Wales vs England
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Daily Mail reckons match may be called off owing to strike action by Welsh.
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Hard-up Wales stars consider STRIKING, leaving England clash in doubt
EXCLUSIVE BY ALEX BYWATER: Wales players are considering the prospect of unprecedented strike action ahead of next weekend's clash with England.
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@pakman it's those fucking Tories ruining it for us all again innit.
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Fuck off you useless bastards
You’re not a train driver ffs
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Just as well the Welsh internationals are not on a performance and win bonus.
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Thought I was reading The Onion
Buy insurance you mental midgets
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@MiketheSnow said in Wales vs England:
Thought I was reading The Onion
Buy insurance you mental midgets
I've read a couple of articles and i can't quite understand the issue.
I read that some have an issue that their contract is expiring. Isn't that part of being a pro player?
But then, i also read the problem is the clubs/regions can't give contracts because they don't even know what their budgets are because the WRU won't release any info?
And then online chat is the WRU is fucked because it is still run by the amateur game, which cares more about which village has the best clubhouse?
I also read a great conspiracy where this the culmination of Gatland's plan to have weak regions so he got access to players whenever he wanted.
Hard to see what the real issue is other than the team on the field being a bit (lot) pants
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@mariner4life I took it as players simply not having any idea where to put pen to paper as WRU haven't decided anything so club signings can't happen. They also don't know if playing overseas will stop their international career.
Yes, expiring contracts are part of being a pro player but you mitigate the risks by making advance decisions. Those decisions aren't available at the moment. -
Wales match day squad announcement delayed. Still in protracted negotiations with WRU over pay/contracts.Not a good look for Gats in a WC year.
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England wider squad announced. Curry (T) out injured and replaced by Curry (B) with Earl dropped. Mako obviously knows where the bodies are buried or he trains like Jesus because I can’t think of any other reason why he’s there.
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Wales will be calling up the U20's to play the full English side at this rate.
It's looking dodgy whether the game will go ahead at this point unless someone backs down before tomorrow. -
@pooler-fan said in Wales vs England:
Wales will be calling up the U20's to play the full English side at this rate.
It's looking dodgy whether the game will go ahead at this point unless someone backs down before tomorrow.Players
We want contracts and moneyGame cancelled because of strike
WRU lose millions
Players
Where’s the money?It’s not going to happen
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@MiketheSnow said in Wales vs England:
Fuck off you useless bastards
You’re not a train driver ffs
They're not rich enough for starters.
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@MiketheSnow said in Wales vs England:
Thought I was reading The Onion
Buy insurance you mental midgets
Mike, I remember my Welsh friends (who seemed pretty well connected) saying that the Wales before Gatland took over had similar player issues - pretty much down to the attitudes of the players - and Gatland had to take a pretty hard line with a few of them.
Is this the case now or are their grievances a bit more genuine?
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@MiketheSnow said in Wales vs England:
@pooler-fan said in Wales vs England:
Wales will be calling up the U20's to play the full English side at this rate.
It's looking dodgy whether the game will go ahead at this point unless someone backs down before tomorrow.Players
We want contracts and moneyGame cancelled because of strike
WRU lose millions
Players
Where’s the money?It’s not going to happen
Could reverse that argument as well.
Point is that Union and players need each other and should work to agree. The moment one party refuses to keep looking for middle ground, so does the other. -
@Victor-Meldrew said in Wales vs England:
@MiketheSnow said in Wales vs England:
Thought I was reading The Onion
Buy insurance you mental midgets
Mike, I remember my Welsh friends (who seemed pretty well connected) saying that the Wales before Gatland took over had similar player issues - pretty much down to the attitudes of the players - and Gatland had to take a pretty hard line with a few of them.
Is this the case now or are their grievances a bit more genuine?
A and B
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Now on apparently
Wales v England Six Nations match to go ahead after crunch talks
The match had been in doubt due to a potential strike by Wales players after a contractual stand off with the WRU
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Curry (T) out for the rest of the 6N. Made me check his stats. 24y7m ish and 49 International caps. Not a particularly early starter internationally. Seems like whenever he can be picked, he is. England and Lions. It’ll be interesting to see if he keeps that imperative up.
Also didn’t realise he is the nephew of John Olver, former England hooker, who would have won a stack of caps but he was around the same time as Peter Wheeler.
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BTW I’m expecting a Welsh backlash this weekend. Not going to be easy for us Saes.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Wales vs England:
Now on apparently
Wales v England Six Nations match to go ahead after crunch talks
The match had been in doubt due to a potential strike by Wales players after a contractual stand off with the WRU
Oh there’s a surprise
Said no one ever
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@Catogrande said in Wales vs England:
BTW I’m expecting a Welsh backlash this weekend. Not going to be easy for us Saes.
You’ll have a bigger backlash from Caroline St
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The Sheriff
“It has been a distraction with everything that has been going on, but I have got to commend the players' professionalism in this," added Owens.
"When we have crossed that white line at training, we've prepared well and done our work as professional players. We are ready for Saturday.
"We have fronted up in training and prepared as we would for any Test match and are looking forward to going toe to toe with England."
Let’s fucking hope so
Meanwhile Nigel Walker has aged 10 years overnight
Poor bastard
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@MiketheSnow said in Wales vs England:
We have fronted up in training
I thought I saw on the news they walked out or skipped a training?
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A training session was cancelled to facilitate some negotiations
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The Wales Six Nations team that Gatland should announce to face England
Warren Gatland will name his Wales side on Tuesday ahead of the scheduled Test against England in the Six Nations
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Good interview with Mike Brown on Wales v England. Quite funny.
Wales? I really did hate them - Brown
Former England full-back Mike Brown recalls some of his iconic matches against a Wales side he used to hate - but not anymore.
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Happy with that
If we can win ball then our backs could be exciting to watch
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England:
15. Freddie Steward, 14. Max Malins, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Ollie Lawrence, 11. Anthony Watson, 10. Owen Farrell (capt), 9. Jack van Poortvliet, 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Jamie George, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Ollie Chessum, 6. Lewis Ludlam, 7. Jack Willis, 8. Alex Dombrandt.Replacements: 16. Jack Walker, 17. Mako Vunipola, 18. Dan Cole, 19. Courtney Lawes, 20. Ben Curry, 21. Alex Mitchell, 22. Marcus Smith, 23. Henry Arundell.
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@MiketheSnow jebus I had completely forgotten Halfpenny even existed.
Looks like a message being sent to Biggar.
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If those Welsh inside backs fire could be quite a game.
Or not.
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@Daffy-Jaffy Broadly happy with that England selection barring the replacement props. I'd like to see Arundell get more than a cameo too.
EDIT: Having said all that I will also be fuming if Smith only gets 10 minutes and has Farrell outside him. Give him some meaningful minutes and have a proper 12 outside him.
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@Catogrande Lawrence looks bloody handy eh, must admit I'd never even heard of him until the last game. Exactly the 12 NZ have been crying out for since Nonu off that one showing I saw.
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He came to prominence a couple of years or so ago when playing for Worcester and Eddie picked him on the basis of him being a replacement for Manu but then kept the ball away from him and then dropped him. His form dipped and then there was all the shit going on at Worcester. Since then he's moved to Bath and been carving up albeit at 13. However I feel that he can play either 12 or 13 dependent on who the other midfielder is. Against Italy they actually gave him a bit of ball and he showed that he can be dangerous. Then they stopped giving him the ball and kicked it all away and he got subbed off and Farrell moved to 12 (because that's been working so well) and our attack just shrivelled up and died.
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So Mike, what’s your take on the conciliation? From the outside it seems there’s been an agreement on the 60 cap rule and a seat at the table for the WRPA but sod all about the contracts?
It doesn’t seem to me that the boil has been lanced. The 60 cap rule is a positive for the guys that already have a high degree of security, not so much for everyone else. Not saying it’s a bad thing, just that it does nothing for the real problem.
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@Catogrande said in Wales vs England:
So Mike, what’s your take on the conciliation? From the outside it seems there’s been an agreement on the 60 cap rule and a seat at the table for the WRPA but sod all about the contracts?
It doesn’t seem to me that the boil has been lanced. The 60 cap rule is a positive for the guys that already have a high degree of security, not so much for everyone else. Not saying it’s a bad thing, just that it does nothing for the real problem.
Agreed
Ongoing
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@Catogrande the variable contracts are now optional instead of compulsory.
So a player could be offered 90k a year set or the option of 80k rising to 100k with bonuses.
Can't see anyone taking the variable option as the regional squads will be decimated and players will have little or no hope of securing any bonuses.
Apparently it's also been leaked that the WRU have given themselves an apparent 5% pay increase for this coming year on the back of cuts for the players.
Calm before the storm I think. -
Christ! If that last bit is true, they deserve to be hung out to dry. What a shit-show.
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Pulling your pants up one handed on the fly. World player of the year right there. Skills
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Already Faletau has made a difference
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@Jailbreak7 said in Wales vs England:
Already Faletau has made a difference
Seems to have been past it by the last world cup then started winding back the years.
