Roar Guru
Joined November 2013
94.2k
Views
40
Published
1.3k
Comments
If life was a game of rugby it would be half time and although I had a few ruck marks I'd be ready to get stuck right back into the second half. I'd be looking forward to the end of match drinks mostly!
Published
Comments
It was a time to remember. A time when ‘Brexit' sounded like a word one would use to associate with a dog biscuit. A…
Mental disintegration. The act of sledging a player until he crumbles. A win at all costs mentality. The start of the downward trend in…
Today is a great day for Australian rugby. Israel Folau has been named at outside-centre for the first time in his rugby union career.…
With England winning their first Grand Slam since 2003, I must admit I am now a little nervous about the June Test series. I'd…
Many of us have strong opinions on who should be selected in the Wallaby line-up. To change things up I've decided to put forward…
As my article in April showed, the openside flanker is now king in rugby. There are so many more rucks and mauls compared to…
Australian rugby has more depth than ever before, which not only provides for a strong chance of winning some silverware in the immediate future,…
The 20th regular season of Super Rugby is now complete and I would like to point out that we have witnessed yet another Australian…
As Israel Folau went over for his hat trick of tries on the weekend, a whole bunch of things were made apparent. Not only…
Over the final fortnight of the regular Super Rugby season, be sure to take an extra interest in two games that could otherwise be…
Australian rugby stakeholders need to let go of the past and look to the now. I say this because over the past fifteen or…
It is with mixed feelings that I prepare to head to ANZ stadium on Saturday night to watch my beloved Waratahs take on the…
With four rounds to play in the regular Super Rugby season it is clear that the competition is still very much open. As an…
In order to be captain of the Wallabies you need to be an automatic selection and you need to be a class act on…
We are living in the rugby ‘age of phase play', a term that is easily thrown around and dismissed at will. I'm here to…
After a disappointing weekend for Australia's Super Rugby franchises, it's timely to talk about what is good about Australian rugby at the moment. 1.…
To win the 'do or die' games of Test rugby at the world cup, I believe you only need to have the ability to…
I wrote an article earlier this week discussing the immense talent of Israel Folau. However Folau is not the most important player for the…
Some might argue Israel Folau is the most important player in Australian rugby, and from some points of view at least they'd be right.…
After Round 1 of Super Rugby we know for certain the Waratahs cannot possibly win the championship and the Wallabies should be stacked with…
They almost lost to the lowly reds.
They look like flat track bullies to me, I think they’ll score plenty of tries and top the regular season, but they’ll be there for the taking come semi finals time by a tougher side like the Crusaders.
Is 2018 the new 2014 for the Waratahs?
lol
Yes deserving of an internal fine i’m sure
Well spotted!
Is 2018 the new 2014 for the Waratahs?
You may have noticed that the top 3 is made up of the top of each conference.
They are in the top 3.
In reality though at the moment the 3 best form sides in the comp are the Crusaders, Jaguares and the Waratahs. In that order.
By seasons end it will be the Waratahs, Jaguares, Crusaders, in that order.
Both the tahs and jaguares are building niclely. The Crusaders have peaked.
Is 2018 the new 2014 for the Waratahs?
In some ways the 2018 pack is better than the 2014 one. Its more mobile and it has a much better lineout.
In other ways it is not. The 2014 group was more physical.
Similarily the 2018 backline is better than the 2014 in some ways. Naiyarovoro was ineligible to play in the finals in 2014 as he had not played enough games. He’s a trump card like we’ve never had and a thousand times better player than Alofa Alofa.
Rona has a muuch better passing game than AAC. AAC had a better breakdown game. That kind of cancels each other out. Horne was a better contact man than Clarke. But Calrke is quicker. The rest is on par because they’re excatly the same players. But this year we have a better reserve no 9 in Gordon, who could easily be the best no 9 in the country if he can improve his decision making.
So really it’s a better backline. And in some ways a better pack.
Is 2018 the new 2014 for the Waratahs?
Hi Sam,
They were not poor against the Blues. They were good bt unlucky.
I too am impressed with the Jaguares and was going to go onto a tangenta as you have done in regards to predicting the eventual conference toppers and finalists.
So i am glad you brought it up.
I think the Lions are vulnerable with 2 byes on their horizon and indifferent form and they will relinquish the SA conference to the Jaguares by season end. I think the Jaguares are in the same form that the Waratahs are in and they in my mind look the two best sides in the competition at the moment.
I agree with you that the semi finals will be as you suggest. But the Waratahs will finsih 2nd and therefore host the Jaquares and beat them.
The Crusaders will beat the Hurricanes from 4th position and this will allow the Waratahs to host the GF in a rematch of the 2014 final at the Olympoic Stadium.
At which point they will be put to the sword by these magnificent Waratah men!
Is 2018 the new 2014 for the Waratahs?
no we’re top 3 quality at the moment and by seasons end I can see us being no1.
Don’t care who’s right or wrong.
Just that we shouldn’t discredit the tahs as the default stance to take.
I’ve only genuinely beiieved them capaable of winning the comp once before. That was 2014,
Even in 2008/2005/2002 it was always in the back of my mind that they weren’t capable of beating the no 1 side, in all those cases the Crusaders.
This year I can see them beating anybody, as I did in 2014, and in fact I believe by seasons end the only thing that could cost them is not having a home final.
Is 2018 the new 2014 for the Waratahs?
Too much is made of the 40 -1 loss win ratio over 2 seasons.
It is a coincidence that all of the Australian teams are in a rebuilding phase/lull.
It will naturally cease to be a factor.
Five things we learned from Super Rugby Round 14
It’s funny
I wrote an article about this very thing 4 years ago.
Guess I was right despite the naysayers.
Israel Folau will become Super Rugby's greatest try scorer
thats hilarious… shane warne knew where to draw the line…. i’m going to laugh myself to sleep
Steve Waugh ruined cricket. Sledging is the real cheating
bradman was a gentleman. Miller was not. i think you have it the wrong way around.
Steve Waugh ruined cricket. Sledging is the real cheating
Michael holding talks about that fact all the time. They didn’t sledge. ever.
Curtly Ambrose was another one that believed sledging was not okay and never uttered a word at the opposition. When he went after Steve Waugh in the Windies, i recall richie richardson dragging him away, it was not a verbal stoush, it was because Waugh wouldn’t shut his mouth and Ambrose thought this approach was out of order, ironiclaly he chose to try and get physical, which is not okay, but i think this illustartes the windies polic on sledging. In their eyes it was not okay.
as for mcdermott, that was one side of the story, and in any case seems to be the exception not the rule..
Steve Waugh ruined cricket. Sledging is the real cheating
play the game for the games sake, respect the opposition, do your best for the team, be a gracious victor/loser
pretty simple stuff, old fashioned but I’ve seen the results of deviating from this;
today we play the game to win, care nothing for the opposition, seek personal glory, carry on like a pratt when you win/ make excuses when you lose… this has sadly led us down a a path to where we are now
Steve Waugh ruined cricket. Sledging is the real cheating
no i recall mcgrath, and slater losing their sh## when they had to cop it.
sure their were many more
Steve Waugh ruined cricket. Sledging is the real cheating
yes i couldn’t believe he mentioned the spirit of cricket.. the irony
Steve Waugh ruined cricket. Sledging is the real cheating
i think you may be talking about banter.
banter is fine.
Sledging/verbal aggression should be out lawed
clever people than me need to draw up the guidleines but we can start by asking does what you say add to the enjoyment of the game or not.
Steve Waugh ruined cricket. Sledging is the real cheating
yes it was completely unnecssary. Sledging/aggression on a cricket field is completely un-necessary.
Steve Waugh ruined cricket. Sledging is the real cheating
you just don’t get it
yes we had success under waugh.
Thats not the point
Steve Waugh ruined cricket. Sledging is the real cheating
Waugh = Fight, win at all costs, sledge, cheat
in that order
bradman = play, enjoy, end of
Steve Waugh ruined cricket. Sledging is the real cheating
The west indies did not sledge!!!
They just played.
Steve Waugh ruined cricket. Sledging is the real cheating
Fair enough.
The season doesn’t hinge on the next game, they could lose it and still be on top of our conference, but boy would it be nice if they got up.
Is 2018 the new 2014 for the Waratahs?