Rolling Rugby Thread

Dr Awesome

Techsteppin'
Who's going to be around in NZ for the RWC then?
I can't say I'm a huge rugby enthusiast but it'd be good to meet some of the brotherhood....
 

luka

Well-known member
yah i think i was just feeling mean spiritd. beale probably is the most exciting playerer in th world at th moment and with an admirably seedy mostache to boot. ive been reading hype about him since i came here 4 years ago tho and its only really last season he started looking like a genius.
 

luka

Well-known member
mind you aus just lost to samoa ahahhahahhahahhah
http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/rugby-union/union-news/samoa-smash-wallabies-20110717-1hjtm.html
i watchd the super 15 final. stuart barnes reckons its the first tim the heinikin champions would easily beat the super rugby champions in th history of the two tournaments. it was a nailbitere but th quality was vry low. cooper and genia are a pair of showmen tho... looking foward to the world cup a lot..... aussies still cant put a scrum together. all blacks certainly can tho.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
mind you aus just lost to samoa ahahhahahhahahhah
http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/rugby-union/union-news/samoa-smash-wallabies-20110717-1hjtm.html
i watchd the super 15 final. stuart barnes reckons its the first tim the heinikin champions would easily beat the super rugby champions in th history of the two tournaments. it was a nailbitere but th quality was vry low. cooper and genia are a pair of showmen tho... looking foward to the world cup a lot..... aussies still cant put a scrum together. all blacks certainly can tho.

I think it will be a shame if Oz don't win the WC. Their backs are ridiculous...
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Whilst Wales are fucked. I can't even get up much enthusiasm as usual. SA, Samoa and Fiji in the same group? It's like a bad joke, given Wales' history against these 3 countries...I'd rather Australia, Argentina and ireland, tbh. Perhaps.
 

luka

Well-known member
while aus have astonishing talent in th backs i would be suprised if they win the thing as they ar still vry inconsistant and to win th wc you need to go unbeaten for a fw gams in a row, something which has been beyond them these last few years.
quade cooper is something else though. carlos spencer pt 2. his hero is benji marshall who has been one of the only reasons for me to watch thee nrl in australia. wonderful player. will genia is the bst in the world in his position, kurtley beale is very good, o'conner is very good and looks like a teen idol, thir fowards are shit too which is exactly what you want from an australia side. gete bullied all game but still find new and outrageous ways to win. the tri nations startd on saturday but SA hav left 22 of their top players at home so the first game was a predictable walkover for australia. th real actions starts when they visit auckland in 2 weeks time.
 

luka

Well-known member
nz just demolished aus. the thing that stands out about this years all blacks is the conservative nature of their play. they are really keeping things tight. this is obviously in preperation for the world cup cos it was only last year they were pure adrenaline from start to finish. the ease with which they beat th wallabies bodes well for the world cup. digby ione is in red hot form for aus though.... cooper still going fonr th sublime to the ridiculoous multiple times per game which is fun to watch.
 

luka

Well-known member
although losing carter would spell disaster the depth in nz rugby is astonishing. a poster on the guardian posted this list
15. Miuliana / Dagg / Smith
14. Jane / Toeava / Maitland
13. Smith / Kahui / Freuan
12. Nonu / SBW / Stanley
11. Gear / Sivivatu / Guildford (and then Ranger!!!)
10. DC / Slade / Cruden (with Anscombe and Barrett to come through)
9. Weepu / Cowan / Ellis
8. Read / Vito / Manu (another Whitelock)
7. McCaw / Braid(s) / Todd (and Cane)
6. Kaino / Thomson / Messam
5. Whitelock / Williams / Donnelly (Retallick soon enough)
4. Thorn / Boric / Hoeata
3. Franks / Afoa / Tialata
2. Mealamu / Hore / Rutledge (better than Flynn)
1. Crockett / Franks / Faumuina
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Go Tonga! Pity the game hasn't been closer, but I can only assume the ABs have been as awesome as usual in the pool stages (not ben watching live)
 

jenks

thread death
i think the sheer length of the tournament could make sustained enthusiasm hard - doesn't finish til the end of next month.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
I know, it is too spread out. Although it generally means that it will be a weekend thing for me, as rarely are the big matches played during the week.

Personally, given Wales' task in what might be the toughest group, it'll still be fairly gripping, but the other pools don't promise to offer as much excitement. Having said that, NZ-France and England-Argentina are massive for both NZ and England to avoid each other in the QFs. The Oz-Ire-Italy group looks a bit dull though; pity, as Ireland were brilliant in March vs England.

I would say I hope one of the teams outside the big 9 makes an impact, but I know that if they do, it'll be Samoa, at Wales' expense... Other than that, can't see any big surprises.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
The building the ABs up to knock them down has begun impressively early:

"The centre Sonny Bill Williams set up tries galore with his backhanded passing out of the tackle, took his shirt off for the crowd and generally showed that if it comes to a contest of individual talents, New Zealand are incomparable."

blatantly untrue to anyone who saw Australia perform the other week. They have individual talent to burn.
 
Top