How good are the Boks?
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@NTA I recall England victories in the 90s that didn't go down well ...
NZ of course have always been guardians of the line ...
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@NTA said in How good are the Boks?:
@stodders said in How good are the Boks?:
A hypothetical league containing Boks 2024, ABs 2015, Eng 2003, Oz 1999, NZ 1996, Boks 2009 (my opinion on the best international teams of the pro era)
Who wins? Ref is Nigel Owens. For me, the best ref of the last 30 years.
Good question.
IMHO England 2003. That was their absolute peak of Uncompromising Bastard, combined with accuracy in all things.
(And yes bc the pricks beat us in the RWC final).
Living in Sydney in 2003 I did love that Wallabies team, all league back three, the mighty Stirlo at centre ( an inspiration for pasty white guys everwhere ), Larkham and Gregs weaving magic……a short but effective loose trio of Lyon, Smith and Waugh…..Vickerman, Sharpe and Harrison up to niggly tricks……ok a pretty mediocre front row but fuck it, no team is perfect ( how the hell did a non athlete like Bill Young get to the top like he did ??? )
Once we got eliminated by god I hoped Oz would beat England in the final, not to be sadly.
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@MN5 said in How good are the Boks?:
Living in Sydney in 2003 I did love that Wallabies team, all league back three, the mighty Stirlo at centre ( an inspiration for pasty white guys everwhere ), Larkham and Gregs weaving magic……a short but effective loose trio of Lyon, Smith and Waugh…..Vickerman, Sharpe and Harrison up to niggly tricks……ok a pretty mediocre front row but fuck it, no team is perfect.
Once we got eliminated by god I hoped Oz would beat England in the final, not to be sadly.
Actually I think Smith-Waugh unbalanced their loose trio. Waugh slowed down so quickly they should have stuck with Smith IMO.
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@nostrildamus said in How good are the Boks?:
@MN5 said in How good are the Boks?:
Living in Sydney in 2003 I did love that Wallabies team, all league back three, the mighty Stirlo at centre ( an inspiration for pasty white guys everwhere ), Larkham and Gregs weaving magic……a short but effective loose trio of Lyon, Smith and Waugh…..Vickerman, Sharpe and Harrison up to niggly tricks……ok a pretty mediocre front row but fuck it, no team is perfect.
Once we got eliminated by god I hoped Oz would beat England in the final, not to be sadly.
Actually I think Smith-Waugh unbalanced their loose trio. Waugh slowed down so quickly they should have stuck with Smith IMO.
Maybe some big hitting from Matt Cockbain or some hard carrying from Owen “Melon” Finegan ?
I just named two blindsides from their glory years, I could barely name two players full stop from their team nowadays.
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@MN5 said in How good are the Boks?:
Once we got eliminated by god I hoped Oz would beat England in the final, not to be sadly.
That was such a great day, I was in Cyprus drinking heaps, blasting 27mm at airborne targets, and then the final beating the Ozzie whilst I was eating halloumi and bacon butties. My English born mum was front and centre that day!
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@MN5 said in How good are the Boks?:
( how the hell did a non athlete like Bill Young get to the top like he did ??? )
He owns a pub.
Also, by the time everyone had picked their backs (league targets), and locks (tall kids), and back row (also league targets), only the unathletic kids are left.
And that, folks, is how Australian Rugby undervalues front row players.
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@NTA said in How good are the Boks?:
@MN5 said in How good are the Boks?:
( how the hell did a non athlete like Bill Young get to the top like he did ??? )
He owns a pub.
Also, by the time everyone had picked their backs (league targets), and locks (tall kids), and back row (also league targets), only the unathletic kids are left.
And that, folks, is how Australian Rugby undervalues front row players.
Yeah but even using your criteria above he was unathletic. The guy appeared to have no muscles at all.
How the hell he competed with the rampaging monsters that opposed him is anyones guess. Good on him.
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@MN5 said in How good are the Boks?:
Yeah but even using your criteria above he was unathletic. The guy appeared to have no muscles at all.
How the hell he competed with the rampaging monsters that opposed him is anyones guess. Good on him.
he was 1.88m tall and at least 110kg, bigger than he looked, more cunning than some took him for
Prints of Bill Young
Bill Young Australia Rugby Union England V Australia Twickenham, London, England 16 November 2002 Date: 16 November 2002. Our beautiful Wall Art and Photo Gifts include Framed Prints, Photo Prints, Poster Prints, Canvas Prints, Jigsaw Puzzles, Metal Prints and so much more #MediaStorehouse
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@nostrildamus said in How good are the Boks?:
@MN5 said in How good are the Boks?:
Yeah but even using your criteria above he was unathletic. The guy appeared to have no muscles at all.
How the hell he competed with the rampaging monsters that opposed him is anyones guess. Good on him.
he was 1.88m tall and at least 110kg, bigger than he looked, more cunning than some took him for
Bill Young Australia Rugby Union England V Australia Twickenham, London, England 16 November 2002 Date: 16 November 2002. Our beautiful Wall Art and Photo Gifts include Framed Prints, Photo Prints, Poster Prints, Canvas Prints, Jigsaw Puzzles, Metal Prints and so much more #MediaStorehouse
Yeah that was my point ( I think )
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@booboo said in How good are the Boks?:
@stodders said in How good are the Boks?:
A hypothetical league containing Boks 2024, ABs 2015, Eng 2003, Oz 1999, NZ 1996, Boks 2009 (my opinion on the best international teams of the pro era)
Who wins? Ref is Nigel Owens. For me, the best ref of the last 30 years.
NZ 2015.
Easy.
I would say so but if the Boks had everyone fit to play the 2015 ABs tomorrow, then they would be a formidable opponent.
Now all we need is some to do the head to head between the two teams!
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@stodders said in How good are the Boks?:
A hypothetical league containing Boks 2024, ABs 2015, Eng 2003, Oz 1999, NZ 1996, Boks 2009 (my opinion on the best international teams of the pro era)
Who wins? Ref is Nigel Owens. For me, the best ref of the last 30 years.
Boks 2024
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@BerniesCorner said in How good are the Boks?:
@stodders said in How good are the Boks?:
A hypothetical league containing Boks 2024, ABs 2015, Eng 2003, Oz 1999, NZ 1996, Boks 2009 (my opinion on the best international teams of the pro era)
Who wins? Ref is Nigel Owens. For me, the best ref of the last 30 years.
Boks 2024
😳. You ok @BerniesCorner ?
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@booboo said in How good are the Boks?:
@stodders said in How good are the Boks?:
A hypothetical league containing Boks 2024, ABs 2015, Eng 2003, Oz 1999, NZ 1996, Boks 2009 (my opinion on the best international teams of the pro era)
Who wins? Ref is Nigel Owens. For me, the best ref of the last 30 years.
NZ 2015.
Easy.
Great team, filled with GOAT players in so many positions, knew how to win
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@booboo said in How good are the Boks?:
@stodders said in How good are the Boks?:
A hypothetical league containing Boks 2024, ABs 2015, Eng 2003, Oz 1999, NZ 1996, Boks 2009 (my opinion on the best international teams of the pro era)
Who wins? Ref is Nigel Owens. For me, the best ref of the last 30 years.
NZ 2015.
Easy.
The bok NZ game at that WC was pretty darn close. That after the sorry boks were beaten by Japan a few weeks earlier. I don't know. Would be a good game.
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@W32 said in How good are the Boks?:
@booboo said in How good are the Boks?:
@stodders said in How good are the Boks?:
A hypothetical league containing Boks 2024, ABs 2015, Eng 2003, Oz 1999, NZ 1996, Boks 2009 (my opinion on the best international teams of the pro era)
Who wins? Ref is Nigel Owens. For me, the best ref of the last 30 years.
NZ 2015.
Easy.
The bok NZ game at that WC was pretty darn close. That after the sorry boks were beaten by Japan a few weeks earlier. I don't know. Would be a good game.
Yeah my "easy" referred to it being an easy decision, not necessarily an easy victory.
Played 10 times I'd back that 2015 team to win 7.
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@W32 Boks 2023 (which is basically Boks 2024) beat an inferior (when compared to NZ 2015) team by one point playing with an extra man for 50+ mins.
Boks 2024 and ABs 2015 both know how to win tight games. For me it would come down to 2 things - (1) can ABs 2015 front row stand up to the Boks 2024 one at scrum time and (2) can Boks 2024 slow down the ruck speed enough of ABs 2015.
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Watching the URC round 3 matches this weekend and realise again how much talent South Africa have at the moment. The Lions struggled in the URC and now their investment in their own young talents start to pay rich dividends. They only had a few players in the Bok squad but that is going to change. Sharks and Bulls are poaching from everywhere while the Stormers and Lions invest in their youth structures.
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@OomPB said in How good are the Boks?:
Watching the URC round 3 matches this weekend and realise again how much talent South Africa have at the moment. The Lions struggled in the URC and now their investment in their own young talents start to pay rich dividends. They only had a few players in the Bok squad but that is going to change. Sharks and Bulls are poaching from everywhere while the Stormers and Lions invest in their youth structures.
Depth. Boks have depth. In terms of talent, who are the players not currently playing for the Boks who will raise the bar in how they play? At the end of the day, you can only pick 23 on match day, so who is the diamond that will lift the Boks to new heights.
