Rugby 2018 Discussion

unchanged_lineup said:
Congrats @Xaviesta. That try for Aus off the lineout was desperate stuff by SA.

Some gorgeous tries in that Arg NZ match, seemed pretty competitive from the highlights. Are Argentina lined up to meet us/knock us out in the WC again? :lol::(
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Thanks. I'm happy the Wallabies but will acknowledge they need to be better. The try the Wallabies scored late in the 1st half appeared to knock South Africa. The Boks did have a late try disallowed due to a double knock on.

I wouldn't advice anybody to get too excited about Argentina's performance against NZ. They really get themselves up for the game. It's case of the Pumas looking good for 50-60 minutes, falling away badly, playing well enough for the aforementioned 50-60 minutes for people to believe they can beat the Wallabies in their next game only for the Wallabies to beat them comfortably.

Their scrum was a weakness for them. It gets talked up on stereotype more than anything else to be honest. What will throw a spanner in the works next year is their European based players will be available. Even then i wouldn't be too worried if i were you about them beating Ireland at the World Cup even though they've done it twice before.
 
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Xaviesta said:
I'm happy the Wallabies but will acknowledge they need to be better. The try the Wallabies scored late in the 1st half appeared to knock South Africa. The Boks did have a late try disallowed due to a double knock on.

I wouldn't advice anybody to get too excited about Argentina's performance against NZ. They really get themselves up for the game. It's case of the Pumas looking good for 50-60 minutes, falling away badly, playing well enough for the aforementioned 50-60 minutes for people to believe they can beat the Wallabies in their next game only for the Wallabies to beat them comfortably.

Their scrum was a weakness for them. It gets talked up on stereotype more than anything else to be honest. What will throw a spanner in the works next year is their European based players will be available. Even then i wouldn't be too worried if i were you about them beating Ireland at the World Cup even though they've done it twice before.
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Three times in fact. I would tend to agree with you about their performance today, most sides tend to be up for it against the All Blacks before falling away as the energy drops and the depth that New Zealand have come in to play, add to that the All Blacks made changes for today and then also had to use several of their subs (who usually make such an impact in the second half) very early today. I

reland's concern should really be around South Africa given that it would be either them or New Zealand in a potential quarter final (there's no point worrying about New Zealand, we'd have next to no chance against them) but the Boks still need a lot of improvement, I would suspect that with another year under Erasmus and with key players settled back in that Ireland will do very well to get past them.
 
The Rugby championship is worse than the German and French Leagues at this point in terms of competitiveness.

It's a foregone conclusion every year and the gap is getting bigger with each year with SA and Australia being a far cry from their great teams of the past.
 
New Zealand have picked the team they hope will inflict a 3rd straight hiding on the South Africa in NZ this weekend. AB's to win by pick a number above 30

NZ 15-1: Jordie Barrett, Ben Smith, Anton Lienert-Brown, Ryan Crotty, Rieko Ioane, Beauden Barrett, Aaron Smith, Kieran Read (c), Sam Cane, Liam Squire, Scott Barrett, Sam Whitelock, Owen Franks, Codie Taylor, Karl Tu'inukuafe. Reserves 16-23: Liam Coltman, Tim Perry, Ofa Tu'ungafasi, Patrick Tuipulotu, Ardie Savea, TJ Perenara, Jack Goodhue, Damian McKenzie.

Sa: 15-1: Willie le Roux, Jesse Kriel, Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Aphiwe Dyantyi, Handre Pollard, Faf de Klerk, Warren Whiteley, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (c), Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff. Reserves 16-23: Bongi Mbonambi, Tendai Mtawarira, Wilco Louw, RG Snyman, Francois Louw, Ross Cronje, Elton Jantjies, Cheslin Kolbe.



Australia will be desperate to avoid a 1st ever loss to Argentina. Argentina get another crack at proving a good hour in New Zealand can be turned into a win in Australia. Wallabies to win by 10 to achieve back to back wins for the fist time this year.

Australia 15-1: Dane Haylett-Petty, Israel Folau, Reece Hodge, Marika Koroibete, Matt Toomua, Kurtley Beale, Will Genia, David Pocock, Michael Hooper (c), Lukhan Tui, Izack Rodda, Rory Arnold, Allan Alaalatoa, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Scott Sio. Reserves 16-23: Folau Faingaa, Sekope Kepu, Taniela Tupou, Adam Coleman, Pete Samu, Nick Phipps, Bernard Foley, Jack Maddocks.

Argentina 15-1: Emiliano Boffelli, Bautista Delguy, Matias Moroni, Jeronimo De La Fuente, Ramiro Moyano, Nicolas Sanchez, Gonzalo Bertranou, Javier Ortega Desio, Marcos Kremer, Pablo Matera, Tomas Lavanini, Guido Petti, Santiago Medrano, Agustin Creevy (captain), Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro. Reserves 16-23: Julian Montoya, Santiago Garcia Botta, Juan Pablo Zeiss, Matias Alemanno, Juan Manuel Leguizamon, Martin Landajo, Bautista Ezcurra, Juan Cruz Mallia.
 
K2K said:
South Africa shock New Zealand in Wellington.

36-34 it ends.
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There i was saying New Zealand would win by more than 30. Oh how wrong was i. Sets up the return match at Loftus in three weeks. Steve Hansen's 1st words to his team in the change room must be: ''Why didn't somebody take a shot at a drop goal''?
 
fecking hell not sure how we won! Was expecting a pasting.

Hopefully NZ don’t win the next World Cup. We need another winner - whoever that is.
 
Argentina has beaten Australia 23-19 to secure their 1st win in Australia since 1983. Good to see two close Rugby Championship matches on the same day, something we don't often see. Shame about the result but well done to Argentina.

 
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The Wallabies are going to fall to 7th in the world rankings which is going to be their lowest ever ranking. There's a chance they're going to end the competition with just 1 win from 6 games (they're 1 win from 4 at the moment).
 
unchanged_lineup said:
Speaking about Geordan Murphy... I personally don't even see how there's a debate over this. Really annoys me when people use the phrase "PC" for random arguments, there's nothing related to PC about a no-wrap shoulder to the face, and it's particularly tonedeaf in light of the retirement of Leicester's own Dominic Ryan.




https://www.independent.ie/sport/ru...c-ryan-forced-to-retire-aged-28-37295367.html
https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/dominic-ryan-the-terrifying-concussions-which-have-forced-my-retirement-1.3620713?mode=sample&auth-failed=1&pw-origin=https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/dominic-ryan-the-terrifying-concussions-which-have-forced-my-retirement-1.3620713
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you're confusing the 2 issues, firstly that wasn't a no wrap shoulder charge he did wrap the arms, secondly, Taylor was crouching down after Spencer started to tackle and even then its debatable whether the first point of contact was Taylor's shoulder or head, and most importantly George Smith was sent off for basically the same tackle last week, the red card was rescinded and most people expect the same thing to happen here, but that doesn't help Leicester who lost a game due in large part to a wrongly issued red card, refs need to be given more discretion as no one would have complained, including all active players had that been a yellow card.

No one is saying blatant head shots shouldn't be a red card. Also there was a swinging arm high tackle right to Guy Thompson's face that wasn't punished second half
 
Jimmy Skitz said:
you're confusing the 2 issues, firstly that wasn't a no wrap shoulder charge he did wrap the arms, secondly, Taylor was crouching down after Spencer started to tackle and even then its debatable whether the first point of contact was Taylor's shoulder or head, and most importantly George Smith was sent off for basically the same tackle last week, the red card was rescinded and most people expect the same thing to happen here, but that doesn't help Leicester who lost a game due in large part to a wrongly issued red card, refs need to be given more discretion as no one would have complained, including all active players had that been a yellow card.

No one is saying blatant head shots shouldn't be a red card. Also there was a swinging arm high tackle right to Guy Thompson's face that wasn't punished second half
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Totally disagree with you, the arms came round as an afterthought in attempt to make it not look like the shot it was. Regardless of whether the attacker crouched or not, the tacklers body position was never low because he wanted a bit hit, man and ball. As tall as he may be, if you're looking for the man and ball tackle it's your fault if you make head contact. Leicester lost a player to long-term concussion issues just this week and I've learned that Murphy made some similarly blase statements at the time that Ryan incident happened.
 
I'm glad this red card took place in England and not in Australia as some in the rugby media here would have gone bonkers about the ref's decision there.
 
Xaviesta said:
I'm glad this red card took place in England and not in Australia as some in the rugby media here would have gone bonkers about the ref's decision there.
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most here seem to be saying there is a problem with the law
 
Serious question: do people in Australia, especially younger people, actually care about rugby union any more? Obviously union is dead in Victoria but in NSW and Queensland where it's always been popular, taking into account the increasing popularity of soccer in the past decade or so the world over, I can't help but wonder if union's popularity has taken a beating in recent years.
 
Kopral Jono said:
Serious question: do people in Australia, especially younger people, actually care about rugby union any more? Obviously union is dead in Victoria but in NSW and Queensland where it's always been popular, taking into account the increasing popularity of soccer in the past decade or so the world over, I can't help but wonder if union's popularity has taken a beating in recent years.
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If the Wallabies and super rugby sides can get into the habit of winning regularly and in attractive manner, rugby's popularity will increase. Super Rugby will need to undergo some big changes too.
 
the ref and all Wasps medical staff need banning if the tackle was so forceful it deserved a red card then why did Tommy Taylor not leave the field for a HIA? Surely that should have been mandatory for such a powerful shot to the head?
 
Jimmy Skitz said:
the ref and all Wasps medical staff need banning if the tackle was so forceful it deserved a red card then why did Tommy Taylor not leave the field for a HIA? Surely that should have been mandatory for such a powerful shot to the head?
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If that's the case, it's a separate issue and two wrongs don't make a right. He's been banned for 4 weeks by the citing committee who upheld the ref's decision.
 
When United fails then thank God for Leinster. Some great rugby on show. Just read that Sean O'Brien is close to returning too, if he's anywhere near his old self he'll give a different dimension to both Leinster and Ireland. Love to see him have a year clear of injury in the lead up to the World Cup. Anyway I don't know much about Super Rugby (I think Crusaders are the best side?), anyone know why someone like Leinster have never had a 'friendly' with the best SH club side at a neutral venue? Also anyone who is more knowledgable on rugby than I tell me who'd they fancy in a game between Leinster and the top SH club side?
 
kidbob said:
When United fails then thank God for Leinster. Some great rugby on show. Just read that Sean O'Brien is close to returning too, if he's anywhere near his old self he'll give a different dimension to both Leinster and Ireland. Love to see him have a year clear of injury in the lead up to the World Cup. Anyway I don't know much about Super Rugby (I think Crusaders are the best side?), anyone know why someone like Leinster have never had a 'friendly' with the best SH club side at a neutral venue? Also anyone who is more knowledgable on rugby than I tell me who'd they fancy in a game between Leinster and the top SH club side?
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I believe when Toulon and the Chiefs were European and super rugby champions respectively, the bloke who owns Toulon wanted a north vs south showdown to see who the best provincial team in the world is. The idea never really got off the ground sadly.

Regarding Leinster vs the Crusaders, Leinster would win by at least 10 points in Dublin. The game would be extremely close if it took place in Christchurch. At a neutral venue, I'd back Leinster.
 
Really? I think the Crusaders would beat Leinster pretty easily home or away.
 
Teams for South Africa vs Australia 5pm South African time (6pm in the UK) from Port Elizabeth.

WALLABIES (15-1): Dane Haylett-Petty, Israel Folau, Reece Hodge, Matt Toomua, Marika Koroibete, Kurtley Beale, Will Genia, David Pocock, Michael Hooper (c), Ned Hanigan, Izack Rodda, Adam Coleman, Taniela Tupou, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Scott Sio.

Reserves: Folau Faingaa, Sekope Kepu, Allan Alaalatoa, Rory Arnold, Rob Simmons, Nick Phipps, Bernard Foley, Jack Maddocks.

SPRINGBOKS (15-1): Willie le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Andre Esterhuizen, Aphiwe Dyantyi, Handre Pollard, Faf de Klerk, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (c); Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Malcolm Marx, Tendai Mtawarira

Reserves: Bongi Mbonambi, Steven Kitshoff, Wilco Louw, RG Snyman, Marco van Staden, Embrose Papier, Elton Jantjies, Damian Willemse
 
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The way 2018 has panned out for the Wallabies, I think it's a case of quarter final and out at next year's World Cup.
 
Xaviesta said:
The way 2018 has panned out for the Wallabies, I think it's a case of quarter final and out at next year's World Cup.
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Commisserations. 6th championship in a row for ABs I read? World Champions elect in Japan at the moment.

Here in Ireland, Munster absolutely destroyed Ulster 64-7 and Leinster beat my team Connacht 20-3 :(

The Connacht match was marred by an absolutely disgraceful neck stomp by a Connacht player. He'll likely be in line for a very long ban after that.

 
The Boks look like the Boks again. Stifling defence, though OZ made a lot of handling errors in key moments. Kolbe and Dyantyi were immense, Eztebeth gigantic in the lineout and the midfield pairing did way better than I would have ever expected. Big test against the ABs next week but it is at altitude in Pretoria, though to be fair NZ have done well there in the past (where have they not). A lot more optimistic about the future, if they can get a bit better depth they might have a glimmer of hope in Japan.
 
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