The 'other' June tests
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<p>anyone else watching this...seems sky have 2 audio streams and one of them is about a second or so ahead of the play, so you hear a whistle, a second or so later you see the ref blow a penalty and hear the whistle again.</p>
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<p>Awful game of rugby I thought. Samoa had no scrum at all. Good to see them blooding younger players however.</p>
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<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="African Monkey" data-cid="586258" data-time="1465618637"><p>Awful game of rugby I thought. Samoa had no scrum at all. Good to see them blooding younger players however.</p></blockquote>
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Yeah 7 debutantes plus another 8 guys with under 10 tests. Will be a steep learning curve for many of them over the next few years as they try to build for 2019. -
<p>Osbourne didn't have his best game. Nakarawa is some player.</p>
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<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Bones" data-cid="586196" data-time="1465590846"><p>
Oh yeah Robson was fantastic, brilliant try too, that was a ridiculous run.</p></blockquote>
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Kind of ridiculous he could almost come to a complete stop and not get swallowed up by cover of some sort.<br><br>
This was far away from test standard rugby. -
<p>Did anyone see the match between Argentina and Italy? Just noticed the final score was 30-24 to Argentina. Somehow I expected a more convincing win by the Pumas. Maybe due to Jaguares fatigue? Or isn't Italy as bad as I expected?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This is the only legal highlights video that I could find: <a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.espn.com.ar/video/clip//id/2701343'>http://www.espn.com.ar/video/clip//id/2701343</a></p> -
Conor O'Shea (former Ireland FB and Harlequins coach) has taken over the helm at Italy.<br><br>He's a smart thinker and knows his coaching. He's got s tough job ahead of him, but I think he'll make a difference over the next couple of years both to teams playing in PRO12 and with the test team.
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Have to give props to Georgia who have started a three-match tour to the Pacific Islands this month with consecutive matches against Samoa, Tonga and Fiji - good experience and support for all four teams.
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<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Pot Hale" data-cid="587131" data-time="1465724727">
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<p>Have to give props to Georgia who have started a three-match tour to the Pacific Islands this month with consecutive matches against Samoa, Tonga and Fiji - good experience and support for all four teams.</p>
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<p>The one thing Georgia don't need is more props</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="mimic" data-cid="586237" data-time="1465613822">
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<ul><li>Faialaga Afamasaga (3)</li>
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<p> Any who watched the game see how Faialaga went?</p>
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<p>He's been playing for my club (Mid Western) this season.</p>
<p>Hope he doesn't get injured in these tests, as we are missing him big time! Damn International season, getting in the way of club season!!! :knuppel: :whistle:</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Gunner" data-cid="587346" data-time="1465779224">
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<p> Any who watched the game see how Faialaga went?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He's been playing for my club (Mid Western) this season.</p>
<p>Hope he doesn't get injured in these tests, as we are missing him big time! Damn International season, getting in the way of club season!!! :knuppel: :whistle:</p>
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<p>Barely saw any of the ball. Made an error towards the end as Samoa finally had some posession in the Georgian 22 which ended any hopes of Samoa winning.</p> -
<p>The official livestreamer of Samoa v Georgia has posted the full match on Youtube (anthems only start at 10'28''):</p>
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<p> </p>
<p>[media]
<p> </p>
<p>[hr]</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A low quality highlights video has been posted by the Georgian Rugby Union (with Georgian commentary):</p>
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<p>[media] </p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Stargazer" data-cid="586707" data-time="1465651455">
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<p><strong><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="margin:0px;">Highlights South Africa 'A' v England Saxons</span></span></span></strong></p>
<p> </p>
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<p>Enjoyed that - hard to tell from the highlights but the Saxons looked like they were getting a bit of altitude fatigue, then finished it off.</p> -
<p>Here's the list with this weekend's games and the tv channels on which we can watch them in NZ. <u>Times are NZ times</u>. If I can find any official streams of the games that aren't televised, I'll add them later. Help is appreciated. Please, let me know if you spot a mistake.</p>
<p>I'm disappointed the USA v Italy and Canada v Russia games aren't broadcasted in NZ.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Sat 18 June, 5.10am</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">South Africa A v England Saxons</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">George (SA)</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Sat 18 June, 12:45pm</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Tonga v Georgia</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Suva</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Sat 18 June, 3:00pm</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Fiji v Samoa</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Suva</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Sky Sport 1</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Sat 18 June, 7:35pm</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">All Blacks v Wales</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Wellington</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Sky Sport 1</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Prime delayed 8.30pm</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Sat 18 June, 10:00pm</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Australia v England</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Melbourne</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Sky Sport 2</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Sat 18 June, 10:20pm</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Japan v Scotland</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Aichi</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Rugby Channel</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Sky Sp 1 delayed 11.00pm</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Sun 19 June, 3:00am</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">South Africa v Ireland</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Johannesburg</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Sky Sport 1</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Sun 19 June, 9:00am</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Canada v Russia</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Calgary</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Sun 19 June, 1:00pm</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">USA v Italy</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">San Jose</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Mon 20 June, 9:10am</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Argentina v France</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Tucumán</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Sky Sport 1</span></p> -
Saxons win 29-26, after trailing 26-8. Scrappy game, some ropey officiating (cut both ways, I suspect), but great defensive performance by England, tackle count and possession stats were massively weighted against England , particularly in first half, but surprisingly they were only a couple of minutes away from leading at half time. SA a bit clueless in attack, except for a more coherent surge at the start of second half, and their kicking from hand and tee throughout was poor. Then for the last third of the match, England's lineout catch and drive clicked, Cipriani started to turn the screws, and England clawed their way home. <br><br>
England starting to get some grit back in both senior squads, it seems.