Matchday!

Really pumped for this game as these two teams are always quality

Utrecht Shield on the line too (womens version of the Raeburn Shield tracing winners from 1982

Yeah I was coming to post that, good riddance to bad rubbish. Like we need more on the calendar of a shit version of rugby. It's just dumb there's no room, and I've lost a lot of respect for those who are supporting it. The same people who railled against an over full calendar when in high level rugby, and lack of world season. Money grubbing piston wristed gibbons

Probsbly should be in a 2022 thread but Auckland 1A are mandating players, coaches, and management are to be double Vax for 2022. Fucking well done for taking the lead

Pay walled but you get the point

School Rugby, Sport, Rugby No jab, no play: Auckland schools agree to vaccine mandate for First XV comp No jab, no play: Auckland schools agree to vaccine mandate for First XV comp

Schools say parents and pupils want to be playing in a safe environment.

@pakman what did JK say?

Heard William Warbrick close to agreeing to terms or mightve already signed with the Melbourne Storm

@mn5 said in RWC 2011 - looking back after 10 years:

@booboo said in RWC 2011 - looking back after 10 years:

@mn5 said in RWC 2011 - looking back after 10 years:

Reading some of the dramatic posts on here anyone would think you all actually played in the final.

Pretty much coz we lived every single moment.

Being a sports fan is a big thing.

In that article that @Duluth quoted I tried to express how we all felt as we are all part of the All Blacks at some level.

And that was THE most emotional I've ever felt in sport, watching, playing, supporting.

No need to belittle that experience.

I’m not belittling anything merely making an observation. According to my FB memories I was on my second beer by 9.33am so we were all coping in different ways.

I did drink a lot more back then though.

Pretty dickish observation.

Update (recent announcements in bold):

Team Rugby 🏉
Sir Graham Henry (head coach)
Kieran Read
Will Jordan
Jordie Barrett
Richie McCaw

Team Cricket 🏏
Stephen Fleming (head coach)
Grant Elliott
Shane Bond
Nathan McCullum
Jacob Oram
Grant Elliott

@stargazer said in 2021 Shield Snorters Representative Rugby:

Saw some posts on instagram. It looks like Jordan Thompson-Dunn has signed a contract with a Portuguese club. I don't know which one. I hope he'll come back and hasn't give up on a Shield Snorters jersey, yet. He's still so young, but young players seem more impatient these days.

I think former (6-cap) Magpie Hayden Hann is still playing there.

So Jordan Thompson-Dunn is playing for Sport Lisboa e Benfica in the Portuguese Divisão de Honra (the top tier of domestic rugby in Portugal). Looking at their team sheets, he plays mostly at 10.

And now uncapped 2019 Magpie Tyrone Dodd-Edwards, who has finally recovered from a serious leg injury that he suffered last year, has moved to Madrid where he was training on a field called Pozuelo de Alarcón in Madrid. No idea of the club, yet. There's a club from Madrid in the Spanish top division and a club in the B division that is based in that suburb.

@bovidae I think he was one of the players standing out in the Highlanders U18 squad. Beautiful cross-kick to the wing in that 2nd half and it would have been an awesome try if the Crusaders' left winger hadn't won the contest in the air and caught the ball.

@crucial Not missing. Didn't think it was necessary.

Liam Lawson gets totally ripped off in the final race of the German DTM championship. Leading the title race with an almost insurmountable lead, gets taken out of the race by the second placed driver in the title race early, then the two leading Mercedes slow down to allow the 3rd runner to overtake and win the race and the title. Lawson probably should have tried to stay out of trouble tussling with the second placed driver at the start, but I don't know what you can do in such a crowded field.

Lawson will have to console himself with a F1 junior trial at the end of the season

@no-quarter said in The Top Two Inches:

@stodders said in The Top Two Inches:

There feels to me to be more angst at refereeing these days and more talk of unconscious bias leading to 50/50 calls going against teams. I seem to recall the Oz GAGR forum curating videos uncovering AB skulduggery in the past (lots of yellow circles), and I'm sure there was a NZ one (or two) after 2007. This mantle has been picked up by the South Africans (with a large dollop of help from Jaco Johan) who now seem to be making videos showing how the Boks are the victims of a global conspiracy by refs. I recall some Irish ref-bashing in the past, but this seems to have died down now that they've managed to beat NZ a couple of times.

So my questions are, do you feel your team is more penalised than other teams? And if so, do you think there is a reason why? Or is it more to do with your own team's inadequacies?

I think not all penalties given in a game have the same impact. Some can really change the momentum and a couple in a row can lead to crucial points that can change a game big time. People say it evens out in the end, but the fact is it doesn't within 80 minutes - often one team will benefit more from calls going their way at crucial moments in the match.

I don't for a second believe there is any conspiracy, or that any one team is more often unfairly penalised, but sometimes your team does get pretty screwed by refereeing mistakes, so fans feel aggrieved.

It's a fast dynamic sport though, I'd say the hardest sport in the world to officiate, and I've come to accept that refs are going to make a handful of mistakes every game. I used to get really riled up at the injustice of it all, but these days I tend to not be too fazed. It's part of the game, and the best teams need the mental toughness to overcome things that don't go their way - the ABs under Richie post 2007 were superb at not letting bad calls throw them off their game.

This post needs more love.

@kiwiwomble said in The All Black's current midfield balance.:

@bones said in The All Black's current midfield balance.:

@nostrildamus said in The All Black's current midfield balance.:

I wondered about Bridge - if he was told to always do that, lacked confidence, or if it just seemed the safest thing to do.

It was so single minded, I'm pretty confident that he was under instruction. He wasn't, however, told to fix buckets where his hands should be.

yeah. little to discuss re his efforts under the highball

His efforst with the ball in hand are more interesting, to me ti looked like he was under direction, someone was trying to "fix" his game by hammering into him to always run to support and really it just made things worse, before he went between invisible to ineffective....in that game he topped the list for almost losing the game

edit: writing this made me think, Its something i noticed clarke doing last year, at first i thought "good, safe play from the new guy" but then as it became more obvious i started thinking "back ya self mate!" and getting a little frustrated

Im wondering if its someone in the coaching team thats preaching it....and i dont like it for a left winger. most peoples dominate pass is right to left and so the left winger should have the luxury of as much space as he likes and so should be looking to get outside his man or stretching the defence to make a hole midifield, left winger defaulting to running out to in just seems a waste

De Allendhe is an example.

Taranaki U19s did host BOP U19s yesterday in Inglewood. BOP won 30-21.

Rapt with this result after the heartbreak of last year's final. It's always good to win over the evil empire, and a celebration for Waikato's centennial year. Well done!

Waikato.jpg

@mikey07 Yeah, but several provinces have players in the squad who have a season-ending injury. For example, Folau Fakatava has been named in the Shield Snorters squad but won't play a game.

@rotated said in ABs that arrived ‘fully formed’:

@l_n_p said in ABs that arrived ‘fully formed’:

They were dubbed the Baby Blacks for a reason.

1995 is more amazing given most of the incumbents were still available for selection.

Kronfeld, Mehrtens and Osbourne had a solitary test against Canada prior to the tournament and were the starting 7, 10 and 15.

The Baby Blacks was the 1986 side, which had a massive number of noobs due to the Cavaliers being stood down. Only four even had test experience -- and one of those was Arthur Stone.

While 1994 Lomu looked a bit out of sorts, it was pretty obvious right from the start that he was always going to be special. It was only three games into his AB career and he was the pretty close to the best player in the world. (

Christian Cullen only arrives fully formed if you don't count Sevens first.

@bovidae said in Openside flankers:

@mikethesnow Yeah, those are the two names I was familiar with. Duncan Jones is in the squad too.

Didn’t see Duncan
He was great for us along with Adam Jones

Scott Morgan had a few caps too