Georgia on my mind

I thought I might have used this headline as far back as 2007, because 15 years ago I was also in Bordeaux to watch Georgia play in a Rugby World Cup final. On that occasion they played against Ireland, and really should have won...... check out the entry here

This time they were playing Fiji, and once again they gave a good account of themselves  and very nearly fashioned a win with the last move of the match. At the final whistle both teams were collapsed across the length of the pitch as they had given their all in oppressive heat, as has been the case over Southern Europe for some time.

The match was played at the new football stadium which we travelled to by tram. I must say if I was building a new city somewhere, I would definitely model the tram system on the one in use in Bordeaux. From the airport it is about 35 minutes into the town centre. All the lights give priority to the tram over the cars, and there really are not too many of those compared with other major cities. On exiting the ground after the match, we were on a tram within 20 minutes with another 30 minutes until we arrived back in the city centre.

We went to the seaside on Sunday, Acheron, about 45 minutes on the train, where they have the largest sand dune in Europe. We did not scale it although there were maintained pathways to the top, but on our return to Bordeaux, there were two large cruise ships in port, mirroring once again our experiences all those years ago.

So after three days of good food, company and alcohol, we are back in Blighty where it is wet and windy. Plus ca change!! 

It's nice in Nice

 Where better to enjoy the rugby world cup than in the host Country, France. So after the first wekend of matches had been completed the founder members of S-Club took off for a few days in Nice on the Cote D'Azur.

There were live games in Nice bit we had chosen to visit prior to those and just soak up the atmosphere, and avoid the huge influx of Welsh supporters who would be in town on the Saturday. Nice is a very pleasant seaside town, with a pebble beach and numerous bars and restaurants. A renowned travel correspondent was once quoted s saying that the majority of tourists only eat in the same restaurant once, never to return, so don't be surprised if the food is second best and the waiting staff are offhand and bored. 

This was certainly our experience with the menu's being salad dominated and the plate d'jour of traditional steak et frites being average or worse. So after a couple of days we managed to seek out a few local's restaurants which were much better. The town was certainly less expensive than I had expected and all in all we had the time we had hoped for.

We even had a chat with Gerald Davies, a wales international and British Lion from the early 70's. He remembered our old school rugby coach, Keith Maddocks, also known as the Neath flyer, and was happy to pass the time of day with us. I did get called 'Jack Rowell' one occasion so some things never change.

With my thoughts very much on avoiding games at Twickenham in the future, the few days proved that an enjoyable time can be had without the need to flog to the stadium to watch a game. Add in the fact that the red and yellow card situation could mean a game being ruined as a contest early and I think a good lunch and the camaraderie which accompany it is the way to go.

Off to Bordeaux next where we will take in the Fiji v Georgia game.

Summertime blue's

Well where did it all go? It's been two months with no postings, but I can't recall being overly busy to be that distracted, although possibly there was little going on in the World. 

So a quick check of my diary shows that SWMBO was away on holiday for a week, I worked at the Open Golf Championships for a week, I went to a 70th birthday in Huddersfield, played about 15 rounds of golf, had a routine brain scan (all clear) as I was having stress headaches and celebrated our wedding anniversary at Hawksmoor, a steak restaurant in Liverpool centre. That was just in July!!

August was more golf, several bbq's and another 70th birthday, SWMBO away at here sister's for a few days with the ankle biters and me at the Forest of Arden golf resort with 240 fellow golf club captains. It could have been messy but was actually quite reserved.

We have now entered September and all my 'grumpy old man' attributes are getting a really good airing. Why? Because the sports World has gone mad. Firstly the Spanish football president kisses one of the lady World Cup winning players. There has been uproar and it has taken up far more column inches than the war in Ukraine. Please lets put these things in perspective. Clearly clutching his groin was an action he should have avoided but everything else has just been over exposed!!

Now the English Lionesses footballers want pay parity with the men. This is a continuing theme throughout at the moment. The tennis players got their way with equal prize funding even though they only play three sets compared with the men playing five. If the products are the same then I am happy the prize fund should be so too. In football, the money is in the Premiership, and the wages and prize fund reflect that, the players in the lower divisions are paid proportionately. Lady's football is nowhere near Premiership level so should be paid accordingly. Somebody needs to take a stand and point this out.

Now the rugby World Cup has started in France, we are again seeing the positive discrimination which has forced it's way into sports commentary. Ladies do not have the lower range of vocal cords to present a fast moving sport like rugby. As the game gets exciting their range gets higher pitched and difficult to listen to. Add in the fact that all panels now need to include one lady pundit and it just shows how commentating has gone from one extreme to the other

Luckily the rugby has started off with good quality games and a fair bit of controversy, and there is always the mute button if things do get a bit out of hand vocally. Allez le blanc! 

Frugal February

 The Six Nations rugby is well under way now with Ireland and France showing World Cup winning form. The rest will be hoping they have peaked too early.

England beat Wales which shows they are moving in the right direction although the debate now centres around their captain rather than coach.

We planned to go to North Wales on Friday to watch the U20 game against England but we had a blow out on the way and watched the first half in a layby on the A55. That said the England back line looked very quick and they ran out deserved winners too. There was a Chessum brother in each England  team with younger one coming in at 6' 9 ".

Golf dinners have kicked I  again with three in three weeks, but now we are ab.e to relax for a couple of weeks. This entry is being composed in LHR T3 so watch this space for more news of the significant birthday adventure.

I do look forward ro meeting up with the S Club again next season and we have planned a trip to Nice during the Rugby World Cup. We plan to watch a few matches on TV and take in the atmosphere. Tickets are reasonably priced but flights and hotels are ridiculous prices when the home nations are concerned. So I have sold my England v Samoa tickets in Lille and instead SWMBO and I are off to Bordeaux for Fiji v Georgia. That should be a hoot.

Two other news items. Number 2 son is heavy with child, their first, and our neighbours house is up for sale, so potentially new neighbours after 20 odd years. Let's hope a family buys it and not a developer with an eye to turning it into flats. Time will tell.

Keeping up with the Joneses

Well the Rugby World Cup is over for another 4 years. A disappointing end for England but everybody seems to think its great for the country of South Africa that they have won it. We will see if there are any political alterations in that Country or not.

Similarly the RFU are convinced they re better prepared to benefit from the expected upturn in interest in the game here in England. I have always maintained that mini and junior rugby do not produce the players of tomorrow, they produce the spectators of tomorrow. As they play their rugby on a Sunday, Saturday is free for them to watch their hero's be it at the Stoop, The Allienz, The JJ Bell stadium or somewhere in the Midlands. when they are older and senior rugby beckons, will they sacrifice their Saturday jolly for the opportunity to be beefed by older bigger people? Time will tell.

The final itself was not the sort of spectacle to be attracting spectators through he turnstiles. A psychological blow for   England when Sinkler was forced off so early was compounded by a 'park the bus'  approach from South Africa which was hugely effective but a bit dull. So it is now up to the other rugby nations to work out how to bypass the bus and create some chances to break through. Did they plan to lose to New Zealand in their first game so giving themselves an easier route tot the final? I suspect that we will never know.

So we now move into the 6 Nations championship build-up with trains and hotels booked, we just need news of tickets!!

Also in the news today was a massive fine handed out to Saracens for allegedly breaking the salary cap in the English Premiership. If upheld, they could struggle to avoid relegation to the Championship which would make for some very interesting fixtures next season.
Away at Cornish Pirates and Ealing Trailfinders would be a really eye opener.

Eddie Jones is doing a talk and book signing here on the Wirral in the middle of November, so i am going along to that and will be interested to see what he has to say about all things rugby. I on the  other hand am  just off to read the latest on VAR and how football has made so difficult what rugby, cricket and tennis seem to find routine. It must be a culture thing!

Flat caps and farmers

It was always on the cards that I would be on the Tele last weekend. I had a front row ticket for the Australia v Argentina game between the halfway line and the 22, right opposite the cameras.
There was a false start when I featured on the big screen right after the anthems. That did not make the live coverage though as ITV cut to the adverts, as they do.
Did not have long to wait though as an Argentina line-up five minutes into the game allowed me a chance to doff my cap to my adoring fan base. Job done.

The whole weekend had gone well. We watched the SA v NZ game in a bar in Charing Cross and were glad we were not there when the weather closed in. We were joined briefly by a group dressed as animals who were out for a significant birthday. They had trotted out to Covent Garden by half-time and after the match we joined them.
We had supper in Joe Allen's in Exeter Street. No celebs, but a very fine evening which we finished off in the Farmers Club in Whitehall.

On Sunday (but not after supper!) farmer Simon used a contact to get us a plum table in the Bluebird Cafe on the Kings Road. I can't remember the last time I was on the lash in that area of  the capital. One pub I used is now a burger joint, and the Click and Whichity's have both long since shut down.

The Bluebird was swish and we would not have been surprised if Jose Mourinho or a few of his players had been in there...but then they could have been as we would not have recognised them!!

So back to Scouse on the Monday and now geared up for the final. We have embraced the tournament. Tickets were expensive, the fanzone in Trafalgar Square was a bit of an embarrassment, as were the host nation, but the times with rugby mates are always priceless, so look out Japan in 2019, make sure you have enough mobility scooters!!

Molly Malone

We took in the quarter final games at the rugby world cup in various bars in Dublin. We had planned it months ago, so brother-in-laws David being Welsh, and I always sensed one of us might be enjoying the craic more than the rugby. That will have been me then.

So it was Guinness, watch a game, major food then watch another game with more Guinness. Sunday was brunch watch two games with Guinness, then a major steak restaurant, nightcap and bed. All in all a very full on 48 hours.

Three of the games were classic, with the other being NewZealand finding some form to seriously stuff France. The locals were a bit shell shocked as the Argues blew them away, a result I had predicted days earlier.

The bars were not as lively as I had expected, but the semi-final weekend should be a cracker. Come on the winners.

Home alone

SWMBO and her family are entering the second week of their Clampitts holiday in Egypt. Apart from some tourist tummy trouble, all seems to be going well. The kids in particular are enjoying the water park and chocolate parties.

I, in the meantime, am left fending for myself which has been a welcome reintroduction to peace and quiet. The main benefit has been the ability to get on with jobs round the house without having to worry whether an ankle biter will get hold of a chisel or fall over a power lead.

One challenge I have though is that a couple of tiles have slipped during the storms so I am waiting for the insurance go ahead to get the work done. The loss assessor said he thought the door would cost £50 labour and £1500 for scaffolding. Gone are the days when a bloke and his ladders turned up and did it. It's all 'ealth and safety now.

I am all set up with my new tablet computer now as well. I got the latest ZenPad with some vouchers the bank gave me, and it's good to be mobile again. I now have films on tap via Kodi, an X-Box simulator, and sport available via a Ace Player feed. There are a few wires across the floor at the moment but I will work out how to loose those in the next day or so. Luckily the rugby world cup is on ITV so that will be routine.

SWMBO looks like she is off to Tanzania again in November with her dental health charity and she also has a day trip to Dublin for some stand management at a dental conference. Maybe a job opportunity will come up as a result otherwise she will be secret shopping with me.

I am still trying to earn a few bob via e-bay, a couple of pictures and some riding crops from a recent auction seem to be interesting people but the box of Hudl covers I got  have no takers. You win some, you lose some.

It will be disappointing to miss the Bampton raft race this year but I suspect it has run its course as far as I am concerned. Next year I will become an onlooker with 'off the record' Dick. I look forward to meeting up with the S Club in Gloucester for the Tonga v Georgia match as our own RWC mini tour gets under way.

Looks like time for an all day breakfast......excellent!

Old Year reflections

SWMBO and I reverted to our traditional date night in for New Years Eve. I get the privilege of cooking, and we reminisce the year past. My speciality this time was weeping lamb with boulangere potatoes with French onion soup to start, and it was all yummy.

So what did we see as the years highs and lows?

Starting on the family front, we were blessed with our fifth grandchild, Alexander, who has now maintained the continuity of the Weathers line, blending a bit of Bulgarian into the Irish and English gene pool. A welcome surprise on Monday was the news that my cousin Mike and his long suffering partner Valerie, has finally tied the knot and were officially Mr and Mrs Weathers. SWMBO's mum also got over a major health scare which we were all delighted about.
SWMBO and I both lost relations towards the end of the year. SWMBO's Uncle Kevin died after a troubled few years, in his early sixties, and my Auntie Betty passed away on Christmas Day morning after a short illness. She was 92 so had had a fair old innings.

Domestically, the years highlight was the redesign and construction of a new bedroom for SWMBO, in less than two weeks while she was in Tanzania. We had a good family barbeque and both Tim and Kieran moved into new homes in the later part of the year. Kieran's move left us rattling around on our own in Chateau Weathers. Maxine survived a full year without working!

It was good to be involved in Wally's stag 'do' in Portugal and to be visited by friends and family from London, on a regular basis, but an acrimonious holiday in Turkey meant we have lost Lou, one of SWMBO's long term work colleagues, as a friend.  They say love is blind, and in her case she is the only one to be able to see any good in her new partner, Martin. Pity.

On the sporting front, I was delighted to break 80 on the golf course for the first time. I also fired a 82 around Southport and Ainsdale which was pretty special, and I am chuffed to be Chairman elect of the Seniors section at Wallasey next year.

We saw the year as routine when we started discussing it, but as you can see a lot happened.

So now we are into 2015 and I have 23 blog entries to try to beat to allow me to reversze the downward publishing trend. what can you look forward to then?

We are off to the States for a month in March going from Las Vegas to Hawaii and back to New York. There are two trips to Ireland, one for the Causeway Classic golf festival and one to coincide with the rugby world cup. I will be attending some of the world cup games too.

I end the blog as I started, with news of grandchild number six which should arrive sometime in February. So do stay tuned it will be another exciting year.

Once a policeman, always a policeman

When I started this blog in 2007 there was a Rugby World Cup scheduled, in France, and my trip to Bordeaux was documented, as were other aspects of the event. England you may recall got thumped by South Africa in their group game, were panned by the press, had a player revolt and eventually reached the final where they lost again to South Africa.

This year England stuttered through the group stages before they lost yesterday to an average French side in the quarter finals. To describe the French as average may be heaping too much praise on them, only their performance against Wales in the semi final will see whether I am being fair or not.

One expects French teams to have you on the edge of your seat every time their three-quarters get the ball. Alas that has not happened for a number of years as constant rule changes have seen the space on the field condensed into narrow corridors of opportunity which are swiftly snubbed out by brick outhouse size players.

Consider the game today when Australia beat South Africa. South Africa had 74% of the possession and Australia made a whopping 147 tackles in the game, that's nearly two a minute.
It was exciting but for totally gladiatorial reasons. There was little running rugby in the match.

England, of course, can't play running rugby. They are often starved of the ball by the opposition and the good sides use that superiority to run England ragged. Ireland in Dublin this year, New Zealand and South Africa at will, and now France.

The boys do go out on the lash occasionally in reverence to the old game of rugby which I and my peers played, but unfortunately the British press, particularly the red tops, are less inclined to reminisce about the good old days. Its a game for today and sadly England are a team for yesterday.

The coach Martin Johnson has not yet fallen on his sword, and with the RFU without a CEO and CIO equivalent, there is nobody to unsheathe it for him. Rob Andrew is a chartered surveyor by trade. You would think he would be able to identify the structural damage which the Johnson era is causing to the English game.

He indicated in his press conference that this group will get better as they are a young side. I suspect Cuerto, Shaw, Tindell, Thompson, Deacon, Easter, Moody and Wilkinson will be flattered by such accolades. There were young players Johnson could have picked, but he builds a team in his own (public) image, dull, grumpy, unimaginative and uninspiring. Move over and let someone else have a go. The game is still the low point of a day out at Twickenham, it needs to change

They swim in the sea, we eat them for tea.......

Interesting weekend just past. Our oldest, Tim and his girlfriend Lili, used the house for an engagement party. Interesting guest list which included my present and past wife, and her two ex-husbands!!

Tim, as an only child, seems to have masses of siblings, and all were present for the big event. It all went off well, I think. I behaved myself and got to bed about 2am......not too bad.

They are planning to get married twice, bit like me really! The first will be in Brazil in February 2009, the second in England later in the same year. There seems to be huge interest in going to Sao Paulo so i think they will be surprised by the turnout. It will be Summer there so the combination of a wedding and holiday seems spot on to me.

Talking of holidays, I am just off to St Lucia, to defend my 'Sir Vivian Richards Pro-Am' title around the tricky but very picturesque St Lucia Golf Course. I won it last time with Jeff Crowe, the New Zealand cricketer, and two local members. Jeff is a cousin of Russell, and had just come back form seeing him get married. Jeff plays of 2 so we were quids in really compared with some of the team members. Ian Botham, Sir Gary Sobers, Tony Greig and Chris Cowdrey were playing, as well as the host, and it was a sound day out all round......I am told there is a fair bit of development going on at the moment around the course, and Jack Nicklaus is building a second 18 holes nearby. It will be interesting to see the new club house as well.

I am also playing in the 'Todgers Trophy' overseas edition when I return. This year it is in Portugal, and it is the annual tournament for Twickenham Rugby Club. In true rugger tradition, we have to go as famous Englishmen. That should irritate the Welsh amongst us.

They got knocked out of the Rugby World Cup on Saturday didn't they? To Fiji of all people. The QFstage is now quite interesting. I would take Argentina and South Africa to go through and meet in the semi, which then conjures up potentially four games in which anybody could win. On their day England can beat Aus, and France can turn over NZ. An E v F semi could go either way, as could the SA v Argie one. So we are suddenly looking at an Argie v England final! Who would have thought it a week or so ago?

The Crystal Maze

Work took me on a magical mystery tour for South London yesterday, as I travelled by train to Crawley and Three Bridges. The Northcote Road area of Clapham Junction has changed out of all recognition. While the street market still exists, and the Northcote Arms is still on the corner, its clientele now consists of yummy mummies and City types rather than poor students and bed sit dwellers. The Bank was a bank in my day, its now a gastropub, and there are the obligatory coffee shops, cheese and butchers outlets. The bakery I used to live above is now a designer breadshop. I wonder if the cockroaches still live upstairs??

On then through Balham, gateway to the South, a picture of which sits on my lounge wall to remind me of the times. We had good fun in and around Bedford Hill, and Devonshire Road. We were not quite on first name terms with the working girls, but the fact that the Bedford Arms is now owned by the Soho House group shows how that area is well up market too now. That said, you did used to be able to buy Chocolate Oliver biscuits in the old fashioned Cullens store in Balham High Road.

Thornton Heath has two great Youngs pubs, The Fountains Head and the Lord Napier, the latter is a big band and jazz pub in the Glenn Miller style. I must schedule a trip back there when Argyle play Crystal Palace.

I brought my first house in Norbury, and Tim was born in Mayday hospital just outside Croydon. I always thought it a strange name for an A & E department!

The train then swept in and out of Croydon giving me just a glimpse of the old IBM office that I first worked in and the Porter and Sorter featured previously in this blog. Croydon is still one of those places which is easy to get into but a nightmare to find your way out of. Just as well then that I was on the train.

Croydon has not changed much since I worked there thirty years ago, although it does have a tram now which goes from Wimbledon to various locations in South London. I took it once from there to Addington and walked on to Shirley Wanderers RFC for their 50th anniversary celebrations. The clubhouse was a bit like Croydon, in as much as there were the same old faces there from the mid '70s when I played regularly for them.

Rugby was a great game to play in those days, but watching the two matches at the weekend, I am beginning to think that its days are numbered. Their big chap runs into our big chap, then we do the same. Flair and enterprise seem to have disappeared.

I don't enjoy rugby league as Ii feel I am watching the same game every week, and with a few exceptions union seems to be going the same way. I do hope the rugby world cup will revitalise my enthusiasm for the game, or once again during a crackingly good social weekend, the match will become the low point.