Official Rugby Thread

[Jarquis]

Couldn't believe it when I heard the size of the crowd in Melbourne the other day

 

[ripper868]

Received a drunken phone call from a mate on Saturday who told me that club rugby in Brisbane is dead

He was attending a game at his former club for the first time in years and less than 100 people turned up whereas it would have been several thousand in his day

I trotted out some attempted excuses e.g. Wallabies playing, **** weather, your former team were all-stars (had about 10 Wallabies in their lineup iirc) etc etc

He just said nope and passed me on to a mutual friend who is a high-profile former Wallaby and he went even further

I thought club rugby was one of the few brightish spots but obviously not

ARU has a lot to answer for

Mind my asking which Brisbane Club it was?

While I was there Uni, Brothers, Easts, Sunnybank and GPS would always get pretty decent crowds. The perennial strugglers like Norths, Souths Wests and 'Gold Coast' (Now Bond) would be up and down but still have a steady following.

Finals weeks at Ballymore were regularly around 5k in the lead up semi finals and then about 8-10k for the final.

That said, that was 5 years ago!

 

[social]

Mind my asking which Brisbane Club it was?

While I was there Uni, Brothers, Easts, Sunnybank and GPS would always get pretty decent crowds. The perennial strugglers like Norths, Souths Wests and 'Gold Coast' (Now Bond) would be up and down but still have a steady following.

Finals weeks at Ballymore were regularly around 5k in the lead up semi finals and then about 8-10k for the final.
I
That said, that was 5 years ago!

Souths in the early 90s

Of course they had Horan, Little and heaps of other Wallabies to attract the punters but it's still sad to see

 

[ripper868]

Yeah Souths are an intersting one. they got a decent following when they went to the Final a couple of seasons back, but were always one of the 'also rans' while I was in Brisbane. most annoying thing about the club was players lower than Premier Grade were given their own jersey for the season with their own number on it...so instead of the team being numbered 1-23, a forward pack would look like:
125,289,343,209,112,98,497, 240.

Drove me and I imagine anyone trying to keep tab on who was playing what position insane.

 

[hendrix]

Wow, Lienert-Brown is some player

 

[social]

Awful start from the Wallabies with lack of discipline and skills "complemented" by aimless kicking

Aside from their physiques, it's hard to believe that some of these guys are international footballers

 

[StephenZA]

I am enjoying the Scot Aus game here quite a bit, mistakes and all. But I truly can not believe how far the Aussies have fallen and fail to pick themselves up. They have a so very much talent in that team and just doing nothing with it.

 

[Howe_zat]

Quite hard to believe Scotland are winning this on waking up. Certainly don't imagine we've seen much of their back three which looks very second tier.

I'm guessing it's been Good Russell (tm) which is going to lead to awkward questions for Warren Gatland

 

[Howe_zat]

Two kicks in front of the posts thrown away by Australia when they're five points down. Not maths fans, these boys

 

[hendrix]

gee, that scottish player was off his feet for me...interesting interpretation from the referee...

 

[StephenZA]

Edit: Well done to Scotland.

Fun exciting game... not a popular opinion but I like Wayne Barnes as a ref. He is clear with his instructions and is consistent.

When you watch these games and compare to the NZ side, the obvious skills that the AB's have is easy to see but I truly think that the biggest single factor that is separating them from the rest of the rugby world right now is their decision making, it is superb, and something that only comes with a team of players who have been trained to read the game from early in their careers.

 

[social]

I am so sick of hearing the myth of the Wallabies talent

Fact is that the Wallabies are just an incredibly mediocre team that is sorely lacking in the fundamentals

It's a sorry indictment when Karmichael Hunt, who has played 2 tests, is just about the most reliable player and probably should be captain

 

[hendrix]

Edit: Well done to Scotland.

Fun exciting game... not a popular opinion but I like Wayne Barnes as a ref. He is clear with his instructions and is consistent.

When you watch these games and compare to the NZ side, the obvious skills that the AB's have is easy to see but I truly think that the biggest single factor that is separating them from the rest of the rugby world right now is their decision making, it is superb, and something that only comes with a team of players who have been trained to read the game from early in their careers.

I think what makes Wayne Barnes at odds with NZ viewers is that he has probably the greatest difference in interpretation of the breakdown in comparison with how it's interpreted here.

I could not agree with a single one of those three penalties he gave in the last 5 mins.

 

[StephenZA]

I think what makes Wayne Barnes at odds with NZ viewers is that he has probably the greatest difference in interpretation of the breakdown in comparison with how it's interpreted here.

I could not agree with a single one of those three penalties he gave in the last 5 mins.

I think that is true for a lot of Northern versus Southern refs... he definitely allows more 'competition' at breakdown than most. I also think he is more stringent on the offside line, which I like. But mostly he lets play continue whenever he can.

 

[BoyBrumby]

I'm not Barnes's biggest fan, but our Stephen there makes a fair point: he is generally consistent.

Reffing union is always slightly down to interpretation and Barnes almost invariably pings anyone off their feet in a ruck who isn't the initial tackler. Means the "clear out" is chancing your luck.

 

[StephenZA]

I'm not Barnes's biggest fan, but our Stephen there makes a fair point: he is generally consistent.

Reffing union is always slightly down to interpretation and Barnes almost invariably pings anyone off their feet in a ruck who isn't the initial tackler. Means the "clear out" is chancing your luck.

This is very true, it is probably why I do like him cause I hate the players who go of their feet at the ruck unnecessarily, slowing everything down. I also detest when players go past the ruck and block or grab on to defending players. .

 

[hendrix]

I'm not Barnes's biggest fan, but our Stephen there makes a fair point: he is generally consistent.

Reffing union is always slightly down to interpretation and Barnes almost invariably pings anyone off their feet in a ruck who isn't the initial tackler. Means the "clear out" is chancing your luck.

He lets players lie all over the ball and doesn't force the release of the tackled player.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Entertaining start to the Boks/Bleus test. The lad Penaud at 13 for the French looks to have a good step and rapid pace.

Brave finish from Spedding for the French try too. Was properly face planted by Etzebeth & looks like he got a busted nose for his trouble, but had the awareness to keep his feet off the touchine.

 

[StephenZA]

2 fantastic tries to start this game off... 1 a piece,

 

[BoyBrumby]

Slight hint of forward on the final pass to Serfontein?