Roar Guru
Joined October 2013
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When you put on a jersey, the name on the front is more important than the name on the back.
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Many articles floated recently have called for drastic changes to the structure of rugby in Australia. It's been great to see a diverse range…
I actually think he’s a good chance to stay. He’d only leave for CL football and realistically which of the top 4 does he get into their starting lineup?
Chelsea have too many similar players. He’d be wasted by Klopp and he’s not a Guardiola type player even if didn’t have depth. He’d probably be more likely to play his natural game at Utd, but how much playing time would he get?
I can see them making a mediocre offer, Villa reject it. And someone picks him up in Jan or next summer.
Transfers that should happen this European summer
They don’t they do they? They shred teams on turnover ball and disorganised defences.
A cross-code All Blacks vs Kangaroos match could happen this year
I’d imagine the Kangaroos will dominate playing league. The AB’s will have to sub of 5 or 6 forwards simply too keep up. Most are not built or conditioned to continually retreat 10m in defence, while the League players rejoice in running at tired, slow and less agile players (and with less defenders!) The rate at which ground is gained in attack and the subsequent scoring rate in league will be a massive advantage.
Under union rules, the set pieces and ball retention will heavily favour the All blacks. But given that the defence does not retire and give away ground for each recycled possession, attacking progress and scoring is slower.
I would imagine if you played league rules in the first half, it could easily be 30/40 to nil with the AB’s pretty knackered but grinding away in the second half to score easily but slowly.
I think it would actually be more interesting to see an Australian side of 22 players including Kangaroos and Wallabies players vs a similar mix for the kiwis. 13 v 13 all game with 6 man scrums. You’d have to be tactical with which league players can be effective in set pieces vs which union players can keep up with the pace and defensive challenges.
A cross-code All Blacks vs Kangaroos match could happen this year
A rugby penalty against England. Quick, add that one to the highlights package.
Underdogs maybe, but the Springboks have what it takes to topple England
SBW will be 38 in 2023, Crotty 35 and Nonu will have the zimmerframe out at 41. Cane is the only realistic option for the next WC.
Five talking points from England vs All Blacks
The aussies would all just whinge about house prices.
Five talking points from England vs All Blacks
As long as you offer up something besides the “spread it wide” madness that the Wallabies and All Blacks have.
Five talking points from England vs All Blacks
Istanbul Wingman – I get your point about tackling round the legs however the game evolved when the offload became so destructive.
Players get wrapped around the legs and simply rotate the torso and offload to a support player. It is a key stat in rugby league as you force more tackles and keep the defence back-pedalling. The AB’s were rolling through defences without a ruck ever being formed – Sonny Bill made a mockery of opposition centres in his first 12 months. Defences HAVE to go higher to wrap up the ball. Consequence? More contact to the head and attackers fending off tacklers around chest/shoulder height.
Similarly the NH teams realised that they could win penalties by keeping a player off the ground, forcing a maul and collapsing. Sean O’Brien tormented Australia with the tactic a few years ago and Wales are still adept at it today. So what do you do as an attacker against this tactic.. you drop your body height to ensure you get to ground.. consequence? More contact with the head.
World Rugby and the refs are killing the game
Neil, once I ignore the anti-Aussie rhetoric in that response I’ll interpret your argument as
1) Kerevi took his leading arm of the ball, thus making it a one-arm carry. Ok, if I slow down the last 2 frames it detaches from the ball… makes contact with the defenders chest. Poite’s clarification to Hooper is “it’s a push to the chest”. Sorry if I take a moment to laugh out loud at that one.
2) Your defending the decision to not sanction Francis based on the following response from the citing committee.
The committee found there were three factors which came into play:
– the sudden change in height by Hooley immediately before contact. (So in this case the actions of the defender/opposing player where considered.. but they weren’t for Scott Barrett, Hooper or Kerevi)
– that Francis attempted to avoid Hooley’s head by making a definite attempt to change his own height and body position; (Since when has this mattered? Every other player sent off for similar offences gets no such defence, think of players who tunnel under a jumper but stand stationary, they are constantly told that intent and reaction doesn’t matter – negligence is negligence.)
– that Francis’ initial contact was with his own head on Hooley’s shoulder (and that the initial contact absorbed a large degree of force), with Francis’ shoulder then slipping up to make indirect and minor contact to Hooley’s head, causing no apparent injury.
(Now we’re ruling based on the injury outcome? Do you agree with this defence.. if a player isn’t injured it can’t be adjudged foul play?)
My main frustration is that we are debating this at all. The game has become impossible to officiate. How on earth can you attract new fans or young players when each collision in the game creates huge division and ends up with lawyers involved?
Where it went wrong for the Wallabies against Wales - and no, it wasn't the refs
Brett, can i present the frustrations in a different light.
Journalists and fans can debate the accuracy of certain calls and referees performances all day, but the bigger problem is that the average punter is utterly confused when they watch Rugby Union nowadays.
Are we really more concerned about getting every collision adjudicated correctly and have no concern for the fan and player experience? That game took almost 100 minutes to complete and the ball was in play for ~40 mins. The final scrum took almost 4mins to be fed.
I think WR are missing the bigger picture here and that is that the game is becoming harder to play, officiate and certainly watch. Australians in particular with their multiple football codes will switch off.
Why would a young player want to adopt a Welsh style of football where your team has 30% of the ball and your 9/10 kick the cover off it every time they get hands to it? I know it’s effective and the Wallabies are rightly criticised for having the wrong tactics.. but what other football code rewards teams for giving the ball to the opposition so often?
The Wallabies didn't lose because of Romain Poite, but World Rugby, we do have a problem
The difference with the Stockdale incident Neil is that he led with an elbow from his non-ball carrying hand directly to the throat of Phipps. Kerevi’s was a two-handed carry that made first contact with the chest.
If you want consistency with penalising the ball carrier in this situation – there will be 20 instances a game wherer players should be carded. Barrett would’ve had a spell against SA for he’s blatant elbow on Kolbi and Davis would’ve also spent time off the field for an elbow on O’Connor following an intercept. Both instances were elbow’s (not forearms) directly to the face of an opponent. How Piers Francis isn’t sitting out for a few games is bewildering.
I don’t want to see players getting seriously injured, and i don’t condone foul play.. but a lot of people switch off when the game descends into over-officiating.
Where it went wrong for the Wallabies against Wales - and no, it wasn't the refs
I love the bloke who’s busted out the free-hand right-angled triangle in MS Paint. Can’t argue with that kind of analysis.
The Wallabies didn't lose because of Romain Poite, but World Rugby, we do have a problem
Problem with that image is that the line is drawn almost from the last feet of the Wallabies player, not the Welsh, so it’s hardly vindication that he was onside. Move that line back where it’s supposed to be and he’s a metre in front. I think the frustration from fans was that we had spent so much time reviewing non-event incidents previously but no indication was given that they reviewed the offside.
Regardless, he was hitting top speed and Genia threw a gift – As ever, the Wallabies remain their own worst enemies.
The Wallabies didn't lose because of Romain Poite, but World Rugby, we do have a problem
The view from the Irish goal line is far more conclusive, you can see the ball deviate upwards. The video and angle are actually shown at the bottom of this page if your an Aussie-based user. Regardless, we should’ve scored.
I hate the intentional knock-on rule. The one called on Folau was a joke as he’s attempting a tackle. Both plays should simply result in a knock-on and scrum or an advantage to the attacking team if they regather.
Wallabies vs Ireland: Third Test live scores, blog
Not sure they are clearly the better team. Points were even over the 3 games and the wallabies had double the tries.
The Irish are clinical at the breakdown, defend well and kick well from hand, but offer very little in terms of attacking rugby or ball running. In the modern game that wins matches.
The Walllabies show shades of brilliance and are constantly a threat, but are straight up their own worst enemies when it comes to discipline. Decision-making and general skill errors cost us more than anything Ireland offer up.
Wallabies vs Ireland: Third Test live scores, blog
Never called ruck though. Release the player or release the ball?
Wallabies vs Ireland: Third Test live scores, blog
Seems to be a reluctance to penalise the scrums as often these days. If this was England at Twickenham, there would’ve been 2 yellow cards to the props and a penalty try at some point.
Wallabies vs Ireland: Third Test live scores, blog
How was it a knock-on.. backwards from his hand. Ended up 5m behind him.
Wallabies vs Ireland: Third Test live scores, blog
That’s not the rule champ. He has rights the ball and the tackled player is not releasing.
Wallabies vs Ireland: Third Test live scores, blog
And Tupou. Since when do reserve props dominate the game so much?
Wallabies vs Ireland: Third Test live scores, blog
Absolutely appalling from the officials in that 2nd half. Cheika has every right to lose his melon post-game.
Wallabies vs Ireland: Third Test live scores, blog
I’m sorry, but this is rubbish. These decisions are completely wrong. Latu has all rights to the ball, ref has not called ruck.
Ireland completely reffed to victory in this second half.
Wallabies vs Ireland: Third Test live scores, blog
Two forward passes not called. So inconsistent.
Wallabies vs Ireland: Third Test live scores, blog
Bit selective with that quote PeterK. They promote community support for families, you know, the whole.. takes a village to raise a child mentality. But you know, cherry-picking and all that..
“We make our spaces family-friendly and enable parents to fully participate with their children. We dismantle the patriarchal practice that requires mothers to work “double shifts” so that they can mother in private even as they participate in public justice work.
We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and “villages” that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable.”
Folau courts more controversy