UlsterRugby1999

The opening meeting has been arranged for Wednesday 19 March at 8:00pm in the bar - Le Centre - Bourg Archambault. If anyone is interested - I look forward to meeting you then. Good luck Paul

I cant imagine that its TOOOOOOOOOOOOO hard being a Glaws man. You are still top of the GP and that doesnt come from nothing

Woops plod - another wee narrow defeat by the Glaws. Still top of the GP but its getting shakey in there. Wee win for Ulster (thats me lads) against the Scarlets. 20 - 8 in Belfast. Twud have been a great night during the game and, of course, after the game too [:D][:D] Some craic next weekend - I agree with plod  Wales will start to have serious games to play and I think their honeymoon is over. The Ospreys (sorry Welsh) team are tired and havent been pushed yet and the Irish lads are still on a mission to prove themselves. England to easily take the Calcutta and France to get a scrapy win

Hi Nectarine - good advice from steve. I have heard an awful lot of advice from well meaning people about this engine and that engine and this make of machine and so on. We have used an MTD 20hp 102cm cutter for 4 years now in our small gardening business. It works around 3 days each week from March through to November and has NEVER given us any trouble. It cuts grass which is far too high, cuts gardens that are well tended and leaves them with nice stripes and is so easy on fuel its unbelievable. We also use a Husqvarna 96cm mower to which mulches better and has a slightly higher high cut. This has a Kohler engine in it which Husqs have had for years. They are real work horses. Again, in the three years that we have had it it has never given us any trouble. So, I have muddied the waters perhaps but I only wanted to show you that well meaning advice can sometimes leave you in a quandry. Oh - and by the way - despite all those who say you must buy a machine with a Briggs & Stratton engine - my MTD has a TECUMSEH engine in it and it would put many B&S's to shame. Its how you look after them that counts. I'm also a fan of Hydrostatics too. For what its worth, most of the local Pros in our area use Honda with their own engine on board or the new Husqvarnas with the new Kawasaki engines. Good luck - Paul

Aye - sadly this is the down side of the beautiful game. But it doesnt take away the loss of Simon Best for us. Anyway - the 6N's is wide open and I feel a few more (rubbish - a load more) Guinness coming on and some great rugby (despite what I might have felt pre the 1st games). Oh - and another wee win for the Glaws - Falcons dispensed with.

My wee heart is broken http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/irish/7262905.stm My wee heart is broken

It would have been very cruel if it had been declared (quite correctly it must be said) as a knockon. That tackle was immense and worthy of the try. No ifs buts or ands - period

[quote]a great match to watch. If you are English, that is.[/quote] As a non Englishman - it was still a very good match to watch. As I have already said - a deserved win. Keeps the 6N's wide open and running until the end. Wales start their 6N's next match as their practice matches are now over [:)][;-)]

I TOLD YOU SO OH YEE OF LITTLE FAITH [;-)][;-)]

Come on raindog -  I've been telling you for ages that you are all wrong calling for the removal of Wilko. He was feckin class tonight. Total control and some decent hits too. That was one of the best defence 25 minutes I have seen for a long long time. The English pack was top drawer and fought for every yard (sorry metre). Easter stepped up as did Shaw. Vickery is a moron and Regan lost his head but all in all a pretty decent front up peformance. Noon was fantastic and in my opinion should have got MOTM. Wingers were good when they got decent ball but a good win and well deserved. Good luck. As for Wales - well lets not get carried away. There really was naff all in there to worry most of us. An intercept try flatters rather than shows the true game and Willimas try was scored against a team who had 15 men in attack. Oh - and we had a good win against Scotland. But Comical O'Stagnant survives still

Aye - for sure - but I could make the trip worth your while [;-)]

Cheers raindog - I have a feeling in my water that there will be a wee Engerlush win 2moro. The French are still at odds despite the stats and there is the old dogged pride thing that hauled the Red Rose brigade through the world cup still lurking about. I just hope for a day of good rugby and Guinness [;-)]

What - nobody interested :-(((

Alan Zoff -  you are now beating my drum. This is also the reason why I dont specifically blame Ashton for the state of things. I just dont believe that anyone in the English team takes this on board and tries to lead from the front. I thought that Nick Easter might be the man but I'm not so sure now. Big news today though is that Comical O'Stagnant has, for once in his miserable life, done the right thing and brought Tommy Bowe in. Mind you, its against Scotland so its not a real gamble I guess [;-)][;-)]

A few golf mad folks are coming together to form a golf society near Montmorillon in department 86. The owners of Le Centre bar in Bourg Archambault have very kindly agreed to sponsor the society and envisage that we will have circa 6 outings each year. Additionally, the hope is that those who take part will come from not just English speaking folks, but French, Dutch and whoever has an interest. Membership is open to everyone male, female and youngsters. If any of you folks wish to join in, or require further information, please email me with your details and I will get in touch to organise our first outing. Cheers - Paul  

It may have slipped your notice, but Ulster had a spectacular 38 - 13 win over the Dragons in Belfast on Friday. I knew that you all would have wanted to know this so I thought I'd post it for you [;-)] It seems that the influence of Matt Williams has had a very positive effect. plod - another wee blip by the Glaws again this weekend. Maybe the lads are just cream crackered. That said, you still hold the number one slot. 

So Gardian that means that you're not telling then [;-)] Raindog - nice piece from Planet Rugby and pretty fair all round comments I guess. I cant believe that Ashton has no game plan. Remember, its not that long ago that he was with Ireland and he was quite well thought of as I recall. I'd be more inclined to believe that the old personality clash syndrome was at play here.

Cant help you Paul. I'm actually in the Vienne (well the extreme south of it) I'm a member of Mignaloux Beauvoir in Poitiers. With the way things are these days work wise I last played in December. Sad thing is that I was shooting very sweet low scores (even a couple of sub par rounds) and the like towards the end of the last year - I'm sure it'll be grim now. If its not far away, do they give you a free practice round. Its always well worth it if you can get it. Good luck either way. Let me know how you get on though. UR99 (Paul also)

Good man Gardian - do let us know what your friends response is. That is so long as it doesnt breach the decency rules [;-)] In rugby, of course, anything is possible. Thats one of those extra elements of the game and I suppose what keeps us coming back time after time. This isnt a dig, to be sure, but given the Red Rose performances in the RWC, how many of us really gave them a chance after the drubbing by the Boks. Yet, they ground it out and did themselves proud - poor form or no poor form. I'm still not convinced that binning Ashton is the right road to go down. He hasnt been there long enough. He was one of the key factors in the RWC results and he has a great rugby brain. Wilkinson cannot be binned. His tactical play and kciking are still one of the major arrows in the English quiver and until you get someone who can fill his boots completely (and put in some of the hits that he has being doing lately (maybe one or two a wee bit high or late) then you would be crazy to drop him. In the meantime, where is plod - what happened to the Glaws man. Taken by the Tigers at Kingsholm. Wow.

Gardian - your response would indicate that you felt I was having a dig. Not so sir. I posted the unlucky Italian question after reading the various professional reports on the BBC - Planet Rugby and so on. [quote]The second half was scrappy at best with England struggling for ball and conceding penalty after penalty[/quote] [quote]Ball retention was also poor and with 15 minutes remaining, Wasps' youngster Danny Cipriani replaced Wilkinson as Ashton continued to make changes.[/quote] [quote]With time running out, Italy started to open up and only a superb tap tackle from Noon halted a try-scoring opportunity for Kaine Robertson. It was one of several fine tackles from the Newcastle centre who was solid in defence throughout and England's best performer behind the scrum.[/quote] Planet Rugby talks about how England Nearly Threw It Away [quote] Once again, in the final 20 minutes the English went to sleep, and Italy so nearly nicked it. In the final minutes, trailing by four, the Azzurri had three attacking line-outs in promising positions, but each time one of the England jumpers stuck up a big mitt and ruined Italy's possession. [/quote] As for Ireland, well I have stated my thoughts often on this forum. We didnt deserve to win. You cannot lie down for 50 minutes against the French EVERY time you play them and expect to come back. But I was glad to see the lads dump O'Stagnants failed game plan and play from their hearts and actually perform for the last 30 minutes. Maybe just maybe - but then again Comical O'Wingnut is still in charge and still making all the out of touch post match slabberings. [:@] [:@]

I'm with powerdesal on this. There was a wee puff of white dust and I immediately said that he was out. The TMO either saw a different angle for the actual timing of the foot and the touch down or he missed the foot (which I very much doubt). Either way, it was given and TBH Scotland didnt really deserve a win. On the issue of deserving wins - while I didnt see the match - what is the general view of the unlucky Italians [;-)][;-)] As for raindogs swings and roundabouts comment - maybe - but for sure it looks that way but the great thing about rugby is that the VAST majority of those involved at all levels, and this includes spectators, just accept these decisions and get on with it. They cant always get it right but to be sure they do their utmost to get it right.

Whatever you are on Just katie - can I have some [:)]

Nobody then - huh [8-)]

I'd like to ask him (and the rest of the French group) what the feck they were playing at. Its as if they wanted to save the bacon of one Wingnut O'Sullivan. They gifted that 2nd half away. That said, credit to the Irish lads, they stuffed Wingnuts failed plan up their jerseys and played from the heart and they very nearly turned the complacent French over. Aaaarrrrrrgggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh - O'Sullivan lives to ruin another day. [:@][6][:'(]

Has anyone any info on the 2 new courses which will be opening shortly (1 this year and 1 next year) in the north Limousin area. I hear that 1 may be near Bellac.