The South Africans will decide on their participation in the Rugby Championship in 48 hours. What do I think? I really don’t know. They are damned if they do, damned if they don’t.

Oh! You don’t have BT Sport and you want to watch the Cup finals?

The solution is staring you in the face.

The games will be shown at Steel Cross

PLEASE NOTE: STRICT GUIDELINES WILL APPLY AND NUMBERS ARE LIMITED. BOOK YOUR SPOT IN ADVANCE

As there is not much in the news I thought during the quieter days I would mull over some of the ideas for law adjustments. Firstly removing the scrum option at a penalty and free kick is a no brainer. Secondly having watched the rugby league last night I am coming round to the idea that a goal line drop out in union is a good idea. Where a drop out 22m would be awarded that stays. For all other occasions when a scrum 5 metres out would have been awarded then have a goal line drop out instead. This is only for instances where the “infringement” occurs in the in-goal area e.g. ball is held up. Yes it denies the attacking side to a degree but it will quicken the game up.

How is that for starters?

I thank my good friend and regular reader PK for sending me a link to an amazing website that will be a rich seam of information about Covid. PK has said it will help me when I get on my soapbox. I don’t know if that is a criticism, a compliment or simply a turn of phrase.

Yes I do go on and yes my views are becoming entrenched and there lies a problem. Those in power have a dug a hole so deep and their views are now so entrenched it will be impossible to climb out of without having to admit they were wrong, this assumes they are wrong and I am not. I very well might be but everything I look at and RESEARCH THOROUGHLY indicates there is more than enough evidence to suggest I am not. For example the wearing of masks might be altruistic but it is doing many people more harm than good and I cannot understand why the UK Government continually dismisses the notion of herd immunity.

By the way I accept there is an increase in deaths and hospitalisation and at long last the media and our “leaders” are now talking about that rather than the case numbers but they are still a long way from April, the height of the epidemic, and still insignificant versus the death rate of all other causes.

You don’t like my view then please explain to me why it is acceptable for SAGE, who are supposed to be the experts to say “a circuit breaking lockdown could save between 3,000 and a 107,000 lives”. Any modelling that predicts that level of variance is obviously based on ............ I have no idea and nor I think do they.!!!!!!

Tuesday 13th Oct: 08:15

Scratching around for rugby stuff this morning but there are few bits to mention.

Finn Russell has mended the bridge between him and Gregor Townsend as he returns to the Scottish squad. Russell is a player with star quality which hopefully we’ll see when he plays for Racing 92 on Saturday in the Champions Cup.

Whilst our government continues to dig an even deeper hole and continue to use yet more spurious and questionable data fans of the All Blacks will be at Eden Park next weekend to watch Bledisloe II. 47,000 of them will pack out the ground and are certain to add to the occasion.

No such luck for the fans of Wasps and Exeter Chiefs. Not only won’t they be allowed into the ground unless they have access to BT Sport they won’t get to see their team in this waste of time showpiece event. PRL had struck a deal, or so the BBC had thought, to air the game on terrestrial TV. With typical PRL efficiency incompetence this has been changed. Channel 5 has successfully shown Premiership games and would be a good alternative. This is a typical shortsighted decision driven by money and people running a sport who have no idea about the sport. I don’t want to see anyone crash and burn, metaphorically of course, as a result of the Covid situation but I think two or three clubs hitting the buffers leaving PRL up the famous creek without a paddle would be good for rugby.

It’s granddaughter day today so that’ll do for now except to leave you with something to ponder in the wake of yesterday’s lockdowns........

According to the NHS England data the following is fact.

In the period up until Oct 7th 30,323 people have died in hospital with Covid-19 on their death certificate. Of those 28,905 died with a pre-existing condition. That is 95.3% of deaths occurred WITH Covid-19. Just 4.7% of deaths, 1,418 people, occurred FROM Covid-19.

In the same period 27,743 of the deaths occurred amongst people aged over 60. Of which 16,202 were over 80. So as a percentage 91.5% of deaths in hospital were amongst people over 60 and 53.4% were over 80.

From this I think it is safe to conclude that as far as hospitals are concerned the sad loss of life is amongst elderly patients who had other serious conditions. This leads us to the very sensible question why are we locking down huge swathes of young people and destroying the economy rather than doing significantly more to protect the old and vulnerable?

The difference between the number of deaths reported by NHS England and the Governments daily count is accounted for by deaths in care homes and in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland of which many will be in hospital but of course in their care system. Whilst I have no actual data it is reasonable to suggest those deaths will also be amongst the elderly with underlying health conditions.

I again ask why are we locking down huge swathes of the UK when surely we should be targeting the elderly and vulnerable for special care and attention.

As part of Project Fear II three Nightingale Hospitals have been ordered to reopen. The NHS is already understaffed so who is going to man these huge hospitals? If staff are drawn from their current locations won’t this leave the vast majority of sick with other life threatening problems even more at risk than they are at present. PLEASE tell me what is going on. This is madness. We are not saving the NHS nor saving lives we now have the CHS and are killing people and will continue to kill people who have nothing to do with Covid.

Finally should Dido Harding add an “L” to her name. Apparently that might make her more useful!!

Monday 12th Oct: 08:30

One year ago Typhoon Hagibis hit Japan taking many lives and causing massive destruction to parts of that wonderful country. For a few brief days it threw the Rugby World Cup into chaos. The tournament organisers and the country got through it. Let us hope that at some point the government and its scientific advisers put their hands up and admit their Covid mistakes and allow us to get back to rugby.

Rugby in New Zealand went ahead with an amazing Bledisloe Cup game. A contest played in front of 31,000 fans. From start to finish it was great. The ball fizzed about, the tackles were immense, the skill levels exceptional, and even the mistakes were “outstanding”. That last eight minutes with the clock in the red was quite something. 16 points apiece was a fitting way to end the contest. Quite a few “what ifs” to consider. What if Rieko Ioane had not made a mess of that try just before half time. What if Reece Hodge had been 6 inches to the left with that kick. What if referee Paul Williams had seen that All Black offside in the dying minutes in a very kickable position. These things added to entertainment. Roll on next week.

It was brilliant to see the Cake Tin nearly full and didn’t they add to the excitement. I cannot see any reason why fans can’t be allowed back into our stadiums, even 50% capacity would be a result. I also cannot see any reason why young fit men and women, boys and girls cannot play competitive rugby. More on this tomorrow.

In yesterday’s Pro14 contest Scarlets came off second best again losing at Glasgow Warriors. This according to the press was a spirited performance. In my book a loss is a loss but I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve seen the game on S4C later this week.

Leicester and Gloucester have put their players back on furlough now the season has ended highlighting the precarious position clubs are in. I hope they are not training because if they are they should not be on furlough. Training is part of their work surely!! There are enough scumbags skimming the system without rugby joining in.

The upcoming Rugby Championship is on the verge of being thrown into chaos as it is rumoured South Africa are about to pull out. The players and coaching staff are concerned about player welfare in that the Boks haven’t played competitively since the World Cup final and whilst the European based players are battle hardened many of the home based talent is far from ready for the rigours of the Wallabies and All Blacks. Two teams as we saw yesterday who are ready for the big contests. A decision to withdraw will be a huge blow to the South African rugby authorities as the money they would miss out on would be substantial. We’ll know soon enough.

That’ll do for today except to say wasn’t today the day when the scientists predicted we would be having 50,000 positive cases of Covid per day. Well 12,800 cases is NOT 50,000 and 67 deaths, all of them sad, is not a reason to close down society. Remember the average daily deaths in the UK is 1600 and Covid is killing only 6-8% of people in isolation as of the 67 deaths 92-94% will be deaths with co-morbidity and most will be people over 70.

By the way Bugs Bunny didn’t say “Bye for now” he said “that’s all folks”. Well it isn’t all from me as the time has come for more people to get their heads out of the sand and start to recognise we are being led by the nose down a garden path where we won’t find Nirvana we’ll find purgatory.

Sunday 11th Oct: 09:50

What a fantastic morning. The girls & boys heading to Steel Cross will have a great start to their day. The place looks great, especially our A pitch and everyone is ready for rugby fun, exactly how it should be. The girls have a special day ahead with us hosting a joint training session with Heathfield & Waldron run by Harlequins ladies. Our main pitch has been marked out and dressed ready for the occasion. It is such a shame we can’t play competitive rugby on it. Good luck girls have a great day. By the way in their opening fixture or their season Quins Ladies beat Durham by 103-0 in just 70 minutes of action.

It was great having my grandchildren here yesterday, albeit for 24 hours. My grandson has mini rugby at Salisbury RFC this morning. Despite their presence I still got to watch both play-off semi-finals. Whilst I still think they are a waste of time and Exeter should be awarded the titled at the end of a long, and in this case very protracted season, I thoroughly enjoyed both.

Wasps will most definitely put up a fight against Exeter after the way they dispatched Bristol yesterday. They are playing at pace with a varied and fluid game plan. Very much playing what is in front of them. If Dan Robson isn’t pushing for that England scrum half berth then King Eddie must be watching different games to me. He was great! Bristol’s ill-discipline helped their opponents but nevertheless this was a mighty impressive result. Jack Willis will again have impressed the watching Eddie Jones but Wasps coach Lee Blackett wouldn’t have enjoyed watching Malakai Fekitoa limping off after his well worked try. I am sure Bristol had half an eye on next Friday’s fixture vs Toulon and there were certainly glimpses of what they will take to that party but yesterday they can have no complaints. Wasps put them to the sword.

Then it was down to Sandy Park where favourites Exeter hosted Bath. As with the game against Saracens last week Bath dominated the opening half both in territory and possession. They couldn’t turn the pressure into points whereas Exeter took advantage of their slim pickings every time an opportunity presented itself. Ben Spencer was here, there and everywhere and Falatau quietly and unobtrusively got through loads of work but every time they threatened the black defensive wall stood firm. Even when down to 14 men after Jonny Hill saw yellow Bath couldn’t break through. On this point I will bow to the great wisdom of Luke Pearce and Wayne Barnes but I don’t think many neutrals would have been surprised if that had been a straight red card for the cheap shot on Falatau. In the second half the tide turned slowly but surely and Bath simply had no answer to the Exeter juggernaut. It wasn’t all power as Joe Simmonds and Stuart Hogg showcased their abilities and Henry Slade does what he does best; keeps the ball alive and creates space for others. The outcome was inevitable, especially after Luke Pearce’s patience snapped after one too many moans from Ben Spencer. Spencer was lucky not to see yellow, although he was right and Pearce was wrong. Simmonds limping off at the end will be a real concern for Rob Baxter as they head into next week’s Champions Cup final but the possibility of European and domestic glory is a genuine possibility now.

I am not sure the final between Wasps and Exeter will be as free-flowing but we can hope.

In the Pro14 the Dragons triumphed over the Zebre at Rodney Parade on Friday night. By all accounts it was an accomplished performance by the Newport based outfit with Jamie Roberts bringing his vast experience to the table. It was back to Rodney Parade for Cardiff Blues v Connacht. After the kids had gone and we were able to open the second bottle of wine this was an entertaining encounter. Cardiff played with ambition and two Wales cast offs: Jarrod Evans and Matthew Morgan showed they still have what it takes. Connacht kept Cardiff honest and for long periods, especially in the second half they were the better side. Josh Adams created the chances and Halom Amos took them. Olly Robinson took me back to the early 90s as he was a mirror image of his father Andy, a real terrier around the pitch. Cardiff ran out deserved winners. A quick word for the Italian referee who Mr Gnecchi, he did really well on his big stage appearance. He didn’t bottle the yellow card or penalty try and his control over key aspects of the game was good.

In the other games Iain Henderson saw red against Ospreys but his Ulster side were still too strong for the Welshmen. Leinster came home from Italy with a narrow win over Benetton and Munster squeaked past a very good Edinburgh side in a high scoring game. Scarlets go to the land of prohibition when they take on Glasgow Warriors this afternoon. No raising a glass in celebration or drowning of sorrows in defeat, just home to beat yourself with birch twigs praying for Queen Nicola if you are a Scot, or praying for a beer if you are Welsh.

I’m off now to watch the Bledisloe Cup. I know the result but not the nature of the game so more on this tomorrow. Plenty of international soccer today and for those who like the F1 the school run is back in Crowborough tomorrow.

It is a miracle, the Big Orange has risen like Lazarus and proclaims he is the true God. What an arrogant moron that man is. You know my views on the “C” word but he truly is the biggest pile of steaming arrogant brown sticky stuff ever!

Next week I intend to give to you some alternative facts on the Covid situation. A different slant using the same numbers the government uses. For example if you were an employer relying on your sales or marketing teams and they presented a plan that said they will achieve 500,000 sales, pounds, points of contact and then only delivered 45,000 you would sack them wouldn’t you? If yes, then why is Professor Neil Ferguson still involved in SAGE. He should be out on his ass picking carrots.

As Bugs Bunny said “Bye for now”

Thursday 8th of Oct: 09:30

I am such a dullard. As much as I would like to see Piers Morgan line up against an 18st Fijian leviathan and have some of that arrogance knocked out of him it is of course Piers Francis who is in Covid isolation. Thank you Robert. I hope you are well sir. I do have it on good authority that Suzanna Reid and Lorraine Kelly are being lined up to replace Courtney Lawes and Manu Tuilagi.

Robert has also taken me to task, and quite rightly, in that the Sale v Worcester game should have been called off the minute the Covid cases were confirmed. The clubs all signed up to the protocols and outcomes as result of positive tests. In my defence I did have a vested interest with a brother being involved at Sale hence my desire for the game to go ahead. The incident does prove the leadership of the PRL has become blinded by power and money and is inept at best. Darren Childs has been anonymous throughout this whole affair and this shambles can be added to the many that has gone on before. Don’t blame Sale. Blame the leadership.

Talking of which did I sleep through a General Election as we now seem to have the tin pot despot Wee Jimmie Sturgeon running the UK. Here is a woman crazed by power and woe betide anyone who gets in the way of her single agenda. Her decision to plunge Scotland into a 1920s style depression not only with economic destitution but also prohibition has NOTHING to do with Covid it as EVERYTHING to do with power.

Anyway, moving on. As there is no blog tomorrow let me look ahead to Friday and Saturday’s games. Dragons vs Zebre kicks us off tomorrow night. If the Dragons can find some firepower then they should slay the Zebre. With the Dragons who knows however.

On Saturday Ospreys host Ulster. However that is unlikely as the Welsh Government are turning Wales into East Berlin. By Saturday the wall will be built, the gun emplacements ready and a Stasi informer on every street. You can only leave or enter Wales on fear of death. Not of Covid but everything else the NHS is ignoring. Yes, Ulster have Covid cases in their camp. Munster host Edinburgh, Cardiff host Connaught and Benetton host Leinster. Not sure where Cardiff will play as I think the Arms Park is still a car park for the NHS storage facility known as a Nightingale Hospital.

Of course then comes the pathetic (YES I am not in a very good frame of mind this morning) play-off semi-finals. Wasps up first against Bristol. This could be, should be a good game. A game which I think Wasps will win. Next up is Exeter v Bath. Bath can’t be ruled out of this as surely they have to be better than that second half display against Saracens. Exeter having rested their 1st XV should be fresh but that said as we have seen elsewhere a rest is not always a good thing. Exeter v Wasps in the final?

We have the grandchildren on Saturday so no blog until Sunday and no we will not be breaching the pathetic “rule of six” despite the stupidity of including kids in the numbers.

There is talk of delaying the Six Nations. The RFU have said (and I paraphrase here) “there is no point going ahead when it will cost us more than any benefit”. Good point Reg!

That’ll do for now as I have things to do, including trying to get my blood pressure down and urgently try and find the science that our Government is now following, especially as Matt Hancock has now quite clearly said that unless you have Covid you are effectively an untermensch so don’t even bother troubling the NHS. Trust me I haven’t even started yet and by the way there is plenty of validated science that suggests Neil Ferguson whose bullshit prediction caused all this is WRONG and there is another way.

Wednesday 7th Oct: 08:20

Do we, don’t we? Is it on, is it off? Do we stick or do we twist? Who knows. What I think most people are agreed on is it, along with track & trace, is a shambles. The management of the PRL has been questionable for sometime from the self-interest to the duplicity and the incompetence. (Please read Robert Kitson’s excellent article in The Guardian for more). The latest in the series of farce is worthy of the Carry On team. Wheeling out a long time team-mate and now close friend of Steve Diamond to let the press know Gloucester v Saints was was off but contrary to the rules set out at the start of Project Restart Sale v Worcester is only postponed was stupidity at best. The ongoing bungling of the affair is ridiculous. As I type no-one knows if the game is on and if the authorities say it can go ahead who knows if Worcester will turn up.

I want the game to go ahead. I want Sale to win. I have, sort of, a vested interest. That said common sense and decency says the game should have been awarded to Worcester under the rules laid out originally and we could all have moved on with the semi-finals of the (unnecessary and waste of time) play-offs this weekend.

BREAKING NEWS: As I type it looks as if the game is OFF so ignore the previous paragraphs.

This means it is Wasps v Bristol at 13:30. Ricoh Arena. Exeter v Bath at 16:30, Sandy Park on Saturday.

That in turn means a Exeter v Wasps final. You heard it here first (smile please)

I digress just for a moment. Even now almost a year later I still ask what would have happened if England had played France in the World Cup in 2019. In the annals of time people will only remember the fact England lost in the final forgetting the fact the typhoon hit and their pool game was cancelled. You never know things might have turned out differently.

Covid continues to rule the roost as Project Fear II continues to run, but not in cinemas because they are all closing down because of the pathetic way this is being handled. Piers Morgan has temporarily withdrawn from the England camp as he is isolating but for those who aren’t they might as well be as the England training camp will be more like a concentration camp where their movements and activities will be restricted and the camp Kommandant King Eddie will be flogging them to death twice a day every day.

Wales have selected seven uncapped players in their squad for the upcoming games including Louis Rees-Zammit who must be in line for his first cap, along with Bristol’s Callum Sheedy and Ioan Lloyd, both of whom have been fantastic during the “restart”. You can pick a quality starting XV easily enough but strength in depth is the problem for Wales. Rhys Priestland is still involved with Bath for at least another week but even if he was available Wayne Pivac can’t select him. Shame as he has been outstanding of late.

I’ll do a proper preview of the play-offs and the Pro14 fixtures tomorrow.

Sorry I didn’t mention Leicester City getting beaten by West Ham. What a shocker but thankful it paled into insignificance once the Man United and Liverpool results came in.

I am keeping my powder dry on Covid for a few days more but wow isn’t it fascinating that GSK, Vallance the Destroyer’s old employer, is leading the race to produce a Covid vaccine, and wow the government are telling us the Covid nightmare will continue until autumn next year, which I guess is when mandatory vaccination will be brought in, of course by which time even the most stubborn of opponents will have been brainwashed and enjoying the now desolate wasteland of the UK.

Got to go before I blow a casket. Just read about the potential for £26bn fiasco with loans that have been fraudulently claimed or with no chance of being paid back. Please don’t berate me for my views on this, please go look into it yourselves and then ask who is going to pay. I think you’ll find it is our kids and their kids. If you are happy with that then sod you as I am most certainly not.

Tuesday 6th Oct: 08:30

I made it back safely not that is of any interest to you, the readers. A couple of things from yesterday. Despite what they say Telford Hospital was certainly very busy yesterday. Parking spaces were at a premium. I couldn’t quite get my head around how many people were outside the hospital smoking. By contrast I couldn’t believe how quiet Oxford services were at 16:00 and and how quiet the M25 was 17:15. Hey Ho.

The brown sticky stuff is certainly hitting the fan with regard to Sale and the Covid test results. Sale are adamant that none of their players flouted the guidelines and allegations of partying in Manchester are blatantly false. Sale have been clear about their Covid disciplines, and in my mind have been sensible by stating that if there is another positive today when everyone is retested they will forfeit the match. Interestingly if the game is given the go ahead Worcester may refuse to play thus handing Sale the win and sending Bath into 5th place. It is a shambles. Only time will tell........ the results will be announced quickly, the powers that be will make a decision, the clubs will make a decision and possibly evidence will emerge of wrong doing via social media. Let us hope the decision is to go ahead and no evidence exists because nothing happened.

Just digressing a minute, Sale have suggested that the results last week could have been a result of “false positives”. Members of the coaching team have suffered from that previously (that is a fact) and it could be the same here. False positives are a major issue in the case numbers and the problem is being ignored by the government because it suits them to ignore them. I can but won’t go into the full explanation of a “false positives” but in essence evidence of Covid or another coronavirus e.g. the common cold can be found in the body long after the virus stopped being infectious. As the government are using super sensitive tests even the faintest trace of any coronavirus present in the body will be picked up.

King Eddie has picked a number of uncapped players for his initial training squad ahead of the game vs the Barbarians on Oct 25th. Obviously he can’t pick any of the players at the six clubs still involved in the play-off mix (this still includes Worcester) so in my mind it is almost irrelevant. Alex Dombrandt is the headline uncapped player and the inclusion of all of the Saracens players is worthy of note. When we get to the Autumn games I think the squad will look very different.

The Guardian reports that Covid could scupper all Jones training plans with Lewis Ludlum already in isolation and the Sale situation could filter down quite a long way depending on what happens today/tomorrow.

The top flight women’s game has been given a boost with sponsorship now coming from Allianz. They kick off next week. Of more interest is the adapted laws which I detail here

A play advantage law from a knock-on reducing scrums by 75%

Free kicks awarded to the opposition for a forward pass

Removal of the option of a scrum at a free kick or penalty (hoorah)

A maul can now only have one stop before the ball must be used

No players who are not in the start of a lineout can join a maul.

It will be only possible to drive a lineout in the 22m to reduce the number of mauls

The game will be reduced to 35 minutes per half.

Not sure about some of these but I suspect that this is what the grassroots game may be faced with IF it is ever allowed to start again.

That’ll do for now as it is granddaughter day and I need a coffee before she arrives.

Monday 5th Oct: 09:35

Four games, four fascinating results. Not really. One fascinating result but we’ll get to that shortly.

So it has been confirmed; Leicester Tigers are the worst team in the Premiership. Losing narrowly to Harlequins in a high scoring game will be no consolation for the men and women at Welford Road. Quins will go into the short break between seasons with improvement on their minds as they have the potential to be pushing for honours next season.

Wasps thrashing Exeter Chiefs to secure a home play-off semi-final was no surprise. The quality of the tries and the pressure they generated to create the chances was impressive. This could be the play-off final and if it is don’t write Wasps off.

Bristol beating London Irish was also no surprise. You could argue if there was a surprise it was the fact London Irish kept Bristol at bay for long periods before in some respects being the architects of their own downfall. Bristol clearly had one eye on the Challenge Cup final as plenty of the big guns were rested.

That leaves us with Saracens v Bath. I watched this one and after the opening stanza I made the mistake of dismissing Saracens and penning Bath into the play-off mix. That opening salvo from Bath was impressive with backs and forwards playing with confidence and using the ball wisely. At 14-3 at half time it looked as if the win would come and the only question being would they get the bonus point to put Sale pretty much out of the play-off race. When the excellent Rhys Priestland banged over a penalty against the stiffening wind and into the driving rain to take it to 17-3 I thought “the Saracens party is definitely over”. Slowly but surely Saracens came back into it led by the superb Maro Itoje. If one player epitomised the Saracens spirit it was him. He did not let up whether it be at ruck, maul, lineout or sniping at Wayne Barnes or being an irritant to the opposition. Bath heads sagged noticeably and the tide slowly but surely turned in favour of Saracens. At 17-17 I sat there and said to my mother “Saracens could win this” and oh how nearly did they come to doing exactly that. The occasion and the weather meant it wasn’t a classic but you didn’t want to miss any of it.

The Fez Heads will be overjoyed with how their team performed whilst the Bath supporters will be wringing their hands trying to find someone other than their the coaches and players to blame for the poor outcome. The players and the coaches have to look inwardly as the result was solely down to them losing focus, not controlling the game by letting Saracens get under their skin.

As an aside I think Wayne Barnes was very lenient letting two deliberate Bath knock-ons go without yellow cards. Whilst Itoje was man of the match I think Barnes let him get away with too many indiscretions at the ruck and should have told him to “zip it” on a couple of occasions. Finally, even I stood and applauded when Richard Wigglesworth left the field. What a player, what a servant.

We can now look forward to Wednesday when, if the game goes ahead, tens of thousands of Bath fans will be wearing their Worcester Warriors scarves. Sale could have put a squad out on Saturday but weren’t allowed to. Steve Diamond was clear that the club have followed all the in house protocols stating the virus got into the camp from outside. There were accusations of players partying in Manchester last week but he refuted that. He said he had complete faith in his squad and their integrity but the RFU feels otherwise as they have launched an inquiry following the allegations of “wrong doing”. It is unsurprising that the whingeing has begun. Rather than me rehash all the adverse reaction the best place to find it is in The Guardian (Gerard Meagher). Let us hope the game does go ahead so the play-off picture can be completed on the field.

FYI the first of the Bledisloe Cup games will be at Eden Park in front of a full house. Hoorah! Why can’t our rudderless, leaderless government see sense and let fans back into grounds. More on this in the week.

Hopefully back in Crowborough tonight but if not the blog will be from a very soggy Bridgnorth.

Before that, I hate the idea of being called a conspiracy theorist, because I am not, but even I am becoming very suspicious. After all these months of the virus when the government and the scientists have vehemently defended the accuracy of their numbers but amazingly when it was looking like they were going to miss the 50,000 cases target by a mile “glitches” and “errors” are being discovered in the system which by some miracle (of modern science) takes them almost precisely to their prediction.

Sunday 4th Oct: 10:00

It was all going so well for the Premiership then wallop! One game conceded and one game postponed. After all the hard work and commitment to make it happen it must be gut wrenching for those involved. I know Sale were desperately pulling together a team to play today but the powers that be decided postponement was the only option. Northampton pulling out and conceding was more intriguing. Yes there would have been risks and yes Northampton were struggling to get a side of 23 fit players onto the park but I suspect this, with nothing to play for, was the easy option.

There are now just the four games today..........

Leicester v Harlequins. So what but a Quins win would cement the view this is Tigers worst ever season since the professional era.

London Irish v Bristol. Lots riding on this for Bristol. I think Pat Lam will take a cautious approach with the possibility of a semi-final and the Challenge Cup final ahead. He needs to be careful however as London Irish won at Sandy Park last week and even against a second XV Exeter side that is no mean feat.

Wasps v Exeter. Mmmmm! Intriguing. I think Wasps will win this one with room to spare. Yet again Rob Baxter has selected a much weakened side keeping his stars for the two/three big games ahead. Don't criticise him as his side have earned this luxury by being the best in England.

Saracens v Bath. This is the BIG one. Saracens final game at home in the Premiership against long time foes Bath. Mark McCall and his team will want to win this one to go out with a bang. There are notable absentees from his side due to suspension and injury but as we have seen over recent weeks the bit part actors have still made huge contributions when they have come onto the stage. It is still a Sarries side packed with talent. Bath have to win* if they are to make the play-offs. Stuart Hooper has picked a very strong side so this will be all or nothing. Will it be a good game or a slug fest. I fear the latter but you never know.

* if Sale can't get a team out on Wednesday then Bath are secure noting here I have assumed Wasps and Bristol will win.

It should be a fascinating afternoon......... trying to watch it on the iPad at my mother's assuming I get there before 3pm.

In yesterday's Pro14 Munster came back snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. A last gasp try saw 14 man Munster beat Scarlets. All Scarlets points coming from the boot of Leigh Halfpenny. The visitors crossed for three tries. An ominous omen for the West Wales side me thinks.

Well done Connacht holding off a spirited Glasgow side in another narrow win.

Finally something for the Ospreys to cheer. Coming away from a rain soaked Murrayfield with a 25-10 win is no mean achievement. I have set this to record so will watch it later in the week.

That'll do for know but spare a thought for the loyal servants such as Brad Barritt and Chris Robshaw and Richard Wigglesworth who move on to pastures new tonight. The latter is making his 250th and final Saracens appearance. Wow!!

The Big Orange has Covid. There is some sort of justice there. I did smile on Friday when Bob of Friday Club fame muttered under his breath "you have to feel sorry for the virus".

Isn't it convenient that Doctor Doom and Val Destroyer had the welcome news that a counting error has meant that the number of positive cases is climbing toward their doom laden 50,000 by mid October. We have had how many months of daily counting of cases, deaths and anything else, and right now when the data was about to prove that the predictions of the doom mongers was rubbish they discover a "counting error!". Mmmm!

Saturday 3rd Oct: 09:45

I am going to start with a little self-gratification and praise for the Friday Club. Having worked hard all their lives and contributed positively to society over many years and being closer to 90 than they are to 20 (by a long way!) on a cold, wet and miserable Friday no-one would have criticised them for staying at home with a nice cup of coffee, their newspaper of choice and a bacon buttie. No, there they were getting soaked making furniture, digging ditches, clearing up litter (from the main road) and generally making sure the place was ready for today and Sunday. Well done guys I am proud to be part of you.

Just a quick mention for Jacqui who makes sure the coffee and tea and bikkies were ready for us and to Pratty for his AMAZING savouries. Getting soaked didn't seem so bad after all.

I'll do a full review of Sunday's games tomorrow before I hit the M23, 25, 40, and M5 en route to Bridgnorth. The big story is the Covid outbreak at Sale Sharks. Sale are adamant that the game will go ahead but the papers say differently. I have no further information other than what is in the press.

The Pro14 kicked off last night and despite the result Leinster v Dragons was a pretty good game. Both sides tried to get the ball wide and played with pace. Leinster were very well organised and had the Welsh outfit on the back foot for most of the game. There were glimpses of what the Dragons could produce with Nick Tompkins, Aaron Wainwright and Rhodri Williams all standing out. Ashton Hewitt looks a real prospect too. Johnny Sexton limped off early. Is his time in the spotlight nearly over? Garry Ringrose and Jordan Larmour were excellent as was James Lowe on the wing. As has been the case over many seasons Leinster will be there or there about when the end of season sweeties are handed out. Dragons will continue to struggle but I don't see them as the whipping boys as they have been in recent seasons.

In the other games Cardiff Blues came home from Italy with a hard fought win over Zebre. Ulster beat Benetton in a high scoring game. Reading the report this was a good game with the two sides evenly matched. Whilst being able to watch games is VERY limited lets hope the season continues in the same vein. S4C are showing the Scarlets v Munster and Edinburgh v Ospreys in full as live on Sunday and Monday night.

The planning for the 2023 RWC in France has started. Wales, England, South Africa and New Zealand are the top seeds. Ireland, Australia, Japan and France are second seeds. Then comes Fiji, Scotland, Italy and Argentina. Wales are a little lucky as they currently sit 6th in the rankings but due to Covid the seedings were based on Japan RWC 2019 placings. It does mean Wales or England could end up in a group with both Ireland and Scotland.

That'll do for now as I am off to see my granddaughter Charlotte who is two today. Back tomorrow.

Thursday 1st Oct: 09:30

It will come as no surprise that as the rain came down and we had to switch the living room lights on at 17:30 and there was nothing other than Boris and The Chuckle Brothers of Doom on TV I succumbed to the rugby.

I am glad I did as Worcester v Saracens was pretty entertaining. A try laden first half with the Warriors youngsters showing what they will bring to the party next season and "never lay down" Saracens 2nd string throwing in a couple of tries of their own. The second half was a more evenly contested affair but nonetheless a decent watch. Worcester secured the bonus point and only towards the end did they stretch away. I don't want to big up Saracens but based on the showing of these youngsters; the energy, the commitment, the talent, I will state here that they will go through the Championship season unbeaten and possibly with a try bonus point in every game. Based on Worcester's recent form and the way they have used "restart" as a series of trial games ahead of selection for next season it bodes well for them too...........

AND the win means Leicester would have been relegated all things being equal.

Slightly surprising that Bristol selected a stronger XV than I thought they would therefore it was no surprise that they brushed aside a 2nd XV Leicester outfit. This keeps Bristol in the play-off hunt and condemns Leicester Tigers to a few weeks of wondering how the heck they get out of this slump before November 20th comes around.

As expected Exeter Chiefs rested all their big names after their exertions against Toulouse last weekend. I still thought they would be too strong for London Irish. How wrong was I?Even though this was a much changed Exeter side the win for the soon to be Brentford outfit will be a huge moral booster for them.

It remains "three from four" for the play-offs. The final weekend will be fascinating. More on this on Saturday.

Courtney Lawes is out of the Autumn International Series. King Eddie awaits news on Tuilagi.

The autumn games plus the 6 Nations means the Premiership Clubs will lose their international players possibly for 11 of the opening 14 league games. This due to the overlap in dates and the compulsory rest periods. This is not a great situation for those who passionately follow a single club but for those like me who follow the games neutrally it could even up the playing field and make for some intriguing league contests. Only time will tell.

The new Pro14 season kicks off tomorrow but a bit like the bullshit Covid reporting you would never know. Three games tomorrow night: Zebre v Cardiff Blues, Leinster v Dragons and Ulster v Benetton. Then on Saturday you have Scarlets v Munster, Connacht v Glasgow and Edinburgh v Ospreys. Unless you have the extra pay-per-view package then most games will go unseen. S4C has hopefully Leinster v Dragons on Friday night.

Super Rugby Aotearoa will return in 2021 so it is expected Super Rugby AU will be also be back. This heightens the possibility of four South African franchises joining the Pro14 set up.

Despite the weather being dire there will be no blog tomorrow as it is Friday Club. I will be back on Saturday with that preview I mentioned earlier and then again on Sunday before I hit the road to Bridgnorth.

You surely wouldn't have expected me not to comment on yesterday's news conference would you? Good.........

Doctor Doom and Val the Destroyer have again excelled in their judicious use of data and their ability to lay it on thick when it comes to Project Fear II. No-one can deny deaths are on the increase and everyone is a tragedy. Hospital admissions are on the increase too and this is a concern. Where the presentation falls down is at no point did they show the current rate of death versus the height of the pandemic, likewise making the same comparison with admissions. At no point did they make it clear that the vast majority of deaths are amongst the elderly, most of whom have underlying health issues. Nowhere did they highlight that at least one of the worst affected NHS trusts was the cause of an increase in deaths. At no time did they say that in English hospitals the deaths were spread across 219 trusts which comprises at least 1000 hospitals. I am NOT denying we need to be vigilant. I am and will continue to say until I am proved wrong that the approach being taken is disproportionate to the problem and we will kill off the economy, ruin the lives of millions and possibly deliver a significantly higher death rate from other causes as a consequence.

Wednesday 30th Sep: 10:00

Sale did what they had to do last night. First and foremost win and ideally with a try bonus point. The latter was achieved just before half time but the former looked in doubt as Northampton Saints put up fiery resistance for 30 minutes of the second half. When Sale got their act together they looked good. Backs and forwards supporting each other, going wide when it was right to do so, keeping it tight when the pattern of play dictated and kicking when that was the obvious way forward. The general marshalling his troops was Faf de Klerk. He must be a pain in the neck to play against and a joy to play with. His vision, tactical nous and all around ability was evident for all last night.

Yes Northampton are a poor side despite the plethora of top names in the squad. They seem tactically bereft, short on confidence and lacking in basic skills. Sale were gifted two of their tries by Saint's lapses and if you are Saint's fan you must be hoping for the season to finish and November to come around quickly when hopefully your side can recover their mojo and show the pace and skill they showed pre-Covid.

The positives for Sale were their defence which again was excellent for large parts, and their ability to turn a half chance into a try. The negatives are their discipline is poor, both at the breakdown but also their aggressive attitude, and when they have a comfortable lead they seem to take their foot off the gas rather than putting sides to the sword like Exeter or Bristol might. Worcester at home for Sale on Sunday. A bonus point win and they make the play-offs.

The compacted season "restart" took its toll last night. King Eddie and Wayne Pivac would not have been happy to see Courtney Lawes, Manu Tuilagi and Dan Biggar limp off last night and it looked as if Lewis Ludlam copped an injury late on too.

Attention now turns to tonight's games. Bristol need to put Leicester Tigers away if they are to be in with a chance of the play-offs. Difficult dilemma here for Pat Lam. Having reached the Challenge Cup final and made that the priority which side does he pick? That said will Tigers rest those who were battered into defeat in Toulon. This could be a 2nd XV clash Bristol have to win.

Exeter Chiefs will rest their stars as they are already secure at the top of the table and despite Rob Baxter's statements he will now be looking ahead to the clash with Racing 92. London Irish will still lose in my mind.

Worcester v Saracens is strangely intriguing. Saracens as predicted have included none of the side that lost in Paris. Absolutely the right thing to do. Worcester will want to win this one and hopefully with a bonus point. Their goal has to be to finish above Leicester Tigers as many like me will then quite rightly claim that Tigers demise is complete as outside of the Sarries forced relegation they would have been relegated. This could be the game of choice tonight. That said even I am getting a little punch drunk with all this rugby to watch so might simply read my book with a cup of tea and a couple of Jaffa Cakes as company.

We haven't finished this season yet and the fixtures are out for the November start of the 2020/21 season.
Friday November 20th : Quins v Exeter then Sale v Saints.
Saturday 21st : Bath v Newcastle, Leicester v Gloucester, Worcester v Irish
Sunday 22nd : Wasps v Bristol

There you have it........ a list of Premiership fixtures without Saracens!!

Other snippets.
Talk about the Pro14 becoming the Pro16 with four South African franchises is getting louder.
Irish great Rob Kearney is off to Western Force now he has retired from international rugby.
Ulster plan for a massive 600 fans at first home Pro14 game. Worth the bother? Not in my mind.
The spat between Australia and New Zealand is not over with Sam Cane stating clearly the All Blacks will not accept "Christmas in quarantine".

As I sat waiting for my trusty steam driven notebook to fire up this morning I wondered what real depression must be like. I talk about how depressing this Covid thing is but that is just me not liking or agreeing with the situation. Real deep depression must be awful and I am embarrassed to say I have not thought about that before.

Have you ever been to Warsaw? I have on many occasions and got to know a little of the city and its history. In the city there is a faithful reproduction of the Warsaw ghetto and the museums in Warsaw tell of the horrors of the ghetto under the Nazis in post 1939. Restricted movement in a tightly defined zone, no mixing with .............

I wrote a lot more but then questioned the validity of the comparison I was going to make. Have I bottled it? Maybe! I think there are parallels to be drawn about the UK governments direction of travel and current actions but perhaps that was (is) a step too far for me and this blog.

Tuesday 29th Sep: 09:00

The weather has started as bleak as my mood this morning. Damp, grey, cold and therefore miserable. As we have been stood down from grandparenting duties this morning I made the mistake of looking out of the window and 06:45 and saying "nah" and climbed back into bed, only then to lie there pondering the futility of what is going on right now as dictated by our moronic, hapless and hopeless government.

Nothing epitomised it more than watching Harlequins v Wasps last night battle it out in an empty stadium when it should have been packed to the rafters to salute a great servant to the Harlequins cause and a player who led his country with pride. It was a travesty that Chris Robshaw had to run out on his last Stoop appearance in such circumstances.

It looked like the Stoop sign off would at least be completed with a win. Quins started well and played some attractive rugby exploiting Wasps mistakes, this despite having to make last minute changes to the front row prior to kick off and losing James Chisholm early on. Alex Dombrandt was a more than able deputy scoring within minutes of his arrival. Even though I thought his second try was from a forward pass it was a well worked move. When Marcus (get your hair cut) Smith went over Wasps looked dead and buried.

One moment of madness and the game is turned on its head. Thankfully as Dan Robson didn't have the ball that was what he was able to protect himself from; landing on his head. Not only was Elia Elia's tackle very dangerous it was malicious and late. I expect the discipline boys and girls will take a dim view of his actions. I am sure so too will Paul Gustard as this was quite clearly the turning point. Wasps took advantage of the extra man and roared back with three tries and a last second penalty to pretty much secure their play-off spot.

Was this a great game? Not really. The scrum was again a turgid time stealer, and some of the skills on show were poor. It was still enjoyable though for the brief glimpses of skill we did see and to watch the rise and rise of Jack Willis. For the Wasps fans out there please explain why when it was 15 v 15 Wasps played the more ambitious open rugby but when it was 15 v 14 they went into their shell and tried to batter Quins into submission?

Tonight it is Sale's turn to impress. Having already won one piece of silverware will they be as hungry as those who follow Sale would want them to be. Northampton Saints have had a terrible run of results so surely would want to finish with two wins. I don't know what to expect but can only hope for a good game. Yes I will be watching.

A couple of interesting points. The players union are calling on the government for financial support. Is this the same players union that have been responsible for driving wage inflation up and for some time before common sense kicked in opposed any wage cuts.

The second piece was in the Daily Mirror. Rob Baxter, previously a supporter of the regular Covid testing has now come out and said the regular tests should be scrapped leaving his players to be responsible and be "hyper vigilant". He makes a number of good points in that the number of positives has been miniscule and where a positive has been detected there has been no mass outbreak, obviously regular testing is costly, but most of all scrapping the testing of the Premiership would free up a significant number of tests for those who most need it. "Well said" is what I say.

As I lay there contemplating my navel this morning I wondered if I was a lone voice and have totally missed the point. I am relieved to say more and more people are opening their ears, eyes and minds to what is turning out to be a farce; the handling of Covid-19. People are finally cottoning on to what is going on. Just last night FIVE new draconian measures were introduced without a single point of scrutiny and therefore no opposition. We have politicians who have become power crazed; Matt Hancock, and others who are chancers not letting a good crisis go to waste: Wee Jimmie Sturgeon and Andy Burnham. Thousands of people are in the equivalent of house arrest and our civil liberties are being curtailed and freedom of speech is being strangled.

Pubs, bars and restaurants are preventing people from entering if they haven't downloaded the track & trace app. Even if I wanted to I can't download it as it doesn't work on my smartphone so that is me prevented from going out.

Now to some facts for you to ponder and you tell me if any of this makes sense. Bolton has been in "extra measures" lockdown for some while now yet their infection rate keeps rising. It now stands at 238.9 per 100,000. How you get to 0.9 of a person I don't know. In my mind this is still low. If this virus is so deadly that our NHS has become the CHS -Covid Health Service why aren't we seeing a similar increase in deaths, after all as the scientists keep telling us Bolton isn't the health capital of the UK. Bolton has seen just seven Covid deaths since 1st September?

I'll leave you with that to ponder, along with the question why our media never mentions the average 1600 deaths PER DAY in the UK that are not related to Covid.

I make no apologies for bleating on in the hope one day some of you might say "you were right"........ by the way if I am wrong rest assured unlike our mealy mouthed politicians and faceless scientists I will stand and shout "I was wrong - I AM SORRY!"

Monday 28th Sep: 08:30

Amongst the gloom there is light. Certainly at Steel Cross there is. Yesterday I along with Graeme & Drew Pratt and Jeremy Evans attended an awards ceremony for our girls section. It was an honour to be asked and a pleasure to see so many young girls who have enthusiastically taken to our great sport at Crowborough RFC. Much of the success is down to the enthusiasm of Sharon Green and her excellent team of coaches: Ash, Josh and Nicky, but enthusiasm is not enough. It helps that the club have embraced the project fully ensuring all the facilities and support required are in place. A VERY WELL DONE ALL!

The government's brown sticky stuff keeps getting thrown at clubs like ours so it is also heart warming to see how quickly Emma and Jacqui were able to embrace the new rules. Well done to them too.

In yesterday's Sunday Times Bassaleg old boy Stephen Jones wrote a very good piece about the imminent collapse of rugby clubs. There is no sugar daddy to keep most club's afloat and right now if there were they too would be fighting for their own existence. Clubs like ours rely on membership fees, money over the bar, league lunches, raffles and events to survive. Whilst there is a trickle of cash in from mini & junior rugby everything else has dried up. This at a time when the money to pay the day to day bills is still flowing out. I have little sympathy with the clubs at the top who have been mired in debt through extravagance for years, nor the clubs who have squandered cash on players chasing the dream. For the many well run local clubs who support their local communities this could be a death knell sounding. The more I read the more this whole thing is now being mismanaged to a level verging on farce and whether it be rugby clubs or football clubs or theatres or cinemas being forced into oblivion by clowns and incompetents it is sickening.

The Saracens salary cap story is well known and their relegation is understood. Two more games and they join the hundreds of clubs up and down the country whose future is totally uncertain. The Championship is a mix of full time professional and amateur clubs. The latter means players aren't in a well controlled environment, they are out earning a living for their family. As a consequence there is no control of the virus which means fixing a start date for the league is proving problematical. It is a nonsense.

Giles Hilton, Chairman of Canterbury RFC has made a very interesting suggestion to the RFU. As we will see no competitive rugby until January then simply scrap the leagues and when full on rugby can kick off let clubs make their own fixtures. If the season was to start we might have to travel to Thanet, Deal, Beckenham, Gravesend and Folkestone. Long and costly trips. We could on the other hand have fixtures with Uckfield, Heathfield, East Grinstead, Haywards Heath and Hove for example. All close by and I suggest worthy of good travelling support. Ten games with a trophy at the end. Why not the Matt Ratana Cup?

The empty Stoop will say goodbye to Chris Robshaw tonight when Harlequins host Wasps. For the visitors there is much to play for. For Quins there is just pride as their place in next seasons Champions Cup is secure. Robshaw will soon be plying his trade in San Diego but I guess there will always be a place in his heart for Harlequins, a club he has served so well.

O2 have given a £7.5m injection into RFU's coffers after extending their association with English rugby. The RFU are still miles from safety but every little helps as Tesco would say (other supermarkets are available).

That little help nearly didn't come from the Premiership as they threatened to switch the (unnecessary) play-off final away from Twickenham due to the RFU originally not budging from the cost to host, a reputed £500,000. The RFU saw sense and relented. The game will now go ahead at Twickenham on Oct 24th as planned.

On Saturday upwards of 15,000 people from across the broadest spectrum of society congregated in Trafalgar Square to protest at the latest round of draconian measures imposed on British society, including the house arrest of many, many students across the land. The coverage in the media was scant to say the least and what there was highlighted solely on the perception that those present were plague infested lunatics that needed putting down like a rabid dog. Nowhere can I find anything about the totally unwarranted heavy handed tactics of the police in riot gear, and only the occasional photo of some of the baton wielding police charges into the crowd. SKY only started to cover any of this when things turned ugly and it was all the crowds fault of course. Fascinatingly the story appeared next to a story about how the Belarussian State police were ferociously putting down a demonstration about the dictatorship of their President Alexander Lukashenko. The photos were interchangeable, just the police uniforms were different.

This comes a day after the police allowed an armed man into custody because the policy is to be nice to felons and only thoroughly search them when several pages of tick boxes have been completed. It seems unbelievable that a man known to the police carrying drugs and ammunition was NOT searched properly yet decent law abiding citizens exercising their right to free speech are (in the videos I've seen) physically attacked.

The world and Britain especially is going mad!!!!!