Official Rugby Thread

[PY]

Ergh. Great start & NZ now looking very dangerous....should be 13-6.

 

[BoyBrumby]

As I type McCaw stays on the field despite the most blantent piece of faul play.

Been doing it for years.

As do all the best opensides, before some irate NZder takes issue with that.

Decent opening 20 mins from us, but the ABs seem to have raised their game now. If Carter slots this it will be 13-6, which is ominous.

 

[PY]

Uh-oh.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Giving up aws.

 

[chalky]

20 minutes in & the English pack is dominating line out, scrum & breakdown - if only we had a back line.

As I type McCaw stays on the field despite the most blantent piece of faul play.

Oh well nice whilst it lasted

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Consolation.

Can't be too many England rugby players with black African ancestry?

 

[BoyBrumby]

Can't be too many England rugby players with black African ancestry?

Quite a few, actually. Off the top of my head: Chris Oti (the guy who originally inspired Swing Low, Sweet Chariot after he ran in a hat-trick versus the sweaties), Andrew Harriman (son of a Nigerian prince, despite the Anglo name), Victor Ubogu, Steve Ojomo &, of more recent ilk, Paul Sackey, whose folks are Ghanaian. There's also Ayoola Erinle at Leicester who was a chance a couple of years back, but has gone backwards a bit since.

I think a lot of it is due to the sons of diplomats attending our public schools & showing a talent for the sport.

 

[headhunter]

Good performance from us today, but as always we lacked the ability to break the line. The last 3 min of the game was typical of the performance. Ireland with all the possession but going no where. This along with a few stupid decisions to run the ball when kicking it would of been the best option, made for a very frustrating watch.

 

[ohtani's jacket]

The England/New Zealand Test was shapeless and if you play the All Blacks at that kind of game you'll lose everytime. I was a little disappointed by our performance in the set-pieces, but we tried to play an up-tempo game and Henry brought on a lot of subsitutions. The ref was awful, Absolutely awful. The England winger is awesome.

 

[Smudge]

Quite a few, actually. Off the top of my head: Chris Oti (the guy who originally inspired Swing Low, Sweet Chariot after he ran in a hat-trick versus the sweaties), Andrew Harriman (son of a Nigerian prince, despite the Anglo name), Victor Ubogu, Steve Ojomo &, of more recent ilk, Paul Sackey, whose folks are Ghanaian. There's also Ayoola Erinle at Leicester who was a chance a couple of years back, but has gone backwards a bit since.

I think a lot of it is due to the sons of diplomats attending our public schools & showing a talent for the sport.

Poaching Poms...

 

[Somerset]

England, without many of their experienced players that allowed them to reach the final of the 07 World Cup, looked aweful on the weekend. Really the All Blacks should've put 50 past them but for a scrappy last 20 minutes. Nonu stood out but I still have my doubts whether he should be the country's second five. Carter also much better than at Wellington the week before. For England, Hodgson was aweful, and their forwards were pretty average. If they were struggling to keep up with the play with the old rules, imagine their condition if they were forced to play under the ELVs. Somehow, given England's influence on the game I'm not so sure the new rules will be implemented in a hurry. Nigel Owens also had an indifferent match - so two All Black tests this season, and two questionable referring performances. Hmmm.

 

[_Ed_]

Yeah I was a bit baffled by some of the refereeing by Owens. Not least because I didn't understand a word he was saying. Stupid Welsh accent.

 

[ohtani's jacket]

It wasn't just us who suffered from Owens. We scored from a forward pass, knock on and a foot in touch. You can have ELVs, but you'll still have these guys reffing them.

 

[age_master]

Is Vickerman injured? Horwill ahead of him qualifies as the most bizarre selection of the weekend if not.

Ankle surgery

Will be interesting to see how much the Wallabies improve against France after a couple more weeks together.

Tri Nations will be a lot better though with the ELV's

 

[S.P. Fleming]

ive had enough of these useless northern hemisphere referees. They cant keep up with the pace of the game and they turn the scrums into a lottery.

 

[headhunter]

Munster handed another tough Heineken Cup pool draw. Clermont again and Sale.

 

[Somerset]

ive had enough of these useless northern hemisphere referees. They cant keep up with the pace of the game and they turn the scrums into a lottery.

Jonathan Kaplan referees this weekend. TBH I think his reputation as the world's best referee is certainly no longer his after his absence in the Rugby World Cup knockout matches and also some odd calls at times in the Super 14 this year.

 

[S.P. Fleming]

I still rate Kaplin higher then Chris white and Wayne Barnes because at least he knows about southern hemisphere rugby.

Saturday nights game should be a cracker because the poms are playing an attacking backline for once, led by the elusive Matthew Tait. Am hoping for an effiecient performance from the AB's and a few problems to be sorted out, especially at line-out time.

 

[NZTailender]

Haha, sent a text to an English friend of mine who was going to CHCH to watch the game last Monday saying "ABs by 30 imo."

Wasn't actually serious, but there you go.

 

[Somerset]

Another very comprehensive victory, England again may count themselves lucky not to have conceeded a half century of points. TBH losing McCaw and Williams hardly seemed to weaken the side which was positive. Amongst the side, Kahui was sensational on debut, Carter again world class, Nonu continues to prove that he has the potential to be the country's best second five and Thomson again showed his good all round skills to the side. As far as England goes, I really hope they will be a stronger force when we tour the Northern Hemisphere.

Oh and good to see Kaplan's learnt to call forward passes since the last AB test he was involved in.