K
@sparky said in Olympics Thread:
@JK I find the celebration of 4th or 5th even stranger.
I can understand a young up and comer celebrating making a final or finishing higher than they had before.
But to see experienced competitors celebrating finishing second or third doesn't sit easy to me.
If you are so content about being second, maybe you could have pushed yourself a bit harder and won?
Losing should hurt.
Only the elite couch potato can pronounce judgments like these.
@chester-draws said in All Blacks v Springboks:
@booboo said in All Blacks v Springboks:
@chester-draws said in All Blacks v Springboks:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks v Springboks:
@akan004 cherry pick to make the sky fall?
how about looking at it like this. in 21 tests we are 17-1-3. In 13 of those tests we have hosed them.
We lost a game where we had 14 blokes for 3/4s of the game
We lost a dead rubber Bledisloe away.
We lost one of the best tests in years.You know, now i think about it, we are 0-3 where we have scored less points than the opposition. That's not what you expect from a team with this much talent.
Try looking at it this way. We never, ever lose big. if it's a loss, it's by a bee's dick. We are balls deep in every game we play. That's a pretty sweet position to be in.
What you say is true, except the implication that somehow winning big a lot is good.
Say what? It's bad? Since when?
Winning isn't bad. Just that winning big isn't necessarily better than winning small.
Our recent massive victories over the Boks was not good preparation for the last game.
We have a game plan that I think tends to magnify our strengths and our weaknesses. When we play well we win by lots. But we equally come unstuck when it doesn't work.
I'd prefer a game plan that moved away from this emphasis on counter-attack, and assuming we wear our opposition down. I'd like to see us able to work on penetrating solid defences.
Because when we hit the 2019 RWC you can bet no-one, crazy Australians aside, will attempt to beat us playing open rugby.
But history has shown us that teams step up at the World Cup and a well organised, determined defence can be really hard to break down without taking a few risks. The All Blacks showed they could score 6 tries against such a defence without the defence every really crumbling.
Hansen's message to J Barrett and A Smith (for it was they who took the bad decisions that led to tries) is not don't take quick throw-ins or don't take tap penalties . It will be don't take quick throw-ins from a kick that left the whole Bok defensive line in your face and don't take tap penalties when there is no huge gap to exploit. The whole mantra of the ABs since Henry took over is to make decisions based on what you see - the mantra is not "put away the razzle-dazzle until you're desperate". There will be mistakes playing like that but by forcing the opposition defence to make tough decisions under pressure eventually the gap will appear and the tries will come.
One of the reasons the ABs never got much continuity (and zero tries) was the ridiculous number of infringements by the Lions. It felt like every time the ABs had possession in the Lions half, then there would be a penalty. And a man down and in those conditions, you have to take your penalties. And they were all kickable yet BB missed a couple of sitters. 10 kickable penalties in all - when you see a number like that, you wonder how the Lions were never on a team warning for repeated offences - especially as the offside line seemed to disappear completely at times.
Just got home from the game after not being online. Interesting to read the thread start to finish and just so many premature calls made ....
Looks like NZ are half an excellent side and half a poor one. It's basically Tauranga keeping things together. What a maestro Kane is as usual walking to the wicket after just one ball.
Great atmosphere at the game. English fans supporting the Windies and NZ fans mostly in their early 20s and mostly pissed.
I've enjoyed this thread as a small place of sanity where rational rugby fans gather to discuss the game. Please stop any references to wars and cowardice etc as we really don't need it here.
So far I haven't seen any complaints by Joe Schmidt about the game - that is good for Ireland. He's a canny chap, he'll be learning the lessons and planning for the next time.
It's all over and Dice managed to hang on to win by a single point from Higgins and Winger, by 2 from Hydro11 and by 5 from Broughie. I can't remember a closer leaderboard at the end of a season. https://www.thesilverfern.com/tipping/
All the scores over 60 came in the final week of the season as many went big on Sunday nailing 30/30 and many also getting Manawatu as low scorers. Despite being in prime position to challenge at the end of Saturday, Sportboy somehow finished 9th!
Justin77 managed a full 7/7 but others were better on margins - both Higgins and Hydro11 getting 6 out of 6 for the games they picked correctly.
Northland win the title beating South Island by 5 points - a lot of it due to Northland's win over Waikato which they backed more than South Island did. But mainly it was due to Justin77's stellar score.
I'll do more of a wrap a bit later on.
What T20 has done is produce a current generation of batsmen who have very poor defensive technique. Even some of players who appear to have good/respectable records in test cricket. They plant their feet, have a good eye and hit through the line. If the ball comes on and is not deviating, they marmalise it. They can, and have, scored big in test cricket but also get a lot of low scores when conditions are tricky.
Which is why England's dangerous middle to lower order appear to be a strength in test cricket when it is Bairstow, Stokes, Moeen etc but all of them don't really have the technique to survive the moving ball - hence why there collapses. Same with Australia, Mitchell Marsh is a flat track bully.
It really stands out when you watch the likes of Root, Smith, Kane and Kohli. While Smith is unorthodox, he does know how to stay in for long periods.
Rant over.
It's all over for another Super Rugby season and the results have been posted
https://www.thesilverfern.com/tipping/
In a low scoring week, Hydro11 scored just 19 but it was enough to win by 6 from Tim with John Nolan coming through to take 3rd and a podium spot in his debut season. Hydro11 won in 2016, 2018 & 2019 which suggests it is based on more than just random selections. Rounding out the top 5 were Higgins and Plastered Peni.
Best for the weekend with 50 was Kruse, getting 20 from all 4 category picks with 49 for Smudge who scored 15/20 on categories. Bay Imports was the only one with 4/6 games tipped for 40 points.
Barbarians won the teams competition 92-78 over Canes Gold for their first title since 2016. BOP Chiefs took 3rd beating Canes Black 88-66.
Thanks to all who played start to finish - see you all for the NPC.
From what I have seen of Kane he is very much in form - but India have been very good at frustrating him with a nagging line and length and he has uncharacteristically thrown his wicket away 3 times. It doesn't help when the openers are out so early as he knows they need 300 to compete and with Taylor being a slow starter, one of them has to force it a little.
Now if the Indians would just pitch a couple short outside off, a couple on the pads and throw in some half volleys then things would be very different. They could learn a lot from watching NZ bowling ....
https://thesilverfern.com/tipping/
TSF Super Tipping is over is over for another season and it is time to hand out the trophies.
Hydro11 sneaks over the line in the final weekend to retain his title, his 5th title after winning the first in 2016. Some tactical tipping went on just before the first game on Friday - if a similar situation happens in the future, I'll get the contending players to send their tips directly to me. Higgins finished 7 points behind after leading from week 3 to week 15. 3rd was Winger with Tim 4th and Plastered Peni in 5th.
Best score of the weekend and the season was Triple T, with 75.5 and every selection correct except going Chiefs 17+. Rico#1 was perfect with the game picks but went Reds instead of Drua for low scorer and scored 75. These are both in the Barbarians meaning they beat the BOP Chiefs easily to take the teams title for the 3rd time in a row. The 3rd place play-off was won by Canes Black over Canes Gold.
Most results picked correctly was Hydro11 with 86% success, 2 more correct than Triple T & Higgins. Most margins correct was also Hydro11 with 42%, 1 match ahead of Donsteppa & Tim.
Thanks to everyone who stuck with it until the end and to those who play every season. See you for NPC Tipping all too soon.
@machpants said in NZ vs. Aust - Japanese yawn edition:
You see mad eye hooper bursting a gut to limit beaudy getting towards the goal posts, the winger just leave him to it. He maybe a knob but he puts in a hundred every time
After he has retired, that will be my abiding memory of him. Sprinting to chase a back he has no hope of catching but never giving up.
It's all over and the details are here https://www.thesilverfern.com/tipping/
Your NPC 2022 champion is ...... Crucial. With a season's best score of 69 (matched by Waynes World) he vaulted over J77 (2nd) and Donsteppa (3rd) to take the title. Dice scored 67 to take 4th with Higgins in 5th. The top 10 was rounded out by Tim, Waynes World, Broughie, Langakali & Winger.
Tim won the TSF Cup by beating Richie 56-49.
The champion team is Harbour-Auckland 57-54 against Counties-Waikato, the first time any Auckland based team has even made it into the final. Dice and Duluth with the decisive scores that made up for Dogmeat being absent. Not enough support for Crucial even with Bartman turning up eventually.
Thanks to everyone for taking part and especially those who tip every week and ensure that the teams comp is worth running. See you early in 2023 for Super Rugby Tipping.
