Rolling Rugby Thread

[baboon2004]

Mentioning the whole France thing around NZ is like stepping on some men's (and women's) testicles.

Probably like mentioning Samoa to a Welsh fan *shudders*

 

[luka]

that was a very different game. australia competed well. got on top in the restarts, apeing nz's tactics from last week and executing well. made chances. created pressure. pocock is really a monster. looks like he-man. one of the best players in the world without a doubt. look out for him in the world cup. given that the wallabies were missing (new zealander) will genia, and that they were playing in christchurch it was a massive performance by them. on the downside they got smashed in the scrums even with robinson back. in fact they got annihilated. woodcock, who always looks like hes suffering from a terrible hangover was immense. ma'afu is not world class. he got humiliated again as he did last week and against england. all blacks never looked like losing but never had the game in the palm of their hand either. a big come down for them after the last three matches. still the tri-nations is more or less theirs. they have won the last 9 matches against aus on the trot. they've got incredible oyung players coming through like reid, dagg, jane, the giant-jawed franks brothers, etc etc and the old boys are still firing. mccaw, carter, muliaina and the rest of that mob. still tonight will have given them a reality check. only two tries! only a 10 point victory.

 

[luka]

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/u...st-gets-under-blacks-skin-20100806-11ok1.html

pocock article

 

[luka]

nz won the tri nations by beating south africa at soccer city in the weekend. losing with 2 minutes to go. south africa got quite a few first team players out at the moment so they'll probably be a lot better in europe whenever that tour starts, failry soon i suppose.
this is good
Rupeni Caucaunibuca compilation. amazing fijian winger. faster than rokokoko or howlett or pretty much anyone ive ever seen. seeing out the end of his career in france at the moment.

 

[luka]

dunno if you can watch these in the uk or not. its highlights of the scotland - nz game. i want you to watch it just to have a look at sonny bill williams.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/video.cfm?c_id=4&gal_objectid=10687540&gallery_id=115150

 

[luka]

enjoying reading the comments on the game in the herald

The team on the pitch is the best there is in Australia. Maybe one or two forwards may come in (Palu/Horwill) but neither could be described as world class. It's time we woke up to a few home truths;
Australia has a complete lack of talented forwards. With the exception of Moore, none of the tight 5 would make it into the Scotland squad. Ditto any of the 8s available.
Elsom is way off his best and not a Captain.
Genia is OK, but not among the best in the world. The English half back has twice the talent
Cooper is fantastic in attack and a liability in defence. Its nothing to do with technique - he is a coward.
We have no international standard place kicker.
The Wallabies have won the odd game because of luck, and the
skill of the backs. The forwards create nothing.
The best coach in the world could not remedy these ill, and Dean is the best.
Bring in Barnes, Palu and Horwill when fit, and we might make the semis at RWC. Not if we play NZ, England, France or SA on the way though. They are not all going to make the mistakes we need to win.

The Real Deal - November 14, 2010, 7:35AM

 

[luka]

heres a good one for the welsh fans out there

and an article about sonny bill./
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/u...oves-his-all-blacks-class-20101114-17sb5.html

 

[baboon2004]

Cooper is fantastic in attack and a liability in defence. Its nothing to do with technique - he is a coward.

that's excellent.

re the aus-eng match, don't agree with the hype around the (2nd?) Ashton try - it took guts to run it from that deep, true, but it was after that a case of one man running very fast (and intelligently). To compare it to tries like the great french one at Twickenham is bollocks.

I preferred the first try, which i thought showed stunning offloading, reminiscent of a southern hemisphere side. Offloading and drawing your man are the keys to scoring tries, plain and simple.

All that said, I'm in favour of England for the first time in my life - their backs will be handful for anyone, and I see no reason why they can't be in the World Cup final for the right reasons (for the first time) next year, ie playing fearless, entertaining rugby. Wish I'd seen the Eng-NZ game now - if the draw allows it, I'd say that's the most likely final right now.

Wales, on the other hand...what can I say? That defeat was so fucking predictable. They dont' look as though they know what they're doing in the backs, and that first try was obstruction.

 

[luka]

every single try new zealand scored on saturday was better than either of englands two tries i agree. ashton ran faster than drew mitchell (i think it was mitchell) thats pretty much it. youngs was brave at first to dummy and run from behind his line but that it. if ashton had outrun beale i would have been impressed, but he wouldnt cos hes not that quick. having said all that i think it was just the thrill of having an england player with pace again... and seeing them win and seeing them play good rugby and seeing the aussies lose... im sure england will lose in miserable fashion against SA though just to put a dampener on things.
http://rugbydump.blogspot.com/2010/11/all-blacks-show-their-class-against.html
the all blacks tries are here. try and tell me ashtons try was anything like as impressive as gears.

 

[luka]

although i love craner and baboon as if they were my own brothers im afriad we must spare a moment or two to laugh uproariously at the expense of our taffy cousins. you just drew with fiji. at home.

 

[Sectionfive]

Machines

 

[Sectionfive]

Big difference between 2nd and 5th today

France asleep at home

 

[baboon2004]

although i love craner and baboon as if they were my own brothers im afriad we must spare a moment or two to laugh uproariously at the expense of our taffy cousins. you just drew with fiji. at home.

oi, fiji are quite good.

today's results were insane. wales were again murdered, of course, but south africa showed more steel than they have for a long time, and as for france 16-59 australia, wtf?

 

[baboon2004]

http://www.lassen.co.nz/pickandgo.php

This site is borderline insane. Want to know how many times Romania beat Tier 1 opposition from the Northern hemisphere between 1980 and 1995? Or how many Wilko wins New Zealnd have notched up?

One thing that's shocking is how few opportunities the non-Int Board sides had to play the top teams in the past (and still pretty much now) - no wonder the rugby rankings have remained set for decades. eg Fiji have only ever played NZ three times outside the World Cup, and only Italy have travelled to play in Suva over the past ten years. Fucking shocking really.

 

[Sectionfive]

Massive scalp for Italy.

 

[baboon2004]

Obviously brilliant for Italy. The kicker (Bergammaso??) came good at the right moment, but quite honestly if he'd nailed the kicks earlier in the game, and against Ireland, Italy would be in an even better situation.

England scraped past Scotland, but no grand slam team has ever won allt he games convincingly, that I can think of. Winning is enough right now, from their pov.

- proper rugby, best back in the world right now. As to forwards, less my area...

 

[luka]

im not sure i agree about beale. i love him but i dont think he is as good as gear. lik most of the aussies he can be a flake.

 

[baboon2004]

I haven't seen him in action as much as you will have in the SH, so fair enough. But in what way a flake?

 

[luka]

he got a lot better last year... i suppose he's still young. he won a game with thee last kick of the match in last years tri-nations. im being unfair.

 

[baboon2004]

That jinking run vs South Africa on the video is one of the best things I've seen in ages.