Roar Rookie
Joined September 2016
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Vale champion jockey Bill Skelton, who has passed away in his native New Zealand aged 85. The New Zealand jockey won 2179 races across…
According to the experts, 27 metres is the ideal distance for high bombs. I reckon half the players take 27 milliseconds to make up…
Earn the right to go wide is often quoted by the players but we see little rampaging runs by the All Black forwards to lay the platford up front. When the game plan is to kick the ball into the opposition and play territory rather than win the possession stakes then they back their defence.
You can’t have it both ways so parity in the forwards is considered good enough and it has worked in the recent past.
So the mindset has to change but that will be difficult as 15 man attacking rugby has been the mantra in New Zealand since Fred Allen in 1967.
A few losses now should not change the style of flair and attack going forward. Changing coaches …. hmmm. Everyone wanted Robbie Deans to take over from Graeme Henry after 2007 so the NZRFU got it right on that occasion.
Hang tight, do the reviews and ask the hard questions but don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.
The three things the ailing All Blacks need to return to the top
I am not a league fan and I dislike the code’s culture but … Norm Provan was something else.
I was coaching his grandson 30 years ago in rugby union in Caloundra where the big man had business interests with his wife. During the game big Norm came from the other side of the field to talk to me and ask questions about the game.
His grandson was playing prop and Norm queried me about this and that until I began to feel a little embarrassed.
In the end I said to him “look Norm, you are a legend of rugby league. You will have forgotten more about footy than I will probably ever know” or words to that effect.
He was having none of that and chatted on and he thanked me for talking to him.
I never forgot his humility, modesty and good grace.
In life if you are remembered as a good bloke you will have done well. But Norm will be remembered as a great.
Vale Norm
Forever an Immortal: rugby league icon Norm Provan dies aged 88
Recovery time is the issue so contrived stoppages favour the team tiring the most.
What was blatantly clear was that the Boks forwards had miraculous recoveries after the water boys and team discussions had finished.
The game was fractured and as Moody commented, he hardly broke into a sweat.
For “tough” men the Saffas sure had a lot of “injury” breaks … that is, rest stoppages.
I was there in Townsville and saw it first hand. Disappointing.
A narrow escape: what worked and what didn't for the All Blacks
Bafana Bafana really belongs to the South African soccer term, not the Bokkies.
All Blacks team: Weber at halfback, ALB returns, Mo'unga on bench as NZ chase 'Grand Slam'
Better to lose live sport than loosing lives as in NSW and Victoria.
Six Pumas, including Matera, locked out of Queensland after Byron visit, Wallabies Test will go ahead
Ah yes but the real way to look at that is look at the win and loss ratios for world cups.
The Wrap: Tense, gripping clash of styles falls the All Blacks' way
One of my employee’s relatives went to his first rugby union match and took two of his children. He is a died in the wool league fan.
He asked the kids if they found it boring in the first half of the Blacks – Boks game and they said they did. He asked if they wanted to leave then, and they did. They did not stay for the Wallabies match later.
So I have no reason to make up a story and post it here. I do not like league but I understood why they left.
Your comment Double Agent is reflective of yourself, why would I lie?
SA View: Heartbreak in the 100th as Boks 'set the table, kill the calf and forget to eat'
No it wasn’t, it was from the open end where the tv screen was. It was only a slight breeze which dropped as the game went on.
Handre was kicking into the breeze before the match started from 45 metres out and easily clearing the cross bar. The ball was not holding up.
The Boks and All Blacks should try again
Rubbish to watch unfortunately, lots left early including myself.
The Boks and All Blacks should try again
Wake up Biltong, I was at the game and saw one of the many injury stops right in front of me… sore leg. Amazing how a drink of magic water fixed him up after three minutes while his mates gathered for a group meeting. Meanwhile I read a few more chapters of Tolstoy’s War and Peace to fill in the time.
I lost a lost of respect for the Boks. I saw them play in 1965 but my admiration and respect for them has been sorely tested.
The damage they are doing is undermining their respect and tarnishing their reputation.
That more so than the rubbish they are playing is the disappointing thing.
Sorry Biltong but they have lost me.
'Predictable, boring and primitive' or a 'win for the Springboks'? Media reaction to Boks v All Blacks
Wake up Biltong, it is cheating. I was there and hey, magic water fixed them.
'Predictable, boring and primitive' or a 'win for the Springboks'? Media reaction to Boks v All Blacks
I learnt a lot at the game, sitting near the 10 metre mark, about the characters of the Kiwis and Saffas.
The New Zealand fans were disappointed with the game and you would have thought they had lost. As a spectacle the game was a borefest and lacking spark.
Some rugby league fans I know left at half time as they thought the stoppages ruined the spectacle. I could not disagree with them.
My Saffa friends thought it was a great game with the constant kicking a tactic that nearly worked. Winning is everything and if it is ugly, so be it.
The Springboks did not throw this game away, they kicked it away.
So the lesson I learnt was that we all see things differently. The game gave the AFL and rugby league a wonderful leg up as both those codes don’t have pedantic referees blowing penalties incessantly like we had with our referee.
Whilst I have tried to be neutral in my views I must say it was disgraceful and embarrassing to see the number of feigned injuries by the Boks to slow the game down.
That is garbage and that was how most at the ground, perhaps some Saffas aside, saw the match – garbage.
SA View: Heartbreak in the 100th as Boks 'set the table, kill the calf and forget to eat'
Gentle zephyr at worst.
Boks coach bemoans 'bounce of the ball' as youngster's massive play secures All Blacks win
I was at the game and the Kiwi supporters I spoke to thought it was a lousy game.
Then a Saffa said to me that it wss a great game whilst another was telling his mate on the phone that it was a fantastic match.
Strange the different perceptions, the victors unhappy and the losing supporters happy.
It was a horrible borefest with so much kicking by the Bokkies.
What killed the game was the high number of stoppages for Springbok “injuries” which killed the momentum of the game. It has to stop.
The game was a poor advertisement for the code in a part of Australia in love with the free flow of rugby league.
Boks coach bemoans 'bounce of the ball' as youngster's massive play secures All Blacks win
Its not a wonderful template for the Springboks to follow the northern hemispere’s forward orientated style of play … rubbish comment.
The Springboks have been the masters of this style throughout their long snd proud history and do not need schooling from the north.
Three World Cups to us versus a solitary one by England.
The pragmatism of keeping it tight in a week by week grind is not only boring but diminishes the broader attacking scope rugby offers.
Go the Bokkies but use 15 men and look towards the south.
Coach’s Corner Issue 27: Who is really the number one team in the world?
Well they certainly can’t turn their atttention to international matches in the AFL or rugby league can they?
'What the Boks can learn from Shane Warne': Fans dissect SA rugby's predicament
Lose against the All Blacks in both games and South Africa will be called the World Cup champions, not the World champions anymore.
'What the Boks can learn from Shane Warne': Fans dissect SA rugby's predicament
The All Blacks coaches, before the season began, were talking about bringing a hard edge to their forward pack. We are seeing that now with hard hitting defensive play a noticeable feature this season.
But the hard edge has not been at the expense of mobility or skills. The soft underbelly exposed by England so clinically at the World Cup has been acknowledged and is being addressed … not the finished product yet but a work on.
The Springboks might beat the All Blacks next week and good on them if they do. It is noticeable that Jordie Barrett with the big boot and specialists in catching the high ball in George Bridge and Will Jordan are getting game time and they most likely will start, to defuse the South African bombs.
Safety ahead of all out attack.
When the All Blacks were rudely exposed by the high kicks in 2009 with the Springboks winning all three games, the All Blacks in 2010 picked fullbacks to occupy 11, 14 and 15. The result was three – zip to the All Blacks.
Interesting to see how the next game goes but it may be the best defence that wins.
What becomes of the broken Bokke on the tour from hell?
Yes cherised off course and well fought but South Africa is fourth on the number of games played – 98.
Versus England 351.
So the natural match and historical enemy which attracts us is the Old Dart. That is where we came from as colonials, not South Africa.They are the ones where our national pride is tested. England is the main course, South Africa a tasty morsel.
Out of interest is there any sport where South Africa has historically been number one?
Why South Africa and Australia are a match made in sporting heaven
No they don’t. In our cricket history it has always been England historically and though South Africa may have won a series against us they fall well behind the West Indies, and latterly India in our thinking.
Even New Zealand has won a cricket series against us at home.
Why South Africa and Australia are a match made in sporting heaven
The big ones for Australia are England in the Ashes and the All Blacks in rugby. Unfortunately South Africa does not readily come into our sporting psyche as one of our great competitors.
Our lasting memories of cricket against you guys is Steve Waugh telling Herschelle Gibbs he had “dropped the World Cup” in 1999 when Gibbs tried to throw the ball in the air to celebrate a dolly catch but spilled it.
We much prefer to play in our own aggressive style rather than to win ugly. That is why we love to beat England in the Ashes because they will often close up shop and play for a draw whereas we mostly go for victory and glory and may lose in trying.
As for rugby the All Blacks are our greatest rivals … but then again they probably are for everyone.
Why South Africa and Australia are a match made in sporting heaven
Raducanu about as English as the England rugby and cricket teams. Born in Canada, Romanian father and Chinese mother. But at least she was raised in England.
Well done, a ray of sunshine.
Had to laugh at Shane Warne comment about nine months of horrible English weather and then three months of winter.
Rugby Championship turnaround: What a difference a Quade makes
Like when have they dominated under neutral referees..nonsensical biased opinion not supported by your records in the past.
How the Springboks can overcome the All Blacks – and not just this year
Yes I agree with that. Go the mighty Bokkies!
Why I don't understand the Springboks hate
It is ironical how the small brother globally (league) is the big brother in Australia and never the twain shall meet. In my own experience with rugby union I found the Aussie Rules fellows wonderful to associate with but with the league chaps it was generally hostility. It seems the Aussie Rules boys felt the same.
No point arguing about which is the best game, it is a battle of surviving in a small and isolated marketplace where two very minor codes globally (league and Aussie Rules) are battling for top dogs status. Like watching seagulls or hens bashing each other to be the, dare I say it, top dog.
Rugby union has its own battles with trying to become a major player globally whilst being a smallish code in most countries dominated by the world game, soccer, where the real money is.
I despair for all the codes here at home, what a mess with uncertain growth pathways.
League and rugby will always hate each other but code-hopping anger dying out