All Blacks vs Tonga
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@Bones said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@No-Quarter said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Bones said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@sparky said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
Jordie Barrett is the most exciting young players in global Rugby, fast, rugged and skilful. His versatility and impact off the bench will be great assets for the ABs in the Rugby World Cup.
If that is true it does instantly make it rather more exciting. How many players do you reckon he is?
clearly there is two. The one the Hurricanes fans watch, and the one everyone else watches
Proof that Hurricanes players are by far the most victimised players on this board.
back in your safe space snowflake
also it's because most of them are either shit, or massive downhill skiers
Because uphill skiing is a thing?
Cross country? (Kind of apt given how far from the track this thread has wandered)
To get it back on track: what the fuck are the coaches thinking moving our best 15 to 10?
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@Chris-B said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@mariner4life 2007 was nothing compared to 2003.
Field Marshall Haig would have been quite proud of engineering that.
Can you imagine Nepia being here at the time that Cullen was actually being dropped? There were some Wellingtonians of similar ilk, at the time.
I think their heads actually exploded.
Jaysus, Cullen was only the tip of the iceberg with old domehead. I assume you would have been
trollingdefending Bitchell back then similar to your heroic defence of the Hammettuer? -
@mariner4life said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Chris-B there are a few periods i reckon would have been fucking fun on here
1999
2003
Cantablacks would have been bloody good too.I would have been reading, laughing, and chucking grenades left right and centre
998 was brutal alright. ABs literally slaughtered by the Romans masquerading as Italy.
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@Donsteppa said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
Between "the journey", Cantablacks, and the 2002 EOYT random selections leading into 2003; 2003 on here was epic, if for entirely the wrong reasons....
I started reading the Fern around the end of the 2003 SR season and the level of vitriol and finger pointing towards good honest hardworking Crusader and Cantab players was on another level. Rieko got nothing on that 😎
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@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Donsteppa said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
Between "the journey", Cantablacks, and the 2002 EOYT random selections leading into 2003; 2003 on here was epic, if for entirely the wrong reasons....
I started reading the Fern around the end of the 2003 SR season and the level of vitriol and finger pointing towards good honest hardworking Crusader and Cantab players was on another level. Rieko got nothing on that 😎
Add in vitriol and finger pointing towards open minded and knowledgeable Cantab posters and you are describing the Fern today.
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@Crazy-Horse said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Donsteppa said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
Between "the journey", Cantablacks, and the 2002 EOYT random selections leading into 2003; 2003 on here was epic, if for entirely the wrong reasons....
I started reading the Fern around the end of the 2003 SR season and the level of vitriol and finger pointing towards good honest hardworking Crusader and Cantab players was on another level. Rieko got nothing on that 😎
Add in vitriol and finger pointing towards open minded and knowledgeable Cantab posters and you are describing the Fern today.
Can you point me in the direction of one?
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@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Donsteppa said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
Between "the journey", Cantablacks, and the 2002 EOYT random selections leading into 2003; 2003 on here was epic, if for entirely the wrong reasons....
I started reading the Fern around the end of the 2003 SR season and the level of vitriol and finger pointing towards good honest hardworking Crusader and Cantab players was on another level. Rieko got nothing on that 😎
They had a great Super team back then, definitely a case of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. Few of the cantablacks of the 2003 will be considered amongst the best ABs conversations. To be fair, not many of the rest of that team would make it into the conversation either!!
Members of the 2003 squad that I would now consider to be in the top echelon of ABs ever (weren't necessarily at their peak in 2003);
Kevvie, BBBT, McGod, Marshall (ugh), DC, Tana, Ma'a, Joe, Dougie, Mils
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@canefan said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
Members of the 2003 squad that I would now consider to be in the top echelon of ABs ever (weren't necessarily at their peak in 2003);
Kevvie, BBBT, McGod, Marshall (ugh), DC, Tana, Ma'a, Joe, Dougie, Mils
There must not be very many echelons! No knock on any of those guys (except, of course, Marshall) but I'd have at least a tier or two between Thorn (at his peak not even top 3 in the world for his position) and McCaw (God mode for 14 seasons).
The broader point is fair though; 2003 more than any other is the one that got away IMO. With average coaching and captaincy that team should have won it reasonably comfortably.
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@rotated said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@canefan said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
Members of the 2003 squad that I would now consider to be in the top echelon of ABs ever (weren't necessarily at their peak in 2003);
Kevvie, BBBT, McGod, Marshall (ugh), DC, Tana, Ma'a, Joe, Dougie, Mils
There must not be very many echelons! No knock on any of those guys (except, of course, Marshall) but I'd have at least a tier or two between Thorn (at his peak not even top 3 in the world for his position) and McCaw (God mode for 14 seasons).
The broader point is fair though; 2003 more than any other is the one that got away IMO. With average coaching and captaincy that team should have won it reasonably comfortably.
Looking back, the seeds of failure were sown when Wayne Smith was removed. At the time I recall his comments made it seem like he wasn't all in with the job so the NZRFU gave it to Mitchell
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@canefan said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
Looking back, the seeds of failure were sown when Wayne Smith was removed.
I don't know if I'd fully go along with that. The turnover of players between 2001 and 2003 was a big, if not the biggest factor for the uptick in fortunes. Smith may not have made the wholesale changes needed, especially after investing 1.5 years into some of the guys.
While I definitely put 1991 and 1999 in the category of RWCs where the goose was cooked a year out, I honestly think with a little bit of leadership and some awareness they could have avoided the semi final loss and solved whatever problems were there on the back of a napkin the night before.
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Love the yellow card fake - pull the hanky out
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Rua Tipoki still with the quick feet
