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Transcription
The WRAP podcast discusses regional and national rugby in Wales. In this episode, they introduce a guest, Josh, who replaces James. They then talk about their drinks of the week, including a beer called The Sheriff in honor of Ken Owens, who recently retired from rugby. They also discuss Owens' career and achievements. Welcome to the WRAP podcast, the place to catch up on all the regional and national rugby in Wales. You can find us on all the usual social media platforms and message us through there if you want, or you can email us at welshregionalrugbypod at gmail.com. That's all the boring stuff out of the way, let's talk rugby. Hello and welcome to this week's edition of the WRAP podcast with me Lee G. Joining me as always is Harley and Jamie. Good evening gentlemen. Good evening. Hello. And now normally at this point I'd introduce James and he'd give me a, he's the kid, he's the baby. So to replace James he's got some like baby stuff to do and anyone that's been following James will know he's got baby stuff to do. So we'll deal with that here. So in his place this week is Josh from Osprey's supporters, massive that it is at the minute. Good evening Josh, how are you mate? Evening, thanks for having me on, I'm good. He's even got the rugby top on boys, I give it up, I haven't even bought a scarlet one this year. Is that this season's one Lee? Oh no, it's the bat jersey. Oh, it's one of them. Yeah, it's my favourite. Yeah, you Osprey's boys are like that, aren't you? So yeah, James is away doing baby stuff as he said last week. So what we'll do over the next 10 weeks is we'll just put a message out and first one to reply gets to come on the pod. So that's why Josh is here, isn't it? First one to reply and on you came, lovely lovely. It's a very detailed recruitment process. Right, so let's start with drink of the week. Harley, you can start this week mate. What have you got for us this week? Going back to one I've been before as I said, I got a bit lazy with my drinks of the week and I stopped off at the local co-op and just bought their three for six quid. So I've got a dune bar, so I've come all the way back up to Wales to have a drink that's basically on the doorstep back home. Yeah, we're all familiar with the wanky bollocks of it, it is definitely better in Cornwall than it is anywhere else because they brew it to a different recipe but standard beer. I'm sure Lee would much rather be drinking this than what he's drinking. They brew it to a different recipe, what do you mean? Basically when Sharps got bought out by Coors as part of a deal, Sharps retained the right to keep the original recipes for distribution in Cornwall and Coors then make it cheaper and a bit more cheaper to manufacture so the recipe isn't quite the same. I did not know that. This is why I am the ultra-nerd. I feel I've been educated this evening, thank you for that mate. So Josh, have you got something to join the merry club with my friend? I have, I've gone for Thatcher's Hayes tonight because it's what I had in I guess, so my daughter's favourite. I'll give my woman a round of applause. First one's in her head. Okay Jamie, what have you got mate? Well look, Ken Owens has retired, which I will talk about in news then, so I have got the perfect beer to celebrate that, I have from Harbour Brewery, The Sheriff. Ken Owens beer boy, what do you think of that? So let's read the wanky bollocks on this one. The Sheriff is Harbour Brewery's tribute to Ken Owens, a true rugby legend, playing for Scarlets and Lions as well as enjoying an outstanding Welsh international career which has seen him become our country's most capped hooker. Like The Sheriff of Carmarthen himself, British Maris Autumn Malts, where the pub now is, provide a reliable and solid platform. Whilst Carraghold gives this beer its rich golden hue with subtle hints of caramel, along with a creamy mouthfeel from naked malt dubs. So there's some wanky bollocks for you right there, for this is Ken Owens beer, The Sheriff Golden Ale, 4.2% from Harbour Brewery. And do you know what, it's quite nice too. There it is, lovely colour on that. The bit I don't get about Harbour Brewery is I live 10 miles away from it, and I can't buy the fucking stuff around here. You need to go to Cardiff. I'm not getting paid for this, you need to join Wales Ales, because since I've joined the Wales Ales Beer Club, I've had a lot of Harbour Brewery beers. As you know, they've been on this pod, they've had the Sebastian Chabal, I've had Foxy, I've got Ken, and there's another couple of Harbour beers as well. So you need to join the beer club, mate. Well, they don't remember Brains' special one, they did for when Alwyn Jones became the most capped international. It was called Alwyn Jones. And the only positive thing I can describe it as is it tastes like you imagine licking him would be, because it just somehow was very sweaty. I've never managed that hardly, to be honest, but I'll take your word for it. I'll be honest, it was my brother-in-law who gave me this description, and then I thought about it, and he went, yeah, you're spot on. Also, you're a weirder. It's related to me if I'm honest, so of course it is. I tried joining the ale club, but they don't deliver down this way. They only deliver up the airport, and half the bloody stuff comes from down this way, which is a pain in the arse. So, yeah, I feel a strongly worded email to both Mike at Harbour Brewery, who I used to play with, and the guys at the ale club. Right, okay, so let me just frame this, okay, for everybody that's listening and watching. Watching is easier, okay, because I was doing my weekly shop, and I went across the beers bit, and I'd gone, done that one, done that one, done that one, done that one, so I'm limited in where I can go. I saw this can. I thought, well, that looks quite cool. That looks quite good. So it's from Vocation. It's a special edition, and it's got, like, two red skulls on the front there, and then I didn't read the rest of it that says, death by cherries, a cherry sour beer. Oh, that sounds lovely. Right up my street now, this. Oh, yes. Now, if anyone remembers, the last time I mistake, I got given it for Christmas. That's what it was. My son thought it would be hilarious to give me a sour beer, which I did manage about half a pint of it, or half a can of it. So anyway, death by cherries, not for the faint-hearted. Only the brave can handle this intense mix of sweet and sour cherries. The bold flavours will leave you in the biggest adrenaline junkie wanting more. I'm not looking forward to this already. Sounds banging. Sounds absolutely banging. I'd love that. Oh, yes. I'd love that, Mark. Oh, come on, then. This is going to work well on the audio, but there's some... You're going to hate it. Oh, my Lord. Oh, man. I want a can of that. You can send me a can of that, Steph. You can have this one, mate. I'll spit it back into the tin and send it up right after you, please. Oh, my Jesus, Lord. Right. Okay. So before we quickly move on to Newsdesk, I was asked this week, I was asked twice. Once I was asked very politely, Lee, where is the Beyonce dance? And the second time I was asked quite forcefully, fucking hell, Lee, where's the fucking Beyonce dance? So just before we do Newsdesk, I've got a lot of stuff on. I've got it there. I will do it at some point. So, yeah, keep liking our YouTube page, and at some point I will put it up there, I promise. And because Harley likes it, I'm going to leave it up there until I reach 300, and then I'll take it down. Okay? So there we go. All right, Jamie, Newsdesk. Yes, Newsdesk. Plenty of news to get through. So, as I mentioned earlier, Ken Owens, Wales's most capped hooker and oldest captain. Ken Owens has retired from the game, aged 37. So Owens made his Scarlet debut at the age of 19 in a pre-season clash against Northampton at Franklin's Gardens back in 2006, and he played for 18 seasons, joining an exclusive group of players to make 250 appearances. He captained the Scarlets for a record-breaking seven successive seasons, surpassing the great Phil Bennett. Ken played 91 times for Wales, featured in three World Cups, and captained his country for the first time during the 2023 Six Nations. And, of course, he also toured with the British and Irish Lions in 2017 and 2021, playing in six tests. I mean, what is there to say that hasn't already been said? Captain Lee's a legend, isn't he? I know that's normally reserved for John Terry, but I do think it does apply to Ken Owens. Fantastic player. Lee, your thoughts? Oh, yeah, it does just seem like he's been around forever, doesn't it? And it's one of those things. It does, yeah. He's, yeah, heart and soul. That's where heart and soul comes from, from Ken. Still can't get to the bottom of the sheriff. There are about six different stories as to why he's called the sheriff. That I can work out. All of them perfectly legitimate, and probably an element of truth in all of them. But, yeah, I think we're going to miss him. We're going to miss him massively. Both Scarlett's in particular, but on the national level as well. It's a shame he couldn't make 100 for Wales, because I think he probably deserved it. But when he had that first injury, I think it was a first neck injury, and then he came back, and we were all a bit shocked that he came back. After that injury, because that would have taken most people out and ended most careers. So to come back and then to have a back injury after that, I think you just, yeah, you do get to that bit where you have to go, okay, I've got the rest of my life to lead, and there's no point being able to do that if I can't walk or smile or nod or take a shit without having any pain. So, yeah, fair play to the guy. Going to miss him a lot. But I hope he stays involved in the Scarlett and community game, because loads of people would just love having the Sheriff around and all that kind of stuff. It would be good. Yeah, legend, and he will be missed in Welsh rugby. Harley, any words for the Sheriff? I think we did go into it quite in-depth, but one thing I would like to add is Andy Ford has put a fantastic little highlight stage for him, which must have hurt, because as I said, the amount of times he did something fantastic against us was painful to watch every year and re-watch it. But, I mean, to be honest, you could have done an eight-minute video of just him singing the anthem, because I don't think I've ever seen anyone sing with such passion and hoy there. But, yeah, I mean, just the man. He was Mr Welsh, you know. So many times when Wales needed just someone to do the dirty, make those hard yards, just sort of lift the team. You know, everyone would always look to Alan Jones, but the amount of times you'd see actually was Ken Owens. I mean, I do want to bring up one of my favourite moments, and it's not a try he scored, it's a try that George North got. Oh, yeah. I remember those. And it's, oh, come on, I don't get many of these. He was on the wing, wasn't he? He was outside George North with a cross-field kick or something, wasn't he? Yeah. Yeah, it was a fantastic back move. George North goes over and Ken's on the outside, hoping to receive the pass. I was like, oh, George, you've got, like, thousands of those bloody things, you know. Let poor Ken have some. He hasn't had that many for Wales. Yeah, it was a great moment. There's so many memes and funny gifs going around of Ken. What about you then, Josh? I know you're an Ospreys fan, but was you a big fan of Ken Owens? Oh, yeah, you've got to love Ken Owens. I think I can't remember the last time someone else was a first-choice Wales hooker, probably mid-2010, Scott Baldwin maybe. But ever since then, whenever he's been fit, he's always played, hasn't he? So, I just hope he stays involved with the Scarlets, because if he can pass that knowledge on to the next hooker coming through there, yeah, hopefully he won't be lost to Welsh rugby now. So, we won't be doing any of that Elias jokes now. Right, okay, so moving on. Let's talk about the Ospreys then. So, signing news coming from then. As expected, Welsh firm half Kieran Hardy, he signed for the Ospreys, a new league Scarlets at the end of the season. They've also re-signed James Fender, 22-year-old lock, I should say. Played very well against the Stormers. What do you make of that then, Josh? That signing, Kieran Hardy from the Scarlets. Are you happy with that one? Yeah, really happy to be fair. I think they need someone to be pushing Reuben Morgan-Williams, which I think Kieran Hardy probably will be. I'd say Reuben Morgan-Williams' box kicking is probably not his strongest area, which is something probably Kieran Hardy's a lot stronger at. So, again, hopefully they can work together on that. But yeah, nine's been a position we really need to strengthen since we lost Webb last season. So, yeah, really happy with that one. Yeah, it's a good pick-up, I think. And then moving on to Cardiff then. Ellis Bevan and Rhys Littrich, they've signed new deals at Cardiff. And Bax coach, Ritchie Rees, he's going to leave at the end of the season to take up a position at Haverdashers... The former Wales scrum has spent... I thought she might have said that. Yeah, it does. Yeah. Oh, is there? Yeah, posh. He's spent his past six years at the Alps Park as an academy transition and Bax coach. What do you think of that news then, Hardy? I mean, it's a bit sad, but also at the same time, you know, we've been sort of here before. Sherratt's been... You know, Sherratt is an out-and-out attack coach as well. And, you know, there's always been a bit of talk of how they're double-dropping. And, you know, thinking more of like a wider world... The amount of times I'm thinking of, like, the whole of Wales and development, we're talking about how we need to get the school system up to par so that it can drive through. So, actually, having, you know, a former international player heading up a rugby programme at these schools, and, you know, I had the same thing with Diane, taking over the job at CAVAC. I'm not going to go into some of the background stuff behind that, but, you know, just on the face of it, you know, having these former players helping drive those younger and younger generations is going to improve. It'd be interesting to see what he's... what the plan is with the attack, whether Sherratt's going to take that on as his own or if we're going to bring someone in. You know, all the rumours of a feed the fish, and he's making another Cardiff return, as the attack coach this time, is another story. That would be fun. That would be really fun. I'd love to see a Diamondfish coach's attack outside of the Welsh Premiership or EDC. As for the 2B signings, I think fantastic bit of business. You know, I think we were hoping to go into the next season with Devon and Jamie Hill. Jamie Hill's gone to go play Shoot Shield. And, you know, Devon's been really good. I don't think we've necessarily missed Thomas when he's been away with Wales or whilst doing his injury, but I feel like Devon's been very good. You know, he's done with a player in the same mould, which is exciting, which means that, you know, Jocky can carry on with this style of rugby. As for Rhys Litwick, I think before he got injured, just before Christmas, he was probably our best form signing and probably one of the best... one of the better performance signings we got him, especially considering, you know, we sort of had to scrounge him in the bargaining basement then for him. So I'll be... So I'm quite glad to see he's going to be here for a few years. Yeah, he's done all right, Litwick, isn't he, in fairness? So, yeah, good news for Cardiff. Speaking of Cardiff, but more specifically the Wags, so the EDC, Cardiff RFC, have been awarded a final place in Welsh rugby's new 10-team elite domestic competition, with Neath missing out again. That's poor old Neath, isn't it? Disappointing news for Neath, who, of course, conducted this big PR push to nail social media, trying to win our last spot, and who, again, support from the likes of Jiffy, Shane Williams, Sinz Antbrook, comedian Russell Kane, and that bloke from Dirty Sanchez. And they also said then that clubs will... I know, this incredible calibre of people, and they still didn't get in as well. I mean, you know, it's shocking, really. Clubs will receive an increase in investment from the WRU, and they will work within a new salary cap. So there'll be more details about the new competition, and that's going to be announced as soon as the premiership champions have been found next month. So we'll wait and see for more details on that. And then in other news that's been announced today, so Wales have announced their autumn international fixtures with two matches on a Sunday, and no fixtures outside of the test window. That's a shock, isn't it? So for the first time since 2000, Wales' autumn series will consist of three matches rather than four. So Gatlin's men are going to face Fiji, Australia, and South Africa, with all the matches being broadcast on TNT Sports and Discovery+. Also, for the first time ever, and I quite like this, and I do actually think the WRU deserve a lot of credit for this, regional season ticket holders will be given a priority window to buy tickets ahead of the public sale, which will take place on the 6th of June. I mean, they should have brought that in before, in fairness, but it's better late than never. I think that is a pretty good move. So, yeah, this year's autumn's sorted, so we're going to be playing Australia, Fiji, and South Africa. How do we feel about those set of matches? It seems a little bit uninspiring to me, but what do you guys think? Go on, Josh, you can go first, mate. You give us your run down on that. Our three sectors, to be fair. There's a lot on social media about us not getting Georgia, which is a nice little side piece, but we haven't played Fiji for a little while, and well in the autumn window. I think it'll be a good tester for us, I think. The fact we're not playing one outside the test window is good for the region, so hopefully we'll get the boys back a bit earlier. Not that it matters, the Ospreys, because not many of our boys have been picked by Gatland anyway. They were all injured, for fuck's sake. Yeah, come on. Morgan Morris was injured. He wasn't. That's the boy Morgan Morris was playing. Honestly, yeah. If James had his way, Wales would be playing in the alternate black kit, and the dragon, the logo on the shirt, would be changed to some kind of eyepiece. Maybe they'd change the name as well, we'd give them a nickname for the day. Do you remember when Gatland took over, and he only won because he had 13 Ospreys in the side? And Martin Williams. He was man of the match. The thing is, though, there is a catch-22 about this, because, like Josh says, it's good for the regions on the one hand, but not having that extra test means it's less revenue coming in. So it's a double-edged sword, isn't it? You know, we all moan about that extra test, but then we also moan the Welsh rugby hasn't got any money, so it's an interesting move. Also, according to our colleague Hugh Griffin, aka Catboy, he says that Wales have played Australia at least once every single year since 2005, except for 2020, when the world was locked down. That's 27 times in 20 years, he says. Now, am I the only one that's getting fucked off with playing Australia almost every year? I think it's so tedious. Absolutely tedious. Why can't we play someone else? And we can play them every four years in a World Cup, along with Fiji, anyway. So, I mean, what's the problem? It's not like they're unknown enough. And, you know, can we play someone on our level, like, you know, Bikina Faso? It used to be that when a side would tour through the autumn, then they'd, like, someone would come to us and they'd play three tests against us, or they'd play two tests against us, and then they'd play club sides and all of that kind of stuff. And I know the game has moved on, and the world's a different place and all of this, but there's something to be said about, you know, when we went to South Africa and we played South Africa three times, it built a little something, you know. And I know it was COVID-related and you had to go to one place instead, but it does kind of add a little bit of extra to that kind of series, you know, and you can do something different with that series. So, yeah, it's lovely to play different sides and all, but it becomes a bit samey. That's the problem, isn't it? Yeah. We always play Australia now. It feels like every single year, and I'm so bored of them. I wanted someone new, someone different, you know. Well, let's say if you were, like, if this year you were playing South Africa, so let's say South Africa told Wales this year, and then in the summer we went to North America. Yeah, Fiji, Argentina, America, Canada or whatever, and then the year after, all blacks. Do you know what I mean? You're talking three, four, five years in between Australia coming again, and then Australia is a big thing, because we haven't played them in a while. Am I going to play them three times? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So, yeah, it's a shame. It's a shame. I like having three tests and not getting shafted outside the window, and I take them board, the stuff about the finance team, but that's the WRU's job. The WRU, you know, you look at the space that you've got where nobody plays there, and you go, actually, we could be doing a lot more, a lot more than fucking walks around the top of the bloody building anyway. So, yeah. There are a shit ton of concerts coming up this summer. Yeah, but that's what should be happening. That is what should be happening. That's what that whole concept of the roof was there for, so it can be used all year round for that, and, you know, the rugby season, a very, very small part of the year, that pitch is used for rugby, and, yeah, if it means we play three tests, but actually somebody can get, you know, Taylor Swift tickets a bit cheaper, then, yeah, crack on. On we go. Or Beyoncé. We could have a Beyoncé concert next year. Ooh, now then. I'd be there. I'd be doing my dance. I would. Sorry, I just cracked it. No one wants to see that. No one wants to see that. You've just been blacklisted there from all Beyoncé concerts. Just one pick up on Lee's point about the thing. The only reason that the sort of alternate nations, you've got the Southern Hemisphere, so it's going around all the different countries, because it's really easy to do that. The problem is, is you can't go and do a tour attested, which coincidentally goes on to, you know, onto the World League, which is what they're expecting us to do. You can't really expect to go South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, TG, and make a four-week block. Like, travel. I mean, everyone's moaning about the travel in New York. You know, that's just up and downs. That's, you know, I feel like that's the reason why those tours sort of work that way. But you're right. We should be playing different teams. Like, why are we not playing a game against Portugal? That could be a good World Day fixture where you put a sort of, put a 1.5 15 out and just go. And the joy of that is, if, when we inevitably lose to Portugal, it doesn't affect the ranking points, so we don't end up in another pool of death like 2015. That's literally the only benefit to a World Day fixture for us. But yeah, I mean, you know, we're focusing on Australia. Sorry, but like South Africa, we've been playing every year. I mean, this is the first year in forever. We've not played New Zealand. I mean, they usually shut down as a matter of fact, because, you know, it's not hard enough to beat the All Blacks. You know, do without any of your best players. But the All Blacks... I think Portugal, you'd struggle to sell out two tiers, maybe. So, financially, it's basically a wasted game for the WIU. Yeah, I mean, it's one of those ones that I get why they pick these big teams. But the problem is, you know, you've got to strike that balance. So, like, if they are leaning towards more selling out concerts, doing other events at the principality. I think we're hosting a couple of games for the Euros, 2018, 2026, whichever year it is. I don't follow the round ball at all. But, you know, going up revenue there, then maybe we can afford to, you know, actually grow the game and stop making it all about, oh, yeah, we want to grow the game, but we don't want to actually, because it hurts us in the pocket. And also, frankly, if you don't want to go see Wales-Portugal, just ignore Wales. If you don't want to go see Portugal play, you should, because Portugal is fucking great to watch. They're entertaining. Yeah. We played Canada, didn't we, a few years ago, and that pulled a decent crowd. You just make the prices lower, make them competitive, do a family fun day, and I think you would get a decent crowd, but it probably wouldn't sell out. But, yeah, just a bit bored of playing Australia every year, basically. But, anyway, moving on. Last bit of news, Richard Ebbart. So, he's been named CEO of Wales Rugby League. His new role will see him create partnerships to support the development of rugby league in Wales at all levels, from the grassrooms up to the senior international side. So, yeah, that's an interesting role for him, and very best of luck to him. Hmm. What's the odds that they're sponsored by his rum brand by the end of the year? It'll need to be a more Arabic-genres rum sponsors them by the end of the year. I saw it on sale in Tesco. It's just a bit too pricey. It's, like, £25 a bottle or something ridiculous like that. I haven't tried it yet. I want to try the cherry one, but I just haven't got a moment to taste it yet. That's me going, where I live at the moment, when I said, £25 a bottle for a bottle of rum? Well, that's cheap. He's just showing off now, aren't he? Well, I got a little bit of... You've seen my drinks cabinet. Yeah, mate. Yeah, we have. So, just in terms of pod news, so, there's a couple of bits. Well, you mentioned the stuff about the EDC, James. So, we are putting together an EDC podcast for next year. We've got a couple of boys that are interested in that, and that will be quite nice to just have that little layer beneath us to... Not beneath us, but it's... In rugby terms, it's beneath us. So, yeah, that will be online, hopefully before the end of this season, and we can just do a little bit of a rundown and an introduction ready for next year. And then we also have a WhatsApp channel now for just for us. So, if you just want to go find the pods, it's on our WhatsApp channel. Don't ask me how to find it. I don't know. I think I've shared it on social media. I'm not 100% certain, I'll be honest with you, but it's there, and there are people that follow it already, and they see it. So, when I work out how to share it, I'll share it again, and then it's there. So, if you don't want to put up with any of the other bollocks that we talk about on social media, and you just want to watch the pod, then that's the place to get it from, because it goes on there first, because sharing it today was actually really easy. Again, ask me how to do it. Not a clue. I did it once last week. It worked really well. I thought, this is lovely. Off we go. I know I've forgotten what, so I've got to relearn everything again this week. So, yeah. So, we've got things coming. Lots of things coming. EDC. And, speak this very lightly now, boys, we may have a sponsorship deal. We're going big time now. We're selling out. We are. We are selling out. So, it may not come up, but if it does, it'll be quite fun. Say who it is. That's free advertising for them. They can bloody well pay for it. I don't know how we're going to demonstrate their products, if it happens, boys, but I'm looking forward to it. You can do that. X-rated on YouTube. It's going to be one of those things that we're just going to have to sit down and go, now, this is what this does. You're just going to have to take my word for it, because, you know. They'll give you a script. They'll tell you what to say. But, you know, hey, though, if it comes, great. Lovely jubbly. It'll be fantastic. Yeah. Okay. Let's talk about games from last weekend. So, let's go in order. So, Friday night, Ulster versus Cardiff. I'm going to light the touch paper there, Harley. He's having some liquid refreshments to get himself warmed up. He's psyched up now. He's charging the engines. So, Harley, let's go. Ulster versus Cardiff. Referee, off you go. Oh, I really, really don't want to break my usual rule of not talking about the referee, but my fucking word. I mean, first of all, right, I'll give the people who are defending the referee's decision their credence. So, yes, with the Ulster try, we'll go back in the phase to look up knock-on. But how the fuck, if you're a line judge and there's a line out in front of you, can you not see John Gooney drop a ball? That's a fair point. Should have seen it. Should have picked that ball. Yeah. If everyone comes, if even Ulster coach is saying that was a knock-on, and that's before we get on to the boot being kicked out of Thomas Young's hand, Larisha Clare, was it? It was a bit of a knock-on, wasn't it? I couldn't even see him touch it. I didn't even see him touch the ball. And if you look at the path of the ball, it doesn't actually look like it's deflected or changed angle in any way. So I can't. But ultimately, we just weren't good. We should have had that game put to bed. Like the fact we were 7-0 down when we were against 14 men. I think my central coach, Stan, from Cardiff Rugby Life, pointing out this season, when we've been one man up, we've had an aggregate score of 33-31. So, clearly, we're just panicking. I think a large part of it is because we've been these plucky losers getting these in bonus points. On the real occasion, we get in the 22 and we have a chance. We're just overplaying. And then we're losing the ball. But that's enough of the crap. What I really want to talk about is Theo Cabango. How good did he look after, you know, yet another serious injury? It was just so nice to see him back on the field. Josh Evans as well, I thought, was playing really well. Really depressing for Falotel. Come back on, but I thought... Oh, sad. So sad. I was almost in tears, I was. Because I love Falotel. It was heartbreaking seeing him being taken off like that. It really was. Do we know how bad it is yet? Not yet. It's his shoulder, apparently. It's not his arm. It looked like it was his arm. It's dislocated or cropped shoulder. I'm going to sort of allude to something, but maybe the Canada Central guest next week might be able to shed a bit more light on it. So, I mean, how frustrating is it? Because we talk about this every week, Ali. Yeah. And it's like, God, and your favourite saying so far this year is, we should have won that. And we all sit there and we all go, probably yes, but you didn't. So, at least you're playing well. That's your only saving grace, is you're playing well and there's something there. But if you're playing well and still not winning, wouldn't you prefer to be playing shit and still losing and coming away with the same amount of points and knowing that if you turn this round and don't play well, then, do you know what I mean? What, you mean be the Ospreys? Yes, absolutely. Definitely would take eight wins. Is it better to be playing well and still losing? I do think there is a little bit of context. Considering that people didn't expect us to even be playing well at the start of the season, most of us are giving it no hope. I think on this pod, most people predicted Cardiff would be the bottom region. Despite the fact, you know. I think you predicted that they were bottom region as well, to be fair, Harley. I think you sat there for an hour and went with... I said a good season for them would be if they could maintain... Well, I said a great season for them and the best they could hope for was maintain a home-winning record, which they've definitely not done. But yeah, it's encouraging because although they're overall playing well, you can see with it, you know, the errors are usually at that last pass and that will come because at the start of the season, we couldn't even get to that last pass. You know, the first or second pass was going to shit. That's gotten better. Our defence has improved massively. You know, our breakdown threat's gone. Our set-piece still isn't the level I'd like... You know, I think it could be, which hopefully the new coach, new force coach, that will help. But I said, I mean, Matt Sherratt said, this is going to be a painful season and he's been right. It's been a very painful season as a Cardiff fan. But, you know, with the takeover and all these other bits, we can sort of see the positivity. If we're in the same situation this time next season, though, I can imagine a lot of that positivity would have eroded to nothing. So, you know, it's... And the other thing, so I've said this before, and the other thing, so I think Cat Boy pointed out to me, he said, if your fixtures had been flipped the other way, like we're having this blocky games at the start of the season and then, oh, easier games now. Ian was like, do you think you'd have won more? I said, we probably would have. But looking at the way we're playing now compared to the way we played against Scots in those derbies, we should have beaten the Scots. I think we would beat them. I think we would have done the job against Bennison and Zebra. I thought that when you played against us, I thought that was the best you played all season, mate. So, you know. No, it wasn't. I didn't know it. You don't watch the games because you don't want to pay for them. Did any of you see the WRU match report for this game? The official WRU match report? It was so funny. So I'll read it to you. I'm not going to read it all, obviously, but I'll just read the first paragraph, right? Cardiff were robbed of a first win in Ulster for 14 years and their first win of 2024 when the TMO joined forces with a referee to rule out a hat-trick try for Fiocco Bango and instead awarded a penalty to the home side on the 22 at the upper end of the pitch. Now, credit to them because they're spot on, aren't they? I think a lot of people were surprised by that, but I think, yeah, let's have a bit more honesty. Good on them, I think. They were robbed. They were absolutely robbed. I felt for Cardiff. I felt like me, right? I did feel for them. I thought Matt Harris was going to keep his cool after the game because I was fuming. I'm not even a Cardiff fan and I was absolutely livid because there was a Thomas Young one as well where he kicks the ball out of his hands and whether it's intentional or not, you can't do that. That should be a penalty try. Then you've got the Reece Carey knock-on which was marginal at best and the clear knock-on of the line-out. That's a 21-point swing. I heard Ulster fans saying, oh yeah, Bayliss Jenkins put his hands past the ball for one of the penalties. Yeah, we're at 21-3 then. Still a massive point swing away in all stars. Still fuming about it now. I'm amazed that Matt Sherratt managed to keep his cool, to be fair. But yeah, WIU were spot on on that one. They were. It's interesting that maybe we do need a little bit more from the WIU every now and again to just back the regions and stop being, you know, we've got to be neutral. We've got to be seen to be neutral. Fuck them. Go on. They are tweeting more though. Have you noticed lately, if you're on Facebook, Twitter, whatever you want to call it, they are tweeting a lot more now. They are promoting the region's games. That's a nice notice. Yeah. They've got a media manager job coming out, so maybe that's where they've got that. It's gone fixer, maybe. Yeah. They should be doing it though, shouldn't they? They should be doing it anyway. They should have done this a long time ago. Promote our games. It would help. I was worried it would lead to more Cardiff. It would be more jokes about it being the Cardiff rugby union as it seems to be going around after the EDC announcement, but I'm glad you're all agreeing that, you know, it's not just me being a bitter Cardiff fan. Let's move on. It's not a good Friday night for me, especially with a one-year-old who's trying to get over some jabs. I think most people could see it was a bad night for Cardiff and the referees. We could all see that. Oh, by the way, people who say that our Rhys Carey knock-on was clear and obvious are just lying. They're trying to be wise after the event. I have watched this so many times, right, and I've seen so many slow-mo replays and gaps. If you've got to slow it down so much where you see Rhys Carey just touch it, then I'm sorry, it's not clear and obvious, and I still can't make up my mind about it, but there's no way, I think, Cardiff would want it. Because there was no ruck in that, because it was all free-flowing. If Cardiff had slowed down, had a couple of pick-and-goes and scored, would they have still gone back for it? That's a good point, yeah. Because the knock-on's only two phases, because it's counted as foul played. I'd argue if he has hit it, it's not slapdances. I wouldn't say that's not what the corner is able to knock on. If anything, it looks like if he has made contact, if anything, he's hooked it back. Which one, Ed Burnett, the better World Cup semi-final? I think the TMO is a really good thing, as a concept. I like the TMO as a concept. I think some of the examples of the... I've not got a problem with the referee missing something, because the referee is human, they've got two sets of eyes, they can't see everything, and players, particularly at that level, will try to cheat. That's reality. If they can get away with it, they will get away with it. The whole point of the TMO was to bring in a bit of neutrality, bring in 20 different camera angles so you could see genuinely what's going on, and I don't think that it's being used the way it should be. There are so many times where the TMO should have come in and said something, but, all right, it may be three or four phases back, but if they don't commit that foul, then those three or four phases don't happen. And there are too many times where the TMO makes the wrong decision, where it's blatantly a knock-on, or it's blatantly not a knock-on, it's gone backwards. It happened. You can drop the ball, and it goes backwards. That can happen. And too many times you go, oh, the ball's been dropped, that means it must have gone forwards, and it doesn't. So, yeah, I'm all in favour of TMOs. I just think we need better quality TMOs. But, how many times on this podcast, we don't often, we try to steer away from referee talk, don't we? It's because Josh is here. Don't blame Josh. Yeah, that's what it is. It's all Josh's fault. We're all blaming Josh. But how many times have we spoken about the officiating in this league? And it is a problem, and it's not a recent problem. It's been a problem for a long time, whether it's been Valbo Direct, Guinness Pro 12, Pro 14, URC. The officiating in this league just isn't good enough compared to other leagues. And the problem is, when you see decisions like the ones that we saw in Belfast go against Cardiff, you get that section of Welsh supporters who think the URC is a conspiracy, you know, and they go into conspiracy theories, you know, it's fixed this league, it's corrupt, and all this nonsense. It's bollocks. It's not corrupt. But the officiating just isn't good enough, and I'm afraid it's not really getting any better. And it's a shame, because it's a good league. But apart from that, you know, the officiating, it's really letting the league down. So we're talking about making mistakes and errors and all that kind of stuff. That's one thing. That was a really good one! We know this moment, Harley! Oh, come on, man! I'm going to make you drink cherry sour beer next week, Harley. Go on, man. Just one point I want to say. It's just, to the hero who went on to bother to log into Wikipedia and change Andrew McMenamin's place of birth to Ulster, I salute you for that. Some people thought that was true, though, didn't they? They actually believed that was real. It's not real, though, is it? If you listen to him speak, he sounds Irish, though. Well, neutral officials as well. Yeah. You know, neutral officials. You never get neutral such news anymore. No. No. Right. Anyway. Talking of mistakes and errors and problems, let's move on to the Dragons game. That would have sounded so much better a couple of minutes ago, Harley. Well, that was a nice segue, wasn't it? To be fair, I thought the Dragons were playing really well and then they'd make a mistake and it would all go to shit. But when they had the ball, I thought they were really good. Okay. I'm going to disagree with you because I don't think we played well at all and the scoreline actually flattered us. So, during the week, Dave Flanagan talked about what he described as Jekyll and Hyde performances. So, he's talking about the difference between our home form and our away form. So, he pointed out that on average, we conceded 18 points at home, which isn't too bad. Whereas, when we're on the road, we're conceding over an average of 40 points, which is very bad. So, you know, I read Dave Flanagan's comments. I thought, fair enough. He knows the situation. He knows where we need to improve. He pointed this out to the squad as well. They talked about it and I thought the matchday squad that we named was actually pretty good. A little bit unsure about the bounds, the back row, but I thought that team would be good enough to be competitive and give Benetton a good game. Unfortunately, though, what we saw was the same old dragons. Poor discipline, passive defence, freaky scrum, clunky attack, compounding errors. We're giving the opposition easy points. We've done that too many times this season. We got badly beaten at the breakdown. Benetton won 11 turnovers. Dragons only won three. It's just a familiar sight now for long-suffering dragon supporters. At half-time, we were 19-0 down and you're like, well, it's game over now. I mean, some teams can come back from that, but you just knew it was game over. In the second half, we did mount a comeback of sorts. We scored three tries. There was an interception from Jack Ross. A very well-taken try by Dane Black, who showed really good pace, actually. I thought he had a pretty good game, Dane Black. I'd normally prefer him coming off the bench, but he started this game and I thought he played pretty well. And Shea Hope as well, a youngster from Newport RFC. He scored after a good break from Neil Dyer. Bizarrely, we could have come away with a try bonus point if we showed a bit more composure at the end. So the clock was in the red. We won a penalty. All we had to do was kick it to the corner and we'll read mis-touch, which really did sum up the Dragons' performance. Very, very disappointed. And, you know, I think questions have to be asked as to why the Dragons are so uncompetitive away from home compared to when they play a bonding parade. Because I just think no matter where you play your rugby, obviously home advantage is key, but no matter where you play rugby, the basics should be a given. You know, you still can't make your tackles. So I don't understand why they can't do that away from home than when they can do it in a bonding parade. You know, at home, the Dragons have won four out of their last six games, which is pretty good going for the Dragons, I'm sure we'd all agree. Where was the last time you won on the road? Well, we haven't won on the road since we beat Scarlett, so Parker Scarlett, in April 2022. And it's just not good enough. It's poor. It's not good enough at this level. And I think questions have to be asked. But in terms of positives, Wayne Wright came off the bench and he was great. That's always carried on, gave his goal forward. Dane Black, as I mentioned, was really good. Gerard Ross, he's not been really hungry at the moment. He had another good game. And Iron Owen, I know it was that silly pass that got intercepted, but I thought he worked incredibly hard. But yeah, unfortunately, it was just another Dragonsy performance, I'm afraid. Yeah, the away sickness continues. So we've got Conor to talk now on Saturday, and hopefully we can bounce back. But the away form is a big concern for me. You know, I'm getting really tired of seeing these passive performances away from home. You know, we've got to toughen up, we've got to be better and stop making so many errors. But yeah, a disappointing afternoon interview, so. Go on, Harley. You've been itching to say something. Go on. It's something I really don't get. You're probably, you're two best back rowers for many seasons now, being Wainwright and Keddie. Why is Guy Fleth sticking them on the bench and then having Basham at eight? Where Basham then concedes his usual penalty of him deciding that he needs to face Panther every ruck. Well, they wanted to manage Wainwright, didn't they? That's why they had him on the bench. I think Keddie should have started, though. The problem is, I don't like Lonsdale at seven. I like Lonsdale. Me and Gavin have spoken about this on the pod. So we both like Lonsdale and George Knott. But they're second rowers. And we like them in the second row. We don't like them in back row. And Sean Lonsdale is industrious. He's a good, hard worker. But it doesn't work at seven. And, you know, it pains me to say this because I love Dan Lyddiot. He is a Welsh rugby legend. I've got a lot of time for him. But he's passed his best now. You know, I think we could all see that. He has passed his best. So, yeah, I mean, the back row was pretty ineffective. Basham carried well, but it was a few errors. He did butcher a pass to Leo Dyer on the outside, which would have been a try. But, yeah, it's just very disappointing. And hopefully he didn't get a back row selection right. Didn't get a team selection right for Saturday because I feel they need to respond, though. But again, really tired, as I said, of these insipid away performances. It's just not good enough, I don't think. OK. Right. So, Josh. So, get yourself some cider inside you, man, right? Because this is your moment. OK, this is the big one. That's a big slug. Good man. Right. Stormers versus Ospreys. Now, the rest of us are going to sit back and listen for a couple of minutes now, mate. This is your moment. Off you go. To be fair, one of you called it. Harley said Ospreys by six last week on the predictions. You then laughed and said Stormers by 17. So, I don't know. I'll take your first question, Harley. You can have the first one. Yeah, I think the bookies had 18-point underdogs for that one. And I think when we beat Lions, we had 20-point underdogs. So, again, you know, massive underdogs. I think it's probably one of the best results in Ospreys history, if I'm honest. It's up there with the lengths they were away in the final. Just because we've massively overachieved. With the score we've got, back when we played Leinster, you're probably looking at the back end of the Galactico era. Whereas now, with the score we've got, to win away at Stormers is, for me, massively overachieving. And I could literally go through the whole team and just say, oh, unbelievable. They were all incredible. I thought Nicky Smith made a bit of a mockery of the fact that Gatland hasn't really been picking him enough. He had Mark Herber in his pocket all game. So, hopefully, he takes him out ready for the Bulls game this week. The outfall of Deeves was unbelievable at seven. It's going to be interesting when Tips gets back now. Because you can't really drop Deeves after a performance like that. But it's Justin Tipperick. I know in the Gloucester game they put Deeves at six, Tipperick at seven. But I actually prefer the balance when you've got Ratty, Deeves and Morris, to be honest. Because I think Ratty's been a massively underrated signing. I think he topped the tackle charts in that game for the Ross race. So, yeah, he was a great addition. Coming home he was. And, yeah, I think it's the third time Stormers have lost at home since they joined the URC. The Ross race have done that and got the try bonus point. And let's be honest, the scoreline kind of flattens the Stormers a bit with them getting that try at the end, that penalty try, and that losing bonus point. It would have been even nicer if we'd denied them that. Yeah, I think after the Cardiff game, the Cardiff-Gloucester game, we were under a lot of pressure. Because I think a lot of the teams around us picked up wins this weekend. And I think we're under a lot of pressure to build some points. We've got Bulls and Leinster away next, too. So, for a score performance like that, it's pretty remarkable, I think. Can I just say, the one person that got closest to the prediction of Ospreys and Stormers was me. Which, that's how out of context... That's what the result it was. Yeah, that's how wrong that result was. I was the closest on that. Yeah. I watched that game with my wife, and my wife said, they're not playing very well, are they? Why can't they catch a ball? My wife isn't a rugby sport. Why can't they hold on to it? Why don't they just run at them with the ball and all that kind of stuff? To be fair, the Ospreys made the Stormers look poor. I think the defence, the defensive pressure that they put them under forced mistakes. And that's not like the Stormers. They just put them under pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure. And I don't think they could live with it. It wasn't the most wildly exciting game. The run-and-error kind of stuff, it wasn't there. But, in terms of pressure, yeah, you just blew the lid off the Stormers. And, yeah, fair play. It shows it can be done. For me, it shows it can be done. And, on the same weekend, that lends the loss to the Lions. And not just loss, but a proper loss as well. So, it just throws the whole top half of the league into kind of like, what the fuck happened there sort of thing. Very impressive, wasn't it? I think any win in South Africa, like we used to joke about Cardiff Sharks doing it last season and stuff, but it was impressive. I think any Welsh team that goes to South Africa gets a win. It's impressive. And, when we look back at the Ospreys, when they beat the Lions in the challenge cup, they had all their injuries. And I thought, fair play, that's a brilliant win. That's probably going to be the best win this season. But this just trumps it. Because that is a huge result for the Ospreys, to go to the Stormers. You know, the Stormers are a fantastic side. And all the talk was from supporters that they just wanted to try bonus points. That was what they were hoping for. But they've got five now already. And the Bulls are going to be very, very difficult. They're going to be smart enough to win. But I thought it was a fantastic performance. Like, you know, Josh already mentioned Nicky Smith. I've wrote this so many times on X. The fact he keeps getting ignored by Gatland is such a shame. James Fender and Adam Beard was brilliant. So Adam Beard, as we know, gets a lot of stick on social media. I think when people say, what does Adam Beard do? I don't see him do enough. They need to watch this game. So I thought he was absolutely brilliant. He put himself out there. Morgan Morris carried hard, as always. Jack Walsh is a player that I'm not really sold on. But I think he was really good in this game. And credit to Toby Booth. Because they are the best Welsh team out there at the moment. There's something... I know rival supporters might not want to admit it, but I've said it a few times. There is something special building at the Ospreys. I think he's a fantastic coach, doing a really good job. But what we've got at the moment, we've got Ospreys and Cardiff, who are leading the way. You know, they're competitive. They're not Cardiff's favourite against, but they are competitive. And once it clicks for them, I think it will click. And then we've got us then. We've got the Dragons and the Scarlets. We're limping behind, aren't we? Well, you speak for yourself, mate. I mean, we managed half the games. Well, you are limping behind. Well, I know. It's a good birth of the Scarlets. You're doing windows. You've still got batters. If we can just play 40-minute games, we've got this fucking league sewn up. I'm telling you. You'd win the league if games are 30 minutes. We just need to pick which 40 minutes that we play for. Is it like in the original Rabo Pro 12, where you could drop your worst result, and you drop your worst half? Yeah. We'll drop 18 minutes. We'll drop 10 from that game. 10 from that game. No. I mean, the Scarlets game was... It got to half time, and we thought, okay, yeah, we... It wasn't like we were in control, but, you know, we were competitive. We were in the game, and we were in the lead. I can't remember the last time that I tweeted at half time, but we're in the lead. Looking forward to a good second half here. We're in the lead. Fuck me. Oh, you know, it's... I'm not going to dwell on it, because it is what it is, and, you know, we've seen it time and time again. You know, against Munster, we were five points behind Munster on 70 minutes, and somehow we ended up getting tanked by 40. You know, it's... There's got to be something in there. There's got to be a bit of dog in there that goes... Somebody grabs people and goes, right, okay, this isn't happening. We need to nail this down now and stop the leaks, because it just... I think that's what we're missing at the minute, that little bit of dog, a little bit of Ken Irwin, a little bit of that grunt that we... A little bit of experience to just go, right, okay, this is how we screw the game down now. First five minutes of the second half, first 10 minutes of the second half, they don't touch the ball. You go, ruck, ruck, ruck, ruck, ruck, ruck, ruck. They don't touch the ball. If we run out of ideas, you put it in the corner, and you don't do anything for the first 10 minutes of the second half, and you take the sting out of them, and then you build yourself into the game, and, yeah, just fucking frustrating. I said I wasn't going to talk much about it, and I'm not going to. No, fuck it, let's move on. Would you like some good news from the Scarlets? I don't know, because the way, when you say it's good news, it's usually you taking the piss, so, yeah, go on. Well, the Scarlets have broken the 200-point score... Fuck off, Harley. ...in the URC now, being the last team out of 16 to do it. Did you see... And, did you think you've got the chance to be the first team to concede 500 points? Oof. Why is everyone going to take one point off? Did you see what the Scarlets tweeted? So, they tweeted a quote from Dwayne Peel, saying there was plenty in that game for us to build on, and you read the replies, and everyone's just like, what were you on about? Go along, stick Dwayne Peel for that comment. But when you look at the first 55 minutes, I can see what he means. It was looking good, but what happened to the Scarlets is what I've seen with the Dragonsoul beers. When the pressure came on, you capitulated, and I know all about that, because I've seen it myself. And it comes through a lack of confidence as well. The stuff you're talking about, I'm granted and acquitted on that. I've been saying that about the Dragons for years. There was some positives to take out of it, but I'm afraid, like I said, if we're stepping up, it can't be a good end, can it? Okay, we're rapidly running out of time, guys. So, let's move on to Wales women. So, Harley, give us a quick rundown of the Wales women from last weekend, and a quick preview of next weekend before we do our previews of how many points the Scarlets are going to lose by on Friday night. It's fucking depressing sometimes, honest to fuck. That's very unlike you, Lee. I know. Very unlike you. It's this fucking cherry sour stuff. It's having an effect. It's the positive news, by the way. Yeah, but look, look, I've actually drunk quite a bit of it. After you pass the first couple of bits, I'm not going to say it's nice, but once you pass the first, you can drink it. The other stuff, I couldn't drink. This stuff, I can cope with. Go on, Harley. Wales women. So, if we put this into context, that coming into the tournament, we were, you know, the strong rumours from everyone, all the pundits, media, fans, was this was going to be a game that Wales were tempted. And, you know, the idea was that, you know, we were going to push from third into second, you know, and make sure we cemented that spot, not only to be in WXE1, but anything. And what we got was, frankly, not good enough for what was supposed to be a professional outfit. I really don't want to be a downer on the team, but it looks like we've stagnated since the contracts have come in. You know, we've basically built a sort of foundation around good set-piece and, you know, physical dominant carries. That didn't work. One thing I would say is, at least we are sure there were some signs that we were attacking a little bit more free-throw rugby. It wasn't just one-up carry, one-up carry, one-up carry. But the skill never wasn't there. You know, the whole idea of Young kind of picking such a core of the Gloucester Hartleby squad was the cohesion stuff. I mean, admittedly, you're missing very key players like Mo Hunter, Neverson, you know, who sort of coordinate the game and the main points kicker. But it was just really depressing just watching them racket-try, try after try after try after try. It's not as bad as watching England versus Ireland, but it was just... It just made you think, what on earth have they been doing since the last of the XFL? What have they done since the World Cup? Because it was the same sort of errors being made continually. It looks like we've got no actual pace that wide. The back five just looks all wrong. You know, Björn Cunningham was just desperately trying to get Natalia John, Abbie Fleming, Butchers, you know, trying to get all these key players into one thing. Well, they don't fit. One of them's just got to go on the bench. I thought Molly Regan was good, but she came off the bench again. Product of Gwalior Lightning. And Gwilym Hopkins looks... You know, she came on and actually sort of went, no, I'm taking this shit. She is going to be a Wales women's captain at some point, but... Yeah, I don't know what you thought. I know you watch games all day, but... Well, I've only seen highlights on Scrum 5, yeah. Do you remember when you said to me, you thought Wales women were regressing? And then you said, oh, actually, I'm not sure. But now I think you were right the first time. I think we are regressing. Björn Cunningham's under a lot of pressure at the moment. And I've got to be honest, I hold my hands up, I don't know as much about women's rugby as you do, right? But he's saying things like, you know, talking about the development and us being behind the other nations. But should we really be behind Ireland? You know, I don't think we should, should we? Or Italy? Or, you know, I don't understand now how we made so much progress last Six Nations campaign. And this campaign has been a disaster. And, you know, we're fighting now to avoid the wooden spoon. And it does feel like we have regressed. I think the reason why I thought we'd regress is because things weren't going so well. It was a good result against the Red Roses. You know, we improved. But we haven't improved any of our actual game plan, really. And the problem is, is we haven't gotten any fitter. So that's why I think it's gone. Because other teams have become more professional as well. So that fitness has gone up. And, you know, it's one of the things I think Squidge posted about with Hannah Jones saying, oh, you know, saying, oh, you know, we know where we are. We're supposed to be going for the third best team. And he went, well, that's the problem there. As soon as you say, this is our level, that's when the teams behind you catch up and the teams ahead pull away. So we're not, we may not have gone backwards, but we stood still. And that's as good as going backwards in the way the game, the way the game is constantly evolving. Like, Ireland is still in a hell of a shit behind the scenes. It took them to bring in a Red Roses coach. So they gave the most toking level of giving a shit. And they flipped around the scoreline in 12 months. From us beating them 35-5, they beat us 35-5. And it looked like we did not fire a shot. We just were completely outmatched. We were beating up what was supposed to be our strengths in the set-piece and forward carries. The France game, you know, like the Scotland game was close. And Scotland have really, you know, really improved their, you know, they rightly should be on our level. But, so, that resulting in the game probably made sense. And then these last two games, it looks like, I don't want to question the effort of the players, but it just looks like there's a malaise. It's like, well, we've got our professional contract. We don't, you know, we don't really need to try. Which I'm sure is not the case. Absolutely. But, I mean, if we really, you know, for me, if we want to think about Wales women as equally as we do Wales men, we, you know, we should at least be holding them to account to say, you know, we're not seeing the improvements here. So, what's the, what's the expectation? Is it this week we play or we've got a week off and then there's a, So, we play, we're playing Italy on Saturday. So, I'm going to be going to that, then I'm going to the Cardiff Edinburgh game. That's at the stadium, that's at the Principality. So, that'll be at the Principality. So, this is going to be the first time Wales women have played a stand-alone fixture at the Principality. You know, they've played doubleheaders with the Barbarians before and I think they've done Wales-Italy there before as a doubleheader with the men back when, when the situation was, was it tied in at the same time. So, I think, tied in at the same time. And, right, Italy probably haven't progressed as much as they probably would have liked to. It seems that they, they've sort of gone, they haven't gone for the whole fourth pro contract. They've sort of gone semi-pro. But a lot of their players are playing in BWR same as a lot of the S-Wales players are. You know, they probably were fortunate to win against, they were probably fortunate to get the win against Ireland. They probably should have won. Didn't look great shit, you know, but didn't necessarily look great shits against England or France. But, you know, there's a real chance that we're going to have a wooden spoon this year. It's an incredibly definite possibility for what was a tournament where we were supposed to be pushing for second. Which, in a way, is a bit worse than what happened with the senior men. Because none of us gave them a hope in hells chance and we finished exactly where we ended up. But we're still disappointed with it. Yeah, it's just really hard to, you know, it's looking like now just to even get into WXV2, which is the second year of this World League that's been introduced. We'll have to do a playoff against Spain and I've watched Spain women play and they look a lot more put together than we do. So, like, there's a serious thing. We could end up in that third tier playing teams like Kazakhstan and Kenya. You know, these are nations that they don't even get an option to go into the top two tiers. That's their level. OK. So, what time's kick-off? It's not looking great for us. What time's kick-off? It's quarter past twelve kick-off. Quarter past twelve. OK. I'm assuming there's still tickets available. Yep, still tickets available. Not a huge amount. They haven't opened up the stadium fully. They started opening up some of their middle tier. So, because as soon as they sell so many in the bottom ring, so the bottom ring and then you go top tier seats. Yeah, they're £10 a ticket. It would be good to get a rugby. Yeah. Especially with the opportunity to pop next door and watch Cardiff getting battered later as well. You know, that would be a good day. We don't get battered unless you're going to lose. Right. OK. Let's quickly move on then to predictions for this weekend. So, Harley's going to do our prediction leak from now on because of apparently I can't be trusted with it because all the newfangled stuff or the technology is too confusion for me, isn't it, Harley? No, I just got bored one day and just filled in the boxes and then Lee was like, well, you do it then. I mean, there's still real changes from the update. 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