Sports Talk

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  • 2 Votes
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    @victor-meldrew I met him at a reception following the Munster-Eagles game of 2008. What a solid guy. He held my baby boy for a picture and I found out after we got home that they shared the same birthday! All the best to him for a happy and healthy retirement.

  • Bokke v Engerland Test 3

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    @crucial said in Bokke v Engerland Test 3:

    @disgusted-of-tw said in Bokke v Engerland Test 3:

    @crucial Surely they can get hairstyling and makeup tips elsewhere?

    It's the good good luvvin' they are after.

    (It's us that ask for the hair and makeup tips during the pillowtalk)

    Nice try mate but you've been schooled.

  • All Blacks vs France Gifs

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    Last one.

    Good by France. NZ under pressure on second shove. NZ maybe trying to be a bit too clever here?
    Scrum 13

  • NZ Player Injury Updates

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    No one has replied
  • 2 Votes
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    @mn5

    McGrath had a habit of walking into sledging responses and should have learned to STFU as he was useless with the verbals and it affected his bowling.

    Like Hadlee, he was too good a bowler to need that crap anyway - something van der Merwe should think about

  • WALES JUNE TOUR: SA IN DC, ARGENTINA

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    @mariner4life said in WALES JUNE TOUR: SA IN DC, ARGENTINA:

    wait, didn't i read that the kid got 6 weeks for making a pretty funny joke?

    Moriarty was smart - by whispering those sweet sweet promises of death and pain, and a couple of mum gags, into the guys ear - nobody could hear what he said - couldn't be reported for saying those mean, mean things.

  • 26 December 2019 at the MCG

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    @rotated said in 26 December 2019 at the MCG:

    The article mentions a 3 test series - fantastic - would that mean the New Year's Test in Sydney is on the table?

    Solid point! Last Sydney NY test I went to was Aus v SA and it was excellent.

  • Wallabies v Ireland III: The Decider

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    @billy-tell said in Wallabies v Ireland III: The Decider:

    Schmidt not including Ringrose is a massive mistake IMHO. If he wanted to give Bundee another run he should have left out Henshaw.

    Ringrose is injured. Otherwise, he’s a shoo-in for the 13 jersey. Henshaw is the best at 12.

    Chris Farrell is also a good option for 13 for different gameplay. Liked him in the 6N

  • Most Capped Test Team of All Time

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    @crucial said in Most Capped Test Team of All Time:

    @booboo said in Most Capped Test Team of All Time:

    @duluth having said that, without doin any real research, and if were only talking the XV, there's 14 other starters who potentially had another 5 or 6 games each ... 6 x 14 = 84 ... may not make up for the loss of Woody?

    According to my numbers (and I haven't double checked that I have only counted tests and not all games) the Argentina game pips the final

    Final Pool game vs Tonga could be a shot. Similar side as Argentina but with 3 tests worth of caps in between.

    Naholo for Savea drops it somewhat but the higher capped Kerr-Barlow, Franks and Messam replaced Peranara, Faumauina and Vito.

    edit: saw Crucial beat me too it - but also that I missed McCaw out which makes a big difference.

  • Springboks v England - Test #2

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    Mike Brown answers his critics

    I'm not a robot - Brown on fan row I'm not a robot - Brown on fan row

    England full-back Mike Brown says he is "not a robot" after a verbal altercation with a fan following Saturday's defeat in South Africa.

  • Wallabies v Ireland - Test #2 (Melbourne)

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    @mikethesnow said in Wallabies v Ireland - Test #2 (Melbourne):

    @rapido said in Wallabies v Ireland - Test #2 (Melbourne):

    @samurai-jack said in Wallabies v Ireland - Test #2 (Melbourne):

    That tighthead for Ireland (Furlong) is a beast, isn't he? Miles ahead of any tighthead in the game at the moment in my opinion.

    I haven't watched the second test in full. But have read that Furlong was immense.

    But in general, I think Furlong is maybe the most over-rated player in world rugby.

    That's not to say he isn't good. And more importantly that he isn't extremely promising as he is still very young. He is fantactic in the loose (was great in Chicago) and I have every expectation that his scrummaging will eventually get to the world class state.

    I watched the Lions scrum last year with much interest and was extremely unimpressed with all 3 tightheads in the scrummaging, and my opinion is still influenced by that. They weren't just unimpressive in the tests they were unimpressive against all the SR teams starting front rows (except Hurricanes IIRC). Furlong and Irish scrum was also poor last week v Aussie scrum when he came on as a sub.

    To digress. Australian scrummaging is right up there now.

    Taniela Tupou is I think going to be worryingly fucking good. I really thought that guy had chosen the wrong sport when he left school (would be a phenomenon in League). But his scrummaging seems to be getting up to speed scarily rapidly. He is still a beast in the loose even v grown men.

    I think NH scrummaging is a bit of a current myth, including the French, it may have been true 5 to 10 years ago. But - Owen Franks who I would have rated the best tighthead in the world after last year, got completely owned on the weekend. So ..... take from this post what you will ... a brain dump rather than a hard theory.

    The Wales B pack smashed the Argie scrum on several occasions on Saturday night.

    Will be interesting to see how the Argies go against the SH teams in The Championship.

    I fear any chance of an upset win against Australia has vanished

    The Argie scrum has generally been mediocre.

    They have the reputation from the 1980s, the bajada, but the modern scrum is in fact the bajada.

    But, big but, I assume Argentinian scrummaging prowess between world cup years is majorly impacted by who isn't playing (Top 14 and Premiership contracted players, Figallo etc)

    P.S On further reflection on my posts above re: Furlong. I reckon I'm being too harsh saying over-rated. I'd be very happy having a young prop as promising as Furlong playing for my country. Absolutely awesome in the loose and in the breakdown, competent in the scrum with the expectation that his scrummaging will continue to improve.

    Maybe not the complete package yet is the better phrase than over-rated.

  • US Open

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    Brooks Koepka isn't even a real name!

  • Video Clips

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    Auckland 43 Northland 44 NPC 2001

  • Required - one Waikato Coach

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    What a dick move.

  • Wallabies v Ireland #1 - Brisvegas

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    @rapido said in Wallabies v Ireland #1 - Brisvegas:

    @pukunui said in Wallabies v Ireland #1 - Brisvegas:

    @rapido said in Wallabies v Ireland #1 - Brisvegas:

    I was reading the ref review on the42

    Re: the disallowed try.

    Van der Westhuizen has awarded the try to Israel Folau but Skeen calls in, “Marius, I want to show you… the situation is foul play, a tackle on a Green player by Gold 5 when Green is not in possession.”

    Van der Westhuizen views the footage above and replies, “Ben, it’s pretty clear to me there that it’s back on the 10-metre line, a player not in possession of the ball being tackled. My decision at the moment is to overturn the try and go back for a penalty against number 5.”

    I've taken some stills from the gif.

    What do you guys think?
    I think if a dummy runner, in front of the ball gets tackled, then that is not the defence's fault.

    Calling back for tackling the player without the ball 5 phases back, for a dummy run. is horseshit. Technically it's penalty to Australia for obstruction.

    However. If they decided the foul play was what 5 Gold was doing to the player on the ground and how long he pinned him down for then fair enough IMO. But that wasn't what they communicated.

    alt text

    alt text

    Rubbish, if we allow any player without the ball to be tackled just because they were skipped with a pass and are now infront of the ball carrier you will have open season for cheap shots on players not expecting to be tackled. Its a pretty simple concept. If someone doesn't have the ball don't follow through with a tackle on them. Just like if you have lined up a big tackle on the 10 but he gets his pass or kick away you are entitled to a free late hit.

    I don't really care that it disallowed a try. The fact is it should have been picked up at the time and play probably would have been restarted with ireland kicking for the corner or goal not Australia scoring at the other end.

    It's also a simple concept, if the pass skips you, to not continue your run into an opponent. Slow, stop or change direction to a supporting line. That's what used to happen for a hundred odd years.

    I know you've posted some stills, but seriously how long would that ball have been past him, barely a second? How quickly do you think a runner can stop? Coleman was in the wrong because he committed himself to the tackle no matter what.

  • Springboks v England - Test #1

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    @crucial said in Springboks v England - Test #1:

    @mikethesnow said in Springboks v England - Test #1:

    @catogrande said in Springboks v England - Test #1:

    @bovidae @Machpants Launchbury declared fit, so you'd have to think he and Itoje would start.

    If Eddie wants any chance of avoiding 6 in a row

    Six? According to Eddie one didn’t happen

    Started by Woodward.

    It was a capped match no? If so, it counts.

    Non-capped match? It still counts. It was the Baa Baas ffs

  • 2017-18 World Sevens Series

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    @arhs said in 2017-18 World Sevens Series:

    I wasn't greatly impressed at a lot of the men's play in this tournament. Some opponents seemed a lot weaker than in previous rounds, and we did not capitalise enough.

    Rokosiloa looked quite useful when he appeared in last match. Nareki and Rayasi did show plenty of improvement in speed of thought. But, I don't know why Mikkelsen was left on the bench so much. Without him out there we just seemed to be in cover mode and starved of possession - and we lacked wide vision when we did have the ball. His aggressive tackling and long passing is really needed. Don't think Baker works as a halfback. Ravouvou looked quite sluggish until the end, and Dickson was not at his best. I can only suppose the plan was to expose the second-tier players to more responsibility in all areas in preparation for World Cup. I just hope we use our best 7 from the outset then, because I don't see us threatening the better teams with our less-experienced second-stringers.

    They have to, because - different from the World Series - the World Cup is a knock-out tournament right from the start.

  • Cricket - Non NZ

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    @nzzp said in Cricket - Non NZ:

    I'm seriously looking at going to Netherlands Scotland next week in Amsterdam. Could be a really fun day out - any Ferners know anything about the ground, tickets, etc? Genuinely differnet cultural experience

    On current form, Scotland could cream the Dutchies.

    also, I really want to make a bad dad joke about the Netherlands having flat pitches 🙂

  • Miracle On Ice v.2 (Stanley Cup)

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    @salacious-crumb I think the emotion expressed in that photo of OV shows the intensity of what he is experiencing. Great pic.

  • Hesson gooooooone!

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    @rapido said in Hesson gooooooone!:

    Of the provincial coaches I would put forward Bruce Edgar.

    Mark O'Donnell would be another option. Auckland have won titles under him.