MerckZ

⚽️ Liverpool FC
🏉 Sharks & Springboks
🏏 Proteas

🇿🇦 🇬🇧

Buttery biscuit based.

[Nick Dixon @NickDixon]

You must be gutted it’s too late to prosecute them.

[MerckZ @MerckZ]

@nfergus @KonstantinKisin Whilst I agree with the piece generally, I disagree that this new system was built "with the best of intentions".

[MerckZ @MerckZ]

@Richie_Allen Hearsay. Inadmissible. Also known as "absolute kak".

[MerckZ @MerckZ]

@Keir_Starmer I remember something about "rubbing the Right's nose in diversity". That was you guys, right?

[MerckZ @MerckZ]

@MichaelTakeMP @GoodwinMJ Which parts do you disagree with?

[MerckZ @MerckZ]

@AmbJapanUK Legend.

[MerckZ @MerckZ]

@LeoKearse What does "stronger action" entail? I'm not giving the Guardian the satisfaction of a click.

[MerckZ @MerckZ]

@rugby_ap Precision-guided hack.

[MerckZ @MerckZ]

@antonioguterres Communist prick.

[MerckZ @MerckZ]

@Vlad_Drac77 @ChalynRugby You're not bitter at all, are you? 🤣

[MerckZ @MerckZ]

@Vlad_Drac77 @ChalynRugby Remind me how it went down in 2023, again?

[MerckZ @MerckZ]

@wmarybeard @StrongKneedJew When last? After the Reconquista?

[MerckZ @MerckZ]

@wmarybeard @TheInqu26314714 And in so doing you are evidently attempting to "normalise" it.

[MerckZ @MerckZ]

@rugby_ap Really sums it up well. These pricks who try to fix what isn't broken are the problem. Not the scrums. Not the lineouts.

[The Rugby Philosopher @rugbyphilosophy]

Rugby League is more marketable than Rugby Union. But it’s not because of scrums.

With all this talk about "depowering" scrums to "save" the game, we need to have an honest conversation about what actually makes rugby marketable.

Let’s be real. Rugby League is objectively more marketable to a global audience. It’s streamlined. It’s high-speed. There is zero nuance. You run, you get tackled, you stand up, you do it 5 more times. You turn the ball over.

A few years back took some American family members to Eden Park to watch the Blues vs the Stormers. If you thought they'd like the tries, the wide passes, the highlight reels, well then you (like me) were wrong.

They spent the entire first half staring at Eben Etzebeth.

They watched two 130kg men grab another 120kg man by the hem of his shorts and launch him into the air to catch a ball. They couldn't believe it. To an outsider, a lineout isn't "dead time" it’s a hook, an attraction, a moment that sets our game apart from the rest.

When it came to scrums, they didn't care about "binding" or "hinging." They didn't even care about the number of resets. They were simply mesmerised by 8 absolute units pushing with all their might against 8 more. Men with thighs the size of an ordinary human's entire body, contorting themselves into some sort of human tank and smashing themselves into the other forward pack.

And finally, my family was baffled by the "hooligan's game played by gentlemen" culture of rugby. They saw 23 guys spend 80 minutes trying to physically destroy each other, only to hug and sit down for a beer afterwards. No trash talk. No "look at me" celebrations. Just a handshake and a "thanks, sir" to the ref.

Rugby shouldn't try to compete with League on "simplicity." We will lose.

Instead, we should market what sets us apart.

Market the fact that we lift giants into the air. Market the 200kg squats. Market the fact that we have 1 tonne of human muscle machine pushing against another tonne. And market the fact when all is said and done, our heros shake hands, drink beer, and hang out with each other's families.

These are the moments that decides the fate of nations. These are the moments that make our game like no other.

[MerckZ @MerckZ]

@rugbyphilosophy Absolutely!

[MerckZ @MerckZ]

@MasoJucwa Oof. I love the current pack, but that take is just plain wrong 🤣

Can you imagine Beast starting, with Ox on at 40? Or the other way around. Ditto Marx coming on for Bismarck.

People forget how utterly brilliant Bismarck was.

[MerckZ @MerckZ]

@SharksRugby @jaredwright17 Best era of Sharks' kits.

[MerckZ @MerckZ]

@RestoreBritain_ I'm South African. 3 out 4 of my grandparents were born in England. During the Second World War, of the 4 of them: 1 served in the Middlesex Regiment, 1 was a Chindit and 1 was a WREN. The other survived the Blitz.

I can't get a British passport.

[MerckZ @MerckZ]

@RansomStoddard8 @samuel_costner Robert Lindsay's Pellew was fantastic.