@sparky said in RWC All Blacks v South Africa:

Against the Boks, it's all going to be about physicality, discipline, composure and ruthlessly taking opportunities.

As opposed to other sides, where we need not worry about those things? That's some top level analysis you have going there!

I reckon it's even simpler than "physicality, discipline, composure and ruthlessly taking opportunities". In my experience putting points on the board is the key.

@98blueandgold said in 2019 NZ Schools:

Before I get mobbed it is always hard to pick schools teams because of the geography and the fact that games between players competing for spots are rare unless they are in same comp.

http://www.nzrugby.co.nz/what-we-do/national-teams/new-zealand-schools

They aren't just judged on their school games. There's camps, and provincial games etc.

But going to a big school is a massive bonus. We recently had a student at my school that should have been in the secondary school team, but didn't go to the right school. He made it to U20 squad, once free of that problem.

@Stargazer said in 2019 NZ Schools:

Apparently, only one player in the Hastings 1st XV team was over 18. So that can't be the reason.

They pretty much all have to be now, after a rule change, if I understood the rules correctly. Only two can be over 18 at the start of the year.

I can't find the eligibility requirements for international schoolboy games though. I thought that it was younger than under 18 on the 1st January because of the different school years of NH teams.

@Number-10 said in 2019 NZ Schools:

@Stargazer said in 2019 NZ Schools:

WTF!!

Hastings Boys win the National Top 4 and have ZERO players in the NZ Schools team, and only TWO in the NZ Barbarians team!

What a joke.

This is not the first time in recent years that the national champion has had zero players in the NZ Schools team:

2018 winners St Peter's College - 1 player in NZ Schools
2017 winners Hastings BHS - 6 players
2016 winners Mt Albert Grammar - 4 players
2015 winners Rotorua BHS - 0 players
2014 co-winners Hamilton BHS - 2 players
2014 co-winners Scots College - 3 players
2013 winners Hamilton BHS - 4 players
2012 winners St Kentigern College - 2 players

Goodness me, don't bring facts into it! Are you new to the Fern? Outrage is required here, and the fact that many others have suffered a similar fate isn't helpful.

@Stargazer said in 2019 NZ Schools:

@Chester-Draws If I look at the list, I see schools under/overrepresented, not only regions.

As was ever so.

@Stargazer said in 2019 NZ Schools:

@Chester-Draws Apart from 5 to 6 players, all players from this year's Hastings Boys 1st XV will return next year. So the majority will be eligible. Several players are year 11.

Also, if they are eligible to play the Top 4 finals, doesn't that also mean they are eligible for NZ Schools?

Everyone is under-represented, except inner Auckland.

Until you realise that population-wise, the Hurricanes zone has about the right amount. Just because we are divided into five franchises, doesn't mean that each franchise has even close to the same number of people.

@Stargazer said in 2019 NZ Schools:

WTF!!

Hastings Boys win the National Top 4 and have ZERO players in the NZ Schools team, and only TWO in the NZ Barbarians team!

What a joke.

How many are eligible?

I've seen teams where, between international players and players who are too old, almost none were even eligible to be picked for NZSS.

@Snowy said in RWC All Blacks v South Africa:

@taniwharugby said in RWC All Blacks v South Africa:

@Snowy or they'll spanner us all and throw SBW/Crotty into the mid-field.

Quite likely - they do talk up experience a lot.

So we then need two mid fielders on the bench.

The thing is, Crotty isn't that much more experienced that ALB.

OK, Crotty's been around a bit longer, but ALB has played almost as many tests (38 caps vs 45), and while Crotty has a lot more Super Rugby games, it's not like someone gets that much better after the first 70-odd.

The only reason I'd start Crotty is because if he breaks as a starter he can be replaced. Whereas if he breaks as a replacement then we are in a bit of poo.

@OleOleOle said in 2019 School Rugby:

@Chester-Draws Both games we're close, i just thinnk Hastings will have learnt from the two earlier loses

I'm sure Hastings will have learned a lot. What you forget is that Hamilton are unlikely to have learned nothing.

An analysis that runs -- Team A won both last recent meetings, therefore Team B will win the next one -- fails to convince me. To be sure it's not always true, but generally a team wins because it is the better team.

@OleOleOle said in 2019 School Rugby:

@Bovidae
Hastings
St Kents
HGHS

Why, with Hamilton beating Hastings in their match-ups have you gone for them?

Betting on Super 8 teams is a good bet, but I'd generally go for the winner.

@Bovidae said in 2019 School Rugby:

@Nepia said in 2019 School Rugby:

@Bovidae said in 2019 School Rugby:

CO-ED DIVISION
Blues Final
St Kentigern College 88 - Rangitoto College 7

What a mockery, the fishheads should have stepped in and banned St Kents from the division.

St Kents used to be in the co-ed comp before moving up with the big boys.

It is a joke but schools need to specify which competition they wish to qualify for by the end of term 2 I think. King's were guaranteed to be the Auckland qualifier for the Top 4 before the 1A final.

I read that St Andrews aren't even the best co-ed school in the UC. That was Rangiora.

Winning, qualifying and "best" are quite different things.

In general co-ed schools struggle to have strong teams. While girls aren't in the boys teams, they do mean half the roll isn't able to play. Hamilton Boys High is the biggest school in Hamilton anyway, but counting boys it is three times the size of the others.

St Kent's are different because they buy in a team more or less completely. That's what needs to be fixed, not which competition they play in.