'Lot of hurt': Ardie wins award 24 hours after ABs devastation, fans blow up at 'horrendous' Boks snub in Team of the Year

Also I think it's probably a good time to talk about the Leinster issue in Ireland rugby. Firstly I don't think it is really appropriate that so much of the team is made up of Leinster players. It shows an over reliance on them and their structures and I feel is an easy way for a coach to get results without necessarily having to put that much thought into it. Secondly i think that it also gives teams a blueprint as to how to beat Ireland. Leinster are a team that have dominated for seasons and yet can't win the Heineken cup due to the fact that a very good physical team can figure them out and beat them. They don't really work off a plan B due to the fact that plan A works so well. The issue for Ireland is the same as we saw against NZ. NZ defence got on top and by around the 50 to 60th minute you could tell what they were doing wasn't yielding results but they had no plan B. I was hoping they'd just take a deep breath and actually try to win the gain line rather than continuing with going coast to coast but they didn't do it. The really impressive thing about SA is the fact that their team can vary so much. All week people wonder what sort of team and game plan they'll put together because they have tested different players at the top level. Imagine if Ireland were able to throw a curve ball against NZ and bring on McCluskey and Coombes and start getting go forward ball in a completely different way to their norm? Club teams restrict themselves more to structure because they play together so much that really well done it can work brilliantly. However at international level you have to figure out who you're best men are and then try and figure out ways of playing that might suit that because you just don't usually have the time to bed in game plans and structures where everything is trained and learned off perfectly. Apologies this is so long but I just don't think we use our pool of players appropriately. We're picking our structure and then our team rather than anything else

I think you're comparisons are a bit biased between those irish and NZ players. You're picking a player with 7 international caps over Porter (57) which seems a bit bizarre. I think Ireland props have gone off the boil a little in the last two years, Furlong had a couple injuries and I don't think he has hit the peaks of two to three years ago where he was very widely considered best in the world but I wouldn't go throwing him out yet. I also would be choosing Ringrose over Ioane as a 13 because I think Ringrose is actually quite a good 13 whereas Ioane is a bit more of a winger turned 13 who I (and quite a few NZ fans) believe can be a weakness when playing in tough games. I also don't really see how Doris conversation is all of a sudden laughable because he has been up there with the best in Europe the last two season and just because Ireland generally shit themselves come quarter final time doesn't really mean he's gone off the boil. I really do hope Robertson does as well as people hope he will because it will breathe life into NZ rugby, which I really think they need. The next 10 years are gonna be pretty tough for ye because NRL is taking off while SR is going very much off the boil with the Blues now not even sure where they will play next year due to the fact they can't nearly fill Eden park. This combined with Australia rugby union falling into the abyss will leave NZ feeling pretty isolated and in a situation where they're fighting a battle to keep player numbers up.

“Pollard plays against IRE they win comfortably”. Sorry but that is really just conjecture. Against Ireland SA missed 11 points at goal but 7 of SA’s points came from a kick that came back from the posts and some lovely play from Libbok to set up the try. 11 minus 7 is 4 extra points which isn’t enough for the win. Pollard looked great at kicking goals but SA didn’t look much of a try scoring threat when he played and could easily have lost the Semi and final. In any case saying SA would have won comfortably v Ireland is a tad arrogant when they have now lost three in a row v Ireland. As for your point about NZ’s players I think that is equally arrogant. I’d say quite of a few Ireland players would make the NZ them and visa versa. I’d 100% favour VdF over Cane, Sheehan over Codie Taylor, Aki over Barrett, Keenan over BB, Beirne over Retallick and thats only for starters. I have to say your comparisons are fairly comical and typical of a Kiwi that probably has very little insight into European rugby. Ringrose was voted by world rugby experts as better than all the players you mention and Doris dominated the NZ back row in the three test series last year. I think the fact that Ireland are still ranked ahead of NZ despite not making the semis says a lot. At the world cup both Ireland and NZ played 3 matches v top five sides. NZ won one and lost two, Ireland won two lost one such were the small margins at play. NZ would have been out in the quarters if they had as hard a group as SA or Ireland and the only reason they were close to SA in the final was because SA had a significantly harder run to the final with four games v top 5 sides with three wins vs NZ’s one win v top five sides. I’m afraid if you think Robertson is the messiah I suggest you might get a surprise when you realise that NZ isn’t actually producing the the volume of quality players you think they are any more. They will still be at the top table for sure but will not consistently dominate key opponents any more.

True, but my point is they still won despite going down to 14 for 20mins. The Foster era ABs have had woeful discipline so its very on brand, I'm interested to see how Robertson addresses this. Pollard plays against IRE they win comfortably. My point is if you went through player for player I think individually the ABs players are better in pretty much every position. The team success, I believe down to the Leinster cohesion, Farrel's coaching and the Irish system has led to overrating individuals. No doubt they're still very good but who in that Irish team is legitimately the best in their position? The only player I'd say goes close is Hugo Keenan. There's nearly 3x South African props (on each side) better than Porter/Furlong, I'd take De Groot and Tamaiti Williams over Porter and definitely Lomax over Furlong, Sheehan probably will be but he was invisible in that quarter final and isn't close to Marx, the Doris conversation is just laughable now and Kreil/Ioane/Am (when healthy) and even Len Ikitau are all superior players to Ringrose. NZ should have won the world cup and the team didn't even play up to its potential in the final. Could be scary times ahead with Robertson coming in

On second look 100% too influenced by world cup. Lawes mammoth WC but was pretty meh outside that. And I agree re: Botia he's a deserving world XV #7. If you went through team by team and compared purely on rugby ability there aren't too many teams with better opensides. Controversial I'd say he's definitely better than Kolisi currently and other than the semi final against Ireland he's been better than Sam Cane - of course both would start due to leadership.

It is and I think this years win might have been the Boks toughest ever, maybe the toughest ever for any winning side so no one can deny they deserve it. If you look at the teams ranked 1-6 in the tournament and their results v other top six sides it comes out like this: SA 4 games 3 wins 1 loss, NZ 3 games 1 win 2 losses, Fra 2 games 1 win 1 loss, Ire 3 games 2 wins 1 loss, Eng 1 game 1 loss, Sco 2 games 2 losses, It was tight but SA deserved the trophy based on this.

And now Nathan-Wong isn't playing Sevens, as she has moved on to rugby league, in represent her country in that.

Google it Bliksem, as that will expose all the old f..ts that are there & well past their time. Bungling Billy & his clowns are as useless as t..s on a bull. So much for the ruling body they call World Rugby!!

True BF as it really shows up the creditibility of the WR, in it's total incompetence within their old boys club!

Far different scenario with Dalton TM!!

In truth the actually snubbing of many South Afriacn's is sooooo noticible by the ruling body World Rugby! Obviously they've never got over possibly the Rassie issue that was shown up as just another stuff up by WR in the way they handled the whole scenario. Well TBH they DIDN'T handle it, as it was passed on to a independent committee to pass judgement. There were many players & coaching staff from the Bokke, that should've been there, to have recognition passed onto them by receiving an award, but no WR shows it's incompetence once again. Time to move on Bungling Billy, plus a few others in the old fellas squad, to a new younger & far more intelligent persons to fill the void.

No way. He was massive disappointment this year. I think we have seen the last of him.

Alright Pieter Van Zyl, we know you dont like him.

Leinster wouldnt have apointed Nienabar if they didnt think he was a very competent coach which he clearly is.

Thanks .....

No I agree there should have been more as they have some amazing players, was just playing devils advocate. PSDT had the performance of the year in the final but I have seen him have a few quieter games this year.

IMO there is a cigarette paper between the top four sides. I don’t think the standard has ever been so high.

Indeed. A bit of a coup.

Fair comment. I just get fed up with this narrative they are lucky. I do think PSDT has been pretty consistent throughout. When you think that arguably their best two players in Am and Marx missed out it shows what depth they have.

The Boks rotate way more than anyone else therefore many of their players play less minutes than other contenders. Also as its a team of the year award all games count and not all Boks players have been consistently outstanding.