Rugby Union

Rugby, rugby, rugby. But where's Johnny Matthews?

Wales for the spoon

Please be a SGM the eve of the Calcutta Cup, please!

This could be a cracker. England keep growing slowly under Bothwick, but being depleted of Lions (I suspect not many, but key players all the same!) and away mean Argentina will be eyeing this fixture up. I already am!

Cracking boxing day viewing here in Thurso. I hope you're all enjoying the holidays

£1.1m with 40 layoffs. Let them eat cake

8 tries is a statement. Edinburgh fancy the challenge cup this year. They aren't going to win the URC so why not a good cup run?

Any other stand out results this weekend?

I'll always remember talking about O'Gara vs Sexton when they were swapping the ten shirt with an Irishman in Murrayfield

the thing about Ronan O'Gara - he's thick as two short planks!

Good to see he's not out grown this reputation

What are we playing in, attending, or watching on the telly this weekend? Loads of pro rugby on with the European cups starting, loads of amateur stuff to see too. Get down to a game is my advice!

Last one of the campaign, and it's been fun. Ireland vs Australia at 3:10 in the Aviva. Schmidt returning to where he is still considered god like among coaches.

Loads of club stuff back on this weekend too. I quite fancy Watsonians vs Kelso today in Edinburgh, but am at a gig tonight and so will miss Edinburgh vs Benneton.

World rugby has next to no money. I'm surprised not the IRFU and SRU aren't included too

Friday night rugby, with France vs Argentina to kick off things. Then Sat is Ire vs Fiji, Wal vs SA, and Ita vs NZ. Sun is Sco vs Aus, and Eng vs Japan

Been a great 4 weeks, lets hope for some great matches again! Game of the weekend looks to be Scotland vs Australia, and guess who's going?

Would prefer to have a national team vs a scratch side, but it is only a warmup. Should be great to watch!

As I said at the weekend: who else would do better?

All about speeding up the game. The bigest culprit right now is the whistle however. Given the size of the bokkes forwards, anything to speed them up is a good idea. But I'm still dissapointed not to see at least 2 backs mandated on the bench, or a cut to it.

To reduce the whistle it might be time to warn specific players. One warning for giving away a penalty and then a yellow card. Might be funny to see teams at 10 players

Some analysis ahead of this weekend's matches

Nice interview here. And a great quote

Just starting an early thread as there's injury news that will impact the weekend.

The NZ based franchises & Moana Pasifika are all announcing their squads for the 2025 season today. On the hour, in NZDT:

• Hurricanes 10am
• Crusaders 11am
• Chiefs 12pm
• Moana Pasifika 1pm
• Highlanders 2pm
• Blues 3pm

Juicy weekend of rugby, kick offs in GMT

Friday

Ireland vs New Zealand - 2010

Saturday

England vs Australia - 1510
Italy vs Argentina - 1740
France vs Japan - 2010

Sunday

Wales vs Fiji - 1340
Scotland vs South Africa - 1610

Share your predictions, post some reactions, and bonus question: how many cards this weekend?

Unlikely to be jailed, but could see some hefty community service and a big fine

I hated Cheika when he was the Wallabies coach and having ding dong battles with the ABs. But since he's coached around the place and learning a lot more about his story i've begun to find him a much more interesting and charming coach than I ever gave him credit for.

This is a great interview, well worth a listen and i'm so far barely half way through it.

Should be a great clash at the weekend, hoping it's put away by half time and we see the bench then shine

I guess week 1 was really NZ v Japan last week, but somehow I don't think that really counts.

Ran out of puff at the end of the NPC so haven't been posting much, but lets have a thread to discuss this weekend's matches.