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Feb. 14th, 2006
Wales 28 Scotland 18
Feb. 14th, 2006 10:25 amI don't usually bother much with the anthems but I do have to say that Katherine Jenkins has a great voice and is seriously hot.
This promised to be the most interesting game of the weekend and it probably was. Both teams played with a good deal of attacking intent and Scotland kept that up even when they were playing 14 against 15 or the last 45 minutes. Wales though were clearly the better side and the score is a bit flattering to the Scots. Wales have real pace and a cutting edge in attack. Scotland, like Ireland, are a yard or two too slow for top class international rugby. The Scottish pack too looks a bit vulnerable. I don't know what the back row thought they were at in the scrum that led to the first Welsh try. It was obvious Wales would try for the pushover so to have all three loosies up and not pushing was idiotic. England will have watched that with interest.
I guess one has to comment on the Scott Murray red card. It was unfortunate. I don't think he meant to kick Gough in the face but he did kick out and he did catch him in the face. I don't think the ref had much option (if you want a contrary view you can go read a piece of prime cretinism from Mick Cleary in today's Torygraph).
Other things I noticed; Martyn Williams is looking very sharp and there were an incredible number of forward passes. I'm also seeing an increase in the number of players try to offload out of the tackle backhanded (ie going right off their right hand and v.v.). It's almost impossible to pull that move off with any consistency. OTOH the inside flip up (going left off the right hand and v.v.) is something one can do even in the middle of being creamed in a tackle and one still has some control. Peel's ofload to Sidoli wa a good example of how effective it can be.
This promised to be the most interesting game of the weekend and it probably was. Both teams played with a good deal of attacking intent and Scotland kept that up even when they were playing 14 against 15 or the last 45 minutes. Wales though were clearly the better side and the score is a bit flattering to the Scots. Wales have real pace and a cutting edge in attack. Scotland, like Ireland, are a yard or two too slow for top class international rugby. The Scottish pack too looks a bit vulnerable. I don't know what the back row thought they were at in the scrum that led to the first Welsh try. It was obvious Wales would try for the pushover so to have all three loosies up and not pushing was idiotic. England will have watched that with interest.
I guess one has to comment on the Scott Murray red card. It was unfortunate. I don't think he meant to kick Gough in the face but he did kick out and he did catch him in the face. I don't think the ref had much option (if you want a contrary view you can go read a piece of prime cretinism from Mick Cleary in today's Torygraph).
Other things I noticed; Martyn Williams is looking very sharp and there were an incredible number of forward passes. I'm also seeing an increase in the number of players try to offload out of the tackle backhanded (ie going right off their right hand and v.v.). It's almost impossible to pull that move off with any consistency. OTOH the inside flip up (going left off the right hand and v.v.) is something one can do even in the middle of being creamed in a tackle and one still has some control. Peel's ofload to Sidoli wa a good example of how effective it can be.
Odd genderisation
Feb. 14th, 2006 01:18 pmLast night I started to reread Dame Cicely Wedgwood' s History of the Thirty Years War which was originally published in the 1930s. It has a preface that deals with a number of methodological and historiographical questions. In discussing how a hypothetical historian might address these issues, Dame CV refers to the HH throughout as "he". This struck me as really rather odd.
Larousse is loose
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owlfish recently conducted a poll to find out what "basic cookbooks" people used. I answered Larousse Pratique which she "interpreted" as Larousse Gastronomique. I shall now demonstrate why Larousse Gastronomique is not one I consult often for practical advice.RHINOCEROS - Large, herbivorous, African and S. Asiatic pachyderm, very savage, whose flesh (mostly that of young animals) is edible. It is preferred to that of elephant by natives who consider hippopotamus meat to be even better.
WALEWSKA (A LA) - A method of preparing fish, particularly fillets of sole. Fish cooked in this way is poached in fish fumet, set on a fireproof dish, garnished with slices of spiny lobster and truffles and coated with a Mornay sauce with spiny lobster butter.
There is also a page of small print's worth of instructions on the proper way to prepare a wild boar's head.
