The Silver Fern

This was objectively the best RWC because one very generous young lady scragged young Smuts like Mulder on Lomu.

@Catogrande said in Best of RWC 1991:

@Machpants said in Best of RWC 1991:

@Catogrande said in Best of RWC 1991:

to the NZ selectors who then poached him

from Auckland

Added for full historical facts

Is re-poached a thing?

It's called a restoration or return home 😉

There is also another airing of the 1987 final on SS2 tomorrow.

Screenshot 2023-09-07 at 18.30.19.png

Ignore the 1999 and 2007 NZ-France games later in the day. 🙂

@MiketheSnow

I'm not sure how feasible individual insurance would be for these guys. Going back to my days working in risk the issues with income replacement would be the work undertaken - ie how likely is an injury going to be and what are the potential consequences of an injury. For a rugby player the answers would be high and high. Add to that the payout would be linked to immediate pre-injury earnings and dictated by the length of contract, then for someone like Hawkins there would be no real safety net. Group risk - ie employer sponsored for the squad as a whole is much more feasible as the risk is spread - not everyone is going to get a career threatening injury. However this would again be limited to paying out the contract. A short term contract or no contract at all represents a huge risk for the individual. Less so for the club/region.

@MiketheSnow said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:

Interestingly if you asked the casual observer who were the most exciting teams to watch in the RWC then many would say NZ, France, Portugal

And all 3 are in the top 6 of kicking

> Context is everything

Except on the Fern!

We have a chance now. We have a tight 5.
The rest is icing
Might buy some tickets

Springbokke only win it every 12 years. With RasNaber it seems they like to break hoodoos. So don't be surprise.

We have a new rival in Ireland. They wear green jerseys, so it will be great if we can keep it in the URC family. Wales, Scots and Italy.

All Blacks will also be OK. Will restore our Boland towns blackness which died nowadays.

@DaGrubster said in RWC 2023:

@booboo

That’s the travesty of that final. It was completely ruined because one side got treated to being reffed like it was a crime scene.

Completely ruined it for me and everyone supporting NZ.

I wonder if World rugby have the self awareness to realise that the game they have created is one of the reasons for their officials getting pilloried on social media. It is certainly one of the causes

It’s easy to get caught up in the officiating in the final because it IS the final but it is a general blight on the game and of course it affects every team’s journey within the tournament. One can argue about a particular incident or even how a whole game was officiated (I can’t say reffed anymore because he is no longer the arbiter), but for me the biggest thing is the constantly changing interpretations. It seemed clear within the tournament that the thresholds for reds and yellows were a lot lower in the pool games and then a collective “let’s move the goalposts” in the knockout phases. Which is shite for the players, coaches and fans.

@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.

The USA venues have been selected for the 2026 FIFA WC. I am assuming many of these stadia will also be favoured for the rugby, but only 5 of the 11 stadiums have grass. No idea about the field dimensions.

New York/New Jersey (MetLife Stadium) - FieldTurf
Los Angeles (SoFi Stadium) - Matrix Turf
Dallas (AT&T Stadium) - Matrix Turf
San Francisco Bay Area (Levi's Stadium) - Bermuda Grass
Miami (Hard Rock Stadium) - Bermuda grass
Atlanta (Mercedes-Benz Stadium) - Bermuda grass
Seattle (Lumen Field) - FieldTurf
Houston (NRG Stadium) - Matrix Turf
Philadelphia (Lincoln Financial Field) - Bermuda Grass
Kansas City, Missouri (Arrowhead Stadium) - Bermuda Grass
Boston (Gillette Stadium) - FieldTurf

@GibbonRib said in RWC 2027 in Australia:

@voodoo said in RWC 2027 in Australia:

@frugby

I just had a go at this, cos it's RWC Final week, and fuck work, right?

Here is my bracket - it assumes current rankings, on the basis that we beat SA this week (shoot me), and assumes everyone performs in the RWC true to that ranking.

I didn't do the 3rd and 4th in each pool by the law, just kept allocating lower ranked teams to higher ranked teams, if that makes sense - so it might not be 100% right

I can't see any outcome too egregious - sure Wales and Australia might disagree with meeting each other in the R of 16, but it is what it is

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They won't do the knock-out stages like that though - ranking 1 to 16.

It will be predefined, and something along the lines of:
Winner A v Runner up D
Winner B v 3rd place C/E/F

Yep

And Scotland will be lucky to get out of that group 😉

@Catogrande said in RWC - how the poms beat us..:

@Smuts said in RWC - how the poms beat us..:

@antipodean that is some very tough marking.

But pretty much true. Eddie virtually admitted as much during an evening audience with him. From the word go he was targeting NZ in RWC 2019. It was the same in 2003 and both times it worked but maybe came a game too early.

I think the opening line of the vid summed it up well - he’s the master of the upset.

I wonder if he thought to himself (secretly) that he could afford to do that because England would have enough talent to beat whoever made it to the final from the other side of the draw without giving them as much focus as the All Blacks (certainly a year out I thought that might be his approach just looking at the way draw was likely to pan out)

@Bones YOU are the annoying one, how dare you summon me into the sports chat, you know I'm not to be trusted in here....

@rancid-schnitzel said in Worst All Black RWC exits:

@booboo said in Worst All Black RWC exits:

@rancid-schnitzel said in Worst All Black RWC exits:

@dogmeat said in Worst All Black RWC exits:

@rancid-schnitzel Still had 6 of the pack that would play in 95 RWC Final and 96 SA tour so should have won IMO.

Fox had retired and Little broke his leg so options were limited I guess. Mains should have selected Preston but for some reason despite him being halfback against the Lions he never made the tour.

Preston (a good goal kicker and decent fly half) was on the bench for some reason. Actually I know the reason - Mains had a major hard-on for anyone from Otago.

I’ve never actually seen a replay of the game but was that disallowed try fair?

I'm struggling to remember but was it a foot in touch? And I have a vague recollection I grudgingly accepted the decision...

I think so. If a fair try had been disallowed I’m sure we’d still be hearing about it.

Fuck. Wouldn’t we just 😳

@Bones said in Do we need a World cup?:

@RLx31 said in Do we need a World cup?:

@Bones said in Do we need a World cup?:

@RLx31 chuch

Ay?!

Sorry forgot you'd need a gif.
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☝️🤣
I actually had to google it, I'm not down with the kids these days. Thought you were getting angsty with me, I was gon' be like...
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@NTA From 2007 to 2011 my TSF moniker was "Winning Ugly is still Winning." I think I might put it back

@Crucial said in MotM v Wales (3rd/4th Game):

Not a lot of love for Reado.?

Was awesome with his link play and tackle count.

He had a very good game. Ever since his injury he's had to reinvent himself as a tighter loose forward. At his best he was absolutely magnificent - hard hitting and beautiful skills.

The playing too wide off the ruck and getting always hit behind the advantage line has already been covered in detail here,but it just seems to me the forwards weren't fully recovered from the previous week and weren't recovered mentally and physically for the onslaught. With the benefit of hindsight,the game was won by halftime against Ireland,perhaps even earlier subs in that game would of kept a bit of energy in the tank for the next bigger challenge. Some of our forwards aren't young bucks and gave a flat performance.

Eddie had us sussed.

@mariner4life said in AB squad next RWC (2023)?:

@booboo said in AB squad next RWC (2023)?:

So, Kaleb Trask debuts for Chiefs. He a contender, or possible future option?

wait @Crucial someone wants a shot at your title

So ... Hoskins Sotutu ...