Well last time I did a post for Talking Rugby Union I was preparing for the RFU Championship semi final against London Welsh who we lost out to and they went on to win the Championship, in my eyes means they should rightfully be promoted to the Aviva Premiership. They were denied on not meeting certain criteria for the proposed ground they planned to use, obviously London Welsh have their appeal best of luck to them. Now I'm sure if some of the current teams in the Aviva Premiership had to meet the same criteria London Welsh had to meet they would fail without a doubt! It cries of double standards, I feel sorry for the players and staff of London Welsh who have put everything into what is a tough championship season only to have the prize taken away from them.
I've been enjoying the off season and was lucky enough to go with Saracens to Hong Kong to play against the Asian Pacific Barbarians which was a very enjoyable trip. The Barbarians had some super stars from world rugby, Mils Muliaina, Jerry Collins, Shane Williams, Rico Gear, Nick Easter, Martyn Williams and the Tuilagi brothers coached by Pat Lam and George Smith to name a few. It was a very physical game as you'd expect, we lost 22-20 the site of Shane Williams, Nick Easter and Martyn Williams doing the haka did make facing it less intimating than it is intended to be in fact it made me laugh it's well worth a watch on youtube! I've been keeping myself ticking over playing squash, 5 aside, the odd gym session and running trying not to do anything rugby specific as there will be plenty of that coming up over the next couple of months.
There's been some very enjoyable tests to watch over the last few weeks Ireland were very unlucky not to beat the All Blacks in the 2nd test. One of the major talking points was the lack of reward for a charged down drop goal attempt which goes dead, personally I think it needs to be reviewed as it stands the attacking team get a 5 metre scrum. I'd be all for the defending team to receive a 22 drop out as a reward for charging a kick down! I thought England would have to meet the Boks physicality in the third test, a tight game to say the least. A draw was the right result. It was pleasing to see Dylan Hartley leading the team out he's a good friend and I'm sure he thrived on it.
I was very happy to re-sign at Bedford for my fourth season, pre season starts at the end of the month I'm really looking forward to getting back around the lads and working hard again. We've managed to retain a lot of the squad which can only be a good thing and signed some quality players who will fit in easily. The format of the RFU Championship has changed yet again with now the top four teams going into a two legged semi final and a two legged final, if we have to playoffs then I'd like to see a straight knock out rather than the two legs. Its will be very tight i think around the top of the championship next season the league gets stronger and stronger each year you only have to look at the quality of signings to see that.
Thats enough from me wish me luck in pre season im sure there will be many hands on knees/head moments thanks for reading, chat to you soon Talking Rugby Union readers!
If you want to watch the Haka Alex mentioned in his post, check it out here!
