JB

Burgess played well. Barritt, on the other hand, was utter gash. Not an international 13. Not sure how he made the squad given how well others performed in his absence.

I've been incorporating a lot of "dead stops" and holds into my back training for the last few months and seeing really good results. Try this superset and see how you get on: Set a bench to a low incline and lie face down. A. Dead-stop DB or EZ bar low-incline rows x 12-15 (if you have short arms use some weight plates on the floor to help you set the weights down) Slow the tempo down to make it even better. B. Plate hold x 20-30 seconds (pull a weight plate against the bottom of the bench as hard as you can while squeezing the shoulder blades together) 3-4 sets Dead-stops involve setting the weight back and lifting it from the floor on each rep (with a slight pause inbetween). This takes the stretch reflex out of the movement and increases the challenge/increases muscle fibre recruitment. Isometric holds are a great way of increasing time under tension and getting some more volume in. As ever with back training, focus on retracting the shoulder blades and leading with the elbow.

Done properly, I think they're awesome and one of my favourite back exercises. Can lift heavy and with high volume. A lot of people do them with shocking form, though. Need a straight upper back, then nice stretch at the bottom of the movement and scapular retraction and a squeeze at the top. Do you do them on a bench? I much prefer them with my non-working hand resting on a stable object. Helps you go a bit deeper at the bottom. Personally, I hate barbell rows. Can't get anywhere as much of a stretch or lift as heavy.

It's a little bit depressing... Despite the inexperience I would be a lot more excited if Slade was at 13. Hoping Lancaster et al know what they're doing...

My gym is full of the beardy rocket polisher types. They seem to think having a big beard and shit tattoos automatically makes them hardcore...

Someone having a different opinion to you is not "odd". Saying that is the odd thing IMO. I may have got a bit excited in describing him as "awesome" but I'm certainly not alone in thinking that he had a big impact when he came on. I'm probably slightly biased as I've been a big fan of his for years. Used to watch him regularly when I lived in Australia. He's being massively underestimated and written off as one-dimensional by a lot of people but he has a lot more to his game than he's being given credit for. That said, I'd be far more excited if he didn't have Barritt playing outside him...

horrid angles when players don't run straight at him. will be an open gate at 12 if Dan Biggar/Jamie Roberts are Wales' 10/12 set - look at how easily Nadolo beat him - everyone elses shoulders are parallel - his are at 45 degrees. See this a lot with converts from league - to call him awesome is a bit odd, 4 knock-ons in 20 minutes is an improvement on the 8 in 29 he put against Ireland a few weeks ago.... Well I guess I'm "odd" then. I hate that description of other people's opinions. But then you do sound like an expert who clearly knows better than everyone else... Are you Welsh by any chance?

Everything Grealish does oozes class.

Just wasted 20-odd minutes of my life watching the first episode of The League on Netflix. Hated every second of it. It was just a bunch of unfunny, annoying words removed being really annoying and painfully unfunny. Nearly had to turn it off before the end. It's rated pretty highly though, so the question is - does it get better? It would have to improve massively for me to consider watching it again.

Burgess awesome when he came on. Made a massive difference. He's being massively underrated by a lot of people.

Although you live there so will know better than me, I've never found it to be like that whenever I've been out there after a game. Obviously one or two clearings in the woods around but that's to be expected almost literally anywhere. It's a good atmosphere IMO. I don't want to start a whole rugby vs football thing but I'd much rather be in a pub with rugby fans than the a crowd of "average" football fans. Apart from in Wales.... It was quite surreal at the 7s when all the pubs suddenly started closing at 8. Trains weren't running either so taxis were all taken. Ended up having to walk to Richmond!

Do you know what's happening with the Twickers pubs on match days? I was at the 7s in May and they all shut at about 8pm! Heard something similar happened at the warm up games. My mate lives just down the road in Teddington and reckons it's something to do with the council and noise restrictions but doesn't know if they're going to lighten up a bit during the WC.

Ah yes, good point!

Got screwed on the tickets. Although my mate has literally just offered me a spare to the Fiji game on Saturday but I can't make it now! Gutted. Can't wait for it to get started. It's going to be a cracking few weeks. Already got an all dayer in London planned for the Wales game...

Excuse me for the lag but just to back up veloman.This anti-cyclist stuff has gotten way out of hand. It's becoming dangerous on the road because of the dehumanisation of cyclists into an object. Do you dislike swimmers for wearing speedos and being FKWs? Or should they wear normal clothes just so they look like they aren't taking themselves too seriously? Cycling gear has to fit closely and be comfortable so it has to be lycra. Otherwise material is flapping about causing issues, slowing you down, getting in the way, in the same way wearing a duffel coat would wearing it in the pool. I don't wear my cycling gear except for when I'm cycling, and when I'm riding I'm mostly training so I need to wear the clothing which the sport requires, in the same way as playing football needs you to wear football boots. Woah, chill! Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this a thread for the little every day things that slightly annoy us? BUT SHOULDN'T? I find FKW cyclists mildly irritating but only at about a 2 on the annoyance scale of 1-10. You didn't read my post properly (I hate it when people say that. But you didn't) and have got disproportionately defensive. I thought it would have been reasonable for it to be assumed that people who actually cycle for a team don't piss me off. I only took issue (and again, I stress in a very, very minor fashion) with the amateurs who dress up in full Team Sky etc. regalia. It's the equivalent of a grown man playing 5-a-side in a full Man Utd kit. But in a similar way, it doesn't really bother me that much. I might think that they're a bit of a tool but that's about it. Of course I have no issue with people wearing Lycra for cycling. I didn't say that and inferring that would be silly. Your swimwear analogy doesn't work. I also didn't go on an anti-cyclist rant and I certainly didn't "de-humanise" them. Dare I say it, your ultra-defensive attitude seems somewhat typical of the militant minority of cyclists who ride through red lights, over pedestrian crossings, undertake, fail to give way to ambulances, ride on dual carriageways etc. etc. and it's still always someone else's fault. FWIW, I'm pro-cycling. I'm just not pro-people-being-dicks (I'm not talking about FKWs here, although there is invariably an overlap), whether they be riding a bike or driving a car. I know that cyclists put up with shit from some absolute words removed. Don't take your frustrations with them out on me. Sorry for the rant but it's kind of fitting; your post has pissed me off. And it probably shouldn't have. P.S. Yes, I recognise the irony of me telling you to "chill" at the start of this post . Wowzers, perhaps I should have put some smileys or something in there. In no way was I having a go at you, I was just on my soapbox because the topic of cycling had come up. I still can't see anything particularly offensive in there still, but anyway. There's nothing to piss you off here, so congratulations, you have succeeded in the thread by finding something that pisses you off that shouldn't have. :-) Yep. And I believe that's exactly what I said at the end of my post. Apologies if I misread the tone of yours.

This has been blown slightly out of proportion! You don't need to justify your decision to wear lycra, particularly if you ride for a team. I totally understand the benefits and even the FKW stuff falls into the category of something that SHOULDN'T piss me off .

Excuse me for the lag but just to back up veloman. This anti-cyclist stuff has gotten way out of hand. It's becoming dangerous on the road because of the dehumanisation of cyclists into an object. Do you dislike swimmers for wearing speedos and being FKWs? Or should they wear normal clothes just so they look like they aren't taking themselves too seriously? Cycling gear has to fit closely and be comfortable so it has to be lycra. Otherwise material is flapping about causing issues, slowing you down, getting in the way, in the same way wearing a duffel coat would wearing it in the pool. I don't wear my cycling gear except for when I'm cycling, and when I'm riding I'm mostly training so I need to wear the clothing which the sport requires, in the same way as playing football needs you to wear football boots. Woah, chill! Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this a thread for the little every day things that slightly annoy us? BUT SHOULDN'T? I find FKW cyclists mildly irritating but only at about a 2 on the annoyance scale of 1-10. You didn't read my post properly (I hate it when people say that. But you didn't) and have got disproportionately defensive. I thought it would have been reasonable for it to be assumed that people who actually cycle for a team don't piss me off. I only took issue (and again, I stress in a very, very minor fashion) with the amateurs who dress up in full Team Sky etc. regalia. It's the equivalent of a grown man playing 5-a-side in a full Man Utd kit. But in a similar way, it doesn't really bother me that much. I might think that they're a bit of a tool but that's about it. Of course I have no issue with people wearing Lycra for cycling. I didn't say that and inferring that would be silly. Your swimwear analogy doesn't work. I also didn't go on an anti-cyclist rant and I certainly didn't "de-humanise" them. Dare I say it, your ultra-defensive attitude seems somewhat typical of the militant minority of cyclists who ride through red lights, over pedestrian crossings, undertake, fail to give way to ambulances, ride on dual carriageways etc. etc. and it's still always someone else's fault. FWIW, I'm pro-cycling. I'm just not pro-people-being-dicks (I'm not talking about FKWs here, although there is invariably an overlap), whether they be riding a bike or driving a car. I know that cyclists put up with shit from some absolute words removed. Don't take your frustrations with them out on me. Sorry for the rant but it's kind of fitting; your post has pissed me off. And it probably shouldn't have. P.S. Yes, I recognise the irony of me telling you to "chill" at the start of this post :).

Why am I surprised? This sort of thing has happened countless times in my time supporting Villa. However, this was a new low. Only Villa could turn such a positive first half and a 2-0 lead through two such wonderful goals and into such a pathetic, gutless loss. Supporting this team is like being relentlessly kicked in the balls. Sometimes, they just like to build you up higher, and get you more excited so that it hurts a bit more.

I wouldn't "like" them to wear anything in particular (ooh-er!) but as I said, it just strikes me as grown men taking themselves far, far, far too seriously. Do you not find grown men in full football team kit a little bit pathetic? Are you familiar with the term "full kit rocket polisher"?This is the same thing IMO. Sorry if this particular thing-that-pisses-me-off-that-shouldn't has upset you.

Is this guy actually a footballer? He doesn't seem like he can actually do anything...

Full kit rocket polisher cyclists are a massive peeve of mine... Why is that? Because they look like knobs in the same way a grown man in a full football kit would. Taking yourself super seriously in full lycras is one thing but a lot cyclists seem to want to dress up like Bradley Wiggins in the full Team Sky (or whoever) kit, covered in sponsors. EDIT: quotes are ****. Replying to Veloman's post. Actually, scratch that. Just Tapatalk being crap.

Can't seem to avoid them, regardless of when I go, unfortunately. Too many Instagram rocket polishers in there as well. As if just making it to the gym and knowing what a dead lift is is some kind of achievement. Stop taking photos and lift some **** weights!

Full kit rocket polisher cyclists are a massive peeve of mine...

Definitely not. Hogging all the machines for group training is just not on. If you're going to use more than one piece of equipment at a time, you have to be prepared to let someone work in with you. One of the cable machines is broken in my gym at the moment and we have a disproportionate amount of guys in there who seem to base their entire routines around using the other three. Funny how it looks like they all need to spend some time getting stronger before there spend an hour training arms... Everyone was a beginner once but these guys seem to think they're the absolute nuts, dressed in the their stringy bodybuilder vests... It's an incredible gym equipment-wise but sometimes going into that place makes me hate the world haha.

words removed. I find the people that take the piss the most with the giant-setting are the ones who seem to know the least about training.