Roar Guru
Joined October 2011
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For the last seven Rugby World Cups there has been a rule of thumb that no team that loses a pool game goes on…
I intended writing this piece prior to the first game of the Cup, thinking that the first round would not produce any upsets that…
There are too many whiney Kiwis at the moment. Ok, there I said it. Quite frankly, someone needed to. First of all, Richie McCaw…
Zachary!
Fozzie was one Test away from being sacked - now he's 80 minutes away from World Cup glory as ABs smash Pumas
Agreed. The Wallabies are a freaking dumpster fire at the moment.
There’s so much wrong that it is no certainty that things can be turned around.
Yes, a better coach would have gotten them to the QFs, but no further.
The ARU need to take a good farking hard look at itself and make some major strategic changes.
Fozzie was one Test away from being sacked - now he's 80 minutes away from World Cup glory as ABs smash Pumas
The poms are probably a tougher team. The Boks will make a statement, it’s just that the better quality opposition will make that statement slightly less emphatic.
Fozzie was one Test away from being sacked - now he's 80 minutes away from World Cup glory as ABs smash Pumas
Precisely.
I’d love for the Boks to have a brain explosion and lose to the poms, because it would improve the ABs chances of a 4th title. But the imperious way in which the Boks have played in the QF suggests they will steam roll the poms, albeit not to the same extent that the ABs steam rolled the pumas.
Fozzie was one Test away from being sacked - now he's 80 minutes away from World Cup glory as ABs smash Pumas
I hope NZ win and if they do good on them, but will still be glad to see Fozzie gone.
Even world cup redemption isn’t enough to compensate for the last 3 or 4 years.
Fozzie was one Test away from being sacked - now he's 80 minutes away from World Cup glory as ABs smash Pumas
Totally agree.
You set the pools years ahead based on a predetermined set of rules and live with it.
Otherwise questions over probity arise.
Fozzie was one Test away from being sacked - now he's 80 minutes away from World Cup glory as ABs smash Pumas
I always considered the Australian way to be the exact opposite of the poms.
That is to generally have excellent backs and middle of the road forwards.
Over the decades they’ve been able to foot it with the NH teams because so often in the rugby version of rock-paper-scissors, the Wallabies’ elegant and graceful backs were paper to the NH sides’ big lumbering rocks.
The reason that they’ve struggled so much against the All Blacks is because unlike the NH teams, the ABs backs do more than carry the water and mop out the changing rooms.
'Be Australian': How the RWC QF classics showed we must urgently define and deliver our own style
Indeed and agreed.
It’s a difficult ask to believe either the poms or umas can progress any further.
The Wrap: Why that was the All Blacks' greatest ever RWC win - but the road to fourth title is still a rough one
Kolbe was freaking amazing.
The Boks and ABs were freaking amazing, the Irish and Frogs too.
Reffing was crap at times and the alleged sledging against the Irish (if true) was total bullshit.
As a kiwi if I can call out “4 more years” I would be hypocritical not to call this sledging too.
Good, the Bad, the Eddie: Bok hails AB for 'best display I've ever seen', Kolbe confounds, 'classless' Rieko claim
Yep, I’d agree with that.
They don’t call the 1991 team the Whetton brothers retirement home for nothing.
Players that were absolutely magnificent in 87 had aged past their prime 4 years later.
I remember watching the mighty Steve McDowall getting halted by a Japanese player in 1991.
I have no doubt that McDowall would have sprinkle that Japanese player with tomato sauce and eaten him only 4 years earlier, the man was a beast.
The Wrap: Why that was the All Blacks' greatest ever RWC win - but the road to fourth title is still a rough one
Agreed about the choker tag.
Ireland didn’t choke. If they had, the difference would have been 20 points.
Instead the ABs can hold their heads high for a performance I didn’t see coming.
The Wrap: Why that was the All Blacks' greatest ever RWC win - but the road to fourth title is still a rough one
Agreed. I wasn’t exactly thrilled that the ABs lost last time but the Saffas deserved that win.
WORLD VIEW: ABs pluck 'astonishing win from depth of their souls' while Irish face 'four more years of choking jokes'
What did the Blossoms do to deserve that?
Jones to return to Australia as Japanese reports link Wallabies coach as favourite to take over Brave Blossoms
It’s not the answer but it’s a damned good start.
You can’t blame Eddie for the decline in player talent, but you can blame him for being a shitty coach.
Just do yourselves a favour ARU, stick to an Ozzie coach cos you’ve been total dumb arses the two occasions you’ve had a foreign coach.
The Wallabies' World Cup campaign was a disaster from start to finish - but sacking Eddie Jones isn't the answer
I’m not suggesting it wasn’t a good result, just that it is irrelevant because facing Ireland is entirely different from Uruguay.
Although in fairness, looking at the performance it is at least conceivable that the All Blacks will win in the Quarters, whereas it is pretty obvious from the Wallabies’ performance against Portugal that it is almost completely inconceivable that they could make it past the Quarters (assuming they are actually in them).
DMac delivers iconic World Cup moment as All Blacks charge into quarters - but big concerns over injured props
Doesn’t really matter if the Wallabies make it through as they’re irrelevant in the scheme of things really.
I doubt anyone honestly thinks they can beat the poms in the quarters.
It’s a shame for a once great team to be reduced to this.
Wallabies' RWC hopes still alive after wild win over Portugal - but it will take a miracle to avoid historic first flop
Whether intentionally or not, you’ve completely misinterpreted my statements.
Maybe you misread them? Maybe you’re a Fozzie fan?
However firstly, the point is that irrespective of the the outcome of the world cup, I want Fozzie gone – he is a terrible coach.
Secondly, of course I want Razor to succeed because (as you pointed out) a true supporter wants their team to win and the only way the All Blacks can win is if Razor is successful.
Mamma Mia! All Blacks almost hit a ton against Italy to make World Cup statement as Smith scores hat-trick
Yeah, but I don’t think it really sunk into people’s heads just how few answers the All Blacks have until the poms came out and smacked them.
I was sitting in the pub watching the game super early in the morning and one guy sitting next to me simply said “they (the poms) had all the answers” and he was spot on.
Four years on, nothing seems to have changed, except we’ve gone from a reasonable (albeit not spectacular IMO) coach to a bloody awful one.
I don’t care if the All Blacks win this one, I’ll still be glad to see Fozzie gone.
I just hope Razor can make the step up.
Mamma Mia! All Blacks almost hit a ton against Italy to make World Cup statement as Smith scores hat-trick
And that’s fine. The point I made is that they wouldn’t have been able to play t like that against a rope tier side.
If they went out with that mindset and played against the French or Irish, would they have won?
Perhaps. We’ll never know.
However, flogging a 2nd tier side really is no indication of likely performance against a top tier side.
Mamma Mia! All Blacks almost hit a ton against Italy to make World Cup statement as Smith scores hat-trick
And to a fairly ordinary ABs side at that.
They won’t lose to Portugal and suggestions they might are pretty ridiculous, but you’re in the same boat coach wise as we are with Fozzie.
Total Muppets the both of them and so all that remains is to give Jones a Muppet name also. Kermit perhaps? Gonzo even?
'It's incredible!': The once ridiculous question that shows how far Wallabies stocks have fallen after 'bad hangover'
Yep, Cane should never have been captain and nor Foster coach.
Mamma Mia! All Blacks almost hit a ton against Italy to make World Cup statement as Smith scores hat-trick
They can only play as well as the opposition allow them to.
The Italians allowed them to play well and certainly I don’t think they played to their full potential against France.
However….
Mamma Mia! All Blacks almost hit a ton against Italy to make World Cup statement as Smith scores hat-trick
I’ll reserve such sentiment until when/if they beat a top tier team.
It’s easy to look good when you are not confronted by a suffocating defense that gives you no chance to build momentum.
I think it’s pretty fair to say that the All Blacks have struggled to find an answer to this sort of defence for years now, stretching all the way back to the last world cup when they were knocked out by the poms.
The All Blacks looked strong until they didn’t.
Mamma Mia! All Blacks almost hit a ton against Italy to make World Cup statement as Smith scores hat-trick
Dingo was constantly undermined by “player power”. Rather than randomly firing a few of their primadonnas to send a message that they should pull their heads in, they caved.
The Wrap: With Wallabies done and dusted in 15 miserable days, who do we trust to take Australian rugby forward?
Hansen wasn’t great either. I consider both of those appointments as being jobs for the boys.
Fozzie was one Test away from being sacked - now he's 80 minutes away from World Cup glory as ABs smash Pumas