Tri Nations 2009

The squad has been announced this morning:

John Afoa - Auckland
Jimmy Cowan - Southland
Wyatt Crockett - Canterbury
Aled de Malmanche - Waikato
Stephen Donald - Waikato
Jason Eaton - Taranaki
Bryn Evans - Hawke's Bay
Owen Franks - Canterbury
Hosea Gear - Wellington
Andrew Hore - Taranaki
Cory Jane - Wellington
Jerome Kaino - Auckland
Tanerau Latimer - Bay of Plenty
Brendon Leonard - Waikato
Luke McAlister - North Harbour
Richie McCaw - Canterbury (Captain)
Keven Mealamu - Auckland
Mils Muliaina - Waikato
Ma'a Nonu - Wellington
Kieran Read - Canterbury
Josevata Rokocoko - Auckland
Isaac Ross - Canterbury
Sitiveni Sivivatu - Waikato
Conrad Smith - Wellington
Rodney So'oialo - Wellington
Brad Thorn - Canterbury
Isaia Toeava - Auckland
Neemia Tialata - Wellington
Piri Weepu - Wellington
Tony Woodcock - North Harbour

This is what I don't get - they pick Toeava and he is not expected to appear in the first three matches, because of the stress fracture. As a cover (for all positions) Henry is bringing in four players from Juniors: Tamati Ellison, Stephen Brett and Anthony Tuitavake. Why not name Tuitavake or Ellison instead of Toeava is beyond me.

Rokocoko again makes the team, when clearly he was pretty shit in the build up games. Why not give that place to Masaga? Although I'm pretty happy for Sivivatu and Gear to be back in the squad.

I missed the forth cover player, Ben Franks.

Rokocoko and Toeva must be almost on their last chance by now surely.

I can't see us winning too many of these games with MacAllister/Donald at 2nd 5.. why not give Weepu a go there? Can't be any worse, surely..

Anyway, Australia will be the team to watch imo. Killer backline and they're blatantly the most organised of the 3 teams. Worryingly they're starting to resemble the highly structured Crusaders teams of old, although we all knew that was inevitable.

sorry, Donald/MacAllister at 1st 5 obviously..

have watched a bit of test rugby this year, and def think we look way behind SA and Aus in most areas.

We're going to get a whipping from both SA and AUS.

-Henry had Weepu play #10 for the Hurricanes this seasion yet didn't give him a run in the first three games???


-Cowan/Rocobooboo/Donald and 'Tits for hands' Toeava still in the squad??

I think thats probably a good thing. The inherent All Black and NZ rugby arrogance needs to be taken down a notch. It will also show Graham Henry up to be a good coach of good teams, but a terrible coach when he actually has to do some coaching, and create a unit from nothing. Hopefully as well this season will open the door for overseas players to be available for selection. I will start watching rugby again once these things happen, and NZ rugby gets its head out of arse.

My Picks:

New Zealand v Australia, Auckland - NZ WIN
South Africa v New Zealand, Bloemfontein, NZ WIN
South Africa v New Zealand, Durban, SA WIN
South Africa v Australia, Cape Town, AUS WIN
Australia v New Zealand, Sydney, AUS WIN
Australia v South Africa, Perth, AUS WIN
Australia v South Africa, Brisbane, AUS WIN
New Zealand v South Africa, Hamilton, NZ WIN
New Zealand v Australia, Wellington, AUS WIN

Oops, that should be a South African win in Perth!

So, I think we'll be massively improved with McCaw and the Aussies will be surprised in Auckland in two weeks.

We'll go to SA on a roll and win the first match before losing badly in the second.

The Aussies will ambush the Bok's in Capetown and from there grow in confidence, beat NZ at home in Sydney and the next two games could go either way, though i am picking a win apiece - I think the Aussies will lose a massive clash with South Africa in Perth, but they'll win the next game in Brisbane though, as the travel takes it's toll on the Boks.

A desperate All Blacks side with two weeks off and thus injury free compared to the battered Springboks will win in the Tron.

So by my calculation that makes NZ 3, AUS 3, SA 2 making the final game in the Wellington the Tri-Nations decider, and they'll score a good win leaving NZ fans in dispair at the clearly inferior 2009 Tri-Series All Blacks.

Or, you could look at the Boks being more prepared, both physically and mentally.

Jason, agree.

Pfaff! What a pair of defeatist turncoats you two are!

When it comes to rugby, we never need to be taken down a notch on anything, ever. I say thrash everyone all the time then humiliate them with lofty and condescending advice on how they can do better.

Arrogance is what makes the All Black's the greatest winning international team bar none, it's worth six points before we even kick off.

Because we are in such a pickle with obvious lack of depth due to injuries and a poor performing options at first five just now we are blind to glaring deficiencies of the other teams in the Tri-Nations.

The Lion's would have lost to all the Tri-Nations countries. The Bok's worked their "A" team to a frenzied peak for the first two tests and the Lion's series showed they've got zero depth on the bench. De Villiers is not a coach, and he is up against to two REALLY good coaches in Henry and Deans. Remember, the Bull's players also peaked when won the Super 14. A lot of them will be carrying injuries/running on empty by the tri-series, and like I said - there isn't much on the bench.

Despite all the cocky Aussie hype, they are only strong in a few positions and they've got a lot of "pick and hope" still going on in selection. One or two injuries and a bit of pressure and they'll fall apart. I think they might just shade the All Black's, but only because I tend to think that Henry out thought a rookie (at international level) Deans last year and this it is Dean's turn.

Remember, of the three teams on display in the early matches the All Blacks are the ones who have the most scope for large improvements. Our weakest position is first five but McAlistair is an outsanding and proven international player, his early All Black form is a startling indicator of how low the standard is in British club rugby, not of how poor he has become. He'll improve HEAPS.

I think most of us are realists fishy.

I'm all for you being enthused by AB's performances. But unlike you, I'd rather be a little bit pessimistic about the upcoming Tri Nations and hopefully be pleasantly suprised by their performance.

My pessimism tho comes from atrocious AB's performances and lack of depth. Both SA and AUS showed better form and most definitely have depth across the park.

You people think the sky is falling

The team was 80% the same when it smashed all before it from 2004-2008 (bar the RWC)

Form = temporary
class = permanent

What matters most to you vadz? Having the silverware or being all round good all the time until it matters and then you choke?

Just asking.

fish_boy you do talk some shit. If you think the SA squad has no depth then you are more dillusional then what we all thought. PVD is a massive downfall for the boks at the moment thats about the only thing thats going wrong for them.

I don't know what Henry has against Weepu tbh. Not taking him to WC was the biggest mistake.

Cowan and Donald - I'm assuming due to the lack of experience/depth these guys got in.

Toeava - fuck knows tbh. As I've mentioned before he will miss the first 3 games due to an injury.

Come on, the Springboks almost lost the first test when they subbed too many of the A-Team to early in the first test. De Villiers was heavily criticised for it.

When the Bok's ran out with several second stringers in the third test, they did lose.

Your view on how weak the Lions were is pretty dim btw, they played some excellent rugby and would destroy the AB's.

Like I said before, the problem is the coach and there is just no doubt about it. If he did a proper substitution like you do in Test we would have rolled them even further in the 3rd Test.

3rd Test just looked like the guys didn't care to play. It was a bit rough on the new guys but they are good ... fuck they just won a Super 14 with the Bulls.

We want Heyneke Meyer.

TRI NATIONS TITLES


All Blacks 9

Wallabies 2

Springboks 2


Im leaning towards fishboys and vadz's arguement here, jeepers we're not THAT bad

WORLD CUPS

South Africa 2

Australia 2

All Black 1

I dont think that (1) deserves to be there, since the Boks didnt play in it


However...we are not talking about the world cup, where luck is a far higher factor.

They had a guy at #10 who wouldn't make a club second XV in NZ

Hell no.

They'd give us a good run for sure, but against our 3N squad and in NZ, no way imo.

Brett's been training at 1st 5/8... Slade fucking outplayed him for Juniors. WTF HENRY???!!! Why not give Weepu a chance at 10??

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10583550

Or, maybe Henry has aspirations to run that backline himself....

Henry, Smith and Hansen are a bunch of clowns. Weepu has never been in favour with them, perhaps it was an attitude thing in 2007 but we had depth then. He's the best man for the job right now so they should get over it.

I reckon he should be at 1st 5 regardless of the fitness of MacAllister or Donald. Lukey-Mac should have always just been listed to play off the bench at 12. IMO anyway.

Next weekend - great to have our loosies back (we'll be a much better side for it) but Australia have the better backs and will look to their kicking game in order to dominate us in territory.

Fully agree.

If our forwards step up, their back wont get the ball.

Predictions????

We have an absolute mess at a pivotal position....

The backline still hasn't strung a half-decent game together


I am picking Australia to take this out


/negative Nancy


:>

True I over reacted a little there.

I think SA will do OK. Yes I do say I hope they get wasted and that PVD will have to pack his bags and walk but lets be serious ... its never going to happen. There will be so much politcal bullshit going on in SA its not even funny.

We def have the team to win this and do it with ease. Do we have to coaching staff to help them? hell no.

SA will win all their home games, perhaps stuggle in Aus but they will win one game here in NZ.

They had better not! I paid far to much money for my tickets, and I've never been at a losing All Black's test.

I'll riot I tells ya!!!

I see Chris Jack is doing well for the WP back in the RSA.

ABs don't lose at Eden Park so I'm confident we'll win the first game, provided the referee has a fucking clue at scrum time and pings the Aussies for engaging early. I'm picking SA to take the Tri Nations though as they have the total package, we have a good forward pack and average looking backline, whereas Aussie have a good backline and average forwards.

Aussie team for the weekend:

15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Stirling Mortlock (captain), 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Luke Burgess; 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith, 6 Richard Brown/, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 James Horwill, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson. Reserves: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Dean Mumm 19 Phil Waugh, 20 David Pocock, 21 Will Genia, 22 James O'Connor.

No suprises there really.

AB's team:

ALL BLACKS: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Rodney So’oialo, 7 Richie McCaw - captain, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Isaac Ross, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock. Reserves: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Owen Franks, 18 Jason Eaton, 19 Kieran Read, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Luke McAlister, 22 Josevata Rokocoko.

Well, Donald gets another chance... Mostlikely his last imo. Weepu gets left on the bench again. The only reason behind it I can think of is that Henry sees Weepu as an impact player. Either that, or Henry really dislikes him.

ABs will be lucky to get inside 20 if they continue to play as they have been.



gc.

Urgh please don't let Australia win but seriously I can see Aussie put a 12+ margin on this team.

They won't. Our team is shitloads stronger than it has been all year with the return of Richie McCaw (as well as Soliolo, Sivivatu and others). Remember what happened when Richie returned last year?

This Aussie team is slick but the question is whether they're tough enough yet to break history at Eden Park. They haven't won there in 23 years and it's looking to be a grim, wet night...

Already given up history this year. No reason we can't do it again to the best coach in the world.



gc.

The fact that Wayne Smith felt obliged to defend Donald today in the media speaks volumes for how little faith anyone actually has in the guy. He is a good- very good - Super 14 player but he can't step up the level. I am amazed they are persisting with him. He will not get any better and he is not the class successor to Carter. Personally, I'd dump him, go with Weepu and McAlistair, and Aaron Cruden into the training squad with a view to taking him to the Northern Hemisphere in November.

Donald will lose us this game.

Apart from the mistake with Donald and the injuries to Carter and Ali Williams, this is our strongest team. It is also getting old and some key players are starting to struggle with injury. If it loses then serious questions have to be asked about the amount of games the All Blacks are playing (i.e. the NZRFU is killing the golden goose) and the succession management of the coaching panel.

Succession planning is difficult when your best players keep fucking off to Europe...

Like?

There was only one way for AB's to win this game, through forwards. And oh my they did. Kaino in particular had a colossal game. Obviously lineouts must be fixed before they play Boks, or we will get a whipping.

Donald stepped up. After tonight's performance I believe it will be difficult for McAlister to break into the team, unless there will be injuries.

Well done All Blacks!

Care to eat your words? He is our best option at first give right now. Sure, Carter is better, but who is better than Carter?

Donald was superb. Almost set up a halftime lead with that break.

Haters like fishy should fuck off and watch Hawkes Bay club rugby. They might nderstand it.

Kicked well, tackled well, couple of wobbly passes but the Wallabies were offside already!

I was actually at the game and watched the 8-9-10 carefully. My obervations did nothing to change my view that Donald isn't up to it as an international first five eight. He is a form and confidence player who relies on those around him to give the extra time and space his lack of class needs.

BTW - I see Hawkes Bay is seriously considering making a bid for the extra Super 15 franchise. My spies tell me they've got a MASSIVE sponsor lined up, they've got the fan base and they've got plans to increase their stadium to 20,000 if they win the bid.

On the game in general, seeing it live makes a huge difference to your appreciation of the game compared to seeing it on telly. The All Blacks still look very brittle, they always look like they are teetering on one swerve or change of angle from conceding forty points.

We were lucky the Aussie butchered two try scoring opportunites in the first half - like i've said before they are not as good as they think they are and we allow our worship of Deans to blind us to the fact that outside a few (mostly aging) stars they've not got much talent.

But I was also HUGELY encouraged by the All Blacks. Once again, like I've said before we are the team with the most scope for improvement. This lot are far from a vintage All Black team, but they've got a real special determination that masks a lot of their current deficiences. I was pleased to see though that at last, there seems to be some talent emerging. Owen Franks was fabulous, Tialata is on borrowed time. Reed was outstanding. Issac Ross has huge talent and will be our best lock by 2011. Watching the game live has changed my views of Weepu, I didn't rate him but watching him in the flesh transformed my opinion. Why he doesn't start as our number one halfback is a mystery to me. Same with Conrad Smith - I didn't rate him until I saw his general play. now i think he is great. Conversely, Nonu has lost his explosiveness and is oh-so predictable. Drop him and give McAlistair a go. Cory Jane's positional game is faultless and my, that Sivivatu is elusive!

If Aaron Cruden come on well in the Air NZ Cup then we can drop Donald and take him as Carter's understudy on the end of year tour and things shall be building nicely for 2011.

And you can't use enough adjectives to describe Richie McCaw. The guy is fucking amazing. When he retires he should be put out to stud to service as many maidens as possible.

Now that senior players like Soialo and McCaw are back in team, Donald's inadequacies are sufficiently masked to move him from being an active liability to merely lucky to be there. I am still skeptical though that he is better than McAlistair.

Donald was FAR from superb.....


@ Fishboy.......

Yeah lets Trade Nonu for McAlister

What did Nonu bring to the test match apart of an entirely one dimensional game that was easily read and snuffed out? He can't - or won't - kick which allowed two or three Aussies to charge at the Brittle Donald as soon as he got the ball. We need another kicker to bring more options.

You could see that on TV - was very obvious the Kiwis had bad defensive patterns and couldn't cope with the Aussies running screens

A simple rule change would even things up: if you run decoys in front of the ball carrier, defenders can blow those decoys up. And the decoys cannot initiate contact. The first few times you see decoys get shoulder charged, the tactic will disappear

One dimensional????

He played fairly well, he was all over the park.

He made a ball and all tackle on the Fullback and created a massive turnover.........

He got passed some terrible ball, one he couldn't drag in as it was two feet above his head.

It is like having an extra loosie on the park at times, he prays on players tackled out wide and often turns the ball over...

The backline weren't really firing as a whole, it was one of those games.


DONALD- quit it with your fucking pointless chipkicks... he almost gifted a try to the Aussies, just lucky for us they butchered it.

I agree with Lazydog about Donald. He wasn't superb. He stepped up. Two different things.

Like I said before, good luck to McAlister getting in the first 15, either at 10 or 12, unless Donal or Nonu get injured.

Nonu is one dimensional... he can put in hits but he's always been a hog with the ball and it's become predictable that he'll always try to breach the line on his own.. which is why he gets shut down everytime. On a hard fast track against the Boks I'd favour McAllister for sure as we could do with someone with a boot and genuine attacking flair to cut through their defence

Anways... pretty mean test match! Close game as expected. Our forwards and subs were the difference. Mealamu and Weepu were awesome off the bench. Eden Park is still a fortress

Now the ELV's are history, I just don't think the rules suit Nonu.

I've always thought it was odd that players get penalised for smashing the decoys, surely the fact they are a decoy means they are trying to deceive the defense into tackling them instead of the ball carrier... Thus if a decoy gets tackled it's a successful play by the offensive? Also I think one of the most bizarre rules is when a player throws a dummy, the guy he dummies to get tackled, then the defense get penalised for taking out the support? Ummm...

Boks side for this weekend:

15 Frans Steyn, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Heinrich Brussow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 John Smit (c), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Beast Mtawarira.


Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Danie Rossouw, 19 Ryan Kankowski, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Morne Steyn, 22 Wynand Olivier

On paper this team is unstopable, in reality ... yeah lets see. Boks by 10.

Another great looking side!

It's an afternoon game and the ball will be dry- AB's will finally get a chance to play an attacking game.


Saffa's 12-

Doesnt look unstoppable at all, looks weak @ 10, 6 and 7 for a start. And dont even get me started on that bench. Chiliboy? His game is about as ridiculous as his name


And thats not even to mention the coach who qoutes from the bible and clearly has a race chip on his shoulder

AB's by 14

Would you like to put some money on that?

(remembers he still owes Yak some gambling money)

Also Heinrich Brussow shat ALL OVER the Lions and will be all over Richie stealing his balls. One more season and he will be taking Schalk Burgers postion.

Yet he can't even beat out Juan Smith?

racist

You should be a selector

wtf? he is new you dick.

If we can match the Boks physicality we can definitely win this, they barely scraped past the Lions FFS.

C'mon boys!

NZ team for the weekend:

All Blacks: Mils Muliaina, Joe Rokocoko, Conrad Smith, Ma'a Nonu, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Stephen Donald, Brendon Leonard, Rodney So'oialo, Richie McCaw, Jerome Kaino, Isaac Ross, Brad Thorn, Neemia Tialata, Andrew Hore, Tony Woodcock. Reserves: Keven Mealamu, Owen Franks, Jason Eaton, Kieran Read, Piri Weepu, Luke McAlister, Cory Jane.

I'm glad to see Leonard back. Going to be a cracker of the game.

I am suprised to see Pienaar at 10. Although I don't like Steyn's style of playing at 10 (going back to other discussion, I think he is not creative enough), but he is an outstanding kicker and very consistent.

Happy to see Cowan is goneburger.

Big gamble playing Rockobooboo I believe

I guess he is going for someone who has been consistent... consistently not scoring tries that is. hehe Surely it makes more sense to bring Gear in.

Oh and I like seeing AB's going into the match as underdogs.

Hardly underdogs ... very mixed emotions coming from both sides.

zOmFG AweSome!!!!!!!!!!

Classic... Starting position to no spot in the team. Mini-Marshall gets the axe. So awesome. Especially since Donald is actually starting to play well in a black jersey despite the 'Cowan service'.

WOOHOOOOO



gc.

Leonard and Donald did well as a team in the S14 so they will do pretty well on Saturday I think. Cowan was always just going to be a plug until Leanard came back from injury and was never going to push Perri out of his bench spot. Well played Henry

You best be ready for an abusive phone call cunt!



gc.

Cowan is still in the mix, he was pretty good last week. Leonard is being played for the conditions.

Really looking forward to this game, could be a cracker.

Jaapies cheating like crazy at 34 minutes in
Ref is shit. Misses Habana ahead of kicker TWICE (I am willing to bet money on that), misses several knockons.

Not to mention the infringements around the rucks. Everytime a Jaapie hand is on ball coming back our way surely it's a deliberate knockon?

Well done to South Africa, at half time I was worried we'd get caned, but thankfully the goal kicking from SA was appalling in the first half. I don't know what Henry said at half time but it was obviously brilliant as we fought right to the end and if not for a misplaced pass could have won it. Well done to South Africa though, they absorbed the pressure and took their chance, I thought it was quite funny seeing Pienaar on the bench just after half time when he'd been subbed doing at epic facepalm though.

Apart from the fact that we sucked at lineout time and several handling errors, ref contributed to this loss.

Two crucial infringements refs called us on were turning points of the game:

1. Du Plessis tackling Mils in our ingoal while sitting on his arse ------> scrum 5 meters --------> saffas try.

2. Calling Conrad Smith off side, when he was miles behind the kicker (on the touchies advise) ------> penalty.

Both of those were momentum shifting infringements and basically fucked us.

Last ruck, when Eaton knocked on the ball (when we basically had them on the ropes), and straight after, Eaton entering the mall from the side (wtf????) were just giving Boks the opportunity to crawl out of their 22.

Pienaar should have never started the game. Although I've seen what this guy Morne Steyn lacks - defense. Unquestionable ability to kick tho. He's a fucking machine.

I'm very happy with how Donald is growing in his role. He is starting to run and his kicking was outstanding.

Some forwards stepped up again (Kaino and McCaw). I did not hear Thorne's name once during the game. So'oialo felt away in the second half also.

Leonard looked lost out there too

Yeah he did. I guess it could be because the breakdown was such mess...

I wonder what is Henry waiting for in regards to starting Weepu...

Another thing is that I think this was clearly the death of Rokocoko. It's time to bring Gear in.

The breakdown was a mess because jaapies kept reaching through he fucking ruck!!!!

Seriously... they're the new England

First game back

Once our forwards started to give him some clean ball he looked miles better in the 2nd half.

Weepu didnt look much better. Eaton just looked like a fuckin idiot red neck

blah blah blah ref this ref that

you guys are the new England cause you whinge so bloody much...

Hardly,the ref was a fucken shocker but like smf said to be there is just no one thats good out there anymore. It could have gone either way.

Roman you named 2 cases where you think the AB's got hard done by and might have changed the game. That might be the case but you forget we missed 4 penalty kicks, kicks that easily could have broken the AB's at 29-3 by now I would have thought that you would be smarter than to pull up ref errors as a defence on why you lost pretty lame.

Vadz you are a shocker seriously dude. We are just getting better around the ruck than cheating Richie

That game was horrible, very messy and I hardly think anyone stamps their auhority on it.

Durban game will be a cracker

What was up with all the South African subs being on the field in the goal in the build up to the first try? I would have thought they'd be some sort of rule against that? Obviously it had no effect on anything but I thought it was strange seeing about 3 or 4 or them in the in goal while the ball was still in play.

Missing penalty kicks can not be blamed on any third party. It's pretty straight forward. It just shows that Boks did not take those opportunities.

Getting more opportunities from the third party, at crucial stages of the game, is what I'm talking about.

If I don't count those 8 points, Boks would have still won. My point was not about losing the game because of the ref, as I have never said that. I said that he (ref) contributed to it. In fact I've also pointed out the fact that we sucked. Handling errors and abysmal lineouts. Nuff said.

He is a 'Professional' athlete.... how long would you like to give him to come right?


Numerous times he fired the ball straight at the Bok's

Now, I am not a coach of an international rugby team so I might be missing some sort of subtle tactical ploy here, but why would you say a player needs a "bit of run" after an injury break, and then make his "bit of a run" against the World Champions, who are at home, and at altitude where the lungs will really burn?

If Leonard needed a "bit of run" why didn't they leave him at home so he could get it playing for Waikato?

Or is his paycheck a bit different if he left out of the squad to recover?

jeez I hate it when you guys bleat about the ref when we comprehensively lose. I mean Wayne Barnes sure... but the safas looked the better team the whole game imo. ref had f*ck all to do with this loss

all you Cowan/Marshall haters be shamed. Jimmy was great at Eden Park and never should have dropped. Leonard cant even feed a scrum correctly ffs

Boks looked really good, AB's will have to improve out of sight next weekend to topple them

Just had a look at this again a couple of time and if you think that was not a penalty you are dreaming. Sitting on his ass or not does not matter where he was.

haha, just saw it on the news -- was well weird

it didn't even look like they were trying to get out of the field of play

Yeah not that weird really, what was weird is that they didnt move. If they showed the camera on the other goal area you would more than likely seen the AB's warming up. OFS stadium doesn't leave much space between sideline and seating so no space on the sides to warm up.

I didnt see the last 20 mins as I fell asleep, my comments ^^ about the u guys bleating about the ref etc need to be tempered by the fact I heard the score on the radio as 38-19...so closer than I realized

Agreed. When Peyton Manning came back from bursa sac surgey last year he took a few games to get right.

Meh so what the ref was shit. We played like a pack of cunts and deserved to lose by much more than we did. Stop bleating about the ref it's EMBARRASSING.

Our lineout has been a problem as long as I can remember, I just don't understand why we are so shit at lineout time. Poorly timed jumps, bad throws, inability to contest the opposition lineout effectively. It's fuck abysmal.

Poor defense still, we seem to be scrambling to cover holes at the moment. Had far more issues at ruck time in this match- obviously the Saffer loosies are way superior to the Aussies, but we seemed to infringe an awful lot.

No clearance from our own 22 as well? We seemed to want to run the ball almost all of the time. How on earth is that the right tactic in the high veldt? We didn't play for territory at all. We were playing 7s rugby at times, and it finally came back to haunt us at the death... When they scored what can only be termed as a 'South African special'.

Awful.



gc.

Are you serious?? He tackled Mils in the ingoal area, while sited on the ground. Mils ends up grounding the ball ingoal. Boks get a 5 meters scrum.

That should have been a penalty to AB's, not a scrum to Boks.