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Luck of the draw

October 18, 2023 in Life as we know it | Permalink

Just a few short months ago – back in August – I waxed lyrical in a post on these very pages on the subject of the delights and pleasures that we anticipated would be associated with the then upcoming 2023 Rugby World Cup.

This gripping competition has now arrived at the sharp end – with the quarter final matches having taken place this weekend just passed and with only the semis and the final to come.

The gentle reader may be wondering – therefore – why there has been a stony silence in these quarters on the subject since that last posting. Have we not been enjoying the splendid matches with which we have been regaled by the French hosts?

Well – yes, we have. There has been much joyous and exciting play at all levels of the competition – and some great games. It is truly wonderful to see the progress that has been made by a number of the Tier 2 sides.

The tournament has, however, been somewhat tarnished by the fact that – because the draw which resulted in the seeding for the competition was made more than three years ago – a number of sides have found themselves at a considerable disadvantage in terms of their current strengths. I have already made mention of the fact that the poor Scots (before the tournament ranked as number 5 in the world) found themselves in a pool which also included the world’s number 1 side – the Irish – and the number 3 side (and current world champions)- the South Africans. Other sides with considerably lower rankings found themselves in relatively easy pools.

I lamented in my previous post that the Scots would need to play out of their skins to get out of the pool stages – the which they duly failed to do.

This might just sound like the gripings of a sore loser, but the lop-sided nature of the draw has had other and greater effects. For example, the current top four sides in the world – the Irish, the All Blacks, the Saffers and the French might have expected to meet each other in a pair of titanic semi-finals, yielding two worthy contenders for the final. The latter will certainly still happen, but those two eagerly anticipated encounters actually took place in the quarter finals (Ireland/All Blacks – France/South Africa) and the two semifinals will as a result also include two sides who – with due respect to the Argentinians and to the English – are not playing at anywhere near the same level.

This is frankly disappointing and – whereas it will not in anyway diminish our enjoyment of the tournament – should not be allowed to happen again.

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Best game on earth

August 11, 2023 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

“RUGBY: No Time-Outs, No Blockers, No Pads = Best Game On Earth!”

When The Girl and I moved to Vancouver Island eight years ago and purchased our lovely home on the Saanich peninsula, one of the first things we did in our new abode was to watch the key matches in the 2015 Rugby World Cup – the which was taking place at that time back in the old country.

Now – as is often the way with such sporting events, the Rugby World Cup takes place every four years; the next tournament was thus held in 2019 – in Japan.

Now, this all means – you’ve got it! – 2023 is also a Rugby World Cup year! This year’s eagerly awaited event kicks off in September and is being hosted by the French. I will doubtless be posting more on the subject as the competition approaches.

What is happening at this point, however, is that the national sides that made it through the qualification rounds to the finals are currently engaged in warm-up matches and we are all watching keenly, looking for clues as to form and potential. This is rendered considerably more tricky by the sides taking the opportunity to experiment with squads and tactics, making it difficult to gauge exactly how each team is progressing.

The Scots (in whom, as you doubtless know, I have an interest) have now played two warm-up matches, the first against Italy (a slightly unconvincing but nonetheless welcome victory) followed by the first of two games against France, who are one of the favourites to lift the trophy in a couple of month’s time.

This match was at Murrayfield and – as expected – the French fielded what was essentially a second string side. Given the overall strength of their squad, however, such matters are somewhat immaterial – as was rapidly demonstrated by the powerful French side storming out to a 21 – 3 lead at half time.

The Scots – having clearly been on the end of some strong words during the break – came back at the start of the second half with a try of their own, but were shortly thereafter reduced to fourteen men following the sending off of prop, Zander Fagerson, for a dangerous clear-out that resulted in a head impact.

There would have been a time when the Scots would have folded, but this cohort are made of sterner stuff. in spite of being a man down they took the game to the French, scored two further good tries, before the nerveless Finn Russell slotted the penalty that won the Scots the game.

Though this was all most exciting and great to see, the Scots really are going to be up against it as things progress. Not only do they have a return warmup fixture this coming weekend in St. Etienne against the French first VI, but once the tournament proper starts in a few weeks time the Scots will have a serious battle to make it out of the group stages, facing – as the draw has most cruelly handed them – both South Africa and Ireland – who, along with France and the All Blacks, make up the top four seeds.

Ouch!

Still, we Scots are expecting – and hoping for – great things!

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Wow!

March 23, 2023 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

I posted – back in February – a really quite excited missive celebrating a Scottish Rugby triumph over the auld enemy on the opening weekend of this year’s Six Nations tournament – at Twickenham! Those who don’t follow such things may not be aware quite how big of a deal this was. The Scots won consecutive victories at the Home of Rugby for the first time in a very long time.

Subsequent to that post – in which I also looked ahead hopefully to at least two more wins in the competition – I kept fairly quiet, so as not to jinx the team. Well – the tournament finished last weekend and I need keep silent no longer.

As predicted, the Scots were unable to beat either the French or the Irish (currently numbers one and two in the world) – the latter completing a fine Grand Slam in Dublin on St. Patrick’s Day (many congratulations!). The Scots did, however, win their other two games, finishing with three bonus point victories and third place in the tournament.

Even more impressive is what those results have done to the current world rankings (see below) – a matter of considerable import in a Rugby World Cup year.

Let it be said at once that Scotland are in a fierce group in the World Cup. They will have to face to both the Irish (again) and the South Africans in the group stages and they would need to beat at least one of them to stand a chance of progressing to the later stages of the tournament. This is extremely unlikely – but we Scots are by nature infeasibly optimistic, so who knows?

…and, of course, nothing will stop us celebrating in the meantime.

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Huzzah!

February 7, 2023 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

Image by <a href=" https://www.vectorportal.com" >Vectorportal.com</a>, <a class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" >CC BY</a>It is not often that one gets to celebrate happy occurrences two days running. This just happens to be one of those occasions.

In my last post I announced the long-awaited arrival last Friday of my shiny new Canadian passport.

“Hurrah” – says I!…

Then – on the very next day – Scotland triumphed at Twickenham over the auld enemy in the Calcutta Cup.

“Hurrah and twice hurrah” – I cry!…

Yes – it is that splendid weekend at the start of an otherwise gloomy February when the Northern Hemisphere’s greatest sporting event – the Six Nations Rugby tournament – kicks off. This year – being a Rugby World Cup year – promises to be particularly exciting, with the current top two sides in world Rugby – the Irish and the French – taking part. Both sides started with an away win – the Irish convincingly at the Principality in Cardiff – the latter rather more tenuously in Rome against the Azzuri.

The final match was the aforementioned Calcutta Cup clash between Scotland and England at Twickenham. There was a time – not so long ago – that the Scots routinely took a drubbing at the Cabbage Patch. Indeed, one had to look back a long way to find any Scots wins at all. Of late and for the moment, however, the worm has turned. Scotland have won the last three such encounters – including consecutive wins away from home. This is splendid stuff! Over the last six years the English have won once – there was a magnificent 38-38 draw at Twickers – and the remaining four wins have gone north of the border.

So far, so good. However, the Scots are all too aware that they have not, of late, been able to follow up these excellent wins with consistent results elsewhere. Now – no-one is expecting them to beat either the Irish or the French this year, but wins against the struggling Welsh and the greatly improved Italians would be most welcome.

Fingers – etc – firmly crossed and many pious invocations to the rugby gods duly rendered…

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Doddie Weir

November 28, 2022 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

Doddie Weir
1970 – 2022
RIP


Very sad to report that the much loved Scottish and British and Irish Lions lock forward, Doddie Weir, passed away at the end of last week at the age of 52. Doddie was a fixture in the Scottish squad at around the time that Rugby turned professional in the 1990s and was a fan-favourite with the Murrayfield crowd. He turned out sixty one times for his country, played for the Barbarians six times and went on the 1997 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa.

Weir is known just as much, however, for the time after his retirement from the game. It was announced in 2017 that he had been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND), with the prediction that he would be unable to walk within a year. Instead of sitting back to await the inevitable Weir threw himself into campaigning and fundraising to help find a cure for MND, setting up the “My Name’5 Doddie” foundation which had, by June 2022, raised in excess of £8 million.

The “My Name’5 Doddie” foundation website obituary includes the following:

“Since making his condition known, Doddie has championed the campaign for more to be done for sufferers of the disease, both in terms of finding a possible cure, and with the treatment and welfare of patients and their carers.

Doddie’s work over the past five years saw him recognised with several honours and accolades, including an OBE, presented by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to rugby, MND research and the Borders community. He also collected Honorary Doctorates from both Glasgow Caledonian and Abertay Universities, as well as becoming a recipient of the prestigious Edinburgh Award. Within sport, a trophy named after him is now contested between Scotland and Wales, and he became recipient of the Helen Rollason Award at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony in 2019.

He also became a best-selling and nominated author, oversaw the design of his own distinctive tartan, and was captured on canvas by artist Gerard Burns, the painting now hung in the National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh.”

A giant of a man in every sense and a Rugby legend, Doddie Weir will be sadly missed.

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A surfeit of Rugby?…

November 7, 2022 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

…surely some mistake! How could such a thing be possible?

It has been sometime since I last mentioned the noble game of Rugby Union within these scribblings. ‘Too long!‘ – I hear you cry – and you are absolutely correct; a great deal has been going on in the sport and I am remiss not to have made mention of at least some of it.

The Girl and I have been greatly enjoying the Women’s Rugby World Cup – the which is about to arrive at its climax down in the Land of the Long White Cloud. The standard has been exhilaratingly high and the matches have for the most part been gratifyingly exciting. It also helps that the time difference means that live coverage (thanks TSN!) has been primarily in the evenings here in the Pacific Northwest. Jolly good show.

We found ourselves in something of a quandary with regard to our support last weekend when England went up against Canada in the first of the semi-finals. The winner would face either France or the hosts – the Black Ferns – in next weekend’s final and all four sides were in with a very good shout. Canada put up a terrific performance against the Old Country and pushed them to the last – losing only narrowly… though – it has to be said – not as narrowly as New Zealand, who won at the last gasp by a single point.

The mouth-watering final thus pits the Red Roses (currently ranked no: 1 in the world and on an unprecedented winning run of 30 victories) against the Black Ferns (current World Champions).

We can’t wait!

Where the rugby surfeit comes in is that the Men’s Autumn Internationals are now also under way. Since they are not being shown on the BBC this year (boo!) we have had to subscribe to DAZN to see any coverage. Having paid up we are determined to get value for money – and the schedule last weekend made that possible.

Having watched the Women’s World Cup semi finals on Friday evening – through to 1:30am PST – I was back in action for the second half of the Scotland/Fiji game (Scotland took a somewhat unconvincing win) which started at 6:15am on the Saturday. This was followed by Wales/All Blacks at 8:15 (back to school for Wales) – Ireland/South Africa (yet another famous win for the Irish) at 10:30 and France/Australia (the French – but again by a single point) at 1:00pm.

That’s a lot of rugby in 24 hours!

I didn’t have the energy to watch the England/Argentina game on Sunday (again at 6:15am!) and it sounds as though the England side felt much the same way.

I should also mention the English Premiership. Sad to see both Worcester and Wasps forced into administration and relegated this season. I feel sure that both will be back where they belong, though there are clearly financial questions to be answered across the whole of the Premiership. Rugby Union only relatively recently joined the ranks of professional sports and there is still much to be done to make things work reliably.

On the other hand, Bath Rugby (our team!) having been terrible last season (finishing bottom!) have now won a couple of games on the trot. I do so hope that this is the start of a major turnaround.

 

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Eddie Butler

September 19, 2022 in Life as we know it | Permalink

Eddie Butler
1957 – 2022
RIP

Keith O'Brien aka https://www.flickr.com/photos/gefailgof/ cilmeri, Eddie Butler and Iqwal, CC BY-SA 2.0

Further sadness this week at the news of the passing of Welsh rugby player/captain/journalist/peerless commentator/iconic voice of Welsh rugby.

It feels slightly awkward to be mourning someone even so loved and well known as was Eddie Butler (in the world of Rugby Union at least) at this time when most eyes are focused more intently on Westminster Abbey and on the great state occasion that is the funeral of the UK monarch… one who graced the throne for longer than any previous king or queen.

There is here – clearly – a lesson on the dispassionate nature of death, which as we know well – “Waits for no man“…

I was not really aware of Eddie Butler as a player; back in the early 80s my interest in rugby was still at a very nascent stage. Later, however, his commentaries, his journalism, his narration of many a program eulogising the game and its various campaigns and tournaments (particularly in that wonderful Welsh accent that just seems right for such occasions) became a fixture in the sporting calendar as much as did the great game itself.

Yet another colourful part of the fabric of our lives has gone and will be sadly missed.

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Vancity

April 14, 2022 in Flotsam and Jetsam, Photos | Permalink

My apologies! I have of late been falling down on my blogging duties. I offer as no more than a feeble excuse that things have been in-feasibly and, perhaps, unexpectedly busy of late. The Winter term at College has been building to its climax; we have been entertaining friends from abroad (more of that in a further post) and I have been trying to get a grip on all that is going on in the garden – between bouts of (less-unexpectedly) inclement weather.

I know… poor show all round!

I did promise more on the trip to Vancouver that featured in my last post. I took some photos and, whilst they are not that exciting, I will nonetheless share them with (ie – force them upon) the gentle reader.

As I mentioned in that previous post, the purpose of the visit was for The Girl to attend a conference organised by her First Nation at one of Vancouver’s hotels/conference centres. The event was very well organised and well attended – and clearly yielded extremely positive results.

The business side of things did not, however, prevent The Girl and I getting out on the first evening for a splendid romantic dinner at Cardero’s in Coal Harbour. Whilst The Girl tucked into the scallops I enjoyed a lovely piece of European Sea Bass (not that easy to find on the west coast) and we shared a really rather decent Chablis. Nice atmosphere too:

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidOn the Saturday – whilst The Girl was engaged in her sessions – I pretty much stayed in our room, watching the matches of the final weekend of the 2022 Six Nations tournament. Well done to the French on a thoroughly deserved (if also widely predicted) Grand Slam – and the less said about the Scots (who seem to have regressed by about three years!) the better!

This chap – outside our fourteenth floor window – seemed keen to know the scores as well:

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidThe trip was a good one – with yet more familial contacts made by The Girl – plus the opportunity to have breakfast with a dear friend who now lives in VanCity. For my part it was actually a pretty good rest to be able to relax in a decent hotel room up in the clouds high above the west end of the city.

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

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Sport report

February 4, 2022 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

Regular followers of these observational obiter dicta (a bit of stretch there but let us not be deterred) will be familiar with my routine reports on various sporting occasions that I (or we) deem to be of import.

I do not – frankly – participate in sports myself these days (though much fitness work is yet done) and those who tried to coach me back in my school days would express a total lack of surprise thereat. The following of various noble sports does, however, play an important part in our lives and I like to enthuse about that wherever appropriate.

My last such report to this forum dates from September last and followed hot on the heels of Emma Radacanu’s splendid victory in the US Tennis Open and – of course – of the Olympic games.

Since then – complete radio silence!

There are good reasons for this sad state of affairs.

Over the past three months England have visited Australia for the most recent episode in that epic cricket contest – the Ashes. Opinions were deeply divided as to their prospects. Those in charge of the England campaign claimed (somewhat unconvincingly) that – pandemic apart – England had spent the last two years preparing for this gladiatorial contest and that the omens were for once propitious. Everyone else declared the the English Cricket Board – by prioritising unnecessary short-form tournaments that blocked out the core of the home season – had effectively prevented any of the potential candidates for the test side from gaining relevant match practice in appropriate conditions.

As it turned out ‘everyone else’ was right and England were accordingly humiliated. At the time of writing several of those responsible for this fiasco (though sadly not the chief culprits!) have duly fallen on their swords and we await further developments.

No cause for reportage there!

In the world of rugby the home nations had surprisingly good Autumn International series, with each side beating one or more of their southern hemisphere counterparts; no mean feat! I would have felt inclined perhaps to have reported thereon where it not for the fact that my attention was distracted by the performance(!) of my long supported Premiership side – Bath. Readers may recall that in 2015 – the year that we left the UK to move to Canada – Bath unexpectedly made it through to the Premiership final, which we eagerly attended at the Cabbage Patch. They were, sadly, well beaten by the beastly Saracens, as duly noted within these pages. Unfortunately their fortunes have since declined and this year they have had a terrible start to the season, losing eleven straight league games before finally winning one against the next club up the table – Worcester. The one piece of good fortune – if such it really be – is that because of COVID there is no relegation from the Premiership for the second year running.

Thank goodness!

So – what moves me to write about sport now?

Well – four things…

Firstly, the Winter Olympics have just begun. No-one in the UK really gives a rat’s arse about these games, because we are pants at most of the sports involved – but here in Canada, of course, it is a different kettle of fish entirely.

Secondly, Canada have suddenly – and to many people’s surprise – become rather good at footie and have just qualified for this year’s World Cup. Who woulda thought it?!

Thirdly, last weekend Bath hosted last year’s champions – Harlequins – at the Rec. To everyone’s surprise, they won! Perhaps their fortunes have finally changed for the better (famous last words!).

The final thing is that this weekend sees the start of this year’s Six Nations championship – and all matches will once again be played in front of (doubtless) full houses. Hooray for that, say I!

This Saturday sees Scotland host the ‘auld enemy’ at Murrayfield for the Calcutta Cup. Whisper it quietly, but it does look as though this might be the closest competition for some years…

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A game of two halves

June 26, 2021 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

Well, it was originally my intention – just a few days back – that this post would go in one direction – but in the light of subsequent events it has had added to it another, unexpected, twist…

…which, given that even the original subject was going to be somewhat out of character for me, is even more of a surprise.

Let me explain…

It is the time of year that many sporting competitions across different parts of the globe reach their climax. As the intensity and excitement increases, unforeseen and daring deeds are done – giants are slain – and underdogs unexpectedly have their day.

This post was to have been just about the Montreal Canadienes – ‘Les Habs’, who – wonder of wonders – have made it through to the finals of the Stanley Cup. Hoorah!

Canadians – being already very familiar with all of these details – can just skip ahead, but for everyone else… the subject is Hockey (or, as we call it in the UK – ‘Ice Hockey’).

Now – hockey is to Canada what Rugby is to the All Blacks (and what footie is to the English!). Domestic Canadian hockey has a long and tortuous history leading to the eventual hegemony of the National Hockey League (the NHL) which took over the Stanley Cup as the major trophy to be competed for by the winners of the two league conferences – East and West.

The ten sides that made up the league in 1926 were whittled back to six as a result of the Great Depression and the outbreak of World War II and this remained the full complement until 1967, when the NHL entered what is now called the Expansion Era. This extended time of change left the league with its current thirty one sides – far more than Canada can support, with the great majority of the teams being spread across the US.

The problem with this, of course, is that – as in all things – the Americans pumped money into the sport and the centre of gravity shifted south from Canada into the US. As a result Stanley Cup finalists nowadays tend both to hail from the US (though some were originally Canadian sides that moved south). The last time that a Canadian team featured was in 2011 – when the Vancouver Canucks lost to the Boston Bruins – and the last time that the Canadienes made the final was all the way back in 1993.

So – when ‘Les Habs’ won their playoff series against the Las Vegas Knights a few days back there was great celebration throughout the land. The final – over seven matches – starts on Monday!

 

With my having little (no!) interest in the footie (Euro 2021 continues, I believe) and with Bath failing to feature in the playoffs for the UK Rugby Premiership (by a considerable margin!) the Canadienes suddenly seemed to be the major sporting interest chez nous. Our attention was attracted, however, by the club that finished fourth in the Premiership – Harlequins. Given that the fourth club gets an away playoff fixture to the leaders (the mightily impressive Bristol) it didn’t look a though the Quins had much chance, particularly when they went 28-0 down shortly before half time.

Quins have, however, been making something of a specialty this season of Lazarus like resurrections and they came back in extra time to win 36-43. It was an astonishing game all ways round.

The final was today at Twickenham against Exeter – a side who have featured in the final in each of the last six years – winning on three of those occasions. Surely the Quins could not produce another miracle game.

Well – they did! – coming from 31-26 down with fourteen minutes left to win 38-40. Wow! These guys do not know when they are beaten.

So – long story short – congratulations to the Harlequins – and ‘Go Canadienes!’…

 

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