Rugby Union 23/24 Discussion

We're about to have the Wallabies and the Aussie cricket side thumped on the same day.
 
If Australia doesn't up the physicality, Ireland will humiliate them next week.
 
Coming back to earth with a thud isn't always a bad thing for a team the Ireland game is going to be painful.
 
As shit as the ref was for the sake of the match, 30 missed tackles by the Wallabies is far too many.
 
JPRouve said:
I understand your general complains about refereeing. @unchanged_lineup and myself are broken records when it comes to that topic but the angle that you used is wrong, it has nothing to do with respect and France isn't respected by referees. The kind of harsh reality is that certain phases of play are terribly reffed, so if your team creates them often they have a higher risk to be penalized. The other thing which is universal among Rugby referees is that the first team to be penalized for something will continue to be negatively viewed until something egregious happens on the other side or after half time.

A typical example of the latter is the scrums yesterday, Argentina got penalized early due to your loosehead pushing at an angle it was followed by your scrum having a short leach for +40 minutes. Now second half, Colombe has one of the worst bind you can see and falls flat on his face, from that point Argentina got the benefit of doubt for all scrums.

Yesterday's game wasn't special from a refereing standpoint, you weren't treated differently even though I do agree that some decisions were questionable but the ref was consistant for example he had little care for tackles around the shoulders while others would have sanctioned both teams, he was a bit lax on offsides far from rucks for both teams, he allowed very flat passes for both teams and he was fairly lenient when it came to players initially play the ball in rucks while not on their feet. But to be fair both teams actually listened to his instructions and stopped any infringements they were doing when he told them.
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First of all, I absolutely agree with a lot on many of the things you've said, mostly regarding the changes in rules, the lack of a consistent good level from Refs as a whole, I do, and it happens to every team.Yet it's not just that when comes to teams like Pumas or also Tier 2 ones historically. It goes beyond the current or past level of Refs and rules.

The Pumas situation it's not even comparable from a historical point of view, even with France, that also received sometimes some lack of respect because of being many times hot and cold and mostly being continental and nor part of the more traditional spheres from the North and Southern hemisphere powers.
My complain goes back to even Porta days, you have to be on our shoes to get it, it goes even beyond matches, we wouldn't even had a team on any sort of competition if it weren't mostly from the Zaffas and to an extent France that many times open us the doors. This lack of status many times translated to the pitch in bad calls, it's a reality.

Of course I absolutely get it that any team on any sport has to gain that respect and weight, it's just the way it works.
More when we do not entirely force ourselves to a better consideration because of: lack of money, being inconsistant on almost every aspect, from an organizative point of view (historical amateur approach, plus tendecy to shoot at our own feet with our own rules) and even geographical issues.
We never were/ are, or better said mantein even in good times on pair with our level (one every sense) to the Big boys historically. Yet even taking in account our very own lacking most of times and lack of weight, the regularity of really dubious and bad calls against Pumas through history because of being the Cinderella, sometimes it gets very annoying, maybe also it happens because there would not be that much backlash if some decision is totally wrong, dubious and such, dunno.

This lack of respect I've mentioned before, that maybe a better word would be consideration, respect sounds a bit harsh. It's deserved in many aspects, because of our failures mentioned above. And extents not few times to reviews, analysis, etc...if we pull out a great win, there is an outrage in the rival camp of how that happened and it's just because the rival was piss poor. I know we don't help the case if the next game we play horrible, but at the end of the day the whole kind of vibe of Pumas being always in the verge, creates an scenario that regularly brings problems with calls, where the grey situation would turned black in most cases.
Of course that scenario it's sufferrerd by Tier 2 Nations on any sport too. Yet it's not common also on any sport that those in the verge, inconsistant or plain Tier 2 nations bring to the table players of the calibre of Parisse, Porta, Hernandez, Matera, Kremer, Pichot, Contempomi and a very large etc..
Trully Elite players and some of them even bordering Phenom or Genius alike in their roles. It's like I've once said Venezuela had produced a Scholes, Futre, Guardiola and Zico in their history. We should do better to cement our position as a Top team or Nation in Rugby, it's needed if we want to demand being treated better, but at the same time we didn't do that little to many times have the weight of Venezuela in football in certain moments in matches.
I know it's a not afair game on any sport, but it's time to have a more levelled ground to continue growing. BTW, I think that we are treated with a lot more consideration than in the past, but still feels not that fair on some ocasions. More given the recent teams put also more effort in not being as volatile as others in the past.
We know our place, we know how it works; yet Pumas also don't need to deal the whole time so many obstacles to mantein fecking teams on top level competitions, it makes it unnecessary harder to finally be better as a whole and consolidate.

PD: I give a last silly example of that lack of consideration, there was only one Argie player in the Seven's best team in the recent awards, no Isgro, no Moneta (thought I get it that he had an injury) and Dupont was named seven's player of the year just playing part of two stages. It won't have any backlash, it's to the very least strange to demerit the level of the whole Argie team in last season's Sevens.
 
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Withnail said:
The Fijians, a great bunch of lads

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Ah man, they really are. Bit random but a friend and I went to Fiji once on the way back from staying in Aus. Got a deal in a wanky honeymoon type hotel where we were bored out of our mind. Ended up chatting to the barman about rugby and he said we should go to a game. He swung by the hotel the following morning, on his day off, picked us up and took us to watch a match where a touring NZ side (with Jonah Lomu in the team!) were playing a local club. The place was rammed. People sitting on the roof to watch. Yer man got us inside where we had a load of beers with him and all his (massive) mates then dropped us back to the hotel after and refused to take a cent from us in payment for petrol or tickets to the game.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Ah man, they really are. Bit random but a friend and I went to Fiji once on the way back from staying in Aus. Got a deal in a wanky honeymoon type hotel where we were bored out of our mind. Ended up chatting to the barman about rugby and he said we should go to a game. He swung by the hotel the following morning, on his day off, picked us up and took us to watch a match where a touring NZ side (with Jonah Lomu in the team!) were playing a local club. The place was rammed. People sitting on the roof to watch. Yer man got us inside where we had a load of beers with him and all his (massive) mates then dropped us back to the hotel after and refused to take a cent from us in payment for petrol or tickets to the game.
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That is a fecking awesome story! What a day!
 
diarm said:
That is a fecking awesome story! What a day!
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They were just so incredibly sound. Everyone we met. Maybe it’s a bit like the way Irish people feel pressure to be nice to tourists to uphold our reputation for soundness but they really went above and beyond to make us feel welcome. Which hits harder when half the dudes are so enormous they could snap your spine with a flick of their fingers.
 
I'm going to put a little caveat. When it comes to Fijian rugby players, you will see a different side of them when alcohol, drugs and/or women are involved. Every singly one I have known was an absolute savage after sunset.
 
JPRouve said:
I'm going to put a little caveat. When it comes to Fijian rugby players, you will see a different side of them when alcohol, drugs and/or women are involved. Every singly one I have known was an absolute savage after sunset.
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Of course, it doesn't exist a Nation that eveyone there is nice and gentle, but the vid in question it's a very very nice moment. It even looks better with the diff in sixe of the president and the players
 
Warming up for this by watching Racing vs Toulouse.

Great game for the English neutral, Ireland vs Australia. Criminals everywhere, let them scrap it out :D
 
That's the last time you'll hear our shit national anthem before a rugby match for 7 months.
 
Looking at the two packs, I think Australia are going to get beaten up at front
 
Chris Busby made a poor first impression on me last week. I hope I'm not saying that about Andrea Piardi.
 
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