Planet Rugby Forum

merlin the happy pig

I'd be putting Aki up due to him being involved in 4 out of our 5 wins over NZ rather than his performance against Romania myself. Aki would certainly make my 23. Not sure if he's better than Jordie or not. If Amua can't make the ABs, I am not sure Aki would either. Amua has real potential, if we m...

merlin the happy pig

Ted. wrote: ↑Sun Sep 17, 2023 5:58 am
Murdoch wrote: ↑Sun Sep 17, 2023 4:45 am Rowlands tackle against Fiji

https://twitter.com/FMC_Rugby/status/17 ... 1373107389

No penalty at all.

The Refs, TMOs, and the judiciary are all over the shop with this.
The PI teams in particular have been getting a shit deal from the refs for a long time.

merlin the happy pig

An Ireland friendly refereeing display helping them out.

merlin the happy pig

Winnie wrote: ↑Sat Sep 16, 2023 8:36 pm Could be pulled for truck and trailer

This, the player receiving the pass from the lineout was shielded by 2 of his own players.
Hate the refereeing of mauls.
ABs try against Namibia rubbed out for far less obvious obstruction

merlin the happy pig

I agree that people who believe in sky fairies are a bit loose in the head. Hard to blame the sky fairies though - they didn't do anything. They didn’t do anything, because they’re not real Yeah but what would they do if they were real? I'm sure fairies are not the fairies of fairy stories.

merlin the happy pig

What are you trying to say mate? Just come out and say it - do you think the world should allow Russia to invade its neighbours? I think Brand makes an excellent point. The strategy of the pharma lobby - greasing 2/3 of congressional campaigns , with the beneficiaries then voting through billions a...

merlin the happy pig

True Blue wrote: ↑Fri Sep 15, 2023 9:21 pm Clarke almost has too much bulk. Too many weights, not enough speed work

He lost his pace really quickly. Only a few years ago he was reasonably rapid

merlin the happy pig

Pakia Pakia wrote: ↑Fri Sep 15, 2023 8:23 pm That is so very rarely called. It should be called all the time but it isn't.

This, very strange to start calling it now.
Pisses me off no end, but I've given up trying to understand the mind of referees and works rugby

merlin the happy pig

I think Cane provides a point of difference to our other backrowers, most of whom are great at standing off and making eye catching runs. What we do seem to lack is guys who bury cvnts in their tracks, immediately get into the contest and win turnover ball. Cane offers plenty of value on that front...

merlin the happy pig

Grandpa wrote: ↑Wed Sep 13, 2023 8:11 pm
puku wrote: ↑Wed Sep 13, 2023 6:07 pm Shirely, May at 6.
Poor old Johnny May, he sounded sad on the radio.

Not falling for that one.
We are far too young and clever

merlin the happy pig

I see I'm not the only one thinking along these lines. From Jordie Barrett: "We found in our game there was only 27 minutes of ball in play, which was pretty crazy. In a match, we would like that number to be higher and bring some fatigue into the game and potentially reduce those water breaks so w...

merlin the happy pig

Bindi wrote: ↑Tue Sep 12, 2023 8:17 am Tupou.

/thread

Lineout specialist?

merlin the happy pig

I don’t know how “gassing” teams is meant to work with water breaks anyway. Yup. Whisper it, but last I checked, rugby is a game played in halves, not quarters. These water breaks significantly favour the bigger, power based teams rather than teams who rely on speed and fitness to tire their oppone...

merlin the happy pig

They hosted Italy last summer and got spanked. It was the week after Portugal almost beat Italy and the week before Georgia did beat them. They've been poor for the last 15 months or so. They were recently down 31-0 at home after 60 minutes against a USA team who hadn't played a test match in 9 mon...

merlin the happy pig

Lomax, frizell, Bbbr and Jordie alone would add a large amount of starch to the team. Better clean outs, bending the line and directness. That needs to be married with the right tactics. Then we need people on the bench that can actually make a difference. It shouldn't be as complicated as they mak...

merlin the happy pig

That Drua side will be the making of a new international XVs rugby superpower. Hopefully today’s game will give you good heart + confidence to take it to the other sides in the pool! Not sure who heard the commentator say by gee a lot of French clubs will be taking down these Fijian's player's name...

merlin the happy pig

Skiaddict wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2023 12:33 am
merlin the happy pig wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2023 12:11 am
CanNZ2000 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2023 12:01 am One lucky dude

https://x.com/osinttechnical/status/170 ... s1igZokqEQ
Holy sh1t!
You could be forgiven for getting all religious at that point
and requesting a new pair of drawers.

Brown ones would come in handy

merlin the happy pig

And hopefully at least one is fit for the quarters! Also think we need Jordie fit at 12. Yup and actually Lomax too because he's a better cleaner than any of the other tight heads. They need to be back and match fit. Retallick was under done in the last RWC. And ideally Foster gets Covid again the ...

merlin the happy pig

CanNZ2000 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2023 12:01 am One lucky dude

https://x.com/osinttechnical/status/170 ... s1igZokqEQ

Holy sh1t!
You could be forgiven for getting all religious at that point

merlin the happy pig

If you'll allow me to indulge for a second, I'm pretty sure that photo's from 2004, and what a Canterbury side that was: Daniel Carter, Scott Hamilton, Casey Laulala, Aaron Mauger, Caleb Ralph, Andrew Mehrtens, Justin Marshall, Sam Broomhall, Richie McCaw (captain), Reuben Thorne, Norm Maxwell, Chr...

merlin the happy pig

https://euromaidanpress.com/2023/09/09/abc-news-us-likely-to-send-long-range-atacms-missiles-to-ukraine-for-the-first-time/ So how long before they will get the ATACMS? Next spring? It really is frustrating. LIke all the other needed weapons, we know they will eventually arrive, just need to wait u...

merlin the happy pig

It's just one tax replacing another. I cannot see the point. EVs are not currently taxed at all, so there’s that, plus they’re not extending the exemption, with the ever increasing amount appearing on our roads this way is the fairest for all. Problem with RUC for all vehicles on an equal basis is ...

merlin the happy pig

To be honest, I would prefer the All Blacks to go all out for every game and lose world cups than any crafty nonsense. What was worrying yesterday was that the All Blacks looked thoroughly out of the match early in the second half. You rarely saw that before. Even if you beat the All Blacks off the...

merlin the happy pig

I think it interesting, and perhaps telling, that the Stuff ratings have Mo'unga a point higher than BB. I would rank them similar or even have BB a point higher (5 v 4). Mo'unga didn't steer the ship, missed kick(s) at goal and had one stand out piece of defense. The kicks at goal were not easy on...

merlin the happy pig

Nope. A blues supporter through & through. Jordan made some basic errors that cost him a yellow, however if you can point out to me at any stage where Barrett looked dangerous I'd appreciate it. And while we're on the subject Barrett better buy Richie a beer tonight as it was Barrett that got skimm...

merlin the happy pig

For the ABs, just show better skills at the basics. - Securing your own ball at rucks - Defending lineout drives - Chasing and jumping for up and unders. All these have been woeful, we might not win anything, but it would at least show they had awareness of their shortcomings and worked hard to fix ...

merlin the happy pig

What is amazing is that despite not playing well, the French scored close to 30 points. At the moment, their defense is leaky but they seem to always score at least 30 points. Agree with that, their defense had a lot of holes. The ABs didn't hold on to the ball long enough to exploit them. Kudos to...

merlin the happy pig

France 32 ABs 20
The ABs can still score great tries, but I don't expect that pack to match it with the French.
More learnings will be take on board no doubt

merlin the happy pig

Mr Mike wrote: ↑Thu Sep 07, 2023 9:43 pm
Whatever wrote: ↑Thu Sep 07, 2023 9:36 pm I fear some posters might not last beyond the pool stages; the pressure will be too much.
there are some cracks showing.

This is a Rugby site FFS, not a building site.
Some class please

merlin the happy pig

Forfeit the game

merlin the happy pig

Good to see posters getting this thread limbered up for the match against France. Not doing so pre the Twickenham match with the Boks suggested rank complacency had set in. :P Though TBH this game is mostly of importance to the psyche rather than getting a weaker opponent in the quarter final (unle...

merlin the happy pig

Team - like, basically best possible so just on the train - looking forward to it. Nawara - what happened? Just read the article that Nawara ruled out of RWC - back injury. Real shame. Replacement not announced - be good to see how FRa game goes before settling on replacement (like for like or othe...

merlin the happy pig

It's not gonna happen, but if Jordie is out, we should be smart enough to play horses for courses and select Fainga'anuku over Tele'a. It would be brutally unfair on Tele'a, who has done nothing wrong to be dropped, but it's the pragmatic play imo. As others have pointed out, a likely backline of T...

merlin the happy pig

He predicted the team v SA accurately... I'd rather Leicester or DMac on the bench... I think Nepo is picked because apparently he's the strongest scrummager in the squad... but can't catch and can't tackle... Is Nepo still the strongest scrummager, though? I'm not convinced he is, but it's the kin...

merlin the happy pig

If the referees and the TMOs are as pedantic and slow to make decisions as they have been in the lead up games it will favour teams that have power over teams that have aerobic fitness. SA/France/Ireland/NZ/England in that order. England are up there because they have an easy draw and a pedanticall...

merlin the happy pig

Haven't we just used that excuse after the Boks jammed it up the khyber? What excuse? We're only fourth in the world ATM, our depth is not great, but if we get pumped it doesn't matter much. 1st or second in the group is pretty much the same. my point was how many flush the dunnie moments should we...

merlin the happy pig

Pundits have really been taking a lot from that Boks game. I thought the All Blacks were truly woeful, most of their penalties and errors came about from mistimings, clumsiness and outright stupidity rather than any particular pressure from the Boks, in fact while it was 15 on 15 I think the Boks w...

merlin the happy pig

All Blacks ranked 4th which is fair. Minus Retallick, Frizzel, Lomax and now J Barrett. Three of those are miles ahead of their replacements in terms of physicality. This has all the makings of an embarrassment. Luckily it doesn't count for sh1t given the draw. A potential flush it down the dunnie ...

merlin the happy pig

All Blacks ranked 4th which is fair. Minus Retallick, Frizzel, Lomax and now J Barrett. Three of those are miles ahead of their replacements in terms of physicality. This has all the makings of an embarrassment. Luckily it doesn't count for sh1t given the draw. A potential flush it down the dunnie m...

merlin the happy pig

If the referees and the TMOs are as pedantic and slow to make decisions as they have been in the lead up games it will favour teams that have power over teams that have aerobic fitness. SA/France/Ireland/NZ/England in that order. England are up there because they have an easy draw and a pedantically...

Search found 2931 matches