@Machpants said in World Rugby chairman election:

Ugh nothing like a bit of corruption and nepotism to really help stink the place up

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/121047624/convicted-fijian-killer-nominated-for-key-world-rugby-role--with-french-backing

is there any role Cliff Curtis can't play?

@gt12 said in Argentina Two: Newcastle, 28 November:

Scott Barrett (39)

fuck off

@gt12 said in Argentina Two: Newcastle, 28 November:

Ardie Savea (48)

fuck off

@gt12 said in Argentina Two: Newcastle, 28 November:

Jordie Barrett (22)

fuck off

@gt12 said in Argentina Two: Newcastle, 28 November:

TJ Perenara (68)

fuck off

Welcome back Bart

Try this little known website called grindr. I reckon lions fans will be all over it

As New Zealand and Australia get set to do battle on the sporting field once again, this time in the Bledisloe Cup, the one-time pinnacle of International Rugby, i think it is only fair that we, as kiwi fans, take a moment to spare a thought for our Australasian cousins. The realists among them are starting to come to terms with the reality that their star has faded, and they are no longer the sporting superpower they once were.

Around the turn of the century, Australia could lay claim to being the best all-round sporting nation on the planet. Not a huge population, they still managed to excel in a number of discipines:

• Tennis: Their two best players in Hewitt and Rafter spent time at #1, and won multiple Grand Slams. The Woodies, particularly Woodbridge, could lay claim to being the best doubles players ever. It was a golden time

• Cricket: Undisputed kings of all forms, unbeatable at home, nigh unbeatable away, with a host of all-time greats; and in the discussion as the greatest cricket side of all time

• The Olympics: Sydney was a triumph of an event, with the home nation taking home 58 medals, including 16 gold. THis flowed in to 2004, where they took their tallies even higher, across a huge number of sports

• Motor Cycling: Mick Doohan was coming off 5 straight MotoGP championships, while Troys Corser and Bayliss were winning Superbike titles repeatedly

• The Socceroos were assembling their greatest ever side that would eventually get out of the Group Stage of the World Cup, including such luminaries as Cahill, Kewell, Schwarzer, Viduka, Aloisi, Bresciano

• And of course rugby. 3 super sides were always at the pointy end. The Reds topped the table in '99, The Brumbies were tussling with the Crusaders for the claim to be the best team in the comp. And this flowed to the Wallabies. '99 World Cup. 01 Lions. Multiple wins over the All Blacks, legit claim to be the best team in the world.

And this isn't an exhaustive list, their league team was more dominant, it seemed no matter what they played, they won. A true golden age.

Compare and contrast with today

• In tennis, their two best players are a couple of douchebags universally reviled by their own fans, who can't even be fucked playing at Wimbledon

• The cricket side has slipped to 4th in the world records, and closer to little old NZ than the top of the table. Series losses home and away are now the norm, rather than a cause for shock. Players were on strike a week ago because they couldn't afford to buy a 2nd Italian sports car

• In the Olympics, Australia's plummet down the medal table has been stark. Medal totals have halved, and again, they are closer to little old NZ than the top of the table.

• Do they still ride Motor Bikes? Daniel Riccardo seems like a bit of a dude in F1, but hardly in a position to actually win anything.

• The Socceroos are in a fight to qualify for the next World Cup, despite playing a bunch of impoverished nations.

• And of course the rugby. Super teams winless against NZ opposition. One team fighting their death in Court. The Wallabies are unable to bank a win at home against Scotland any more. Grass roots on it's knees. A bad Bledisloe series, and the public could switch off, for good this time.

So, dear All Black fans, while you are having your pints this weekend, celebrating the return of test match rugby, and the opening of the once-revered South Hemisphere competition, take a second and commiserate with our trans-Tasman cousins. They are going through a tough time of it, it's never easy getting used to a new reality.

@duluth said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:

Just try not to be a retard

is that, like, a rule? 'cause...

I am fucked if i would sit in a Ryan Crotty stand. The fucking thing would break just before half time.

fuck i love All Black fans

Not 7 days ago this site was awash with how good the selecting was, how maybe we needed to come around on Fozzie based on the improvement in play, and in players, and the new depth we had created

A week later, after a game we fucking won, and it's "get rid of the guy who last week was the long term answer at 6" and "oh we all knew this was coming with Foster he's shit"

We are fucking insufferable. Well, not me, mainly yous

@taniwharugby said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:

Getting alot of work done though!

you're among friends here mate. No need for the bullshit

Sorry nick and barb, this isn't really aimed at you, you guys haven't gone full whinge (just sort of half)

But fuck this whinging, bleating and crying from the Australian rugby fraternity this year. They should be embarrassed.

My guess is it's born of frustration. This year was not supposed to go like this. The established narrative after the world cup was of a team on the rise. The all blacks were supposed to be going the other way.

Instead its been a horror year. Their super rugby teams were bent over and railed. They got whitewashed by the poms. They list in South Africa, and tried their hardest to lose the game in aus as well. We have given them a nearly unprecedented 3 game mauling. And along the way they've played some mind-numbingly poor rugby, compounded by some strange selecting.

And what have we heard from the rugby community in aus? Not even excuses, just bleating. This weekend had been the worst, fuck me "we didn't get awarded a tryyyyy. Waaaah" in a game you got gaped by 27, and with even an average international kicking performance it's more like 33.

Your media has lost the plot, your coach can't find answers, and all the focus is external. What happens if you win 2 from 5 on tour? Who are you going to blame then?

We did this to ourselves. And by us, i mean you, because AB fans don't lose. Endless, and i mean, endless social media; sports forum; phone in; fucking smoke signal whinge fests after every single game looking to absolve everything and everyone for any loss, because the ref fucked us.

We are not shit at rugby, we were fucked by the ref. How could the ref miss that minuscule knock on that we only found in super-slow-mo? Isn't he professional? It's a fucking conspiracy against my team/in favour of that team.

Rugby fans are obsessed by referees. Look at any match thread. Who is the ref? Oh shit, really? he hates us. He loves them. He hates breakdowns. He won't let us scrum. He once missed a knock on against my team 8 years ago that i have decided cost us the game. Fuck that guy. He's a cheat. French refs are shit. Aussie refs are shit. Bok refs are shit. English/Irish/Welsh refs are too slow to keep up with the game.

So world rugby listened, and gave you this clusterfuck. Where we have guys who aren't good enough to be refs watching TV and whispering shit in the refs ear "you missed a very marginal thing back there, we better check it. if we don't we will get accused of cheating" so back we go. And then we better find a penalty, or this will look like a farce.

Add in endless replays on big screens to get howls of outrage from pissed up idiots in the stands, and it gets infinitely worse.

We bought this on ourselves. And this toothpaste isn't going back in the tube. The day we got rid of it, someone is going to knock on before scoring against Ireland, no one is going to see it until after it's awarded, and the internet is going to explode. World Rugby will never allow that to happen.

aaaand we're underway

Bucks celebrate their rings by handily taking care of the Nets

And the Warriors go on the road still without Klay and turn over the Lakers despite LBJ and AD scoring big, and Curry shooting terribly

Both of those results should mean something but they don't because the season is so fucking long.

@kirwan said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:

@mariner4life said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:

@rapido said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:

what the hell is the point of this graphic?

Labour identity politics. They are currently in the process of splitting everything up by your ehtnic group (going to be a DHB only for Maori, 3 Waters will be in partnership with Maori, etc etc)

This graph will allow them to point at Maori vaccination rates and say the current system is racist, so we need to wait until all groups are 90/95% vaccinated to protect them. And be kind.

and the opposite of kind will happen

dumb white fluffybunnies will whinge about the bloody darkies
Maori will see this as validation of the racism inherent in the rollout
The Asians think you are all fucking useless

and everyone is just more pissed. A pointless division of people fueling garbage narratives that will distract dipshits from the real problem, the government and their departments

@rapido said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:

@mariner4life
Mine (with the circle), or the MoH graphic I copied it from?

the MoH

@rapido said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:

what the hell is the point of this graphic?

@act-crusader said in Coronavirus - Australia:

The amount of backslapping in that press conference yesterday by the Qld Government was embarrassing.

mate, they wheel themselves out for a daily press conference to say "zero cases" it's absolutely ridiculous

It's like our daily propaganda broadcast. Fuck off woman and only speak when you have something to say. This is effectively a loooooong political campaign with no election in sight

@hooroo said in Beer thread:

@kiwiwomble said in Memes:

@voodoo said in Memes:

@gt12 said in Memes:

@canefan said in Memes:

I bet we all have a photo like that.

How good does that beer look too? That is a VB, or a Carlton Draught, or a Lion Red or a DB. Heck, maybe it's a fucking Rheineck.

Either way, it's cold, sub-4.5% alcohol, and that bloke is about to enjoy 15 of them.

always remember dad enjoyed a Rheineck...or even the odd Joseph Coutts, normally in a swapa crate

First beer I ever had was a Joseph Coutts

My dad barely drank, but when he did, he had a couple of DB Draughts

Fuck. King. Gross

@nzzp said in NFL Season 2020/21/22:

@mariner4life said in NFL Season 2020/21/22:

Derrick Henry is really big and really fast.

35 km /h, and 108 km/h. Ridiculous. Forget trying to tackle him.

thing is, he has a side step to go with it. He's insane.

Imagine him at 12?

Derrick Henry is really big and really fast.

@voodoo said in Coronavirus - Australia:

Admissions to hospital in New South Wales have dipped to the lowest they have been in two months as the state records 273 COVID-19 cases and four deaths

Jeez, might just be something in this vaccination thingee

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-19/nsw-records-273-covid-19-cases-and-four-deaths/100549564

and yet, no matter what state you reside in, if you are a Labor or Greens "supporter" you will still shout how reckless the NSW Government is being. What a rogue state