"Kevin Rudd, Dame Edna Everage, Clive James, Germaine Greer....your boys took one hell of a beating".
Fair play to Horwill, dignified at the end.
You know whose face I really wanted to see at the end, after all the furour about BOD being left it. Stuart f**king Barnes...the most negative, look-at-me-aren't-I-clever pundit who has ever drawn breath. Still, at least he is consistent - he was an over-rated cockhead who was found out when he was tried at the highest level as a player as well.
Ah, bugger. It's not often I'll support the Dingos, but that was an unfortunate loss. Didn't get to watch much, but it looks like the Lions wanted it really badly.
Oh dear, lots of so called pundits and experts looking very silly right about now. The Lions torn the Aussies apart in that deciding game.
As a total aside, great game last night between Leeds and Warrington, even though we lost (19-18) rather watch that than the rubbish the week before. Oh and Jamie Peacock made 51 tackles in that one game.
I switched over to the Aussie rules game. There were more people at the ground for 1st v 2nd of the local game than the international and it was far more entertaining.
Bruce, I hate to say it, but there is no way on Earth that Aussie Rules could be more entertaining than anything. It looks like what would happen if you threw a ball into a playground of 6 year olds and shouted 'there you go, entertain yourselves'.
Aussie Rules is weird! I watched a St Kilda vs Demons games once and there were no perceptible rules.
It was pretty entertaining, but it really did look like a schoolyard game.
The irony of a rugby discussion turning to unintelligible rules in other sports 
Scrum infringements anyone?
The irony of a rugby discussion turning to unintelligible rules in other sports
Scrum infringements anyone?
Yeah, but if you ever play a game as a forward, all them scrum infringements make sense, namely because your head is squished between two men called 'biscuit' and 'koala bear' respectively.
It's the breakdown infringements that still confuse me, scrums are relatively simple.
The former Leeds coach Graham Murray died last weekend. I wrote a few words about his time at Leeds here if anybody would like to know more.
Any of you guys play Rugby Challenge 2?
Any of you guys play Rugby Challenge 2?
I'm dying to try it, but the PC version isn't out on disc and it's too big a download for me.
It's predecessor is highly regarded.
Bruce, I hate to say it, but there is no way on Earth that Aussie Rules could be more entertaining than anything. It looks like what would happen if you threw a ball into a playground of 6 year olds and shouted 'there you go, entertain yourselves'.
Woah woah woah... Don't Start Nothin', Ait Gonna BE NOTHIN'!
What you gonna do, eh ? Walk past me in a pair of eye-wateringly tight shorts and a vest and 'bump' me ?
Anyone here catch the Rugby Championship game between the Wallabies and Boks?
That was one of the most enjoyable games of rugby I've watched in a long time. The last time I can remember a Springbok team doing that to another team in an away game was in '97 vs France!
Bring on the All Blacks!
Thankfully I missed it: we had a Federal election here and I had a feeling it would be more entertaining. The Wobblies are in a bad place right now but they only changed the coach a few weeks ago and without the depth of All Black or Springbok rugby when we lose key players to injury there's hardly anyone to cover. That said how we can put together a national team that can't pass, catch and tackle boggles my mind. Well played Boks, they're certainty a team on the rise, but the ABs will be a sterner test than an abject Wobblies team. Should be a good game.
Oh yes. That was a great game. The ABs will, as usual, be a massive challenge but I think we're going in the right direction.
The Wallabies though, man they are just abject. They really need to start focusing on basics; setpieces, rucks and basic ball skills. I think not hiring Jake White was a mistake. His teams don't play pretty rugby, but they play winning rugby. And winning is pretty. Although that error of the part of the ARU is to the benefit of us and the ABs.
Not long now till the two best teams in the world face up. Can't wait. I'll support the Boks all the way, but beating the ABs at Eden Park is a huge ask. The key will be if our forwards can dominate the breakdowns and set pieces.
I actually don't care if we win, I do want us to put in a good game and make the ABs work for it. If we can pull a win out of the bag, that would be brilliant.
I don't like complaining about refereeing, but that was a steaming pile of shit. The first card on Bismarck was bullshit, awarding a try to the ABs off a knock on was too. And they tried very hard not to award us that last try.
Ugh. I think we did remarkably well considering.
I only saw the first half, but quite how your loose head got away with punching a player on the ground behind the play multiple times without being penalised was a mystery.
I honestly didn't see that, but considering the ref was completely blind, if that's accurate it's not much of a mystery.
Wallabies are filth. Barely holding out Los Pumas at home.
The Wallabies need to decide if they want to play Rugby Union, or quit the code. The game is all about strength up front and tactical kicking releasing the backs. The touch rugby that they are persisting with will never get them anywhere. The Argies are not a strong team, but they know the importance of the fundamentals so they make a team that ignores them look pretty bad.
Yeah, that first half decision to card Bismarck was crap!
But I like the way that the Bok management handled the entire affair. They need to put the result behind them and focus on the next 2 games. The championship is ours for the taking the way I see it. Considering that we played 50 minutes with only 14 players it was a fantastic effort to still only be 2 tries behind at the end.
With 15 players for the full 80, we should be able to beat the AB's in Ellispark.
On a completely different note, MrDeVil909 you must be quite happy with what is happening in the Currie Cup. I believe you are a sharks man? Having beaten Griquas in Kimberley in not a mean feat considering that they are somewhat of a bogey team. For myself, I'll just sit here in the corner and mind my own business. My team is currently 2nd to last on the log...
Anyway, can't wait for the 2 games in SA against AUS and NZ.
Watched the most recent game between the Boks and AB's (MrDeVil909 can attest to my annoying tweets!). Tough loss for the Boks. Even for this rugby newb (never played, don't understand a lot of the rules, but love watching the games) I could tell that first half yellow was a crap call.
Did the Rugby Championship have a qualifying round? Or was it just the top teams in the southern hemisphere? That's one thing that's kinda weird to me as a newb, it always seems to be the same teams playing each other. I remember one of the commentators saying during the World Cup mentioning the huge gap in talent between the top 8ish(?) teams and the rest of the field. Is it always the same top teams? Or are there any up-and-coming sides that people should look out for? I'm from the US, by birth, but living in Japan, so it'd be cool if the US or Japan could give some of these guys a run for their money. Or is that wishful thinking? I do remember Japan beating a top side (Wales?) recently, so maybe Japan?
Yeah, that first half decision to card Bismarck was crap!
But I like the way that the Bok management handled the entire affair. They need to put the result behind them and focus on the next 2 games. The championship is ours for the taking the way I see it. Considering that we played 50 minutes with only 14 players it was a fantastic effort to still only be 2 tries behind at the end.
With 15 players for the full 80, we should be able to beat the AB's in Ellispark.
Truth! After the red card we kept giving away possession which is dumb when you're a man down, but we did hold out better than I could have expected.
On a completely different note, MrDeVil909 you must be quite happy with what is happening in the Currie Cup. I believe you are a sharks man? Having beaten Griquas in Kimberley in not a mean feat considering that they are somewhat of a bogey team. For myself, I'll just sit here in the corner and mind my own business. My team is currently 2nd to last on the log...
Very happy with how things are going, I'm still not pleased with the first round loss to the Griquas, or the pretty sad capitulation to WP, but the win in Kimberly nearly makes up for it.
So you're a Bulls fan? *side eyes* It's okay, I won't hold it against you. :p They are having a rough competition, but they'll bounce back like they always do.
Watched the most recent game between the Boks and AB's (MrDeVil909 can attest to my annoying tweets!). Tough loss for the Boks. Even for this rugby newb (never played, don't understand a lot of the rules, but love watching the games) I could tell that first half yellow was a crap call.
Did the Rugby Championship have a qualifying round? Or was it just the top teams in the southern hemisphere? That's one thing that's kinda weird to me as a newb, it always seems to be the same teams playing each other. I remember one of the commentators saying during the World Cup mentioning the huge gap in talent between the top 8ish(?) teams and the rest of the field. Is it always the same top teams? Or are there any up-and-coming sides that people should look out for? I'm from the US, by birth, but living in Japan, so it'd be cool if the US or Japan could give some of these guys a run for their money. Or is that wishful thinking? I do remember Japan beating a top side (Wales?) recently, so maybe Japan?
I loved your tweets, it's nice to see a convert.
There are two international annual competitions, the 6 Nations in Europe and the Rugby Championship in the Southern Hemisphere. Most commenters will tell you that those 10 teams are the 10 Test rated sides, although Italy in Europe and Argentina here are relatively weaker sides. Argentina is a new addition here since last year and Italy a relatively recent addition to the 6 nations.
The IRB is making a concerted effort to grow the sport in other territories, especially the Pacific Islands who provide a lot of the NZ and Aussie playerbase as well as Japan because there is a lot of money there. Japan used to be the whipping boy side in the World Cup, but they are improving slowly. The US and Canada do occasionally put in solid performances too.
It's tough to catch up to countries with over a century of tradition and mature training structures though.
Wobblies in Cape Town this weekend after another dickhead was ejected from the group. This could be ugly.
And Jake White quits coaching the Brumbies because he missed out on the Wobblies job. A great week for Australian rugby. /sarcasm
I'm pretty shocked by the Jake White thing. I don't think he would have taken the Brumbies job on the expectation of becoming th Aussie coach, so quitting because he didn't get it seems,... Weird.
Pure speculation, John Smit, White's good friend and Bok captain under him is now president of the Sharks back in SA and the current coach seems like an odd choice, maybe he is a stopgap until they can get White in.
I'm sad for the Brumbies and Aus rugby in general, i think White would have been a good influence and gotten them away from this touch rugby nonsense they play.
Australia has never had the forwards to play anything else tbh. When the Wobblies have been the best in the world it's due to having a great defence, solid set-pieces and first class backs. Right now none of those things are working for us.
The press here is quoting Brumbies officials and claiming that Jake White really only wanted to coach an international team and saw them as a stepping stone to the Wobblies job. With that door apparently shut he walked. It's disappointing but probably for the best if that's really how he felt.
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