Huge win for the Irish ladies over the All Blacks yesterday!

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The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End

W00t for the Irish ladies! That is a great upset win given how strong the All Blacks have been in this tournament in the past.

South Africa, of course, isn't doing very well at all

What's All Blacks, precious? I tried to google, but news articles assume that the reader already knows.

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“It may help to understand human affairs to be clear that most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused, not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, but by people being fundamentally people.”

- Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman, Good Omens

The New Zealand National Rugby team. Their strip is a black jersey, with black shorts. Hence, the All Blacks.

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The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End

Congrats.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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*title copyright: Teremia

'You just said "your getting shorter": you've obviously been drinking too much ent-draught and not enough Prim's.' - Jude (as Merry)

You still lurking Griffy? Curious to hear what you think about the latest kerfuffle re: RWC 2023!

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The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End

Well, France are the hosts for 2023. There will be some gnashing of teeth in South Africa!

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The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End

Two great games yesterday Griffy! If you can find links I'd recommend checking out Ireland v Wales and Scotland v England!

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The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End

I don't know the first thing about rugby, but watching JK Rowling post incoherent tweets over the England-Scotland match was a joy. Apparently, her husband was making her to tone it down.

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“It may help to understand human affairs to be clear that most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused, not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, but by people being fundamentally people.”

- Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman, Good Omens

Man, I really wanted to watch at least one of those games, but I ended up being out of town! Hoping to find links because from what I've heard they were both crackers.

One day we'll either find a TV provider where we can get more rugby games ( Faramond was riveted by that game ) or we'll find enough money to spring for everything we'd like to watch

Do you have access to Mobdro Griffy? Not that I'd be suggesting anything of the sort!

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The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End

Well, Ireland have won the Six Nations with a game in hand and are now #2 in the World Rankings. Still a ways behind New Zealand though!

Still, we have an opportunity for a 3rd Grand Slam if we can beat England in Twickenham on Paddy's Day! And guess who has a ticket?

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The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End

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'But very bright were the stars upon the margin of the world, when at times the clouds about the West were drawn aside.'

So, since my last post, we won the Grand Slam, and last weekend we finally beat the All Blacks for the first time on Irish soil!

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The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End

I heard about it!

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“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

When the Springboks beat the All Blacks in September, they did it narrowly (36-34) and mostly by taking advantage of the All Blacks' surprisingly weak kicking game. They had the ball down the South African end for most of the game, but either didn't take shots for drop goals which would have leveled the score or missed the shots they did have. Historically this hasn't mattered because the team has been so dominant, but it's something they'll probably work on over the (southern) summer.

But the Irish beat the All Blacks simply by outplaying them. Keeping the All Blacks from scoring a single try was remarkable.

But NZ is still at the top of the world rankings, and I wouldn't let one game override that. Still, the 2019 World Cup is looking more interesting now.