Thread: 2015 Rugby Championship

The premier international competition begins tonight.
All Blacks V Argentina Paddy Power are giving the ABs 25 points.
Tomorrow Australia v Springboks. Paddy Power are giving the Wobblies 3 points...very interesting...I thought.

He did not score that try... Disgraceful decision by the off-screen ref that the on-field ref was shocked by and looked like he was gonna argue against...

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

He did not score that try.

WHAT TRY BETTY?

Or are you going to show your hatred of Aussies like Bobcock does to voice your off field position?

LOOK AT THE SCORE BOARD SON!

Originally Posted by Plan B

Good to see Argentina put some points on against the Blacks too.

the Argies are getting better each year and getting a team into the southern hemisphere super rugby will only make them better - I am looking forward to a few years hence when they will regularly give the northern hemisphere teams a flogging

Originally Posted by baldrick

I am looking forward to a few years hence when they will regularly give the northern hemisphere teams a flogging

It will come for sure

Originally Posted by Plan B

A lot of bad decisions this year being made by the video refs.

Bloody amazing...should just leave it to the refs on the field to stuff up

Now here is an article Bob and BB will like
Hansen's wobbly proves rolling maul an issue - Sport - NZ Herald News
Hansen's wobbly proves rolling maul an issue
Crikey. All it took was a couple of rolling Argentinian mauls and the rugby world is in uproar, as if no one had ever seen a pile of slowly moving bodies on a rugby field before.

Mild panic. That's what I sense out of the All Black camp. They've been rumbled, in more ways than one. Caught with their pants down. The coaches, who receive a lot of well-justified praise, can't get it right all the time, and in this case they haven't.

If the All Blacks had an Achilles heel, they needed to move heaven and earth not to expose it before the World Cup. They failed to defend at two lineouts which led to Pumas tries in Christchurch, and conceded more ground afterwards.
Coach Steve Hansen's claim that rolling mauls are "bloody boring", a blight on the game, is subjective for starters. The Argentinians certainly seemed to enjoy them.

Then he attacked the laws, and called for a change which would allow mauls to be pulled down, a little farcical considering the timing.
Hansen wasn't really speaking to the wider world of course. He was hoping to put a few seeds of something in the minds of the World Cup referees. But the relevant laws are not going to change before the World Cup, if ever, so it is still hard to know what Hansen is trying to achieve.

What he should have done was look the rest of the world in the eye, claimed the All Blacks maul was the best of them, that Owen Franks tears old cars apart with his bare hands for a hobby, and dared all-comers to try lineout drives at their peril. That's what men in black do. Richie McCaw took this more belligerent line, revealing how he loved being part of a thundering herd rumbling towards a tryline (although he may not have put it like that).

But wait, there is more, and it smacked of concerning desperation.
Hansen claimed: "You're not allowed to have a back move where someone runs along the front of everybody and doesn't let them tackle somebody, so have the same principles in a lineout."

Incorrect in my book. Rugby is rife with what is called the second man play in league. The ball is often passed behind a short wall of players who are there to impede and obscure defenders.

Yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I absolutely love watching a good rolling maul and it's far more exciting than those static pods dotted throughout rugby. Now, they are boring. With a big crowd in and everything on the line in a major test, the sight of behemoths wrestling in epic swirling combat is magnificent, not boring.

Agonising scrum contests and heaving mauls are what great test rugby can be about. They also serve another purpose, tiring out forwards and drawing players to one spot, leaving a few more gaps on congested fields.

If mauls can be collapsed then fewer maul defenders will be needed, leaving fewer gaps elsewhere. We'll get fewer mauls and more pods.

The maul, or the threat of it, helps dictate the shape of players and we don't want too many gazelles out there either. At the very least, these are arguments worth considering, rather than simply whining about the maul per se because cause and effect has tripped up a rugby rule change or two over the years.

As for even mentioning rule changes two months out from the World Cup, what a load of boring nonsense. Maybe Hansen had an off day, like his lineout. Or maybe it was mild panic."

I saw the Argie tries, they really embarrassed the ABs. I thought at the time just imagine what England would do to them. I thought much the same when the Samoans just helped themselves to the All Black ruck ball in Apia. I thought that either Hansen has got his selections seriously wrong or he has a cunning plan to show some secret method later.

The Kiwi press are compliant with the AB management, otherwise they get told to leave the table. Rattue isn't at the table so he can say what he likes. if Rattue can spot it , so can Stuart Lancaster. I reckon he will be wondering if he can believe what he saw.

^ yeah, they love 'em when they are doing it... A couple of Kiwi and Convict teams offered nothing else in the super 15s this year; I can't quite remember, was it the Brumbies and Chiefs?


Anyways, let's hope that the Convicts get a good beating this weekend (they will be without their usual dodgy assortment of video refs to gift them non-tries).

&, even more so, that the Bokks beat the CWBs to a pulp. Having said that, the Bokks made their mistakes 2 years ago when they starting bringing back old retired players instead of continuing to develop their wealth of young talent. As a result, a team that should have been challenging for this WC will be lucky to make the semis, imho.

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

yeah, they love 'em when they are doing i

The ABs have gone for the mobile game...Lancaster is trying to match that as well. If that is the case perhaps that is why they are prepared to ignore the maul. Neither the Samoans nor the Argies ever threatened the final score against the All Blacks...and the Springbok effort against the Wobblies was very weak. Interesting times ahead.

Originally Posted by Bruce Bayliss

the Springbok effort against the Wobblies was very weak.

The Convicts were even worse and only 'won' due to a beyond dubious decision by a video ref who I presume was a convict - terrible.

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

Originally Posted by Bruce Bayliss

the Springbok effort against the Wobblies was very weak.

The Convicts were even worse and only 'won' due to a beyond dubious decision by a video ref who I presume was a convict - terrible.

The ball only gas to touch a blade of grass.
And he was a kiwi....

Originally Posted by Necron99

The ball only gas to touch a blade of grass.

TRY!!!

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

The Convicts were even worse

Teams tend to take Rugby Championship form into the RWC.

South Africa 20 - All Blacks 27...some fantastic running tries in this match...England just would not have a show against either team on that form. A genuine test match.

Originally Posted by Bruce Bayliss

England just would not have a show against either team on that form.

Untrue. When they play this way which is very high risk they are very beatable by a well structured team with attacking penetration options.

The Kiwis are at their best when they play a structured game, lots of kicking and attacking at the right times (often from turnover ball). Sometimes, they get too loose, and that's when they are vulnerable. Also, uncontested scrums suits the Kiwis, the Bokks were very stupid to go that route; lost them the game...

34 to 9 for the Aussies over the Argies played in Argentina.

Scrappy win but now for the All Blacks.

Originally Posted by Loy Toy

Scrappy win

Not an easy place to win...and a long trip home...ABs will have to much for that rabble

Convicts are a much better team with Foley and Phipps. They could've lost that match if the shite old 9 and 10 had been playing...

The refs rigged the last World Cup, by red carding key players in good teams, ensuring the All Blacks won, thus avoiding riots in NZ
As corrupt as FIFA
Let's see the same again this time around, in this Rugby World Cup .

Originally Posted by wasabi

The refs rigged the last World Cup, by red carding key players in good teams, ensuring the All Blacks won, thus avoiding riots in NZ

WTF are you on?fermented wasabi?

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

uncontested scrums suits the Kiwis, the Bokks were very stupid to go that route; lost them the game...

That is the consensus here.

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

When they play this way which is very high risk they are very beatable by a well structured team with attacking penetration options.

They are playing at pace, so are the Boks, that requires fast forwards not hulking gym junkies...Lancaster knows that and is training his squad accordingly...so he disagrees with you BB...and his problem might be getting caught between...neither one nor the other.

Originally Posted by Bruce Bayliss

so he disagrees with you BB

He would thus be a fuking eejiot. England cannot beat NZ at their own game - the Kiwis play that way from nippers and all through their age groups and leagues, we do not! We need to dominate up front and keep your mobile forwards at the bottom of rucks for when we do choose to throw the ball out wide. We can score tries, a lot, but based on a more intensive forward game - hopefully Ben Morgan will be back to bash the ball up the centre close to the ruck...

Imagine playing the Convicts, we know we can beat them upfront then scores a few tries to finish them off. Why would we want to ignore that and play a running game against teams with better backs and better execution???

Very fair comment BB. All of it.I think that rolling maul stuff from Shag Hansen might have been kite flying for the referees. The Boks weren't a top selection but they didn't try the All Blacks on at the power game either...but jaysus their tries were just as good as The ABs.

The Bokks have got worse in the last couple of years. Their game, can beat anybody, so why they change to 7 style throwing it around, I just don't know. They kick better than other teams and have a great defence, so if they played in the right areas, ground teams down and only threw the ball out once they had created ample space then they'd be right up there. Their win ratio playing 7s style rugby, great though it may be to watch, is average at best.

You wait til you see the Irish at the WC, they have the best coach, and they will be boring to watch at times, plying to their strengths, but they will punch above their weight. England tried to play this new 7s style running game against them and got nowhere...

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

why they change to 7 style throwing it around

I disagree it is sevens style...it is hard running picking the right lines...a bit different to sevens when there are another 16 players running around.

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

You wait til you see the Irish at the WC, they have the best coach, and they will be boring to watch at times, plying to their strengths, but they will punch above their weight. England tried to play this new 7s style running game against them and got nowhere...

IMO the Irish have never been far off the pace...ever...they are tough and brave and have plenty of flair...the only thing they have lacked is self belief and consistency...I agree their Kiwi coach will have been working on that and it should actually be easy to fix.