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.
That was a great test match and hats off to the Boks who were good value for their victory. For the ABs, I thought Weber had a great first half. Backs were generally pretty good TBH, maybe Havili could have done a bit more. But it wasn't in the backs that the game was lost.
I said it already, and I'll say it again, when you have Aumua and Tuipulotu as replacements, you are in lineout trouble. The former just can't be depended on to throw, and the latter is just not a jumping lock. Probably cost us the game. The starting props were also kept on 5 minutes too long. Really missed Whitelock.
I don't like having a go at the match officials, and fair play to Carling for having the guts to whistle penalties at the end, but there bad calls both ways. The worst for mine though was Mpimpi being a good few metres offside on the kick chase, not spotted by anyone.
I don't think you can be too hard or disappointed in the ABs, the Boks are our major foe for a reason - they are also bloody good at rugby!
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.
I heard match organisers are planning for a delay between the anthems, the time for the South African medical staff to attend to the players with injured vocal cords.
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).
Hope they stick with same midfield. Someone has to make way for Jordan if he’s available. Fakatava onto the bench. Would be interesting to know who woujd have been selected if Havili and Goodhue were fit. As much as Havili finished the super season well, he was poor in autumn in the NH. Goodhue is a good player but a better 13 than 12 and too slow for 13.
@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks v Ireland - 1st Test:
There were a few freak tries there and I don’t think Ireland are that far behind. They played to the end and they looked dangerous.
The big difference for me was the ABs looked way more composed and controlled. It's hard to pick a single NZ player who didn't play well overall and there were moments where individual players did something (e.g. Ofa's tackle of Furlong) which lifted the whole team.
Maybe not a new dawn but there was way, way less "headless chicken" stuff we've seen in the past - particularly when under pressure.
The early kicking was shîte. Just handed possession back.
When NZ has fast ruck ball, Aaron Smith is unplayable.
@Old-Samurai-Jack said in All Blacks v Ireland - 1st Test:
Can I hate the Irish team for their "soccer" antics and pressuring the ref?
I actually think it worked against them. They lost focus when the game was close early on with their captain sexton then POM just whinging.
A few lads with humble pie. Starting with me. The props were fine. Then the “Ardie on the bench” and “Paps ahead of Cane” brigade. For this match at least you were wrong.
There were a few freak tries there and I don’t think Ireland are that far behind. They played to the end and they looked dangerous. Their best player was Henshaw.
@Machpants said in [Poll] Who wins this weekend?:
Man I can't beleive that 0-8 ozzie are going to win this weekend cos a they aren't utter totally shit, just mostly shit, in SR?
England have been pretty average in recent times. At twickenham I’d have picked England. Aussie depth is thin but they can put out a decent starting XV.
I’ll wait and see how things pan out but as I’ve posted a few times not convinced by our props in the squad. The loose forwards are a mystery, not convinced PGS can post error-free test match footy. Grace has had a fantastic end to the season and is a genuine line out option like Read before him. Same can not be said of players like Savea. Hope Leicester goes well as I have doubts too.
@Ludraman said in All Blacks v Ireland - 1st Test:
Question for you Kiwis. Who, if any of the Irish would ye take in an AB team?
I'm nervous about this first test... I just hope it's a close game and we don't get pumped.
Furlong and Porter. Also the injured Leinster hooker Kelleher is a good player. Doris was very good vs the ABs last year but he’s been less impressive this year. Henshaw is a very good player. I rate the FB Keenan but probably not enough on attack. I think Ryan after a good first season has faded a bit.
So Havili, Goodhue, the 2 coaches and Jordan of all people are rabid anti-vaxxers…
@Crucial said in All Blacks v Ireland - 1st Test:
Ennor joining the team is the most alarming bit of news.
Is it really though? Are there any other capped midfielders not injured outside the current squad? I mean if you need a replacement midfielder who knows the systems who else would u suggest? ALB is injured and Umaga-Jensen is probably too given his injury record.
