make a call in your

47:32

first couple of steps or before you take a couple

47:34

of steps. You can't just move up on one guy

47:37

that just buggers off like you can't do that.

47:39

You run it full pelt, mate, you can't change

47:41

direction. Yeah. Um, kicking one out is key, I

47:43

think as well, because you kick off source. You

47:47

can obviously see that as a winger or a

47:49

center, you can see that all being transferred to

47:51

the boot and you do have time, I

47:54

think to adjust slightly. If you

47:56

kick one out, which the nine then comes into play. So

47:58

if you can get it as a, as

48:01

an attack if you can get your nine involved as well

48:04

you can kick one out if you kick one out that

48:06

means the wing has to come up that little

48:08

bit further and there is so much space out

48:10

there so much space the kick has to be

48:12

good but the kicks not good the cover will

48:14

come across but if kick is good you're

48:17

on front football all of the

48:19

blitz defenders can't recover in time

48:21

because they're sprinting up usually they've got to stop

48:23

run back but you

48:27

do have to be I would say 90 plus percent

48:30

accurate to be able to get

48:32

outside the blitz if you're not you're

48:35

screwed it will gobble you up yeah and

48:37

that's where that's where it can be so

48:39

effective but England got it

48:41

wrong and maybe they just have to readjust

48:44

they have to learn I'm sure

48:46

there'd be conversations between 10 12 13

48:50

about how not to get broken again in that

48:53

situation by Hugh Jones what I would say see

48:55

only two or two you know great vision better

48:57

put him through like that because you've got so

48:59

much to think about as a 12 jeez he's

49:02

some player he is some player

49:04

him and Bandiaki yeah I love them

49:06

they're brilliant they're just they've got a

49:08

whole repertoire of skill sets

49:10

mate yeah on his attack and kicking

49:12

games are great defensively solid vision

49:15

amazing passing game great got

49:18

it all they're improving like

49:20

their games are becoming more rounded they're better players than

49:22

they were three or four five years ago they've they've

49:25

always been powerful and direct and a

49:28

nice you know nice set

49:30

of skills but actually they are so much better

49:32

than they used to be they look really well

49:34

coached they look like they've got I think what you

49:36

call these days a growth mindset but they are

49:38

improving all the time but they're such good players

49:40

and I don't know England selection will

49:42

be interesting because it's easy to say

49:44

well you gotta start Finn Smith because it hasn't worked it

49:46

wasn't quite work you got to start things with you got

49:48

to start them okay it's

49:51

Island at home and it's big England are

49:53

staring down the barrel of winning two games

49:55

at a six nations again which for England

49:58

England shouldn't be only winning two

50:00

games. It's not a God given right, of course

50:02

it's not, but there's a huge amount of resource, a

50:04

large number of very good players in the Gallagher Premiership,

50:06

which is a brilliant league. You

50:09

know, lots of other teams from other leagues wouldn't mind

50:11

the part of the Gallagher Premiership. So

50:13

you shouldn't be only winning two games. What I would

50:15

say is that, well that selection

50:17

will be fascinating for one, but

50:20

having watched France, Italy, if we move on

50:22

to that, England have a lot

50:24

less to fear from France at

50:26

the moment than we all thought they might at the beginning

50:28

of the tournament. They lost Jonathan

50:30

Donte basically halfway through the game for

50:33

a pretty obvious upright tackle, red card,

50:35

yellow bunker turned red. I

50:40

didn't quite know how it wouldn't be a red in it,

50:42

it was a red in the end. But nonetheless

50:46

even when he was on, he wasn't

50:48

utilised well at all, not really, and

50:51

they never looked like putting it together

50:53

really in terms of attack. They

50:57

looked really disjointed and it looks

50:59

like, I could

51:01

be talking rubbish, but it looks like the World

51:04

Cup hangover is a big

51:06

one in France and it's almost

51:08

non-existent in Ireland. So the Irish mindset has

51:10

really helped them and they said we are

51:13

still, we believe we're the best team

51:15

in the world, one of the best

51:17

teams in the world, we're going flat

51:19

out still. France are, honestly they

51:22

look a shadow of the team at the moment that

51:25

we saw at the beginning of that leading into the

51:27

last World Cup. I

51:31

know it's a team of 15, but

51:33

he plays in arguably the

51:35

most important position for him

51:38

and they

51:40

look totally different without him. He dictates that he's

51:42

a team player, he

51:44

dictates where they play, how they

51:46

play, everything comes through him because

51:50

he's that good.

51:53

I've never looked at

51:55

a team and thought there's one player

51:57

there that has more influence in a game

51:59

than me. than anybody else than I've ever seen than

52:02

Dupont, France. I'm trying to

52:04

think of a team in my head now that one

52:07

player has that much effect.

52:09

Yeah, it's hard. He's that good.

52:12

He is the best player in the world. And

52:14

Maxime Lucu, who's been playing nine,

52:16

who was Dupont's understudy last

52:19

season or two, he plays at

52:21

Bordeaux with Mathieu Jallier-Barre, he plays 10,

52:23

and for Bordeaux, they've just been in

52:25

amazing form, and he's a brilliant player.

52:27

Yeah, they have. He's a brilliant player,

52:30

Lucu. I watched a

52:32

few whole Bordeaux games, and on the recommendation

52:34

of a mate, Dave

52:36

Beresford, who knows his French rugby, he's got to watch

52:38

these games, you've got to watch Lucu and Jallier-Barre, and

52:40

I know it's the club rugby, but so

52:43

good. Lucu's so good at running a

52:45

game, and you thought- Shows

52:47

you the level now, though, doesn't it? Yeah, you think,

52:49

God, it's just another world-class scrum half, but it

52:51

just hasn't worked, or it just isn't working, and

52:54

that's why I think Nohan Legarek, the only 21 on the bench, the

52:58

wrassing scrum half, he's got

53:00

areas like, you know, he'll put the odd box kick out

53:02

on the fully, he'll try and make a break when he

53:04

shouldn't, he'll fling the odd pass to

53:06

Jupiter, but actually, he's a proper threat,

53:08

and I wonder if he might get

53:10

the start next week, and we've got

53:12

the next. Go to Worlds. I wonder if he might, because it just

53:15

isn't working at the moment, they really, really don't

53:17

look great, and Sean Edwards, after the game, said,

53:20

look, we've, you

53:22

know, we've got a man down for a good chunk of the

53:24

game, for half a game, and we've got the draw, could be

53:26

worse, defense was all right. Agreed, agreed.

53:29

What about their set piece? Because

53:31

that's what worries me for

53:34

Wales, in a couple of weeks' time, would be, yeah,

53:38

the physicality they've got, because they are physical, they've

53:40

got a physical pack, and we

53:42

saw what Ireland did to the Welsh

53:44

scrum, we saw what Ireland

53:46

did with their carries, even though Wales

53:49

scrambled pretty well defensively, yeah,

53:51

I just worry about that

53:53

power. Well,

53:55

they crossed, Gregory Aldrich, it's a massive

53:57

loss, if he don't know if he's going to play against Wales.

54:00

He's a massive loss and would be to probably any team

54:02

in the world But crows

54:04

who played cross suit normally plays six

54:07

he played eight and he was really really good He wouldn't

54:09

say he's quite an alternate sleep as an eight, but he

54:11

was really really good first cap carried

54:13

really well, but and But

54:15

they've got stay do have Malvac as a brilliant carrier March

54:17

on carries Well when he comes off the bench,

54:20

you know, you've got weenie Antonio But

54:22

you're right you're right to worry about the set piece

54:25

because they got a long a lot of long strong

54:27

boys in their line-outs They get up

54:29

nicely when they're on it and their scrum The

54:31

problem you've got is that they've

54:33

got weenie Antonio on the tight head and whoever

54:35

played as right-hand lock to a lang he played

54:37

in the day and he actually played really Well

54:39

when he was on you got a

54:42

hundred and let's just call it 150 kilos with 150

54:44

kilos behind him both of whom Have

54:48

got venomous intentions in the

54:50

scrum these days and it is really

54:52

hard, you know Then it

54:54

Dan and Ellie Foschetti the Italian loose said I

54:56

love that guy. I think he's a brilliant player He's

54:58

a really really good prop but

55:00

him plus his second row. I mean

55:03

you are talking about a 60 70

55:06

kilo difference in weight Just just the

55:08

two on two on the side of the scrum

55:10

back rows out a bit and all that But

55:12

the French back rows are massive. They pick long

55:14

guys, you know, Charles olive on his six six,

55:17

you know They pick big guys. So there

55:19

is just only so much you can do if

55:21

you are if you're not heavy weights And you get

55:24

properly out the blocks They

55:26

they can tune you up So

55:28

they I'm hoping for is there a problem

55:31

quite Yeah, quite a bit of a lack

55:33

of self-belief and confidence from the French Yeah,

55:35

which is gonna happen and is

55:37

it Cardiff which will make

55:39

a bit of a difference? Yeah, I think you're right

55:41

and and you know, yeah, I think you're right, but

55:45

France don't look anywhere near it and Italy at the

55:47

end. I mean Capoazzo

55:49

was the guy most likely to score Men

55:52

in cello we keep waiting for him just he looks like he's

55:54

gonna star at some point But he hasn't quite done it yet

55:56

out on the wing. He's a bit less likely to you might

55:58

argue but kick at

56:00

the end, I re-watched the last

56:02

kick for old Paulo Garbisi and

56:07

I feel like perhaps there was a case there

56:09

for it to be reset and of course saying

56:11

these things in hindsight is really easy but when

56:13

you're in it, so we're

56:15

concentrating, we're not under anywhere near the

56:17

pressure that people are on the field

56:19

like referees, officials and all that

56:22

but there's an awful lot of movement in front

56:24

of Garbisi considering the shot clock is ongoing and

56:26

you just wonder if, well

56:28

there wasn't, there

56:31

was a movement until the ball fell over and then there

56:34

was a bit of a lack of knowledge

56:36

I think from the French players that walking

56:38

towards it thinking it was open play when

56:41

it's not, I think

56:44

the problem was then he only had 10 seconds

56:46

to put the ball down and kick it so

56:48

whichever way he's holding it but he'd got a

56:50

kick on the position just before that because

56:53

I think he's going to nail this yeah well

56:55

I'm thinking if the ball doesn't fall over he

56:57

nails it but then that moment then where he

56:59

has to rush it, yes the rushes go

57:02

back so

57:04

not really I think just shows you I

57:06

mean there wasn't, what conditions like there Dave,

57:08

it wasn't that bad was it? Nope, no.

57:11

The windy? No. The

57:13

roof was shut. Yeah of course it was

57:15

but shows you how important it is to

57:17

make sure that the ball is

57:19

secured properly on the tee. Yeah I felt

57:21

really sorry for him he came on the, I

57:24

was standing still behind, standing behind Topsy Abigail

57:26

and he interviewed him after the game and

57:29

with a bit I could hear where I'm just really sorry

57:31

it's my fault I'm really sorry to all

57:33

the fans and players or something like that and you just think

57:35

ah you're poor bloke I mean. Poor

57:37

bloke but it hits his job to make sure the ball

57:40

is securely on the tee to make sure he's got the

57:42

right tee, there's the right length that can pull that from

57:44

the angle. You are an uncool giving fast. I'm not mate,

57:46

I'm not, I'm not but that

57:48

is a kickers job and I feel for him but

57:52

it's obviously he had the weight

57:55

distribution from where he's angled the

57:57

ball on the tee hasn't worked

57:59

he's not put it down Craig, which is the first part of his

58:01

job is to get that ball securely on the tee. I

58:10

did feel for him, I'm human after all. It

58:13

would have been like, you're the same as

58:15

me, you know, if you're, I'm

58:17

at Scotland and England lose and I

58:19

know the scoreboard suggests otherwise but it's

58:22

a reasonably comfortable victory for Scotland, they

58:24

were definitely the better side. I

58:26

definitely want England to win and I,

58:29

but I, you know, I can still have a good day,

58:31

you know, even when my team and

58:33

inverted commas lose I can still enjoy my day, wish

58:36

England had won, talk honestly about it and all that.

58:38

But in a game like France, Italy, I genuinely

58:41

got no vested interest in who wins other

58:43

than being a sports fan

58:45

and being part of the media. So

58:48

if I could have chosen what happened, it

58:50

would have been France to just rampant absolutely

58:52

back to their best because it makes the

58:54

next two fixtures mega. I'd love them to

58:56

have scored 70 points and Dami and Panno

58:58

to have scored five tries. But

59:01

his front answer just undercooked, they just looked undercooked,

59:03

they don't look a great team at the moment.

59:06

Then it switches and I actually felt gutted at

59:09

the end because the great story here is Italy

59:11

winning. That's a great story. And

59:13

we love an underdog, everyone loves an underdog,

59:15

everyone loves someone that isn't expected to win.

59:17

Yeah, in terms of the story, you're probably

59:19

about right because it was two teams that

59:21

just weren't quite at it in Italy up

59:23

until that point. I think I said it

59:25

in comms. Yeah, they

59:27

they'd shown something

59:29

approaching zero composure in the French third for the

59:32

whole game. Whenever they got there, they found a

59:34

way to chuck the ball on the floor, lose

59:36

it at the breakdown, pass it on

59:38

the floor into touch, like do something where the

59:40

coach must be thinking, why on earth have you

59:42

managed to do that? And then

59:44

they showed composure when it mattered to score the

59:47

try. But brutal for them. I

59:49

mean, just brutal. But that

59:51

sport told me and someone said afterwards, it's like

59:53

kissing your sister. Australians

59:56

love saying that when it's a draw. But

59:58

I never I never caught it. I don't

1:00:00

quite understand that setting. It's like I don't want

1:00:03

to kiss my sisters. My sisters are lovely but I

1:00:05

regard kissing my sisters as a loss, not a draw.

1:00:10

In this country, yeah. I

1:00:13

don't have any sisters in the other country. Anyway,

1:00:16

it was a great weekend and Hydra armor

1:00:18

at the end and actually the

1:00:21

game in Leal needed that because it wasn't great

1:00:23

up until that point. It was two not great

1:00:25

teams slugging it out a bit but to

1:00:29

offer the sort of compliment that a 10

1:00:31

year old would make, shit some

1:00:33

of those French boys are a big mind. You're

1:00:35

down on a touchlight and you're like, we're used

1:00:38

to massive men. Honestly mate, you've

1:00:41

got Weenie Antonio is so big,

1:00:43

head on him, he's so big

1:00:45

and then Roman Talpha-Fonua walks past

1:00:48

and Weenie Antonio looks like a 15 year

1:00:50

old with a beard. He's so big. Even

1:00:55

Ficke who's a massive bloke mate, even Olive

1:00:57

on. So

1:00:59

big, yeah. Aldrich always I think, I always

1:01:02

think of myself, he carries so well and powerfully

1:01:04

for someone who's not that big. He is that

1:01:06

big. I met him at the weekend, he's big

1:01:09

from behind us like, who is that? So

1:01:12

you blokes like me and you, we like to think, well

1:01:14

the lads aren't much bigger now, they're just in better condition.

1:01:16

No, no, no, no, no. They are

1:01:19

like trees, some of these boys, they're like

1:01:21

oak trees. You

1:01:23

see these lads walking past, they're not normal fella.

1:01:27

No, I know. Well,

1:01:29

I think that will do us boy.

1:01:31

It's been a long one. Yeah, why don't you keep

1:01:33

going. Enjoy this rest week. Well no,

1:01:36

I'm flat out again as of early tomorrow morning now,

1:01:38

that's it. Alright, well

1:01:40

try and get your breath back somewhere. Yep,

1:01:42

be all good. I'm not

1:01:45

that flat out, do three days mate, come on.

1:01:47

We'll have a little chat next week, I've got

1:01:49

a couple of games this weekend. Oh well, I'm

1:01:52

going to do a few games. I can't talk

1:01:54

Monday because I've got a walk, so maybe we'll do

1:01:56

Tuesday. Oh, Monday's a big walk, is it? Monday's

1:01:58

a big walk. you

1:02:01

got a good kick on big heart yeah

1:02:04

you've got an engorged heart wrapped

1:02:06

in salted butter all right oh

1:02:09

talking of food I've got a um rolled

1:02:12

pork belly in the oven and

1:02:16

you won't you won't hear this in the edit because I'll obviously

1:02:18

edit but that's what I had to run off to turn it

1:02:20

down a little bit oh god forgot it

1:02:22

was up high um if

1:02:25

you ever want on yeah field

1:02:29

and flower obviously if you ever want Phil

1:02:31

Vickery to turn up somewhere

1:02:33

anywhere tell

1:02:35

him there's a rolled pork belly okay

1:02:38

on offer all right yeah no

1:02:40

one likes pork belly as much as our fill okay

1:02:44

right sir ah okay

1:02:55

when you wake up well rested on a

1:02:57

great mattress everything becomes clear huh I

1:02:59

do make everything about me things you

1:03:02

missed when you were tired finally reveal

1:03:04

themselves my passport is in the pocket

1:03:06

of the duffel bag I took to

1:03:08

Mexico at Mattress firm we know the

1:03:10

right mattress matters we also know that price

1:03:13

does too so if you see a lower

1:03:15

price somewhere else we'll match it plus you

1:03:17

get free and fast delivery shop in store

1:03:19

or online at mattress firm calm the right

1:03:21

mattress matters we'll find yours restrictions apply see

1:03:24

store website for details a new

1:03:26

year is a great time to make important changes to

1:03:28

grow your business but if you're stuck

1:03:30

in the trenches of daily tasks like managing

1:03:32

order fulfillment you can't focus on

1:03:35

what really matters increasing sales luckily

1:03:38

ship station makes it easy for you

1:03:40

to manage orders from one simple dashboard

1:03:43

while it handles tedious tasks like

1:03:45

printing labels comparing rates optimizing

1:03:48

every shipment and automating

1:03:50

delivery notifications with

1:03:52

ship station your business will be

1:03:54

more efficient while keeping costs low

1:03:56

with industry-leading shipping discounts make

1:03:59

this year your most profitable one yet

1:04:01

with ShipStation. Go to

1:04:03

shipstation.com to sign up for a free

1:04:06

three-day trial. That's shipstation.com.

1:04:11

AK's Powers, the world's best

1:04:13

podcast. Here's the show that

1:04:15

we work on. Are

1:04:18

you mindlessly swiping on Hinge? Coaxing your

1:04:20

hubby to binge Love is Blind? Wondering

1:04:22

where all the rose ceremonies and romantic

1:04:24

getaways are when dating IRL? Welcome to

1:04:26

Two Black Girls, One Rose. A podcast

1:04:28

uncovering what we can learn about modern

1:04:30

dating, love, and relationships from popular television.

1:04:32

I'm Natasha. And I'm Justine. We're best

1:04:34

friends, TV and film fanatics, and hopeless

1:04:37

romantics. And every week on our podcast,

1:04:39

we're dissecting your favorite TV show and

1:04:41

seeing if it can teach us a

1:04:43

thing or two about love. Look, if

1:04:45

I'm gonna spend hours watching Love is

1:04:47

Blind, I better learn something from it,

1:04:49

whether it's how to end my situation-ship

1:04:51

or how to not marry a man-child. Listen

1:04:53

to us on all podcast platforms every week.

1:04:56

And for bonus and video content,

1:04:58

join us on Patreon at patreon.com

1:05:00

backslash two black girls, one rose. Acast

1:05:06

helps creators launch, grow,

1:05:08

and monetize their podcasts

1:05:10

everywhere. acast.com.