@dogmeat said in Argentina v All Blacks:

I am surprised (if AB stats can be believed) how (comparatively) light he is though. 8kgs less than Rieko and lighter than ALB

Yeah, but he's faster....

Seriously though, he and Reiko have worked out a good understanding and his playing continuously at 12 in SR this year will have benefited him. Be happy with a no-frills performance in midfield this WE. Against the Boks that'll do just fine.

@Bones said in Japan XV v All Blacks XV:

@pakman said in Japan XV v All Blacks XV:

@African-Monkey said in Japan XV v All Blacks XV:

He may have no pace anymore, but man Goodhue still has beautiful hands.

As @Victor-Meldrew observed recently, imagine him with Rieko's pace and you have the prince of centres.

The prince of centres throwing in a nothing grubber after being put into space down the left hand side, instead of looking to link up, would have had me stabbing him to death with the spikey bits on his crown.

The PofC was a superb grubberer!

@booboo said in Canada v Black Ferns (Pacific Four):

@Steven-Harris said in Canada v Black Ferns (Pacific Four):

@booboo played back in the 90s from what I recall , the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree , I was really impressed with De Goede ,her work rate and the ability to deal with the ball from a retreating scrum , there’s a few male players I have seen over the years that can’t control the ball at the back of a dominant scrum .lol
Chuck in goal kicking as well .

Hans was skipper at RWC87

@Steven-Harris hate autocorrect ... Hans became Hansen ...

Match highlights:

@nostrildamus said in Final: Chiefs v Crusaders:

pakman is supposed to be a Blues fan? Should be all out of tears!

He’s getting in practice for next year

@akan004 said in NZ U20 v France U20 (World Rugby U20 Championship):

@Nepia said in NZ U20 v France U20 (World Rugby U20 Championship):

@akan004 said in NZ U20 v France U20 (World Rugby U20 Championship):

I know we tend to opt for mobility over size in NZ, but I do think we have to start to look at bigger athletes as well. That's where the game is heading, especially in the NH. Would players such as Tuilagi, Skelton, Meafou etc have been persevered with in NZ? Probably not.

Tamaiti Williams has just been selected as an AB. So maybe yes.

He's an exception rather than the rule due to his skill and mobility. We don't generally see too many big men in NZ rugby.

Our forwards certainly haven't lacked size. While our backline has been the 2nd heaviest in the world behind France since the last World Cup.

It's also been amusing hearing people continue to perpetrate the myth of our 'undersized' forwards against the much vaunted NH packs - the coaching wasn't the problem - it's cause our players are simply too small & weak to overpower those MASSIVE northern hemisphere packs.

The ironic thing is NZ's forward pack has consistently been either the heaviest or 2nd heaviest pack in the world during Foster's 4 year tenure. He just had them playing lateral helter-skelter rugby instead of utilizing our big men effectively, thankfully Schmidt & Ryan have got them playing more a lot more direct and varying the point of attack now.

@Dan54 the Roar, while having some good stuff, is largely a waste of time.

@Stargazer said in U20 Championship - NZ v Wales:

@Daffy-Jaffy LOL. Too long, I could understand, but too aggressive?

It's the usual suspects having a cry because New Zealand's cultural challenge imbues them with supernatural powers, but other nation's cultural challenges don't.

FWIW I think it goes for 90 secs too long too.

@cgrant Hell I reckon Vai'i has been bloody good all year, mind you I a real Lord fan too.

@His-Bobness said in SF: Crusaders (Good) v Blues (Evil):

Now that I think about the Blues’ shellacking this morning, I was struck by the Sky interview with Beauden Barrett ahead of the game. Asked about the game day ritual he sounded exceedingly chilled - talking about a nice lie-in and the extra space granted by being away from home and the kids. There was time for a leisurely breakfast and catchup with the US Open on TV before a team chat around lunch. Maybe this was their way of not being overawed by the occasion. But from what we saw on the field the result was they came on so ‘underawed’ and mentally unprepared they had no answer for the Crusaders’ intensity.

That sounds like BB's intensity for the last 3 years regardless of who he's playing for tbh.

"Clown's in a minefield" was headline put out by one journo which gave me a good laugh.

The Blues were just beaten soundly at every contact area in the game, lacked physical intensity to match or mental fortitude to dig in and fight in the trench's and instead went for the miracle off-loads just gifting the ball back to the Crusaders.

@Crazy-Horse Completely agree.

Impressive from McReight -

image.png

@Tim said in QF: Blues v Tahs:

@Nepia Just sign up, you lazy fuck.

You're 100% correct here.

@Crazy-Horse said in QF: Brumbies v Hurricanes:

@hydro11 said in QF: Brumbies v Hurricanes:

@Crazy-Horse said in QF: Brumbies v Hurricanes:

@hydro11 I don't care whether it was a try or not. I disagree with what he said being called 'classless'. The threshold for classless is a hell of a lot higher than that in my book.

He deflected the loss to the TMO to cover up for his own players who should have got the job done. Refusing to take responsibility and blaming other people or processes when you had every opportunity to get the outcome you wanted, meets my definition of classless.

You are reading a hell of a lot into it.

Especially when going off the twist of a Stuff article.
I really suspect that had you heard the words in context and tone it wouldn't be half as bad.

I do get the point though that the failings fall on his shoulders

@Daffy-Jaffy Thanks for posting that. I can't watch it live, but will watch it later!

Shitty game.. move along

Have the Blues changed up their attack in the last 2-3 matches? The backs seem to be aligned deeper and there seems to be more forwards doing pick and goes or running lines very close to the breakdown.
As mentioned in the press conference it was working in the first half before the errors/frustration/whatever

https://fb.watch/kZiX81ZcRk/

@Dan54 said in Force v Chiefs:

@Crucial Mind you, I don't recall commentators hardly ever calling tghe tackler's name anyway, or someone who has done grunt work, ie climbing of ground repeatedly. They do on odd occasion, and to be fair to them you can't name everyone involved while play is in motion.

True but this bloke made 20 tackles and you hardly heard his name.

@KiwiMurph said in Waratahs v Moana Pasifika:

Force might play Donaldson at 15 - they have Burey and the returning Pasitoa at 10.

Burey is doing well for a guy coming out of club rugby.

Too many of these club guys with potential never wore the right school tie, or don't have the political backing of the right people. Then they go overseas and make quite a handy living. Meanwhile wunderkinds like Mark N are allowed to run hot and cold because they've come through a pathway.

The systems are fucked. They won't get better while enough fucked people remain in charge of the fucked structure.