Take what you can get these days in Aussie rugby. Hearing reports that over the last decade, participation is down 60%.

Anyway it was a good game tonight, with NSW getting up over the Rebels in the last five minutes

I see Phil Kite had been training with the Reds in pre-season and now called in to replace an injured James Slipper.

http://www.redsrugby.com.au/News/NewsArticles/tabid/581/ArticleID/17717/St-George-Queensland-Reds-injury-update.aspx

@Rancid-Schnitzel coaches get big eyes when finals approach. This year, as President, I've given my coaches strict instructions that nobody takes the field unless they're financial. All three coaches are onboard with that. If we forfeit games, so be it.

@kiwiinmelb Meads could hold his own in a debate though. In the mid-70's he took on quite a few anti-apartheid figures and argued the case for using sport as an agent of change extremely well.

His 1975 biography talked openly about problems with rural poverty - particularly among the Maori - and was years ahead of it's time it drawing attention to a subject which in that era was swept under the carpet

On the face of it, looks like SANZAAR has got the better part of the deal - shifting June tours into July.

It will mean different things to different unions in the Six Nations.

There was a lot of discussion around the holding of the European final and that it should be the finale of the European season. McCafferty seems to be getting his oar in early by saying the Premiership will finish last.

Besides that, the PRO12 plans to shorten its regular league season anyway, reducing from 22 to 18 weeks with a two conference structure from 2018/19. This will take games out of the international windows. The season will now start in late September following the decision for new season end to be in last week of July.

The European Cup pool stages will be run en bloc during December and January. The English and French clubs want the Six Nations compressed to six weeks instead of seven to suit their revised season.

A new British & Irish development cup competition could emerge during the 6N test window replacing the dead duck Anglo-Welsh cup. This would feature the academy players from the 24 senior teams in the two leagues. The current B&I Cup would disappear or be reduced to lower club level.

The aim was supposedly to reduce player fatigue and number of matches.

Still not sure if that will be the outcome.

@Duluth yeah maybe Evans edited his page when he was negotiating his deal with Harlequins 🎣

@Sapetyvi Not sure how you don't try win every game especially at the start of the season but I suppose he's also looking at putting pressure on the guys who will replace the current first choice players once they all head to France or Japan.

The Lions fall apart and may well have lost even if they sent all their available players. Rohan Janse van Rensburg is too important a cog for them and they look half the team without him.

So make it a throwaway game and then back yourself to convincingly beat your division rivals Sharks twice and you're still through.

And can't remember about Combrinck but he's a massive loss in terms of personality on the training pitch and on game day apparently. Chatter chatter and has a high tempo. The sort of players you need to play entire games at said tempo.

I have an issue with this initiative.
I think that concussion is best managed by the team staff with strong guidance from the NZRU on protocols as currently happens.
I get that it leaves a lot of room for teams to play the system if they want to but the vast majority will put player welfare first.
My son had two head knocks in prem club. On neither occasion was he KOd, just took a heavy knock. Both times his management team pulled him from the field and made him follow the protocols of medical clearance before training or playing again.
My feeling is that with a blue card system such as this there will be a reliance on the ref puling the card rather than the sideline voluntarily removing the player.
I can see how it would be good to have a formal recording of a concussion to ensure that stand downs are adhered to properly but this could be done after the game surely? The ref already has the ability to ensure someone leaves the field for incident he clearly sees. A card system adds nothing except a reliance on the ref to spot everything and act.

@Crucial You raise a relevant wrinkle. For me a double yellow wouldn't lead to automatic judiciary. If someone then cites so be it.
If we look at Luatua and Fekitoa against Ireland I think a double yellow would have been perfectly adequate. Sloppy/clumsy play without malicious intent. For me further punishment excessively harsh.
Cane versus Ireland for me a most would be yellow as Henshaw spun into head contact.
And I do think if a player jumps recklessly for ball, catches it in contact and lands on head then if the authorities want to improve safety there is a strong argument for yellow carding the 'victim'.
One last thing. Given the general disgruntlement with carding, the relevant authorities (SANZAR?), rather than hiding 'guidelines' which are in effect rules in practice, ought to publicise such guidelines so they can be subject to proper scrutiny in the court of public opinion.
It appears that refs have been given guidance for what is yellow and what is red in, say, a jump situation. And refs risk sanction if they don't comply. Such arbitrary guidelines often fall down in live situations -- one simply can't legislate for all possibilities.
As suggested above in thread IMHO the double yellow would represent a good compromise in the grey areas.

Northland v Auckland always appeals, especially up here, the rivalry is more one sided as its been a fair while since we beat Auckland, but the way I understand how the crossovers work is Auckland selected us for a home game, one day we'll make them pay for seeing us as an easy 5 points...surely!

@Duluth I am pretty sure it has been 4 straight years at EP, and prior to that I think we may have missed 2 seasons of playing Auckland at all, so 5 or 6 sounds about right, as we musta been at Okara since the game in Kerikeri which was about 2009 I think, but certainly seems a long time.

edit - had a look at the ITM site, and looks like the Kerikeri game was the last 'home' game we played Auckland....

@Stargazer said in 2017 Mitre10 Cup:

If Counties would win the Ranfurly Shield from Canterbury, we're the next for a challenge.

...and only a few days later too. We'll still have a hangover FFS

Thx

@TeWaio said in New Cricket laws:

@Crucial said in New Cricket laws:

Mankadding has been extended to any time before completing delivery arm swing rather than delivery stride. (good)

I don't quite understand what this one means? Does that mean its easier or harder to mankad?

Easier (at lower levels). Brings the MCC Laws in line with the ICC directive.

Under the previous MCC Law once you started your delivery stride you couldn't mankad. Now you can do it at any time but can't pretend to bowl, hang on to the ball instead and trick the non-striker.
A bit like not allowing the halfback to dummy pass from the base of a ruck/scrum.

Another try to the Kings. If they continue playing like this, they should beat the SWs. I can't be bothered watching the rest of the game. I'm going to watch the back of my eyelids.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11809621

It's official. RIP Tania, my heart bleeds for your family