Six Nations

[marc71178]

Personally I'd like to have a look at Van Gisbergen at 15.

What happened to him - called up to the squad then nothing...

 

[Blaze]

AFAIK yes, which that one did.

No it didn't.

 

[BoyBrumby]

What happened to him - called up to the squad then nothing...

Injury, then loss of form. I think he played for our "A" team last night.

Who also got dicked.

 

[open365]

Goode's solid, an "English" kicking stand-off, but he'll never be a world beater. We've just been unlucky to have Jonny, Olly Barkley & Charlie Hodgson all injured at once.

I'd have him over Crystal Charlie any day, too much praise gets heaped on Hogson despite the fact he's still as fragile as ever and doesn't command the back line aswell as he should.

Tom Vocye is another one with all the media hype despite being nothing more than average.

I would be very wary of giving Tom Varndell an England place just yet, he's quick, but his non-running game is questionable.

I would like to see Tait in there though, he looked nothing short of fantastic in the 7s and i think he would be in the side already if it weren't for the way Robinson treated him with the Welsh mess-up last year.

 

[Langeveldt]

Who also got dicked.

Oh dear

 

[BoyBrumby]

I'd have him over Crystal Charlie any day, too much praise gets heaped on Hogson despite the fact he's still as fragile as ever and doesn't command the back line aswell as he should.

Tom Vocye is another one with all the media hype despite being nothing more than average.

I would be very wary of giving Tom Varndell an England place just yet, he's quick, but his non-running game is questionable.

I would like to see Tait in there though, he looked nothing short of fantastic in the 7s and i think he would be in the side already if it weren't for the way Robinson treated him with the Welsh mess-up last year.

I'd have to take Charlie over Goodey, who I don't have a problem with at all, by the way, he just lacks maybe a yard of pace to exploit the gaps like Charlie can. I went to Leicester to see them play Worcester about 4 weeks ago & Goode was played off the park by Shane Drahm, who's another option I suppose.

I think we will have to look at Tait again, but I'd be a bit wary of picking a player for the full game based on his 7s form. I'm stating the obvious, I know, but it's a very different game. He's still only 19 tho, I think, so time's v much on his side.

 

[open365]

I'd have to take Charlie over Goodey, who I don't have a problem with at all, by the way, he just lacks maybe a yard of pace to exploit the gaps like Charlie can. I went to Leicester to see them play Worcester about 4 weeks ago & Goode was played off the park by Shane Drahm, who's another option I suppose.

I think we will have to look at Tait again, but I'd be a bit wary of picking a player for the full game based on his 7s form. I'm stating the obvious, I know, but it's a very different game. He's still only 19 tho, I think, so time's v much on his side.

He's been playing great for Newcastle aswell though, scored some great tries by the looks of it on the rugby club.

 

[BoyBrumby]

He's been playing great for Newcastle aswell though, scored some great tries by the looks of it on the rugby club.

Well hopefully if he is given a run, it'll be a proper run & not the one game he was given last time!

Awful inconsistency from Robinson, actually; he certainly gave Tindall, Cohen & Noon chance after chance when their form hasn't really warranted it. Still at leat Tait got a whole game, Henry Paul was hauled off after about twenty minutes v Oz in 2004.

 

[marc71178]

No it didn't.

He threw it from behind the touchline and caught it beyond the 5 metre line. So I guess the pitch marker messed up then?

 

[steds]

Henry Paul was hauled off after about twenty minutes v Oz in 2004.

To be fair, he isn't the talented one.

 

[Blaze]

He threw it from behind the touchline and caught it beyond the 5 metre line. So I guess the pitch marker messed up then?

IMO he caught it before the 5 metre line.

 

[ohtani's jacket]

I don't know what happened to Wales in Cardiff. They looked like the better side and were leading past the 70th minute. They made a number of nice breaks, but couldn't finish.

England and Ireland were evenly matched & it was a pretty good game. Ireland were lucky with both touchline calls (the ball went into touch on the first call & Cohen didn't make five metres on the second, but you rarely see that called), nevertheless England were outplayed at the breakdown -- you have to wonder about the quality of England's loose forwards, because Ireland's flankers disrupted the English ruck on numerous occasions. When you're as reliant as England are on phase play, that's a problem.

The English backs were OK, albeit as predictable as ever. The forwards didn't provide a platform for them to attack from, but then England don't seem to have any set piece moves. At least the Irish have some flair & can chance their arm, which won them the game you'd have to say.

It's a cruel tournament where Ireland can win the Triple Crown yet lose the title. Do you guys agree with points differential deciding the champion or should the title still be shared?

EDIT: 7s stars have made successful conversions to international rugby in the past. Tait should be given a go, though he may be undersized.

 

[BoyBrumby]

The trouble with Tait is that too many people will remember this:

or this:

Hairgel really did quite a job on him that day.

 

[marc71178]

It's a cruel tournament where Ireland can win the Triple Crown yet lose the title. Do you guys agree with points differential deciding the champion or should the title still be shared?

Points difference seems fair to me, rewards the sides who win by more.

Besides, France did beat Ireland, so even if you do head to head they deserve it.

 

[Blaze]

Marc- I take back my earlier comment, Cohen did throw the ball 5 metres (just).

 

[marc71178]

The thing is he made sure he did this time because he'd done the same thing earlier in the Tournament.

 

[ohtani's jacket]

Marc- I take back my earlier comment, Cohen did throw the ball 5 metres (just).

Did you catch a replay? It didn't look five metres to me.

Not that it really mattered. It was still England's ball at the line-out, right?

 

[open365]

The trouble with Tait is that too many people will remember this:

or this:

Hairgel really did quite a job on him that day.

I didn't think Tait played as badly as the press made out, England played awfully.

He got dumped, but eveyrone forgets the tackle he put in on Henson,it's not like they ran straight through him, how many tries did they score that day?

 

[BoyBrumby]

I didn't think Tait played as badly as the press made out, England played awfully.

He got dumped, but eveyrone forgets the tackle he put in on Henson,it's not like they ran straight through him, how many tries did they score that day?

From memory: one. IIRC it was Shane Williams.

 

[benchmark00]

Yes, I've admitted one - how's Mark Van Ginsbergen going this season, by the way?

So you're happy to listen to the idiotic majority. How about you bother reading doing some research and finding out that most of them are wrong. Let's bear in mind that some NH journos have called Umaga and Lomu poaches in the past.

Guess where they were born? Wellington and Auckland respectively.

How can you believe anything they write when they come up with such blatantly inaccurate rubbish as that?

Joe Rokocoko came to NZ when he was 5. Are our scouts that good that they can pick out a five-year-old running along the beach?

Collins, So'oialo and Lauaki? All came before they were 10.

Please note also, that Sivivatu was not a poach by the NZRU - he was offered a scholarship by a school (Wesley College off the top of my head). The NZRU does not get involved in any school scholarships of any nature.

Another wee fact for you to bear in mind? Auckland is the largest Polynesian city in the world and the Polynesian?Melanesian population of New Zealand has been slowly growing since the 1950s, and more rapidly since the 1970s.

And take a look at the 2003 Samoan World Cup squad. 14 of them were born in New Zealand. How come the British press wasn't up in arms about that?

NZ, any chance of fostering and nurturing your own players instead of poaching them from other islands??