Not so Fast: Good Does Triumph Over Evil!

James Haskell's voodoo doll of Tom Croft just couldn't cut it...much like whatever James Haskell does, because Tom Croft will not need surgery to repair his injured shoulder after all.

phew!

This of course means that Croft will mostly likely be healthy for the Six Nations, which will essentially be the practice run for the world cup, and if Haskell doesn't make an appearance there, well its kind of safe to say he'll have a special seat to warm in New Zealand!

Ahhh justice!

What's more, it seems that The Mouth has given up on the no. 6 Jersey:

"I'd like to have a shot one day at 7 for England, playing with Crofty and Nick Easter. But you've got Lewis Moody and now Hendre Fourie in the way so it's a real difficult thing to do."

Planet Rugby



Oh Hendre Fourie, that's a South African name if I've ever heard one. But I digress, its appears that Haskell is FINALLY getting wise to the fact that Tom Croft is #1 for number 6! But I don't know why he thinks he'll be able to take on Lewis Moody, is he serious right now?

Here's what he said about starting in the Samoa game:

"It was not about me trying to force my way back into a side because you don't want to do too much. I just wanted to put my credentials out there, have a solid game and make no mistakes, which is what I did. If I can involve myself on the bench next week that will be brilliant. These decisions are out of my hands so I can just keep doing what I'm doing."

Planet Rugby

...Tom Croft doesn't have these kinds conversations, just sayin'

His move to France barely made the impact he wanted it to.

BONUS


Ugo Monye feels the EXACT same way we do:

Sport.co.uk notice you’re one of an ever increasing number of sportsmen on Twitter – who do you enjoy following, and are there any players with whom you’re loving the banter?

Danny Care...I’m always having banter with him. Dave Strettle is another good one actually; he’s quite funny for a northern lad! James Haskell has always got something to say...when he’s not trying to promote himself.

AHAHAHAHAHA!

/Haterade

NOOOOOOOOOO

Tom Croft will be out for at least 4 weeks due to a shoulder injury, he received during England v South Africa game(which they lost)...

I think I've underestimated James Haskell.

Always a bridesmaid, never the bride

I just poured myself a nice glass of haterade. That's right, its a James Haskell post!

It has been announced that James Haskell and his mouth have been named in the Samoa game this coming Saturday, replacing Tom Croft.

No disrespect to Samoa but they're not what you would call a formidable force in the international rugby community. Martin Johnson would not pull this switch-a-roo if England were playing say, South Africa, just saying. I mean why would you swap a multi-dimensional player for one who thinks going to the gym and being the one with the biggest muscles, and having a twitter account is enough. Haskell is so basic, that even I'm bored with is game, several time zones away.

This is totally to give Croft a rest, and he knows it too.

I'm so embarrassed for him.

PS kind of sucks for England that their number 2 guy is that far behind their number one. *knocks on wood* I'm not going to say anything because I'm not about to tempt fate and have you blame it all on me :S

Dear James Haskell,

Tom Croft, the nearest thing English rugby has to a young Lawrence Dallaglio, is the quickest forward in the country, by a margin best described either as Usainist or Boltish.



The 24-year-old line-out specialist featured in all three of England's internationals last autumn, but then broke down with knee ligament problems – first in December, and again six weeks later. It cost him the remainder of his club's European campaign and the whole of the Six Nations, during which James Haskell and Joe Worsley occupied the blind-side berth. Had either man pieced together a really strong body of work, Croft might not have come marching straight back in for a demanding personal duel with the Wallaby captain Rocky Elsom today.

Love,

The Independent

OH SNAP! Looks like someone's plan backfired! Karma. The laws of the universe. Whatever you want to call it, it never fails! If only The Mouth would learn...

SCIENCE Never Fails Us

...more specifically physics and the laws of the universe, the most basic being: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This law can be applied to quantum physics and social situations alike, its just the way the universe works. You get what you give, etc. So what am I getting at here?

On speculating on who Martin Johnson will pick for his Australia/New Zealand tour Paul Ackford from the Telegraph gives his thoughts on the epic battle that is Croft v Haskell:

...but the return of a fit Tom Croft is trouble for James Haskell. Haskell's problem is that, though physically imposing, his rugby brain is that of the kindergarten variety and there is increasing annoyance that he is unable to back up impressive performances. This season, after a decent outing against Wales in England's opening Six Nations encounter, Haskell faded badly. The fact that Croft, like Haskell, provides line-out options does not help his cause either.

OH SNAP!

He pretty much called The Mouth stupid, which I cannot disagree. I wonder what kind of voodoo Haskell will conjure up this time eliminating Croft and guaranteeing his spot on the England squad? Going for the knee again will be too obvious; what would an Australipilicus primitive in social relationships, communication, tool making, and probably has never heard of fire, do? I'm thinking he'll slip something in Croft's drink, and then Crofty will fail the drug test and be suspended from rugby for who knows how long. OH NOES!!! Someone needs to warn him. I think it should be me! Who wants to sponsor me?????

PS Oh wow, why am I a science nerd?

PPS Tom Croft Interview, he's in a suit saying something about rugby...TOM CROFT IN A SUIT
Thanks Micah.

Time for Some Haterade

He's wearing khakis, not even my dad wears khakis...

Gosh I love that term. Haterade. Makes me sound so badass, when I'm really not. Oh, but let's not dwell on that. I've been in a grumpy mood as of late. For weeks I've been waking up early, going to bed late, cramming, crashing, stressing, all in the name of academia. Well I'm done (for now) I can breathe, I can sleep in until noon, I can have a social life again, I can work all weekend...WHAT? Oh yea, after all of my studying and essaying I got to work ALL weekend, wonderful, and as a result I'm super pissy and I need to take it out on someone, and is there anyone better to hate on than James Haskell and his mouth? I think not.

First off, how amazing was it that his coach not only left him out of his starting lineup but he didn't even want The Mouth on the bench during their Heineken Cup match...AHAHAHAHAHAHA *ahem* and they lost, karma its a beautiful thing.

Oh but that's not all. James Haskell is a self-important little sh-t and not only is he self-important, he's dumb as a door knob:

I do love it when people take my tweets and spend hours commenting and mocking me. While your doing that I'm actually living a life.
James' Twitter via scrum.com

First of all its you're as in you are, not your, you can't posses 'doing'.

Second of all no one spends hours mocking anyone, even in real life, no one has that kind of time. Has The Mouth's head grown so big, to think that the 'journalists hiding out among his followers' are actually sitting there for HOURS waiting on him to make another dull tweet?

Third of all, how many of us don't have a blackberry/iphone/laptop/mobile that can surf the internet where ever we go? I can totally @reply some dumb bitch *cough*Haskell*cough* while I'm waiting for my friend at starbucks. You could totally roll your eyes at another ~*James Haskell mirror twittpic*~ in between classes. I mean what century is he living in? Information, news, images are all instantaneous and accessible. Sorry you`re stuck in 1993 Haskell.

Fourthly, he makes it too easy for people to dislike him, he's just too dumb to realize it. If you're constantly mentioning the 'muppets' that are saying you're crap at rugby then its clearly, getting to you, Haskell just isn't a 'dirt off your shoulder' kind of guy, he's too conceited for that. Plus I'm fairly certain his only friend is Tom Rees. Poor Tom having to deal with that Australopithecus all by him lonesome, I don't envy him.

Apparently he was moaning because he didn't have a girlfriend...can't imagine why I mean he's such a catch with his Ed Hardy t-shirts, drooly mouth, unintelligent banter, narcissism, and frat boy mentality, just don't understand how the women in Paris aren't lining up for miles. Mind boggling.

PS I don't follow him, I used to because I thought maybe, just maybe my initial appraisal of The Mouth was wrong but no, my friends, I was 100% right. So I stopped because really, what's the point? Way to be f-cking cliche Haskell!

PPS Is athlete's twitter weekend apparently. Anybody follow anyone interesting? @shitmydadsays is pretty much all you ever need.

The Trip, Neathdertal Fist Pumps, and Wilko's Public Washroom Squat, Mark Cueto's a Babe

I'm a bit late on the train with this one but I had a busy weekend and then I had a busy week with school but all of that is over with and I can now devote my attention the the disappointing game that was England v Wales.

Mark Cueto's a babe by the way!

Did you guys watch the game? Weren't you expecting more? Just more all around? I was severely unsatisfied with the game that is until I went online and saw all the crap that was being spued about our very own Alun Wyn Jones.


I don't know how you all interpreted the trip but to me it didn't seem that big of a deal. Yes it was stupid, yes he shouldn't have done it, and yes it added extra pressure to his teammates to preform well (which they weren't doing before he was sent off) but was his mistake really the reason Wales lost?

Um NO, because last time I checked rugby was a team sport and if one player being sin binned completely demoralizes your game then you have greater problems than a lock's moment of stupidity.

I was a little bit shocked that many people and many media outlets were basically saying Alun Wyn Jones was the reason Wales lost. I'm guessing that was just their knee jerk reaction in light of the fact that Wales SHOULD HAVE won, England kind of played like crap and Wales should have been able to beat them one man down or not but the fact of the matter is, Wales did not preform well and while both teams were terrible, England was less terrible.

Steven James says it so much better than I can:

I actually think Gatland made too much of the sin-binning. It was important, of course it was. But just because Wales were down to fourteen men did they have to buckle so? The average number of points conceded during a 10-minute sin-binning is seven. So what happened here? 17 points. Wales were poor in that ten-minute period. And still they managed to get themselves back in the game. They still could, maybe should, have won. For England were awful. They were trying to run the clock down from about 25 minutes out, for goodness’ sake.

Let's be honest, if Wales had won this game AWJ's misstep wouldn't even be a blip on the radar but because they lost, he is the scape goat because during those ten minutes England scored 17 points and the team just couldn't recover...clearly this is a team issue.

Mark Cueto is still a babe!


Let's be nice to England before I get to, what you know I'm getting to. That interception by Delon Armitage was BEAUTIFUL! So sick, I finally got excited because the game was getting good...in the dying minutes of the game. And how amazing was Jonny Wilkinson, homeboy made every kick, that public washroom squat is magic, I tell ya! Mark Cueto is a babe, I don't understand how I only became aware of this on Saturday, damn son!

So the curious case of Tom Croft's knee is an on going investigation and Saturday gave us further proof that his injury was no mere accident. mhmm.

POP QUIZ

Q: What is Croft's usual position

A: No. 6 blindside flanker

Q: Now that Croft is injured who wore the No. 6 jersey on Saturday

A: James Haskell and his mouth

Mmmmm, curious, very curious. What's curious still is that The Mouth was able to score two tries and snag man of the match. This is all very convenient since we all know that if Tom were fit, The Mouth would not be invited to Martin Johnson's facebook event that is 'England's starting line up 2010' BUT since Tom is out The Mouth decides to make an impression. Did you see that Neanderthal fist pump thing he was doing after his first try? I mean...


The Mouth knows that he has to be better than good to keep his position on the squad, if he didn't play well Tom could waltz in with those pretty legs of his and take up the No. 6 position but now that The Mouth is making a case for himself, making himself indispensable, he knows Johnno would never pull someone that was 'hot' no coach in their right mind would, and he is using this to his advantage. If The Mouth continues to produce, its Tom Croft that will have to fight and win back his position.

DAMN HIM!

And you know Crofty has absolutely no clue, he's probably sitting there going 'Yey team! James is my friend! One time we were sharing a room and he used up all the hot water in the shower because he didn't want me to get tired and lethargic because he says that's what heat does, so he let me have ALL the cold water, what a gentleman'

*sigh* he doesn't have a chance does he?

You and your mouth better watch out Haskell! We're on to you! We have the internet and we know how to use it!

Did I mention Mark Cueto is a babe?




PS I kind of sort of was dozing off during the game, I had woken up at 5am to work an 8.5 hour shift at work which was INSANELY busy, so if I missed anything do let me know or comment whatever

Elementary, My dear Watson!

As you`ve probably heard approximately 3.275 seconds after our boyfriend Tom Croft hit the pitch on Saturday started his first game after coming back from injury, he injured the same knee that prevented him from playing for the last part of 2009.

He`ll be out for 5-6 weeks, missing the first part of the Six Nations tournament. No doubt a serious blow to the already lacklustre England squad.

While Martin Johnson is pigging out on Twinkies, Häagen Dazs, and crying himself to sleep James Haskell and his mouth are petting their Tom Croft voodoo doll placing a pin in its knee every hour on the hour.

Oh don`t you believe for one second that this injury is a mere accident, a freak occurrence, NO! Now that Croft is out of the picture guess who will surely be starting for England...THAT`S RIGHT, the mouth himself! Coincidence? I think not!

Its too convenient, too well timed! This stinks of a set up guys. I mean come on! The day Croft gets his first start from getting back from injury, he gets injured, AGAIN, and injured one week before playing Heineken Cup pool rivals The Ospreys... Too convenient too, convenient indeed!

I don`t know how he did it, I just know that he did do it! Of course I don`t have any real proof, but I know the truth! Did you hear that Haskell, I KNOW THE TRUTH!

Who am I going to obsessively blog about now...

Don`t answer that question!

Merry Christmas to All, and to All a Goodnight

So we have Riki Flutey, Tommy Bowe, Tom Croft and Alun Wyn Jones shirtless...

Carnie Kearney being pretty and shit

Why is Harry Ellis always around?

Alun is totally giving the score board dirties

Errrr...

I love this photo its so touristy, like "hey look we swam with sharks in a completely organic, non-staged, uncontrolled setting"

This one looks photo shopped, non? Like the background was added later

What a smile, so sweet and goofy.

First person I noticed was Tom Croft. The second was Alun Wyn Jones. The third Jamie Roberts but the thing is I think we're supposed to be paying attention to Mike Phillips. Oh well.

Balding...and then there's Adam Jones

Oh my! AWJ is looking fione! Oh and that's Dr. Jamie Roberts getting into the tank...yea I guess Andrew Sheridan's alright

Okay! So I did steal this from an Osprey's twitter but in my defence, Gareth Owen is a stud muffin, asking me not to post his picture is like locking me in a kitchen after I've been starved for a week and telling me I can't eat anything. Its just not going to happen!

Sure Ugo Monye and Gordan Darcy are alright but this photo is for the bromance going on in the top left corner

Heartbreak :(

This.Photo. Oh and Tom did the sweater around the waist again, ugh!

Kearney has the right idea BUT look who's creeping in the background, THAT HARRY ELLIS. Everywhere, why?

Hehe. Oh you know why I posted this picture!

The first thing I noticed about this photo is that Donnacha O'Callaghan is in his underwear and Tommy Bowe is attempting to molest him. The second thing I noticed that Donnacha O'Callaghan was in his underwear and Tommy Bowe is in his underwear attempting to molest him. Oh.

Alun is GQing the sh*t out of this photo. Werk it homeboy!

Treasure trail....

Alun knows what he's doing

Oh Jamie!

I personally feel a bit pervy for knowing the general shape of Luke Fitzgerald's wanger. Its his 15 year old face!

Love this photo

I guess no one told Paul O'Connell that he could rest the short shorts for this shoot

Oh Kearney. So pretty. So, so, pretty!

Kearney's face gets me everytime. Jamie is more concerned with his dental hygiene it seems.

The results of Jamie's dental Hygiene. And how adorable is Ross Ford?

Tom and a lioness. Apparently they 'formed a bond'. No Tom, pretty sure she wanted to feast on your delicious thighs, well you know what get in line Nahla! ...too much? Sorry.

Tom those sunglasses need to go!

Whoa, whoa, whoa, Nahla's really going for it. That bitch!

This lioness is good, guys!

HARRY ELLIS WE MEET AGAIN!

Alun totally looks like a dinosaur...like a T-Rex! Whatever, you can totally see it too, you're just denying it!

DAMN, Tom is hella fine, what I wouldn't give to be Luke Fitzgerald in this photo. He's bending OVER him *thud*. OH and what do we have here, my nemesis, HARRY ELLIS!

Jordan Crane: I've just been going through so much stuff
Tom Croft: Stuff, huh?
Jordan: Like it took me like a week to decide which shade of blonde I should highlight my hair with. I just couldn't decide. It was so hard. Do I go with golden sunshine or a ray of sunshine. I mean this is a big deal you know
Tom: Life is hard, it seems.

BUSTED! Ok yea I stole this photo from The Mouth's twitter, who actually doesn't look that bad in this photo. HOWEVER the face Tom is making in this picture kills me. How good does he look in a tux?

WHAT IS GOING ON HERE THOMAS?

Rob Kearney has the right idea

Dominic Waldouck, because I've been neglecting our relationship

How could I ever forget how hot this boy is?

Somebody got new thighs

Oh...Yes.Please.

There's nothing to say but nom nom nom

This photo is heartbreaking

Ummm share the joke boys. Sharing is caring.

This is for Tommy Bowe's perfectly sculpted thigh. I've said it before and I'll say it again. T-Bowe's muscle definition is out of this world!

The first thing I noticed about this picture is that T-Bowe is wearing hideous jeans. The second thing I noticed was his bulge in his hideous jeans

And that's all girls and boys! Hope you enjoyed this mega picture post. Have a wonderful holiday and eat as much as you want, don't worry about getting fat because that can be dealt with in your New Years Resolutions! Don't drink and drive, help your mum with the dishes and even if you didn't get that xbox, please remember that what you have sitting around your table is what is truly valuable, and remember how lucky you are to have all that you do. Merry Christmas!

Nicole
xo