@bovidae said in Has Hansen gone stale?:

@snowy said in Has Hansen gone stale?:

@taniwharugby said in Has Hansen gone stale?:

If England can keep their powder dry,

Ahhh, so it's England that have the dry powder not us.

They certainly had it under wraps last year.

Eddie is still working on the final composition of said powder, right down to the last %.

Its slipping through his fingers

He appeared to be perfectly happy to accept HBs money last year when the alternative would probably have been returning to the general workforce to earn a living.

@taniwharugby gave up seeing the first game,all I can say they must have improved as the day went on.

@antipodean said in Aaron Hopa:

@mn5 That's the mystic of unfulfilled promise. Look at how James Deans is immortalised.

Yeah exactly my point. I do remember watching the game against Auckland and he was brilliant but I guess you never really know.

@billy-tell hah quick edit, I was about to say a couple of poxy islands actually...

@crazy-horse said in Cricket - NZ vs Pakistan:

Raval is a shit house catcher. Every time I watch the Craps he seems to drop one.

He started off in the slips before being banished to the outfield.

I enjoyed reading this.

I hadn't realised that De La Fuentue was selected for the Chilean squad to play the Maori but calving duty called. There's also hope for any old, slow backs out there - become a prop. 🙂

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/provincial/108443011/fairytale-thames-valley-season-epitomises-the-burning-passion-for-heartland-rugby

@mariner4life said in SA Derbies to be in Marvel Kit:

alt text

I will encourage any Dodgeball references, any time, any where.

If you can dodge a like, you can dodge a ball

@derm-mccrum

In the broadcasts we get, it seems to be Butler/Davies for the Welsh home games and Harrison/Barnes in the England home games. I could be wrong with who works for which TV network now.

Sometimes they would throw it over to a sideline commentator and we'd only get silence.

@cgrant Yes, he started in the first NZ Schools game, and was named on the bench for the second. However, he wasn't on the list for the first NZ U20 camp (3-8 December) for the 2019 campaign.

@rapido said in World Rugby opressing Tongan Rugby:

I found this article irritating, because this is already a well known viewpoint yet a titbit like this in article is then totally unexplained:

Kefu had hoped that Piutau and about 10 others would be free to play for Tonga by qualifying via an Olympics Sevens tournament before the World Cup, but that door was shut on the Tongans' faces.

Wtf? Why has the Olympic loophole been "shut on the Tongans' faces"? Isn't that an important thing to explain? I'm assuming it's the timing of the qualifying tournament?

Yes, that's correct. This is from the relevant WR media release:

Regional association tournaments will take place in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania and South America from June-December 2019. The top ranked team from each regional tournament will secure qualification.

Tonga can only qualify for the Olympics through a regional Olympic qualification tournament, because they are not one of the core nations that play in the 2019 World Sevens Series and can, therefore, not compete for one of the top 4 spots in those Series.

Relevant parts of the eligibility rules:

Olympic loophole: Regulation 8.7 and following subsections, particularly 8.12.

in combination with Regulation 8 Schedule 2.

0_1543760660817_DtWQ3_6XcAAVt0i.jpg

@mariner4life said in England v Australia:

@nta said in England v Australia:

@mariner4life said in England v Australia:

Possibly Rugby League is worse, but it would be only just.

It is made worse by the fact that there are only about a dozen rules in their whole book.

And Gus Gould. He makes everything worse.

For them it starts with the losing coaches press conference, especially if they don't get at least 50% of the penalties. Shane Flanagan is the worst at the moment. But no one tops Toovey for that.

I think a big part of rugby's problem is the fact that there is a heap of broadcast time straight after a penalty. If it's in your own half, there is a minute or two of faffing about while the 10 kicks for touch, then another 30 seconds while the forwards lumber up for the lineout. That's a lot of time for 10 suuuuuper slow motion replays, and a mouth breather in the box to spout inaccurate bullshit.

Good point. Can be fixed with an attitude change and having the so called ‘expert comments’ person actually doing their job and pinpointing player skills in attack or defence rather than targeting the refs decision.
I point again to NFL where they also have gaps in play but the TV broadcast immediately lines up replays that show exactly what went down and the comments are describing the nuances that the average viewer may not have picked up.
When a controversial event takes place, just note it and say ‘that’s one for the post match analysts’. Have the panel show all lined up for straight after.

Where the fuck was that guy running to anyway?

@machpants said in Let's talk about six, baby:

Blindsided: Is No. 6 the All Blacks' biggest World Cup question mark? Blindsided: Is No. 6 the All Blacks' biggest World Cup question mark?

The grip Liam Squire holds on the All Blacks’ number six jersey may be slipping on the back of two almost-absent outings that saw the flanker play a role far-removed from the one that earned him national selection in the first place.

I agree, it's not in a great place.

How do you have three carries for zero metres? That's Rueben Thorne form right there.

@tim said in Beauden’s kicking stats - is it the ball?:

@kirwan Are the Japanese going to showcase highend broadcast tech, like 2160p60? Or is going to be the usual 1080p25?

Sorry, no idea.

@daffy-jaffy it's not 'little digs' - it's a complete troll website.

Rucking was the way you made the bloke let go of the ball, nowadays you flop over him with your weight on your elbows, legs straight and wait for a whistle

@frank this is the NZ Herald, with fiction writers masquerading as Journalists....

I think both Foster and McLeods reps have taken a big hit this year, as has Hansens, but he has points in the bank.