The Silver Fern

They have good interviews, have listened to Smith, Hansen and Joseph now.

Agree, that Flanders has it all, a great talent, just needs time on the field. One best prospects I have seen.

@nzzp said in Sam Cane - All Blacks Captain:

@erps and DMac,

Yes he is another.

Totally agree, what surprised me at the World Cup was the two young England flankers and how good they were. Superb talents but how long can they keep that up as they age playing the amount they have to over there. I think we often forget about when were 20 -24 ourselves and the maturity/lack of maturity we had. Not many of us grow up to 25 plus do we but then we criticise a young player for a couple or errors. For a lot of them this is first couple years away from parents and teachers protecting them from the big wide world. Often they have never been criticised or dropped and just pandered to by all but are now not. Kaino took 4-5 years, Brooke was 29 before he was a regular and so on with others. This is why I think Jordie Barrett will eventually get there but it make take a couple of years of pruning the rose so to speak.

@Toddy Hi Toddy, I have seen Cullen play weekly since he was 13 and he is a ball runner as well. After that game vs the Blues when he was man of the match, you would have noticed the next week the Crusaders did use him a slightly different way as a runner. The beauty of Cullen is his brain first, then his athleticism, he understands game plans when others do not and can adjust his game accordingly. He is exceptionally rugby bright, one best players I have seen or worked with in this regard. This is why the Crusaders like him and players similar to him. His ball running is immense and he has a pace and can change direction at ease. Almost like a young Kieran Read. You will see this as he develops. What is best position is we are not sure, we were surprised last year they used him at lock as much as they did as his height and player type seems to more suit six. Early on he played seven a lot also, but we hear he is getting lined up as an 8 in the young Kieran Read mould where he could play tight or loose depending on the game plan. Saying all this, he is still 20, so I might favour a Tom Robinson yet if he continues to develop.

The more I think about all this, the more I am getting annoyed, particularly with Fiji and Samoa. I smell a rat, it is getting odder the more I dwell on it.

I watched this about a 1000 times as a 10 and 11 year old in 1990. Was great at the time.

@Bovidae

Here it is.

Hi All

I come back on here the other night after been away for years but lurked the whole time I was not logged in. It has been great to be back. What I do have here is on my laptop is Rugby Facebook links to everything and anything. I do not want to tread on toes or take people away from this great forum but do you want me to post them. I did these lists and posted them on my teams facebook page so my teams I am part of could learn more about all things rugby.

@Hooroo no not me mate, I from the South Island.

@mariner4life at times, some of the analysis is actually good, I have used bits of it in real life rugby teams...

@mariner4life I learned a lot been a lurker.

@sparky I would say some very influential people probably do...that is not me by the way...but there must a lot lurking in yes.

Oh I just read, there was an update today, probably explains it.

Moderators do great job on here too, lot other forums it goes pear shaped a lot more. Layout is a bit different and quicker once you log in.

Bones - haha the thread did remind of this fact to be honest.

Hello Everyone

I came across this awesome site nearly 20 years ago just after I got the Internet in the days of Bartman and Red Beard. I logged in as a member and contributed a few times but then left. Since then I have remained then a non member but lurker for 15 years can you believe, reading everything on here almost daily. I wonder how many others do this. I have sat through then you all looking at you all discuss 4 Rugby World Cups and I do not think we have lost the Bledisloe Cup since I started looking.

As a result of this lock down, I have tonight finally taken the plunge and created a log in again. Of all the forums online I have come across, this is the best of them, but I have found it easier just to observe and learn while I agree, somewhat agree, disagree or strongly disagree. So here I am, nice to now talk on here and maybe contribute. Rugby and Cricket I love to support and I am involved in the community level heavily in both sports. But I enjoy lots of other threads too.

Hope all are well in this currently interesting world.