Rugby - A thug's game played by gentlemen

I think you under rate the Aussie forwards. If you have the guys to scrum well you have the guys for multi phase play, the forwards just need to be able to make a few metres every now and then. The Aussies don't try to earn the right to go wide, they just pop the ball out to the wings and hope for the best without using the forwards and centres to draw defenders in and give the backs space.

You're absolutely right but the scrum has been a persistent weakness for years and worryingly we're getting smashed at the breakdown far too often. Every scrum or ruck where we keep the ball is a victory in my book! :p It's hardly a new thing though: Australian forwards have almost always been weaker than their opponents and the backs just have to learn to make do. Link sorted the Reds out and he was pretty successful with the (boring) Waratahs too so hopefully it's just a matter of time before the clowns in the gold shirts aren't so embarrassing.

I have nothing to say, just had to share this.

IMAGE(http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll120/MrDeVil_909/tumblr_mrx5iwmAQ41s6m9pzo1_400_zps3b7a7459.gif)

Decent win against the Aussies, 28-8 and we didn't look great for any length of time. Didn't manage to get the bonus point though, so hopefully Los Pumas manage to prevent the ABs from getting one.

No, Mr DeVil, you didn't have to share that. Really, you didn't.

I had to distract myself from the grossness of that image by ttrying to figure out what the teams were.

davet010 wrote:

No, Mr DeVil, you didn't have to share that. Really, you didn't.

I had to distract myself from the grossness of that image by ttrying to figure out what the teams were.

Worth it for that.

So NZ scored a bonus point against the Argies, next week we need a 4 try bonus point and to beat them by more than 7 to win. If we can get it together for 80 minutes we have a chance. If we fall asleep for 40 minutes like yesterday we don't.

Interesting behind the scenes info on why Jake White quit the Brumbies. Not 100% sure these sorts of thing are credible, but it makes sense.

MrDeVil909 wrote:

Interesting behind the scenes info on why Jake White quit the Brumbies. Not 100% sure these sorts of thing are credible, but it makes sense.

Interesting article that. Gives me a different perspective on him. From a distance it looked like a selfish move on his part, but this paints the ARU in a bad light. Anyway, moving on...

I cannot wait for this weekends' game between the Boks and the All Blacks. The requirement that we need to score a bonus point victory and deny them one in order to win the RC makes me nervous though... I would prefer that we just go out to beat the AB's and take whatever else comes as a bonus.

If we beat them we have had a great season and Heyneke Meyer can be quite chuffed with what he has accomplished in his time as coach.

Can't wait.

Also, tonight the Bulls are playing the Sharks. I'm hoping that the Bulls turn their season around and thump the Sharks (however unlikely that might be...)

Sorry Kram. *

* not really sorry. :p

Wigan are Champions, this is a dark day for all of rugby because the only thing worse than a Wigan fan when they lose is a Wigan fan when they win as it tickles their divine right bones.

Next year we will correct this.

onewild wrote:

Wigan are Champions, this is a dark day for all of rugby because the only thing worse than a Wigan fan when they lose is a Wigan fan when they win as it tickles their divine right bones.

Sounds like Bulls fans here in SA.

So, last nights SA/NZ was a cracker. We put 4 tries on the ABs, but they put 5 back on us, as soon as they scored 4 we were out of the Championship. We played well, mostly, good running and intent from far back, but when Habana pulled up injured we lost some of the punch and we should have gone a bit more conservative for a while. Our defence wasn't great though, we allowed one veeery soft try on half time and some of the others were a bit easy. I also think some of the substitutions were ill considered in the context of the game.

Also the ABs were a man down for 20 minutes thanks to yellow cards and we didn't capitalise well enough.

And for a change, there is no complaint about the reffing Nigel Owens was great. He allowed a fair contest, which showed that while the Boks have made great strides we are still quite a way behind the number one side in the world.

And the Wobblies thumped the Argies. Damn shame.

MrDeVil909 wrote:
onewild wrote:

Wigan are Champions, this is a dark day for all of rugby because the only thing worse than a Wigan fan when they lose is a Wigan fan when they win as it tickles their divine right bones.

Sounds like Bulls fans here in SA. :)

HEY!

MrDeVil909 wrote:

So, last nights SA/NZ was a cracker. We put 4 tries on the ABs, but they put 5 back on us, as soon as they scored 4 we were out of the Championship. We played well, mostly, good running and intent from far back, but when Habana pulled up injured we lost some of the punch and we should have gone a bit more conservative for a while. Our defence wasn't great though, we allowed one veeery soft try on half time and some of the others were a bit easy. I also think some of the substitutions were ill considered in the context of the game.

Also the ABs were a man down for 20 minutes thanks to yellow cards and we didn't capitalise well enough.

And for a change, there is no complaint about the reffing Nigel Owens was great. He allowed a fair contest, which showed that while the Boks have made great strides we are still quite a way behind the number one side in the world.

Yeah, this was a great game. Apart from the problems that you mentioned, our kick off plays were terrible. We immediatly handed the ABs the initiative every time after we scored.

This game showed that the ABs are just a class apart right now.

The thing I'm worried about now is that a lot of our players (6?) are heading overseas now and 3 others are already playing overseas. What this means for future SB teams, I'm not sure. But I think that SARU will have to come up with a clear policy as regards overseas players or we will be looking at a lot of players heading overseas to chase the Yen, Euro or pound and a major impact on our local Super Rugby teams.

Anyway, enjoyed the game a lot and can't wait for the end of year tour. Clean sweep?

MrDeVil909 wrote:

And the Wobblies thumped the Argies. Damn shame.

I was really hoping that the Argies would thump the Wobblies. Not to be though.

0 for 3 for me this weekend...

KramNesnah wrote:
MrDeVil909 wrote:
onewild wrote:

Wigan are Champions, this is a dark day for all of rugby because the only thing worse than a Wigan fan when they lose is a Wigan fan when they win as it tickles their divine right bones.

Sounds like Bulls fans here in SA. :)

HEY!

And yeah. Considering the many chinks in our armour at the moment we actually do remarkable well. If we can get together a full 80 minutes we'll be tough to beat.

Good opening weekend of the world cup. England gave the Aussies a game, which is all too rare these days and gives hope for the rest of the tournment. Good crowds at all 3 games so far oh and Sonny Bill Williams did this

http://www.scoop.co.nz/multimedia/tv/sports/85711.html

England sweep aside Ireland as the world cup is played in front of large crowds. Stadium record set today at Huddersfield, sell outs in France, 7000+ in Bristol! Great stuff.

Meanwhile Clive Woodward shows why some league fans think that the union lot are an arrogant lot by saying that The RFU should never had let Tomkins to to NZ to play in the NRL. Erm sorry Clive but they failed to sign him not once but twice, he wants to go play in the best rugby league in the world, which is the NRL. Most likely still upset that Joel turned up to train at Sarcans instead of Sam.

I know I'm talking to myself about the world cup but the US just got through the group stages and will now play the Aussies in the 1/4. This is a big shock, they have had 3 coaches in 3 months, their players are only being payed expenses and they had flights booked for Sunday, which they will now have to cancel.

And they have inspired this song

I'm not even going to ask how you found that.

I'm keeping half an eye on it, but the coverage has been really low-key thus far - and Sky are barely even mentioning it, despite them covering Super League extensively.

Nah, you're not talking to yourself, some of us are listening!
Like Davet, coverage into neck of the woods has been limited or reserved to cable subscribers, so I've been keeping no more than half an eye on it as well.

onewild wrote:

I know I'm talking to myself about the world cup but the US just got through the group stages and will now play the Aussies in the 1/4. This is a big shock, they have had 3 coaches in 3 months, their players are only being payed expenses and they had flights booked for Sunday, which they will now have to cancel.

And they have inspired this song

I haven't been paying attention, but look how well we're doing! I'm tempted to go to the final if we make it.

But the Wiggles? Oh dear god.

I recognise the guy in blue but who the hell are those other people?

Ch9 is showing all the games and well done to the US for surprising even themselves. A good underdog story never gets old.

davet010 wrote:

I'm not even going to ask how you found that.

I'm keeping half an eye on it, but the coverage has been really low-key thus far - and Sky are barely even mentioning it, despite them covering Super League extensively.

Sky won't be mentioning it because all the games are on Premier Sports, with the England games been on the Beeb, along with the semi finals onwards.

Somehow the RFL are in danger of pulling off a successfull tournment, with the structure allowing for more close games, with only a few blow outs and people turning up to the games. 7000+ were in Bristol for a game between the Cook Islands and USA for example. That might not sound a lot but we are talking about a place that has no connection with rugby league what so ever. Back on the tournment layout, the union lot could learn a lesson or two from that, then we wouldn't see as many pointless games between New Zealand and 15 random blokes from Kenya.

Stadium records have been set at Huddersfield (for any sporting event), Rochdale and the largest crowd in Workington since 1992. Plus sell outs in France, Halifax. Just goes to show what sensible pricing can do.

I'm off to the New Zealand PNG game on Friday night at Headingley, that is heading for a big crowd as well. The final is most likely going to be a sell out with 60,000+ tickets sold already (it's at Old Trafford).

League isn't my game, but glad to hear the tournament is going well. And good on the USA.

Premier Sports - no wonder I've not seen any of them. That's the red-headed stepchild of subscription channels and no mistake - wonder why they picked up the rights to the RL world cup and didn't plaster adverts and TV time all over the other channels ? Used to be Setanta, as I remember.

Yeah that is correct, they also had/have an offer on where you could get the channel for the 2 months to cover the world cup for £9.99. Got a decent Aussie guy in as well that is a breath of fresh air compared to Ray French, Wood, Eddie and Stevo

I feel sick, England were 40 seconds away from the World Cup Final and they concede a silly pen that leads to a try that leads to the conversion that sees NZ through to the final. Brilliant game though but so gutted.

Next day, same thing, different code. Have to feel bad for Ireland. They really had us on the ropes there. That first half was the best I've ever seen them play.

Arise!

So after the first round of November internationals are over we are getting a clearer picture on the state of the front runners for the World Cup. NZ are still the team to beat (if not for SA, literally) but I think they may have peaked to early. After that we have a slew of teams that can put their hands up for a shot at the title.

As for Ireland beating South Africa, MrDevil, I've said since the thread started we've had poor national coaches. Schmidt is our first national coach who is bringing all the standards of professionalism to bare. He's a very clever tactician and an incredible organiser. You don't have his record by being lucky. South Africa looked like a team who didn't do their home work and expected Ireland to play like that had in the past. I'm sure if we meet in the World Cup, you'll be better prepared.

As for the rest of the 7-8 teams who could beat each other, I think we need to reserve judgement until after November but I expect to say that the next World Cup looks like it going to be very compelling.

Yeah, I didn't actually watch the game but it sounds like Ireland really earned the win, good for them. I would like to see the general standards of the Northern hemisphere improve, and I think Ireland can be at the forefront of that.

I just hope we can beat England, I think our guys will be stinging and will have shaken off any rust they were carrying. We are also starting with a far stronger scrumhalf and my favourite flyhalf, who are a franchise pairing, so the backs should move around far better. As long as the defence holds up.

An idea that needs a seperate post.

Cobble mentions in the USA vs NZ thread that he finds rugby completely impenetrable. Now a lot of the details are pretty complex and unfortunately open to interpretation, but the basics of the game are pretty simple. I actually was never interested in the sport when I was younger, it's a national religion to people of a certain class and skin tone so I always avoided it. It's only in the last 10 or so years I've started following the sport and I picked up the basics pretty quickly.

So how about we try to a beginners guide to Rugby Union? Put together the really important bits that one needs to know to understand what's happening on the field?

League fans are welcome to do their own, but I wouldn't know League from Aussie Rules, and I'll link the posts from the OP.

This video is as it explains the basics with American Football as comparison.

If anyone wants to watch that, then catch some of the games over the coming weeks. November internationals will lead directly into the European Cup so plenty to sample. France vs Australia kicks off at a decent time this weekend for the Americas and they are generally entertaining teams to watch. Either way, catch a game and the rugger buggers (common term for rugby fans) can help fill in any blanks.

South Africa and England is going to be brutal. Trench warfare. England are incredibly well regimented under Lancaster and South Africa will be looking for a win. This one is for the purists. I predict somebody will see red before full time

Oh, and you should include this skit as well. We aren't all like, honest.