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| Fixture | Details |
|---|---|
| All times are local | |
| International Match | |
| Saturday , June 8 | |
| Japan vs Wales | 14:00 |
| Saturday , June 15 | |
| Japan vs Wales | 14:00 |
| More International Match fixtures | |
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wales | 5 | 8 |
| 2 | England | 5 | 8 |
| 3 | Scotland | 5 | 4 |
| 4 | Italy | 5 | 4 |
| 5 | Ireland | 5 | 3 |
| 6 | France | 5 | 3 |
Comments
makemehappy says...
jontheref - indeed, you wanted the better man to have the last word afterall!
Posted 20:20 31st May 2012
jontheref says...
:-)
Posted 08:56 17th May 2012
makemehappy says...
@johntheref - thanks!
Posted 20:46 13th May 2012
jontheref says...
@makemehappy
I'll leave you to have the last word then!
Posted 11:16 13th May 2012
makemehappy says...
@jontheref - no idea what you were talking about then. Time to move on!
Posted 09:04 13th May 2012
jontheref says...
@makemehappy
(you don't! :-) )
I take your point, but sin bin for you!
:-)
enough whistling for now.
off to the Ospreys.
Posted 18:09 11th May 2012
makemehappy says...
@jontheref - stop blowing your whistle and leave us in peace and quiet! I had to repeat some elements, as sadly some people thought rugby had become a charity and had moved from being a sport!
Posted 16:19 11th May 2012
jontheref says...
tha_mai
No, you are wrong, as melkdave has also pointed out.
Go search it yourself,
"Test match in rugby union is a match recognised as being a full international match by at least one of the participating teams' governing bodies."
NZ could have awarded caps for their games, but the opponents would not have got them.
It also does not have to be a single country, as the Pacific islanders and the British Lions shows.
It is very loose.
Posted 20:15 10th May 2012
melkdave says...
Test caps are awarded by countries ,it is completly up to them what games qualify .There are no hard and fast rules concerning this.Also remember Wales have no A TEAM so this is away for the the WRU to award caps to young deserving players and thus secure them for the future.There will be quite a few fringe players in the Wales team same with England ,and while England arnt giving caps they do have an A team the Saxons in which to secure young talant for the future.Russia awarded caps for their game against the Ospreys as it served their purpose Wales are doing exactly the same
Posted 15:46 10th May 2012
tha_mai says...
jontheref says... A test game is defined as where one of the teams is representing a national team
You are wrong there; otherwise all the tour games in the past would have been tests. The days of 20+ match tours and just three tests - how does that fit your definition? 23 caps? I think not.
When touring teams play eg Munster, Gloucester, they are not awarded test caps. There are so many players who have played for their country but not been awarded one test cap; it would skew the recordbooks completely.
Last year NZ's Muliaina gained his 100th test cap; if his two All Black matches v Barbarians (London 2004) and Munster (2008) were counted he'd have had 102 on retirement. The records show, correctly, 100.
Posted 11:13 10th May 2012
jontheref says...
A test game is defined as where one of the teams is representing a national team.
When Ospreys played Russia pre RWC, it was a test, not that the Ospreys billed it as such.
Once wales have gone down the route, I think it is fair game to award to martyn.
makemehappy, make me happy and stop repeating yourself!
Beano, thanks for the comments, love your mag!
Are you seriously expecting us to believe you would turn down the chance yourself?
If Gareth Llewellyn had been persuaded out of retirement, when the second row stocks were low, and assisted to a grand slam, maybe whilst still at the top of his game, I would say give him a chance.
Not the same circumstances.
Posted 07:55 10th May 2012
tha_mai says...
"not simply for sentimental reasons. " ha ha it's not a genuine test cap, a soft option for Wales
Playing the Barbarians is not recognised in most cases as a test (except for Wales, who did 1990, 96 and 2011). The Barbarians players cannot gets caps for this game as they are a club, they do not represent a country, they are not a test; it has no more validity than eg when Australia play Gloucester, All Blacks play Munster etc; possibly even less, at least they they are real club teams.
Posted 02:29 10th May 2012
makemehappy says...
Just checked and Gareth Llewellyn only had 92 caps. Perhaps they could bring him on and off 8 times, only for 20 seconds per spell, and then we'd have someone else reaching a milestone. There's probably lots of other players who deserve their 100 caps - especially some of the great welsh players of the 70's, so bring them along too.
Perhaps Martin's aunty is a lovely person and deserves 100 caps - bring her along for the day as well. How lovely.
If this isn't a serious game, which it obviously won't be if there are lots of first team players available, then it is clear there should be no caps for anyone.
There is no room for sentiment in sport. It is about being the best. I'm sure the AB's wouldn't fall for this trap. They seem to like winning and not rewarding previous performances, when there is someone else who is clearly better.
Posted 17:29 09th May 2012
melkdave says...
I see no reason for MW not to be given his 100th cap ,after all i feel there will be alot of fringe players in the Wales team to face the Barbarains .His experiance would be an asset and has been mentioned his actually playing well atm ,and with SW and JT both injured or comming back from injury who else would you pick given the chance ??Considering most of the current starting players will be in Australia
Posted 16:01 09th May 2012
APV1 says...
It's great that he'll get his 100th cap, as he's a real servant to Wales and the Lions. These milestones are not to be scoffed at - what an acheivement!
But let's not pretend it's not about sentiment. It is. If you don't believe me, consider this scenario:
Wales are winning 36 - 0 with 1/2 hour to go. All players are playing well and there are no injury worries or fitness issues. Why would you bring on a sub? You wouldn't. So it's now 20 minutes to go and Wales are winning 43 - 0, all other factors the same. Sub now? Not yet...10 minutes to go, 57 - 0 and all players firing. Sub yet? No - wait... 1 minute to go, 94 - 0, all players on fire and romping away with the game. Sub now? Yep! MW comes on to a standing ovation, winning his (deserved) 100th cap.
Sentiment? Absolutely.
Posted 11:13 09th May 2012
makemehappy says...
So there are some people who think caps are given out for sentiment and for (previously) being a great player. Rugby standards will suffer if you start going down that route.
Caps are there for one reason and one reason alone - to show that you are the person your country has fielded because you ARE the best not WERE the best in your position.
I think Martin has been a great servant too. If I was him, I'd decline this award. That for me would show the mark of a great man as well as a great player!
Posted 10:09 09th May 2012
sirtidychris says...
is this based on merit....no
is this based on sentiment...yes
is this a great thing to do for one of wales most loved servants....yes
Its a nothing game against the baba's get over yourselves people, heres to you nugget, you deserve your moment in the sun !
Posted 09:27 09th May 2012
jontheref says...
As I said on another thread, (Stephen Jones playing for Baabaas), it was an open secret that Wales were sending the 15 to start the next week against Aus, before the Baabaas game.
Williams deserves it.
Some sentiment in there.
He deserves it!
Posted 20:59 08th May 2012
Bones7 says...
I'm a big fan of Williams but I'm with makemehappy on this one. Tipuric and Shingler have been in really good form and it's all too obvious that between them and Warburton one of them is not going to win many caps. I'd be furious if I was overlooked to give an old boy an extra cap. It would be nigh on impossible to turn down your 100th cap but if you are selecting players, and being selected as a player, in order to go out on a milestone then that's the wrong reason in my book.
Posted 20:47 08th May 2012
Beano says...
Makemehappy you are obviously not happy! Williams has been a terrific servant to Wales especially during the years Wales were not as good as they are now but for bad luck with injuries he would have passed the 100 mark ages ago ! Sometimes it's good for the game to give something back. Good luck to Martyn you deserve the accolades. Ps I'm not a sentimental Welsh fan I'm a proud Englishman but importantly a rugby lover !
Posted 19:24 08th May 2012