Roar Guru
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Now that the Autumn Tour has concluded we can get into full speculation on World Cup squads for the 2023 big dance. In 2019…
This team list was originally posted as a reply in Geoff Parkes esteemed thread. Thought it would be fun to get a bit more…
So the dust has settled on the inaugural United Rugby Championship tournament, with the Stormers celebrating a deserved first championship win over the Bulls…
So, the Bok squad is out for the Welsh tour, RC, end-of-year tour and importantly, also three Springbok A games. I say importantly because…
If this is the first article in the series you have read, then I suggest checking on the first two before proceeding! You can…
Following Part 1 of my series, today is Part 2 of my analysis of the best Rugby World Cup teams to have played the…
Like any deprived fan I have found myself filling the live sports gap with voracious consumption of trips down memory lane and whatever content…
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has surprised a few with his selections for the world XV game this weekend. I count myself one of them.…
So here we are, at the end of pool stages of the Super Rugby season. There has been some scintillating play and some less-than…
With the resolution of the pool stages of the Super Rugby season for 2011, I thought it an apt moment to review one of…
I have always been a fan of the Ranfurly Shield concept. It adds an extra dimension to games, and provides an opportunity to earn…
It’s well known that Super rugby success, or failure for that matter, doesn’t translate to either result in the international arena. However, after nine…
Well here we are again. Super Rugby season and about damn time! It’s been far too long between drinks and the umpteen pointless one…
It's been a while since I hammered away an article for The Roar – must be the work thing, and if I had to…
[caption id="attachment_9838" width="300" caption="Australian Wallabies Coach Robbie Deans, center, talks to players Matt Giteau, left, and Stirling Mortlock during the captain\'s run at Eden…
Before the information gets convoluted by the finals, I thought I would take a look at the overall Foxsports fantasy team and see if…
It's fairly well known in rugby circles that the Springboks will use the test against the Welsh in Cardiff as an opportunity to test…
As the 2010 tournament draws to a close, I thought I would take the time to reflect on what has been an incredibly engaging…
[caption id="attachment_23383" width="300" caption="South Africa\'s Bakkies Botha, left, Victor Matfield and Bismarck du Plessis celebrate winning the Tri Nations Cup. AP Photo/NZPA, David Rowland"][/caption]…
Following on from Sam's excellent article, An International Rugby Team Of The Decade, I thought I'd look at some of the young players right…
Hard to get all these articles out but a few quick changes – Fiji beaten by Portugal and think its also Ireland on the 17 game streak
COMPLETE RWC QF teams: Dupont returns, Boks make HUGE halves call, Borthwick picks his No.10, Semi back for Fiji
would need to the beat them by more than 7 points..AND for them to not score 4 tries against portugal
'Bloody disappointed: Wallabies OUT of World Cup as nation to miss finals for first time, Eddie fights for survival
Cracker weekend there mate – last RWC game I had the privilege of watching live was when the Boks put 36-0 on the Poms in Paris…. it was most delightful except the part where the stadium only served 0% beer! Everyone must have been half cut already as the queues were still massive!
Rugby and romance a perfect combination in the City of Love
Superb lore – I wish them well!
Can Samoa shock the rugby world again, like the 'Beegee' Williams pioneers of 1991?
yep but Porter is your best LH switching him over should only be for absolute necessity. Bealham is pretty good but nowhere near Porter and Healey’s class on the LH side
Packs Power Rankings: Boks' 'bomb squad' edges France, injured Wallaby who Eddie can't replace
Feel like more is going to rest on Porter now that Cian Healey is out
Packs Power Rankings: Boks' 'bomb squad' edges France, injured Wallaby who Eddie can't replace
thats a massive massive blow
Is seven weeks enough time for the All Blacks to learn, reset and adapt before the World Cup quarter-finals?
Big fan of Justin Marshall, the Left Wing podcast is also great for Irish perspective, Squidge, the Bish on rpass, Hakatime, here obviously for the contribution articles
RWC News: 'What a statement' - Goldie lashed for 'arrogance', Cam Murray 'annoyed' by hollow flirting
Thats a fair and balanced comment compared to the “abusing the rules” nonsense
I see the merit in only 5 subs with tiring defences – although plenty of 80min players out there nowadays. There is also the counter argument that when tired you make more mistakes and that leads to more injuries. Minimising the bench may give you both or none
The other potential is that you actually create another problem, end up with even more homegenised player shapes – basically a team full of really fit loose forwards. So you end up gaining nothing overall except an even more uniform playstyle across countries with even tougher D. Might as well take two players off the pitch and call it league.
I also like that teams are still a blend of definable big units, tall units, tough units, mouthy and fast units. Yes the D is tough but the best attacking teams are still scoring and filling the highlight reels. If anything the attack is even better because it has to be – Ireland and Scotland in particular are amazing puzzle solvers in this regard that I enjoy watching. But its not just them – Ioane’s try on transition in the Japan Italy game was amazing
So having a 7 player bench is fine to me – allows for more diverse strategy, personnel options and risk taking. Maybe there should be a minimum 2 backs but tbh – I think less than that and you are really rolling the dice with injuries. You can only hide so many forwards in the backline for so long . The Boks on the weekend were 2 backline injuries away from a major issue
'Seriously': Ex-Scotland coach calls on World Rugby to 'act' on Springboks after 'abusing bench' against All Blacks
Faf for me is kind of essential – you lose a bit of attacking edge but he and PSDT do so much scrambling defence work its ridiculous.
World Cup Top 10 Power Rankings: Wallabies' missing piece, ABs still possess super power, and why France edge Ireland
Im a big DDA fan but AE has been on fire… perhaps because he knows his role playing outside a more maverick 10 as thats his day job at Quins
World Cup Top 10 Power Rankings: Wallabies' missing piece, ABs still possess super power, and why France edge Ireland
its worth a watch to see pure distilled kiwi angst – highly entertaining
Barrett CLEARED for Rugby World Cup opener
I usually like the Breakdown but that last one was a hot mess of salty whinging and whataboutisms. If you actually correlate hitting a guy who is prone, not looking and nowhere the ball as being his fault for complaining .. then you need to lay off the Kool Aid
Barrett CLEARED for Rugby World Cup opener
As a Bok fan I feel we are in a good space overall – last Friday was what we needed in terms of belief and momentum.
We are going to need it as our first must win date with destiny is on the 9th with the Scots. Win that and we are half way to the Quarters. Slip and things start to edge out of our control with a win against Ireland then non-negotiable to exit the pool.
Its going to be tough old campaign but think we have the squad to cover everything and have Scots (A squad), a breather against Romania (B squad) before Ireland (A squad) and finishing with a not to be underestimated match against Tonga (A/B squad).
Assuming we make it out of the pool – then its NZ or France – we have a 50% record against the ABS in this 4 year stretch but have only played France once for a close loss. Oddly I feel we are better suited against the French but for that, both the ABs and the Boks need to finish in the same pool position. So Im more inclined to think we are going to see the old foes facing off while the 6N belt each other in the other.
The hard part will be picking the best team right now – I would go last weeks team with a few changes
Kriel to 13 and Moodie to Mapimps wing.
KLA to the bench with Kolbe back to wing.
Trevaaaaa misses out to Koch as the latter isnt allergic to carrying the ball.
Williams to replace Reinach
1. Kitshoff
2. Marx
3. Malherbe
4. Eben
5. Mostert
6. Kolisi
7. PSDT
8. DvM
9. Faf
10. Libbock
11. Moodie
12. AE
13. Kriel
14. Kolbe
15. Willemse
16. Ox
17. Bongi
18. Koch
19. RG
20. Kleyn
21. Kwagga
22. KLA
23. Williams
World Cup Top 10 Power Rankings: Wallabies' missing piece, ABs still possess super power, and why France edge Ireland
Salty as 😂 😂 😂
RWC News: All Blacks legends seethe over 'ridiculous' Barrett decision, Foz reacts to 'spanking', Genge's got the grumps
😂 😂 😂
love it
'Results haven’t been good': Wallabies head into World Cup winless after being humbled by France
Damn – unlucky Samoa – had the game on the hook at the end there
A far from golden generation of forwards has left the All Blacks badly exposed
There is probably an ideal average but there are always exceptions – Sexton is a key example.
I would say that age is also always more a factor in the backline compared to the pack where experience tends to win over exuberance. While pace is pace and the older you get the harder it becomes to hit that redline as quickly.
Some stats for yesterdays game
Average Caps
NZ 62.2
Boks 49.8
Average age…
NZ 29.1
Boks 29.7
Players with 60 caps +
NZ 8
Boks 8
So really not a whole lot in it at all…
A far from golden generation of forwards has left the All Blacks badly exposed
I used to be, now in Europe – had Stan for a while but now use Flo but you also need a VPN to appear to be in the US
'Not good enough': England in disarray as Fiji pull off historic win to emerge as World Cup's darkest horse
I paid $150 for the annual Florugby – all Currie Cup, URC, all SRP, all Champions cup, Top 14, Premier league, RC, 6 nations and the warmups.. turns out they arent covering the RWC though which is a bugger.. will have to find another solution
'Not good enough': England in disarray as Fiji pull off historic win to emerge as World Cup's darkest horse
Been very impressed with Muntz – as you say doing his part without overplaying – no need to with that backline!
'Not good enough': England in disarray as Fiji pull off historic win to emerge as World Cup's darkest horse
yep – felt very french broadcaster like
'Not good enough': England in disarray as Fiji pull off historic win to emerge as World Cup's darkest horse
Would have been good to resee it. Jaco referred it to be looked at and TMO came back with nothing in it so not alot Jaco can do but did feel like a French broadcaster moment where footage from 14 cameras is suddenly unavailable.
'Not good enough': England in disarray as Fiji pull off historic win to emerge as World Cup's darkest horse
Florugby? had a few glitches with the Japan game but been ok overall
Check the Ioane try – pretty epic
'Not good enough': England in disarray as Fiji pull off historic win to emerge as World Cup's darkest horse
Such a tough set of games to call but if Im honest as much as it would be great for a new winner… Im not that keen on all this talk of SH dominance coming to an end and a potential shutout for the semis. So come on Boks, ABs, Fiji and Argentina!
COMPLETE RWC QF teams: Dupont returns, Boks make HUGE halves call, Borthwick picks his No.10, Semi back for Fiji