Round IV Predictions

Strange ole game. Nottingham better than the scoreline suggested.

Kimbo wrote: And thats FT. 0-5

Westcoaster I absolutely agree with you! Any competitive sport is about winning and until they take "win bonuses" out of player contracts and replace it with "playing nice stuff bonuses" it will always be the way. Don't get me wrong I love watching attractive rugby like everyone else but I'd rather my team won

Westcoaster wrote: "Pretty sure the sole purpose is to entertain the punters. Professional sport only exists for this reason" I think many would disagree with this - i do. Yes, people like entertaining losers but people remember winning champions. They are the ones with the names in the history books.  Professional sport is about winning, entertainment is a secondary aim for any DoR.  No doubt this could be the subject of heated debate in The Cricketers and many other similar hostelries- remember those

I fully endorse this its surely far better to win an ugly game than lose one. Missed tackles and dropped passes fall into the category of errors in my book and the natural sanction for repeated errors is to substitute the culprit and drop them from the team. Infringements of the laws of the game whether its offside, tackle, maul or scrum offences are ultimately cheating and the referees should properly deal with repeat offenders by the prescribed sanctions. IMO Blues were the more attractive side yesterday but they lost a game they should probably have won because of repeated infringements of the laws of the game. Jersey are clearly struggling at the present time and this was most clearly demonstrated during that daft period when Blues were down to 12 men and outside of the uncontested scrums Jersey struggled to convert a 7 v 4 numeric advantage. I was pleased Jersey tried to go for the fourth try bonus near the end even though the line out was over-thrown. Rich Lane was my Man of the Match and is still a wonderful talent. 

covchopper wrote: Bedford fans must have changed quite a bit as I can clearly recall Bedford coming to Cov a few years ago with a big pack and outmauling us to a win much to the great delight of the travelling Bedford fans who didn’t seem concerned by the style of play.  I suppose they can’t have been true Bedford fans then.

The Blues wrote: Thatbloke wrote: If the Bedford pack is as weak and inexperienced as has been suggested then I suspect the coaches and players think playing a loose free flowing fame is their best chance of winning - not to entertain the speccys Clearly you have never seen us play, you can only see the comments on this board that would regard us as the team looking to play the most expansive way and that hasn’t changed over the last 15 years. It is true we are struggling with the maul defence and when we have to stick on a 4th choice prop recently turned 19, the other 20 year old is doing really well having to play for pretty much the full 80 mins.

Although I am an Ampthill supporter, albeit now living in North Yorkshire, I was born in Bedford. And I have watched Bedford play rugby many many times at Goldington Road. And because it was also once one of the top clubs in the country, it has always enjoyed good support. But to argue that the current good support is down to the way you currently play your rugby is a bit of a stretch. I have been at games when the Bedford faithful have roared on a Bedford lineout just 10 meters from the opposition's try line. They want to see a catch and drive and score as much as any other group of rugby team supporters. I think you touched on the real reason why you don't like the rolling mauls in your last answer. Bedford currently struggle with defending this move and are giving away too many tries.

Bedford are an excellent team, and they currently have a very exciting back division, highlighted by the first try they scored against Ampthill at Dillingham Park after just two minutes in the first of the two friendlies paid recently. They currently have a long injury list but this will come good and I expect them to soon rise up the table again.........even if it is just to keep up with Ampthill.....................

Westcoaster wrote: "Pretty sure the sole purpose is to entertain the punters. Professional sport only exists for this reason" I think many would disagree with this - i do. Yes, people like entertaining losers but people remember winning champions. They are the ones with the names in the history books.  Professional sport is about winning, entertainment is a secondary aim for any DoR.  No doubt this could be the subject of heated debate in The Cricketers and many other similar hostelries- remember those

Edited by Bluesman11 - 28 Mar 2021 at 13:16

Bluesman11 wrote: covchopper wrote: Bedford fans must have changed quite a bit as I can clearly recall Bedford coming to Cov a few years ago with a big pack and outmauling us to a win much to the great delight of the travelling Bedford fans who didn’t seem concerned by the style of play.  I suppose they can’t have been true Bedford fans then.  Again, that’s not what we’ve said is it? There will be a core group of fans who support come what may, of which I am one. Travelling fans are likely to be in this subset. And we have a big core fan base. I would say we have about 1500 who would come regardless of anything. This is what we get roughly for any B&I dead rubbers. But there are also a hundreds of people who come for a Saturday afternoon out. I think less of this group of people would come each week if we played dull rugby and our average attendance might drop from around 2500 to closer to 2000

Saracens draw level 3-3

Camquin wrote: Saracens draw level 3-3

Edited by gerg_861 - 28 Mar 2021 at 14:51