Official Rugby Thread

[Somerset]

Do you think the West Indies should disband then?

I think using a cricket argument is a bit different to a rugby argument, given the West Indies are one of only ten test playing nations and the individual nations which make up the Windies would not, by themselves, achieve test status. In a rugby context the sum of the Pacific nations doesn't, at least in my view, form a side that much superior to Tonga/Samoa/Fiji playing as their own country, as well as the test caps awarded for matches involving Tonga/Samoa/Fiji anyway.

 

[Somerset]

Yeah good luck to them. It makes me pleased to see when people behave in a generous fashion and include another country in their competition for the growth of the sport. The 5 nations did it. And now the Tri Nations have done it.

I sometimes wonder if Argentina may have been better off joining the 6 nations because then they could have beaten up on Italy and had good games with which ever home nation was having a poor year. But geography advised that we were the better fit.

I think the other key advantage is that most of the Argentine players are associated with European clubs anyway. They'd certainly be pressing for a top four finish given the performances of the Irish, Scots and Italians in the last Six Nations. I guess much of the anti-Argentina crowd base their view on travel. From what I understand, travelling from SA to Argentina, and vice versa, involves going through relatively fewer timezone changes than from Europe. With Aus/NZ already having to visit SA, I guess from a travel perspective it might be more sensible to tag on Argentina to the Tri Nations than to the Six Nations, where travel is hardly a factor.

 

[Somerset]

They can compete but not topple one of the top teams.

If they competed as Pacific Islands they would be a legit chance to win the whole thing.

Well, Tonga beat France at the World Cup and Samoa beat Australia a few months prior. Fiji drew against Wales, in Wales, at the end of 2010. And if the top teams actually played in the Islands, the home crowds would certainly be a factor also, much like in Argentina.

 

[Somerset]

The Tri Nations (or whatever its calling itself now the Argies have been enfranchised) starts again this weekend. Hope Los Pumas put on a good show and maybe sneak the odd win.

Find them altogether less disagreeable as a rugby nation than a football one.

I think their best chance of a victory comes at home against Australia in the final round. I think they'll struggle against South Africa and find travelling down under difficult. New Zealand will probably be too strong and have the advantage of playing with a rest week beforehand. So I'd be placing my money on Argentina, if they're to taste success, to beat Australia at the conclusion of the tournament.

 

[ripper868]

Do you think the West Indies should disband then?

No. The West Indies vs the PI's is a very different situation. The WI was founded as the WI and it works (most of the time).

 

[Spark]

So I've watched 5 minutes and already the ABs have shredded our defence twice. Could be a long night, methinks...

EDIT Bloody hell. Schoolboy. Could so easily have been 3 tries instead of one...

 

[_Ed_]

What were they thinking there?! High-jinks. Australia lucky to come out of that unscathed.

 

[Spark]

What were they thinking there?! High-jinks. Australia lucky to come out of that unscathed.

Insane stuff. ABs look sharp but fmd we've been poor ever since I started watching (at like ~7 mins in)

 

[Spark]

/facepalm

How do you **** those up? Srsly.

Edit: Indeed.

EDIT2: Oh, and can someone tell the Wallabies that the pitch is greater than 30m wide.

 

[Spikey]

get doherty out there

 

[Spark]

Yay, some half-decent rugby, and points! Points!

 

[BackFootPunch]

Aaron Smith is the goods. Stay that way please son.

Also, what is Kurtley Beale doing tonight? Mind on other things?

 

[Spark]

ABs have to have fluffed close to half a dozen potential tries tonight. Badly.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Woeful game. Shouldn't have bothered watching it, but you just hope that two teams like this can pull it together. Over officious refereeing didn't help either but still...

 

[social]

Wallabies are a horrible outfit

Cant blame him for everything but they have gone nowhere under Deans

 

[Hurricane]

My hatred for Aaron Smith dissapated in the 2nd half when he started doing his job and doing it well.

Badly wanted Hooper to get on the field.

Pathetic handling by the Wallabies.

 

[Burgey]

Wallabies are a horrible outfit

Cant blame him for everything but they have gone nowhere under Deans

It's a 100+ year culture of mediocrity mate, interspersed with once every quarter century short periods of excellence. The plaything of the Bunyip Aristocracy.

90% of Australians rightly care nothing for it. NZ & SA have the right rugby culture because they draw their players from right across the social spectrum, not from Toff schools where kids have their arses wiped for them.

Anyway, that's me on this thread for the year. I'll pop back in to make the same point next season when the Australian rugby fans are lifted home from the ground in their sedan chairs, wonder why the Woefuls have lost again and try to figure out why no one really gives a ****.

 

[uvelocity]

ahhh burgey, when I agree with you, I ****ing agree with you

 

[ripper868]

Yep, league sure pulls blokes from all corners. Rapists, drug peddlers, tax cheats, wife bashers it's got it all. Must be why the game is so widely loved across the Worl...Austra...Queensland, NSW and tiny patch of England.

I mean why would you play rugby and travel to places like NZ, South Africa and Argentina every second week when you can play top flight league and travel to exotic places like Campbelltown, Penrith and Townsville.

Looking forward to the next world cup with Jarryd Hayne playing for Fiji in the pools and Australia in the finals, hell maybe he can even play for Queensland next year.

Wallabies beaten and beaten well, Hopefully next week is a better game, can see the Ab's running 40 past us if they click. Word is Pocock is out as well with knee damage - huge loss.

 

[Spark]

Needs less Waratahs tbh.