@booboo said in Ireland II:

Interesting contrast in reaction to the two results, Chicago and Dublin.

Winners, losers, magnanimity and shit loss.

The Irish have been terrible losers today. All the kiwis who were happy for Ireland and their fans after the Chicago loss should hopefully now realise that others won't ever reciprocate that level of magnanimity towards us. I hope we will never ever see another day where an AB loss is accepted and even celebrated by many AB fans.

@pukunui said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #3:

Fucking disgrace. I thought it couldn't get any worse than last weeks deciding penalty but that was a complete farce.

Fully expect WR to stay completely silent.

Has anybody ever seen a referee change his mind about a penalty from a non foul related incident? First time in history I reckon.

@Stargazer Do you actually believe they didn't have to take a piss during the 8 hour journey?

"Retallick lucky he didnt break Hanigans neck "

Clown going nuts in the PC.

SBW will have a field day running at Sexton and Farrell, Teo is unlucky to be benched. Can't believe AWJ has retained his position as well.

I blame this year's shithouse performances on Labour. We never play well when those fluffybunnies are in power.

Hansen selected Fifita regularly and had the nerve to call Akira lazy. Wish Shag had retired/resigned in 2017 as originally planned.

For me the return of Coles is the highlight of this tour. Ardie as well but Ardie has been good all year so his form was expected. Wasn't sure if Coles would be able to regain his explosive speed after the knee injury but he clearly has. Still the best hooker in WR when at his best.

@Nepia said in Super Rugby 2020:

I emailed Kayo (Fox) to ask if they're playing Aotearoa Super Rugby and they replied they don't have it.

I hope it's just a rights negotiation thing ...

Fox sent me a reply today. They are still negotiating so fingers crossed.

@KiwiMurph Seems like we haven't been desperate for two years.

@Stargazer Regardless of whether it was forward or not, it still annoys me that the receiver stands so flat. Have seen many passes called forward because of this.

@Machpants Fair point you make about their NH based players. So they may be slightly undercooked in the first game against us but I think they will be fine for the second one in week 4. Losing Pollard and their two 1st choice locks is going to be the biggest issue for the Boks imo.

@Machpants said in All Blacks Tests 2020:

@taniwharugby said in All Blacks Tests 2020:

@Machpants but no easy games like RWC as you build into it, know its same for all...gonna be interesting

I think that the Arg and SA games, at the start esp, will be easy. They'll be so undercooked

The South African based Boks will have 3 domestic games, most likely an in-house game when in camp and two tests in the RC before they play us. Their NH based players have been playing since last month. I don't think they will be as undercooked as many are suggesting.

My Aussie friend is convinced that SRAU is more physical than SRA and the defences are better. I haven't watched a lot of SRAU so I can't comment. Any truth to this?

@Bovidae said in Taranaki v BOP:

@akan004 said in Taranaki v BOP:

Josh Lord looks like a great prospect. Only 18 and at 2.02 metres he's definitely one to keep an eye on.

Also, I'm not sure his DOB on the Taranaki website is correct. His last year at school was in 2018 when Lord was in the NZS team, and I don't think he left a year early. More likely 19, so still a kid to be playing in the tight five at M10 Cup level.

You're right. Just checked wiki and it says he played for Taranaki last year, so I doubt he would have been 17 when he played for them. I like the look of him, plenty of aggression, a good work rate and has the frame to potentially play at the highest level. Suddenly we seem to have a few good locks coming through in Vaa'i, Darry, Lord etc. An area of concern is now looking exciting.

@Bones Yeah, can't believe he's so young. Going to be a special player.

Josh Lord looks like a great prospect. Only 18 and at 2.02 metres he's definitely one to keep an eye on.

@Stargazer 12 since we have to replace Ennor too.

Full squad training after 6 days. Since the Aussies were planning on arriving on September 20 , they can't refuse the October 10 date anymore. Two weeks of full training is adequate.

@pukunui said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:

I say fuck the RC. Get SA to come and do a big tour with plenty of midweek games to get them up to speed. Would be good prep for their Lions tour next year.

Lock the Bledisloe in the cupboard for another year as a middle finger to RA for trying to poach those tests.

That would be ideal.