For fucks sake.
Im pretty fucking over rugby at the moment to be honest. To put 54 on the Wallabies in sydney and get the win but be pissed off afterward is just a weird feeling.
The reffing of the game at the moment is absolutely killing the game. That Wallabies try was one of the most obvious non tries i have seen in ages. The pass was 1m forward and then a clear offside the angle they made the call on was totally wrong.
Then the non try for BB. The front angle clearly showed BBs hand on the ball first yet they look at some far off angle from behind and the consistency of clear and obvious being required to disallow the try is out the window.

Fuck Barnes.

ABs bench sucked arse.
We need to find a new 3rd hooker and a replacement for Ofa.
TJP was shit again. Has reverted to the old TJ. WTF was that quick lineout? Stupid.

DMac mixed really good with the shit. That is the problem with him.

Ioane, ASmith, Squire and Rettalick really good.
BB's goal kicking very good.

Oh and a big fuck you to the Clown. What sort of professional sits in the coaches box swearing his head off at every ref call, even when it goes his way.
When is he going to get called on his pathetic record as wallabies coach?

You will never convince me that the current obsession with handing out red cards is a good thing.
They have shifted their interpretation of dangerous play, and how it should be dealt with, a long way from where it used to be. But they haven’t changed the card system. It is no longer fit for purpose.
Add in the inconsistency they are applying it with and it is a complete fucking mess.

Straight red cards should be reserved for the worst of the worst. ie. biting, kicking, eye gouging, punching, stomping on a head and deliberate or extremely dangerous foul play eg. A stiff arm to the head.

Tackles that are part of the game but have just been poorly executed in the heat of the game should be dealt with differently. There is absolutely no reason another tier of card allowing for a replacement player after 10min and harsher suspensions wouldn’t work.
Or hey you could even start by not reducing every single ban by 50% because someone dressed nicely for the hearing.

I would be very interested in seeing the stats for how often a team has gone on to win after copping a red card before 60 mins. It is so often a death sentence for the contest.

By the way, im not commenting on the red card in this game. Im not watching it because i refused to pay money to watch a RWC which was so clearly going to be tainted by bullshit cards and inconsistent application of the laws.

@Machpants said in Blues 2020:

Quality No 10s are like buses....

You wait for years for one to come, then two turn up at the same time?

@MN5 said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #2:

On the piss in town last night and I have to say that every single Lions fan is an absolute GGC. Great folk to talk shit with. Such a decent bunch. My Mum is a fan too after getting her car stuck on the ledge of a drive she was using to turn around in. A group of about 6 of them lifted her car ( Suzuki swift ) back onto the roadside. Legends.

Town is just pumping. 2005 all over again, only difference is my fucken head aches way more than it did at 28.

Concussion? Would explain some of your comments around Scottish players.

@Machpants said in Aussie Rugby:

@mariner4life said in Aussie Rugby:

@Bovidae said in Aussie Rugby:

There is enough blame to go around but even if some of what O'Connor says is true it did sound like a dysfunctional squad.

when was the last time the Wallabies weren't dysfunctional?

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stuff.co.nz%2Fsport%2Frugby%2Finternational%2F106241168%2Felvis-a-hit-warriors-top-dogs--what-was-it-like-when-australia-last-won-bledisloe-cup&psig=AOvVaw2JSXG1fWB3jRRYHUVq0hcO&ust=1592435126553000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCNDWkaK5h-oCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

or even

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.smh.com.au%2Fsport%2Frugby-union%2Fbring-back-bill-the-untold-stories-of-the-1999-rugby-world-cup-20190916-p52rn0.html&psig=AOvVaw070LMBt5E9rgL2scXYujq0&ust=1592435232534000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCODm4NS5h-oCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

It’s amazing what they can do to colourise old historic black and white photos these days.

@mikethesnow said in All Blacks v France Test #2:

@taniwharugby said in All Blacks v France Test #2:

@booboo the French centre reckons it was partly BBs fault....

Doumayrou conceded it was "the straight application of the regulation" but felt the match officials should have taken into account that there had been "a fault of the All Blacks" with Fall "unbalanced" while challenging for the ball.

Was going to wait until tomorrow, but had a few so what the hell.

ALB certainly helped Fall to his final destination quicker than he expected.

Not a legal person but I think that's what the Americans call an 'Accesory After The Fact'

Nothing Fall could have done to avoid the collision with BB

Fall was focussed on the ball the whole time, as was BB

Many have commented that Fall would never have made the catch.

It could be argued that BB knew the only way he could make the catch was to leap above the oncoming player and put himself at the mercy of the collision.

So he couldn't have turned his eyes in the general direction he was running and realised he was going to be beaten to the ball and pulled out? How did all the other players in the match manage to properly judge aerial contests then?

Its a pretty simple situation. Time your run right and get in the air to properly contest or pull out and wait for the guy to safely land. Blindly running to where the ball is going to land and being surprised you take out a jumper is not an option.

@Bones said in 'Super Rugby' 2021:

Sounds naff

https://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/300225984/super-rugby-aotearoa-radical-law-changes-for-2021-include-captains-referral?cid=app-iPhone

FFS, I hate this shit. How about they work on getting the TMO to not fuck up clear decisions. Referring them more things to get wrong is not going to improve the game.

Not sure how allowing the defending team to kick the ball away after the attacking team has been held up over try line is going to promote attacking play.

But hey, lets go all out like the BBL and introduce power plays and power surges and mega awesome lightning periods where tries are worth 100 and fans can vote on removing the boots of an opposition player for 10mins.

Much better performance tonight. Especially with all the new guys in the team.
Scott Barrett my MOTM. Don't see why people are saying he is too slow to cover 6. Not like Kaino was fast. Would much rather a strong tackler/strong carrier and lineout option with good ball skills over a flaah open field runner like Fifita.

Dmac was also good. Still had some poor moments but for the most part he was playing like a 10.
Hopefully he and Richie can both develop so we have some good depth at 10.

SBW was looking really good. Unfortunate that he got hurt. Think our backline balance with a strong runner at 12 to bend the line.

Thought Goodhue was decent on debut. Especially second half. Hemopo good on debut and i thought Frizzell wasn't as bad as has been said on here but still not seeing what he has over Akira.

Hopefully this is the last time we see Todd miss a squad. Time to have him on the bench in the top team.

Rieko was bloody good again. So much gas. Looked good at centre too.

Think people are jumping the gun on calling Ben Smith past it. He is still a fucking good rugby player.
And while Naholo wasn't great on D tonight he is still a bloody good winger to have in the squad.

One and only thing i will say about the ref/tmo: The Frizzell no try was bullshit. Sure if the ref goes upstairs and says can you see a grounding? And the tmo can't see it you don't give the try. But when the ref said he saw it you don't interrupt then overturn the call because you aren't sure if he got it or not. There was no clear held up just like there was no grounding. So go with the refs call ffs.

Also the NZ anthem was awful. I hate the slow warbling opera types.

Well it appears my first reaction to that squad was the same as everyone elses. Fifita? WTF?

They have lost the plot over the last few years when trying to plan for Kaino’s departure.
Elliot Dixon in and out, Luatua in and out, Squire all the chances in the world despite being shit, fifita all the chances in the world despite being shit, Frizzell in from nowhere then out, Barrett maybe we will use him but not given many chances, Hemopo selected as a 6 but now listed as a lock also given bugger all chances despite showing promise, Papalii in then out, Akira never given a chance despite good form, Jacobson in then......

What is the bet they now try Cane, Read or Ardie there? That is the only reason i can see them picking Todd.

Will be interesting to see what they do at 14 too. Some of those guys need to be tested.

@Hooroo said in All Blacks vs Tonga:

@Nepia said in All Blacks vs Tonga:

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks vs Tonga:

@pukunui said in All Blacks vs Tonga:

@Canerbry said in All Blacks vs Tonga:

@pukunui said in All Blacks vs Tonga:

Im definitely not sold on the Bridge/Reece combo.

Why is that?

To clarify that probably should have been followed by “as our first choice combo”

I just don’t think it is the best one we can put on the park. Ioane/Smith still #1 for me if BB is at 15.

If Smith is at 15 i would have Bridge in the conversation for 14 but they don’t seem to want to play him there.

With Reece i just don’t rate him that highly yet. He hasn’t done anything in an AB wingers jersey that someone like Jordie hasn’t and he was about as good in Super rugby as Ben Lam was a season or two back. For now i put him firmly in the “flashy new toy” category.

The great thing about flashy new toys is that you only need them for Christmas/New Year period. We only need Reece to perform at the RWC and then let’s see where it goes.

I'd prefer we rely on Ioane (who's performed for a couple of years now and his drop in form has been blown way out of proportion) and Bridge who looks to be the next long term Ben Smith/Cory Jane style player.

I'd prefer we rely on the form winger rather than the grossly out of form winger.

The way Bridge hunted out the ball during the last Bled was enough for me to want to see a lot more of that

Where does this grossly out of form thing come from? He has only played two games for the ABs this season. He wasn’t great against the Boks when he kept dropping the ball but lets not forget Bridge came on and shat the bed letting the boks score at the end. Then he played against Aus in perth where he wasn’t bad despite to forwards getting embarrassed.

It’s not fair to translate his up and down super season into his test “form” because he was playing in a joke of a Blues team and still scored 9 tries.

@Crucial said in Foster:

@Rancid-Schnitzel said in Foster:

@Victor-Meldrew said in Foster:

@geeky said in Foster:

@Victor-Meldrew said in Foster:

@geeky said in Foster:

@Victor-Meldrew said in Foster:

@Machpants said in Foster:

@Victor-Meldrew said in Foster:

@number9 said in Foster:

The Team was lost prior to Schmidt and Ryan. Now the backs are attacking with purpose, our set piece is looking a lot better.

Once again you're arguing a Head Coach (good or bad) doesn't have much impact on team performance. Which, given the way some on here fetishize Roberston as an AB Head Coach, is a bit illogical - if not weird.

Just because one head coach has fuck all impact now new assistants have been forced on him, does not mean all head coaches do nothing.

I'm not saying I totally agree, but it's not weird. Foster is an ineffective head coach, and his team shit as an abs team ever had been. But now he's been forced to move away from his choices as assistants, the abs are improving.

Sorry, but it's incredibly weird thinking to say a head coach has no impact on results and in the same breath argue a new Head Coach will improve things.

Peter De Villiers as Boks coach (2008-2011) - it was well known that he couldn't coach for shit & the assistants did essentially all the coaching for him. Foster appears much the same.

De Villiers started out OK and the Boks faded badly in 2010-11. So if you are saying his assistants did all the work, you're arguing De Villiers wasn't to blame for those latter poor results either, and his assistants should have carried the can.

Which is a bonkers argument when you look at it.

Not really. Even the players admitted that the assistants Gary Gold and Dick Muir were ultimately responsible for the success of that era & said De Villiers was pretty useless as a coach.

Every different to Foster then when you consider the high praise he gets from players like Ritchie, Ardie and Sam Whitelock.

Tbf, Mark "never made the playoffs despite having absolute power" Hammett seemed to have plenty of love from the players he didn't send packing.

I've no doubt that perhaps one-on-one Foster has plenty of wisdom to impart. He was a decent player himself and rose through the coaching ranks very quickly. Clearly he has something of value. Unfortunately it's patently obvious that he's not a very good head coach. The evidence obviously being the Chiefs and ABs. If I can give him credit for something it's having at least been humble enough to accept the changes that clearly needed to be made. While they came very belatedly and allowed him to save his job, many would probably have gone the full bottom lip and had a tanty. Maybe he does that in private but I for one feel a hell of alot better with Schmidt and Ryan holding his hand. It's a pretty ridiculous situation but probably the best outcome before handing over to Razor for fresh start (hopefully 🤞) after the RWC.

The flip side to your argument is that maybe he is a good head coach. He has held this team together and found solutions. Even with his mistakes (eg holding on to assistants and some players) he hasn't lost the changing room and has helped guide things through adversity.
Yep, he has stumbled onto some solutions or had his hand forced but I don't buy that he is some kind of idiot at the helm of a ship navigated and sailed by the crew.
Definitely had his failings exposed but he has also been able to work past them.

Maybe.

I just want to know how you keep that suit of armour so damn white. You even manage to get the grass stains out of the knees. Impressive!

@antipodean said in Super Rugby 2023:

@KiwiMurph quoted the ARU mouthpiece in Super Rugby 2023:

Crucially, New Zealand appears to have softened its stance towards Australia’s demand for an even split of broadcast revenue, signifying a victory for RA.

I don't understand this: You can sell your part for more than we can, so we want part of your revenue too?

Wasn’t the old version of super rugby largely funded by NZ/Aus getting a cut from the larger broadcasting deal the South Africans had? Super sport maybe? Not sure when that changed. Might be wrong.

@Machpants said in All Blacks v Pumas 1:

@kiwiinmelb said in All Blacks v Pumas 1:

@Steve said in All Blacks v Pumas 1:

@Tim said in All Blacks v Pumas 1:

Sam Cane gets by from being a nice guy from the middle of nowhere. He is an absolutely terrible rugby player. He should get the fuck out of the All Blacks.

I really like him. I think it was circa 2016 he put on the most dominant tackling display I've ever seen against Wales in Cardiff. It was frightening.

But those days are long gone and he is yesterdays man.

He should have been picked for the RWC semi final but Hansen Guardiola'd himself by trying something mental in a knockout game.

The talk about succession planning is a farce when Hansens assistant gets the head coach role and then gives the same bloke that was dropped for the semi the captains armband.

I remember at the time thinking this is a weird decision,

Just named the guy captain that you lot couldn’t fit into the team for the most important game in 4 years

Apparently the team are rebuilding. Have been since 2019, despite only a couple of retirements after the cup (read, sbw, Ben Smith). How the fuck is a team, with the same coaching ticket and virtually the same players rebuilding? And how the fuck can it take two and a half years?

Totally agree, Just another bullshit excuse.

@akan004 said in All Blacks v Pumas 1:

@pukunui said in All Blacks v Pumas 1:

Is this rock bottom yet?

Ellis Park was.

They must have found some of that dry 2019 powder to keep tunnelling deeper through the rock.

Is this rock bottom yet?

@Crucial said in Foster:

@pukunui said in Foster:

@Crucial said in Foster:

@pukunui said in Foster:

@KiwiMurph said in Foster:

@pukunui said in Foster:

@Crucial said in Foster:

@pukunui said in Foster:

It would be very interesting to find out what Plumtree and Mooar think about the whole thing.

Getting thrown under the bus and having your replacements be held up as saviours of your teflon coated ex boss can’t be the most enjoyable experience.

Proof is in the pudding surely. Players said they weren’t up to it. Head coach said they weren’t up to it. Replacements were.
I’d lay low if I was them and pretend they were victims of a refocus

And his record says Foster “isn’t up to it”.
But he survived partly by knifing his assistants. ie shifting the blame onto them.

I doubt Mooar or Plumtree thought they weren’t up to it. It would be interesting to know what their opinions of the situation are. Very unlikely we find out any time soon though. Maybe it will be in a auto biography one day.

Obviously the sample size is small but looking at the Boks game there has already been improvements in the forwards (Plumtree's area) and the backs attack (I believe was Mooar's area?) plus this

Stuff understands the player feedback on Plumtree and Mooar had been consistent for a couple of years, without action from the NZ Rugby board.

Yeah, Im not suggesting that these guys were doing a good job. Just wondering whether they are happy to cop the majority of the blame and get sacked while Foster dodges the bullets and survives.
Were they not working to Fosters plans? If so why did he keep them there for so long in the face of poor reviews from players?

Have they really copped the blame though? Foster was copping all the blame but has saved himself by finally being willing to make changes, and in doing so, got a good win.
Most will see that they were replaced by better options not as the cause.

Of course they have. You said yourself that the players and head coach said they weren’t up to it and they have been sacked for poor performance. I don’t see how else that can be interpreted.
This wasn’t just some simple upgrade to better options.

Umm, no I didn't ...

@Crucial said in Foster:

I'm not exonerating Foster for anything here, just pointing out that these guys contributed to the problems, the players called it out and the head coach supported them as long as he could without losing his own job. Not sure why they are being painted as victims here.

Umm, yeah you did.

@Crucial said in Foster:

@pukunui said in Foster:

It would be very interesting to find out what Plumtree and Mooar think about the whole thing.

Getting thrown under the bus and having your replacements be held up as saviours of your teflon coated ex boss can’t be the most enjoyable experience.

Proof is in the pudding surely. Players said they weren’t up to it. Head coach said they weren’t up to it. Replacements were.
I’d lay low if I was them and pretend they were victims of a refocus

@Crucial said in Foster:

@pukunui said in Foster:

@KiwiMurph said in Foster:

@pukunui said in Foster:

@Crucial said in Foster:

@pukunui said in Foster:

It would be very interesting to find out what Plumtree and Mooar think about the whole thing.

Getting thrown under the bus and having your replacements be held up as saviours of your teflon coated ex boss can’t be the most enjoyable experience.

Proof is in the pudding surely. Players said they weren’t up to it. Head coach said they weren’t up to it. Replacements were.
I’d lay low if I was them and pretend they were victims of a refocus

And his record says Foster “isn’t up to it”.
But he survived partly by knifing his assistants. ie shifting the blame onto them.

I doubt Mooar or Plumtree thought they weren’t up to it. It would be interesting to know what their opinions of the situation are. Very unlikely we find out any time soon though. Maybe it will be in a auto biography one day.

Obviously the sample size is small but looking at the Boks game there has already been improvements in the forwards (Plumtree's area) and the backs attack (I believe was Mooar's area?) plus this

Stuff understands the player feedback on Plumtree and Mooar had been consistent for a couple of years, without action from the NZ Rugby board.

Yeah, Im not suggesting that these guys were doing a good job. Just wondering whether they are happy to cop the majority of the blame and get sacked while Foster dodges the bullets and survives.
Were they not working to Fosters plans? If so why did he keep them there for so long in the face of poor reviews from players?

Have they really copped the blame though? Foster was copping all the blame but has saved himself by finally being willing to make changes, and in doing so, got a good win.
Most will see that they were replaced by better options not as the cause.

Of course they have. You said yourself that the players and head coach said they weren’t up to it and they have been sacked for poor performance. I don’t see how else that can be interpreted.
This wasn’t just some simple upgrade to better options.

@ACT-Crusader said in Foster:

Stuff understands the player feedback on Plumtree and Mooar had been consistent for a couple of years, without action from the NZ Rugby board.

@KiwiMurph that sort of info doesn’t fall off the back of a truck. So Stuff obviously has a sauce that is willingly to stitch up the assistants…

There was action from the NZR board. It’s just that the action was to extend their contracts 2 years. What a mess.

@KiwiMurph said in Foster:

@pukunui said in Foster:

@Crucial said in Foster:

@pukunui said in Foster:

It would be very interesting to find out what Plumtree and Mooar think about the whole thing.

Getting thrown under the bus and having your replacements be held up as saviours of your teflon coated ex boss can’t be the most enjoyable experience.

Proof is in the pudding surely. Players said they weren’t up to it. Head coach said they weren’t up to it. Replacements were.
I’d lay low if I was them and pretend they were victims of a refocus

And his record says Foster “isn’t up to it”.
But he survived partly by knifing his assistants. ie shifting the blame onto them.

I doubt Mooar or Plumtree thought they weren’t up to it. It would be interesting to know what their opinions of the situation are. Very unlikely we find out any time soon though. Maybe it will be in a auto biography one day.

Obviously the sample size is small but looking at the Boks game there has already been improvements in the forwards (Plumtree's area) and the backs attack (I believe was Mooar's area?) plus this

Stuff understands the player feedback on Plumtree and Mooar had been consistent for a couple of years, without action from the NZ Rugby board.

Yeah, Im not suggesting that these guys were doing a good job. Just wondering whether they are happy to cop the majority of the blame and get sacked while Foster dodges the bullets and survives.
Were they not working to Fosters plans? If so why did he keep them there for so long in the face of poor reviews from players?

@Crucial said in Foster:

@pukunui said in Foster:

It would be very interesting to find out what Plumtree and Mooar think about the whole thing.

Getting thrown under the bus and having your replacements be held up as saviours of your teflon coated ex boss can’t be the most enjoyable experience.

Proof is in the pudding surely. Players said they weren’t up to it. Head coach said they weren’t up to it. Replacements were.
I’d lay low if I was them and pretend they were victims of a refocus

And his record says Foster “isn’t up to it”.
But he survived partly by knifing his assistants. ie shifting the blame onto them.

I doubt Mooar or Plumtree thought they weren’t up to it. It would be interesting to know what their opinions of the situation are. Very unlikely we find out any time soon though. Maybe it will be in a auto biography one day.