Reds lineup looks better. Their best 9 is starting and their 3 best loosies starting.

Wow only 45-12 talk about going to sleep glad I didn’t stay up to watch the 2nd half...not that I would’ve of course

That's a bullshit penalty to lose a game. The Brumbies player drove the Reds player back into the scrumhalf. But the Reds did everything they could to lose that in the last five minutes.

Definitely no facial expressions.

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.

@barbarian I'm with you till the last bit. They only got half the known crowd size. Now they've got a win, the crowds might start coming back.

@Duluth said in Reds v Bulls: @MajorRage said in Reds v Bulls: Liam Wright looks a top talent. Aussie procession of 7's continues. Smith - Pocock - Wright. Wilson looks good too. That’s even better news for Aussie rugby. They’ve struggled to find an 8 for a while Absolute unit. Should be Wallaby 8 for a decade

A really good effort by the Reds, who have to be the best 1-5 team I've ever seen. They should have won though. Their average age is 21 and it showed. They just needed a few cool heads to direct traffic in the Crusaders 22, too often they went the wrong way or let the attack stagnate and the D-line get set. The goalkicking was abysmal and genuinely affected the game. I've never seen a pro kicker shank as many as Jock Campbell. Harry Wilson and Lukhan S-Loto were two real standouts, as was Hunter Paisami. Really nice to see the next generation coming through. Combine these Reds youngsters with guys like Harrison and Bell at the Tahs, Lolesio and Valetini at the Brumbies and you've got a few potential Test stars running around.

Comedy ending .... 87 mins and still going. Ref seems desperate to get the refs a try. When is advantage over? Pen advantage 25 out reds player muffs it on the line ... advantage over, surely? Ref finally gets them their try.

@KiwiMurph said in Reds v Sunwolves: Some quality youngsters coming through for the Reds. Good stuff. Brad Thorn doing a great job as their coach.

@Stargazer said in Brumbies v Reds: @macandcheese said in Brumbies v Reds Two saffer Journeymen playing for a "Japanese" franchise in SR I hope Sunwlves get battered every weekend I don't get this. Why would you want that? Because they have journeymen in their team? Or has been's? Or players that haven't been picked up by another SR side (yet)? It sounds like you resent them for some reason. Because they are a failed experiment? I'd like them to be as competitive as possible with their limited squad, so at least their games are watchable. They have a remarkably loyal crowd that deserves entertaining games (even if they lose often) in the final year of this franchise's existence. Yeah have to agree they were good to watch last season won first up in 20/20 not the worst team going around shame for the sake of the Competition it didn't go on SR needs a lift its dying off a bit crowds are poor it needs some injection of something.

@Nepia I'm fine with players from outside playing for us, but on the condition they have been playing cub footy here (super players excepted) which is a rule that has been in place for a number of years now. Yeah not sure a draft system would work in NZ, I think the current one, is probably as good as we will get, much better than the one where players were all but made to sign for a province in the Super teams catchment. I dont really support the Blues any more than any other NZ team, reasons are more than just they are/were cnuts to Northland I want all Kiwi teams to go well and will always support a Kiwi side over a foreign one.

The tackle is over the top of the shoulder thus probably should be a penalty try anyway.

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

@MajorRage He couldn't have gotten any worse though

@Chester-Draws said in Reds vs Stormers: @taniwharugby said in Reds vs Stormers: @Chester-Draws some refs dont play it that way. Too true. I find it infuriating when penalty advantages are allowed to go for eight phases, but knock-ons for two passes. The rules make no distinction and refs should not either. Both should be allowed to develop. I'm an advocate for 2-3 phases of penalty advantage. these days people run 20+ phases without scoring, and THEN the ref goes back for a penalty. It's garbage. Modern defences don't get ripped apart easily - if you know it's 2-3 phases, people will chance their arms or just go back to restart play

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.

@Tim If that's not deliberate, I can't think of another reasonable explanation. In mitigation I will point out that he's trying to dislodge someone who isn't supporting his own weight.

Reds look like a bucket of arse for 40 minutes. Reds look like a good team for 40 minutes. She's a good halftime talk from BBBT

@antipodean yeah I can't actually see what the issue is there? However, the Reds player subsequently grabbing a tah with one hand by the back and the other hand pushing his face backwards...

@Bones said in Reds v Crusaders: @booboo I'd say yes he is and I wouldn't be surprised if that changes pronunciation. The vowels sounds would likely stay the same but the emphasis on the vowels would change. In Maori we adopted an 'english' pronunciation where we put emphasis on the first vowel, while the PI's still put emphasis on the second (according to my linguist mate). We'd put emphasis on the Petaia whereas the PI's put emphasis on the Petaia.

@taniwharugby said in Highlanders v Reds: @booboo no my view was on deliberate knocks full stop should be illegal, not a misunderstanding of current rules. Where someone has no show of regathering an intercept but just slap at the ball, back, up, down, forward. Ok. Sorry to drag you into it Edit: won't get into that one here...

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)

@mimic said in Blues vs. Reds: @pukunui said in Blues vs. Reds: What a cripple fight. Ref'd by a retard. Probably the most consistently bad ref performance i have ever seen. How long until he is fucking up international rugby? Blues are fucked if the Ioanes leave. It might be a good time to strip them of their ABs and create a second division of not so super rugby. AB's coaches have rocks in their heads if they can't see that Akira is the second best 8 in NZ. Duffie looks like he has given up. Maybe he has realised his AB career is toast. Didn't Duffie dedicate this season to Tana or something? It certainly looks like he did. He’s playing as well as Tana’s coaching....

@nepia said in Reds v Highlanders: @98blueandgold Yep, if any game highlights Smith's value to his team it's this one. They wouldn't have won without him. Sopoaga has been pants this year - what has happened to him? Lost his aura since declaring he was heading overseas.

@pukunui I would prefer Lousi to PT at the moment. He has made some pretty impressive strides since the days of the Tahs. Would add some needed starch to the AB pack compared to Barret.

Cane, DMac and ALB all need to be rested once. Obviously all their ABs will miss the Sharks game. BBBR didn't play in the first Blues game so is sorted. Harris missed this game.

@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!

Watching game. Landers look very sharp. Who needs A Smith with this other dude? Kwade is a pathetic shell of the poor man's Brendan Laney he once was.

@Bones Back when the Blues won in Christchuch. Needless to say it was a long time ago.

@Unco Rennie was happy enough. Solid would be my assessment. Harris will get better with time on the park, and will provide a good combo with Elliot.

@dK said in Reds v Hurricanes: Is it just me or does this look really cool, not so cool that I would want one myself. Kinda like a "Red badge of Courage" or Purple Heart. Makes you look tough too. Not exactly a badge of honour Anyway, watched a replay of the game for the first time yesterday. Gee Gardner had a shocker. I think also a massive problem was that his touch judges were way too green and didn't dare involve themselves. Ultimately, while you want a ref to be confident in his abilities, it is much better to go straight to the TMO rather than have the shit show we had the other night.

@jegga said in Reds v Crusaders: This thread was hilarious to read , well done to all involved in it. Indeed. But it does resemble the same trajectory of most game threads on the Fern. Over confidence followed by abuse towards certain own players then make fun of opppsition.

Looking for video of Harris' head-high tackle/throw at ~65minutes. Can anyone point me to a vid? Not that I'm saying our players SHOULD un-necessarily pick up opposition players by the head and throw them around like rag dolls. Just I'd like to see it again.

And his scrum concedes a penalty immediately he comes on at tighthead. But fuck, that had to try hard to force that penalty. If it takes 5 or 6 or 10 seconds to finally break the front for they deserve a medal, for not cheating, not a penalty. The rules are fucked.

A Japanese Gavin Henson?

I did watch Sydenham play university a couple of weeks back, can't recall if he was playing though sorry. Will look out for the name in future

Yep they might well have won with Bender there but they need the whole squad to step up and their tacking was so poor in the first half they didn't deserve to win.   Sopoanga was composed I thought and played well but they needed one or two more cool heads. Fekitoa did not seem his usual self and appeared jittery, almost like he was trying to do it all himself with both Naholo and B Smith not being there.   I didn't realize how quick Sopoaga is?  70m out I thought there was no way he was going to make it all the way.