Now is the time to hit Union where it hurts them most. Write to all Englands sponsors, Nike, O2, Land Rover etc telling them how disgusted you are and how you wont buy their products when they are associated with such a team and organistaion that set such a bad example. A lot of their sponsors are apparently quite worried about all this and a few gentle nudges could see the RFU gravy train grind to a halt. See how many players they can poach then

There's more chance of my car turning into a marshmallow. This will all have blown over by the new year and normal service will be resumed.

The dirty moulah! GF you old cynic

How did Sam go Catalancs,I know he scored a try but did he get much of the ball with him being stuck on the wing.

He saw a fair amount of the ball early on when it was pretty even, he should have had 2 tries backing up his centre but the big lump couldnt pass so he bombed 2 tries. 2nd half he saw barely any ball, just lots of big bodies coming at him. Didnt do too bad but i cant see him wanting another go.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing with the Barbarians game. The commentators noted that there were over a 1,000 Unions caps shared between the 30 starting players – I would have thought that the majority of these were on the Barbarians side

And yet, it was quite clear that none of the Barbarians team were able to run and pass the ball at the same time. For what is supposed to be an elite standard of the game, the standard of skills (if that is the right word) were quite appalling. I would have attributed it to a friendly if it weren’t for the vast majority of the players in the recent world cup equally unable to execute these skills

But, worst of all was the lack of effort from the Barbarians team. The replacement scrum half in particular was an embarrassment, there were at least two tackles that not only did he not try to make, he actually tried to get out of the way of the runner

If, as gutterfax says, the 52,000 people there did pay an average of £35 each, they should start a class action lawsuit against the Barbarians team for not providing the service they paid for... i.e. a team prepared to turn up and play rugby with even an ounce of personal pride

After this weekend’s game and the current climate of commercialism in the Union game , I would be surprised if the Barbarians concept lasted many more years

It amuses and puzzles me in equal measure as to how RL fans believe that poking fun at an exhibition game that attracted in excess of £2,000,000 in ticket revenue and got 10,000 more fans in attendance than a RL double header featuring the teams ranked 1,2,& 3 in the world, in some way makes league look better?
Seriously....look at the front and back pages of the papers in the UK from the last 10 days and you'll see which code is the one in danger of becoming insignificant.......and it's not Union



The Barbarians, as a nomadic club, generate millions for charity and have been in existance longer than TGG......in fact, their forst tour ever was in 1890 where they played teams from the north of England.....who 5 years later......you know the rest.

Their next fixture is May 2012...again at Twickenham, v England....I wonder if they will struggle with another 52,000 crowd

Newcastle Falcons to finish bottom £££ Embarrassment of a side.

10,000 average (not inflated with trips to Wembley/Tewickenham) is the minimum requirement for the Aviva. 10,100 was the lates rounds average, which whilst not terrible, is a worry. The most surprising thing is the crowds at Leicester whilst they strugle and dip at London Irish whilst they do well.....

as for £££ Embarrassment...........we in RL are in a glass house when it comes to clubs losing cash......I suggest you drop the rocks.

What are you on about? As I posted at the start of the season and have done a couple of times since, I had a rather large bet on the Falcons to finish bottom. Christ knows what that's got to do with crowd figures or rugby league.

According to the SNP Energy Mister, Fergus Ewing, about half of the North Sea oil and gas reserves have yet to be extracted. This could be political posturing of course as a recent report by the industry body Oil and Gas UK stated that as little as 14 billion barrels could be left and this would be very damaging for the potential investments in the Scottish energy industry

We shall have to wait to see which view is proved correct

Very good Dunbar, see what you did there

It's Gutterfax - everything, even on a thread dedicated to rugby union, is somehow linked to rugby league.

There's a serious insecurity complex going on in his/her head.

Union fans booing a kick on goal whatever next!

[url=http://www.joe.ie/rugby/rugby-news/englands-james-haskell-loses-out-on-80k-deal-after-hotel-maid-storm-0018113-1?England's James Haskell loses out on £80k deal after hotel maid storm[/url

[url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/nov/27/rfu-bonus-scheme-ridicule-staff?RFU bonus scheme risks fresh ridicule[/url



• Payments due despite year of infighting
• Departing Martyn Thomas could get £250,000

Hello Pot......meet Kettle.

Is that a New Zealand barbecue?

Is that Peter Principle?

I see that Mike Tindall has been reinstated to the Elite player squad following the recent appeal hearing

I don’t have any insight into whatsoever to the politics of the RFU as this seems to be beyond everybody at the moment. All I will say is that the three words Tindall, elite and player should never be used in the same sentence! (and before somebody points out he is a world cup winner... I am well aware of that and the way England played in 2003 was testimony to how much they trusted their backs to score tries – Tindall is a very poor centre)

While the whole thing stinks to high heaven, I doubt that Tindall will be in the '[ielite[/i' squad for much longer anyway. Tindall has never impressed me as a centre. He's the very antithesis of Will Greenwood, who he should phone daily thanking him for his world cup winner's medal. Manu Tuilagi and Mathew Tait are just two players who should ensure he never gets near an England shirt ever again.

Mike Tindall also makes Fran Cotton look like God's gift to women.

Has Cotton shagged the queen's granddaughter though?

Ha! The Cotton Traders Negligee, coming soon.