@dogmeat said in Five Greatest Black Caps of the Past 50 years:

Far from my favourite player but I think it has to be Turner. Average of 47 when there were no muppets.

Absolutely. I was watching an interview with John Wright on Sky earlier in the week and he says Turner and Crowe were far and away the best NZ batsmen he played with.

@African-Monkey Yes to Clive Rice. His first class stats at Notts are phenomenal.

@chimoaus said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:

I think Pocock and Hooper showed you cant just put two great players out and expect it to work. I feel for Ardie because clearly, he is good enough but Akira, Sotutu and Cane is simply better balanced. And Ardie would benefit the team more coming on with 30 to go with those three starting IMO.

The bench should be used and thought of in a strategic way, there is nothing wrong IMO of having a different type of player who is simply better suited to tired defences, and I think Ardie is that type. BB was electric off the bench early in his career and was a great weapon for us. Not sure we have that right balance with the bench just yet.

Not to go too off topic but I think RM is that type of player as well. Thrives when the defenses are tired and the game is opening up a bit, but is a possum in the headlights against an aggressive team in the first 40 - 60 minutes. Injecting him and Ardie fresh with 20 to go would be a bit of a nightmare for teams to defend against. I agree with you completely we are not utilising our bench as a weapon the way we used to.

@Machpants said in Players to build the team around?:

As another aside, I’m worried Wales will ditch their coach by the end of the year - and Razor will be on his way to get the ‘required’ international experience. Leaving us stuck with Foster or A N Other coach not contracted until RWC

That is the most depressing thing that has happened today, and I have literally just come home from a funeral.

@Paekakboyz said in US Masters 2020:

@Hooroo not to mention a smoking hot missus!

Whose dad is a sports legend

@dogmeat said in NPC - Premiership remaining matches:

After this last weekend the Rugby Gods can go eat a bag of dicks!!!

Stupid fucking game anyway

If rolling mauls were the only way to score points you would have blown us away!

So the wash up...
HB 35
Otago 30
Northland 24
Taranaki 24

Semi Final 1: HB v Taranaki
Semi Final 2: Otago v Northland

Table showing points diff for ranking, not placings due to RR results where Northland beat Taranaki
6103d6e2-c0e6-43ea-ba30-2ebd88aa0155-image.png

@Snowy said in Mouthguards:

@Kirwan said in Mouthguards:

@canefan said in Mouthguards:

@Snowy said in Mouthguards:

Seeing as we are on gag reflex and mouthguards - do the @canefan s of this world still use that metal thing full of builders putty and stick it halfway down your throat to make a mould?

It's called alginate. If used correctly it doesn't go down. You should feel lucky, in the olden days they used plaster of paris

How do fit one for kids with braces? Dentist I went to didn't have much luck with the mould, got shredded by them

Good question, and you would really seriously want one if you have braces. Are they still a mouthful of sharp edged metal wire and screws / glue?

I never had them, teeth were all good, but hate to think what a hockey stick to the jaw / mouth would have done to me.

Yes.

I fucked up my teeth badly as a kid with braces during a rugby game when I got a bad knock to the teeth where I didn't have a proper mouth guard (multiple teeth 'died' - needed root canal etc) - the theory being the braces would hold the teeth in place if there was any knocks and that a really basic mouth guard was all that was needed to simply stop cuts etc. That theory is wrong.

The mouthguard for braces I got after that ended up being larger than a typical mouthguard to cover the braces.

@MajorRage said in Who is to blame?:

@mariner4life said in Who is to blame?:

indeed. i think the general consensus was

Robbie Deans
Reuben Thorne
Todd Blackadder

The picture of the AB front row on the side of the plane played it's part too.

Not to mention Mitch and that grey jersey

@mofitzy_ it really is odd - his strengths definitely lie in link play (especially in broken play), workrate and defence. But it's like he's sitracted by trying to provide a point of difference and a nuggety attitude rather than just getting his head down and working the team. We know he's "got the tools" but he's just choosing to push other aspects.

@Snowy haha yeah that too...but I read an article many years ago, which said somewhat more detailed and eloquently, that Kiwis and Aussies are so very alike, however the differences are quite clear us or something to that effect

Somehow I'm mates (spent a bit of time) with several high profile coaches in Oz, including the Oz assistant.

The attitude of " how good of a player were you" doesn't seem relevant to their work with the players. Bear in mind that these players have had scores of coaches throughout all their lives so the assessment of said coaches doesn't really rely on their past as players beyond the first week of contact.

Darren Berry one day explained to me the offer he was pursuing from the Auckland Aces. Low low money and with covid standing in the way of getting family to nz for a bit suggests that pretty much nz coaching staff must come from within, I'd suggest

But good luck Luke, like rapido says, he was a selfless player (mostly opened for WA) and our fielding was exemplary when he had the gloves - there's something in that.

@taniwharugby i do like the title 🤔

@taniwharugby we just want to see a sign that the team has a plan, executes and gets better. Bryce Woodward teams did that. We didn’t win competitions but they were teams that competed and at times played some wonderful rugby with the players they had. We need to get better and we have some exciting young talent so let’s make use of it.

Bugger!

@nostrildamus said in The debate about 12:

@MN5 Leon MacDonald? I'd guess you are referring to a burger in midfield but I only remember him as a loose forward. For the Boks anyway.

Its ironic to anyone who knows me that predictive text failed this of all possible names

Mike D'Antoni will be an assistant coach with the Brooklyn Nets, reuniting him with his former MVP point guard, Nets coach Steve Nash, the team announced Friday. The Nets announced the hires of D'Antoni, Amar'e Stoudemire and well-regarded assistant Ime Udoka, who spent seven of the past eight seasons on Gregg Popovich's staff with the San Antonio Spurs.

This looks like a great decision by Nash and the Nets.

@Bovidae said in Waikato 2020:

There was also a U20 game on at Beetham Park between Waikato and Taranaki U20s today at the same time as the FPC game.

An update:

Firstly, never ask a player involved in a game what the score was. 🙂 Taranaki won 24-19.

Secondly, this wasn't an U20 game as such, but one of a series of games between the academy players from each province within the Chiefs region. The Waikato team is mainly U19 and younger than most of the other teams they are playing.

@Stargazer *(subject to change because of selfish, entitled rugby players who can't stay a few nights in a luxury hotel with all sorts of entertainments laid on)

@Catogrande said in Great tries burned into your memory:

@booboo said in Great tries burned into your memory:

@Catogrande said in Great tries burned into your memory:

@sparky said in Great tries burned into your memory:

@Catogrande Great tries IMHO win you games.

Ok I’ll add Tuilagi’s try v NZ in the recent RWC. 😁

Nup. Drawn a blank. No memory of that at all.

I’ll see if I can dig out a few vids for you. They show it from all angles, real time, slow-mo, super slow-mo. Bear with me for a while while I compile a montage.

I'll step in as Jegga isn't around:

GFY.

Nonus try in the WC final must be up there and the Japanese try vs Boks for the win. Hard to pick a standout, Heaslips, BB and Hougaards stand out for me.