The Silver Fern

If anyone's watching the Stan coverage, how bad is SBW? He literally just said he's looking forward to Jordie coming back after 20 mins... which Stan genius thought he'd be a great commentator?

Interesting that so many on here are criticising BB for the bombs from the 22 without mentioning how often Mounga did the same thing so was clearly a strategy the coaches wanted.

Won't be looking to this forum for selection decisions after all the bagging of Frizell.

I'm backing Foster, he's building towards a special loss at Eden park and maybe even handing over the Bledisloe.

Pretty pathetic end to an awesome game with the crowd booing the refs. To watch that game and come away whinging about the ref is everything wrong with rugby these days.

@pakman ah, the forward pass that lead to a Crusaders lineout near halfway was the crucial game changing decision that warrants all the complaining?

Should've been picked up for sure, but there were a lot of other things that the Chiefs had to get wrong to turn that into a try.

You've got your mind set on being a victim tonight so I'll leave you to that.

I'm picking Foster will say something like "people were complaining about our game last week being too easy and today we came up against a very good Fiji side..."

@pakman not sure which 7 points the Crusaders were credited with, but if you're complaining about the Dmac penalty at the lineout, he was a long way offside, not even close.

Also, you know you're watching rugby right? If you watch every ruck really closely you could debate that a penalty could've been awarded to either side. Given there was nothing outrageous missed I'd say it was a good reffing performance.

So from my perspective it's pretty sad to be focusing on the ref and completely missing the satisfaction of a great match,as I say that is the shame of modern rugby, boiling down to 2 sides complaining about the ref.

Some really harsh opinions on Blackadder. I thought he had a really strong first 60 and then got a bit sloppy in the last 20, but I'm happy to put that down to being absolutely cooked. I was really impressed with him, great squad option

@tim said in Blues 2022:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/300360062/blues-to-lose-all-blacks-lock-patrick-tuipulotu-to-japan-sabbatical-in-2022

I really hope they don't bring him straight back into the ABs after this, from Barrett and Retallick, it's clear Japan is not sufficient prep for test matches

Looks like another really poor crowd. This can not be a good sign for NZ rugby

@ruggabee said in Super Rugby 2024:

@frugby The Reds are the only side who've improved, the Brumbies were competitive against NZ franchises and tested them at the breakdown last season with Laurie Fisher there, now with him gone it's back to blowout scores like 46-7, 46-12. They really took it to a more experienced & Chiefs team (compared to 2024) in the Semi Final at Waikato last year. They are back to home-track bullies who invariably wilt against NZ teams in NZ because Lord Laurie isn't there and he was one of the very few Australian coaches who had adequate knowledge of how & where to exploit NZ sides.

Well the Rebels have already won 1 more game than they did last year despite losing to the lowly Crusaders, so I'd say they've also improved.

Wow, stadium doesn't even look half full. Absolute shame

@african-monkey said in All Blacks vs Springboks I:

@stargazer Well said. A win against the World Champs without 2 of our best players. Great result.

I would've said 5 of our best players, Whitelock, Smith, Mounga, Cane, ALB. I would be confident in saying that we're building good depth if this team learns and adjusts for next week.

A big crowd at Mt Smart is going to be an awesome atmosphere

For a dark horse bolter I'd be taking Ainsley in the squad. Clearly Laulala is done for the ABs, Ainsley is experienced, good scrummager and far more energetic around the park.

Looks like a really poor crowd. This doesn't bode well for the Moana Pacifica team surely.

Does anyone else think Mils always says a lot of words without actually saying anything? It's really frustrating.

Thank god Whitelock's coming on, hopefully sort out this rabble... can we get Jacobsen as well?

I'm really keen to know what the constant bass pumping at the ground does for the atmosphere? It's annoying on TV, so imagine it wouldn't be great live.

Also, did anyone notice Reece exaggerating getting cleaned out so that he landed on his head/neck? He's a good player, but he makes it hard to like him

@pakman said in Crusaders v Blues:

@bones said in Crusaders v Blues:

Unlucky saders, might have been a different result without Barrett brain spasms.

Congrats blues! Can't help but think Beauds should have gone off and Perofeta stayed on...

Bones, you and I are at one on that. Perofeta would have been much more measured.

Yea, cos Perofeta was playing amazing rugby before he came off... there is some absolute rubbish mentioned on here.