@canefan Roger Moore was the James Bond I grew up watching in the 1980s so I was saddened to hear of his passing despite his age.

I read this on another forum.

The irony is that MacDonald could take Umaga's position again and Mitchell and Deans have nothing to do with it this time.

@nzzp said in Ireland Vs All Blacks:

Ireland have been seriously good for some time. They should have beaten us in Christchurch a few years ago. They should have beaten us in Dublin in 13. They did beat us in Chicago.

That win in Chicago was the catalyst for this victory in Dublin. Ireland now has the belief they can win these games, and that is half the battle.

The disappointing thing from an AB perspective is that Ireland played exactly how everyone expected them to so Hansen and co should have had a game plan to counter that.

@98blueandgold said in All Blacks Squad for France:

As Selectors pointed out its work rate and energy levels for Akira. ABs need the forwards to work, clean out rucks, link etc so backs can finish which is probably why Akira not chosen

Is "workrate and energy levels" a euphemism for masquerading on the wing ala Fifita?

I'm 2 days late reading this thread so I'll only make a few comments.

I was high up in the stands in the corner where Jordie scored so had a good view of the other chances at the same end of the ground. Both BB and Laumape could have also scored tries as they were in gaps but fumbled under some defensive pressure. But no excuses for Savea - that was a definite try if he had caught the bloody ball. As many have said, if we had taken 1 or 2 of those chances the ABs would be well ahead at HT and in control of the game, as the Lions were never going to score multiple tries.

The thing I was most pissed off about was that the officials let the Lions slow the game down all the time as not all the injuries seemed to be genuine. It was like watching a RL game when the support staff run onto the field at every opportunity. Read should have spoken to Poite about this too.

Now for something about the Lions tour in general. I picked my father up from the airport earlier in the day as he had been working in Europe and was going to the game with me. He travelled back to NZ via London and was sitting next to a guy who was flying into Auckland to attend the 3rd test and flying back to the UK the following day - that's dedication. And at the test there was a South African guy (wearing his Bok colours) next to me who also flew to NZ especially for the game. That is what makes these tours unique so long may they continue.

@sparky said in Bledisoe #1:

@Bovidae Opps, I forgot about Matt Tood.

Easy mistake.

@Bones I saw that article. Isaac isn't a Kiwi anyway. He's from the Pacific Island of Tokoroa.

@Nepia said in [Poll] Next All Black Coach:

WTF! Mains was only 46 when he took over the ABs.

He always looked old didn't he.

From meetings today there is a very real chance SRA is played again in 2021 unless Aussie sorts its shit out.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/sport/2020/08/super-rugby-aotearoa-revamped-competition-could-stay-for-2021-season.html

Nanai-Seturo only turns 21 later this month, so still a kid. But he won't be moving north.

@Stargazer said in 2020 School Rugby:

• St Paul's Collegiate ? - ? Feilding HS

It took some searching but 45-26 to Feilding.

New Plymouth BHS beats Palmerston North BHS 23-10 in a Super 8 fixture.

Mike Ashley is worse than some of the overseas owners.

Leicester is really the odd team out as they've been relegated twice in this period but also won the league. Blackburn too, but their win in 1995 falls outside the timeframe in the table, and now are a mid-table Championship team.

Newcastle and Leeds have top 5 finishes, highlighting their size and resources so should be regular EPL clubs, more so Leeds

Of course not!

This was always going to be an exercise in finding the selection criteria that maximised the number of players they (the AB selectors) wanted to be playing in the game.

@KiwiMurph

The most obvious selection is that Tokolahi needs to start ahead of Thwaites.

Paul Williams finally makes an appearance again in the SI derby.

They would have relied on the football fans and petrol-heads moving from Sky.

Lots of archive cricket games it seems. The Bangles and WI tours later in the year aren't exactly top quality NZ cricket to look forward to.