Official Rugby Thread

[Hurricane]

Dissapointed that Nonu has been relegated from the starting XV (is he on the bench?)

Reckon Smith should be sitting...and failing that I reckon that SBW should have to do more than what he has done to knock Nonu off his perch.

 

[Somerset]

Dissapointed that Nonu has been relegated from the starting XV (is he on the bench?)

Reckon Smith should be sitting...and failing that I reckon that SBW should have to do more than what he has done to knock Nonu off his perch.

What more could SBW have done? He showed some very nice glimpses against England before a quieter second half in which England had much of the ball, was man of the match against Scotland, and only played the final quarter against the Irish. I think hes a better option coming off the bench in the long run BUT hes inexperienced at test level and I'd rather him start as many matches as possible before RWC to determine whether hes a better option than Nonu or Conrad Smith. We know what they have to offer, and they're used to the intensity of test rugby, so even though I was initially sceptical about SBW I'm very pleased to see him start the test against Wales tomorrow morning.

 

[social]

Dissapointed that Nonu has been relegated from the starting XV (is he on the bench?)

Reckon Smith should be sitting...and failing that I reckon that SBW should have to do more than what he has done to knock Nonu off his perch.

Nonu is a very good footballer (as is Smith) but SBW is a freak athlete

I'd put him in the same league as Lomu in that he's a once in a generation player - huge, fast, amazing ball skills and tough

The only question for me is whether he is familiar enough with the technical idiosyncracies and regulations of rugby

 

[Somerset]

Thought it worth mentioning that the All Blacks are the only Southern Hemisphere team considered favourites to win this weekend (and indeed ridiculous favourites, at $1.02) - but somehow I can't see all of Argentina, SA, Australia, Fiji and Samoa losing...

 

[social]

Could get ugly for Oz here

Just conceded a penalty try and yellow card from our **** scrum

So frustrating to see a team dominate most facets but fail in one of the basics

 

[Burgey]

Nothing like getting up early doors on a Sunday to watch scrums being reset.

She's a top game.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Could get ugly for Oz here

Just conceded a penalty try and yellow card from our **** scrum

So frustrating to see a team dominate most facets but fail in one of the basics

I'm intrigued as to how the Aussie scrum continues to be such a weak link in the side. The front rows are leagues apart, and I can't help but feel as if there are more penalty tries in the offing on the evidence of the first half.

 

[social]

I'm intrigued as to how the Aussie scrum continues to be such a weak link in the side. The front rows are leagues apart, and I can't help but feel as if there are more penalty tries in the offing on the evidence of the first half.

Think the view is that scrums in Super 14 and Tri-Nations are little more than a re-start so we get exposed by teams who attempt to make it a contest in its own right

Cost is obvious because we are dominating every other aspect against a French team that looks, for the most part, a disorganised rabble yet are still behind on the scoreboard because of the glaring weakness in 1 area

 

[social]

Ha ha

Win a scrum, score a try

 

[Neil Pickup]

Woeful defending from the French there in open/broken play - how many missed tackles?

Clearly the Aussies use the time the French spend on scrummaging to work on running lines.

 

[social]

Woeful defending from the French there in open/broken play - how many missed tackles?

Clearly the Aussies use the time the French spend on scrummaging to work on running lines.

That defending on the line was pitiful as well

French have been pretty poor tbh

 

[Neil Pickup]

I'm intrigued as to how the Aussie scrum continues to be such a weak link in the side. The front rows are leagues apart, and I can't help but feel as if there are more penalty tries in the offing on the evidence of the first half.

That's not going to go down as one of my better calls. I probably should have added the caveat that the ball would need to be in the Australian 22' on the odd occasion first. That was brutal.

Scotland > South Africa > England > Australia > France, right?

 

[BoyBrumby]

Just back from Twickers. We were ****ing ****e. Ref didn't help (if in doubt; penalty to the Yarps), but we were genuinely shocking. Lucky to still be in in at half-time and put away in the second half.

Begrudge paying £73 for that gash, tbh.

 

[TT Boy]

And I thought the 100RMB I was forced to pay to watch it in a bar was a lot.

 

[Somerset]

Thought it worth mentioning that the All Blacks are the only Southern Hemisphere team considered favourites to win this weekend (and indeed ridiculous favourites, at $1.02) - but somehow I can't see all of Argentina, SA, Australia, Fiji and Samoa losing...

Didn't imagine Australia winning by 40 points though - sounds like an absolute belting of the French in the second half.

As for the New Zealand vs Wales match, was impressed by how well Wales played after some rather poor recent results. Very similar to the way in which the game against Ireland played out last week in the sense that the Irish battled well for a side under some pressure and although lost comfortably enough, performed better than they were expected to. Kaino was brilliant and deservedly named the man of the match. Braid was unlucky to be yellow carded IMO and he, along with Boric, Nonu and Afoa were excellent off the bench. Donald was given just three minutes and I imagine that'll be the last time he wears the black jersey.

 

[Somerset]

Dissapointed that Nonu has been relegated from the starting XV (is he on the bench?)

Reckon Smith should be sitting...and failing that I reckon that SBW should have to do more than what he has done to knock Nonu off his perch.

I'll comment that SBW was very quiet in the match this morning, and that Nonu was far more threatening - IMO Wales' defensive strategy at rushing up and closing the backline down really rushed Carter and the NZ centres so I think that had an bearing on the lack of ball SBW had to work with. Nonu seemed to have a more open game in the last 20 minutes to show his skills.

One final comment about the NZ vs Wales game, and that concerns the pitch. Wasn't as bad this year as I've seen in previous years but it was still clearly chopping up and thats hardly ideal, particularly for the scrums. Indoor stadiums look fantastic aesthetically but for rugby the grounds seem to chop up so easily that its a real shame for the players.

 

[social]

That's not going to go down as one of my better calls. I probably should have added the caveat that the ball would need to be in the Australian 22' on the odd occasion first. That was brutal.

Scotland > South Africa > England > Australia > France, right?

You and me both

Unbelievable display from both sides in the second half

 

[Smudge]

Nothing like getting up early doors on a Sunday to watch scrums being reset.

She's a top game.

So you logged into this thread just to post a troll about rugby union. Good-o.

 

[TT Boy]

David Pocock’s arms are unreal; kid is seriously a mountain of muscle. He weighs more than Juan Smith, who has over 5 inches on him and is only a few kilos smaller than Pierre Spies. Absolute freak considering the mobility Pocock also has. Bit gutting that South Africa couldn’t poach him (most of Pocock’s family reside in the Republic). Really makes you miss and appreciate Heinrich Brussow.

 

[Somerset]

David Pocock’s arms are unreal; kid is seriously a mountain of muscle. He weighs more than Juan Smith, who has over 5 inches on him and is only a few kilos smaller than Pierre Spies. Absolute freak considering the mobility Pocock also has. Bit gutting that South Africa couldn’t poach him (most of Pocock’s family reside in the Republic). Really makes you miss and appreciate Heinrich Brussow.

I think both Pocock and Brussow are fantastic players, and in fact thought Pocock was just as good as McCaw in the Bledisloe Cup/Tri Nations matches this year. Hes got such a good appreciation of the rules at the breakdown and his strength is immense. As for Brussow, SA will be much stronger with him back in their squad next year, and obviously the same applies for Fourie du Preez, who I rate as the best halfback in the game.