General Chat

I have put the date and time on the calendar, now I must practice the Welsh National Anthem and also the pom pom/shakes and twirls, I will try to do both at the same time!

Radio Jem
I see that your favourite Leigh Halfpenny is back in the team, that will please you.

Stuart Lancaster has made up his mind!

HERE IS THE ENGLAND RUGBY WORLD CUP SQUAD 2015

Props
Kieran Brookes (Northampton Saints, 10 caps)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 51 caps)
Joe Marler (Harlequins, 32 caps)
Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 22 caps)
David Wilson (Bath Rugby, 43 caps)

Hookers
Jamie George (Saracens, 1 cap)
Rob Webber (Bath Rugby, 13 caps)
Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 23 caps)

Second rows
George Kruis (Saracens, 8 caps)
Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 23 caps)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 39 caps)
Geoff Parling (Exeter Chiefs, 24 caps)

Back rows
James Haskell (Wasps, 60 caps)
Ben Morgan (Gloucester Rugby, 28 caps)
Chris Robshaw (captain, Harlequins, 38 caps)
Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 18 caps)
Tom Wood (Northampton Saints, 37 caps)

Scrum halves
Danny Care (Harlequins, 52 caps)
Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens, 22 caps)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 48 caps)

Fly halves
Owen Farrell (Saracens, 30 caps)
George Ford (Bath Rugby, 12 caps)

Centres
Brad Barritt (Saracens, 22 caps)
Sam Burgess (Bath Rugby, 1 cap)
Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 12 caps)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 1 cap)

Back three
Mike Brown (Harlequins, 38 caps)
Alex Goode (Saracens, 18 caps)
Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 15 caps)
Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 9 caps)
Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, 10 caps)

WALES TEAM TO FACE IRELAND!

Warren Gatland has announced his team to face Ireland in Wales' return World Cup Warm-Up Match on Saturday.

HERE THEY ARE WALES FANS!

Backs:
15. LEIGH HALFPENNY! ....YEY<3
14. Alex Cuthbert
13.Scott Williams
12. Jamie Roberts
11. George North
10. Dan Biggar
9. Rhys Webb

Forwards:
1. Gethin Jenkins
2. Ken Owens
3. Tomas Francis
4. Bradley Davies
5. Alun Wyn Jones ( Captain)
6. Dan Lydiate
7. Justin Tipuric
8. Taulupe Faletau

Replacements:
16. Scott Baldwin
17. Paul James
18. Aaron Jarvis
19. Luke Charteris
20. James King
21. Gareth Davies
22. Rhys Priestland
23. Hallam Amos


YES IT'S THE A TEAM!

All our favourites are back!


SCOTT WILLIAMS takes over the number 13 position from JONATHAN DAVIES.
Poor Jonathan will not be able to take part in the 2015 Rugby World Cup due to a badly injured knee. :-(
Although Scott is a great player!


LIAM WILLIAMS has not had a place this time!
Liam has been struggling with injury :-(
I'm hoping that he will be fit for The World Cup Squad selection!


AND WELCOME BACK TO BOTH LEIGH HALFPENNY & GEORGE NORTH!:-) :-)
Both have been out of action having received head injuries in past games.



IRELAND v WALES ...... Kick-Off 2.30pm
Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland.

LIVE ON SKY SPORTS 1 ....

...... and RADIO JEM ;-) :-D :-D

IN THE LIMELIGHT ............

...............LEIGH HALFPENNY

Radio Jem’s “In The Limelight” features one of “Jem’s Gems” ~ Leigh Halfpenny<3


Wales fans looked on in horror when Leigh Halfpenny, Wales Full-Back and Kicker, sustained an horrific injury, during this year’s Six Nations Championship.

It was during the match that saw Wales beat Italy 61 points to 20 (March 21st 2015), that Leigh had to be assisted off the field, following a collision with Italy’s Samuela Vunisa. Leigh fearlessly tackled the Italian Flanker as he tore into the Wales Half, but his head collided with Vunisa’s knee and he was out for the count!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7X4LTBHEQ4

Leigh was discovered to have concussion, and his 2015 Six Nations Championship was over.


BUT HE’S BACK!
And fit for selection for Warren Gatland’s World Cup Squad.

Talking to Former Wales International Jonathan Davies on “Sport Wales” last weekend, he was asked about his fitness following that injury. Leigh said “I’m good! My head’s fine now.”


TRAINING
Leigh told Jonathan that he’d been working very hard in the training camps. The Wales Rugby Training Squad had been away at two training camps in July. The first camp was in Switzerland, and the second in Qatar.

Leigh said that the Switzerland Camp was heavily CONDITION based around fitness and gym work, with the rugby ball being brought in later for skills and hand/eye co-ordination.
Qatar, said Leigh, was also heavily condition based, but with a bit more rugby brought in there. Since returning from Qatar, the squad have been doing a lot more rugby training, including working on “structure” and on the “game plan”.


REACTION
Talking about the excitement of the World Cup and people’s reactions Leigh said...
“In Wales, people are coming up and saying “Good Luck in the World Cup” and “Wishing you all the best!”. You can really feel it now...The buzz is building and it’s hugely exciting”


CHALLENGE
Leigh talked about the World Cup being a HUGE CHALLENGE. The warm-up matches give Wales “opportunities to try things and learn, to build confidence and momentum..... preparation now is what it’s all about... giving ourselves the best chance of qualifying out of that group. We know we have to be our best in every game!”


NERVES
Leigh suffers from terrible pre-match nerves, even though he looks as cool as a cucumber on the pitch!

The nerves start to build days before a match, Leigh explained.
On the morning of the game, the build-up intensifies and Leigh gets “Excited to get on the pitch and to put that WELSH JERSEY on, but as well, you’ve got the butterflies going in the stomach!” he said.


KICKING
“Historically, a lot comes down to Goal Kicks and Penalty Kicks” Jonathan declared, “You could be the one standing there, knocking that winning kick over!” To which Leigh replied “That’d be a privilege! It’s why you practice- for moments like that!”

Jonathan asked Leigh which he prefers when he’s preparing to kick - eerie silence or the booing of the crowds?

To which Leigh replied.. ..“For me, I try to picture myself somewhere quiet, where no one is around and it’s just me. I PUT MYSELF IN GORSEINON (his little home town on the Loughor Estuary, not so very far away from me!) and that helps block out everything else and focus on making that kick!”


AND AN AMAZING KICKER HE IS TOO! :-D :-D <3



All Leigh’s fans in Wales and on Radio Jem (not least our Wales Mascot THE FLY) are really thrilled to see Leigh back! We wish him all the very best for a fantastic World Cup 2015!


....BUT PLEASE LEIGH.... WATCH YOUR HEAD! :-0 :-0

Good Afternoon Rugby Fans :-D :-D :-D

THIS WEEKEND's WORLD CUP WARM-UP MATCHES


THIS SATURDAY, August 29th

IRELAND v WALES ..... Kick-Off 2.30pm
Aviva Stadium, Dublin


SHOCKER!
NONE of the mainstream television channels have the Ireland v Wales Match this time!
IT'S LIVE ON SKY SPORTS 1 ......
............. and RADIO JEM ;-) ;-)

Join us here for CHEERING THE TEAM (whichever team you support)!



HIGHLIGHTS OF IRELAND v WALES...
from 7.40pm on BBC2 Wales
(or on line on BBCiPlayer if you don't have BBC2 Wales)



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AlsoThis Saturday August 29th


SCOTLAND v ITALY .......... Kick-Off 3.15 pm (UK time)
Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh

BT SPORTS1 ONLY

Radio Jem will announce scores if possible :-D


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


HERE'S A WORLD CUP WARM-UP MATCH AVAILABLE ON MAINSTREAM TV!

This Saturday August 29th 2015

BARBARIANS v SAMOA on ITV 4 at 3pm

The Barbarians are a rugby club which brings together players from different clubs to play a few matches each year to enjoy the camaraderie of the game and play attacking, adventurous rugby without the pressure of having to win.


I will record this one to watch!

So if any of you are watching ..... Mums the word ;-) ;-) :-D

Pipped at the post. :-( :-( :-( Oh sorry that's horse racing innit. :-D :-D :-D ;-)

GP

Oh Pooooooooo England you need to pull yer socks up ;-)

Well done Radio Jem <3 Pat <3 Kandj <3

Good Night Pat, and Thanks :-D <3

Sleep well :-)

Night Jem. Look after yourself. :-) ;-) <3

Night Kandj, I've put away the pompoms to keep them safe.

I'm going to do the washing up now. So tiring isn't it Kandj, must get fitter. :-D <3

For those of you without Sky Sports...

HIGHLIGHTS OF FRANCE v ENGLAND on BBC1 TONIGHT at 11.40pm

Good Night Kandj :-) <3

Well done! ;-) :-D

Oh dear........ shame about the score. I'm all worn out and time for bed.

Well Done as always for your commentary Jem. Can't pretend to know all that you said though. I did say I was a real novice at this rugby game.

Catch the pom poms Pat. Keep them safe, will try and help you ou at another game.

Goodnight all....... I'm tired now.

The final cull will be before the end of the month and the World Cup Squad proper will be announced for all teams!

Well I wonder who's staying and who's going home on the strength of that England performance? :-S :-S :-S

I don't understand it all either Kandj.... I'm learning as I go along :-D :-D :-D

and OH isn't here tonight to tell me the finer points :-D :-D :-D :-D

I JUST ENJOY THE GAME! :-) :-) :-)

Well done Jem another great commentary for Radio Jem and Kandj adds a lot to the pompom section.

Keep practising Kandj and we'll be great for the world cup :-D :-D :-D :-D

Congratulations France

Commiserations to England and all GR England supporters :-(

Thankyou Pat and Kandj for your amazing Cheerleading! :-D <3

Thank you to my lovely friends :-) <3

Come on England, you can do it! Keep pushing forward ( hope that's right????)
What I know about rugby or any sport to be honest, you can write on a postage stamp

OOOOOOOOH IT'S ALL OVER!

What a finish by England!

Too little too late sadly! :-( :-( :-(

FINAL SCORE

FRANCE 25 ~ ENGLAND 20