Australian rugby is school stuff, says Joseph

The comp is definitely unfair toward NZ teams. Did any NZ team get to play the crappy melbourne side twice... Therefore a good aussie team (this year QLD) gets more points over a season. Then gets home finals... The Super 15 comp this year has proven what a lot of people thought when looking at the layout pre-season. And it came true in the first YEAR!! Easy run for a good aussie side...and it happened first time out. It will actually be better for NZ rugby in general (ie playing more tougher games more often), but the layout is biased toward weak australian rugby. By the way I would rather win every game in between world cups than one tournament where a ref can ruin a game....(anyone see the shocking display from stu dickinson qld vs crus, it was a disgrace and proves that a shocker ref can ruin a world cup for a top team....) ALL BLACKS RULE!!!

In your face btw Jamie Joseph - how's that for schoolboy rugby - FORCE beating the green landers

This is just typical Jones bashing IMO. He has identified how the competition is unfair: “It’s an uneven competition because everyone doesn’t play everyone". What do you expect him to say? Do you expect a 4000 word essay on the subject? This is a typical media-byte.

Sorry, tried to respond yesterday but the computer wouldn't let me. What Eddie Jones has done here is to jump on a bandwagon saying nothing beyond "look at me, look at me". In doing so he hasn't even properly identified how it is that the competition is unfair. Given, from his experience, that he should be capable of saying things worth listening to, I think coming out with banalities like these is of no value and not the least bit helpful (or interesting). To the extent that "unhelpful" has a connotation of "damaging" maybe that goes a bit far.

What a load of cobblers!!! Joseph did not say any of these things and it just goes to show the level of integrity of the Australian Press. I exhort you to go to the source and find out what he said. He was not disparaging at all and he spoke with respect. The full report is available at the the Kiwi version of Rugby Heaven. The reaction of those Australians above is the usual xenophobic rubbish that I expect after living in Australia for several years. Every country has these morons, who think their country, race province, and etc, is the greatest, and usually they have not been outside of their home town so know as much about the world as a Tea Bagger.

Or was he just covering his backside ? A transcript would be enlightening.

"Flipping Eggs At Edith's " lol. What kinda Name is that!??

Without viewing the entire transcript of Jamie Joseph's interview I knew there was always a danger of comments taken out of context or being lost in translation. Here is an excerpt of his response today to the furore his reported comments caused in Australia earlier. "Joseph said reports earlier this week suggesting he viewed Australian rugby as "school stuff" appeared to have been lost in translation. His analogy of the conference system to school rugby was all about the intensity that comes with the tradition and history of inter-school clashes. "My view on the whole thing is that yes, the conference system is great for the competition but also very physical as the home derby matches are a lot fiercer in their nature," Joseph said. "That's due to the tribal or war-like approach ... it's like inter-school rugby. "With Super Rugby derbies players not only know each other so well but they are competing for national jerseys. "This is the same for every conference though and not just relevant to the New Zealand conference. "I see the Reds-Waratahs matches as a prime example of this. That's been the traditional rivalry in Australian rugby down the years and no-one would question the intensity that comes with those matches." This better explains his reference to the Waratahs v Reds game that didn't make sense to many people who watched and played in that game. I can understand the reaction from Australian supporters, I would feel no differently if those same comments were directed at NZ rugby however it appears that Jamie Joseph has unwittingly become a victim of selective editing designed to sensationalise what was otherwise a passing commentary on the intensity of local derby games. We live and learn.

DS - my analysis compares all matches played between teams from one country V teams from the other two. I have used the term "inter conference" as a convenient label. The comparative analysis is valid for the first 15 years , although there are shifting home game advantage issues. Therefore I shall repeat my above conclusions. SAF have been weakest in 11-15 years. NZL in 3 years. AUS in 1 year. The most interesting "find" was the impact of the Force entering SR in 2006. AUS inter- conference performance dropped suddenly and then in the following four years it rebuilt to be above 50% in 2010. In the same period SAF didn't experience the same improvement. Please feel free to compile your own data and add to the discussion.

I think that is three tri-nations and three Beldisloe Cups

there's a difference between club first graders and NPC players, mate. That's why they're in Melbourne The system in NZ works like this; the higher up the rep ladder your play, the better you have to be (and not because you are last man standing). Any Aussie playing Super rugby could obviously hack it in NPC; question is, would the NPC teams want them?

Thats right Kiwis are pretty tough like when Cowan got smashed by Nonu and was knocked out cold, oops that right Cowan was doing that old school boy trick of playing possum, pity he hot his AB mate a second yellow eh.

The only flaw in that argument is there weren't conferences until this year and all sides got the opportunity to play the poor teams

You could try informing yourself. Issues of relative strength and weakness move in cycles. It is obvious that this year the AUS conference is slightly weaker than SAF, and significantly weaker than NZL. One reason is expansion. If you look at the inter-conference AUS win ratio from 2006-2010 it increased significantly to reach above 50% from a starting point of about 40%. With the addition of the Rebels in 2011 that rebuilding phase has commenced again. NZL have also had periods of weakness, hence finishing last in 3 years on an inter-conference win % basis. Overall SAF has by far the weakest inter-conference performance over the past 15.5 seasons. Tui - you have choice. You can either mumble sweet nothings or inform yourself. I hope you make the right choice.

Well that settles it then. AUS is the strongest conference.

South Africa has been the weakest conference in 11 of 15 years of Super Rugby. AUS have been weakest in 1 year, and NZL in 3 years. This is based on winning percentages between “all teams in a conference” Vs “all teams from the other two conferences”. The most horrible result was 2002 when SAF teams won only 13% of their inter conference matches! AUS teams won 69% of their inter conference matches that same year.

Otago, not Wellington.

I am going to repeat my Jamie Joseph story for this post. I was drinking in a student bar in 1991 in Dunedin and saw Jamie Joseph having a beer with John Timu (a fellow player for Wellington, a pretty good winger). A white kid bumped into them, glares were exchanged. Then came a set move. Timu bent down and Joseph swooped in and let fly with a right hander to the kid's face.....

Ouch im not an aussie but even i feel bad after these comments. Also Important to note is that I feel strangely smug aswell.

You're kidding me? You live in Phoenix Park or something, don't you? I was crossing through St James Park (in the direction of Victoria) when I was about 17 and came to that big wide road just before Buckingham Palace. The road was clear, so being young and headstrong I ploughed ahead without looking only to have a police outrider pull up to the side of and shout at me to cross back. Upon seeing more police cruising in the distance I listened to his *polite* request and plodded back to the street. After a minutes wait old Queeny turned up in one of her cars, I'm guessing to go into Buckingham Palace, but the way she was positioned when the driver drove past me she was actually about half a yard from me and gave me a rather confused stare. Sorry, lame anecdote, but a brush with Queeny has to be retold. It struck me as quite fantastical at that age, that I could be walking past Buckingham Palace and the Queen would happen to drive past me and look me in the eye. She probably wondered what London was coming to.