Let's not pretend that avoiding head injuries in rugby is simple
During the recent Australia vs England series Allan Alaalatoa, Jordan Petaia and Scott Sio all injured themselves executing tackles. All three went in low,…
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Rugby lover and Wallabies fan, but late to the game, becoming a real fan 5 or so years ago when in my mid thirties . From Perth, living in France.
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During the recent Australia vs England series Allan Alaalatoa, Jordan Petaia and Scott Sio all injured themselves executing tackles. All three went in low,…
A bit early, I realise, but we’ve all been thinking about it for a bit and I’m interested in getting the conversation going a…
Maybe I’m a sucker for punishment. I watched the last Wallabies game three times – once live with French commentary, once with the Aussie…
I'm a big podcast-listener, so whatever I'm into I'll usually find a few good podcasts to listen to on it. About a year ago…
As we're all twiddling our thumbs rugby-wise, I thought it might be interesting to twiddle them in a more structured and debatable way. Let's…
I grew up in Western Australia and never had anything to do with rugby when I was young aside from seeing the occasional highlight…
Like you I’m sure, for about the last two years, I’ve been hanging out for the World Cup. During that time I also completely…
There’s a high level of BS to his comments on Smith’s jackal. That was an incorrect call everyday of the week and everyone including Nigel knows that.
RWC News: Rassie reveals vile death threat to Boks star and son, Owens' verdict on BOK calls, why ABs can't hug Dan Carter
You’d know the obvious big ones. EE, Kolbe in the first half. They should have gone for review but they bother me less because they were so unusual.
There were three where the Boks didn’t release the ball when tackled – one on a French breakaway down the right wing, where Jelonch was arguing with the touch judge after, one with Alldritt, I think early second on, I think Mostert and one with Ollivon taken from the side illegally, which enabled the release.
Other more random ones like Kriel twice fending off faces.
There should be more honesty and humility among Boks fans and players and coaches here. They should admit they got the better of the refereeing out of respect to the French players.
SPIRO ZAVOS: The moment I knew Irish curse would continue, and why Southern giants still rule the Cup
No doubt true, but we on here aren’t the teams and their coaches.
To some extent, what motivates me pushing the complaint on here is that some are adopting a confused position:
If someone rewatched it and thought it was fairly refereed, I disagree, but fair enough, I respect that.
If someone will never hear any complaints about the referees post-match, I respect that too, though I won’t yield to it when it’s a high stakes match.
If someone takes the latter position but then conflates it with the former, that bothers me. I think that does happen a fair bit too, here and elsewhere and I want to push against it.
Some present their dislike for complaints with the idea that the complaints are baseless, I think that is counterproductive to the reasonable discussion that we want to be part of on here
SPIRO ZAVOS: The moment I knew Irish curse would continue, and why Southern giants still rule the Cup
Other Pacific teams do fairly similar things to the NZ Haka.
SPIRO ZAVOS: The moment I knew Irish curse would continue, and why Southern giants still rule the Cup
No, not at all. It is only certain countries as it stands but I don’t see why it should only be them. It’s good to see traditional cultures be part of things and to keep variety, distinctiveness. If other teams have something they want to do, great, I reckon.
No doubt England (especially) will get attacked from the more Woke folks though if they ever do.
SPIRO ZAVOS: The moment I knew Irish curse would continue, and why Southern giants still rule the Cup
I was still knocking about I the kitchen and missed that and most of the haka. But if they did that it is pretty bad.
'It happens': All Blacks defend star centre after spray as Cheika heaps pressure on 'favourites' New Zealand
“It came after the lethal back cupped his ear at Irish supporters at the Stade de France after the final whistle, as well as putting his finger to his lips in a ‘shush gesture’.”
Good on him.
'It happens': All Blacks defend star centre after spray as Cheika heaps pressure on 'favourites' New Zealand
Glad to hear that. I was neutral on that game but was sad to think Ireland’s era was over.
SPIRO ZAVOS: The moment I knew Irish curse would continue, and why Southern giants still rule the Cup
“France just made too many errors, some of which SA capitalised on for their first three tries. Others allowed South Africa field position and possession which proved crucial.
And their fielding of high kicks and terrible covering of the backfield were ruthlessly exposed for four tries. ”
JD, you might have read I’m in the France were hard done by school. I also completely agree with the above comments though.
Thought SA were tactically and strategically excellent. But France were hard done by too and I so think it was that that swung the result.
SPIRO ZAVOS: The moment I knew Irish curse would continue, and why Southern giants still rule the Cup
True about the quality that can’t get a game for the Springboks. Must be frustrating, for them. Remarkable that Vermeulen at 37 can keep Wiese out.
COMPLETE RWC SF teams: Poms make three changes as Boks name most capped XV, ABs' QF hero starts for Cheika's Pumas
I read it focusing on the analysis of the Ireland NZ game, but with the bigger picture stuff, on second read I see what you mean to some extent.
SPIRO ZAVOS: The moment I knew Irish curse would continue, and why Southern giants still rule the Cup
That would be a real shame. Great that countries can bring a bit of their distinctive, unique cultures to it.
SPIRO ZAVOS: The moment I knew Irish curse would continue, and why Southern giants still rule the Cup
Could be read as an indicator they put teams under pressure better though, which leads to more cards.
SPIRO ZAVOS: The moment I knew Irish curse would continue, and why Southern giants still rule the Cup
I thought it was an excellent article and Spiro’s call that Ireland played by the numbers puts into words a sense I had watching it better than I could, but he also gives credit to NZ for having their number.
As you mentioned, he’s not taking about the France vs South Africa game. But did he have to?
SPIRO ZAVOS: The moment I knew Irish curse would continue, and why Southern giants still rule the Cup
I hope Argentina can compete, win even, but I have very little confidence
But England – the parts have been greater than the sum the last 3 years: still got four good props, an excellent backrow, good centres, good 10s good outside backs, Smith at 15 really gives them a different dimension. Just maybe the sum has come together. I reckon them winning is possible. Decent odds could suck me in.
COMPLETE RWC SF teams: Poms make three changes as Boks name most capped XV, ABs' QF hero starts for Cheika's Pumas
Fair critique, Moaman. I would counter that when through replays we can see that rules haven’t been correctly applied we are taking about facts.
But if you mean (by “arbitrary”) that certain facts have been highlighted and other facts not, you’re definitely right about that.
RWC News: World Rugby's epic troll in semis ref call, legend snipes at 'bandwagon' Kiwi fans, Bok great roasts Poms
I don’t think so. That’s just taking a position, assuming all things are equal. In this case they weren’t.
RWC News: World Rugby's epic troll in semis ref call, legend snipes at 'bandwagon' Kiwi fans, Bok great roasts Poms
Good article.
COMMENT: RA wanted a Pitbull to bring back some snarl to the Wallabies - Eddie rolled over for a tummy tickle
Why not look at whether the complaints are justified?
RWC News: World Rugby's epic troll in semis ref call, legend snipes at 'bandwagon' Kiwi fans, Bok great roasts Poms
Have a look at the video
RWC News: World Rugby's epic troll in semis ref call, legend snipes at 'bandwagon' Kiwi fans, Bok great roasts Poms
That was a rare one-off. I was shocked but it was a one-off. Likewise Kolbe’s rundown of the kick. One-offs that I think were wrong but are harder to be prepared for
The issue generally to me is he was consistently letting the south African players get away with not-releasing. He’s just not correctly enforcing a pretty basic rule.
I was supporting the Boks here. They are my number two team (even though I live in France) but I would have been happy for France to win too.
The sourgrapes call is a question of will you accept anyone complaining or not; are you more interested in good form, or in what happened? I care much more about the latter when it’s high stakes.
I don’t think we should just say ‘it happens’ etc. We should call it what it is: A professional doing his job badly in a high stakes situation. Doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be a referee but does mean we should think twice or more about him refereeing the biggest games.
RWC News: World Rugby's epic troll in semis ref call, legend snipes at 'bandwagon' Kiwi fans, Bok great roasts Poms
I have thought that for a while.
'Be Australian': How the RWC QF classics showed we must urgently define and deliver our own style
Sorry folks but that video just confirms and furthers my sense watching the match live. France were hard done by.
It was superb coaching and preparation by the Boks but it takes away from their victory. Not that France deserved to win more, but SA got a helping hand from O Keefe missing stuff much more one way than the other.
That’s the facts, not my opinion.
RWC News: World Rugby's epic troll in semis ref call, legend snipes at 'bandwagon' Kiwi fans, Bok great roasts Poms
Sometimes I wonder more if we should targeting selective TMO interventions. I have seen a number of plays in the last few weeks where I wonder why the TMO didn’t call it in and then a others where I wonder why they bothered.
Onfield referees see it live and we should give them credit for getting it right the vast majority time. But when the stakes are so high it’s hard and marginal calls seem to keep going one way rather than the other… (Which they sometimes do)
Even the best can be biased. Professionals, but humans too. And bias isn’t necessarily intentional or even conscious.
Good, the Bad, the Eddie: Bok hails AB for 'best display I've ever seen', Kolbe confounds, 'classless' Rieko claim
We’ll have to leave it at disagreement on some of these, but conversely, if Pollard had missed that last kick and France had won would you have said respect to them for deservingly winning the match?
I suspect you would even though you might still cite the weaknesses, mistakes they made. But I also suspect that you’re reading back on the marginal/questionable calls in a way that fits your overall ethic: respect the referee’s decisions and questioning them retrospectively is futile. You’re viewing this in a way that where it does make sense and is all coherent.
I think the Springboks played the better rugby in the macro and played the game on their terms in the 2nd half after keeping up with France in the 1st. It was masterfully orchestrated and I really like them and their team. But I still think the victory is tainted by poor decisions that went their way. I don’t think it all adds up to a story that sits right.
SPIRO ZAVOS: The moment I knew Irish curse would continue, and why Southern giants still rule the Cup