The Silver Fern

I couldn’t care less about the volume of kicking and lack of “rugby”. That’s the great thing about rugby, more than one way to win a game. Especially in weather like that.

I’m very glad we don’t play like that though!

What irks me is the constant stoppages and time wasting and using medics and water runners to coach. They need to get the fuck off the field. They shouldn’t even be miked up.

If it carries on like this, we might have to go to neutral medics and the players can drink the rain from the sky

Absolute disgrace

@Machpants said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:

@mencey said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:

@Stargazer said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:

@mencey said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:

Game over me thinks. Will they keep Eddie?

I suspect they'll keep Eddie ... with all the excuses of the Lions Tour and "2027"

Didn't think about that. The Lions will absolutely slaughter the Wallabies unless there are some serious changes. The thing that worries me is the way the All Blacks played against SA in the warm up and there first game against France, we may be looking down the barrel of another hiding against Ireland in the semi's assuming we get that far. Scott Robinson may have his work cut out for him the next few years. The defence of Ireland and Wales the last couple of days has been outstanding.

We face Ireland in the quarters, no way we make the semis. I am hoping we make a game of it unlike the wallabies here

Fuck man, enough with the defeatist bullshit, it's getting boring

Yeah, we lost to them in a series a year ago, we all remember it. We also thumped them 42-19 in the first game of that series remember? In the 2nd test we played for a while with 13 men, and with 14 for 18mins. And in the 3rd test we fought back to within 3 points with a side that included Havili at 12, BB at 10, no Scott Barrett, and RTS on the bench.

You may not like the lack of development since, but at the very least the starting side is absolutely settled now, assuming injury recovery continues the way we are told it is. Frizz over AI is an upgrade, JB over Havili at 12 is a huge upgrade. Midfield combo being settled is massive. SB is in great form so we have 3 quality locks to choose from.

Yeah this isn't a vintage AB side, props and back row still has real issues, and we lack punch at 15 and a cohesive kicking game.

But we aren't playing some mythical side on a run of 300 wins in a row. Ireland are absolutely beatable, and we absolutely have the team to do it in a one-off QF.

Get on the bandwagon man!!!

Lots of depressing "I don't care about this game much, things have changed, feel a bit sad" sentiment in here.

Well, fuck that I say.

In the hopes of perking some of you up, here is the Voodoo runsheet for the day - and I for one and in a fucking good mood about it.

7am - woke up to shining sun and a coffee ready for me thanks to my lovely wife.
7:30am - made bacon and eggs rolls. Checked weather forecast for Homebush, will be c. 25 degree for kick-off - get the fuck in!
8am - showered, dressed, about to take the lad to the cricket nets to see if I can get those feet moving - at the moment they're grounded like he has lead in his shoes - like his old man to be fair. Might work on that bowling action a bit too. Will take the dog to chase his ball around and generally get in our way.
10am - collect girl from rowing, buy boy new cricket bat, buy lunch from somewhere - no doubt a cheeky stop at Dan Murphys is in order
12:30pm - nap time
1:30pm leave for the ferry / train to Homebush. Beers on the ferry, no doubt some good banter on the train. I will be wearing my AB's shirt like a good 47yr old bloke does. Punt horses as much as I can get away with.
3pm arrive to ground, more beers, eat overpriced pie and chips.
3:45pm kick off following horrendous anthems
4:45pm AB's up 20 at HT, more beers and chips
6pm back on the train after 40 point win, Aussies looking demoralised at the realisation of another year gone with no Bled, and the prospect that they still have to go to NZ next week. The silence is so beautiful that no further comment is required from me
7pm back on the ferry for more beers.
7:45pm home on the couch, red wine opened, takeaway ordered and watching Manly touch up the Roosters
10pm bed or another bottle opened - haven't decided yet. Got to leave some room for spontaneity.

Sounds like a pretty good day to me.

Sooooo - I'm slowing coming to the realisation that everything is coming up AB's at this RWC. We have all underestimated the genius of the coaching group and the master plan they have put in place to bring the cup home.

Bear with me while we look at the events that have transpired over recent times, and extrapolate to make a couple of predictions:

• Rennie gets ditched for Eddie - Foz gets in his ear and sows a few seeds ("mate, start a rumour that Hoops and Quade are a bit toxic, I'll buy you a couple of beers") - see below for importance later

• Foz picks Narewa, knowing he wouldn't play - effectively giving him a free option to choose his last guy during the tournament - credit to @Duluth for sniffing this one first

• The team make the tough decision to throw the opener against France - it's not an easy call to drop a pool game, but as we all know, history is yesterdays newspaper. Stunning and brave really.

• We now face Ireland in the QF after Fozzie does a deal with Rassie to also throw their pool match against Ireland ("bro, if we both drop a game, we can avoid each other until the Final!"....."iz it?!!")

• We now plot to take Ireland out in the QF. Sure, not easy, but look what Foz and co have done to maintain maximum powder-dryness - kept Roigard hidden until this week, forced DeGroot to get suspended, made up injuries to Frizell and Jordie, told Rieko to pretend to have the dropsies and miss stand-up tackles, make Jordan smoke a blunt before each game, hardly play DMac, drop Sami completely, and have BB run at 80% pace and kick aimlessly whenever possible. Bone fucking dry.

• As for the QF opposition, those Irish bastards have enormous pressure on them. They have QF ghosts, a win streak to protect, and they've just seen a systematic destruction by the (apparently) re-born All Blacks side - aura is back like you wouldn't fucken believe and they're quaking in their boots

• So now we get past Ireland, and appear on the other side of the draw as planned, to presumably face a depleted Wallaby side in the SF (see first point) - but wait on, the plan has worked even better than expected, and we now have Wales or Argentina or fucking Japan in the SF - holy smokes! We roll Wales obviously (apologies @MiketheSnow ), and fuck me if we aren't in the RWC Final.

• SA await us, we battle to the death, and ultimately prevail in a dogfight. The SA 8-0 bench backfires after they lose Faf to a hair injury early, and Rassie is consigned to history as being somewhat of a flawed visionary.

• Fozzie returns home a hero, and Razors contract is torn up. Fozzie signs for 8 more years, and Razor takes up the Wallaby reigns after Eddie signs with Japan at Christmas.

Anyone buying this??!!

Marc Hinton logic - "BB dropped for shit kicking and option-taking - pretty keen to see him get a run at 10 though eh"

Wtf is going on here

I don’t even understand the sledge - who the fuck wouldn’t want to be called a poor man’s McCaw??!!!

@bayimports said in All Blacks EOYT:

@mariner4life said in All Blacks EOYT:

Maybe you have to read every article since the start of the international season to get an idea about what his agenda really is (hint, he fucking Haaaaates DMac)

But to start with "i hope we lose by shitloads so the coaches can pick who i want" is a fluffybunny move from a supposed journo. Then he basically goes on a long rant about the two old heads (a rant he's had before).

fair enough, cant say I have read much of his shit

You’ve made me realise that I don’t read any rugby articles at all anymore. I never go to NZH, Roar, RugbyPass. I don’t even click the links people post here

I watch games, form an opinion, then come here to have my opinions corrected by you guys.

Seems to be working ok for me so far.

I can't understand why people are calling for any change at all, unless injury related - either one sustained in the first test, or having not been considered for selection due to an existing one.

Nobody had enough of a shocker to be dropped after a 10-day prep into a single test.

Same team for me with Ratima in for TJ (prefer Christie off the bench to finish the game if he has to be there somewhere). No way we mess with RI, and Perofeta absolutely deserves to stay on.

It was an AB first-test performance for sure, but lets give them another shot to improve and then see where we are at.

Thinking about heading out to Sydney Airport just to see if one of you report it here that I'm on the move

Clarke is 23, he's been playing rugby for 18 years. Presumably in competitive games for 10 of those.

We shouldn't be having to teach him how to look for support players when he gets to the ABs

It's one thing to try to link and mis-time a pass, or to have a mix-up with someone. But watching him you sometimes wonder if he's ever made a pass in his life.

That one (fantastic) break last night where he called Ioane early to run a line, then when Rieko did exactly that at speed, and he didn't even look at him.

Just odd

@Landers92 said in Leon MacDonald Quits:

Anyone remember a few weeks ago what I was saying about this Leon McDonald situation? I can’t remember what thread it was in, maybe AB’s 2024. I wasn’t just saying stuff for the sake of it after all… 👀

I can barely remember stuff I said a few hours ago, let alone stuff you said a few weeks ago

Pricks, though I shouldn’t be surprised.

HB has always just been a bogan version of Manawatu

Huh, I thought DMac was excellent tonight. Exits in the first half in particular were orgasmic for a AB fan that hasn’t seen a good one in about 7 years

Goal kicking was ace

A couple of bad options, but shit, he handles the ball about 800 times per game, he’s not going to get them all right, especially when he was getting served tripe for 50 minutes

The bombs were all on the money for Clarke to compete too

The quick throw was def mostly on Jordan - he probably shouldn’t have thrown it all all, but when he did, it was such a weak pass that DMac had to come back to the ball towards the sideline and into the traffic. If the pass was quicker he could have gotten into space on the outside

I have Aumua as my MOM, but DMac was great tonight

@sparky said in Jonathan Sexton's conduct:

World Rugby HQ love Jonny Sexton and the boys in Green. Absolutely no surprise to me that he was. given such a gentle slap across the wrist.

We can expect the referees at the World Cup to give every 50:50 decision for the Irish as well.

Come on, let’s not get all GAGR around here eh?

Who do you guys think is in charge of HT tactical changes? Who has the strongest voice in the dressing room?

I assume it’s Razor mostly, but do you think BB / Cane / TJP etc have much of a say?

Because the one thing this entire forum seems to agree on from this game is that it’s the best our midfield has looked in a long time. And while I only played in the 12 jumper at a pretty low grade, I know I always played better when I saw the fucking ball sometimes

So who the hell had the brainwave to stop being patient, stop letting Jordie and Rieko do damage up the middle of the park, and instead have us put up repeated bombs from 10 / 15?

Fuck, we even stopped the attempts at long touchfinders in favour of the shorter bombs

I just don’t get why we went away from what was clearly working - keeping ball in hand and making the bastards tackle us.

It’s like we stopped trying to win and instead tried not to lose - but even that doesn’t explain why we stopped trying to kick deep into their half

Perplexing

How good is this

@Winger said in Im leaving:

@nzzp said in Im leaving:

@Winger said in Im leaving:

@nzzp said in Im leaving:

Maybe try not to follow the mob as sadly many do on TSF, but thankfully not all. And Im only posting on this farewell thread. Responding to posts on it.

After I posted it I thought it was actually a bit OTT. Not meant to tell you to piss off at all ...

Do consider posting in sports only threads though - as many have said your inputs are welcomed and often insightful. You just have a delusion about the Hurricanes

No. I know but its hard to not follow the mob. But unless more do the West is finshed

Regarding sports only. This is totally unacceptable to me hence why I have decided to leave. I was posting on contentious threads but the braindead mob got upset and complained like children. So my access was removed.

Really the threads should have been just closed down. If the forum isn't mature enough, as it isn't, to read different viewpoints on contentious threads then go back to just rugby. Or at least remove threads that cause issues rather than allow sometimes quite nasty stuff to be posted without challenge.

Some of us tried to be nice in here fella. A goodbye, a little compliment maybe about contribution to some threads, and some genuine heartfelt best wishes for your future.

And then you go and type a fucking sentence like that calling people who disagree with you the "braindead mob".

You're about to set a new record for being the first poster to get banned from his own farewell thread.

@gt12 said in RWC Final: All Blacks v Springboks:

I'm fucking buzzing.

Went out and bought a bunch of All Black shit I don't need (jacket, beanie, backpack) so I can 'travel light' (my excuse to the wife) when actually I just plan to wear black all week.

Will literally fly around the world in the next 7 days. I'll be on a flight tomorrow, will arrive, sleep for a day, then have the 3rd/4th game and final with one of my best friends in the world.

Day to recover from an all time hangover (for better or worse), then back on a plane.

We have a bunch of really nice bottles to drink and reservations for lunch at a couple of neat out-of-the-way little restaurants.

The result will likely change the ultimate enjoyment, but this feels like one of those weeks in life where it feels like showing up to work everyday is actually worth it.

C'mon ABs, hope you have kept some fucking receipts from that last game!

Mate, this sounds fucking epic, I’m stoked for you and also seriously jealous!

I hit up skyscanner this morning on a whim - about $3k Aussie to fly out tomorrow, back on Monday. Thought it might be more to be honest given flight costs these days

Be rude not to, right???

Well, it's been a few hours and I'd love to say I've moved on. But I haven't. I'm fucking gutted. I thought this shit was supposed to get easier after you have kids and approach 50 - apparently not.

First, congrats to SA. There is something to be said for knowing exactly who you are as a team. You defended incredibly especially well in the first half. Your high kicks were on point, all contested well. You made your shots at goal. I very much dislike the tactics Rassie employs, and the time-wasting especially has to be stopped - but it's not really your responsibility to make either of things happen.

On the reffing, I'm certainly in the camp of less-TMO intervention being needed. Cane's red was fair under current rules, though I simply can't see how there was sufficient mitigation for Kolisi's head-first challenge to not be treated the same way . It was reckless and head-to-head - any anyone claiming no force should look at how much it rocks Ardie here.
https://www.theroar.com.au/rugby-union/video/siya-kolisis-tackle-isnt-upgraded-smith-has-try-chalked-off-in-painful-five-minutes-for-abs-1314995/\

Frizells was just plain odd, and was a 6 point swing.

The AB's played their hearts out, they should be proud of the effort. We certainly weren't error free though, lots of dropped ball and forced passes, and Richie and Jordie will replay those kicks in their heads for years to come. Still, mistakes happen when you get tired, and playing that Springbok team with 14 men for 60mins had to be exhausting. Incredible that we stayed so close.

The kicking discussion has been done to death, but the one tactic I didn't understand today was why we stopped competing at their lineout in the 2nd half? We had them under loads of pressure, then we just stopped - even when in their half. Bizarre.

Anyway, time for a new chapter to be written for these AB's, despite all the gnashing and claims that "this isn't the sport we used to love", the reality is that we will all be here the next time the men in black line up, cheering just as loudly .

I do hope we see some change to the cards system, the 20min red might not be perfect, but surely its a more sensible outcome for anything other than foul play. I'd also like to see time-wasting clamped down on, medics and water runners un-miked, and the TMO only being used to review things at the refs request.

Fuck it, while I'm at it, lets ditch scrum penalties too, they're a lottery and I have no idea why we have decided that having a shit scrum should be a penalisable offense - we don't penalise teams for having a shit lineout. Scrum dominance should mean you have a great platform to attack from, and a weak one should mean shit scrappy ball or a tighthead. A free kick awarded for infringing.

That's enough for me - congrats again SA Ferners - enjoy your day you horrible fluffybunnies!