Summer Tours 2022

[Theleinsterlad]

South Africa 30-14 Wales
Argentina 34-31 Scotland
Georgia 23-14 Portugal
USA 29-31 Chile (Chile qualify for RWC, in Pool D)
Samoa 23-20 Fiji (Samoa won PNC)
Tonga 22-39 Australia A
Uruguay 26-20 Romania

Great result for big Mike who captained Samoa at the weekend

[jezzer]

Spain murdered Canadà, which is at the same time pleasing for Los Leones but very concerning for a Canada setup that seems in slow and steady freefall...

[Morf]

Spain murdered Canadà, which is at the same time pleasing for Los Leones but very concerning for a Canada setup that seems in slow and steady freefall...

Seems to be getting worse and worse.

Forcing all the players to move/live in BC at the training centre there hasn't been well received I gather.

[dropkick]

Spain murdered Canadà, which is at the same time pleasing for Los Leones but very concerning for a Canada setup that seems in slow and steady freefall...

Seems to be getting worse and worse.

Forcing all the players to move/live in BC at the training centre there hasn't been well received I gather.

Remember the 2015 world cup they played some really great rugby but they were very critical and blaming Kieran Crowley for the results. That was bizarre. One of their opponents then was Italy who noticed Crowley's impact. But yeah it's a sinking ship at this stage.


On the other hand Spain continue to impress. I was shocked a few years back to hear 27,000 people were at the Spanish club final. The game has a decent sized following in Spain but getting thrown out of 2 world cups has been a big blow. They seem to have a good foundation and could be the next Georgia. Speaking of Georgia, Portugal missed a kick to level their match against Georgia near the end. So they must be strong too.

[Dave Cahill]

Spain murdered Canadà, which is at the same time pleasing for Los Leones but very concerning for a Canada setup that seems in slow and steady freefall...

Seems to be getting worse and worse.

Forcing all the players to move/live in BC at the training centre there hasn't been well received I gather.

Remember the 2015 world cup they played some really great rugby but they were very critical and blaming Kieran Crowley for the results. That was bizarre. One of their opponents then was Italy who noticed Crowley's impact. But yeah it's a sinking ship at this stage.


On the other hand Spain continue to impress. I was shocked a few years back to hear 27,000 people were at the Spanish club final. The game has a decent sized following in Spain but getting thrown out of 2 world cups has been a big blow. They seem to have a good foundation and could be the next Georgia. Speaking of Georgia, Portugal missed a kick to level their match against Georgia near the end. So they must be strong too.

Put a Phillip Browne type in charge and they'd soar - but would they be prepared for that?

[dropkick]

Seems to be getting worse and worse.

Forcing all the players to move/live in BC at the training centre there hasn't been well received I gather.

Remember the 2015 world cup they played some really great rugby but they were very critical and blaming Kieran Crowley for the results. That was bizarre. One of their opponents then was Italy who noticed Crowley's impact. But yeah it's a sinking ship at this stage.


On the other hand Spain continue to impress. I was shocked a few years back to hear 27,000 people were at the Spanish club final. The game has a decent sized following in Spain but getting thrown out of 2 world cups has been a big blow. They seem to have a good foundation and could be the next Georgia. Speaking of Georgia, Portugal missed a kick to level their match against Georgia near the end. So they must be strong too.

Put a Phillip Browne type in charge and they'd soar - but would they be prepared for that?

From what I heard they have political problems between the clubs etc but yeah if they get someone like Browne running it it would do them good.

[jezzer]

The last disqualification was harsh but fair enough to the letter of the law. But in reality it was an egregious bit of forgery by one club that the association would have been hard pressed to spot. The players were absolutely bulling about it naturally and calling for heads everywhere because it was the second case, but the real culprit was the club, who forged the number of days a SA player had spent in Spain so he would qualify as domestic. The guy had snuck off to SA to a wedding and the few days outside the country affected his total days of residency.

The issue does highlight an issue in Spanish rugby though, which is that they're stacking the national side with French and other overseas players who qualify for Spain.

The club scene is in very good health, in that the level of coaching and overall structure is really good.

But Spain needs to have a provincial tier level where they can compete with each other and with other foreign pro sides. Naturally the clubs are resistant. When Munster got stuck in SA, also stranded was a Catalan provincial team sent over as a trial to compete against the lower ties SA pro sides, with a view to them joining the mooted new league that the Irish A sides were considering joining. That seems to have fragmented for the moment, but the search goes on for a way for Spanish rugby to consolidate their talent and compete in a pro club format.