@Higgins Yep, that's it! Managed to finally find the "Global Rapid Rugby" thread.

If I can find more info on the Steamers' rapid rugby plans, I'll post it in that thread.

From what I had seen, I thought Wainui was alright. It's good to see him at his natural position of 13.

@mariner4life said in AFL 2019:

I can't wait for the melts when Hawthorn pick up Jon Patton for 2 lollies and an expired maccas Monopoly instant win. He'll get fit and kick 30+ next year. Because Clarko is a genius

close, a future 4th rounder. Which is what they got Scully for as well. Do Hawthorn having incriminating pictures of someone at GWS?

@Damo said in Walrus busted for telling a complete lie, apparently:

@Bones said in Walrus busted for telling a complete lie, apparently:

@Damo said in Walrus busted for telling a complete lie, apparently:

@jegga said in Walrus busted for telling a complete lie, apparently:

Tweet is still up

He blocked me years ago.

I can only say, why haven't you been blocked yet?

You spammed him with pumpkin soup recipes didn't you?

I can't remember exactly, but I seem to recall I asked a pretty innocuous question about something he wrote and next minute I was blocked. I was surprised at the time because I wasn't trolling or being impolite. Now I am not surprised. Walrus likes an echo chamber apparently.

Still remember why I got blocked ... he tweeted something to gosper about removing NZ from RC or something ... I replied asking to get funding into Niue so we could have opposition ... blocked and called a runt or something!

He’s actually quite weird.

First time in years that I watched most of that.

It was a bit disappointing those late safety cars came out, because I was looking forward to an old time finish with cars spluttering to a halt half a lap from the finish.

I think Whincup would've been a good bet if he'd kept the lead and played the same cards as Scotty.

New Zealand one-two in Australia's Great Race! 🙂

@mikey07 said in NZ Rugby Signed with Sky TV until 2025:

Does that mean we will keep the status quo with the ITM cup?

I'd say so. The deal is the same terms as the previous. Interesting that NZRFU have a stake in Sky TV now. They might want to sell those while it's still worth something!!!

@junior said in Red cards:

@Bones said in Red cards:

@junior said in Red cards:

@Bones said in Red cards:

@junior OK sure, I'm the one being obtuse. It's just not fair eh.

So if your answer is "no of course not" then what is the answer? Why can't they pull down a maul?

I can’t believe I’m actually bothering to answer this, but... it’s because (a) there is an element of AVOIDABLE danger in collapsing a maul and (b) you can stop a maul by legally pushing it back, which is what makes the danger avoidable.

Compare and contrast that with the situation I’ve described above and you will see we’re not talking apples v apples here. In the tackle situation I’ve described above, the danger / illegality is completely UNAVOIDABLE given current directives around the tackle area. The only thing a tackler can realistically do in that situation is to not tackle.

Haha! Oh of course in the situation you don't like it's UNAVOIDABLE.

Why are you being so obtuse? I already said that the team hasn't been able to stop the maul legally. So they should be allowed to collapse it right? Because otherwise that's not fair!

If you can't see that's not the point me and many other posters are making, you are even harder of thinking that you look (I'm assuming you resemble the nutter in your avi.)

And, for the record, a maul can be stopped legally - it happens all the time and indeed several times in most matches. Again, your point about the mauls makes absolutely no sense.

Right, so go back and replace the word "maul" with the word "player" in your last paragraph.

Watching Semi Radradra play, worth any money for the ticket.

Actually, another Fijian in Kerevi is probably 2nd behind him in the "watchability" stakes.

@Stargazer said in 2019 under 20's:

@Rapido I wonder where they get that info from? Nothing has been announced by World Rugby about the 2020 WR U20 Championship, other than a confirmation of its location (Italy). The website of the Italian Rugby Federation also doesn't mention anything. Most of the info on that Wikipedia page has been created on 23 June 2019, that's one day after the 2019 final. Seems a bit strange.

Edit: the Schedule of the 2019 tournament was only announced in March 2019.

Right, probably the ordering of the schedule is just the order someone has entered it on the page. My mistake.

The pools, I assume the wiki anorak has taken the 1 to 12 seedings and put in groups as per how they have been grouped in previous editions. So, probably accurate.

@Bovidae said in Mitre 10 Cup Attendance:

@ACT-Crusader said in Mitre 10 Cup Attendance:

I’d be really interested in how many 15-30 year old kiwis support a provincial side let alone go to a game.

They're the people who spend most of the time walking up and down the aisles annoying the rest of us. 🙂

Sorry, that's also me having to go for a slash every 20 minutes.

Cameron Church was awarded the Jerry Collins Memorial Bronze Boot for 2019.

@sparky How dare they!

@No-Quarter said in Eben Etzebeth:

@Billy-Webb that is absolutely insane

Agreed.
Note that I have no opinion about his guilt or innocence in terms of a criminal charge. If the police find enough evidence for the prosecuting authority to bring charges, then he needs to face up to these like anyone else.

But the HRC and Equality Court is another matter.

@Crucial We remember.

It is pretty clear in retrospect that Savea didn't regain form, but just had a really good day. He went back to being meh straight after. We were fooled at the time, of course, but there's no need to stay fooled.

Any player that is good enough to make the ABs might roll out a blinder* on a good day. Sevu Reece, if things go for him, could easily put in a performance like that.

It's not that Reiko can't have a game-winning day in a play-off match. Just that the odds against it are quite high.

[* well, maybe not Caleb Ralph.]

@ACT-Crusader said in There should be two RWCs:

I was discussing this very thing a couple of days ago.

Something that football/soccer get right IMO is the qualification of the WC. It builds tremendous excitement and buy in from the fans. No team is ‘undeserving’ of being at the big show.

Football has much more depth and competitiveness across nations so it is easier to have pools within regions where you don't always know who will qualify. I remember when Aust and other tier 1 teams had to qualify for the 1999 RWC as there were only 4 automatic qualifiers from the 1995 RWC (1st, 2nd, 3rd and the 1999 hosts, Wales not England). They won that RWC, of course.

1999 Rugby World Cup – Oceania qualification - Wikipedia

Then the IRB changed it to the 8 QF teams from 1999 qualified for the 2003 RWC. The 2011 RWC was the first in which the top 3 teams from each pool qualified for the next RWC. Moving to 12 automatic qualifiers was probably just another example of the tier 1 nations looking after their own self-interests. At least with less automatic qualifiers we would see more tier 1 teams playing tier 2 teams on a home and away basis.

I'm not too worried about this season. We've had absolutely rotten luck with injuries since pre season. A smaller province like us is always going to struggle with such a big injury list. The long term upside to so many injuries is that more guys get a crack so potentially better depth for the future. Guys like Stokes, Caird, Mayavanua, Atkins, McNamara, Byrnes etc have all played way bigger roles than probably expected of them and Matiu has had a breakout season.

I still think despite all the injuries this season if we had a functioning midfield we would have performed so much better. Hohaia tries hard but is probably better suited to the B team. Johnson will hopefully never play another game for Northland again. You could handle all his basic errors, missed tackles, handling errors etc if he was putting in 100%. Hard to believe he even got close to a S15 gig let alone had a season at the Blues. When he gets beaten in defence (as often happens) he makes absolutely no effort to get back and help in support or try and make up for it. The Manawatu game was telling - gaping holes in midfield defence and instead of chasing back he would just stroll back yet guys like Atkins and McNamara are chasing back basically on his behalf.

I think if we had stopped persisting with Gregory at 15 and put him at 12 we would have had a much better season. He would have offered a much bigger threat in midfield with ball in hand, would've created more time and space for J Deb and would've strengthened the defence. If he gets left to settle at 12 he will become one of the best in NZ. He's best suited to that position - can probably cover the outside backs if needed but doesn't have the pace to dominate as an outside back.

The backs (midfield) have really let the forward pack down this season. The forwards have battled bloody hard all season.

UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO CHIEFS REGION UNDER 16 TOURNAMENT SET TO KICK-OFF

University of Waikato Chiefs Region Under 16 Tournament is set to showcase the up and coming rugby talent within Chiefs Country. The tournament proudly sponsored by University of Waikato will see Bay of Plenty, Counties Manukau, Taranaki and Waikato’s respective Under 16 sides take to the field from Monday 30 September through to Thursday 3 October. Teams will compete across three days with hosts Taranaki kicking off the tournament against Waikato at 5.00pm, followed by Counties Manukau and Bay of Plenty at 7.00pm. Both games will take place at TET Stadium, Inglewood on Monday 30 September, before the tournament moves to New Plymouth Boys’ High School for day two (Tuesday 1 October) and the final round robin matches on Thursday 3 October.

.

The tournament format is as follows:

Monday 30th September 2019: TET Stadium, Inglewood
5.00pm Kick off: Taranaki vs Waikato
7.00pm Kick off: Counties Manukau vs Bay of Plenty

Tuesday 1st October 2019: New Plymouth Boys’ High School, New Plymouth
12.00pm Kick off: Bay of Plenty vs Waikato
2.00pm Kick off: Taranaki vs Counties Manukau

Wednesday 2nd October 2019: Education Day, New Plymouth Boys’ High School, New Plymouth
9.30am – 12.00pm

Thursday 3rd October 2019: New Plymouth Boys’ High School, New Plymouth
12.00pm Kick off: Counties Manukau vs Waikato
2.00pm Kick off: Taranaki vs Bay of Plenty

For team lists, see the article.

I've just reached out to the good folk at Austin Blacks Rugby, will see how I go.

FANS WARNED TO BUY OFFICIAL AMID HUGE DEMAND FOR RUGBY WORLD CUP TICKETS

With huge demand, fans warned to purchase Rugby World Cup 2019 tickets via official sources only Fans can check whether their intended source is official at rugbyworldcup.com/buy-official Limited quantities of Rugby World Cup 2019 tickets are available at rugbyworldcup.com/tickets. Fans with tickets purchased through unofficial sources risk being denied stadium entry

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