@cgrant said in BOP v Shield Snorters:

@Stockcar86 said in BOP v Shield Snorters:

That was pretty stupid from Rakete-Stones, he doesn't just look like Clint Newlands

He's just a 20 y.o prop so let him have a few games behind him before giving such a cruel sentence !

That's part of the problem, throwing in a 20 year old and expecting him to play like a 25 year old prop. A lot of the young props struggle against their more experienced and mature opponents. I hope this is taken into consideration when setting salary levels. I would not pay an apprentice at the tradesman rate, unless of course they are producing tradesmans output.

@Number-10 Yeah was a bit one-sided, though not as much as the score would suggest I think. Wgtn had the bigger boys for sure, but I thought the HB lads had a good game, though when watching through the camera I do miss a lot.

Thanks @Stockcar86 appreciate all the help I can get!

@MiketheSnow PPV numbers have been on the slide for a year. There has been a necessity to bring outside influences/old glories( CM Punk, Lesnar, GSP etc) to the octagon because the organic draw cards like Rousey and Jones have failed to keep the momentum going. Mighty mouse is a great champion but only true mma fans a. respect what he has done and b.even know who the hell he is. And there are bunch of people with belts that the passerby will not have a clue who they are.

When McGregor and Rousey last fought they topped 1m PPV buys. When any other fight headlined - except UFC 200 which was stacked and had Brock Lesnar vs Mark Hunt on the undercard - every other PPV since 200 has struggled to sell more than 500k in PPV. UFC is huge, no doubt, but they are awfully dependent on McGregor right now.

@taniwharugby who's our injury concerns? I saw Matt Wright wasn't well and Macleod went off, but other than that we looked ok???

Oh well Bok coach gets his first win away from home. Boks have already won more games this season (5 out of 5) then last year (4 out of 10). Must be those lucky red jerseys. Level with All Blacks in the log. Boks confident for the Australian game.

Trainspotting

Yep, I'm rapt !

There was so much to be pleased about. After last weeks game I was almost going to give up watching them (I do that at least once a year) but now have hope.

The stand out factor was the defence for me. Apart from a couple of glowing mistakes they all tackled themselves to a standstill.

Delany is still class despite his age (and despite my initial skepticism)

Tom Franklin must be one of our best signings for a while.

Ioane and Webber are excitement machines.

We had the second to worst kicking success rate last year. Delany has missed one kick in two games !

There are no serious injuries thus far that I am aware of.

Theres still loads of room for improvement though.

Our scrum looked shaky initially.

Our once dangerous rolling maul doesn't look so dangerous anymore.

I wonder if Ardron will get the starting No.8 position next week ?

So I can't wait for Wellington. Their star studded line up will be a real test.

This was the Auckland Under 19 team that played Northland 19s.
A good percentage of this team played in the Auckland senior club competition,not to mention many of them are out are only a year out of many of the top Auckland secondary schools,just a sheer bigger number cream to pick from.
The captain,Waimana Riedlinger Kapa is Northland boy from the Waipapa area,just North of Kerikeri,attended Mags which I guess is the right thing to do in terms of his rugby development,,Matt Storm is also from KeriKeri,there were also 2 other boys from the Northland area in the Auckland squad,Auckland were leading 43-0 after half an hour,so it was'nt a bad effort from Northland team that only had 4 x players with senior club experience.
Apparently the Auckland team also beat Counties by a similar score.
Does'nt always give an accurate snaphot of the direction Auckland senior rugby goes,as many of the players will end up at other provinces,or returning to their home provinces.

Under 19 A

Team to play Northland (19/08):

Leka Tu’ungafasi
Penisoni Fineanganofo
Michael Palmer
Waimana Riedlinger-Kapa (C)
John Akauola-Laula
Ben Sa’u
Sione Talitui
Hoskins Sotutu
Godinet Tinei
Wiseguy Faiane
Siave Togoiu
Harry Plummer
Tanielu Tele’a
Anzelo Tuitavuki
Matt Storm
Te Ariki Te Puni
Rob Cobb
Fe’ao Teutau
Otunuku Pauta
Aleks Dabek
Rilloy Suesue
Joseph Tangulu
Sebastian Visinia

@cgrant That's a bit like saying our locks are fine if Retallick or Whitelock weren't there.

A disappointing game, still trying to compose any coherent thoughts on it other than a barrage of swear words and despondency. Mainly because it had that feeling of 'same old, same old' to it, and that nothing looked much different to last year or the year before...

Did anyone sight our forward pack in the second half?

Or maybe, just maybe, both sides were very very good - and will meet again in the final 🙂

In today's HBT, Philpott is quoted as saying that Brad Weber might be available for Friday's game v BOP.
That's great news, but the article also includes this info:

Philpott's biggest concern after the match was his lengthy injury list. Winger Mason Emerson collected an ankle sprain in the 11th minute and could be unavailable for six weeks, flanker Tony Lamborn could also be sidelined for six weeks with a shoulder injury collected in the 24th minute and a decision on No 8 Gareth Evans availability for the Rotorua trip will be made later today after he left the field with a thigh injury in the 35th minute.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503460&objectid=11907758

@Salacious-Crumb if used by millions and a few reactions are as suggested that is a great result in terms of %.

I would expect every medical drug out there would affect a minute percentage in an adverse way?

I should add, while I'm too busy to give a fuck about most things, the cricket ranking does sting a bit.

@mariner4life said in The sad demise of a Sporting Empire:

The cricket side has slipped to 4th in the world records, and closer to little old NZ than the top of the table. Series losses home and away are now the norm, rather than a cause for shock. Players were on strike a week ago because they couldn't afford to buy a 2nd Italian sports car

So in a not-so-rare mood of bitterness at having to take pity from a Kiweenslander, I say:

0_1502793770885_ae764cfd-83d7-489c-8491-6516fd02b435-image.png

Eat that.

Plastic Bertrand was Belgian.

Still, gotta say, prefer the Elton Motello version.

"Gonna take you round the world."

Goddamn I'm glad Beaver slotted that pen. No worries!