Jeez we looked half asleep. Ball was so slow and F Smith was too deep. Marcus is not a starting full back, really need Furbank IMO.

Hope we pick our best pack to start next week

@Old-Samurai-Jack said in Ireland vs Japan:

Japan have gone backwards. Eddie Jones is a friggen charlatan. I just needed to say that.

I can't believe he keeps getting coaching gigs. No wonder he always has that shit eating smirk on his mug.

@Kruse said in Ireland v All Blacks - Chicago2:

@nostrildamus said in Ireland v All Blacks - Chicago2:

@Kruse said in Ireland v All Blacks - Chicago2:

And that's definitely a coaching thing... I wouldn't know how to coach that: "play naturally when you're feeling it; but play differently when maybe that's not quite working and just do this structure"

plan A, here, have some free beer
plan B, ok, the wife's here, she's got the keys and she's not happy...

Are we now saying though... Use Plan-A despite the wife arriving?
Coz... metaphor-aside, I'm currently 100% on that train

If not clear - I'm smashed, and just took a toke. And just hit a button which made my screen do something I don't know how to get out of...

if you're on Plan A, Plan B sounds possible but at some point it isn't and you don't really care. So, enjoy your jump into the multiverse...

England have crazy depth in terms of forwards who are battle-hardened from seasons of Premier Rugby.

Australian fans are talking about resting blokes after a "hard year" of footy, yet we played 14 rounds of Super Rugby + finals as prep for Test Rugby, with the only fallback being semipro club.

Premier Rugby guys are getting 18 rounds + finals + crossover games. You get found out there pretty quickly in terms of your preparation

The cheating Cantabs would have got away with it if wasn't for those meddling Journalists. Larry the Lamb has been unmasked.

https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-sport/star-rugby/who-was-speedster-under-larry-lamb-mask

Really we should have won that in a canter.

Tries rubbed out in the first half - the maul being called correctly only when the TMO jumps in - and a fair few brain farts when we had the ball in the red zone

Was a game for the ages and the performance by the forward pack was immense. I heard Tucker & Wingham made 20 tackles each

@Dan54 overall in general obviously but in Bells case the John McGlashen old boy getting the chance to play in a final against Otago of all teams is an opportunity gone begging 🙂 as an Otago fan however more than happy to not see George or Sam next week lol

@Victor-Meldrew said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:

@Dan54

I just hate dickheaded-ness in Rugby no matter where it comes from. Which was why the RWC QF was so bloody satisfying - Sexton's tears being the sweetest icing on the cake

I did too up to a point, and realised that dickheadedness comes in may forms, and I wasn't above letting a halfback etc know what I thought of him if I had managed to get him (even if a bit late etc). I know we all kind of have our rules etc, but watching Coles goad Codie Taylor into getting YCed was something I enjoyed.
I also had a former French rugby player billeted with us a few years back in Aus. part of management of a club side we looked after. This man proudly told me that he had marked Colin Meads in a couple of tests, and after a few drinks we had laughed at rugby stories etc of what happened in tests etc that he had played in against not just Abs, but others too. Take y word for it, mouthing off etc would be least dicie thing that was happening.
Same as sledging in cricket, height of dickheadedness or just getting in heads?

@Billy-Webb said in Springboks v Argentina Twickenham:

By all means, continue that conversation in SPORTS TALK, but let's focus on relevant game commentary / thoughts / analysis in this thread please.

Fair enuff.

I'll put a couple of thoughts in the Springbok thread.

@Steven-Harris , Yeah, its part of Reon Grahams job description to do all of that work around development and working with other rep coaches. Some provincial coaches spend the first part of the year at Super rugby level or the new ones aren't even appointed at that time. As a recent Premier club coach, he would be fully aware of the talent in the province.

@Dan54 said in QF: Hawkes Bay v Taranaki:

@KiwiMurph said in QF: Hawkes Bay v Taranaki:

@Dan54 said in QF: Hawkes Bay v Taranaki:

No argument , I wasn't accusing anyone here of that, merely stating that anyone who was blaming him had holes in head. You feeling a little precious or victimized this morning mate? 😁

Feeling fine. I was just particularly interested in your take given that you have been leading the Jacomb bandwagon for some time.

Still will be on Jacomb bandwagon, I been watching this game long enough to not write off a player when he didn't have a good game. I haven't yet seen a player be on top of game all the time, and I only on his bandwagon as I think he probably the most balanced of the uncapped 10s we got.
I genuinely think young Simpson from Auckland another I like the look of.

I dont think anyone is writing him off.

Though I think the desperation for some fresh blood at 10 in NZ has seen his stock rise above what he's actually produced.

Simpson at least has a huge boot which is rarity - hopefully he can get some better coaching than the Auckland 2025 environment - either at Auckland or elsewhere - so that he can start developing.

@Kiwiwomble said in QF: Otago v Waikato:

@brodean probably fair, but that tells me we just need to be better with players IN the system rather than leaving them to "develop" for years, i think take players on hot form and expose them to the next level...rather than play it too safe and then wonder why they didn;t kick on

Agree completely.

But you have to wonder what the point of having 4 players deep is if youre not going to pick the player of those 4 who is in form now?

@Canes4life said in QF: BOP v Ta$man:

There’s definitely a world where I can see Fehi in the ABs. He’s been on fire all season for BOP.

He was strong for Hurricanes too (as well as AB 7s). Should be on the radar.

https://countiessportshub.co.nz/steelers-out-to-make-good-on-1982-hoodoo/

@brodean said in All Blacks vs Wallabies Bledisloe II:

The two best at disrupting the breakdown and winning turnovers were easily Savea and Kirifi in SRP. We tried them and they didn't exactly set the world on fire as a combo. Its just not an area where you need more than one guy. For us its Savea. For South Africa its Kwaga Smith for 30 minutes.

South Africa have a team of forwards who dominate collisions as a priority.

Malcom Marx is their best disrupter.

Bell is much better than Brodie Mcalister

Explanation of the TMO call yesterday.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/360844392/or-out-call-dividing-rugby-after-wellington-awarded-contentious-try-npc

A fairly even game from my view at the stadium. Waikato's poor starts continue. Happy to make the QFs but I don't expect us to advance any further. When I saw all of the missing Waikato players exit their room as I was leaving, there are a lot of players missing before I even count the ABs.

Just watched the game after getting back from work. Wow are the past 3-4 years paying off. Execution of the basics and the game plan was top notch and the team looked v composed and level headed. Can’t remember the last time Otago completely blew a team out like that.

Hastie may have overplayed his hand a tad at times but he’s an excellent back up for the play offs and his kicking game is v good.

Everyone seems to be hitting form at the right time.