Whenever anyone murders a try, I always think of this
Rugby 2017 Discussion
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Super try Gopperth. Game on!!
Edit: Really like the way he kicks. He's the anti-Farrell
Edit: Really like the way he kicks. He's the anti-Farrell
Ringrose <3
Yep he's been great. A mix of D'arcy and O'Driscoll today.
Well, so much for my prediction. Leinster squeezed the life out of the game, but Wasps just didn't get going for the majority of the game.
Conor Murray out.
Bollix.
Bollix.
This match is a bit more back and forth compared to the first one. More yellow cards in store.
Welllllll, that penalty puts a new gloss on that half. All to play for.
We should be a couple of scores ahead but after a good first 20, we stepped off and have allowed Toulouse back into this. With the size they have and the talent all over their squad, this is anyones game from here.
We've the wind in the second half and I'm banking on our fitness telling in the last 15 but it's a nervous watch! Scannell (hooker), both Ryans, POM, Duncan and Zebo are playing well. Everyone else could step up a gear.
We've the wind in the second half and I'm banking on our fitness telling in the last 15 but it's a nervous watch! Scannell (hooker), both Ryans, POM, Duncan and Zebo are playing well. Everyone else could step up a gear.
Good weekend for the Irish sides!
Yeah and a nice bounce back after an awful year last season with zero quarter finalists. Thought John Ryan was absolutely superb today and while I think it's probably a year too soon for him, if we're throwing names like Sinckler and Fagerson in the Lions discussion, he put his hand up once again. He was up against a top class international loosehead there and more than held his own, just as he has done against every club and international opponent he's met this season.
He was back playing his more natural position today at fullback, when i see him playing on the wing for Ireland he just lacks that out and out pace wingers need.
He looked trimmer today as well. I thought he looked like he was carrying too much bulk while he was with Ireland.
I agree with you on FB being his best position. Between his performances there and Joey Carberry excellent showing at 15 for Leinster, plus O'Halloran at Connacht and Payne at Ulster, surely the days of Rob Kearney owning that jersey are coming to an end?
Joe sez NO.
22/23 Apr SF1
ASM Clermont Auvergne v Leinster Rugby
TBA
22/23 Apr SF2
Munster Rugby v Saracens
Aviva Stadium
ASM Clermont Auvergne v Leinster Rugby
TBA
22/23 Apr SF2
Munster Rugby v Saracens
Aviva Stadium
This is how the overall Super Rugby table reads. It's pretty fecked up hence why there'll surely be a change to the format.
Johan Ackermann to leave the Lions for Gloucester at the end of the season.
Super Rugby final is on August 5. Every chance the Lions will make and i they do, they'll host it this time. Rather late start if the Lions do make the Super Rugby final.
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https://www.newsroom.co.nz/@rugby/2017/04/04/18008/super-rugby-d-day-three-teams-facing-the-chop
If there's truth in this, the format put forward for Super Rugby is one i can get behind. It's very similar to the Super 15 format from 2011-15 with a final eight instead of a final six. Conference winners finish 1st, 2nd and 3rd with positions 4-8 being made up of the best of the rest. However it sees the Force, Cheetahs and Kings cut with the Japan based Sunwolves becoming the 5th team in the Australian conference while the Jaguares remaining in the South African conference.
Three conferences containing five teams, home and away against the teams from your own country and four games against each of the two overseas conferences. Using my team as the example, the Reds would play eight Aussie derbies (four at home and four away), four games against New Zealand opposition (two at home and two away) and four games against South African teams (two at home and two away).
If there's truth in this, the format put forward for Super Rugby is one i can get behind. It's very similar to the Super 15 format from 2011-15 with a final eight instead of a final six. Conference winners finish 1st, 2nd and 3rd with positions 4-8 being made up of the best of the rest. However it sees the Force, Cheetahs and Kings cut with the Japan based Sunwolves becoming the 5th team in the Australian conference while the Jaguares remaining in the South African conference.
Three conferences containing five teams, home and away against the teams from your own country and four games against each of the two overseas conferences. Using my team as the example, the Reds would play eight Aussie derbies (four at home and four away), four games against New Zealand opposition (two at home and two away) and four games against South African teams (two at home and two away).
From what I can gather on Rugby Twitter (Murray Kinsella to be exact), if the decision were to be made on quality, it should be the Rebels who should be cut, not the Force. Moreover, I had always thought that Rugby Union was weak in Melbourne, with the AFL being really strong in Victoria. Then again, the article spoke about the ARU saving $8 million by cutting the Force so what do I know.
As an aside, cheers for that, I'm going to follow Murray on twitter. His articles are great.
Out of interest, did you read either of his articles over the last 2 days about Leinster's first try, or the kick-returning of Leinster and Munster? I am still struck by how insightful his articles are. He had one last year on Connacht's adoption of the 2-4-2.
http://www.the42.ie/analysis-connacht-pat-lam-2-4-2-shape-2721781-Apr2016/
I think Charlie Morgan is another good follow. He's an English journalist who writes for the Times and the Telegraph, although he is by no means a homer. On the contrary, he consistently appraises Ireland and the Irish provinces. He wrote a very good article on Ringrose on Monday (Although the link is behind a paywall; you can register for free though and then read it).
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-un...lines-potential-follow-brian-odriscoll-lions/
Just noticed them in his tweets there, I hadn't read them yet. Will take a look later today. The Connacht one was very interesting indeed, I'd love to see him do one on why it's all gone wrong this year - besides the obvious of losing players and lack of a pre-season. Cheers!
You're correct in everything you say there. Friday night in Dunedin, the Highlanders beat the Rebels 51-12 in a truly abysmal performance by the Rebels, who also conceded 71 points vs the Hurricanes in Wellington and 56 points at home to the Blues. The Force on the other hand were in the game vs the Blues in Auckland for long periods on Saturday, they just weren't good enough for long enough. The Force, despite not winning many games this season have been competitive for long periods in their games.
AFL is king in Victoria. From outside Victoria, one gets the impression no other sport exists in Victoria other than AFL. The only time Victorians take interest in a winter sport other than AFL is when there's a marquee match of Rugby League or international Rugby in Victoria. Even then it's more of a passing interest and not something that ends up being long term.
Rugby League has had a team in Victoria since 1999, they've been pretty successful but they have had just two Victorian born players make their senior side. It's a very difficult market to punch a hole in. Impossible i'd say. The Force are the easier team to cut as they're funded by the ARU, the Rebels are privately owned. In Western Australia, while AFL is also King, you don't have Rugby League to compete with too.
Are there any parts of Australia which are proper Rugby Union strongholds?
Rugby Union has historically been had a solid following in Queensland and New South Wales generally among the private schools. The majority of players who playing Rugby in Australia are from Queensland and New South Wales. Problem is though, Rugby League is king in the two states where Rugby has its most solid following.
Would I be right in saying that Rugby League draws its main support from the working-class? I can't exactly remember when it was but I was reading a thread a few years ago about Australian politics. Anyway, Tony Abbott was introduced to the crowd before a NRL game amidst a cacophony of booing. The Aussie posters on the thread were saying that this was exceptionally worrying for Abbott in that NRL match-goers were reliable Liberal voters as they were working-class conservatives. I'm not too sure as to whether this is right but whenever I watch NRL, I kind of get the sense that it's more of a blue-collar game.
On a side note, what are the general demographic breakdowns for those who like AFL, soccer, cricket, tennis or golf? I'm just curious to see whether there are similarities between Ireland and Australia in the types of sports we play.
With League, you're correct. Apologies i can't help you with Tennis and Golf as i don't know enough about those two sports and their respective demographics. AFL is for anybody really there's no general demographic there. AFL has brought in some private school boys who would normally choose Rugby to then go and join AFL so the ARU can't be complacent there. Soccer isn't necessarily class related with ex pat Europeans (mainly people from the UK, Netherlands, Italy, Greece and Croatia) following the game keenly along with those with true blue Aussie heritage like myself and my mates.
All the best to the former England hooker
You wouldn't see that in the Northern Hemisphere.
I did not expect a South African team that wasn't the Lions to do this.
Just finished watching the game between the Stormers and the Chiefs and I'd have to regard it as the best game of the Super rugby season so far. The Stormers have been playing a more expansive game this season and they're getting pleasing results for it. Next week, the Strormers play the Lions and it'll be a beauty.
Also, the Stormers win over the Chiefs is the first time a Kiwi team suffered defeat against an overseas team this season.
SANZAAR has announced that there'll be changes made to the Super Rugby format and the number of teams. We will see a return to a 15 team format, with three conferences of five teams in each. The Kiwi conference will remain as it is and that'll surprise nobody.
In South Africa, they'll go from 6 South African based teams to 4. The Cheetahs and Kings are set to be cut, the Jaguares will remain in the South African conference giving them their 5 teams. Somewhat surprising the ANC and SARU would allow the Kings to be on the chopping block.
In Australia, the Reds, Waratahs and Brumbies are all safe. The Force and the Rebels are the teams under threat. One will go. The Sunwolves will join the Australian conference giving the Aussie conference 5 teams. I hope the Force stay in the competition and the Rebels are the ones to go. I believe the Force will end up getting the chop and the Rebels will stay.
In South Africa, they'll go from 6 South African based teams to 4. The Cheetahs and Kings are set to be cut, the Jaguares will remain in the South African conference giving them their 5 teams. Somewhat surprising the ANC and SARU would allow the Kings to be on the chopping block.
In Australia, the Reds, Waratahs and Brumbies are all safe. The Force and the Rebels are the teams under threat. One will go. The Sunwolves will join the Australian conference giving the Aussie conference 5 teams. I hope the Force stay in the competition and the Rebels are the ones to go. I believe the Force will end up getting the chop and the Rebels will stay.
How would the local fans feel about this? We saw the uproar in France about the Stade/Racing merger, and the player revolt, that ultimately put an end to it. Are fans and teams more pragmatic in Super Rugby, or are there likely to be protests?
Judging by fans comments and the statement from RUPA, the prevailing view is that retaining five teams is the forward. The players in AUS rugby have said the said the same thing. It's a view i disagree with because i don't think there's the player pool to have 5 teams who can remain competitive. For instance, against overseas teams, the Rebels have been embarrassing this season, shipping 178 points in their three games against Kiwi teams. The Reds and Tahs have also copped some real hidings this season.
Through the ''Save the Force'' campaign, Force supporters have come out in numbers supporting their team and making the message crystal clear to the ARU that a team in Western Australia is the way forward. The Rebels are also under threat and have a home game to make their feelings about the future of their franchise clear to the ARU. The ARU is in an awful position either way here. Whichever team goes, the ARU will cop criticism and i'm sure there'll be messages of protest aimed at ARU. In a financial sense, the Force are the easy ones to get rid of but they're the ones who should stay.
Yup, feel for them given that info. The local team here, Connacht, faced the chop ten years or so ago. Survived due to protests, won the Pro 12 last year playing great rugby and should really have been in the Champions Cup QFs this year if they'd had a player willing to try a drop goal. There's no easy or clear way to deal with a situation like that where you've stretched resources on one hand and disappointed fans on the other.