Roar Guru
Joined October 2016
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All the way into the tile!
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Alrighty, it is time for Coach Neutral to show his hand. My selection criteria are pretty simple, I have picked what I consider to…
Write it down before the first kick-off: the All Blacks win, Los Pumas get the wooden spoon, and the Wallabies and the Springboks battle…
With the Lions Test coming up, there are many talking points surrounding the All Blacks. Dan Coles' fitness is up in the air, Sonny…
When the Springboks lost against Japan last year, they actually lost to a side that played the Test of their lifetime. Springboks was not…
Lately the eyes of the sporting world have been on Irish sportsmen creating history in USA. As if Ireland's maiden win over the All…
Hello mates! There is only one place to start and that is at Soldier Field. The Irish finally got a win. I had a…
Hello mates. Good times are ahead. At least for Test rugby junkies. All the power houses from the south will be in action this…
Alrighty mates, take a deep breath or two before starting to read this, because on the menu today is refereeing, Michael Mourinho - sorry…
Here's some banter and reflection about rugby and beyond from a neutral perspective. Let us kick off on a positive note: the inclusion of…
LOL!
You keep on banging that drum. The funny thing is that not even the most one-eyed AB fans spin that narrative.
Only you Jacko, only you.
COMPLETE RWC QF teams: Dupont returns, Boks make HUGE halves call, Borthwick picks his No.10, Semi back for Fiji
Nice writing, HJ.
But I am a bit surprised you fall into the same “excuse” as average warriors of the keys do; If only the kicks went over SA would have won. It is never that easy.
First of all, two of the kicks were 50-plus kicks, and one can’t even bank on Pollard (or Farrell) making those.
Second, one of those missed kicks actually gave SA possession in the IRL 22 which led to the SA try.
Thirdly, if one of these kicks is made, it changes many other parameters (like IRL gets to kick-off and the ball will most likely be inside the SA 22).
And Pollard will most likely come back a tad bit uncooked, expecting his after playing almost no rugby for 1-2 years, well… It could happen, but…
Saying all that, it was a 50/50 game, but IRL finds ways to win those so often it has become a habit.
Biltong vs blarney: World Cup classic battle leaves both teams with a sense of final destiny - and a key area they must fix
Thoroughly enjoyed the opening weekend of the WC. And with you and Harry reporting about everything under the sun, every day is a good day right now.
Predictions: it looks like a SA-France final is in the cards.
Still trying to get my head around whether Ireland will benefit or not from their schedule. All other contenders (and dark horses) have a less intense schedule, while the Irish – more or less – have to use their best 23 in every single game. Before the tournament, I figured this would be a disadvantage for the men in green, but after watching France last night – who looked like 15 guys who met for the first time on the parking lot two hours before kick-off – I wonder… Maybe the Irish will have sharper steel than any other team? They need to avoid injuries to some key players, but it seems that players hurt themselves just as much on the training paddock (or the hotel stairs) as the ones playing the games.
And the ABs? I believe they should have picked their best team – and let them gel – against Namibia. Now they are playing a bit with fire ahead of the Italy game (have a sneaky feeling that the Italians have targeted this game for many years). Italy would for sure need their best 80 minutes ever to get a result, but they have been tracking towards a big performance for some time.
P.S. And yes, Dan Biggar’s “poetry” was a highlight!
😊
Parkes Life: Fizzer in Geneva, blow up in Bordeaux, trapped in a train station and why the future is bleak for bra sellers
Lovely writing, GP.
Feel a yearning to watch a YouTube show with you and Harry, in the style of Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations”.
Parkes Life is a great title too, with a great cultural reference (at least in my universe).
All the people
So many people
And they all go hand-in-hand
Hand-in-hand through their Parklife
Know what I mean?
Parkes Life: Fizzer in Geneva, blow up in Bordeaux, trapped in a train station and why the future is bleak for bra sellers
Thanks for a great read.
Even in a nation where football is the number one sport, the die-hards have to go through the same ordeals; opinions from fair-weather fans who tune in only when there is a big tournament.
The way I deal with might not be ideal, but it works for me. I pretty much ignore the fair-weather fans completely; laughing at their suggestions, refusing to discuss or explain, and declining their invitations to watch the games together.
Give us back football's soul: Why FIFA must listen to World Cup's bandwagon fans and end this joy-sucking disaster
Some supporters in SA believe Ergon Seconds was the best after he reffed 21-1 penalties to their team in SR. Are they correct? Not in my opinion.
Who are those Saffa supporters, Jacko?
Can you name one at least?
No, not even one?
Just your usual pathetic one-eyed hot air?
😂 😂 😂
The Wrap: Don’t buy Eddie Jones taking the blame for another Bledisloe loss, buy the hope instead
In years you say?!? 😂 😂 😂
All Blacks smash Wallabies to seal Bledisloe AGAIN as Eddie's pain grows after devastating injury to star prop
How cute.
Looking forward to your rants about how unfair the world rankings are when France reclaims their second spot in the next couple of weeks (when they actually play).
All Blacks smash Wallabies to seal Bledisloe AGAIN as Eddie's pain grows after devastating injury to star prop
The usual wishful thinking stuff from you, Jacko. What else is new?
All Blacks smash Wallabies to seal Bledisloe AGAIN as Eddie's pain grows after devastating injury to star prop
It was 6 tries 1.
If wanna come on with an attitude of an expert, better get your facts right before posting.
😂 😂 😂
All Blacks smash Wallabies to seal Bledisloe AGAIN as Eddie's pain grows after devastating injury to star prop
I think you are. bit confused, rugby and the ABs are not the same thing.
Rugby is a beautiful sport played all around the world.
The ABs are just a rugby team, who are very good at beating up average Wallabies teams.
All Blacks smash Wallabies to seal Bledisloe AGAIN as Eddie's pain grows after devastating injury to star prop
If Ardie played at seven on a regular basis he would probably be in the conversation, but he is not, and he is not the best eight-man in the world. Great great player tho and seem to be a very likable person too.
All Blacks smash Wallabies to seal Bledisloe AGAIN as Eddie's pain grows after devastating injury to star prop
Maybe it is a bit unfair to come down hard on the ABs, they can only play what is in front of them and they most certainly collected a big win.
The ABs looked flashy with a man advantage, but apart from that, it was pretty ugly.
All Blacks smash Wallabies to seal Bledisloe AGAIN as Eddie's pain grows after devastating injury to star prop
There are quite a few of them. But I guess one has to watch rugby to know that.
All Blacks smash Wallabies to seal Bledisloe AGAIN as Eddie's pain grows after devastating injury to star prop
For the neutrals, that was a pretty average Test to watch. A few good moments, but overall it was pretty poor code.
The Wallabies are improving hype train people are an interesting bunch. I see zero improvements in the Wallabies since the last WC. If anything, I see them going backward and for the first time ever they have to really worry about getting out of their group.
It’s harder to judge the ABs. Sure, another convincing win on the scoreboard, but any team with just a tad bit of smarts and discipline would have taken it to the ABs today.
But at least they have two players now who can raise their hand for a World XV; Will Jordan and Scott Barrett (last year they had none).
All Blacks smash Wallabies to seal Bledisloe AGAIN as Eddie's pain grows after devastating injury to star prop
Poor Old Old Bugger
You seem to forget that AB should have a least another red card in that second Test (Leicester going air-borne on Matt Hansen, remember?) and also were allowed to bring Ardie on the field when it was not allowed. Oh, and a dead-certain penalty try was not awarded for Ireland too.
And what can I say about Brodie, maybe he’s got soft cheekbones. At the end of the day, the ref got it right. It was not a red card. End of story.
To me, the Boks look four years older and slower and I certainly think that ABs have a better chance against them than France and Ireland at the moment.
Kiwi View: The rare Boks moment that showed Wallabies where the All Blacks are vulnerable
That maul try really rankled AB’s and Ryan, won’t happen again.
Oh, it will happen again. You can be 100 percent sure of that. Too funny to think that the ABs somehow will be immune against the maul.
Kiwi View: The rare Boks moment that showed Wallabies where the All Blacks are vulnerable
I did not dispute that Ireland had two wins before the last WC, that is just poor style from you to claim that.
And there are wins and there are wins. Winning two on the bounce in NZ – in convincing style – tells me that this Irish team has more edge than four years ago.
But it is kind of cute to see the AB fans dig deep into their history books to somehow convince themselves that Ireland anno 2023 is not the number-one ranked team in the world that has beaten everything and everyone convincingly.
Kiwi View: The rare Boks moment that showed Wallabies where the All Blacks are vulnerable
I think you don’t remember correctly.
Ireland’s world-beating form was long gone when that QF was played. The Joe Schmidt magic was not so magic anymore. And the blowout score was mostly down to that Ireland had a shockingly poor performance.
I believe Ireland really fancy their chances against NZ this time around. If the Irish get their game going this time, it is gonna be a panic station in the AB camp pretty fast, hence they don’t have the players or the game plan to counter it.
Kiwi View: The rare Boks moment that showed Wallabies where the All Blacks are vulnerable
Well, JDK, EJ is one of the most successful rugby coaches ever. Sure, he can’t always back up his talk, but Lord knows he has backed it up more times than not.
'Kiwis think they're better than us': Eddie turns up heat on Bledisloe rivals saying 'country sinks' when ABs lose
He is unique, Eddie., I can’t help being intrigued by his ability to talk a big game before every Test.
I am officially pumped ahead of Saturday.
Let’s have it!
'Kiwis think they're better than us': Eddie turns up heat on Bledisloe rivals saying 'country sinks' when ABs lose
Hahaha, suck it up? Really?
Just stating facts about a game I had no bones in.
No matter what strings you try to play, the fact remains, AB got lucky and won a game they did not deserve to win. Happens to all teams.
Basing predictions on ancient history is naive at best. Sober up, have a long look at the current French squad, what they have achieved in this last WC cycle and maybe, maybe, you might learn a thing or two. But I doubt it.
The Wrap: A dozen reasons why the Wallabies can’t win the World Cup - and a couple why they might
The ref gifted NZ that final. That is a fact and common knowledge outside the AB fanboy bubble universe. Suck it in and just admit you got lucky.
Was France better last year? Peaked too early? They have played five Test matches this year. Five.
Destroyed England at Twickenham.
Only lost one, and that was against the world’s number one team away (and that was probably the best Test match ever played, with insane tempo and skills on display, and literally almost no stops in the flowing rugby).
The Wrap: A dozen reasons why the Wallabies can’t win the World Cup - and a couple why they might
Yeah, and the water is wet.
The Wrap: A dozen reasons why the Wallabies can’t win the World Cup - and a couple why they might
Congrats on the win, Harry.
I leave the team uncommented, you deserve some slack hence I still think you are flying around on pink clouds.
As a keen student of South African history and politics, I have a theory that I like to try on you.
This win is more important than any of the other three. After the last WC, there has been a real buy-in from a lot of people of color. Bokke green has been worn in large amounts in black communities. To reward all these people with another win really hammers home the message. And those who did not join then probably are on the wagon now, hence the Boks are winners for real, That creates hope and unifies more than anything.
From what I can see, the celebrations have been much larger and widespread, it was a big party in 2019 too, but this was another level.
Now the big question is, will this really take off and grow player numbers? Can rugby become a true competitor to football?
RWC Team of the tournament: Six Boks, three All Blacks and an Aussie manages to knock out Will Jordan