Wallabies V All Blacks this Saturday.

[El Presidente]

37- 36  in a gunsling. 

AB's by one.  

I dreamt it last night  

......I also dreamt that Foley stepped 5 AB's to go in under the posts.  

There is a fair chance he did as he missed that kick from in front that would have won the game.  

Mind you, our prop Taniela Tupou walked up to him and ate him after the miss.   That last part puts some doubt into the prediction thing 

[ayepatz]

I see Hansen has claimed Australia are favourites.

Wonder if we might see Barrett being replaced with Mo’unga?

[99call]

The thing I'd really like to see is.

- Italy fall out of the six nations, Jags dissolved, Argentina moved into the six nations (they'd all be living in France anyway)

- Aussie and NZ, France stripped of all there 1st generation Pacific Islander players, and a fully funded, professionally managed (not by a corrupt elder) Pacific Islands team to join The Rugby Championship.

I know it will never happen. but, I've got a feeling we would see lots of top tier teams embarrassed. 

[Ken Gargett]

1 hour ago, ayepatz said:

I see Hansen has claimed Australia are favourites.

Wonder if we might see Barrett being replaced with Mo’unga?

mo'unga was dumped from the final squad so unlikely.

rob, we'll be lucky to score 36 in total over the three tests sadly. 

as for foley stepping five kiwis, he would struggle to do that in an auckland cemetery. 

[Ken Gargett]

42 minutes ago, 99call said:

The thing I'd really like to see is.

- Italy fall out of the six nations, Jags dissolved, Argentina moved into the six nations (they'd all be living in France anyway)

- Aussie and NZ, France stripped of all there 1st generation Pacific Islander players, and a fully funded, professionally managed (not by a corrupt elder) Pacific Islands team to join The Rugby Championship.

I know it will never happen. but, I've got a feeling we would see lots of top tier teams embarrassed. 

that is a bit rich. so england can keep all their imports but other sides cannot?

england have been appalling at this sort of thing for many years. not just rugby. there was a time when you would have struggled to find a pommy accent in the english cricket dressing room. 

[99call]

16 minutes ago, Ken Gargett said:

that is a bit rich. so england can keep all their imports but other sides cannot?

england have been appalling at this sort of thing for many years. not just rugby. there was a time when you would have struggled to find a pommy accent in the english cricket dressing room. 

Haha, Most of Englands imports were stolen from us Welsh (see the Vunipola Brothers) who we, stole from Tonga? Samoa?

Ken, I think all teams should be stripped of players who (in a sense) would prefer to play for their country of origin (if financially viable).  As for someone who cant wait to get out of Fiji, and who consider themselves naturalised as NZ, then that should be respected.   What I'm saying is that It should be a point of shame, that the collective pot which is World rugby continue to do very little to help, and police Island nations being able to retain their players (If they so desire). 

I think a fully funded PI Barbarians (every 4 years) would at least make the world realise there is a problem at hand. That these players have the ability to be world class, if they had the finance and coaching in there own countries

 

 

[Ken Gargett]

1 minute ago, 99call said:

Haha, Most of Englands imports were stolen from us Welsh (see the Vunipola Brothers) who we, stole from Tonga? Samoa?

Ken, I think all teams should be stripped of players who (in a sense) would prefer to play for their country of origin (if financially viable).  As for someone who cant wait to get out of Fiji, and who consider themselves naturalised as NZ, then that should be respected.   What I'm saying is that It should be a point of shame, that the collective pot which is World rugby continue to do very little to help, and police Island nations being able to retain their players (If the so desire). 

I think a fully funded PA Barbarians (every 4 years) would at least make the world realise there is a problem at hand. That these players have the ability to be world class, if they had the finance and coaching in there own countries

 

 

it is a fine line. and hard to work out just how to do it. many pacific islanders grow up thinking the ultimate is to play for the all blacks or wallabies. the former a little more so. the problem is that there is no money in the islands for this. 

i think league has done it better but certainly not perfect. there is the origin comp, qld v nsw. so many arguments over which state people should play for. rules get changed regularly to try and stop fudging. is it the state in which you are born? that would make sense but what of the kid born in nsw who moves to qld with his family when he is three and then spends his life there? what of the kid who can't get a game in qld and so at 17, joins a team in nsw and blossoms and stars? should Qld be able to grab him back? what of a kid who lives in tweed heads (in nsw but right on the border) but goes to school in coolangatta (mirrors the tweed on the qld side of the border - the two have long merged) and plays all his footy there but lives back in tweed, perhaps a mile away? good luck figuring it out but league is trying.

and then we have the international level. encouragingly a number of players, absolutely brilliant players, have started saying, no, just because we play in nz or australia and grew up there, our heritage is tongan or samoan and so we play for them. there is also a double level system which allows players who play for 2nd tier nations to then be selected for a tier one nation like nz or australia if they wish. strengthens the island teams without locking up players. 

but if there is an easy answer, let me know. 

[99call]

2 minutes ago, Ken Gargett said:

t is a fine line. and hard to work out just how to do it. many pacific islanders grow up thinking the ultimate is to play for the all blacks or wallabies. the former a little more so. the problem is that there is no money in the islands for this. 

On this first point, It can be not be by chance that many Islanders dream of playing for NZ, by watching the exploits of their country men Va'aiga Tuigamala, Rokocoko etc. It would be hard to work out chicken and egg on this point.    Money is a huge issue, so many local politicians are rife on the rugby board, and basically steal every penny that comes through the doors. 

12 minutes ago, Ken Gargett said:

there is also a double level system which allows players who play for 2nd tier nations to then be selected for a tier one nation like nz or australia if they wish. strengthens the island teams without locking up players. 

I think this is a great option, but it would also be good if tier one teams (if featuring a great deal of Islanders) also went and toured the islands more, and put a bit of money in the coffers.   

[ayepatz]

Dear Lord, please don’t limit us to players born in Scotland, @99call!

[99call]

36 minutes ago, ayepatz said:

Dear Lord, please don’t limit us to players born in Scotland, @99call!

I think Scotland have been one of the few that haven't gone down this road, more to their credit. 

You just need to try and dupe someone into thinking their signing to go and live in Perth Australia, and not Perth, Scotland................oh crap, wait a minute,,,, you'll still need to find someone to want to move to Perth AU??.......this could be difficult.

[99call]

41 minutes ago, ayepatz said:

Dear Lord, please don’t limit us to players born in Scotland, @99call!

You guys are making the unusual mistake of trying to find Scottish lads with Italian heritage.   Thats like self harming. 

[Ken Gargett]

i think we got exactly what we deserved. what a shambles. we are not within cooee. the players believe that they can beat the all blacks. if that is true then we should be drug tEsting them a lot more often. 

I think that they scored more tries than we won line-outs.

Same every year. farcical optimism runs headlong into naked reality. And every year, the result is not pretty. a trainwreck. And embarrassing. At least that absurd nonsense from their coach, the spitting image of Miss Piggy, about us being favourites has been shown up as more if their usual crap.

But who the hell do you put in the team? Phibbs comes on and throws three passes. None went near another wallaby. Apparently no one mentioned to Toomua that part of his job is to tackle. Folau swans around like a big puppy with no real idea. As for Foley, lord spare me.

Anyone know what happened to Tupou?

Rarely have I seen a wallaby side show such little interest and so clearly want to be somewhere else.

Thankfully I am in Finland for the next one and I suspect that it may not be on local tv.

[JohnS]

.

[99call]

Ouch, only saw the highlights but as ever NZ seem to convert the most unlikely chances into points. 

What was really noticeble more than ever was just how calm and accurate the swarm support runners are. Whenever they look to the side and behind they have runners at 3 to 9 o'clock, and they are able to (within a fraction of a second) calculate who is most likely to be able to catch and pass it on successfully.    Now that might sound like the 1st and most basic step of rugby,......but .....well nobody does it as clinically to:

- To hold your space

- To access both left and right

- To slow down after the initial break

- To be available

- To control your speed

- To already be thinking of your passing options (even before you've caught the ball)

- To not feel the pressure to make the killer pass be the first pass.

The most impressive thing about the AB's in the modern age is, when they destroy you, you feel as if they did something uber complex and flashy, but when you really concerntrate on the highlights, is so so simple.   It's a bit like Floyd Mayweather,  throw 'scoring' shots, and DO NOT get hit.......then all that effort of trying to knock someone out is an unnecessary risk of style and tempo.   God forbid, Zee Germans ever really invest in a national Rugby side, this is how they would play, and they would be frightening.

 

 

[ayepatz]

Dammit, I can't get the highlights. Stuck in the middle of nowhere with a prehistoric internet connection.

[Ken Gargett]

3 hours ago, ayepatz said:

Dammit, I can't get the highlights. Stuck in the middle of nowhere with a prehistoric internet connection.

there were no highlights. 

worst wallaby scrum since that dismal game v england in a world cup years ago. 

worst lineout in history. it may as well have been a pack of smurfs against a basketball team. 

greatest lack of effort since parliament last sat. 

 

[gweilgi]

On 8/17/2018 at 10:03 PM, 99call said:

I think Scotland have been one of the few that haven't gone down this road, more to their credit. 

You just need to try and dupe someone into thinking their signing to go and live in Perth Australia, and not Perth, Scotland................oh crap, wait a minute,,,, you'll still need to find someone to want to move to Perth AU??.......this could be difficult.

Last I heard and saw, there were plenty of Saffas happy to move to WA...

[JohnS]

13 minutes ago, gweilgi said:

Last I heard and saw, there were plenty of Saffas happy to move to WA...

And when are their children ready to grow up and be available for Australia? We need help...plenty of help!

[gweilgi]

57 minutes ago, JohnS said:

And when are their children ready to grow up and be available for Australia? We need help...plenty of help!

Not for a long time, seeing as how Rugby Australia has given cup on the Western half of the continent....

[JohnS]

36 minutes ago, gweilgi said:

Not for a long time, seeing as how Rugby Australia has given cup on the Western half of the continent....

Ouch...yes, (that's) so true!!