The Silver Fern

When making the decision, the ref was convinced to make the red because Tele'a 'played at' Leyds. From what I could see he was just instinctively moving his hands up to stop from getting kneed in the face.

I may be way off base here, but from what little I know of age grade reps, it seems that selection is even more riddled with nepotism than senior reps. Any truth to that?

Marshall had the ability to take a game by the scruff of the neck in a way other halfbacks couldn't, aside from maybe Weepu. From memory the 2003 RWC game against Wales. There's a lot to admire about that, but it's an easy vote for Smith for me. He makes the rest of the team play better, which is what I consider to be the halfback's key role.

@jc said in England vs All Blacks:

@booboo said in England vs All Blacks:

@rembrandt said in England vs All Blacks:

we'll take that! Quite a few options for mom
Retallick, Big Karl, Crotty, Goodhue, DMac, S Barrett, thought Beaudy was very solid too

Ardie by a mile

We’re not talking about height

6'4" according to the England pre match graphics.

Without knowing too much about him, I always just thought Tyson Fury was a bit of a buffoon, but really enjoyed this:

@wreck-diver said in Bledisloe II:

@mimic said in Bledisloe II:

@rancid-schnitzel said in Bledisloe II:

@nzzp said in Bledisloe II:

@antipodean said in Bledisloe II:

I just don't see the Wallabies being that bad the week after. The lineout is solvable and even if you lose a couple, try something else... The scrum will be bolstered with Sio back and Tupou on the bench. A couple of sessions on running lines and catch-pass for the backs. Hey presto, they're competitive.

They were damn good for the first half. Aggressive hard defence, straight running. On a different night with a different ref, you're looking at a healthy half time lead.

I keep saying it; ther'es not much between these sides at the top level. I don't think the Wobbles will be as bad at set piece, and I reckon supporters should be heartened by the non-set piece effort last week.

All true but they don't have the heart and lungs to do it for 80. They were absolutely gone after 35 minutes. The ABs blew several opportunities in the first half as well and also lost line outs. I agree that it's a decent Aus team, but Cheika is just a shit coach.

This can be easily fixed if they amend their game plan to slow the game down in certain areas. They were trying to play at pace when they didn't have the fitness to last the full 80. Losing Tongan Thor was a huge loss.

Please he's not a Norse God he is a fat Sth Auckland kid that didnt have the balls to have a go in NZ after leaving school. In his own words he said he was used to running over skinny little white boys so move to Aussie to play rugby. I dont see him adding anything to their team let alone his youtube page.

Just seemed like a financial decision to me, and probably a fairly easy one if he doesn't have a great affinity for the All Blacks.

He's gone far better than I thought he would. I thought he'd be a bust.

@jc said in 2018 Rugby Championship:

In case anyone is interested, here is the text of Walrus’s column:

Actually, I've read worse previews from local scribes.

Their try scoring always seems to drop off dramatically. Maybe other teams start working them out and the space appears elsewhere.

@mikethesnow said in UFC:

UFC 227
SWANSON v MOICANO
Moicano too long for Swanson and makes quick work for the submission finish

I watched the main card and really enjoyed it. Had a bit of everything. The Johnson v Cejudo was a bit of a masterclass, technically while I was just on the edge of my seat for the entire Dillashaw v Garbrandt fight because it just seemed like anything could happen. All the main undercard fights had something unique to offer too.

One note on the Swanson v Moicano fight... I don't think I've ever seen that sort of impact from a jab before?

I think there's a good chance he'll still be good enough for that level.

I don't get the impression he's the 'mentor' type though?

@mikethesnow said in UFC:

@milk said in UFC:

@duluth said in UFC:

@mariner4life said in UFC:

Holy shit see old mate win that fight from his back with the hammer fists? Brutal

Justifies all those fights i tried to win laying on my back...

Wow! Who was that?

Niko Price. Great finish.
Trapped the head in the crook of his ankle, foot, calf then slammed him.

I guess you can't blame the ref because no one was expecting it, but I think the guy was knocked out after the first hammer fist, so copped quite a few extra.

@bovidae said in Super Rugby News:

Odds for Friday night's game was Chiefs $2.30 and Hurricanes $1.57. So the Canes are stronger favourites?

Home ground advantage I assume.

Impressive result from the Chiefs as most pundits were picking them to be bottom of the NZ teams, even below the Blues... and I think those predictions came even before they got decimated with injuries.

@duluth said in UFC:

@mariner4life said in UFC:

Holy shit see old mate win that fight from his back with the hammer fists? Brutal

Justifies all those fights i tried to win laying on my back...

Wow! Who was that?

Apart from his goal kicking, MMac just isn't up to this level. Personally, I think the Chiefs would have got the home quarter final with pretty much any other Super Rugby first five. He seemed to be at the heart of every time Chiefs lost momentum, and not particularly involved in the times they scored (could be wrong about the second point though).

@voltron said in UFC:

@duluth
That first knockdown was something else. Even after watching it a few times I’m strughling to process it. His counter landed almost as soon as the other guy even thought about the overhand right.

Totally agree. I listened to an interview with Hooker after and he said the guy must have been dehydrated from the weight cut because those shots shouldn't have been knocking him down.

@barbarian said in Who does the TSF want to Win? Aus vs Ireland:

@milk said in Who does the TSF want to Win? Aus vs Ireland:

@tim @akan004 Funny thing is the first time I heard it, I couldn't stand it. I just remember a whole heap of f-bombs and I struggled to hear anything insightful behind it.

I was the same, but they have worked out ways to be insightful without losing the edge.

The biggest thing in their favour is they are clearly old mates, and they record their podcast in person. Which is so much better than recording over phone/skype.

Were they podcasting long before they joined the GaGR network? I only came across them because they started appearing in my feed.

@tim @akan004 Funny thing is the first time I heard it, I couldn't stand it. I just remember a whole heap of f-bombs and I struggled to hear anything insightful behind it.

But yeah, probably my favourite podcast right now (Sumo's The Shortball might edge it simply because of the NZ focus). They have a great passion for the game and make an effort to cover as much as possible, even the NZ players. Pretty funny guys too.

@derm-mccrum said in Who does the TSF want to Win? Aus vs Ireland:

@milk said in Who does the TSF want to Win? Aus vs Ireland:

@derm-mccrum said in Who does the TSF want to Win? Aus vs Ireland:

@milk said in Who does the TSF want to Win? Aus vs Ireland:

Australia, I guess. Although Ireland used to be my second team.

I listen to a lot of rugby podcasts and media from both countries. Ireland tend to be over-represented in terms of quality rugby content for some reason. However, the issue I have with both countries, just in my experience, is they tend to act so victimized in their encounters with New Zealand.

I consider myself fairly pragmatic by Kiwi rugby fan standards, and I don't tune in to other countries' rugby content to hear how great our team is. I actually like it when fans from other countries get optimistic about their prospects... and generally speaking it doesn't take much for fans from those two countries to get optimistic and bullish. Good for them. Those fans have had tough times and have stuck with the team and game they love.

Probably ironic coming from a Kiwi, but Aussie and Irish fans can be soooo one-eyed when it comes to how evil the All Blacks are.

The exception I reckon is the Rugby Report Card guys. They'd love the Wallabies to thrash the All Blacks and want desperately for their teams to do well, but they also just love rugby and are happy to give credit wherever it's due.

I suspect that the 2016 “Dublin Exhibition Match” may have coloured your view somewhat to draw the generalisation.

Yes, you're probably quite right there. Although, I was watching an Off the Ball video where the host said, in reference to last weekend's red card getting overturned, "it has reached epidemic proportions that all the referring calls go to New Zealand"... and I strongly disagree that the red card had anything to do with the fact NZ was one of the teams playing.

One eyes are very easy to find in any country.

I think in general NZ rugby fans are pretty bad due to a superiority complex... particularly casual fans. Of course we can be a bit one-eyed on this forum and tend to eventually drive off non-NZers after a while, except for the truly masochistic, but at least there's actual rugby discussion. One visit to the Stuff comments section and you'll start to question humanity.

@derm-mccrum said in Who does the TSF want to Win? Aus vs Ireland:

@milk said in Who does the TSF want to Win? Aus vs Ireland:

Australia, I guess. Although Ireland used to be my second team.

I listen to a lot of rugby podcasts and media from both countries. Ireland tend to be over-represented in terms of quality rugby content for some reason. However, the issue I have with both countries, just in my experience, is they tend to act so victimized in their encounters with New Zealand.

I consider myself fairly pragmatic by Kiwi rugby fan standards, and I don't tune in to other countries' rugby content to hear how great our team is. I actually like it when fans from other countries get optimistic about their prospects... and generally speaking it doesn't take much for fans from those two countries to get optimistic and bullish. Good for them. Those fans have had tough times and have stuck with the team and game they love.

Probably ironic coming from a Kiwi, but Aussie and Irish fans can be soooo one-eyed when it comes to how evil the All Blacks are.

The exception I reckon is the Rugby Report Card guys. They'd love the Wallabies to thrash the All Blacks and want desperately for their teams to do well, but they also just love rugby and are happy to give credit wherever it's due.

I suspect that the 2016 “Dublin Exhibition Match” may have coloured your view somewhat to draw the generalisation.

Yes, you're probably quite right there. Although, I was watching an Off the Ball video where the host said, in reference to last weekend's red card getting overturned, "it has reached epidemic proportions that all the referring calls go to New Zealand"... and I strongly disagree that the red card had anything to do with the fact NZ was one of the teams playing.