Official Rugby Thread

[James]

Great to hear the Champions League of Rugby is coming from 2025, 8 teams from NH, 7 teams from SH and 1 from Japan. As people are saying considering South Africa are considered part of NH, to have 7 from NZ/Aus/Pacific/Argentina seems a little heavy.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Great to hear the Champions League of Rugby is coming from 2025, 8 teams from NH, 7 teams from SH and 1 from Japan. As people are saying considering South Africa are considered part of NH, to have 7 from NZ/Aus/Pacific/Argentina seems a little heavy.

Sounds an interesting concept, but I do wonder where it'd fit into an already bursting schedule.

The T20 CL isn't a thing anymore, after all.

 

[Howe_zat]

Sounds an interesting concept, but I do wonder where it'd fit into an already bursting schedule.

The T20 CL isn't a thing anymore, after all.

The deets are that in Lions tour years only, the Champion's Cup pools will play out normally but then instead of the usual knockouts the Aus/NZ teams come over and they play this. So there's no change in the number of matches because it'll be a straight 4-match knockout instead of CC last 16 and onwards.

Honestly sounds quite fun. Some of the Super Rugby teams get a leg up by pretty much getting a bye to the last 16, but I think they're the ones that have got to travel, so it should be a pretty competitive thing.

 

[Flem274*]

it should be a pretty competitive thing.

you speak like this isn't just another thing for the crusaders to win.

though they'll be pretty shook if someone actually refs them. i'd call them the melbourne storm of union but to their credit they at least have a lot of homegrown talent in canterbury and tasman.

 

[James]

Foster keeps his job, Cane stays as captain, same squad - nothing changes despite pretty much every man and his dog calling for blood. South Africa will be licking their lips at securing a biggest ever win over the All Blacks.

 

[ashley bach]

Foster keeps his job, Cane stays as captain, same squad - nothing changes despite pretty much every man and his dog calling for blood. South Africa will be licking their lips at securing a biggest ever win over the All Blacks.

The All blacks leave on Monday so if they were to of made changes things would have been pretty hectic.
I'm a million miles from home at the moment, but any contact I've had with friends or family recently suggests the call for blood is flowing.
However with so little time before such an important mini tour, I'm convinced it's the right call, for many reasons.
While contracted until the world cup, I'm pretty sure fail here and it's game over for Foster. Possibilities are:
1. Blacks win 2-0 and all is forgiven and pretended to be forgotten.
2. SA win 2-0 and it's goodnight nurse, even if it's 2 very good losing performances, it wont be good enough.
3. 1-1 tied series and a severe headache possibly for the selectors, with more analysis required on the 2 tests as well as matches prior to the tour.
Have this weird feeling the Blacks can come away with a 1-1 result, which may not solve anything. Strange as it may sound it may be best
they lose 2-0, if the world cup is the number 1 priority, which it certainly should be.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Tonga has beaten Hong Kong 44-22 to qualify for the RWC in France. They'll play in Pool B with South Africa, Ireland, Scotland, and Romania.

HK will play in the repercharge in Dubai in November for the final spot (for a spot in Pool C with Australia, Wales, Fiji, and Georgia). The other teams in the repercharge are the USA, Portugal, and Kenya.

 

[Howe_zat]

Tonga has beaten Hong Kong 44-22 to qualify for the RWC in France. They'll play in Pool B with South Africa, Ireland, Scotland, and Romania.

HK will play in the repercharge in Dubai in November for the final spot (for a spot in Pool C with Australia, Wales, Fiji, and Georgia). The other teams in the repercharge are the USA, Portugal, and Kenya.

Rough to get Tonga as a 5th side, especially as they could land a few ex all blacks like they’re trying to do. Looks like comfortably the hardest pool

 

[James]

Looks like comfortably the hardest pool

Pool D? Japan, Samoa, Argentina all in the running for second place.

Pool C only really Australia & Wales

 

[Howe_zat]

Pool D? Japan, Samoa, Argentina all in the running for second place.

Pool C only really Australia & Wales

Argentina v Japan is interesting but I think both sides would be locked out of qualifying they were in group B in place of say Scotland.

As far as who I would expect to win a world cup game I think everyone in group B is at least as good or better than their counterpart in C/D, though that would rely on Tonga getting a few now-elibigle players that they're going after. Even if not, the top 3 sides should be.

SA > England/Australia
Ireland > Argentina/Wales*
Scotland > Japan/Fiji
Tonga = Samoa/Georgia
Romania > Chile/Repechage

*I know this is usually not true in world cups but honestly how long can that last

 

[social]

Inevitable court action

Case against rugby union governing bodies on dementia destined for courts

A legal case involving a group of rugby players diagnosed with early-onset dementia and other irreversible neurological impairments, including the former Wales captain Ryan Jones, looks destined for the courts

www.theguardian.com

No idea how game is made substantially safer as accidental head knocks will always be a thing

 

[Spark]

Inevitable court action

Case against rugby union governing bodies on dementia destined for courts

A legal case involving a group of rugby players diagnosed with early-onset dementia and other irreversible neurological impairments, including the former Wales captain Ryan Jones, looks destined for the courts

www.theguardian.com

No idea how game is made substantially safer as accidental head knocks will always be a thing

This has been coming for ages, and why I've considered the rugby codes in particular as being under existential threat long term

 

[social]

This has been coming for ages, and why I've considered the rugby codes in particular as being under existential threat long term

Going to be next to impossible to make the games quantifiably safer without fundamentally changing them

Will also be prohibitively expensive to insure participants

 

[StephenZA]

This will kill the game long term... participation numbers will drop because schools will have to drastically change the way the game is run, and also many parents will not want their kids to participate. And as much as I love watching the game I`m not totally against it slowly dying away.

 

[Spark]

Going to be next to impossible to make the games quantifiably safer without fundamentally changing them

Will also be prohibitively expensive to insure participants

Like people are already up in arms about the objectively very "low-hanging fruit" changes to the rules with regards to punishing forceful head contact, and fair enough, they really do have a pretty outsized impact on how enjoyable the sport is to follow. But if that's the case, then I don't see how tackling the harder, sub-concussive stuff which CTE/dementia research is increasingly focussed on will be at all possible without straight up ruining the game.

Have posted on here many times that Test cricket's main job is to hold on with its fingernails for the next twenty years because there is going to be a huge, gaping hole in the competitive teams sports market opening up as the big team contact sports are crushed one by one by a mass of lawsuits, at least in the rich developed countries.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Have posted on here many times that Test cricket's main job is to hold on with its fingernails for the next twenty years because there is going to be a huge, gaping hole in the competitive teams sports market opening up as the big team contact sports are crushed one by one by a mass of lawsuits, at least in the rich developed countries.

basketball should be pretty safe I'd reckon

 

[Spark]

basketball should be pretty safe I'd reckon

I don't count that as a contact sport

 

[Shady Slim]

Like people are already up in arms about the objectively very "low-hanging fruit" changes to the rules with regards to punishing forceful head contact, and fair enough, they really do have a pretty outsized impact on how enjoyable the sport is to follow. But if that's the case, then I don't see how tackling the harder, sub-concussive stuff which CTE/dementia research is increasingly focussed on will be at all possible without straight up ruining the game.

Have posted on here many times that Test cricket's main job is to hold on with its fingernails for the next twenty years because there is going to be a huge, gaping hole in the competitive teams sports market opening up as the big team contact sports are crushed one by one by a mass of lawsuits, at least in the rich developed countries.

thank you for giving me a potential topic for my final essay for my sports law subject this coming sem

 

[honestbharani]

thank you for giving me a potential topic for my final essay for my sports law subject this coming sem

shady plagiarising.


EDIT - also, you can say he sparked an idea in you?

 

[Shady Slim]

shady plagiarising.


EDIT - also, you can say he sparked an idea in you?

i've changed my mind i'm gonna do the essay on whether or not we should care if Kapil Dev threw it per today's standards ?