Month: September 2019

THE MARVELOUS MISS MOVIES: Brianne Chandler’s Top 5 Schmoedown Moments!

THE MARVELOUS MISS MOVIES: Brianne Chandler’s Top 5 Schmoedown Moments!

Back in 2018, I made a decision to expand my focus to include the Movie Trivia Schmoedown – a combination of movie trivia and WWE entertainment. As the brand grew, my writing on here came to an end in November 2018 as I was given the chance to write for their new website, TriviaSD.com along with a number of other Schmoedown bloggers. Recently it was announced that as the crew’s focus is needed elsewhere, it was announced that the site will be coming to an end. This means that the Schmoedown will be making a return to this site!

First of all, I want to give a big thank yous:

  • To Schmoedown creator and Chairman of the league Kristian Harloff and TriviaSD.com Managing Editor William Bibbiani for giving me the chance to write for the site
  • To the cast and crew, who continue to create an amazing product that is just going from strength to strength
  • To the fans, who have helped to create such an amazing community

Over the space of a couple of weeks, I am posting my articles from the site onto here. As some of these are almost a year old, some of them are somewhat outdated and may have proved to be completely off the mark.

Posted to TriviaSD.com 21/1/2019

Since late in Season 3, the Schmoedown has been blessed by the presence of the one and only Brianne Chandler. Arguably one of the more underrated competitors in the league, her 2-2 record in Singles and her 3-5 Teams record across Six Degrees, Sick in the Head and Take the Cannoli does not do her justice by any stretch.

Along with her Six Degrees teammate Stacy Howard, “Miss Movies” made her debut in October 2016 with a win over the Wangers and became somewhat of a regular in Season 4, joining Jay Washington as part of the Missfits, until she stepped away from the faction at Schmoedown Spectacular 2. Since then, she may not have competed as regularly, but she has been a key cog in the league by running the Patreon, while she was able to win the Free 4 All and play in the historic title match that saw the Shirewolves become the league’s first ever female champions.

Brianne has become such a great part of the Schmoedown and what a better way to celebrate her, as she leaves her position of Patreon manager, than with a countdown of Miss Movies’ Top 5 Schmoedown Moments!

Honourable Mention: The Star-Spangled Banner

Okay, so I cheated and couldn’t narrow it down to five without giving this moment a mention. Miss Movies kicked off Spectacular 3 this December with a beautiful rendition of the national anthem. Now as a big sports fan, I know that this is commonplace in American sports but we Brits generally only get that before international matches, so it was a wonderful moment to start such a great event!

5. Taking on KOrruption

After months of Mike Kalinowski bullying Commissioner Thadd to get his way, it was KO’s former partner Miss Movies who took a stand against KOrruption’s influence on the league. Brianne put together a list of competitors that would walk away unless Thadd refused to do what Kalinowski wanted and took things further by pushing him into a match against Kristian Harloff, Tom Dagnino and Emma Fyffe for the position of Commissioner, leading to the most fun match of Spectacular 3, the end of Thadd’s reign, the elevation of Emma Fyffe to a Commissioner role and the reveal that Harloff had been behind Kalinowski all along.

If it wasn’t for Brianne taking a stand, we may still be under the control of one Mike Kalinowski… let me stop that thought right there!

4. A Spectacular Surprise

Through her time in the Missfits, Brianne developed a strong rivalry with Mike Kalinowski, losing to him twice in Singles and also once in teams. With the Manager Bowl kicking off Spectacular 2, Brianne was nowhere to be found and Stacy was left to support Jay Washington on her own, Jay eventually coming third behind Tom Dagnino and the victorious Emma Fyffe. But Brianne appeared later and announced that she had made some decisions about her future and Jay was dismissed. She asked Stacy to come with her, but Stacy chose to say with Jay.

As if that wasn’t enough a shock, we saw her then leave the studios to jump into a car being driven by… Mike Kalinowski! The greatest of rivals were joining together and we were sent into the break between seasons with heads spinning as we tried to figure out what was going to happen next.

3. Ultimate Upset

Entering the 2017 Ultimate Schmoedown with a 1-1 record and up against 2016 Rookie of the Year Clarke Wolfe, I can’t imagine Brianne was a popular choice on people’s brackets for this match. Despite this, she went toe to toe with her more experienced opponent and came away with a 20-18 victory. She may have lost in the next round to Mike Kalinowski, but that in no way diminishes her achievement.
As I stated earlier, Brianne is an underrated competitor and this match showed that on her day, she could beat anyone the schedule could throw at her.

2. The Entrances

When someone mentions great entrances in the Schmoedown, Brianne’s name will quickly be brought into the conversation.
Nominated for Entrance of the Year in both Singles and Teams in 2017 and 2018, Brianne doesn’t know how to just walk out to her seat and is always looking to put on a show. From Buffy to Harley Quinn via American Psycho, she has made great costumes and choreography the norm when coming out for a match. She even managed to get Drew McWeeny into the spirit with Take the Cannoli’s Logan-themed entrance.

There are too many great entrances for me to pick a favourite, what’s yours?

1. Free For All 2

If you wanted more proof of Brianne’s quality as a competitor, look no further than the 2018 Free 4 All. Coming out at 44/48 certainly helped, but with William Bibbiani and Ethan Erwin still at the table, victory was far from guaranteed. However, she went 19/20 over the four remaining rounds to beat out two future Singles Champions and win the Free 4 All!

I love this moment as it reminds us that Brianne is not just a flashy entrance, but also a competitor who should never be overlooked going into a match.

Did I miss your favourite Brianne moment? Let me know what your favourite is in the comments below!

FACTION WITH FANGS: The Year of Jay Washington and the Viper Squad

FACTION WITH FANGS: The Year of Jay Washington and the Viper Squad

Back in 2018, I made a decision to expand my focus to include the Movie Trivia Schmoedown – a combination of movie trivia and WWE entertainment. As the brand grew, my writing on here came to an end in November 2018 as I was given the chance to write for their new website, TriviaSD.com along with a number of other Schmoedown bloggers. Recently it was announced that as the crew’s focus is needed elsewhere, it was announced that the site will be coming to an end. This means that the Schmoedown will be making a return to this site!

First of all, I want to give a big thank yous:

  • To Schmoedown creator and Chairman of the league Kristian Harloff and TriviaSD.com Managing Editor William Bibbiani for giving me the chance to write for the site
  • To the cast and crew, who continue to create an amazing product that is just going from strength to strength
  • To the fans, who have helped to create such an amazing community

Over the coming weeks, I will be posting my articles from the site onto here. As some of these are almost a year old, some of them are somewhat outdated and may have proved to be completely off the mark.

Posted to TriviaSD.com 11/1/2019

What a difference 12 months can make in the Schmoedown. This time last year, Jay Washington was left reeling after Brianne Chandler walked away from the Missfits and jumped in a car with their rival Mike Kalinowsk. Now, he has just become the first manager to lead a competitor to the Singles Title!

It’s been a year of up and downs for Jay, and it starts and ends with Schmoedown Spectacular…

From the Ashes

Brianne failed to show up to support Jay ahead of Schmoedown Spectacular II’s manager Bowl – in which he came 3rd, behind Emma Fyffe and Tom Dagnino – but she arrived later, to tell Jay that she was leaving the Missfits. She tried to convince Stacy Howard to come with her, but Stacy chose to stick with Jay.

This moment brought an end to the Missfits, but Jay took this as a chance to rebuild and the Viper Squad was created, with rookies Markeia McCarty and Jeannine the Machine being brought into the new faction.

Early Success

2018 started well for the Viper Squad. Jeannine won on debut against Bonnie Somerville – with Jay even turning up to support her despite having left the hospital just three days earlier! – and a victory for Stacy Howard over Josh Macuga was quickly backed up by The Machine beating Emma Fyffe via TKO, as the Vipers began a feud with the Fyffe Squad.

With Stacy at 4-1 and Jeannine at 2-0, things were looking good for Jay and his faction.

Mid-Season Struggles

Things did not go so well in the Innergeekdom Division, however. Jay Washington looked to take on Emma Fyffe in the first round of the Innergeekdom tournament but could not keep the momentum going and lost 16-17. Meanwhile, Markeia made her debut in an unenviable first round matchup against an in-form Rachel Cushing and she fell to a loss via KO.

The run of bad results continued at Collider Collision II, as both Stacy and Jeannine were set to compete against each other and Marc Andreyko in a triple threat match, with the winner set to compete in a Number 1 Contender match. Unfortunately for the Vipers, neither of them could pull out the victory over the Android and he went on to beat Ethan Erwin for a shot at the vacant title.

Anarchy

Things became even more difficult for the Vipers as factions and teams were split and reorganised for the Anarchy of the 2018 Ultimate Schmoedown Teams Tournament. Stacy Howard suffered a first round exit along with Winston Marshall at the hands of the Founding Fathers, but Jay must have thought Christmas had come early when Jeannine was paired with Ethan Erwin. However, due to scheduling issues, they had to swap teams and Jeannine instead was paired with Brian Walton, and they in the first round to The Paddington Two.

Ethan Erwin was moved to partnering Sabina Graves, and they also went out in the first round, to the Cinemaniacs. But Jay was able to get special dispensation from puppet-Commissioner Thadd to manage both Jeannine and Ethan’s teams during Anarchy and continue working with Ethan for the remainder of the season.

Markeia was also involved in Anarchy, but as a manager of Take The Cannoli rather than a competitor, and was the only member of the Viper Squad to make it into the second round of the tournament, where they lost to The Harris Brothers.

Ultimate Victory

With Ethan Erwin and Stacy Howard both in the 7 confirmed competitors for the 2018 Ultimate Schmoedown Singles Tournament and Jeannine in the Qualifying Gauntlet, Jay was very busy as the season came to an end.

Jeannine was unable to beat Ben Bateman in the Gauntlet and Stacy Howard lost to an in-form Dan Murrell in the first round. The Viper Squad’s season was over.

But Jay was still going: Ethan Erwin defeated Chance Ellison, Murrell and Clarke Wolfe, on the way to winning the final that gave Jay the perfect end to the year, with a TKO victory over John Rocha at Spectacular III.

Trouble Ahead?

While having the Singles Champion under his management may sound great, things may not be quite as rosy as they first look for Jay. He’s been famous in the Schmoedown for having a rather angry and combative approach to his faction’s opponents, but has had to change to being a sweet and smiling presence to please Ethan Erwin. This new, nice Jay does not match at all with the rest of the Viper Squad, so it will be interesting to see what happens moving forward.

Right now, Ethan is not a part of the Viper Squad. He’s just sharing their manager. I have a couple of possible theories as to what we may see happen:

1. Ethan gets corrupted by the Viper Squad and joins them – Personally I can’t imagine this happening right now as Ethan seems far too chill to turn heel, even if he were to lose the belt.

2. Jay continues with 2 separate personalities, his new nice guy act with Ethan and his usual attitude with the rest of the Vipers – which could have hilarious consequences if both Ethan and the Vipers are around at the same time.

3. Jay tries to stay a nice guy to keep Ethan with him, which results in the Viper Squad dismissing him – Markeia noted how free she felt managing Take The Cannoli and that experience could lead to her taking over control of the Vipers

What do you think will happen going forward? Can Jay keep managing the Viper Squad and Ethan Erwin? With Ethan defending his title at the New York live event on January 26th, we probably won’t have long to wait until we find out!

The Debrief: 2019 Vuelta a España

The Debrief: 2019 Vuelta a España

The 2019 Grand Tour cycling season came to an end recently with the Vuelta a España. 3290.7 km travelled over 21 stages ended in a new winner. Back in 2011, Primož Roglič switched to road cycling from ski jumping. Signed to LottoNL–Jumbo (now Jumbo–Visma), this was the Slovenian’s 5ᵗʰ Grand Tour, having won stages at the Tour de France (2017 & 2018) and Giro d’Italia (2016 & 2019). He looked good value for victory at the 2019 Giro, but fell away in the last week with limited support from his team, but rode a strong race over the past few weeks to become the latest Grand Tour Champion.

cycling roglic podium

General Classification (GC – Red Jersey):

  1. Primož Roglič (SLO) – Team Jumbo–Visma – 83 hours, 7 minutes, 14 seconds
  2. Alejandro Valverde (ESP) – Movistar Team + 2 minute, 33 seconds
  3. Tadej Pogačar (SLO) – UAE Team Emirates + 2 minute, 55 seconds

Points Classification (Green Jersey)

  1. Primož Roglič (SLO) – Team Jumbo–Visma – 155 points
  2. Tadej Pogačar (SLO) – UAE Team Emirates – 136 points
  3. Sam Bennett (IRL) – Bora–Hansgrohe – 134 points

Mountains Classification (KOM – Polka Dot Jersey)

  1. Geoffrey Bouchard (FRA) – AG2R La Mondiale – 76 points
  2. Ángel Madrazo (ESP) – Burgos BH – 44 points
  3. Sergio Samitier (ESP) – Euskadi–Murias – 42 points

Young Rider Classification (White Jersey)

  1. Tadej Pogačar (SLO) – UAE Team Emirates – 83 hours, 10 minutes, 9 seconds
  2. Miguel Ángel López – Astana + 1 minute, 53 seconds
  3. James Knox (GBR) – Deceuninck–Quick-Step + 20 minutes

Team Classification

  1. Movistar Team – 248 hours, 26 minutes, 24 seconds
  2. Astana + 51 minutes, 38 seconds
  3. Team Jumbo–Visma + 2 hours, 3 minutes, 42 seconds

Moments of note

cycling Jumbo Visma waterStage 1: The race started with a Team Time Trial. Favourites for the stage Jumbo–Visma were looking good value for the victory until crossing a patch of wet road caused by an inflatable paddling pool that had burst. Time Trial bikes are built for speed rather than control in poor conditions and the water led to pretty much the entire team going down at the next corner. Astana went on to win the stage, beating Deceuninck–Quick-Step (who had to avoid the remains of the Jumbo–Visma crash) by just 2 seconds. Thankfully, while it impeded the start of Roglič’s race, there were no significant injuries to hamper them in the coming stages. UAE Team Emirates also wiped out due to the water on the road and I feel that the injuries Fernando Gaviria suffered caused him issues in the following stages and led to him struggling to impact the race.

Stage 5: Stage 5 saw 3 men take the breakway to the finish line in the form of Burgos BH’s Ángel Madrazo & Jetse Bol and Cofidis’ José Herrada. Having already been almost knocked off his bike by his own team car earlier in the stage, Madrazo fell away on the final climb but came out of nowhere in the final kilometre to catch up and pass the other 2, winning the stage by 10 seconds, Bol taking second for a Burgos BH 1-2.

Stage 9: Marc Soler was looking good value for the stage win but was called back by the Movistar bosses to help Nairo Quintana go for the win. Pogačar followed Quintana as they went away from the rest of their GC rivals, but pushed on as the pair reached Soler. Quintana was unable to keep pace even with Soler’s help and was forced to settle for 2ⁿᵈ on the stage (though he still took the red jersey) as Pogačar took the win by 23 seconds.

cycling roglic ittStage 10: The Individual Time Trial was always looking like the stage that would give Primož Roglič the red jersey and that proved the case as the Slovenian beat CCC’s Patrick Bevin’s time by 25 seconds. Pogačar was hampered by a bike change partway through but still managed the next best time of the main GC competitors, finishing 1’29” behind his compatriot. Valverde kept himself in the fight by finishing 1’38” behind Roglič, but López and Quintana struggled (as usual in the discipline), finishing 2’00” and 3’06” behind Roglič respectively.

Stage 13: Nairo Quintana tried to earn time back on GC but was pulled back by his rivals 4km out from the end. Pogačar used the moment of catching Quintana to attack the group and Roglič was the only one to go with him. The Slovenians rode away together and Pogačar as allowed to take a 2nd stage victory, the pair finishing 27 seconds ahead of their rivals, while López lost a further 34 seconds, leading to Pogačar rising to 3ʳᵈ on GC.

cycling movistar astana crosswindStage 17: Primož Roglič’s race almost fell apart as crosswinds saw the peloton split in 2 almost immediately, with Nairo Quintana in the lead group with a few teammates and all bar one of the Deceuninck–Quick-Step team, while the rest of his GC rivals were in the second group. Luckily for Roglič, his time at the top was saved as Valverde and his teammates in the 2ⁿᵈ group pushed on (potentially an attack to drop all their rivals’ domestiques), stopping the lead group from opening up an unassailable lead. Astana then pulled the group home in the final kilometres, seeing Quintana’s group cross just over 5 minutes ahead of the pack, keeping Roglič in red. At the front of the race, Deceuninck–Quick-Step’s great Vuelta continued as Zdeněk Štybar attacked 2km out from the end, forcing Bora–Hansgrohe’s Sam Bennett to jump too early and resulting in Philippe Gilbert taking the stage victory.

Stage 19: James Knox’s crash that brought down half the peloton including the entire Jumbo–Visma team and bringing and end to road captain Tony Martin’s race. Whether you believe this was a planned move as Movistar said or not, Movistar picked this moment to attack and up the pace, leading to Roglič having to ride hard on his own to catch up to the Astana train attempting to get López back onto the lead group. The unwritten rule is that you don’t attack the lead jersey when they are stuck in a crash or taking a toilet break, and there were certainly a number of riders unhappy with Movistar pushing on. Eventually though, they sat up and the group came back together. Personally, while I agree that it is harsh to attack while the leader answers the call of nature, a crash is generally a racing incident, so it will be interesting to see if there is any change in protocol in future seasons. Interestingly, commissaires allowed the riders hampered by the crash to draft the team cars to get back onto the lead group, despite this being against the rules. I don’t understand why this was allowed following a racing incident and wonder if it was a reaction by them to Movistar’s attack.

Stage 20: In the last stage of racing for the General Classification, Tadej Pogačar attacks his rivals approximately 39km out. Knowing 2ⁿᵈ place on GC is at risk, Valverde is forced to put in an attack of his own, followed by Roglič and Rafał Majka. Pogačar won the stage by 1’32” (his third stage victory in the race) to propel himself back up to a podium place on GC and win the white jersey, while Valverde’s attack meant that he managed to hold onto 2ⁿᵈ by 22 seconds.

Stage 21: The final stage was a procession for GC ending with a final sprint in Madrid. Along with the classic celebratory drinks and photos during the ride, the major highlight from the first phase of the stage was Burgos-BH’s Jésus Ezquerra proposing to his girlfriend, who was riding in the team car. With the cameras on her braodcasting to the world, thankfully she said yes! In the final dash for the line, Deceuninck–Quick-Step’s Max Richeze barged an opponent out of the way to make room for sprinter Fabio Jakobsen to just hold off Sam Bennett and take the final stage victory. While Richeze was relegated to the back of the field, he was there purely as a domestique for Jakobsen, who was put in a better position to win by his actions. I can’t help but feel that incidents like this require a punishment towards the team rather than the individual as the teams are built to sacrifice themselves for just 1 or 2 members of the team.

SUPERGRUDGE: The Schmoedown Rematches We Want in 2019!

SUPERGRUDGE: The Schmoedown Rematches We Want in 2019!

Back in 2018, I made a decision to expand my focus to include the Movie Trivia Schmoedown – a combination of movie trivia and WWE entertainment. As the brand grew, my writing on here came to an end in November 2018 as I was given the chance to write for their new website, TriviaSD.com along with a number of other Schmoedown bloggers. Recently it was announced that as the crew’s focus is needed elsewhere, it was announced that the site will be coming to an end. This means that the Schmoedown will be making a return to this site!

First of all, I want to give a big thank yous:

  • To Schmoedown creator and Chairman of the league Kristian Harloff and TriviaSD.com Managing Editor William Bibbiani for giving me the chance to write for the site
  • To the cast and crew, who continue to create an amazing product that is just going from strength to strength
  • To the fans, who have helped to create such an amazing community

Over the coming weeks, I will be posting my articles from the site onto here. As some of these are almost a year old, some of them are somewhat outdated and may have proved to be completely off the mark.

Posted to TriviaSD.com 3/1/19

It’s hard to believe, but that first fateful match between JTE and Cobbster which lead to the creation of the Schmoedown was over four years ago. And with so many competitors having faced each other, it means that there are now plenty of possible rematches available to those making the schedule.

Rematches have been some of the big draws in the past, from Rocha coming back to avenge his “Bespin moment” in Rocha v Mantz II, to the ending of The Patriots’ run when they took on Above The Line for a second time. We all know how the first match went and find ourselves looking forward to seeing if things go different next time.

With that in mind, I decided to follow up my recent fantasy billings between competitors who have never faced each other with a selection of rematches that I think would be great to see. Initially, I was planning to include some matches from the Team Division, but having looked through the roster I realised that the uncertainty over a number of teams following Anarchy (who knows if we will see Top 10 or Team Action ever again) means that there are very few teams left with much of a playing history, so I have instead stuck to 1v1 matches.

Dan Murrell vs. Samm Levine II

Dan Murrell and Samm Levine have been the main names featured in the discussion for the Schmoedown GOAT over the recent years, so who wouldn’t want to see these two face again? They met previously at the first Collider Collision, where Samm cashed in his title shot (from winning the inaugural Free 4 All) immediately after Murrell reclaimed the belt in a Triple Threat match against Rocha and Reilly. Murrell emerged victorious with a 26-23 scoreline, but it was not until the Ultimate Schmoedown tournament later that season that Samm went on the run that brought him into the GOAT conversation.

Levine is the first double Champion, but his choice to step away from competing means that Murrell still holds the record for most successful title defences in the Singles Division. In the Battle of the GOATs, who would emerge victorious this time…?

Jeff Sneider vs. JTE II

Sneider and JTE competed against each other in the quarterfinals of the 2017 Ultimate Schmoedown tournament. JTE entertained us with his infamous “Japeto Moment,” but still emerged victorious over his then-teammate with a score of 19-21 on his run to the final (where he eventually lost to Samm Levine). With The Patriots now disbanded and Sneider having left the Lion’s Den, we almost had them face off during Anarchy, but JTE’s accident meant that Sneider and Andreyko took on The Harris Brothers rather than their original iteration The Evil Geniuses. If the former brothers in arms compete against each other in 2019, it could be one of my most anticipated matches of the year!

Stacy Howard vs. Josh Macuga II

“The Wildman” went up against “Sassy” Stacy Howard back in May 2018 and while it was by no means one of the highest scoring matches of the year (Howard won 12-10), it was a fun affair between two competitors who can each beat most comers on their day. Josh Macuga’s ability to pull an answer out of nowhere early in his career made “Macuga-ing” a verb, but Stacy has also shown herself to be good at finding her way to the right answer when everything looks against her. If they faced off again it may not be breaking any points records, but you can almost guarantee a fun match.

Mark Reilly vs. Clarke Wolfe II

Mark Reilly defeated his then-teammate Clarke Wolfe 14-13 to set up his title match with John Rocha, where he eventually won the Singles Title back from the Outlaw. With the two of them being partners at that point it was a friendly affair that belied how competitive they each are. Today, with the Wolves of Steel in the past and Clarke now part of the Shirewolves, there seems to be a bit of tension between the two following Reilly’s return to competing as a member of the Horsemen. While I’m sure both would remain civil towards each other, I would expect a very different atmosphere to a rematch between these two.

Rachel Cushing vs. Mike Kalinowski II (Innergeekdom)

Rachel Cushing and Mike Kalinowski first faced each other in Innergeekdom in August 2017, with “The Crusher” taking a 20-18 victory in a match remembered for Cushing’s Galadriel entrance, which won her Singles Entrance of the Year at the 2017 Schmoedown Awards. Fast forward a year and a half, both have proved themselves to be among the top Innergeekdom competitors who could easily KO any player if they have a bad start. Add in Kalinowski’s new heel persona and this has the potential to become one of the greatest matches in the history of the Innergeekdom Division.

Let me know what you think of these rematches! I’d love to hear who you want to see face each other again!

HFS: The Top 10 Moments of Schmoedown Spectacular III!

HFS: The Top 10 Moments of Schmoedown Spectacular III!

Back in 2018, I made a decision to expand my focus to include the Movie Trivia Schmoedown – a combination of movie trivia and WWE entertainment. As the brand grew, my writing on here came to an end in November 2018 as I was given the chance to write for their new website, TriviaSD.com along with a number of other Schmoedown bloggers. Recently it was announced that as the crew’s focus is needed elsewhere, it was announced that the site will be coming to an end. This means that the Schmoedown will be making a return to this site!

First of all, I want to give a big thank yous:

  • To Schmoedown creator and Chairman of the league Kristian Harloff and TriviaSD.com Managing Editor William Bibbiani for giving me the chance to write for the site
  • To the cast and crew, who continue to create an amazing product that is just going from strength to strength
  • To the fans, who have helped to create such an amazing community

Over the coming weeks, I will be posting my articles from the site onto here. As some of these are almost a year old, some of them are somewhat outdated and may have proved to be completely off the mark.

Posted to TriviaSD.com 1/1/2019

Now that the dust has settled and we’ve feasted far too much over the holidays, I’m sure we can all agree that the biggest event in the Schmoedown calendar was (as its name suggests) Spectacular! Schmoedown Spectacular 3 gave us six wonderful matches and so much more besides, enough to keep us busy discussing the possibilities while we await Season 6.

With so many hours of footage, there was obviously a lot to take in, but I have tried to put together what I feel to be the top 10 moments from the event!

10. The Future of the Schmoedown

Maybe not as flashy or funny as some of the other moments on this list, Kristian’s announcement of the future of the league going into Season 6 was so important it had to appear on my list. It is understandably a controversial decision to some people but it is also an exciting moment as we look to see the Schmoedown growing into live streams.

9. Alex Uses The Force

Alex confronted Ken, Kalinowski and Chance ahead of the Star Wars title match. The KOrruption boys tried to jump the champion and steal the belt, only to fall through what was revealed to be a Force projection. This was a great little moment to hype up the coming match and include Alex – who appears more confident with each match – in the storylines. The cameo from Nathan Hamill as his teacher saying that it worked out better than the last guy who tried it was a great little surprise.

8. One Letter Off

The Commissioner Bowl may not have been the best match of the event, but it was certainly an exciting one with a lot of fun moments. Probably the best moment of the match itself was Tom Dagnino’s first question of Round 3. Asked “Who wrote and directed the 2016 film Suicide Squad?” he answered David Ayers rather than David Ayer, missing out on the point despite one of the most questionable challenges I have ever seen. What makes this moment such a standout is that Dagnino was eliminated with 11 points, while none of his opponents could score higher than 12, meaning that we were just 1 letter away from having Dagnino as Commissioner!

7. One Last Dance

I’m a big Horsemen and Top 10 fan so a bit of bias may have come into this pick. Following John Rocha’s unsuccessful title defence, Matt Knost announced that he would be stepping away from the Schmoedown and with one last shimmy exited the league. I’ve really enjoyed Knost’s wit and humour over the years while his knowledge has probably made him one of the more underrated players in the Teams Division, so it is a real loss to the league. Hopefully he will find the time to return in the future to call a couple of matches at the desk. As if the emotion at Knost leaving wasn’t enough, there is also the excitement to build now for who will replace him as the 5th Horseman, something that I’m sure will keep us theorising until the reveal.

6. Perfect All Round

You always want a good performance in a title match and The Shirewolves vs. Who’s The Boss? did not disappoint. With the scores at 12-13 in favour of the challengers after Round 1 (only 7 of a possible 32 combined points dropped), The Shirewolves spun a strength in Sandra Bullock and fired through the round to go 6/6 for a perfect 12 points. Who’s The Boss? got stuck on Festival Darlings, which they didn’t appear confident in, but knowing the need for a good score to keep in touch, Reilly and Bateman matches Clarke and Rachel’s feat, going 6/6 for a perfect 12 points. Frank Janisch will know better than I will, but both teams going perfect in Round 2 is a rare feat and just highlighted the quality of the teams on display.

5. Burning The Mask

After hours of watching Tom Dagnino look everywhere for his missing mask, Spectacular III ended with us seeing the grubbiest piece of knitwear in Los Angeles being thrown in a bucket and set alight by a mysterious figure, revealed to be Robert Meyer Burnett. Last seen being abandoned by the Lion’s Den at Spectacular II, it will be interesting to see what impact “The Captain” has on the league in Season 6. He will surely be looking to win back his Innergeekdom title in what has become a much stronger division, while it looks like he may now have a feud with Dagnino to go along with his feuds with Rocha and Hector Navarro.

4. It Was Him All Along

The KOrruption storyline had clearly been building to a head in recent months and we finally found out who was behind Mike Kalinowski’s evildoings following the Commissioner Bowl. Thadd shredded an envelope containing sensitive information that was meant to be revealed if he lost, only for Paulie G to come out and announce that he had a second copy, the contents of which would be announced by his employer… Kristian Harloff! The former Commissioner announced that he had always been aware that the contract stated he would revert to Commissioner after four months, only for Thadd to hide the page. Harloff announced himself as the Chairman of the Schmoedown and said that Emma Fyffe will be a Commissioner with other Commissioners still to be announced.

While bringing a great end to the KOrruption and Commissioner storylines this season, we now have the excitement of seeing how the Chairman runs the league with multiple Commissioners, while it will be interesting to see if Kalinowski begins a vendetta against Harloff now he sees how he was manipulated.

3. The Mystery Basterd

With some Schmoedown competitors actually working in movies, there is always a chance that one day they will eventually be the answer to a question in the Schmoedown. This happened perfectly in Rocha v Erwin when during the speed round they were asked “Who played Pfc Hirschberg in the war film Inglourious Basterds?” Now with so many Basterds, it’s difficult to remember each one’s name and you could tell that both competitors wanted to guess Samm Levine but didn’t want to look foolish if it was wrong. When it was announced that the former Singles Champion was indeed the right answer, the moment got even better as it turned out he was in the crowd and he came on to take the belt that neither of them deserved. Any time we get to see Samm is a great moment and for this to happen in the main event of Spectacular 3, one year after he became champion, was just perfect!

2. Who Run the World?

The Shirewolves vs. Who’s The Boss? match makes this list for a second time, this time for the Shirewolves’ entrance. Coming out to “Run the World” by Beyoncé, the Shirewolves used their entrance to showcase the wealth of female talent in the league, being accompanied out by a number of female competitors including then-Innergeekdom Champion Mara Knopic, and Vipers Jeannine the Machine and Markeia McCarty. We always know to expect a great entrance form Clarke and Rachel, but following Clarke’s statement that “We are the league” following their first title victory, this was a beautiful way to remind everyone that the Schmoedown does not need a women’s league as the women involved are more than capable of beating the men put in front of them.

1. The Tackle II

Andrew Ghai’s tackle of John Rocha stole the headlines at Schmoedown Spectacular 2 last year, and he did it again. The wannabe linebacker came to commiserate with former teammate Ben Bateman following his loss in the Team Title Match. When Bateman expressed an interest in sticking with Reilly, Ghai accepted it, announcing that he had found a new teammate and suggesting the four of them make their own faction before leaving. Bateman was clearly so happy that Ghai understood and his comment in the post-match interview of “Action Army for life” showed that he was still committed to his brother in arms… right up until the moment Ghai tackled him through a table. The hearts of the Action Army broke as they watched Ghai show his disgust for Bateman’s newfound respect and spitting on his former brother before being chased off by Reilly.

Now the Army must decide if they are #TeamGhai or #TeamBateman and Ghai’s feud with Ben is surely going to play a part in Season 6, while William Bibbiani may also be after Ghai unless he repays the former champion for the broken table!

So those were my top 10 moments, what are yours…?

Pro14 2019/20: 6 Players to Watch

Pro14 2019/20: 6 Players to Watch

For the last couple of years, I have been previewing the new Premiership Rugby season with a look at some of the players new to their clubs who I think you should keep an eye on this season. While I will be doing that again this summer, I decided that it was time to branch out to the Pro14 as well. As with the Premiership articles, I will limit myself to just one player per team, which definitely leads to some difficult decisions – looking at you, Cardiff Blues! I will also add that Gareth Anscombe was a shoe-in for this list, but the injury suffered in Wales’ Rugby World Cup warm-up against England will see him miss the vast majority of the season, so I took him off the list.

Let me know which new transfers you’re looking forward to watching this season.

Ruan Pienaar (Montpellier – Cheetahs)

The South African scrum half was a fan-favourite at Ulster but fell afoul of the IRFU’s selection policies, which led to a move to France. Now he is making his way back to the league, but this time will be based in his home country with the Toyota Cheetahs. At 35 years old, this 2 year contract will likely take him to the end of his professional career, and that top-level experience will be vital for the Cheetahs if they want to push for the playoffs.

Josh Adams (Worcester – Cardiff Blues)

Between Will Boyde, Hallam Amos and Josh Adams, it was hard to narrow it down to just a single player from Cardiff, but Adams eventually got the nod. After a couple of strong seasons with Worcester – who are generally competing to avoid relegation from the Premiership – Adams has done well for Wales and knew that a move back to Wales was required to remain in the national team. A proven try scorer, Adams is a great attacking winger who is also able to play fullback, but is also a strong defender who has got used to dealing with some of the larger wingers of the Premiership. Provided he gets the help from his teammates, I think that he will be a star once he returns from World Cup duty.

Sam Davies (Ospreys – Dragons)

Go back a few seasons and Sam Davies was competing with Dan Biggar for the starting job with Wales. Now, injuries and a drop in form have seen him fall behind Biggar, Gareth Anscombe, Rhys Patchell and Jarrod Evans. With Anscombe coming to take control of the Ospreys, a move to perennial underachievers the Dragons could be a career-defining move for the 25-year-old. With Wayne Pivac taking over as Wales head coach after the World Cup, a fresh start at the Dragons could be just what Davies needs and if he can pull them up the standings then it could bring him back into contention for the national team, however if the Dragons continue to struggle (it wouldn’t be the first time) then he could find himself struggling to earn another cap anytime soon.

Charlie Walker (Harlequins – Zebre)

After years of good performances, it was a shock to see Charlie Walker leaving Harlequins. What was even more shocking was the moment his new team was announced as Zebre. This was a player I fully expected another Premiership team to pick up and I even discussed with friends how happy I would be with him moving to Gloucester! At 26, he has pace to worry defences and years of Premiership experience that will be a big help for a team that finished bottom of the combined table in 2018/19.

Demetri Catrakilis (Harlequins – Kings)

When Catrakilis moved to Quins from Montpellier, it looked like he would be the main man in London. However a throat injury early in the season kept him out for months, leading to the rise of Marcus Smith. Once he returned, he was never able to recapture his pre-injury form and a change of scenery back to the Southern Kings will hopefully do wonders for his career. The Kings have been the worst team in the Pro14 since its inception, but bringing in an experienced fly half who was in the Springboks training squad ahead of the 2015 World Cup could be just what they need to become more competitive and potentially pick up some wins in the opening weeks while teams are without their internationals.

Sam Lousi (Hurricanes – Scarlets)

After 5 backs, I needed to make sure that the forwards have some representation on the list. Last season’s signing from the Hurricanes, Blade Thompson, showed some real promise for the Scarlets before his season was ruined by concussion issues. This summer sees another signing from the ‘Canes in the form of former rugby league player Sam Lousi. The Scarlets have a quality back line but 2018/19 saw them struggle as their pack was ravaged by injury and the loss of Tadhg Beirne to Munster. Adding a physical presence like Lousi at lock will be a huge factor in them trying to get back into the Champions Cup.

LET THEM FIGHT PART II: The Team Matches We Want in 2019!

LET THEM FIGHT PART II: The Team Matches We Want in 2019!

Back in 2018, I made a decision to expand my focus to include the Movie Trivia Schmoedown – a combination of movie trivia and WWE entertainment. As the brand grew, my writing on here came to an end in November 2018 as I was given the chance to write for their new website, TriviaSD.com along with a number of other Schmoedown bloggers. Recently it was announced that as the crew’s focus is needed elsewhere, it was announced that the site will be coming to an end. This means that the Schmoedown will be making a return to this site!

First of all, I want to give a big thank yous:

  • To Schmoedown creator and Chairman of the league Kristian Harloff and TriviaSD.com Managing Editor William Bibbiani for giving me the chance to write for the site
  • To the cast and crew, who continue to create an amazing product that is just going from strength to strength
  • To the fans, who have helped to create such an amazing community

Over the coming weeks, I will be posting my articles from the site onto here. As some of these are almost a year old, some of them are somewhat outdated and may have proved to be completely off the mark.

Posted to TriviaSD.com 7/12/2018

What a year it’s been in the Teams Division! The Patriots’ domination ended at the hands of Above The Line, leading to their breakup. Above The Line successfully defended their title but relinquished the belts when Samm Levine stepped away. The Shirewolves formed and went 4-0 to claim the vacant title. Oh, and a little thing called Anarchy saw a bunch of new teams form!

The Teams Division is probably the strongest it has ever been, with so many teams that could make a push for the belts. And the best bit about this depth: there are so many amazing match-ups that we are yet to see! Yesterday I picked five matches I’d love to see in 2019 from the Singles Division and now I give you five matches for the Teams Division:

Who’s The Boss? vs. Founding Fathers

A match that I think many of us expected to see during this year’s Ultimate Schmoedown. The Founding Fathers’ loss to KOrruption put an end to that hope but at least we can feature on this list! This match gives us the original three Singles Champions in Rocha, Murrell and Reilly, while Ben Bateman is a clear talent and I would argue that his 4-4 record in Singles doesn’t do him justice. Who’s The Boss looks like one of the strongest and most well-rounded teams in the league, but you’d never rule out a team containing Rocha and Murrell. This could potentially see a new record points score!

The Paddington Two vs. Top That

Two teams featuring competitors we have not seen much of this season. There is clearly a wealth of knowledge between them but perhaps a lack of experience in the league, so a match between these teams could be evenly matched. Add to that the history between Atchity and the Top That guys (Atchity beat them with Rotten Tomatoes back when they were still known as IGN) and this could be a chance for Goldman and Vejvoda to finally get some revenge on “The Kahuna”.

Wildberries vs. Kinda Funny

Kinda Funny made a great debut this season by beating Funhaus via TKO, and now… they need to challenge the Wildberries. Josh Macuga and Nick Scarpino put on a good match early this season in the Singles League and if you now add Greg Miller, Eliot Dewberry and manager Ricky Hayberg to the mix, you can guarantee things are going to get loud and boisterous!

Critically Acclaimed vs. The Odd Couple

Potentially a contender for match of the year, this match sees one half of the Patriots as well as Marc Andreyko – who has really started to reach his potential this season – facing off against former Singles Champion William Bibbiani and his partner Witney Seibold, who has yet to compete in Singles but has done great in Teams. There is such a wealth of knowledge between these four competitors and plenty of experience to boot. Could this be the match where Andreyko finally gets one over on Bibbiani?

Superhero News vs. World’s Finest

How great would it be to see a matchup between these two teams that debuted this season? Sean Gerber and Sabina Graves have taken over the mantle of Superhero News and worked their way to a 1-1 record before being split up during Anarchy. The World’s Finest have a 2-1 record which included a loss in a Number 1 Contender match to the Shirewolves and a match against Superhero News could be a great way to return from their Anarchy split. This match could conceivably come down to who manages to spin Comic Book Movies in Round 2!

Let me know what you think of these matches. I’d love to hear what matchups you’d love to see in 2019!

LET THEM FIGHT: The Singles Matches We Want in 2019!

LET THEM FIGHT: The Singles Matches We Want in 2019!

Back in 2018, I made a decision to expand my focus to include the Movie Trivia Schmoedown – a combination of movie trivia and WWE entertainment. As the brand grew, my writing on here came to an end in November 2018 as I was given the chance to write for their new website, TriviaSD.com along with a number of other Schmoedown bloggers. Recently it was announced that as the crew’s focus is needed elsewhere, it was announced that the site will be coming to an end. This means that the Schmoedown will be making a return to this site!

First of all, I want to give a big thank yous:

  • To Schmoedown creator and Chairman of the league Kristian Harloff and TriviaSD.com Managing Editor William Bibbiani for giving me the chance to write for the site
  • To the cast and crew, who continue to create an amazing product that is just going from strength to strength
  • To the fans, who have helped to create such an amazing community

Over the coming weeks, I will be posting my articles from the site onto here. As some of these are almost a year old, some of them are somewhat outdated and may have proved to be completely off the mark.

Posted to TriviaSD.com 6/12/2018

The Schmoedown has come a long way from its early days and one of the more notable ways it has changed – aside from the look of the show – is the roster of talent available. Each season we see the roster growing and growing as new talent joins the league. Just look at this year’s rookie class, which includes Mara Knopic, Ethan Erwin, Jeannine the Machine and Chance Ellison to name just a few, while other stars like Mark Reilly and Dan Murrell have also returned from breaks.

One of the best bits about an increased talent pool is the ability to schedule more matches between competitors who have never played each other before. There will always be matches that people would love to see for a number of reasons, ranging from potential storylines, to tests of who is the better of two superstars… and then other matches that will just be downright fun! As we come towards the end of the season, I have put together a list of matchups that we don’t appear to be getting this year that would likely provide some great matches in 2019.

Rachel Cushing vs. Dan Murrell

Everyone always gets excited at the thought of Dan and Samm Levine facing off to see who truly is the GOAT, but as they have already faced each other before Samm’s incredible run, I have had to look elsewhere for a worthy opponent for Dan. Last year’s Rookie of the Year has been one of the stars of the Schmoedown over all 3 of the main divisions, with an accuracy percentage that very few can match. It’s just a matter of time until she comes into the GOAT conversation, so what better way to get things rolling than with a match against “Dangerous” Dan Murrell?

William Bibbiani vs. Lon Harris

Two titans of movie trivia whose Singles records don’t really represent their ability. Bibbiani (5-5) and Harris (3-2) will be facing each other early next season in the Teams Division, but a Singles match could also be fantastic! Harris has made it clear that he wants several less mainstream categories brought into the league, but I get the feeling that if anyone could know the names Harris throws out, it would be Bibbiani. Interestingly, both competitors are very impressive in Round 1 but a bit more hit and miss in the later rounds… so how about we make this an Iron Man match and see if “The Beast” can school “The Professor?”

Drew McWeeny vs. John Rocha 

Two titans of the Schmoedown who have at times proved to be inconsistent in the Singles Division. Rocha and McWeeny both have vast ranges of knowledge and their strong suits seem similarly matched. I can almost guarantee categories like Biopics and Westerns will be on the Wheel for this match and, as a one-off, maybe McWeeny go back to his original nickname of “The Sheriff” in order to take down “The Outlaw”?

Brianne Chandler vs. Stacy Howard 

Former teammates going against each other will always make for an interesting story. With Brianne’s only match outside the Teams Division this season being her Free 4 All victory, there has not really been a chance to see her take on any of the Viper Squad since she walked out on Stacy and Jay at last year’s Spectacular. Will time have been a healer, or will the Viper Squad be looking to get the one up on Miss Movies? One thing we know for certain: we’d be getting some great entrances in this match!

Ken Napzok vs. Tom Dagnino

Like Chandler vs. Howard, this match would see former faction mates going against each other. Napzok famously walked away from the Lions Den at this year’s Collider Collision and took Mark Donica with him, and he has also been heavily involved in managing Mike Kalinowski and Chance Ellison as part of KOrruption. Dagnino meanwhile kept hold of JTE and is currently working with Ben Bateman and Mark Reilly. We got a tease when the two faced off between rounds as Who’s The Boss? faced KOrruption. If you had these two face off in a match, the trivia would probably be okay, but the lines we’d have from these competitors could make it one of the most fun matches to watch next season!

Winners and Losers from the 2019 Ashes

Winners and Losers from the 2019 Ashes

With all the rugby, football and cycling going on over the last couple of months, there was one sport that was grabbing my attention more the usual: the cricket. The reason for this was clear: the Ashes was on and taking place in England.

The first Test at Edgbaston saw England go on the back foot, losing star bowler James Anderson after just 4 overs on the way to a 251 run loss. The weather proved crucial at Lord’s as England ran out of time to collect the wickets they needed, resulting in the 2nd Test ending as a draw. In the 3rd Test, an inspired performance from Ben Stokes snatched a 1 wicket victory from the jaws of defeat and left hopes of an England series victory alive. This was soon ended, however, by a 185 run victory for Australia in the 4th test at Old Trafford that confirmed they would retain the Ashes. Perhaps they partied too hard following that result, as they struggled at the Oval, with England winning the final Test by 135 runs to draw the series 2-2.

While some players had ludicrously impressive performances throughout the series, there were others who – to put it kindly – stunk! Today, I will be looking back at the biggest winners and losers from the series.

The Winners

Steve Smith: Making his return to Test cricket following a ban for his part in the ball-tampering scandal, Steve Smith was always set for some rough treatment from the partisan home crowds. Such were his performances in the series though, that when he walked off in the final innings for a series-worst 23 runs, he was treated to cheers and applause. How did he do this? He became the star of the series. His 774 runs in just 7 innings has already put him as the top run scorer in Test cricket this year despite starting over half a year after most players. Try as they might, England were unable to get him out when it mattered, while he also made a number of key catches in the slips to play a key role in retaining the Ashes.

England’s opening bowlers: Losing star bowler James Anderson after just 4 overs in the first Test could have derailed the series for England before it had barely begun. However, England recovered well. Suddenly thrust into the leadership role within the attack, Stuart Broad excelled with 23 wickets (best in the team) at an average of 26.65 runs per wicket. In place of Anderson, Jofra Archer came into the Test team for his debut and showed just how good he can be. His pace and bouncers had batsmen rattled and he finished the series with just 1 wicket less than Broad for an average of 20.27, the best average of any England bowler in the series. With Anderson, Broad and Archer all huge dangers, England have the flexibility moving forward to appropriately rest the ageing Anderson and Broad while remaining dangerous. And the best part… Jofra should only get better with more experience!

Ben Stokes: Already a national hero this summer for his role in England’s Cricket World Cup victory, Ben Stokes produced an innings that will go down in legends during the 3rd Test at Headingley. With England chasing a 2nd innings score of 358 following a 67-run disaster in the 1st innings. With everyone getting out around him, Stokes did what his teammates were finding impossible to do, digging in and giving England fans the slightest of hope. When 11th man Jack Leach came in with the score at 286-9, things looked to be over, but Stokes went from staying in to smashing the ball wherever he could, eventually hitting a boundary to win England the Test with a score of 135*. Expanding on this match, Stokes was the highest scoring batsman for England (441 runs) and contributed 15 wickets with his bowling despite a shoulder injury making him a specialist batsman in the last Test. After the summer he’s had, he’s in with a great shot of winning Sports Personality of the Year.

Jack Leach: While Stokes got the glory from the 3rd Test, that match also helped to make Jack Leach a cult figure. After a 92-run stand as nightwatchman against Ireland, Leach continued to show his ability to get in and stay in as a tail-ender even against an elite bowling attack, becoming a cult figure with his repeated cleaning of his glasses. Though his own run totals were limited, it gave England a chance when they get towards their final few batsmen, while he also brought some danger to the bowling attack with 12 wickets for an average of 25.83. It looks like he’s done enough to hold his spot even if Moeen Ali returns to form.

Rory Burns: So things didn’t really go well for either set of openers in this series, but Rory Burns was head, shoulders, knees and toes above the rest of them. He finished the series with 390 runs, second only to Ben Stokes in the England team and was the only England batsman other than Stokes to hit a century, with a high score of 133. The opening pair has been a real issue for England for years. It feels like Burns has done enough to cement himself as one of the pair.

Marnus Labuschagne: Steve Smith’s concussion that saw him miss the 2nd innings of the 2nd Test and the entire 3rd Test could have been critical, but instead it brought his replacement Marnus Labuschagne to the fore. Despite taking a Jofra Archer bouncer to the head almost immediately, he went on to become Smith’s doppelgänger, reaching 50 in each of his first 4 innings. Smith’s return saw him stay in the order and be promoted to 3rd on the order. Creating a long-standing partnership as inevitable as death and taxes, it looks like he and Smith will be a fixture in the team for them to build their batting line-up around.

Aussie bowling: While the England batting was often poor, they were not helped by the best bowling attack in the world being on form. Pat Cummins was the bowler of the series, taking 29 wickets over the 5 Tests for an average of 19.62. Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon both contributed 20 wickets. Even maligned bowler Mitchell Marsh managed to take 7 wickets in just 1 Test. Such was the quality of the options available, Mitchell Starc was only involved in 1 Test. While England’s poor batting certainly helped, don’t expect them tobe the last team to struggle under the Australian onslaught

The Losers

David Warner: Steve Smith wasn’t the only one making his return to Test cricket following the ball-tampering scandal, as Steve Smith was part of Australia’s opening pair for all 5 Tests. Unfortunately for Warner, the similarities ended there as he finished the series with a disappointing 95 runs total. While that is already the worst total for an opener batting in 10 innings, what makes things even worse is that 61 of those runs came in a single innings, while he became the first opening batsman in any Test series ever, to be out for eight single digit scores… ouch!

Jason Roy: There were plenty of questions over the selection of Jason Roy as an opener in this series. Clearly a talented player, he is not currently cut out for opening in Test cricket. Over 4 Tests, Roy totalled just 110 runs with a high score of 31. He looked a bit more comfortable when moved down the order for the 4th Test, but still needed to work on batting to stay in. He made way for Sam Curran for the final Test as Stokes was playing as a specialist batsman, but will hopefully be given another chance around the number 5 spot and against a more forgiving bowling attack.

Joe Root: Joe Root is a fantastic player and arguably England’s best Test batsman. Unfortunately, the pressures of captaincy appear to be having an effect on his batting, where he is struggling to keep his average up. Add in some questionable selection decisions and use of his bowlers through the tournament and a number of costly drops, and things don’t look good for him. The fact that England came away with a drawn series and looked good value for the win had it not been for the reduced overs in the 2nd Test – despite being arguably the second-best team in the series – has potentially just saved Root from losing the captaincy.

Tim Paine: He may have just retained the Ashes, but this was not a good series for the Australian captain. There were a number of questionable selection decisions (the final Test looked to have a dream wicket for Mitchell Starc) and tactical decisions (his decision on winning the toss at the final Test was proved horribly wrong). His batting wasn’t great, and he had a number of costly drops as wicketkeeper. But by far the worst facet of his series was his use of the DRS reviews. It got to the point that it felt like every decision he made relating to DRS was the wrong one! Retaining the Ashes – and how recent Smith has returned to the Test squad – may help him keep hold of the Ashes for a little longer, but if feels like his days are numbered.

RWC2019: Players to Watch – Pool D

RWC2019: Players to Watch – Pool D

We are just days away from the start of the Rugby World Cup and we now know the players who will be on show. With the 31-man squads finalised, it’s time to start taking a look at the squads and looking at who will stand out during this tournament. In 2015, Nehe Milner-Skudder made his all Blacks debut in August, before going on to be a star of the tournament and make the tournament dream team, along with Japanese fullback Ayumu Goromaru, who definitely wasn’t known to the masses before the tournament.

With so many people who aren’t die-hard rugby fans set to watch the tournament, or many whose knowledge is maybe limited to their own nation’s players, I decided to do something similar to my Players to Watch in the Six Nations article, and expand that to each team of the World Cup. While I try to watch as much rugby as I can around the world, you’ll see that even I have blank spots as I select some players that may be bigger names in their teams, but they still may be lesser-known names to the wider public.

Journey to RWC2019 series:

Who are you looking out for during the tournament? And so we make it to Pool D:

Australia

Samu Kerevi may have 20+ caps to his name already, but I would argue that he has never really made a name for himself until this season. Though the Reds failed to make the playoffs this season, Kerevi finished in the top 10 for carries (220 – 1st), clean breaks (26 – 5th), defenders beaten (71 – 2nd) and offloads (26 – 2nd). He has carried that form into the Rugby Championship and has surely secured himself a spot in the Wallabies midfield.

Wales

The Wales squad has been relatively settled in recent years, allowing all the players to establish themselves, but for this I have gone for Josh Navidi. Having competed for minutes with Martyn Williams and Sam Warburton, he is a great openside flanker, who is at home anywhere in the back row – giving Warren Gatland more options with Taulupe Faletau out injured. Dangerous at the breakdown, he is also well accomplished at holding a player up to turn the ball over with a maul and his skills with ball in hand are massively underrated.

Georgia

Vasil Lobzhanidze was going to be my pick here, until I got the chance to watch Georgia’s warm-up matches against Scotland. While watching this, fly half Tedo Abzhandadze caught my eye and I was shocked to find that he was already a regular starter for the senior side despite being just 20 years old. Captain of the Georgian U20s team that beat Scotland and Fiji in the most recent World Rugby U20s Championship, the young 10 showed his range of skills at Murrayfield and controlled the game well. Now the question will be how he holds up in a major senior international tournament.

Fiji

I was going to write about rugby league convert Semi Radradra initially, but when push came to shove I couldn’t ignore Viliame Mata. The Edinburgh number 8 was named Players’ Player of the Year at the end of season Pro14 awards. Part of the Fiji 7s squad that won Gold at Rio 2016, he is an incredible danger in the loose with his strong running and ridiculous offloads. The thought of him, Semi Kunatani and Leone Nakarawa in the pack together is mouth-watering!

Uruguay

Probably one of the hardest to pick due to my own unfamiliarity with the Uruguayans. While I was tempted to go for Gastón Mieres, one of the Uruguayans making a name for themselves in Major League Rugby, I found myself instead picking Felipe Berchesi. Playing for Dax, who were just relegated from Pro D2, he is used to a decent level of rugby, while he has over 30 caps for Uruguay including 3 starts at RWC2015 and also featured at the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens.

I’m running a fantasy rugby league for the World Cup on the Rugby Magazine website, and you are all invited to join! Simply follow this link and use the Unique Token: b6c1e40d48e6

Will you be picking any of these players in your squad?