Fun With Rugby Internationals Handicapping, Week 3

Wanted to get this out.  May have an update later today if we can get some more totals. Last week:  0-1 and still trying to figure out how RSA/Eng became such a track meet.  More on that below. So last week we were supposed to get a really good look at how these test series …

Tuesday Update – The Huge Letdown Edition

Hey, didn't you used to be that team that was going to dethrone the All Blacks? As of last Friday, it seemed like England and Ireland were on a collision course toward a final-round Six Nations encounter with the winner taking both the competition and a Grand Slam. That final round fixture between Ireland and …

What’d We Learn This Weekend – The Pre- and Mid-Game Diet Edition

On the one hand, the past weekend's international fixtures were thrilling to watch for the most part (hey, didn't you used to be the Springboks?).  On the other hand, while the games were entertaining, the results were generally within the realm of predictability.  Let's have a look at the major results: Instead of oranges, New …

Way Too Early Look at RWC 2019 Pools

Journey with me on an obscenely early trip through the draw for Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan. For now, while we'll look at each Pool, we're going to basically ignore the remaining qualifying spots (Europe 1, Playoff Winner, Africa 1, Repechage Winner, Americas 2), as the teams filling those spots probably won't figure into …

What’d We Learn This Weekend – The Abyss Edition

This past weekend may rate as the quietest on the rugby calendar, what with no Premiership, no European comps, and the November Internationals still a few days away. But hey, those Barbarian All Blacks were fun to watch, right? Indeed.  The Kiwi-laded version of the BaaBaas playing at Twickenham Saturday put on the most entertaining …

What’d We Learn This Weekend – The Hell Hath Frozen Over Edition

If the Earth is off its axis a bit today, blame the Wallabies.  Over the Weekend, the Aussies accomplished the impossible (at least for them), beating the All Blacks.  Yes, the match was in Australia.  Yes, the All Blacks were missing Beauden Barrett (who really seems to matter to them a lot).  Nevertheless, the Aussies …

What’d We Learn This Weekend? The Half-Assed Edition

The All Blacks are again tops in the Rugby Championship after defeating the Pumas 36-10 in Argentina on Saturday. While the margin seems hefty enough (especially for those of you that laid the 23 or so with your sportsbook), some are criticizing the All Blacks for their seeming inability to string together two consecutive equally …

What’d We Learn This Weekend? The Back in Black Edition

All Blacks Break out the Steamroller - For weeks, if not months, many have speculated that the All Blacks were coming back to the rest of the pack in World Rugby.  They were all wrong.  The machine that is the All Blacks stampeded all over the Springboks on Saturday in New Zealand, to the tune of …

What’d We Learn This Weekend? – The US TV Crisis Highlights Week 1 in Europe

At a time where rugby has supposedly become the fastest-growing team sport in America, it is troubling indeed that we have fewer and fewer viewing options for international rugby in this country. Just a couple of short years ago, if you had a reasonably deep cable package, you had access to the following competitions on …

Rugby Championship on US TV; Other Rugby Notes

The Rugby Championship will be broadcast in the US on ESPN3, as it was last year.  The first game on the streaming platform will be New Zealand v. Australia at 3am PST on Saturday morning, followed by Argentina and South Africa at 8am. Alas, despite my repeated pleas, no indicated as of yet that ESPN3 …