Buck Mitchells Blog

[@buck_mitchell]

English grow up wanting to be Johnny Wilkinson ? Don't they grow up wanting to be Wayne Rooney, a normal person's salary a week and all the scaggy old whores your money can buy, Welsh kids grow up wanting to be Ryan Giggs or Gareth Bale not Shane Williams he's just a short arse with a pikey hair cut, hell I grew wanting to be Gary Lineker (sans the ears) & I'm Welsh.

& who mentioned Brive winning the Heineken Cup ? That was about 20 years ago the 5 Nations was probably the pinnacle of Northern Hemisphere rugby in the early days of professionalism, but with the exception of a Grand Slam game you know you've always got the following week to have another bite at the cherry in the 6 Nations. 1 cock up in the Heineken Cup means you could end playing Munster in Thomond Park, Leicester in Welford Road or not getting out of your group at all. Good use of smeg though !

& Basque, Catalan, Martian none of them care a fig about France compared to their club sides.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

English grow up wanting to be Johnny Wilkinson ? Don't they grow up wanting to be Wayne Rooney, a normal person's salary a week and all the scaggy old whores your money can buy, Welsh kids grow up wanting to be Ryan Giggs or Gareth Bale not Shane Williams he's just a short arse with a pikey hair cut, hell I grew wanting to be Gary Lineker (sans the ears) & I'm Welsh.

Don't think the people of the Amman would agree with that.

Not only that it also depends from what part off Wales you are from or come from are all factors in determining on what people want to be like when they are older. I know kids around my area who want to be the next Shane Williams and others who want to be the next Gareth Bale / Wanye Rooney / Dider Drogba etc. The also other issue is with parents who choose what sports their child plays in or follows. I was luckily enough to be given a choice. Some don't but the argument that kids want to grow up to the like Bale / Giggs and not Shane Williams is not a strong one.

 

[Feicarsinn]

English grow up wanting to be Johnny Wilkinson ? Don't they grow up wanting to be Wayne Rooney, a normal person's salary a week and all the scaggy old whores your money can buy, Welsh kids grow up wanting to be Ryan Giggs or Gareth Bale not Shane Williams he's just a short arse with a pikey hair cut, hell I grew wanting to be Gary Lineker (sans the ears) & I'm Welsh.

& who mentioned Brive winning the Heineken Cup ? That was about 20 years ago the 5 Nations was probably the pinnacle of Northern Hemisphere rugby in the early days of professionalism, but with the exception of a Grand Slam game you know you've always got the following week to have another bite at the cherry in the 6 Nations. 1 cock up in the Heineken Cup means you could end playing Munster in Thomond Park, Leicester in Welford Road or not getting out of your group at all. Good use of smeg though !

& Basque, Catalan, Martian none of them care a fig about France compared to their club sides.

Well, you missed the point entirely there. Okay then, if you want to be a rugby player when you grow up you want to be an international. I can't spell it out any clearer than that. That's why Johnny Wilkinson will be remembered above Andy Goode and Shane Williams will be remembered above Dafydd James.

 

[@buck_mitchell]

Some nasty parents round your way Cymro, mind you some pretty "questionable" kids too if they wanna be Drogba, I'd rather be some1 who's first choice for their team. You really know people in Swansea who would be unhappy if their kid's became pro footballers ? Surely only if they played for the Blue birds.

The list of truly iconic rugby players around (& playing at their peak) today is pretty slim, you could maybe make a case for BOD (although he's definitely not at his blistering best) Dan Carter, SBW, and then I'm struggling James O'Connor's pretty good but he's only gonna get better. Wilko's more bothered about his club than International rugby, he said in several interviews last year that he wanted to concentrate on playing well for Toulon & if England picked him it'd be good but if they didn't then meh. Ritchie McCaw's out injured atm (and his main talent seems to be killing the ball without being penalised) Maybe Matt Giteau & personally I'll take Daf James over Shane anyday cos he could actually tackle & Daf's still the 2nd highest try scorer in Heineken Cup history behind Vincent Clerc. Personally don't think Shane's had a decent game since he was named "world player of the year" in '08.

 

[Feicarsinn]

Some nasty parents round your way Cymro, mind you some pretty "questionable" kids too if they wanna be Drogba, I'd rather be some1 who's first choice for their team. You really know people in Swansea who would be unhappy if their kid's became pro footballers ? Surely only if they played for the Blue birds.

The list of truly iconic rugby players around (& playing at their peak) today is pretty slim, you could maybe make a case for BOD (although he's definitely not at his blistering best) Dan Carter, SBW, and then I'm struggling James O'Connor's pretty good but he's only gonna get better. Wilko's more bothered about his club than International rugby, he said in several interviews last year that he wanted to concentrate on playing well for Toulon & if England picked him it'd be good but if they didn't then meh. Ritchie McCaw's out injured atm (and his main talent seems to be killing the ball without being penalised) Maybe Matt Giteau & personally I'll take Daf James over Shane anyday cos he could actually tackle & Daf's still the 2nd highest try scorer in Heineken Cup history behind Vincent Clerc. Personally don't think Shane's had a decent game since he was named "world player of the year" in '08.

Well then. You musn't have watched much 6 nations rugby over the last 2 seasons, meaning you'd hardly be in a position to comment about the tourny. He's put in some super performances.

 

[@buck_mitchell]

Right, so you'd swap Shane Williams for Tommy Bowe would you ? Cos only the most sentimental Welsh fan would turn that offer down, Bowe's bigger, stronger, faster and better in defence (only just, they're both pretty crap). Shane has scored 7 tries in the last 3 "tournys" & 6 of those have been against Scotland or Italy and I'd quite fancy a try a game against those 2 sorry excuses for "International" XV's

 

[Feicarsinn]

Right, so you'd swap Shane Williams for Tommy Bowe would you ? Cos only the most sentimental Welsh fan would turn that offer down, Bowe's bigger, stronger, faster and better in defence (only just, they're both pretty crap). Shane has scored 7 tries in the last 3 "tournys" & 6 of those have been against Scotland or Italy and I'd quite fancy a try a game against those 2 sorry excuses for "International" XV's

Seven tries in 12 games is a pretty good strike rate. Just because I'd rather have Tommy Bowe doesn't mean Shane Williams hasn't been playing well. That's like saying Dan Carter is a great 10 therefore all other outhalves are useless.

That's an aside, again you've missed the point. He'll be idolised in rugby circles because he's been a great international winger, far more so than a player who has done great things in the heineken cup but not done it in the 6 nations. The same goes for the likes of Johnny Wilkinson and Andy Goode, Alan Quinlan and David Wallace etc. Conclusion? The 6 nations is held in higher regard than club competition.

 

[coonor]

It would be a great experiment though. Asking fans in different areas what who they support first Club or country. I think in some areas club is more important. Munster is probably a good example and thats probably because they have had more success with their club and they have built a rugby franchise and culture known around the world. For a nation as a whole I would say International rugby is more important. I think the 6 nations brings everyone together in a nation. Even if you don't like rugby you just want your nation to beat its rivals. I think players are focussed on playing for their country as to reach the highest level is one thing but winning at the highest level is a different thing all together.

 

[@buck_mitchell]

3 6 Nations tournaments have 15 games, not 12 and just less than half a try a game isn't a bad strike rate but it's the same strike Lionel Nallet had in the 2011 6 Nations, Jamie Heaslip had a better strike rate in the 2011 6 Nations and Chris Ashton managed 6 in 5 matches this season I doubt the majority of Welsh fans will miss Shane when George North replaces him. Shane's been better for the Lions in the last few years and at World Cups than in the 6 Nations (seriously, who DOESN'T score against Italy and Scotland ?)

The only people who idolise Andy Goode are related to him, or middle aged Leicester fans. Compared to Dan Carter all other outside halves ARE useless, did you not watch the Crusaders game on Sunday ??? & I'm sure there are people who regard Alan Quinlan as some sort of deity, but they are the sort of people who would also have raked Leo Cullen's eyes instead of go on a Lions tour. If you're trying to make the point that stars are born at International level at least pick some good 1's. Wilko will always be remembered for what he did with England AT A WORLD CUP, not in the 6 Nations (any1 remember any of his good 6 Nations games ?) but that's cos he played for the shower of shite that is Newcastle.

If Ireland make the top 4 at the World Cup, instead of freezing and scraping through their group only to get clobbered by South Africa in the QF (as I believe is traditional these days) then their last 6 Nations was clearly a plus point for them and I point out in the piece the relevance of a 6 Nations is based on country and it's chronology, that said I'm still not putting any money the Northern Hemisphere storming iit in NZ.

 

[Logorrhea]

English grow up wanting to be Johnny Wilkinson ? Don't they grow up wanting to be Wayne Rooney, a normal person's salary a week and all the scaggy old whores your money can buy, Welsh kids grow up wanting to be Ryan Giggs or Gareth Bale not Shane Williams he's just a short arse with a pikey hair cut, hell I grew wanting to be Gary Lineker (sans the ears) & I'm Welsh.

Maybe its time to head back to 606?

 

[cyRil]

Can't believe I defended this guy last week. What a loser.

 

[TVH11]

Don't think the people of the Amman would agree with that.

Yer don't agree at all If as a kid you like football, you don't wanna grow up and be Shane williams and vice versa with rugby - they don't wanna be Bale or Giggs. You aspire to be someone thats actually within the field you interested in. And also all those that do aspire to be the next shane williams know that he's not a bad footballer, didn't play rugby seriously till form 5 in school