England 2024/25

[BrokenWing]

At my physical peak, I doubt I could beat him for pace if you pushed me off a cliff.

I might have managed it with fear doing a lot of the heavy lifting.

 

[Ddanno]

You've seen that step, there is no escape.

Glol. Good work.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

Pearson is an interesting one, he's dropped down the pecking order as he fades in and out of games. Can be brilliant, can also be a passenger. Don't think that's a saints think, more a him thing.

I know his boyhood club was Gloucester and last year he choose to resign with us even though he had offers from Gloucester, so obviously wants to stay here but sometimes on the price he acts like he doesn't or he's daydreaming.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Yeah hes made a few people eat their hats. A pleasant surprise, positive work by Baths coaches

Suspect du Toit's influence and competition has probably had a fair bit to do with this as well. But a definite good news story.

Will Stuart, Tommy Freeman, Tom Curry and Maro Itoje all nominated for England Men's Player of the Season. Has to be Curry imo.

Hard to argue with that, especially given the injury back story.

 

[Which Tyler]

Suspect du Toit's influence and competition has probably had a fair bit to do with this as well. But a definite good news story.

And vice-versa.
Despite all of BT's "TdT is undeniably the best prop in the world, and has been for ages - try scoring machine" He came to us after not making the Springbok's RWC squad; and has since risen up to what? 3rd choice for the Boks?
When he signed for Bath, he had 3 starts and 9 bench appearances for the Boks, at the age of 28. Scoring 12 tries across 130+ appearances.

Since signing for Bath, he's made another 6 starts and 2 bench appearances for the Boks (who've played 30-odd tests), and scored 21 tries across 59 matches.

He's absolutely come into his own since coming to Bath. But people think "best prop in the world huh? must be on marquee salary - wonder how they fit that into the cap?" rather than thinking "starting to get on a bit, never made much of an impression, fringe international" when he signed his contract.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

TBF being behind arguably the greatest props group of all time in Kitshoff, Koch, Malherbe, Ox, Nyakane all bar Ox in their 30's had more to do with it than anything else.
Honestly I don't quite get the best prop in the world talk.
Even behind now he's still behind Ox, Louw, Koch, Steenkamp currently.

The thing with Du Toit is his ability to play TH and LH makes him massively valuable to a club team, it's just not as valued to a SA team.

I think he's the best prop in the league because he can play LH and TH to basically a 8/10 level minimum, can carry to a high level and scrums all day.
BUT personally I think Stuart as a pure TH is prob better than TDT though.

In terms of cap I'm far more suspect in their signings of Carreras and Arudnell at the rumoured wages. But I've maintained for a while it's not hard to believe why Bath are in cap.

 

[Which Tyler]

I think "Most valuable prop in the league" is reasonably fair - and as you say, it's because he's ambidextrous. At his club, he's not good as Obano or Stuart in their specialist positions.

I also think it's fair to be more concerned about this summer's signings - but that the time to be concerned about those is when we know who's leaving.
Which is far to nuanced for the club-specific forae like Shedweb or SportsNetwork

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

And vice-versa.
Despite all of BT's "TdT is undeniably the best prop in the world, and has been for ages - try scoring machine" He came to us after not making the Springbok's RWC squad; and has since risen up to what? 3rd choice for the Boks?
When he signed for Bath, he had 3 starts and 9 bench appearances for the Boks, at the age of 28. Scoring 12 tries across 130+ appearances.

Since signing for Bath, he's made another 6 starts and 2 bench appearances for the Boks (who've played 30-odd tests), and scored 21 tries across 59 matches.

He's absolutely come into his own since coming to Bath. But people think "best prop in the world huh? must be on marquee salary - wonder how they fit that into the cap?" rather than thinking "starting to get on a bit, never made much of an impression, fringe international" when he signed his contract.

I think it's clear though that having to fight to be top dog at your club / country is a much better thing than just getting the shirt automatically without any real challenge.

 

[Which Tyler]

I think it's clear though that having to fight to be top dog at your club / country is a much better thing than just getting the shirt automatically without any real challenge.

Depending on the individual mentality - absolutely, and was mostly my point above.
And I'd argue that the required mentality lends itself to forward play more than the backs - confrontation and thriving on adversity and bread-and-butter to the brutes; whilst the hair-cares are more likely to need to feel loved (obviously, with exceptions to both stereotypes)

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

New England kit released today. Not seen it mentioned anywhere so thought I'd post it here.

It's castore as expected.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I mean it's fine, I guess
Pretty run of the mill and inoffensive (other than being made by Castore)

 

[Reiser99]

Getting 2007 vibes

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

Getting 2007 vibes

View attachment 23585

More like 2003/4 kit.

 

[Duck a l'Orange]

I like the stripes. Makes it a bit more distinctive. As clean as a straight colour looks, it's a bit of a cop out.

 

[Geordie]

Accepting the limitations of what you can do with a white shirt.....I don't like it. Boring and unimaginative...

 

[Which Tyler]

No problem with the design, but it's Castore, so it'll be sized small, and made from tissue paper

 

[Ddanno]

No problem with the design, but it's Castore, so it'll be sized small, and made from tissue paper

Ooooooh which scrum half ate all the piiii-ieeeeees!

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Never had any Castore stuff but no-one here seems to like it. Something about the shirt I don't like that I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe it looks more like a t shirt than a rugby shirt although I definitely object to the colour of the O2 logo.

 

[Which Tyler]

Ooooooh which scrum half ate all the piiii-ieeeeees!

A] Me, I have eaten far too many ies since I stopped playing 22 years ago.
B] my 2025 Bath shirt in XXL is EXACTLY the same size as my 2005 Lions shirt in L, and slightly smaller than my 2006 Bath shirt in L

 

[Wasps92]

Never had any Castore stuff but no-one here seems to like it. Something about the shirt I don't like that I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe it looks more like a t shirt than a rugby shirt although I definitely object to the colour of the O2 logo.

I've got a couple of their England cricket shirts. The T20 top is fine. The Test shirt is made from an annoying material which seems to crease really easily. They also haven't bothered to embroider the crest, it's that heat transfer rubbish which no doubt makes it cheaper to manufacture…