Roar Rookie
Joined October 2009
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Am I the only one to agree with Spiro? Blimey the Wallabies have won a hard fought Test against another top ten team and…
There are some interesting comments on why Queensland Reds are looking lacklustre this year. A dedicated attack coach is a step forward, as suggested…
The ARU CEO John O'Neill has no option but to request that Melbourne Rebels CEO Brian Waldron be removed from his position. The scandal…
Dear Rob, I read with interest your comments on the state of the game and that the laws are ruining the game following the…
What is it with Graham Henry and Steve Hansen? Are they really that paranoid that after an indifferent performance in Milan, they can’t recognise…
[caption id="attachment_15124" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="England\'s Phil Vickery, center, tries to muscle his way through the Italian defence during the Six Nations rugby union international…
Article is complete rubbish. If only the media would talk up the game more we might get excited and enjoy Wallaby victories. Why do we knock national teams so much? Jealousy and a belief that we are better than everyone else and should always win. Aussie media become a set of whiners me thinks.
A miserable win for Wallabies over Pumas
This article is spot on……too many match outcomes decided by refs. Has to stop.
Love to see penalties for technical offences just change of possession and no penalty. Keep penalties for repeat infringements and foul play!
Dear John: contentious penalties are affecting results
Not worth the money. A sport played in five States in one country should not be worth that sort of deal. Well done to AFL for convincing TV companies how important they are. TV companies on other hand must have rocks in their heads. The rugby codes and soccer must be scratching their heads. Come on TV companies back the real sports with national and international appeal! Sports with proper rules and skills.
AFL deal is big numbers on world stage
Hear, hear. Time for a change. Well dome Brumbies – got a coach with proven success at higher levels. Tahs must follow suit. And then coach must strengthen squad with a proper back up fly-half the priority. With Barnes injured Tah response was pathetic – reserve fly-half Halangahu who was disastrous and then multiple changes in backline to accommodate Beale at fly-half. Reminiscent of schoolboy rugby. Without Beale at fulback there is no penetration behind the scrum and no team can make three or four positional changes in backline and expect to win consistently. If Board wants a business man as CEO at least surround him with personnel who have rugby experience and nous!
Tahs must follow Reds with backroom clean-up
Just back from work and read this diatribe.
No way is A League bigger than Super Rugby. Have you seen the crowds!! And the soccer is rubbish.
Several teams are virtually bankrupt.
Lots of pluses, participation up, Channel Nine is taking over Rugby TV rights, Rebels are about to announce major sponsor deal. Come on everyone cheer up.
Rugby is a dying game in Australia
Refs need to be more accountable. Bryce Lawrence changed the Reds v Hurricanes match with two appalling decisions right after half-time……………a spear tackle that wasnt and at worst a penalty only and not a yellow card…followed by a high tackle penalty against Reds when the Hurricane player was falling. Gave Canes momentum and they took it and it destroyed Reds confidence. Refs performances are patchy. If they stuff up drop them and lets try some new younger refs…..they cant do any worse and we might discover some new talent.
Super 14 refs need to be held accountable
Spiro you are right about the Paul tackle. It wasn’t high, late or illegal. If the TMO is available I agree he should be used to review such cases to ensure fairness and consistency. Kearney was guilty of a shoulder charge not on Palu but Elsom and he wasn’teven spoken too. But the big issue here is the damned inconsistency of the referees we have in international rugby at present. I watched five Test matches over the weekend and having played and been involved in Rugby at a senior admin level for many years I am utterly confused. It is fair to say the crop of refs we have at present are poor. Many of them seem more determined to show us their microscopic understanding of the Laws than letting the players play the game. Kaplan ruined the Sydney Bledisloe and was again whistle happy on the weekend. And when will Rugby give the benefit of the doubt to the attacking team. The game craves more tries but we are getting whistle happy refs, more penalties and conservative coaches [not prepared to gamble with the finnicky refs] who instruct players to kick. Nigel Owens cost the Pumas a try against England when they were clearly on top and attacking but somehow were penailsed for something that most refs would have let go. Martyn Williams went to tackle an All Black in Cardiff two weeks ago. In the tackle his arm deflected the ball that was being passed. Penalty or accidental……it clearly looked accidental but any doubt and it must be a scrum not a penalty which was kicked. Don’t get me wrong anything clearly illegal or dangerous should be penalised. But we are seeing a rash of yellow cards which I believe is a cop out for referees especially in the 22. Why don’t they award more penalty tries when professional cheating is stopping tries. How on earth did Dickinson not award Italy a try in Milan when its scrum destroyed the All Blacks?
If the IRB derives income from participation in the Olympics it should be channelled into refereeing – development, coaching and establishment of a fulltime international panel that is managed professionally by one unit so we are not left with referees coming out of Unions with different philospohies and standards. Sorry about cliche but refs should be seen not heard!!!!
The curious case of Wycliff Palu's yellow card
The good news here is that everyone seems agreed that Rugby Sevens is the way to move game forward. Inclusion in the Olympics is a big funding boost to many countries. Governments in countries such as China, Germany, USA, Russia, etc only fund sports in the Olympics. Now Rugby in those countires will benefit and may even get onto school curricula. The thought process has certainly changed from only as far back as 2005 and the Singapore vote when not the entire rugby family thought it was a good idea. It would be good to see ARU take it seriously now. Point taken about NRL players but it would be interesting.
The solution for all Australian rugby woes
Obviously lot of one-eyed AB supporters around today!!!. Of course the ABs do nothing wrong and McCaw is never offside? As I said good luck to him if he doesn’t get caught. ABs deserved win but whistle blowing is stifling game. These issues are not just about Bledisloe Cup matches as most test matches are crap these days cos of pedantic refs who are inconsistent. IRB needs to spend big on refereeing development……present pool is poor and little coming through the ranks.
Hansen hits back at Deans' breakdown claims
Fundamental problem we have is referees are looking to penalise, find fault and show they know Law book instead of trying to let play evolve. In Tokyo Pocock offence was line ball to say least. And when will Rugby adapt the atitude that attacking team should have beneift of the doubt…one thing league has got right.
In Tokyo ABs again got away with muder. McCaw is a genuis but he has lived offside most of his career. Refs now have his number but Kiwis have been smart this year and AB coaches have responded by making sure their number two player at breakdown goes off his feet to cause problems for opposition. How many times do you see scrumhalf trying to clear ball with an AB next to ball? Just like in Sydney ABs killed ball all night. Sure Wallabies in Tokyo got four early penalties but where were they….all in the 22/danger zone. AB mantra is kill/slow ball down and give away penalty instead of a try. Great tactics if refs let you get away with it…which they are. Where are the yellow cards??
Hansen hits back at Deans' breakdown claims
Spot on Spiro.
My short narrative on the ELVs simply had the aim of reminding everyone that the ELV project had the major aim of sorting out the problem area of the breakdown but it was undermined badly by influential administrators and media in the north. The Game had the chance to sort out the breakdown but threw it away and we are now back to square one. And by the way I have my family roots in Europe and to say this is blinkered, old-fashioned anti-northern hemisphere writing is way off beam. To think that the northern hemisphere Unions all operate independently is a fanciful dream. Wales, Ireland, Scotland and RFU are thick as thieves when it comes to IRB Council voting. And throw in France. Sure Scotland were pro-ELV but let me tell you the my research found that the Chairman of the Law Project Group sold out to his Six Nations mates when push came to shove on the ELVs. What we really need is a change to the constitution of IRB in terms of Council representation and voting structures…..how democratic is it when the Six Nations plus AER-FIRA (the European regional association) control 12 of the 26 votes on Council…SANZAR has 6 votes……..now that is a whole new can of worms!!!
ELVS could have fixed problems at breakdown
Blimey strange appointment – jobs for the boys? Former Shore and Sydney University bloke who lives in Mosman. ARU/NSWRU stereotype? Word on street there were more suitable candidates with far stronger sports business backgrounds….ARU missed a big opportunity.
Bill Pulver announced as ARU CEO [VIDEO]