matbro1984

England's team to play the 2010 Grand Slam winners.

 

England: D Armitage (London Irish); M Cueto (Sale Sharks), M Tait (Sale Sharks), R Flutey (Brive), U Monye (Harlequins); J Wilkinson (Toulon), D Care (Harlequins); T Payne (Wasps), D Hartley (Northampton), D Wilson (Bath), S Shaw (Wasps), S Borthwick (Saracens, capt), J Haskell (Stade Francais), L Moody (Leicester), N Easter (Harlequins).

Replacements: S Thompson (Brive), D Cole (Leicester), L Deacon (Leicester), S Armitage (London Irish), P Hodgson (London Irish), T Flood (Leicester), B Foden (Northampton).

 

The best team England probably could put out considering, and it's vital Wilkinson bosses the game from 10 and doesn't play as deep as he normally would.

 

"And Johnson hinted that his side will adopt a positive approach against Wales at Twickenham. " - ROFL!

Fucking hell that's a bit optimistic

That's a pretty good team actually. Jesus Wilkinson v Stephen Jones will be the real contest though, I'd imagine.

This is comedy gold. If it's been embellished for effect, get into scriptwriting

I'm meeting Sharron Davies later. MILFy goodness.

Win~!

Just got back. She's tall, slender and really, really hot.

10 on the MILFometer right there.

The result for Wales I thought was flattering - not sure how it came across on TV but watching the match in the stadium it seemed that England were hampered by their own indiscipline. Whether or not that was entirely down to Welsh pressure I think is debatable.

Only Henson missing from the Wales team, and I don't feel we miss him. Again, I thoroughly expect us to put 20 points on the English. I feel we'll win the triple crown, yet lose in Paris.

Given the expectation in Wales, anything less than a crushing defeat of England tomorrow will be a disappointment to most. Seeing us Welsh optimistic is unusual, but welcome. I suspect a dismal Six Nations will be the catalyst for England to do something about their performances rather than output a lot of "we must front up next time" sound bytes.

As for the game, I think there is certainly potential for a large margin of victory, but I can't see that happening because like the Scotland game, Gatland may let his players ease off once a lead has been established. Preserve players for France and all that.

I think James Hook is a decent kicker, but i'm not in love with the guy. Or Shane Williams, for every one time he gets through the defense line there are ten when he gets put down quickly. The best person in the Wales team in my humble opinion is Lee Byrne. The guy is incredible when he's on and that's 95% of the time.

 

But i don't think we can count out Scotland guys. They have some strong players and good defensive line. It will not be like England Italy today.

Spot on - Lee Byrne is arguably the best fullback in the world right now. Not with you completely regarding Shane - a player whose hype precedes him but although he gets put down 9 times out of 10, he doesn't turn over possession in doing so, unlike Hook. Hence Shane's chances are worth the gamble as they will eventually lead to some highlight-reel moment whereas Hooks chances tend to lead to loss of possession.

Shame Henson doesn't handle our long-range kicking because he was phenomenal a few seasons ago (i.e. v England in 2005) but has shied away since. For me, Stephen Jones is still way ahead of Hook in all aspects of the game but you can see the merit of bringing Hook on at 60 minutes for some expansive play versus a tiring opposition

Historically, Scotland at home tend to fare well against Wales. Their Autumn games showed a lot more flair than the conservative play of the last 6 Nations (where they only scored 3 tries in 5 games, the lowest try scorers of the tournament and narrowly avoided the spoon) and they held world champs South Africa at half time only to go down 10-14 by the end. Good in defence, massively improving offence - Wales are in trouble.

Italy and England were woeful today. Any other team in the competition should have put have put 40 points on either of them, had they played them competing at that standard.

The Wales-England match next week will be an interesting test of where England really are right now - were they shit because they figured they could do the minimum and beat Italy or are they just plain bad. Cipriani not being in the squad was a good move - I don't get why he's being groomed for greatness when he just isn't that good a player. Obviously Wilkinson's shoes are big to fill, but still.

On the subject of hype, there's a lot of hype on Wales though, a flattering amount to be honest. I hope that unlike 2006 they aren't resting on their laurels from a previous year. (And that Gatland plays Jones ahead of James "I turnover possession 95% of the time but people jizz over the 5% decent work I do" Hook)

That ref was as bent as a

Meltzer said it was probably one of the best they've ever done.

He said what?The show is definately worth a watch, but you will forgive yourself if you happen to miss it. It was an okay show.

Glad to see Joe Calzaghe receiving the recognition he deserves - Sports Personality of the Year 2007.

It's a morbid suggestion, but I think this thread deserves a place in UKFF Gold. It's wrestling history as it happens. People will talk about this for years and years to come and we have a time line of events from his death surfacing and everybody RIP'ing him to the confirmation that he's a double murderer.

sorry, double-post

Bob Ryder at 1wrestling.com recently spoke with close friends and confidants of Chris Benoit, there were apparently warning signs that something was wrong with Benoit. One person who wanted to remain nameless said:"This wasn't roid rage, this was insanity. Roid rage doesn't last for 48 hours. There were signs that something was wrong. Stories have emerged that a year ago he became paranoid and believed he was being followed. He wouldn't let Nancy leave the house because he believed someone was out to get them."

I'll appreciate Benoit's work the same way. I don't see how the end of his life, this tragedy, in any way affects what he did in the ring or who he was in the ring. If Mozart had murdered five hundred people he'd still be one of the greatest composers of all time. Though, like Chris is destined to be, I don't think he'd be remembered for that. American wrestling has lost one of its virtuosos, you might argue one of the last great American wrestlers.The world's lost three more people in tragic circumstances.And wrestling itself's picked up yet another bruise.

Mate, nobody will be 'allowed' to feel that way about Chris. Hell, even I feel somewhat dirty by mourning Chris after what's happened. I just feel so uncomfortable with it all at the minute.

See, I think you're wrong there. Certainly there'll be some pressure to hate on Chris, we've seen evidence of that in this here thread. But I think Chris is going to be quietly ignored by the wrestling world from now on, ESPECIALLY if the report into his death opens up a massive can of worms. Lets not forget, if its decided by the media that WWE, its lifestyle, or the drugs or whatever is 'really' responsible for this, a lot of the focus of the anger is going to go away from Chris onto the big E. That's always what happens when some report or other decides something else is 'really' responsible. So in the end its down to each fan to come to terms with it their own way, either to look past the end and focus on the life, or to burn the idol and hate him to soften the blow of the deaths. You feel uncomfortable, and that's perfectly understandable, because this is one of the biggest shocks ever and there's a whole lot of issues to come to terms with. But eventually you will come to terms with it one way or the other. From what you've said, I think in the end you'll mourn Chris as much as his family. But I don't know you, and I'm just guessing.I'll fly a flag for him, no matter what anyone says.EDIT: I'm probably way too active in this thread, considering what it is, but I think getting my feelings out about this and talking with you lot is part of my own way of dealing with it. In a way I guess its led to some good, because I haven't posted on the UKFF in ages, and now I feel the need for a little digital company. I mean really, who the hell else is going to be able to share relevant feelings on the matter?

Maybe he had growth hormone deficiency or something.

Not only has a great wrestler passed, but this is multiplied by the fact that he's done so in a way that completely destroys any pedestal his fans put him on. I'm one of those who has desperately been trying to believe that my hero was a victim of circumstance; that maybe Nancy was killed in an accident, fell during a domestic or something and that Chris killing his son and himself was some psychotic reaction brought on by that, or that maybe it was a set up, a mob hit, anything other than what has sadly, the worst has been proven true. This is a really gutting day. Even though I know he killed them, I'm not overcome by feelings of 'that Benoit, what a complete bastard', and I know I should. I guess the shocking truth just hasn't set in yet.

PWTorch.com has learned that one major media entity has received an email purporting to be from a friend of the Chris Benoit extended family saying that Benoit accidentally killed his wife in a domestic argument, then panicked and killed his son later so his son could be with his mother rather than grow up without a mom and knowing his father as a murderer.

IF Benoit did this, surely it must have been something huge to tip someone over the edge like that. It's tragic that Benoit's wrestling legacy may be tarnished by the way his life has ended. I don't know Chris the person, none of us do, but as Chris Benoit the performer, R.I.P.What a horrible, horrible story this is. I am shocked, just totally stunned. My prayers are for the family left behind who have to deal with this huge loss.

A pile of questions to keep you busy. Thanks for any responses.Is there any truth to the rumour that Sid shat himself during his WM13 match?Why did Jerry Lawler not appear at Survivor Series 93 versus the Harts, and what was HBK supposed to be doing prior to being thrown into Lawler's place?What did Jim Neidhart do between the break-up of the Hart Foundation and starting the New Foundation with Owen?How did they explain the split of the Hart Foundation and the New Foundation on-screen?When was the first time that WWF acknowledged WCW's existance on-screen?How many Ultimate Warriors have there been? (Just kidding.)Plus one more question which didn't get answered from page 325...You know how we can find pretty clear (but tape quality) entrance themes from the early 90s? How did that music surface, as they were never commercially released?

A bunch of questions for you knowledgeable types- Why did HBK drop his half of the tag team title with Steve Austin in 97? (Both kayfabe and real-life reasons)- On the Wrestlemania 15 Anthology version, a bunch of entrance themes seem noticeably dubbed. In particular Big Show has the Corporation music dubbed in, what theme was he actually using and why was it dubbed?- After the Barber shop incident with Jannetty, but before he became aligned with Sherri, what theme music did Shawn Michaels use? - How did they explain Sherri suddenly ditching Ted DiBiase for HBK?- You know how we can find pretty clear (but tape quality) entrance themes from the early 90s? How did that music surface, as they were never commercially released?

Why is there supposed to be bad blood between Mickie James and Melina?

what are the best sites?

Tremendous thread Dopper - thanks for a great read.And if you happen to find the time to update this a few more times then I for one will be a very happy man!

Tremendous thread Dopper - thanks for a great read.And if you happen to find the time to update this a few more times then I for one will be a very happy man!

"Warrior took The Disciple under the ring. After hearing about Curt Hennig two weeks ago(went to the bathroom under the ring which was so gross it the two wrestlers hiding under the ring with him throw up)I don't even want to think about what Hellwig and Ed Leslie were doing down there.They probably brought their portable VCR so they could study the latest Japanese movesto incorporate into their future matches"- The Wrestling Observer Newsletter: September 21, 1998

Won