Rosbif says...

I've left it a few days to hopefully shake off you know who. I did a quick google search to see when he joined the site and what he's been saying etc. You cld do the same if you like. He probably knows i'm from toulouse since i've mentioned it a few times and seems to jump on threads to attack people who are debating with me. Seems he's now doing the same with some other regulars like APV1. A bit like Chris Ashton coming to help you clear out a ruck (I'm a second row by trade). I don't need it, it doesn't help, but there's not much I can do about it I'm afraid.

Re-reading this thread briefly, I can see why you got annoyed, and I am guilty of falling into that same troll trap myself. But if you re-read it and omit the troll's comments (which stirred both of us) we would probably have had a sensible chat, as we have done on many occasions before.

Sorry for losing it and falling for the troll.

(Then again, my google search also shows me you're no ingenu to drawn-out threads hehehe, e.g. new_j4a and makemehappy which i've posted below for posterity - priceless).

Go well !!

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16016_7842587_1,00.html

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16008_7715352,00.html

Posted 21:25 31st August 2012

crunchfit says...

@Rosbif

They are words, just like any other and they have appropriate uses. Where an argument doesn't seem to have a conclusion and has occurred repeatedly, especially in a short time frame, I feel that those words are applicable to the argument and any individual who repeatedly tries to make it occur.

Regarding the phrase you find condescending, well, perhaps you shouldn't have tried to rehash that argument and then I wouldn't have pointed out your apparent failure to grasp the system which people use to address others on this website. The system is very simple and as you said yourself, you're a veteran of the boards. So either, you actually were trying to start a fight, or you haven't grasped the system.

It's good that you don't care because it would seem you fall into at least one of the descriptions above. Thanks for the last word.

All the best.

Posted 17:22 30th August 2012

Rosbif says...

@crunchfit. using words like "stupid" or "pathetic" or patronising phrases like "it's quite simple" really have no place on these pages. i've tried to stick to plain English. and make only rugby-related comments. i wld respectfully ask you to observe the same courtesy.

(by the way, saying "all the best" at the end is no theriaca....)

I'll let you have the last word, and apologise in advance for not caring.

Posted 19:36 29th August 2012

Toulousain says...

@crunchfit.

i thought i had read all the thread (which is the advantage of joining late).

cld you cut and paste the arguments i missed?

(i trust you realise i have not been repeatedly involved in this argument - this is my first post on this thread - with respect, i'm not sure you know me well enough to call me names?).

until i see some good counterfactuals, i will assume Rosbif's facts have not been challenged.

Posted 18:29 29th August 2012

Toulousain says...

sorry, i'm a little late to this party....

you irish are funny. you get all excited and sensitive. but make no actual points. is rosbif wrong about any of his facts? the comparable squad sizes of leinster and clermont? the number of intl players held back till round 4 of pro12? The comparable number of games played by physical ball carriers? the ability to play pro12 games with your academy side? the format of top14? the ridiculous case of edinburgh beating toulouse (which by the way is where the politics really got started - that was the final straw for noves!).

where are your facts, irish boys? you seem very quiet on anything of substance. instead just getting angry that rosbif directs his posts to you personally.

Posted 11:09 29th August 2012

pog_mahone says...

Rosbif back to your original whinge. Good job of beating your national organization's drum for them. However, when English and French teams were dominating the HCup in the mid-2000's, the argument was being put forward that more games honed your ability to win games (no surprise there). Have your cake or eat it - your choice.

Posted 08:45 29th August 2012

Rosbif says...

sorry crunchfit. not looking for a fight - or maybe just a little skirmish (not enough footie on at the moment, so it's easy to get bored!). was just responding to leinster_goy's comment about Leinster being "the best team in the NH (club or international)". i think that deserves a little perspective, no? if left alone, there's a risk people start believing that stuff (including, apparently, the PR staff who claim to be surprised at the result vs Saints).

Leinster senior squad is 40 players. 11 internationals not available until week 4 of the Rabo. A further 7 unavailable due to various stages of injury (Fitzgerald, Flanagan, Gilsenan, DKearney, SOB, OżMalley, Ruddock). Hence, one assumes, the whole point of the Saints experiment was to give the academy players a chance to get some continuity for the early part of the season. Very sensible. Exactly what you'd expect of a coaching set-up with Schmidt in charge.

I merely make the comparison with Clermont. Senior squad is 39 players. No-one is unavailable due to central contract "player welfare". A long list are already injured (I posted them on another thread). Vern Cotter is no mug and will rotate as best he can. But by the time they meet Leinster in December, the senior boys will be knackered.

Another curious stat. Some of the ball carriers for Leinster really do get to peak for important games. C Healy played 16 club games last season (8 HCup/8Rabo). SOB 15. Heaslip 16. (The numbers are so low cos of RWC). But the comparable numbers for ASM's ball carriers are shocking. Vermeulen 25, Bonnaire 23, Kayser 25.

What's wrong with pointing out the obvious?

(I really don't mean to dig. this isn't about me not liking Leinster. it's about T14 vs Celtic league and the whole HCup debate. I'm just using Leinster and Clermont as examples. We could do the same analysis with re Edin, Glasgow or Ospreys.)

Posted 09:29 28th August 2012

Rosbif says...

...final question.... I vaguely recall something in the IRFU vs Provinces agreement that anyone who plays in a summer series can only play one of the first four games of the new season to ensure that they are rested... Is that right? Is that in the central contracts, or just a gentleman's agreement? If so, your elite boys will have even more rest than I thought. And good for them. The LNR/FFR and RFU should be doing the same!!

Posted 13:00 25th August 2012

kybone says...

crunchfit - Well my wild guess as to why Saints put out a strong side is that they wanted to give the players some game time as that is the point of pre season friendlies! I think a more valid point is why Leinster came all the way to Northampton to put out a 2nd/3rd string team! What did they get out of that game?

Posted 19:51 24th August 2012

crunchfit says...

Not at full strength would be a bit of an understatement for the Leinster team. It wasn't even a 2nd string team. More than half the 22 are still in the academy or just out and most of the other half aren't 1st choice. I mean Coughlan for example is still in the academy and is a number 8, but he was being tested out in the centre. I don't know why Northampton put out such a strong team.

Just surprised the writer would be so unaware.

Posted 13:58 24th August 2012