Wiltshire Warrior Dragon

I have come across other folk saying that they played shinty in English schools, Marauder. However, one of them showed me the stick he had used (and kept after leaving school) and it really was nothing like a shinty stick (or 'caman' in Gaelic) as used in Scotland.

He may be a bit conservative in his approach to running with ball in hand, but the calibre of his kicking on the last tackle is very high indeed and, as Waynebennettswinger rightly highlights above, his tackling is very much above par for a modern half back; a high proportion of his tackles are old-fashioned, round-the-legs ones too. It would be a smart move for Toulouse Olympique to sign him up, if - for historical reasons - Les Dracs is unlikely. I wonder if it is possible for a team in TOXIII's position - i.e. quite possibly in SL next year, but can certainly not guarantee it - to pro

For your sake, JK, I hope that it does rain. That way, there is an increased chance that you have more to moan about than shout positively about, which is as it should always be for us RL fans!

Why, WWW? It seems logical to show all teams a few times each season. That said, if you show a weaker one, such as Leeds and Trinity both, currently, undeniably are, against a stronger one, then you risk a one way procession reflected in a blow-out score. I would much sooner see two of the weaker teams take on each other, as will be the case here.

Eeh, you must be a youngster, TD! When I were a lad, you could tell they were different boroughs just by the colour of the buses - Wigan's an attractive maroon and white, and Leigh's a lovely blue and cream.

You probably know this already, Ullman, but another Bempton speciality isn't a seabird at all. Around the car park and visitor centre, you should look closely at the spuggies. House sparrows have a grey top to their head, but here there are also tree sparrows, which look almost identical, but have a lovely brown top to their heads, which makes it easy to distinguish them from their much commoner cousins.

Oh, Padge! You are absolutely right, but please don't get me going! I have, over the years, followed various team games - ice hockey, shinty, GAA and so on. What they all have in common is that, if you make the effort to read the laws or rules of play, and then watch a game, you understand why the match officials intervene when they do. You may not agree with their interpretation of a particular incident or passage of play, in all cases - was that really a cross-check in the ice hockey match you are watching? - but you understand that is what the official could reasonably have thought

I'm not sure that you are taking adequately into account the different chronology of the English/European and domestic French seasons, CM. The latter is drawing to a close, as they still play an Autumn to Spring season. So, I would expect Toulouse, if needs be, to offer short contracts to some of the best of other Elite 1 clubs, to augment the Olympique side in the championship for a few months; in other words, continue the process begun with the signings of Gigot and Albert.

Maybe a good choice for an SL-aspiring or SL-bound Toulouse Olympique.

I believe he speaks highly of you too, BB!

...and Catalan sheepdogs (well, what else would you expect a Les Dracs' fan to have and to say!?)

To be fair, Harry, it was from an Eddie Waring commentary that I first realised that French was not spoken in the same way uniformly throughout the country. I had quite recently gone to secondary school, started learning French and was told that 'this is how French is pronounced', with the implication to my youthful, innocent mind that there was only one way. Then I heard Waring commentating on, I think, a GB -v- France international, and he referred to a French player coming from 'Carcassonn-uh' and he teased his viewers by saying they shouldn't write in to tell him that the final 'e' w

It isn't just Phil Clarke, MM. There are others (and on the BBC too) who are poor in the pronunciation of French players' names. I note that Paul Seguier's surname is the latest to cause some difficulty. First names - Paul, Benjamin, etc - are routinely pronounced in an English way.

It is hard to be certain about these things when looking from the outside in, and at a distance too. However, the impression I have of Sylvain Houles is that he is a good man manager, as well as a sound rugby tactician. As such, he will have thought long and hard about both the impact Gigot will have on the collective team mentality and whether he believes he can keep Gigot on the proverbial straight and narrow. He obviously has reached a positive conclusion in his own mind on both those points. I wish him, Gigot and TO well, in all of this.

I always think one of the most the amazing thing with wrens is their singing. You here this amazingly load, strong song and, when you realise it is a wren, you marvel at how such a small bird can sing with such volume of sound. Apparently, in 'old money', they weigh about a third of an ounce - incredible!