The West London's RWC blog

And They're Off!

Ooooh! What an ugly bunch of blokes.
Have a good match.

Cattastrophy...

...or he will have if he can drive his back line through the weak South African midfield defence. A win here will give confidence and put England firmly back at the top of the tree. (REmember, the Aussies will get wiped out, the South Africans will just lose all discipline if they lose this one, and th All Blacks...well, we know they are going to choke somewhere along the line...)
It's time for Catt to stop pussyfooting around and give some value for all the super size meals he seems to have eaten these past few weeks. Andy Farrell was always a beautiful rugby league playmaker, and it would be great to see those skills on display tonight. The forwards? Well, I reckon 50/50 overall contest. Burger would have made a big difference for South Africa but now his absence might make a big difference for England - and Rees in particular - as chief speedster and ball grabber.
Perry at scrum half will need to be at his bubbly best, not ponderous in his delivery, otherwise it is going to be Babychambles behind the scrum... "Get yourselves ready for a tackle in five minutes boys, I'm just about to pass the ball - oh, when I have let Butch know so that he can line you up etc..."
Overall, the second biggest match of the tournament, a week after the opening spectacle that has seen France reduced to a psychologically deficient rabble - a nation in despair!
There is a Springbok Bar in Bedford Street London where this corespondent will be headed in order to 'capture the moment' (and then I'll rush off and get the train home as I can't stand all those big, South Africans in their parrot kit -  yuk! )
May the best team win -and if they don't they'll come second.

Farrell Langs Ayne my friends...

Tomorrow evening's game looms large: Here's a quote from coach Ashton that will stir the cockles in every English fan's heart:
Looking ahead to the South Africa match tomorrow night, Ashton said: "There is a mood in the squad that I've not seen before, not since I took over in January. I've disregarded that last performance [against the USA]. That will not happen again. Nobody wants to be associated with a game like that." Asked to clarify what that mood was exactly, Ashton replied simply, "we're ready".

Boom!

Meanwhile, the French replacement fly half (demi d'ouverture to you and me) Lionel Beauxis has been receiving a few last minute pointers from the renowned French coach Alfred Cartebleu. He is also receiving tips on how to manage his hectic social schedule from 'Mr Nightlife', J- P  Betsenboy. A winning combination if ever there was one...

Memory Lane or should I say South Vale

Touring was always a delight, and possibly still is. Paris was once upon a time a boys weekend away and always offered a snapshot cultural experience  to anyone who was awake.  The French in turn, used to visit South Vale - the original ground of the Club that was then known as Old Gaytonians -  and be escorted around Windsor Castle, Ye Olde English Pubbe, Tower of London. The weekend always  culminated in an 'International Singing Contest' and massive banquet prepared by numerous 'ladies' who planned stuff for weeks, scoured Fanny Craddock cook books and magically did the washing up! What fabulous teamwork. They were occassionally allowed out to play, led ably by Mildred Smith cheerfully baptising innocent French boys. She baptised them with gin and tonic before forcibly and publicly divesting them of their trousers - at least!
As the world was a more civilised place, (when the cry of 'last orders please' was a genuine obstacle) the International match was on a Saturday, and Sunday afternoon in the car park was the scene of many emotional farewells... girls who thought they had met the most romantic Parisian, the Frenchmen saying farewell to the communal bath and 'proper toilets' - so many memories...
Agent Tony Usher, de facto Deputy Editor of this blog and West London's 'chef ' in all matters West London/Plessis Meudon, has provided many photographs to help these World Cup Weeks pass - what better way to illustrate this than a "Who Do You Recognise" ? I have fond memories of most of these people, but I am not going to name them - I'll leave that to you.
Except to say that there is a picture of Ted Blundell here - who originated the tour to Paris, worked like a dog for the Club and, remains in my mind one of the most whole hearted decent blokes I will meet. Anyone who has enjoyed the 'craic' has him to thank for starting it all off! Bravo Ted!

Friday's Match. What can you say about South Africa...

...to scare them away?
Everything in this World Cup is so tough, so challenging (apart from the two other Southern Hemisphere spoilsports) I ask the question why do we English not have that nasty, bustling firepower that marks out a lot of players from supposedly 'junior' international teams?
No one is going to drown their sorrows in a bottle of aftershave (because; a)too expensive these days and b) hairy is 'in' - apparently). But I digress. England will only win if they blast their way through the midfield of the Boks, keeping their backs in retreat. The back row battle is lost and it is only Wednesday... Robinson will be hurtling back and forth fielding Big Percy's territorial kicks, which squeeze the opposition into a very tight clearance channel. I would hope for an early Josh Lewsey 'hit up' on Habana - a perfectly legitimate disabling movement - and a mass attack of 'prop cramp' in the S.A. front row. For anybody who doesn't know what prop cramp is, it is a condition that causes a prop's brain to ache after it has been active for more than five minutes, leading to stupidity. We can only hope, and I hope I am proven wrong, but, like the German shopkeeper who was attacked with a sausage the other day, I fear the wurst...

All Good Frenchmen love a Queen now and then...

Agent Clancy has been undercover to bring us this revelation that has struck at the heart of French sport. The loss to Argentina has sparked a knock-on effect, not dissimilar to the 'Mexican Wave'. Consequently, French fans are turning their allegiance to the nearest team capable of success- us!
Just watch and listen to the Renault F1 going through its paces. (Which is more than the rest of Les Bleus have done so far...)

Sushi go or should I stay?

Hells bells and buckets of blood! The Rugby World Cup is having a massive effect throughout the political world. Japan is reeling after Shinzo Abe has dramatically resigned following his side's heavy defeat against Australia, President Bush is bringing the US team home and even the Vatican has taken a hard line on indiscipline following the national team's ordeal at the hands of the All Black.
Meanwhile, in London, the government have offered their full support and backing to the development of a new generation of home-grown players for the national team.
Today's fixtures: Wins for Tonga, Fiji and Italy, against the US, Japan & Romania... best game will be the US against Tonga - a nip and tuck affair perhaps, and the weather is going to be lovely  in Montpellier!

Red and Yellow and think...and few,

Worth a mention : Paul Rees' blog for the Guardian. Don't print it - otherwise it'll be in the bin...

"Lettuce off"

Nasty play is definitely getting short changed at this year's tournament - so far. How refreshing  that what we see on TV is seen in the same light by the citing officers and duly punished. Interestingly, in Burger's case, he was praised for his "excellent conduct" during the hearing. What's all that about ref?
In fact, here's the bit from Sporting Life:

Burger pleaded not guilty to the charge, arguing the contact had occurred "between two players attempting to win possession".

However, judicial officer Terry Willis saw it otherwise.

An official World Cup statement read: "The judicial officer [JO] determined that Burger executed a reckless and sloppy tackle that was high and dangerous whilst the opposing player was in the air and therefore in a vulnerable position.

"There were no aggravating circumstances. However, there were several mitigating factors, including Burger's remorse in relation to the incident, his excellent conduct during the hearing and his good disciplinary record.

"During 34 Tests for South Africa, 42 Super 14 games and 22 Currie Cup games for his province, he had never been before a disciplinary committee for such an offence.

"The JO determined the offence to be at the mid range of seriousness. The entry point (suspension) for a mid-range offence is six matches.

"However, the JO decided in this case the suspension should be four matches in light of the mitigating factors."

Burger has had his chips.

In the Grippe of Birds - a rugbyman's dream...

Dateline 2006. A big problem for West London, with not enough players to tour, we recruited some fowl mouthed blokes in the hope that they would do the fixture justice.
No problem mate - they arrived in Paris totally pisse* just like their predecessors. A bit chicken, they responded well to some cheerful leg  pullet   er pulling.  An antidote to the 'grippe aviare' was soon found. A chunder a.s.a.p. - followed by copious amounts of rouge. Speaking as a very tired observer on the Sunday morning, I have to say that the level of commitment from a bunch of artists like this lot was nothing short of miraculous. Everyone played as though it was a cup game and made for spectacular entertainment prior to another tranche of drinks and a visit to Stade de France. The next bit is a quote from Paul Clancy's story about the club second row, Tai Leaf.
Now Tai is a big bloke.

You may remember that Tai (1st team 2nd row) got a bit lost on the Sunday night after all the excitement of the big game. After walking around for hours calling out his host's name to no avail, he notices that he is going to freeze to death unless he finds some form of shelter......quote: "the puddles were starting to freeze over". He stumbles across a car park and frantically checks each door, until he finds that a small Peugeot has been left unlocked. All 6ft 3 of him confined to that small 206 until the wee hours of the morning until the rest of Paris are picking their cars up to go to work on Monday morning.

  I can't imagine what they were thinking confronted by a 6ft 3 chicken and what happened to the owner of the car.Maybe
he got the bus to work that day.

There must be many more escapades like this and it serves to illustrate that  key elements in any tour are; to be organised, be sensible, and respect other people's property and sensitivities. We did have a bit of trouble on the Saturday lunchtime, with a gay cowboy who tried to rustle some chickens. He was easily dealt with as the birds were bigger than him - or should I say that he was Didier than the birds?  No matter what, it was fun, and I'm sure that if you put a group from 1960 in amongst our current team, there would soon be a 'common ground' where the spirit, friendship and 'amitié' of rugby would come to the fore. What a great game - we are priveleged to have the connection between Plessis Meudon and West London. Take away the experience sure, but give your best in return. Us viewers look forward to hearing more from our current tourists - maybe we should take a leaf out of Tai's name and wake up with a bird in the back of a Peugeot 206 in the early hours... what say you West London touristas?