At least extra time worked a bit better this time In the previous over time it was a kickfest with both sides waiting for a mistake. This time the Rebels held the ball and got a try after multiple phases

The young lock from the Rebels, Trevor Hosea looked really impressive . Another quality youngster from the 2019 u20s team.

Why not? This comp is now a bit of an experiment, so may as well throw some minor law changes in there too. The concept behind extra time is sound, as draws are pointless in a pointless comp. May as well find a winner. The issue is the way the attacking team is now being officiated it's not advisable to have the ball in your own half at any stage. So it's kick to kick to kick until a team makes an error.

@African-Monkey Yeah I don’t think they have a chance of catching the Brumbies. I think they might finish second as long as Toomua stays fit

@Darren not to mention that consistently one of the best and most influential players over the past couple of seasons is sitting on the bench... and he's a fucking 12! But yeah let's disregard how good Ioane was at 10 last year.

@booboo said in Rebels v Sharks: Afternoon rugby! How good? Trouble shit that is the requirement to run errands with Mrs Boo and stop somewhere for a coffee in the arvo. Wouldn't have if game was a NZ team admittedly. But it was cool to sit on the couch of an arvie after gardening and watch footy. Reminded me of late season NPC.

@Tim yep, not looking good for the two big cities.

@African-Monkey said in Brumbies v Rebels: He has his critics for his lack of vision during his League days, but Solomona Kata looks handy on the wing. He's very strong in contact and could be a handful for opposition defences. I didn't even realize he'd converted!

@Tim said in Sunwolves v Rebels (Round 1): How did Jarred Adams go at loosehead? Good around the field. But the Rebels were well on top in the scrum for most of the match

Think we’d have a better shot against the Jaguares, but the direct flight to Christchurch is understandably more appealing! https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/113466880/super-rugby-chiefs-hoping-to-face-topseeded-crusaders-in-quarterfinal

@Crucial said in Crusaders v Rebels: @Damo said in Crusaders v Rebels: @Damo said in Crusaders v Rebels: @Chester-Draws said in Crusaders v Rebels: @Damo said in Crusaders v Rebels: @Damo said in Crusaders v Rebels: That is an example when advantage should be over in my book. Rebels might have gone 80m if that pass had stuck. They had a clear advantage. Instead we go back for a scrum 10 metres back from where the lineout would have been. Especially since it was only a scrum advantage. PK advantage would be different. And again. Scrum advantage should be over once a team gets clean ball and are free to use it as they wish. Except that's not what the rules say. And I prefer referees who play to the actual rules, not dodgy commentators on chat groups. Oh yeah. What does the law say? Enlighten me. Fudge it. Can't resist: Law 7(1): Advantage: a. May be tactical. The non-offending team is free to play the ball as they wish. b. May be territorial. Play has moved towards the offending team’s dead-ball line. c. May be a combination of tactical and territorial. d. Must be clear and real. A mere opportunity to gain an advantage is not sufficient. I think that d. is the bit that annoys most viewers. This is exactly the previously described scenario where a player in the clear is passed to but drops the ball. Laws say that opportunity is not sufficient but to the viewer it looks like the team has already experienced an advantage to the point where they could have done well. The other annoying one doesn't happen that often but can be awful. That is when a team is on attack in the 'red zone' and they keep making small inroads breaking down the defence. It can go on for ever giving them every chance to score a try before a handling error dictates going back. There is a school of thought that if a team gets a PK advantage in the opposing teams 22m line, then the referee should never call 'advantage over'. Either the attacking team scores a try, or the attacking team comes back for a PK. I don't know if I quite subscribe to it, but I can see the logic for a PK advantage.

As all above have stated, a joke of a (non) decision. YC and PT IMHO

My god they miss having Michael out there. Who’s the donkey playing at 12 for the Sunwolves? Edit: it is Burleigh, who after his earlier spill gives away a penalty. No wonder he looks a bit slow, he’s about my age.

@Crucial

That's not hard as that's exactly what the Reds are.

Took my three year old daughter (first game) to this game and it was a heap of fun. Kids add such a different experience to it. Was a real strong northerly for the whole game so it was no surprise that it was a game of two halves. Also the fact that this Canes team isn't that much better than the Rebels. Ardie really stands head and shoulders above the rest of the forward pack. Most things he does at the moment are of high quality and his timing of picking moments has come along way from the raw player he was a few years back. And in saying that, id still pick an in form Cane over him for knockout rugby.

@Kirwan said in Waratahs vs Rebels: Rebels were unbelievably dumb in the last ten, deserved to lose Having not seen this particular game: they've shown a couple of idiot moments this season that I would not normally attribute to Wessels' coaching. I'm wondering whether it actually IS his coaching, or whether they've got Genia/Cooper issues. Now to see if the Tahs can beat a non-Aussie team without Folau.

Rebels game plan: attack until we win Stormers game plan: defend until we win Couple of tinny tries, all from pressure. Hardly a classic, but physical.

Wallabies World Cup backline for me. 9. Genia 10. Cooper 11. Banks 12. Kerevi 13. Petaia (if fit) 14. Maddocks 15. Folau

Pre-match the excitable kiddies on The Roar were wetting themselves at the opportunity to jam it right up Brad Thorn, having been worked up into a lather over a period of weeks by acolytes reminding them of that horrid fellow's vendetta against Our Your Quadie. Show them vision of a couple of Canterbury matches from the early 2000's and they couldn't tell you which one was Brad and which one was Reuben. They express themselves in a manner worthy of your typical Collingwood supporter, citing a non-existent rivalry on the field, naked anti-New Zealander racism and Thorn's stubborn bigotry in selecting a side which suited him as coach. The last time Quadie cried in similar circumstances his handlers had him pronounce the coach as "tokix", after spending a week to have him remember it and rehearse how to say it. I think the only time Thorn might have noticed Laptop Cooper on the field, during his eight or nine times losing to the All Blacks, was when he spotted him kneeing a fallen Richie McCaw's head while no-one was watching - Thorn missed by a whisker sending the chancer into Friday week. That certainly does not qualify as rivalry. He hasn't learned how to tackle, he still kicks (and passes) out on the full and yet the hyperbole is now being cranked up for the campaign against Michael Cheika, who couldn't select an acceptable team so long as his arks points to the ground, just like Robbie Deans before him and just like, in recent seasons, Daryl Gibson, Dan McKellar, David Wessells or Tim Sampson. Cheika worked out some time back that one defensive turnstile in the mid field is luxury enough but that hasn't registered. I suspect (hope) that, like Brad Thorn, he has heard the quote from NFL coach Buddy Ryan "If you listen to the fans, you'll be sitting up there with them." Toulon owner Mourad Boudjellal delivered a boot up the Khyber Pass half way through the li'l fella's contract period, spluttering "Sacre bloody bleu, talk about vin ordinaire mate mes amis - it's difficult to go from foie gras to pâté!" He was missing Jonny Wilkinson's exceptionalism and Tana Umaga's before him - there is the standard to be met. Wayne Smith of The Australian sets the bar low to accommodate an adequate low level performance by his preferred 10, punctuated by several characteristic bloopers, while two undisciplined local outfits scrambled loosely about the park in an incoherent display. He hallucinates: Triumphant return for Cooper "Quade Cooper orchestrated a Test match-like intensity from the Melbourne Rebels to shut out the Queensland Reds 32-13." I watched the second half closely and it was unremarkable stuff from just about everyone, 25 weeks out from the World Cup.

@antipodean pissed away a 16 point lead. Their sports psychologist must be under some pressure.

@Siam Sky does play the NZR bills so they're unlikely to give you more than a minimum to encourage you to buy from sky

@Tim Only got about 10 mins.

I quite like Laban. My issue with Lose is when he starts yelling when someone scores a try. I understand it is good to get excited for big plays but the guy literally starts yelling into the microphone - dial it back a bit.

Rebels now in danger of a Shark attack removing them from finals In theory the Brumbies are still in the hunt as well. Rebels 35 (Highlanders) Brumbies 29 (Chiefs, Tahs) Sharks 32 (Stormers, Jaguares)

Blues should give it to Schmidt in 2020 if he’s interested.

@chris-b said in Rebels v Crusaders: @nepia said in Rebels v Crusaders: Also re: Wessels, I know we're happily shooting the messenger because of when the message arrived, but the Super Rugby draw can be messed up sometimes, and I think supporters of every team have felt that at some stage of the competition. There's no doubt that at some points during the season every team gets a tough turnaround or its byes unevenly spaced, or a series of tough games, but that's a reality of playing a competition across five countries spread around the world. I don't have too much sympathy for Dave, though, because I'd say the Rebels have probably the easiest draw of any team this year, along with the Brumbies. They're playing in the easiest conference, they get two games against the Sunwolves and six against other Australian opposition and they haven't had to go to Argentina. He should take a look at the Jags' schedule, or the Sunwolves, or the Blues. Edit: And the Rebs miss playing the Chiefs and Lions while the Brumbies miss the Blues and the Stormers. I reckon there's a good chance they've got the easiest draw of anyone! Only problem is that they don't get to play themselves. Those would be easy points.

@bones Yes in 2015. They also beat the Chiefs and Crusaders in Chch that year.

@dice ha funnily that is actually not that bad, not being bale to clear our line has been an issue for years now for us, so we have gone from erratic 10's with no distance to an erratic 10 who can kick for miles...definite improvement

@gunner said in Rebels vs. Reds: Can’t believe what the game is coming to. That was not bad enough to warrant a red card by any stretch of the imagination. He's done three things wrong - he's gone high, with no arms and then neck-rolled the guy into the ground. How dumb do you have to be? Fuck him. I have no problem with him being red carded. Edit: for some reason I hadn't seen those other angles - no question after those!

@taniwharugby Hard to say for sure, but I think Macilai will probably be OK. Might depend on what happens with Seta. Sione Fifita has been with the Crusaders for two seasons and hasn't (I think) played a minute for them and, as far as I know, he's been fit and available for most of this season. Digby Ioane has looked good when he's played, but he's no spring chicken (nearly 32). On the other hand, there's some promising young wings floating around ChCh and Nelson. Caleb Makene and the Faingaanuku bros. for three.

Home coach Tony Brown — who had also wound up the “un-Australian” Brumbies a week earlier — then twisted the knife with some brutal press conference honesty. “It was good to score those tries and put away one of the weakest teams in the competition,” said Brown, the former All Blacks five-eighth.

@mariner4life said in Rebels v Chiefs: @Nepia not even close? Nonu's last few years were unreal. Run threat, pass threat, a kicking game, and defensively hard. I reckon it's a valid discussion (after Horan was undisputed for years) Nonu had a key ingedient that probably gets overlooked a lot , intimidation

@KiwiMurph said in Hurricanes v Rebels: @NTA said in Hurricanes v Rebels: Would suggest that Rebels Coach Tony McGahan is about to "get the full backing of the board" if these results continue. You called it. Despite the Rebels losing their opening two rounds to the Blues and Hurricanes and conceding 127 points to anchor the ladder, Melbourne owner Cox said Melbourne coach Tony McGahan had his full support. http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/sport/2017/03/melbourne-rebels-too-valuable-to-australian-rugby-union-to-scrap-team-owner.html Set the clock - he's on notice.

Visinia played at the Vailima Marist 7s (Samoa) last weekend for the same team as Zac Guildford (Stallions). Edit: Joe Tupe, Antonio Kirikiri, Sam Vaka (to name a few) played in that team as well.

Ruthless stuff from the Crusaders, but fucking awful defence from the Rebels.

Humm. Seu is far from reliable as far as defense is concerned. Can't stop the men running at him in their tracks and always concedes a few meters. Missed his tackle for Harris try. He simply needs to bulk up. I believe he's not far north of 100kg, and given how tall he is, you get a sense for much bulk he can add to his frame. Give him a couple of years then he will really be in the ABs sights.

I know. Exactly my point. just further to that I'm just some random on the internet. Not an ex-All Black taunting other countries on the commentary.