@dogmeat said in Auckland vs Waikato:

So I've just been to QBE Stadium (Albany) and there is more seating behind the goalposts that there was for the RWC.

Are you all saying that this isn't in anticipation of Auckland's visit this weekend?

TBF even though the All Whites were out practicing in the sun I doubt the seating is for the Solomon Islands match either

I doubt it will have anything to do with the All Blacks up coming test either.

@Rugger-Quizzes said in Wellington v Taranaki:

Was annoyed initially that the Lions had signed Kirifi to be honest but he looks to be a pretty decent player.

Fidow destroyed a few times in the scrums which will surprise nobody.

Aumua outstanding though. What a prospect he is!

I've finally watched the game

The Wellington scrum was good until both props were replaced around the 55 minute mark. they were destroyed in one scrum but the next scrum hard on defense they destroyed the Taranaki scrum. I have been impressed with Fidow and hope the Canes sign him up pronto. Hes still only 20 so lots of upside

Kirifi is not the biggest 7 so needs to bulk up but he's good. Kemara Hauiti-Parapara was impressive (a third Canes HB option) and Jackson Garden-Bachop has improved a lot after his time with the Rebels. or maybe having a decent coach at wellington now is having an impact

@KiwiMurph said in Manawatu vs Ta$man:

Ta$man really miss Banks and Havilli - a lot of youth in that backline and it shows - way too many errors. Hunt not the greatest couple of weeks.

Yeah - I think our season goal might be trying to avoid relegation. The starting XV that we expected to have: i.e. including Havili and Hames, but not Squire; is very strong - but, things are very thin and green below.

At the end, when Paulo and (I think) Ainley went off and Taufua was in the bin, we might only have had about a hundred NPC caps on the field and most of them belonging to Guyton and Fredericks.

On the plus side, Jordan is going to be an excellent acquisition. He looked significantly bigger out there than I thought he was - already got a fair bit of Ben Smith about him. Some refinement to do, but he's going to have the goods.

@taniwharugby Cheers! It didn't show initially, probably due to slow internet connection.

yeah I was pretty happy with the way we contained that back division.

Like our mid-field of Tua-Goodhue, certainly neutralised (and were neutralised) thier AB capped opposites.

He could be useful for the Canes.

@ACT-Crusader Gatland has been pretty sharp. Good distance on his kicking has put the opposition on the back foot.

Equal argument would be to select players with the right build, right desire to learn and best natural skills. Scrummaging at young levels can easily be dominated by early maturing bodies or sheer size. Those dominant props do not necessarily go on the be the best test players.
I'm glad that the ABs seem to dig a bit deeper when selecting test potential than Super coaches do.

I thought it was clear he'd been concussed. The running sideways while toppling over didn't look all that tactical.

@cgrant said in Counties Manukau v Auckland:

@kev
It was clearly a ref's error. Henwood jumped into the ruck from the side without any Fekitoa's interference.

I wasn't able to watch the whole game and was in and out of it, but I wondered how the ref was judging "hands on" at the ruck. It's one of those weird ones that gets called differently as you go up the ranks. At Super and test level the player needs to lift the ball even when it is clear but at this level putting your hands on can be enough to make you fair game.
Anyway, Auckland didn't deserve to win because this game was at Pukekohe and there was a mudslide on the bank for the kids.

That was a quality game from both sides I thought.

Slick handling and players running in support. Marty Mackenzie far better fullback then 10.

@akan004 said in Ta$man vs Canterbury:

Dunshea looks really promising. Did he play Super Rugby this year?

Yes, for the Saders.

@Duluth Yeah, he has a bit of a Ben Tameifuna physique. Could be good 30 minute player.

That really was a perfect microcosm of a party at the rugby club rooms.
Uncomfortable "dancing"/shuffling by most of the guys; one little shit trying to give it the hip-hop treatment; bad singing-along to the Exponents, and a bit of aggro.

@SidBarret said in Lions v Crusaders - Super Rugby Final:

Re the Red Card -

It is bizarre how there is basically no complaint from SA supporters about the card and that all the debate I have seen has come from other supporters which question the rules in this instance.

My opinion, the red card sucked, but it was the correct call and the rule is pretty much correct.

The only change I would make is to remove the reference to how the player falls and rather focus on the potential injury. I think this case actually shows that up pretty well; this is a clear red in my opinion, but (putting on my lawyery hat) I don't think you can say definitively that Smith's action caused Havilli to fall on his shouler/upper back. Looking at the video it is impossible to tell whether Havilli would have fallen the way he did if it wasn't for the second contact with Taufua.

I would rather that the red card be determined by the potential harm to the jumper (as caused by the challenge) rather than the result. Not sure how that would be worded, and I am comfortable that this instance should have been a red, just not comfortable that the rule as it is written is 100% right.

Agree. Outcome based sanctions are taking the easy (yet inaccurate) route for WR.

@Catogrande said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #3:

@MiketheSnow said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #3:

@Catogrande said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #3:

@Crucial said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #3:

@MiketheSnow said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #3:

Had it on good authority that some of the Home Nations would love for the Lions Tours to finish.

Minimal remuneration and loss of players to injury the primary reasons.

If we'd gone down 3-0 - which was on the cards prior to and during the tour - then it could have seen the end.

So thanks for playing ball NZ 🙂

It is certainly something that really irks me that the NH either decided (or allowed) the SoccerFootball construct of clubs to be the structure in Pro Rugby.
It can only lead to the game being money driven, to owners making decisions based on their club rather than country and to the international game being devalued.
When 'friendlies' become common the international game will die and the RWC will become everything. (I think there are some in higher powers that would actually welcome that scenario)

It's not really the NH as a whole, just England and France. Now I can't speak for France but the idea that The RFU would actually make a pro-active decision of any magnitude is laughable. In England professionalism was held back for a year to allow for a smoother, land transition. What a complete and utter joke. The RFU did SFA to manage the change and left this extra year as a vacuum for wealthy sugar daddies to finance the clubs and effectively own the player base. Fucked it up from the word go.

there are many aspects of the professional game in England that are laudable but the overall planning is not one of them. It is more a case of constantly putting out fires that we have started ourselves.

Wales has done an awesome job of fucking it up too

True but in a different way. The idea of the regions was IMO, the right way to go but it seems from the outside that it has been handled poorly. Quite how I don't know but money is obviously a problem

Regions would have been accepted from the outset if they had been administered and financed by the WRU a la NZ.

They weren't, and then it became tribal warfare.

haha I said I only watched the highlights people, the angle they showed, it wasn't clear, so was asking the question, I wasn't making a big deal out of it 😆

@Frank said in Crusaders v Chiefs (SF):

@Snowy said in Crusaders v Chiefs (SF):

@SammyC said in Crusaders v Chiefs (SF):

Inspired move by Robertson to convert him into a fulltime winger.

Robertson does seem to be a good coach and gets the best out of the team after some very average years (by Crusaders standards). However if Sam Walker is correct about on field leadership, it might be Sam Whitelock's influence that has turned around their fortunes? Not a great thought as a fan of the Ab's and Kieran.

The cross-eyed surfer outwitting genius future AB coach in waiting Dave Rennie - appearances are deceiving.

Mount Maunganui College's finest. Rennie stood no chance 🙂

@Kruse Probably. I think last week I was a self-harming victim of no look recording!

Just outplayed in those conditions by a clinical Saders team

Landers simply played poorly in a big one

There can be no external excuses,and there won't be any coming from the Highlanders and their true supporters - the southern men, (ahh fuck the sheilas, they get to own the colour pink)

Was a bit reminiscent of big games between these two for the last 30 odd years, but it was wet weather winning rugby fair and square