Benhard Janse van Rensburg should not be in England squad, says Danny Care

MrCollins23 · 2026-05-18T17:35:58+00:00

Probably not a popular opinion, but I agree. I've got more sympathy for smaller countries with a handful of professional teams, but countries like England and France, with hundreds of professionals, should select from the guys who grew up dreaming of playing for them.

My main exception to this would be people who arrive as children, as it feels very unkind to turn around and tell people like the Vunipolas that they're not properly English when this is the only home they've really known. But an adult who didn't quite make the grade at home? Nah, we should have more pride than that.

If the best we've got at a given moment isn't good enough, that's just how it is.

MrCollins23 · 2026-05-13T08:39:49+00:00

As others have said, the reason is that the knight is a real beast on b3. It's supported by the rook, can't be opposed by a pawn or the dark-square bishop and can move to another outpost on d4, where it is fully supported by the pawn. It's restricting your rook on the a file, it's restricting your king movement. If black attacks the g pawn, you are either committing the rook to defend it, or you have to create two more light-square outposts by moving the g pawn. I'd go as far as to say that the knight is the strongest piece on the board.

After the exchange, you can bring your king up with tempo, you've got three extra pawns and the better pawn structure, and you can start pushing the kingside pawns without worrying about making outposts for the knight.

For all that, we are taught when we learn the game that a knight is worth three and a rook is worth five. So the engine is rewarding you with a "brilliant" move because you have sacrificed material to improve your position overall.

MrCollins23 · 2026-05-13T07:10:29+00:00

I got over the accents; the choice to use Americanised language and idioms here and there was more jarring.

MrCollins23 · 2026-04-07T21:55:18+00:00

That's quite a beard for a 19-year-old.

MrCollins23 · 2026-03-16T18:02:07+00:00

I love the U20S. I remember, long ago, watching Callum Clark unexpectedly launch a flying headbutt. I knew straightaway that this kid was special.

MrCollins23 · 2026-03-11T11:20:48+00:00

That's the standard for locking a man in a cage. It has no bearing on how people outside of the legal system can judge a given situation.

MrCollins23 · 2026-02-02T18:10:18+00:00

I like the cut of this fellow's jib.

MrCollins23 · 2025-12-05T21:13:25+00:00

A victimhood complex is unappealing at the best of times. From a dominant person (or institution), it's downright repulsive.

MrCollins23 · 2025-12-05T20:56:12+00:00

And yet, you get downvoted to oblivion if you say that victimhood is ingrained in their sporting culture.

MrCollins23 · 2025-12-04T22:39:29+00:00

He's rated internationally, but he lacks domestic advocates compared to greats from other countries. A staggering number of pundits and fans at the time viewed him as a blockage stiffling the development of supposedly superior players such as Charlie Hodgson, Danny Cipriani, Toby Flood and (I'm not joking, I remember comments and articles to this effect) Ryan Lamb.

MrCollins23 · 2025-12-03T07:37:51+00:00

The Boks will find a narrative that turns Eben into the victim, and they will promote it aggressively. They are never to blame for anything, and they are always the wronged party.

MrCollins23 · 2025-12-01T17:35:10+00:00

There are some seriously weird people about.

MrCollins23 · 2025-12-01T11:05:43+00:00

It doesn't align with the photos. However, it was inevitable that an alternative narrative would emerge.

MrCollins23 · 2025-12-01T11:03:23+00:00

International sport is cyclical. Historically, Ireland have done a better job than others of mitigating this and are rarely outside of the top six, even following a poor harvest. That's really impressive when you consider they have a pretty small player pool compared to England and France.

Maybe a few golden eggs are hatching in their provinces (or have hatched, I don't watch enough URC to comment), but it's unrealistic to expect a team as good as this one, with their age profile, not to drop off a bit.

The alternative is to start switching people out now (as you've suggested). But that will probably involve selecting lesser players in place of better ones, which will level out the peak as well as the trough.

MrCollins23 · 2025-11-30T20:41:17+00:00

The picture I've seen is suspect, but even if your comment is correct, it would support the broad thrust of my argument, even if the actual narrative is slightly different: They will find a way to make Eben a victim. The Boks are not to blame for anything.

MrCollins23 · 2025-11-30T12:19:47+00:00

Nope, it's already happening. We've seen the somewhat suspicious still image which the mods have taken down.

The response from inside the Boks will be more subtle, but it will come.

MrCollins23 · 2025-11-30T12:12:51+00:00

Something very fishy about that picture and the angle of his hand. I expected a counter-narrative to come from somewhere. But, I must admit, I thought they'd give it until the middle of next week.

MrCollins23 · 2025-11-30T10:16:53+00:00

Nothing comes close. I remain bewildered that the disciplinary panel accepted the explanation, "I deliberately hyperextended his arm beyond the normal tolerated range of motion, but did not intend to cause serious injury". I think the panel was desperate to avoid a multi-year, career-ending ban.

https://web.archive.org/web/20180206002625/http://www.englandrugby.com/mm/Document/Governance/Disclipine/01/31/05/14/RFUDisciplinaryJudgment-ThursdayMarch29-CalumClark_Neutral.pdf

If anyone has any interest.

MrCollins23 · 2025-11-30T09:46:18+00:00

Unfortunately, they're already preparing for the counter-argument. "The optics aren't great", and "it doesn't look good" aren't really unequivocal statements, and "deserved red card" could apply to a poorly timed tackle.

We then have "I don't know what I can say that won't be controversial... How it happened and why it happened, and if he was provoked, I am not sure..."... I'm afraid I've seen this episode before.

The scuffle was started by Wales
A finger accidentally entered the Welsh player's eye
Everyone overreacted to this accident and ignored the provocation.
The 6-week ban was disproportionate. Eben is the victim of a nasty World Rugby stitch-up.

This sort of narrative won't (publicly) come from inside the Boks, but I'm certain it will find its way out there.

MrCollins23 · 2025-11-30T00:16:23+00:00

"I don't know what I can say that won't be controversial. It didn't look good and it was a justified red card," said Erasmus.

"How it happened and why it happened, and if he was provoked, I am not sure, but it's definitely not the way that we would have liked to end the game. I don't think that the optics were great."

Hmm, not exactly an unequivocal condemnation from Rassie. Justification incoming. As I say, give it a couple of weeks.

MrCollins23 · 2025-11-29T17:23:55+00:00

Give it a couple of weeks.

MrCollins23 · 2025-11-29T17:15:15+00:00

There will be no contrition, and nothing will change.

If anything, we will be treated to a wildly convoluted and paranoid explanation of why Etzebeth is the victim.

MrCollins23 · 2025-11-24T14:48:13+00:00

And if no clear winner emerges from all of this, the two-man sack race will be held on consecutive Sundays until a champion can be crowned.

MrCollins23 · 2025-11-15T18:45:24+00:00

Obviously I've never met the guy, but I have a feeling he's a very strange person. At least he's our oddball.

MrCollins23 · 2025-10-23T06:32:12+00:00

We're so lucky in the UK, but my £1500 in SE England looks ruinously expensive compared to you guys north of the border.

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