Well, we'll disagree then.

I thought Matson's attack was direct enough. And I'm totally against DMac at 1st 5.

@Bovidae What's wrong with Matson? Our attack looked good throughout the year, once DMac got moved on -- and it would be hard to blame that on Matson.

Our handling coach might need sacking. And our defence structures took half a season to come right. But attack never seemed to be a concern.

@Paekakboyz said in Hurricanes 2020:

I'm not sold on him by any means, but think he offers as much as Smith, who also hasn't dominated in his appearances.

I think this is where teams go wrong -- they insist on trying to get guys who can dominate. If there was anyone that good, then they'd already be long since snapped up.

Instead of the Hurricanes trying to get some dominant star, why not get the best guy who can do his job and make the others look good? The Hurricanes have got good centres, they don't need an all-star first five. Smith strikes me as a guy who does his core job well enough, and allows others to do their job well.

Meanwhile the Blues have continued to try and find a star #10, so getting guys like Black, West, etc -- guys who don't kick goals well, and shovel the ball out, but once in a while look spectacular with ball in hand. They could have just got someone steady, won a few more games, and then a better player might think it's a franchise he could join. Meanwhile the Highlanders have been better served by just having Ioane do his business without trying to win the game by himself. And the Chiefs managed better with a plodding MMac than a star like DMac.

@KiwiMurph said in Hurricanes 2020:

@Chester-Draws on the other hand Jack Debreczeni is 26 and played 54 games for the Rebels.

Yes, and?

Debreczeni got to play lots of games for them because he's quite good. And as soon as he got game time for the Chiefs he showed that.

Meanwhile Garden-Bachop has struggled to make the starting position, because he's not as good. Maybe he'll come better, but saying he "hasn't had enough time" is rather bizarre -- he's played most of a season of Super Rugby (including starting a decent number of times), a season of ITM starting for Wellington, and even been selected for the Maori ABs. How much do you have to play before it is "enough" that people know how good you are?

ITTs don't bother me at all. There should be two of them, to prevent the GTs just being who can sprint out of the bunch on the climbs. That's a skill, but doesn't make for the most rounded rider.

It adds suspense too. Can a climber get enough lead to hold off the TT specialist? Otherwise the whole thing is over once you know who is climbing best. The recent Giros have really come down to that calculation, and been exciting for it.

I loathe Team TTs. They merely advantage those who are already most advantaged with a good team.

Can't say I watch ITTs, but that doesn't mean they should go.

@antipodean said in 2019 Tour de France:

@SynicBast said in 2019 Tour de France:

And yes, if he's asked to go back and get waterbottles, he will do that - the watre bottle call is at the call of the directeur sportif - we've seen other GC team leaders go back and fetch waterbottles for sprinters or KOM specialists already in this tour so George going back was nothing unexpected

But they aren't the Great George Bennett. This is a disaster. Not sure if his employers and peers understand the concept of team - do what's necessary to ensure GGB wins.

George's form wasn't fabulous going in. And he's never shown the ability to last three weeks. His position was a bonus, but no more than that.

Meanwhile sending Geoge back won't seem bad for Jumbo Visma. They got another win with Van Aert. They'll be stoked with the day.

@Winger said in Hurricanes 2020:

JGB hasn't had enough time. When he did get game time this year against the Blues he had a VG game.

He's 24 and played 13 games for the Rebels.

It's pretty optimistic to regard him as untried.

@Bovidae said in Blues 2020 - Beauden Barrett is Signed:

The key point will be when he takes his sabbatical(s) during those 4 years. If it's in 2022/23 then the Blues will still get the best of BB. As he says in the interview himself, he has personal standards and I don't see his speed declining that quickly.

Despite any number of examples, people are often confident that speed will stay -- it's a triumph of hope over experience. Commenters here were wildly optimistic that NMS and Julian Savea were not past it just because they were heading to 30.

In Beauden's favour is that he is light, and his build don't tend to lose it as quickly. But one injury and it can be gone.

@booboo said in CWC - The Other Semi Final:

@NTA said in CWC - The Other Semi Final:

Toljacunce

Smith to score 180.

Starc 70.

Aus end with 320.

Roll Poms for 280

Smith currently had five runs off 28 balls. A score of 180 would seem ... unlikely.

Predicted score of 255 seems wildly optimistic. Some tweaks to the system seem in order.