I feel like the free world is at stake. A battle of good vs evil. Will we wake on Sunday morning to a scorched earth where 10-man rugby overlords have mercilessly crushed all opposition or will the larks be singing and the crickets chirping as running rugby once again spreads its verdant wings and rays of golden sunshine bathe a benevolent populace? These are troubling times my friends but let the blackness bring light.
TB said he would never coach Australia.
That’s AB credentials right there, jumps to the head of the queue.
I have a fundamental and philosophical problem with all this: why does being the child of a rugby star who earned and spent a lot of money entitle you to charity to pay for your later education?
Did Jonah have life insurance? Can Nadene work and provide for her kids? Etc.
I really liked Jonah but the aftermath of his passing and this saga is fairly unpalatable.
Saw this on the guardian
My mate has been given two tickets for the England vs Sweden game. He’s getting married today and can’t go. If you’re interested and want to go instead of him, it’s at 3 pm at St Mary’s in Bromley and her name’s Sarah.
I’m happy for Todd too.
Whether you support his selection or not always happy for a guy who didn’t throw a sook and head overseas at the first obstacle
@Mokey said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
If being an island and 5m population made beating the virus so super duper easy, how come Ireland has 25k cases and over 1600 deaths?
2 different political systems on the one island with no desire to put up a physical border again
Lots of contact with the UK one of the major epicentres of the virus
Ski holidays in Italy and France at the moment the virus took off
3 hours flight gets you to multiple destinations in Europe. 3 hours flight from NZ barely gets you to Australia
Cheltenham horse races at the time the virus was taking off
Not only flights but also ferries into Ireland/NI
Population density higher in Ireland than NZ
Socialising in pubs is what the Irish do, much more so than in NZ
And so on. It's a great achievement, but don't be turning into a smug self-satisfied Kiwi now please!
@Centreman said in Bledisloe 2:
Anyone here believe in Ofa Tu'ungafasi potential or talent as much as Shag and his fellow selectors as I am struggling to see his worth off the bench or even in the AB environment.
Would welcome some enlightenment here.
It seems to be flavour of the month to lay into Ofa. He's had limited opportunities, and he's been OK, without either being totally rubbish nor dazzling.
I think the jury is out, and personally I'm happy for him to be given some more time. Props invariably improve with age, and he's still only relatively young (25).
Bit surprised. Based on what I’ve been reading on the forum I expected lockdown level 4 to be extended till 2050.
So sad for Neymar. Brazilian Olympic diving team is recruiting though.
Ha ha.
Neil Francis fired by the indo for saying smith had an Oompa Loompa tan
Fuck off neil you won’t be missed.
If you take out AB tests vs major opponents the stadium is otherwise perfect size.
In the NH most countries only have one test venue: twickenham, Aviva, millenium, Edinburgh etc.
I’d rather have atmosphere for npc and super and have the 1 AB test per year vs wallabies or springboks go to Auckland.
Akira, Dalton, Luke is my preferred combo. Swap in cane when he gets back and move Dalton to the bench in place of savea. Blackadder has real potential too.
Don’t think loose forward is a problem area. Our props are borderline crap though, weakest area by far. Not great locking depth either.
Of all the fallout over the past week, the feeblest response was the guy at the FA explaining that the shambles at the final would not impact England's bid to host the 2030 World Cup.
It won’t. Take your pick of any country willing to « sweeten » their bid. Such as a hot desert country like Qatar…
Julia Ducournau.
Too lazy to post a picture but she’s all over the news with her Palme d’or at Cannes.
@bones said in Red Card Lottery at the weekend:
@mariner4life said in Red Card Lottery at the weekend:
There it is. Layed out. Korobeti's is not even close to a red. Not even on the same ball park.
Rugby has lost its fucking mind
He was too high and as a result ended up shoulder to head. I would've probably sided with yellow, but look, if we want players to be more careful and they're not learning, red card makes sense.
Think they need to bring in the 20 minute red card and player is replaced though.
Our friends in the NH, namely the poms and I think the Scots voted down the 20 minute red card. It ain’t happening.
Lock havili into 12. Really good game.
I don’t get what bower brings. De groot was better at super level and he looks better at international level. Imho de groot will be a world class star, he’s what just 22 years old?
Fiji were disappointing.
England have developed a strong squad. But they played too negative. The early goal should have spurred them on, but instead they tried to settle and were ultimately punished as a result. How Grealish doesn't play a greater part in their line up I don't know
Southgate has done a good job to get them where they are now, especially building discipline and a team first mentality. But they now need a better coach to build on the foundations he’s laid and actually harness the fantastic talent they’ve got
I personally think he should be kept on until the World Cup next year. Then see about his future.
He’s the first coach since 50 odd years to get them to a final, albeit via a poor Germany, a hapless Ukraine and a solid but unspectacular Denmark. But English have generally been rubbish in tournament football.
A problem with soccer is teams with a 1 goal lead in the closing minutes. Much like rugby had the problem with endless rucks (still a problem, but the 5s law and refs penalising for sealing off have helped), soccer had the endless pass backs to the keeper. Not allowing the keeper to pick the ball up was an improvement but it’s still an issue imo.
I feel sorry for Southgate. He must hate penalty shootouts.
I think he should have subbed Kane who had no influence whatsoever over 120 minutes
