Wales – Page 12 – Slugger O'Toole

RWC – The teams for Saturday:

Dewi on October 6, 2011, 11:34 am

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Wales 15 Leigh Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues) 14 George North (Scarlets) 13 Jonathan Davies (Scarlets) 12 Jamie Roberts (Cardiff Blues) 11 Shane Williams (Ospreys) 10 Rhys Priestland (Scarlets) 9 Mike Phillips (Bayonne) 6 Dan Lydiate (Dragons) 8 Toby Faletau (Dragons) 7 Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues, capt) 5 Luke Charteris (Dragons) 4 Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), 1 Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues) 2 Huw Bennett (Ospreys) 3 Adam Jones (Ospreys) Replacements: Lloyd Burns (Dragons), Paul James (Ospreys), Bradley Davies (Cardiff Blues), Ryan Jones (Ospreys), Lloyd Williams (Cardiff Blues), James Hook (Perpignan), Scott …

RWC – now it get’s a little bit exciting….

Dewi on October 3, 2011, 9:14 pm

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First on Carter: Eddie Butler in the Guardian: For all the encouraging noises that the wounded player and the team that he leaves behind were obliged to make, there was no hiding a sense of foreboding at his farewell session. All those present knew what three sets of World Cup opponents know, that the All Blacks without Carter are not the same. When he went down, New Zealand went down and not many on this bleak day felt like bouncing …

RWC – Final Group Games…

Dewi on September 30, 2011, 12:54 pm

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Ok – let’s eliminate absurdites and look at the more realistic scenarios for the Six Nation Teams: 1. In Pool D – Barring losing to Fiji by 62 39 points or more Wales are through the Group of Death in second behind South Africa. 2. In Pool B – Scotland need to beat England by 8 points and restrict England to less than 4 tries to get through in second. If they do Argentina win the group, providing they secure …

Friday morning, 9 o’clock- just a bit too early for N.Ireland’s MPs…

oneill on September 12, 2011, 2:47 pm

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I’ve written before about Harriett Baldwin’s Legislation (Territorial Extent) Bill and in particular Ian Paisley Jr’s opposition to its provisions, here. Amongst other things, the Bill relates to “the ‘West Lothian Question’, whereby Members representing constituencies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland may vote on legislation that applies only to England. If this were addressed by having a special way of voting on ‘England only’ legislation, then this Bill would provide a means of identifying some of those Bills”. As …

UK Universities moving into unpredictable waters…

Mick Fealty on September 9, 2011, 9:49 am

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As an addendum to the local decision to peg tuition fees at the current level. Here’s a good video piece from the Daily Telegraph on the UK Government’s still rather nebulous proposal to rank Universities… The White Paper they are discussing was published earlier in the summer… It also contains an incentive measure to encourage universities to drop their fees from £9k to less than £7,500; ie they can bid for some of 20,000 extra under graduate places. Of course, …

NI University tuition fees to be kept at current levels, “subject only to an inflationary rise”

Pete Baker on September 8, 2011, 7:18 pm

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As the BBC reports, Northern Ireland Employment and Learning Minister, Stephen Farry, has confirmed that the bread promised by the First and deputy First Ministers in July, will be on the menu. But we’ll have to wait until Monday to see the details – the NI Assembly being the appropriate place to make such an announcement. [But we need headlines now! – Ed] Indeed. Those details would include whether or not the proposals include students from England, Scotland and Wales. Because there …

Rugby World Cup: Wales could be in with a shout, but Ireland must dream…

Dewi on September 5, 2011, 1:58 pm

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Mick has sent me to New Zealand for the RWC (in my sweet and wonderful dreams…). Anyway a wonderful opinion piece in the New Zealand Herald (required reading for the next month or so): “While we are on the topic of RWC lunacy, how did Quade Cooper escape with no punishment after the obviously deliberate kneeing of McCaw last week? At the risk of sounding an All Black paranoid, if it had been McCaw’s knee on Cooper, the world would …

Tories struggle to maintain a political ecosphere beyond England…

Mick Fealty on September 5, 2011, 9:57 am

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The latest developments don’t mean the end of Conservatism in Scotland. But it is indicative of 1) the kind of fuzzy thinking that at times pervades some very well intentioned innovations within the Cameron kitchen cabinet; and 2) the dearth of committed Scots within the modern Conservative party. And it comes within a year of the failure of the UCU-NF project. I’m told over and over that David Cameron is committed to the Union, and to outreach to the outer …

Current World Athletic Championship Gold Medal Table

Dewi on September 1, 2011, 3:57 pm

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USA 7 Russia 4 Kenya 4 Wales 1 Germany 1 Jamiaca 1 China 1 Ethiopia 1 Botswana 1 Brazil 1 Grenada 1 Japan 1 New Zealand 1 Poland 1 Ukraine 1 England 0 Scotland 0 Ireland (South) 0 Ireland (North) 0 Ireland Combined 0 Just thought it worth a mention…. DewiWelsh Nationalist. Rugby Fan. Know a bit about History and Railways…

Slugger’s guide to A level results day and the best degrees still available through Clearing

Siobhan Fenton on August 18, 2011, 6:17 pm

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Welcome to Slugger’s guide to the best degrees in the UK still available through the Clearing system. All of which start in Autumn of this year. We’ve tried to tailor the following list to the topics most discussed on here- politics, law, journalism, economics, and philosophy. If there are any others you’d like us to keep an eye on for you feel; free to comment below or email me at [email protected] In a day dominated by emotions and photos of …

A fundie holiday

Turgon on August 2, 2011, 11:18 pm

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I saw a few people had noted my absence from blogging: I thought I owed the massed ranks of sluggerites who actually have no real interest an explanation. I was on holiday: after the twelfth of course. We went to Ballyronan for the 12th itself and as ever had a good time. Most of our band members went down to the lough shore and as such we missed the speeches and even worse Dr. McCrea’s gospel meeting: I just about …

A religious view of tablets (the computing kind)

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on July 18, 2011, 8:26 pm

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destroy all onions banner

Other than space, we don’t get a lot of technology on Slugger. Time to redress that balance. A local blogger who found himself at the top of a viewing tower in Tokyo when the earthquake hit turned his attention to tablet computers in a recent post on Destroy All Onions. Umberto Eco famously wrote that fountain pens were protestant, and ballpoints were catholic, because of the universality of ballpoints versus the maintenance and finickiness of fountain pens. That got extended …

Reminder: BBC Trust consultations into BBC News Channel, BBC Parliament and 5 Live/Sports Extra end soon

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on July 10, 2011, 5:53 pm

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Quick reminder that the BBC Trust’s public consultations about BBC News Channel, BBC Parliament, Radio 5 Live and 5 Live Sports Extra finish in the next few days. BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Live Sports Extra – online survey (closes Wed 13 July) BBC News Channel and BBC Parliament – online survey (closes Tue 19 July) Each service provided by the BBC is reviewed at least once every five years. The online surveys will pick up your views on …

Wales 2011 – One in Four in Poverty…and it’s getting worse.

Dewi on July 7, 2011, 8:42 am

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Quoting the Rowntree Foundation Press Release below: New Joseph Rowntree Foundation research released today shows that meeting the Welsh Government’s target of eradicating child poverty by 2020 will mean the rate has to fall four times more quickly over the next ten years than it did over the last decade. The latest figures also show almost one in four people in Wales across all age groups – 680,000 – are in poverty. The research, carried out by Anushree Parekh and …

Liz does in for Ieuan Wyn ?

Dewi on June 11, 2011, 9:39 am

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Cynog thinks it’s time for Ieuan Wyn Jones to step down as Plaid Cymru leader (from Wales Online): Former Plaid MP and AM Cynog Dafis said he could see a “compelling” case for Mr Jones to go so that the party can secure a power-sharing deal with Labour. And there are others within the nationalist community who want Mr Jones to relinquish his position as leader so the party can move on. The Plaid leader came under fire this week …

Devolution – the Respect Agenda

Dewi on June 1, 2011, 2:53 am

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The Devolved leaders’ statements from Scotland Alex Salmond, Carwyn Jones, Peter Robinson and Martin McGuiness set their stall for next week’s Joint Ministerial Committee meeting. There’s a bit of tension between Salmond and Jones on the next steps. To use one of those terrible business phrases it’s important to be on the same page….maybe I’m reading too much into it but unlike the FM and dFM Jones didn’t thank Salmond for his hospitality. Anyway – again from the BBC here’s …

Welsh Soccer the new Rugby…

Dewi on May 30, 2011, 5:31 pm

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Swansea City make the Premiership. With help from an Ulster manager..Brendan Rogers. Can they stay there? DewiWelsh Nationalist. Rugby Fan. Know a bit about History and Railways…

BBC Trust is looking for your views on BBC News Channel, BBC Parliament and 5 Live/Sports Extra

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on May 28, 2011, 6:59 pm

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Slugger readers will be delighted to know that the BBC Trust is currently reviewing the service licences for BBC News Channel, BBC Parliament, Radio 5 Live and 5 Live Sports Extra. Each service provided by the BBC is reviewed at least once every five years. You have until mid-July to provide your feedback. BBC News Channel and BBC Parliament – online survey BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Live Sports Extra – online survey The online surveys will pick up …

Good grief – Wales win a Soccer match..

Dewi on May 28, 2011, 5:37 am

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2 – 0. Not a classic, and a crowd of 529 people, but from a Welsh viewpoint every minute that Aaron Ramsey plays as captain is good. Any positives for you? DewiWelsh Nationalist. Rugby Fan. Know a bit about History and Railways…

Adam ain’t lost it….at least you left “us” Canada…

Dewi on May 27, 2011, 5:04 am

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Once again Thanks to Syniadau. – I’m becoming a bit of a conduit…. That’s a great video of Adam Price giving the Harvard graduate oration. It’s only 7 minutes odd long – well worth a watch. DewiWelsh Nationalist. Rugby Fan. Know a bit about History and Railways…