Official Rugby Thread

[Heboric]

Geez Bulls that wasnt good

 

[_Ed_]

Definitely, agree. I think Scott Barrett seems to have the captaincy locked up though doesn't he? I'd be surprised if Razor went elsewhere.

And you were right. Probably not much of a surprise, as you say.

Quite a few Crusaders players made the squad, despite how poorly that team performed this year.

 

[James]

Dreadful squad , expected more of a clean-out from Razor and especially that we would move on from the likes of Beauden Barrett. Reuben Love or shall I say the new Christian Cullen should 100% be there. Along with Harry Plummer and plenty of others I would have picked also.

It was time to invest in youth and try and reinvent the black jersey rather than more of the same. Feels like Razor is following the Gary Stead trend.

 

[Molehill]

Should be an interesting series. England are definitely improving and NZ look slightly vulnerable. probably 2-0 to NZ, but be surprised if they're not pretty close games.

 

[Smudge]

Dreadful squad

LOL, I do enjoy James' always-measured takes on rugby.

 

[James]

LOL, I do enjoy James' always-measured takes on rugby.

Haha overly passionate about the ABs squad and was hoping for a new direction from Razor.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Should be an interesting series. England are definitely improving and NZ look slightly vulnerable. probably 2-0 to NZ, but be surprised if they're not pretty close games.

Should have a couple of quid on us if you think we'll go close. We're the value in the betting, IMHO. Think we'll be given a very sound thrashing but one won't get rich backing the ABs.

NZ currently 2/9 and we're 11/2 (draw 40/1). Or, if you dress on that side, NZ 1.22, England 5.5 and the draw is 41.

 

[Molehill]

Should have a couple of quid on us if you think we'll go close. We're the value in the betting, IMHO. Think we'll be given a very sound thrashing but one won't get rich backing the ABs.

NZ currently 2/9 and we're 11/2 (draw 40/1). Or, if you dress on that side, NZ 1.22, England 5.5 and the draw is 41.

It's definitely closer than that. England have just beaten Ireland and gone close in Paris. Their club sides have put up respectable efforts in Europe despite not having the funds to compete with the French or the Irish National Side (Leinster). NZ are very much in transition and it would seem those on here are not overly comfortable with the new squad.

The bet would probably be England on the handicap, Evens with 12 points looks decent to me.

 

[Flem274*]

I don't get the Plummer calls on social media. One solid season doesn't balance out a career of being sub standard at Super level and not really a consistent standout at NPC (Fergburger, Jacomb better).

This year's Stevenson I guess, perhaps without the Instagram DM activity. Stevenson was at least solid before his peak last year tho.

 

[James]

I don't get the Plummer calls on social media. One solid season doesn't balance out a career of being sub standard at Super level and not really a consistent standout at NPC (Fergburger, Jacomb better).

This year's Stevenson I guess, perhaps without the Instagram DM activity. Stevenson was at least solid before his peak last year tho.

I think where those people are coming from is building towards the 2027 WC and giving youth a chance , rather than more of the same. Think it's less about Plummer and more about wanting to see a new approach from Razor.

 

[James]

Will be interesting to see if Hoskins Sotutu takes up a contract in the UK now seeing as he qualifies to play for England if he wants. A massive loss if he does.

 

[Molehill]

Will be interesting to see if Hoskins Sotutu takes up a contract in the UK now seeing as he qualifies to play for England if he wants. A massive loss if he does.

That would provide some significant strength to the number 8 position if he did so, given we already have Ben Earl there who could potentially be the Lions starter in that position.

 

[Smudge]

From my impeccable sources, Sotutu's attitude is still a problem.

Lazy, players score underneath him on the goal line too often, workrate not good enough. Cut up footage and sat down with him and showed him, didn't react to it well.

Then an Instagram post last night saying "most hated'. Yep, prob won't ever play for ABs again

 

[ashley bach]

Dreadful squad , expected more of a clean-out from Razor and especially that we would move on from the likes of Beauden Barrett. Reuben Love or shall I say the new Christian Cullen should 100% be there. Along with Harry Plummer and plenty of others I would have picked also.

It was time to invest in youth and try and reinvent the black jersey rather than more of the same. Feels like Razor is following the Gary Stead trend.

It's a tricky situation isn't it?
It must be hard for Razor not to put faith in players that have performed and succeeded for him for so many years on end.
This years Crusaders debacle shouldn't be looked into too deeply as they had a new coach and were missing about 20 players at different stages
throughout the season. Even towards the end they managed to beat the Blues just to remind us of what they're capable of.
I'm thinking this year he's going with what he's more comfortable with and at the same time repaying that faith in those players.
Next year will be more the time for change which still leaves plenty of time to build and prepare for the next cup.

 

[ashley bach]

Should be an interesting series. England are definitely improving and NZ look slightly vulnerable. probably 2-0 to NZ, but be surprised if they're not pretty close games.

Should have a couple of quid on us if you think we'll go close. We're the value in the betting, IMHO. Think we'll be given a very sound thrashing but one won't get rich backing the ABs.

NZ currently 2/9 and we're 11/2 (draw 40/1). Or, if you dress on that side, NZ 1.22, England 5.5 and the draw is 41.

It's definitely closer than that. England have just beaten Ireland and gone close in Paris. Their club sides have put up respectable efforts in Europe despite not having the funds to compete with the French or the Irish National Side (Leinster). NZ are very much in transition and it would seem those on here are not overly comfortable with the new squad.

The bet would probably be England on the handicap, Evens with 12 points looks decent to me.

While the All blacks have consistently been the best team in the world for a long period of time(despite a couple of poor world cups)
they have been an incredibly great team to bet against simply because of the ridiculous short price that bookies offer on them.
Of course I always want them to win, but I'll often wager against them and feel comfortable whatever the result ends up.
There's been many major coups landed over the last decade with Las Pumas being the best example. In 2020 and 2021 they tipped over
the blacks and paid over 20-1 on each occasion.

Characteristically the All blacks often start the season off slowly, and while they probably will win 2-0, the chance of your boys snaffling a 1-1 drawn
series is still a reasonable shot at those juicy odds of 5.5.

 

[Molehill]

While the All blacks have consistently been the best team in the world for a long period of time(despite a couple of poor world cups)
they have been an incredibly great team to bet against simply because of the ridiculous short price that bookies offer on them.
Of course I always want them to win, but I'll often wager against them and feel comfortable whatever the result ends up.
There's been many major coups landed over the last decade with Las Pumas being the best example. In 2020 and 2021 they tipped over
the blacks and paid over 20-1 on each occasion.

Characteristically the All blacks often start the season off slowly, and while they probably will win 2-0, the chance of your boys snaffling a 1-1 drawn
series is still a reasonable shot at those juicy odds of 5.5.

Yeah, I think the bookies have got this quite considerably wrong (they may yet prove me wrong). This is the best pack England have had for a while, a back row of Curry, Underhill and Earl is right up there with the best in the world. The weakness is the front row, but they should do enough to avoid giving away too many scrum pens. The Mitchell/Smith 9/10 pairing is far more creative than we've previously had, maybe slightly more suspect defensively, but having Underhill available again helps to cover that.

I guess we'll see, but I'm quietly hopeful, we're definitely over-priced anyway.

 

[Smudge]

England hasn't won in NZ since 2003. This England team is not of that vintage.

And this ABs team, with the nucleus of the squad coming off a 1-point loss in an RWC final last year, is no worse than the 2003 AB team that lost in Wellington.

History isn't everything but that's enough for me.

 

[Molehill]

England hasn't won in NZ since 2003. This England team is not of that vintage.

And this ABs team, with the nucleus of the squad coming off a 1-point loss in an RWC final last year, is no worse than the 2003 AB team that lost in Wellington.

History isn't everything but that's enough for me.

A reminder that England also only lost by 1 point to SA in the World Cup and I think they've improved since then. Agree that NZ should win this, but I think it will be quite close and hopefully a couple of decent games.

 

[ripper868]

A reminder that England also only lost by 1 point to SA in the World Cup and I think they've improved since then. Agree that NZ should win this, but I think it will be quite close and hopefully a couple of decent games.

3 teams lost to SA by 1 point in the World Cup, I'd not be using that as a measure of success/quality.

 

[ashley bach]

England hasn't won in NZ since 2003. This England team is not of that vintage.

And this ABs team, with the nucleus of the squad coming off a 1-point loss in an RWC final last year, is no worse than the 2003 AB team that lost in Wellington.

History isn't everything but that's enough for me.

A reminder that England also only lost by 1 point to SA in the World Cup and I think they've improved since then. Agree that NZ should win this, but I think it will be quite close and hopefully a couple of decent games.

History in Union between nations does matter, but it's important not to over complicate things.
Since 2003 England have toured NZ on only 3 occasions. The first time came the following year in 2004 and that was always going to be tough with
the revenge factor as well as the world cup hangover from the year before.
In 2014 England did lose 3-0, but they lost a match by 1 point and another by 5 points.
Here's the last 4 matches the teams have played since 2014:

NZ won 24-21 (Twickers)
NZ won 16-15 (Twickers)
England won 19-7 (world cup in Japan)
Draw 25-25 (Twickers)

That adds up to England +8 over the 4 combined matches.
Basically any time the All blacks play a top-tier nation, (and England are always top-tier imo despite some inconsistency) it becomes almost automatic
to bet against the All blacks particularly when you get odds such as 5.5.
While the blacks always have the edge, it's a much smaller one than what the prices indicate. Keep it in mind when you lose and be sure to increase
ever so slightly next time. The day the blacks just turn up and win is way past the expiry date.

There's not much doubt that the All blacks are the most over backed team in the history of any sports team.