Back from my corporate jolly to game...some thoughts having not seen any replays or TV. Long-ish post. (Skip to he last 2 paras for the incisive bit)

Twickenham a pain to get to...and into. Ticket entry barriers weren't working, RFU needs to get its act together - pretty crap really. The crowd was far more respectful to the opposition and the kickers. First time I'd been to Twickenham for a test in about 10 years, so credit to the RFU. Atmosphere was great.

Pom tactics and decision making were excellent in the first 30 minutes - crap after that. Thought Farrell had a poor game - zero variation in his game. Underhill was astonishingly good for England and was my MoM.

AB backline was poor until Crotty came on and he seemed to give a lot of solidity. Thought SBW was poor and you wonder how long he'll be in the team. England targeted DMac with the high ball but he did OK and as well as anyone else - he certainly doesn't lack guts, thats for sure. On attack he was probably the most dangerous AB back. Thought our kicking game (inc. DMac) was shite. We looked way more dangerous when keeping the ball in hand.

Retallick & Savea were immense. BBBR utterly owned the Pom lineout, ruck, maul and, well, the whole pitch. Ardie seemed to be everywhere.

Ben Kay and Ugo Monye hosted a post match analysis for the corporate clients which was excellent. No argument that Lawes was offside from them. We then had a Q&A with Itoje and Danny Care.

Itoje & Care seemed good blokes but I was surprised by the complacency in their attitude. They thought that as they had only lost by 1 point they had scored a famous victory. Astonishing attitude in many ways. Hope I never hear an AB talk like that.

All in all, a mistake-strewn game. But we dogged a win - which I sense Hansen will be happy with

It's a childish, unfair thing to say but it's a pity Sexton wasn't playing.

Would have loved to seen his face at the final whistle

Been trying to sum up the utterly crass and inane questions that get asked at the daily press conferences until this popped into my FB feed...

Fitzy's reaction is impressive...

Good to see Krusty keepin his powder dry...

@kiwimurph said in England vs All Blacks:

This will be a proper test of how DMac handles 15.

Yes, Ironically. All those games at 15 he played against Sth Africa, Wales, the Wobbles, Argentina. France and Scotland were a walk in the park....

@Crucial said in Bledisoe #1:

Mate, here at the fern we have memories like elephants and not much imagination.

I blame Deans.

@Catogrande said in Coronavirus - Overall:

Boris's media front up had car crash written all over it. Reason? Cummings.

We have better things to sort out. Sack the fucker and get on with sorting out the country.

Too late now. Damage has been done.

He's ignoring the first thing and moving onto the second

@MiketheSnow said in Coronavirus - Overall:

Why didn't you take expert medical opinion to determine whether it was safe & prudent to travel to Durham?

He planned to drop his family off in Durham and then return to London. He got ill once he got there

Did you take a non-essential car journey during your time away from London? Simple yes, no answer.

He said he took a 20 minutes drive to see if he was capable of driving with his eyesight. Perhaps he should have driven to a ophthalmologist instead, but most have closed.

@Bones said in Coronavirus - Overall:

Circus. What a fucken pointless waste of time. What on earth did they hope to achieve from that? No way in hell that was going to change anyone's mind or help in anyway.

They're in a big hole.

Pretty clear this wouldn't be the clusterfuck if a statement with the facts had gone out 48 hours ago

@MiketheSnow said in Coronavirus - Overall:

So what was the point of driving all that way when they could have done exactly the same in their own home in London?

So he had child care available and could also be away from his London residence where demonstrators were targeting him and his family (he was receiving death threats)

Biden:" why is it that Joe Biden is the first in his family ever to go to a university? "

Kinnock: "Why am I the first Kinnock in a thousand generations to be able to get to university?"

The pithiest comment I can recall was " Because standards have dropped?"...

@Bones said in US Politics:

@Victor-Meldrew hey at least I still find myself shaking my head he said that. If it was trump I wouldn't bat an eyelash.

Biden once plagiarized a speech by Neil Kinnock.

Says it all.

Can someone explain to me how the US got to a state where the two presidential candidates are Trump and this bloke?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/05/22/biden-charlamagne-trump-black/

@Catogrande

Have heard thru the medical mafia grapevine that the NHS-run labs can have the worst delays. Poss. as they are dealing with greater variations in testing volumes (or because it's NHS-run....).

One I went to was run by Serco & Boots

Right. I've just had a Coronavirus test. Had flu-like symptoms and a dryish cough for a few days. Here's the detail.

BOOKING

Go online and enter your name and mobile number. You then get a SMS after 5 minutes which gives you a secure link.

Access that link, you enter personal details & your NHS number. Once you do that you get a choice of testing stations and times. Choose your appointment and you get sent an SMS and/or email with details and a QR code. You can get a test the same day in 30 minutes slots or the next day with 5 minutes slots. I booked a place 20 miles away

THE TEST

You arrive at the testing station, your QR code is scanned and you get directed to a reception area where your details are confirmed and then you head-off to the test area. Not as bad as has been suggested. I coughed a bit with the throat swab and the nostril swab was fine - hardly noticed it. You then leave and get the YES/NO test in 48-72 hrs via email/SMS

The whole thing was very simple, easy and slick - someone's done a bloody good job with this. Place was virtually empty and the Tester told me they were running at 10-15% capacity.

@MiketheSnow said in Coronavirus - Overall:

She must be a really shit aunt for them to drive 260 miles instead of 260 yards.

With all due respect Mike, we don't know if she had Coronavirus or not, or whether she was able to care for the child

You may be unaware, but It was reported this AM that his London-based uncle died of Coronavirus and another relative was poss. hospitalised - it may have been rife in the London-based family.