Ah, glad you made this thread Pandemona. I thought about making one a few weeks ago but I forgot. Would have been a shame not to have one for such a big event.
My first real experience with rugby was the '11 WC (I had just started school in Finland and happened to have an Australian classmate). Excited to watch this WC as I now have a much better understanding of the sport - even been to a few practices! One of the guys I coach am. football with has a rugby background (and currently plays for Finland's top club) so I've been getting more and more into the sport.
I had a brutal day yesterday and couldn't manage to stay up to watch the opener. I'm not really cheering for anyone so from a more technical/educational standpoint would the match be worth watching?
Anything with New Zealand in, they are the beautiful Rugby playing nation. Pass the ball fast, hit hard and make the game look rather easy in both attack and defense.
I'd like to watch this but it's not broadcasted here in Belgium. Any stream recommendations? I'm trying the ITV4 website but getting some errors there.
On September 20 2015 03:30 Laurens wrote: I'd like to watch this but it's not broadcasted here in Belgium. Any stream recommendations? I'm trying the ITV4 website but getting some errors there.
On September 20 2015 03:30 Laurens wrote: I'd like to watch this but it's not broadcasted here in Belgium. Any stream recommendations? I'm trying the ITV4 website but getting some errors there.
Japan's victory is the biggest exploit in Rugby victory. Looking for an equivalent in football would be pointless because upsets happen way more often in football. In rugby, when there is a clear skill difference, the better team wins. Always. This victory is amazing.
Also pretty good match from France, at least the second half, first was ugly. Very bad news for Huget though whose World Cup has ended already.
Aww our Americans lost to Samoa today, shame. The game of the day will by far be Argentina vs New Zealand and suggest you watch that if you want to get into Rugby Union.
On September 20 2015 23:15 Pandemona wrote: Aww our Americans lost to Samoa today, shame. The game of the day will by far be Argentina vs New Zealand and suggest you watch that if you want to get into Rugby Union.
Works out pretty well that I get to watch Union all afternoon and NFL all night
On September 21 2015 02:29 Laurens wrote: Don't know much about rugby yet, why was the Japan game allowed to go on until minute 84? Doesn't it end at 40/80 sharp?
On September 21 2015 02:42 Laurens wrote: oh, I thought they paused the clock during injuries etc?
Cheers
There is no injury time in rugby, when there is a long stop (injury, ref discussing with TMO, etc.) the clock is paused. However the game doesn't end at 80:00 precisely (like in soccer for example), but the "advantage" has to be played out.
So: - the game goes on until a fault is committed (pass forward, ball goes out, someone scores) - if I'm playing with an "advantage" (i.e. the opponents commit a fault while I'm playing so I would get a penalty in my favor) and I commit a fault (pass forward,...) the game restart from the penalty (so it can go longer than 80min even with multiple plays after the 80th minutes).
Note that you cannot voluntarily throw the ball outside of the field (to stop the game) unless you are kicking it out.
An epic example (Amazing Shane Williams...)
Here Wales transform the try and there are still 10 seconds to play, so the ref cannot stop the game, even if at the end the restart from Scotland happens already in over time.
P.s. the whole point of the game is to create a mismatch between attack and defense, where the attackers are more then the defenders (ideally you should always score/pass the defence, in a 3v2 or 2v1 situation), so having one or more players sin-binned (yellow card - 10min out) it's a big deal and almost always results in points for the team with more players
Wow I love the rugby world cup, so much rugby to watch..!!! :D :D :D
On September 21 2015 02:42 Laurens wrote: oh, I thought they paused the clock during injuries etc?
Cheers
The game is over when the ball goes out of the field - so they reached 80 and had still an action going on
It's actually over when time expires and the ball is dead (usually out of bounds or knocked on). You can take a quick tap with penalties but if you kick for touch or ask for a scrum it ends the game. Scrums can be reset (like in the Japan vs SA game) if the initial one was set in regulation.
Wow the Puma's can hold their head up high after that game. Great respect shown by both teams at the end. Now I'm going through rugby withdrawal... Why is there this funny 3 day break.
On September 21 2015 12:14 crc wrote: Wow the Puma's can hold their head up high after that game. Great respect shown by both teams at the end. Now I'm going through rugby withdrawal... Why is there this funny 3 day break.
On September 21 2015 02:42 Laurens wrote: oh, I thought they paused the clock during injuries etc?
Cheers
There is no injury time in rugby, when there is a long stop (injury, ref discussing with TMO, etc.) the clock is paused. However the game doesn't end at 80:00 precisely (like in soccer for example), but the "advantage" has to be played out.
So: - the game goes on until a fault is committed (pass forward, ball goes out, someone scores) - if I'm playing with an "advantage" (i.e. the opponents commit a fault while I'm playing so I would get a penalty in my favor) and I commit a fault (pass forward,...) the game restart from the penalty (so it can go longer than 80min even with multiple plays after the 80th minutes).
Note that you cannot voluntarily throw the ball outside of the field (to stop the game) unless you are kicking it out.
Here Wales transform the try and there are still 10 seconds to play, so the ref cannot stop the game, even if at the end the restart from Scotland happens already in over time.
P.s. the whole point of the game is to create a mismatch between attack and defense, where the attackers are more then the defenders (ideally you should always score/pass the defence, in a 3v2 or 2v1 situation), so having one or more players sin-binned (yellow card - 10min out) it's a big deal and almost always results in points for the team with more players
Wow I love the rugby world cup, so much rugby to watch..!!! :D :D :D
World Cup's schedule is awful. 5-team groups shouldn't exist. Japan has 2 matches to play in 4 days while Scotland had not played yet. Of course they're exhausted.
Not saying they would have won otherwise but it is a factor.
Indeed don't understand a 5 man group system. This is the first time with it right? They had previously had bigger pools but they did a bigger system before or something (can't remember fully)
Also add in say that rest period in a big group like the England Australia Wales group. You could find yourself playing vs Wales and Australia in the space of 4 days and the opponents playing once in 7. Could really mess it up. Oh well, they will learn fast
On September 24 2015 00:29 Pandemona wrote: Indeed don't understand a 5 man group system. This is the first time with it right? They had previously had bigger pools but they did a bigger system before or something (can't remember fully)
Also add in say that rest period in a big group like the England Australia Wales group. You could find yourself playing vs Wales and Australia in the space of 4 days and the opponents playing once in 7. Could really mess it up. Oh well, they will learn fast
No it has been 5-teams group since 2003. Before that it was 4 groups of 4 except 1999 where it was 5 groups of 4.
Ahhh i thought i read a change to it. Maybe it was from 5 to something else then and it hasn't been confirmed yet.
World Rugby boss Brett Gosper has said a future World Cup could enlarge the number of teams taking part without losing competitiveness. Both England 2015 and Japan 2019 will have 20 teams, but 2023 may be larger.
I'm not die-hard rugby fan, but in a year without a football world cup/european championship, the rugby world cup is just as good to watch (except that germany never qualifies).
From what I understand, while the smaller nations are those that suffer the most from short rest periods, they'd still happily have 5 teams in a group instead of 4: For most of them, it's the only opportunity in four years where they get to play big teams and/or get some attention for their sport at home. If there were just 4 teams in a group, we might have even more teams in the situation of uruguay, knowing they dont have a single winnable game in their entire tournament, which isnt exactly desirable either. Now why the schedules tend to benefit bigger teams is another matter. I just hope that scheduling wont be a deciding factor for the group positions this time, unlike (probably) in 2011 with wales/samoa.
On September 24 2015 02:10 Mafe wrote: I'm not die-hard rugby fan, but in a year without a football world cup/european championship, the rugby world cup is just as good to watch (except that germany never qualifies).
From what I understand, while the smaller nations are those that suffer the most from short rest periods, they'd still happily have 5 teams in a group instead of 4: For most of them, it's the only opportunity in four years where they get to play big teams and/or get some attention for their sport at home. If there were just 4 teams in a group, we might have even more teams in the situation of uruguay, knowing they dont have a single winnable game in their entire tournament, which isnt exactly desirable either. Now why the schedules tend to benefit bigger teams is another matter. I just hope that scheduling wont be a deciding factor for the group positions this time, unlike (probably) in 2011 with wales/samoa.
is there something uneven about the schedules or just the fact that bigger teams have a larger talent pool?
Today we have an other BIG match, England vs Wales.. ! I cheer for Wales, but I must say it would be sad to have England knocked out before quarterfinal since they are playing in England
On September 26 2015 20:52 VHbb wrote: Today we have an other BIG match, England vs Wales.. ! I cheer for Wales, but I must say it would be sad to have England knocked out before quarterfinal since they are playing in England
And Italy vs Canada, I hope no surprises here !!!
Also rooting for Wales, but I believe England will win because of all the injury problems Wales are having.
On September 28 2015 01:17 fbs wrote: Scotland ran in 5 tries 2nd half against USA for their bonus point. First half a bit dodgy.
Seems a bit of a trend, the lower tier teams playing great first half's and then falling apart the second half.
It's pretty common. A lot of the strength of the stronger teams is the depth of their bench.
And the physical preparation that give them a better strenght in the second half.
Lower tier team just go all out in the first half, then @50min into the game, they begin to be exhausted, so they begin to collapse, while higher tier team, thanks to their physical prep, are in better shape and can just score.
Getting worst and worst. I honestly think we have blown our chances now. Australia beat us heavily in the breakdown and most pundits agree that they are stronger at the breakdown. We lost to Wales due to that crap too. Gone of the days England used to have the best pack in the game
I hope we can pull off a win, the bonus point we got for the Wales game might be crucial too. Hope the Fijians upset them! Or at least deny them a bonus point win.
ye, sucks to be english in this tournament. I think I'm throwing my hat in with the Aussies, they looked pretty class as they dismantled us, and I gotta support someone !
Amazing game, even without any tries. Was rooting for the Welsh team, but it was a beautiful display of defense by Australia. Joubert is still a terrible referee though, there was like 10 fouls 10 meters from their lines from Australia, 9/10 refs would have given a penalty try. Still a fair result mind you, Aussies definitely deserver a win after such incredible resilience.
On October 11 2015 16:47 Scarecrow wrote: I reckon Ireland/France can knock off Argentina... other than that yeah SA, Aus and NZ should win comfortably
I think that none of the semifinals matches (and just a few of the quarter-finals) can be won *comfortably* by the southern hemisphere teams..
I would bet on Aus/NZ for the win, but I don't think they'll have an easy path to the finals..
On October 11 2015 16:47 Scarecrow wrote: I reckon Ireland/France can knock off Argentina... other than that yeah SA, Aus and NZ should win comfortably
I think that none of the semifinals matches (and just a few of the quarter-finals) can be won *comfortably* by the southern hemisphere teams..
I'm clearly not talking about the semis... So by 'a few' I assume you mean 2-3, I said 3. Not the biggest difference.
NZ should beat France barring a 2007 repeat and Aus is a huge favourite vs Scotland. SA ($1.28) vs an undermanned Wales ($3.70)... I assume that's the one you think will be close, but with the way SA are playing after that wake-up call vs Japan... I doubt it. Wales won their last meeting but they had a full squad and it was only their second win in 30 meetings.
Ireland's the favourite vs Argentina but not by much (injuries + an incoming suspension), that side of the bracket gives Aus a relatively easy run to the final (including a potential Grand Slam).
1 week ban only. The minimum sentence is 2 weeks. wtf World Rugby?
This world cup has been quite good in terms of playing quality, some nice games really, but in terms of disciplinary sanction, it's been terrible. As usual, it's justice from the powerful nations for the powerful nations.
O Brien takes 1 week for an obvious punch trying to hurt his opponent. Notice that the TMO didn't do anything, like for the first time in the world cup. In the mean time, Ryan Wilson from Scotland is allowed to get away with a yellow card while crushing his Samoan opponent head on the floor with his foot. That was a clear red card but if Samoa win this game, that would mean that maybe Japan would qualify instead of Scotland.
But if you're from a small nation... well you'd better try not to hurt your opponent, even when he does something stupid. Alesana Tuilagi got a 5 week ban because his Japanese opponent bended so well his head was waiting for Tuilagi's knee to collide with it.
This kind of so called justice has been going on like forever. It's about time they put an end to this. World Rugby should be named Tier1 rugby, it's clearly not going the right way to try to defend and develop small countries federations where rugby barely lives with a few pros and mostly amateurs.
As for the quarters, I'm hoping Wales, New-Zealand, Australia and Argentina go through. Best teams so far imo, at least most entertaining ones.
It was Pascal Papé, he clearly asked for it :p Only thing that I really see as injust was Japan calendar. With a less defavorable one they're would be great chances that they'd be in quarterfinals. Hope they'll make it next time
Yeah you play hearts out, beat South Africa (who since that day have looked VERY good). Then have to play the next hardest game against the 2nd toughest opponents in groups in their first game, 4 days later. Ouch
If Ireland wins against Argentina, he's still in. They can definitely win this quarter, it's quite open imo.
And if he gets to play in the semis, it's a fucking disgrace if you allow me to quote Drogba. Any Samoan would have got at least a 6 weeks ban for the same thing.
But yeah i thought they faced New Zealand oops. Yeah its a very winnable game for Ireland even with all their injuries. Pretty shocking if 1 week ban doesn't cover the semi finals as well which i also thought it did
NZ vs France: it's difficult to admit it, but I kind of hope for a big upset the story of these two teams clashing is just amazing (especially at the world cup!).. anyway I hope it will be a close match. If I had to bet, I would bet on the All Blacks, but maybe les bleus can make the miracle.. (p.s. ready to go to some pub here in Paris with my black AB shirt even if I'd like an upset I will *NEVER* admit that I wouldn't like France crushed by the mighty maori ahah)
SA vs Wales: I definitely support and cheer for the dragons, but I think it will be South Africa to advance to the semi-finals. I didn't see the Wales team and players for today, so I'm not sure ..
Pumas vs Ireland: this could probably be the most "balanced" game of the week-end, honestly I don't know whom I'd like to win.. Ireland is the one team from Europe that I could see make it to the finals, but on the other hand Argentina has an amazing team and plays an incredible rugby (plus, as an italian, the certainly feel more close than the irish ) If I had to predict the result, I would say Ireland by a small margin.
Aus vs Scotland: this is the only match for which I don't have too many doubts (hopefully I won't be wrong ahah). Go kangaroos!! :D
nothing like waking up early to watch haka videos before I play a match today, and knowing it's going to be a full day of watching rugby afterwards as well. Can't wait for the NZ/France game.
Wow. I mean, everybody knew we werent favorite, and I was the first to mock this French team, but this is quite... Ugly ? Beautiful from the all blacjs though, beautiful.
Saint-André deserves this stomp that represents very well his 4 years at the head of the French team. Bad results in 6 Nations (3 times 4th, 1 time 6th), bad results in test-matchs and awful World Cup. Congrats.
Getting rekted like that is pretty good if we can fix quite a few things like stopping the top 14 from being BPL like with not many potential french internationals and getting a decent skillset for everyone. Like all the NZ forwards have some individuals skills with the ball, when you look at your team it's pathetic.
I'm quite happy that England got rekted by their group because rivalry and stuff but this shit is so unfair, we're just a second tier nation at this point and it won't improve much if we don't fix our youth programms.
Kinda sad to see players like Dusautoir going out like that but PSA and his staff deserved it. Couldn't find a proper 9-10 pair in four years, couldn't get centres that can pass the ball and they couldn't find proper wings to play at WC level (yea Huget got injured but still). So guess what someday, when you play the top teams, you get EXPOSED like tonight.
Dulin at winger is a joke, Nakaitaci should be used for the 7's squad and Chouly is a club player not WC material at all. Also why pick Mas when he is clearly past his prime when you can get free xp on youger props like Atonio. Yea i know he kinda sucked vs Romania but did you see Mas vs Ireland ?
On a side note i still don't know if NZ is the favourite to win this even after their strong performance tonight. The Australians seemed soooo strong vs Wales and England and i'm fairly sure that both Wales and England were better than France.
On October 18 2015 05:53 sAsImre wrote: Getting rekted like that is pretty good if we can fix quite a few things like stopping the top 14 from being BPL like with not many potential french internationals and getting a decent skillset for everyone. Like all the NZ forwards have some individuals skills with the ball, when you look at your team it's pathetic.
I'm quite happy that England got rekted by their group because rivalry and stuff but this shit is so unfair, we're just a second tier nation at this point and it won't improve much if we don't fix our youth programms.
Meh i was sad to not see England getting out of the pool stage. It was definitly not the best English team ever but it was one of the most fun to watch.
They got ***** by their bad first row tbh + some bad choices vs Wales. I can't remember the last time i saw a good English prop. Probably Corbisiero pre-injury lol. I can't believe people on rugby forums always say that Cole and Marler are good. Every time i watch England they get rekt in the scrum. Their performance vs Australia was laughable.
Also i don't understand why they didn't pick Care at SH -.-
Really, i thought they would just manage to stay ahead until the end then Du preez comes in and ruins it all. This guy is great though, but it's the only south African i like. I mean, he manage to make his team win the 2007 world cup (it was a pretty weak one) with that stupid Butch(er) James as 5/8th, which means that he had to play well for 2. He's still leading his team pretty well these days, he's an all time great imo.
But damn it, i wanted so much this elusive NZ-Wales in knockout stages. Almost got it in final last world cup, that would have been awesome given that they were the 2 best teams of the tournament, but Warburton decided to be stupid. This time, they just couldn't resist until the very end, with their depleted squad. Injuries have taken a big toll on that team, it's just a shame.
Tonight, Carter was amazingly good. Picamoles was the only French guy playing ok, the rest was overwhelmed by th Ab just like they deserved. This team was a fraud and it was about time it got exposed. Good thing for the blacks is that instead of playing great in pool stages and running out of gas in knockouts, they seem to be on their way up as the world cup goes on so it's a good sign. They're still my favourite to win it all.
On October 18 2015 21:37 Pandemona wrote: How are Ireland even managing to lose to Argentina wtf xD
Oh i see Sanchez is 2nd highest point scorer in world cup, i see.
Because Argentina is good and Ireland got like 6+ injured players ?
I don't understand why some people still think that Argentina is T2 level lol. They are way better than France, Scotland etc...
looks pretty clear that we've a few T1 team (nz + aus/sa?) and a good bunch of T1.5 not far behind including Argentina, England, Wales and Ireland + the one you won't put in the T1. It's quite stacked and makes for a pretty good World Cup so far.
On October 18 2015 22:38 Boblion wrote: Yea it's more fun to watch than 2003, 2007 and 2011.
and the south is gonna do 4/4 in ro4 while I think the gap isn't that big. Injuries fucked Ireland and Wales since they got no depth :'(
Yea kinda sad for Ireland. Joe Schmidt did a lot of good work with them. Before 2011 we would pretty much always beat them (often with ease) but now they are the #1 team in Europe.
On October 18 2015 22:38 Boblion wrote: Yea it's more fun to watch than 2003, 2007 and 2011.
and the south is gonna do 4/4 in ro4 while I think the gap isn't that big. Injuries fucked Ireland and Wales since they got no depth :'(
Yea kinda sad for Ireland. Joe Schmidt did a lot of good work with them. Before 2011 we would pretty much always beat them (often with ease) but now they are the #1 team in Europe.
The funny thing is that this Ireland team is probably worse than a few years ago in terms of individual talent.
On October 18 2015 23:08 Boblion wrote: When i think that Scotland is the last team standing for Europe i kinda want to laugh. Cotter is a good coach but still...
On October 18 2015 22:38 Boblion wrote: Yea it's more fun to watch than 2003, 2007 and 2011.
and the south is gonna do 4/4 in ro4 while I think the gap isn't that big. Injuries fucked Ireland and Wales since they got no depth :'(
Yea kinda sad for Ireland. Joe Schmidt did a lot of good work with them. Before 2011 we would pretty much always beat them (often with ease) but now they are the #1 team in Europe.
The funny thing is that this Ireland team is probably worse than a few years ago in terms of individual talent.
On October 19 2015 00:48 Ultimo Hombre wrote: Foley has missed all his bloody conversions, we've scored 3 tries to Scotland's 1 and we're somehow still losing
He's really having the match of a lifetime. Go Scotland ! Great performance already.
Well well well... Today went almost as expected. At least winner wise.
Argentina did a great job and Ireland had to many injuries to match them.But even with Sexton, i'm not sure they would have done any better than this. There's a reason why the NZ-Argentina match was good, it's because Argentina plays well and they're certainly aiming high.
Australia won, but Scotland played their heart out. Of course they managed to stay in that game because Foley was having a bad day and the absence of Pocock was truly showing in the rucks. But they can certainly be very angry at Joubert, bad day at the office for him, how can anyone call that an intentional knock on, even consider giving a penalty try? The ball is getting right to his hand, is he supposed to let it go to his opponent? The yellow card implied try for the wallabies. Also, the penalty given when Genia intentionally sent the ball on the player getting back to his side is so so... there's no intention to play, he's getting out of the ruck, i can't see a bloody penalty. The last penalty, i didn't watch the end, but it seems controversial from what i read.
Many decisions that have a great impact on the final score, with such a little margin in the end, one could be unhappy in Scotland tonight...
I would have liked the upset, especially given that Scotland is really bad nowadays, so it would have been funny to see them getting further than any Euro team.
Now i hope for NZ>SA, Arg>Aus and then may the best team win.
Seen it. It's a penalty, or a scrum, it's really up to the ref. Scotland got reffed like a tier2 nation, that makes the difference. Nice from Cheika to implicitly admit that they got lucky on that escape.
On October 19 2015 13:39 RowdierBob wrote: Wow, northern hemisphere rugby really sucking.
?
France sucked but everyone would've expect that. Ireland with all the injuries and Obrien was fucked, Wales with all the injuries almost made it and Australia needed Joubert to beat freaking Scotland. 4/4 semis obviously but it's not like it was total obliteration.
On October 19 2015 13:39 RowdierBob wrote: Wow, northern hemisphere rugby really sucking.
?
France sucked but everyone would've expect that. Ireland with all the injuries and Obrien was fucked, Wales with all the injuries almost made it and Australia needed Joubert to beat freaking Scotland. 4/4 semis obviously but it's not like it was total obliteration.
Yeah, really can't fault Ireland, Wales or Scotland. England is the only sucking one
Couldn't even get a semi-finalist in their own backyard.
Wales and Ireland at least had some injuries but that shouldn't be an excuse. Aussies had two of their best out too. The north are losing ground to the south more and more.
But I guess everyone sucks in comparison to the All Blacks. This tourney is a doddle for them.
On October 19 2015 18:29 RowdierBob wrote: Couldn't even get a semi-finalist in their own backyard.
Wales and Ireland at least had some injuries but that shouldn't be an excuse. Aussies had two of their best out too. The north are losing ground to the south more and more.
But I guess everyone sucks in comparison to the All Blacks. This tourney is a doddle for them.
Wales and Ireland have 0 depth right now, if they get some of their major players injured they're 100% fucked. Scotland is like the laughing stock of the 6 nations alongside with Italy (and France :D). In most WC the northern countries are going to the semis by beating each other, beating a southern nation is always rare in the knock out stage.
On October 19 2015 01:42 corumjhaelen wrote: So who would have bet on scotland for saving northern hemisphere honor ^^ Naaaaah, penalty
Btw, could anybody explain why this was a penalty kick in the last minute ? Throw in, drop ball, what happened then ? I'm not firm at all in the finer part of the rules, so I wonder if it's always a penalty after losing the ball after throwin in or if I just missed something ? (and if yes, what?)
On October 19 2015 01:42 corumjhaelen wrote: So who would have bet on scotland for saving northern hemisphere honor ^^ Naaaaah, penalty
Btw, could anybody explain why this was a penalty kick in the last minute ? Throw in, drop ball, what happened then ? I'm not firm at all in the finer part of the rules, so I wonder if it's always a penalty after losing the ball after throwin in or if I just missed something ? (and if yes, what?)
When you throw the ball forward, it's a scrum. But when you throw the ball forward and you or a teammate catches it, it's a penalty. Except this time, the ball touched an australian player between the throw and the catch so it should have been a scrum, that's what the World Rugby stated today.
To be fair it was very hard to see and Joubert had to take the decision immediately as it was not a case where he could ask for the video.
I also would agree with that statement. Aussies played great until the Quarter Finals and went stupid. South Africa have the strongest forward line out of what was left. Aussies are a weaker version of New Zealand imo. However all will be revealed on Saturday!
The All Blacks should win but in a one-off game like this you never know.
Australia's probably the only team with an attacking game to worry the All Blacks but I'm not sure our defence will be good enough. I agree that we're an All Blacks-lite team.
Relatively poor match tonight. Argentina was missing some of its best players and it showed. Meanwhile, SA played an incredibly poor and uninspired game, but they were rock solid in defense and it was enough. They were just a better version of France but they were just as boring to watch. At least we didn't get the disgrace of seeing Habana beating Lomu's record.
Very hyped for tomorrow. I hope it's gonna be a great one, not like the last 2 finals that were very poor.
The thing I like most about this All Blacks squad is that they're actually all great role models for the next generation. Humility, hard work, sportsmanship, value in the old ways... I think that level of maturity is the biggest reason why we have back to back cups now.
Congratulations to the ABs. NZ had too much class and were deserved winners, a bunch of great players get the farewell they deserve. If you told me last year we would even make the finals I would have laughed, Cheika is a magician.
On November 01 2015 18:52 Plexa wrote: Woo! Go us!
The thing I like most about this All Blacks squad is that they're actually all great role models for the next generation. Humility, hard work, sportsmanship, value in the old ways... I think that level of maturity is the biggest reason why we have back to back cups now.
Eh, at the risk of turning this too political, their sucking up to John Key has actually soured my opinion on some of them a bit. (Not that any kiwi gives a toss what an australian thinks)
On November 01 2015 20:56 Ultimo Hombre wrote: Congratulations to the ABs. NZ had too much class and were deserved winners, a bunch of great players get the farewell they deserve. If you told me last year we would even make the finals I would have laughed, Cheika is a magician.
On November 01 2015 18:52 Plexa wrote: Woo! Go us!
The thing I like most about this All Blacks squad is that they're actually all great role models for the next generation. Humility, hard work, sportsmanship, value in the old ways... I think that level of maturity is the biggest reason why we have back to back cups now.
Eh, at the risk of turning this too political, their sucking up to John Key has actually soured my opinion on some of them a bit. (Not that any kiwi gives a toss what an australian thinks)
To be fair, it's probably more John Key trying to jump on the feelgood AB's bandwagon. I guess they can't exactly tell him to piss off.