The Silver Fern

@Jailbreak7 said in New Zealand v Italy:

Shit at this rate I'm pleased we're not playing Georgia. (watching Italy vs Georgia atm, and Georgia are smashing them all over the park)

Italy finally beat Georgia.

The Wallabies have fallen asleep.

Not really actually. Nice try for Wales.

It could become ugly for Wales.

Jordie Barrett's injury was very influential. His power in midfield had the French defense guessing. AJ Lam should have been on the bench instead of ALB. This year, young guys coming in thanks to injuries to "top" players have been a success (Sititi, Tosi, Lakai). So why not Lam ? ALB is so average.

@Mauss
Thanks a lot for these details.

@Chris-B said in Crusaders 2025:

@Chris Don't disagree with much of that.

Except if Fergus Burke had stayed fit, I think we would have done much better - and we need O'Çonnor or Reihana (most probably) to step up. So in terms of overall squad strength, I think that's the main question mark - someone needs to be as good as Burke (was at the back end of the season). To be honest, it's not that high of a bar.

Among the locks, I wish we had a young guy in the mix who is more than two metres. But if Scott is fit, we can pair him with probably any of the others and be highly competitive.

Williams, Taylor, Newell
Barrett, Strange
Blackadder, Kellow, Lio-Willie
Hotham, Reihana
Havili, Ennor
Reece, Fihaki, Jordan

Bell, Brewis, Bower, Shalfoon, Grace, Preston, OÇonnor, Aumua.

Pretty decent if they're all fit!

McLeod will be in the 23.

I am surprised that Kolose has not been given a contract as he has all the attributes to become an international hooker. There are more average hookers in the squads than him IMO.

Yes, 12 penalties against Ireland and just 5 against Argentina.

Great game to watch for a neutral. Ireland's discipline let them down during the second half but the rare Argentinian faults were really stupid.

7 : Brash with Mathis on the wing.

Who is Arese Poliko ?

No bomb squad this time ...

@MiketheSnow said in England vs Springboks:

@reprobate said in England vs Springboks:

@W32 said in England vs Springboks:

@reprobate said in England vs Springboks:

@W32 said in England vs Springboks:

@reprobate said in England vs Springboks:

The game between these two sides at the world cup was the final straw in putting me off rugby for six months. Fuck it was dire.
Both sides have had some entertaining games this year, so hopefully better this time around.

I would have thought that is was caused by the AB's going down to the bokke in a final for the second time, and the realisation that the bokke 4 world cups in 8 attempts make the AB's 3 cups in 10 attempts look ....pitiful....

Nah, I'm fine with all that. As you point out we've lost plenty of world cups before, none of which put me off watching the game.
Constant high kicks, neither side actually wanting the ball, penalty after penalty will do it though. That plus the shit card lottery in different games and the terrible reffing in a few games, I had just had enough.

England played bloody well in that game. The bokke winning was pretty dramatic. I enjoyed it.

It was dramatic, but that was all it had going for it. The poms were probably happy to get unexpectedly close, you guys obviously happy to win - but as a neutral the rugby was fucking dire.

I was at both semis

England v SA was immeasurably better IMHO

Of course, NZ vs Argentina was a one way traffic. But in terms of rugby, England vs SA was dire and boring, with the notable exception of the last scrum.

The French scrum is far from being dominant, I even expect the All Blacks to dominate this phase, particularly when Ofa T and Tosi will come off the bench.

@NTA said in Scotland vs Springboks:

@ARHS said in Scotland vs Springboks:

Hendrikse was a bit of a weak link for South Africa I thought.

Bad day at the office. Was it 3 knocks-on in the first half, or 4? Yeesh.

@NTA said in Scotland vs Springboks:

@ARHS said in Scotland vs Springboks:

Hendrikse was a bit of a weak link for South Africa I thought.

Bad day at the office. Was it 3 knocks-on in the first half, or 4? Yeesh.

His first one was not spotted by the ref (when Fagerson counter rucked) who gave SA a penalty a few seconds later which led to Mapimpi's first try. This try should not have been awarded.

I have never seen such an impressive ball carrying prop since Bull Allen. That's about 30 years.

@BerniesCorner
Proctor is not in France but in NZ for the birth of his child.

@MN5
It's funny that Aumua is better when starting instead of being an impact player, considering his qualities.

@booboo said in Poll: AB wins on EOYT for a decent season:

@nzzp said in Poll: AB wins on EOYT for a decent season:

Lucky win against England

Nah. We were better. Sliding doors. Would have been an unlucky loss. Deserved win.

An England win would have been lucky IMO. They did not deserve to win this game as they were not dominant up front while their backline was unable to threaten the NZ try line. It's only the poor NZ discipline that kept them in the game.