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OZGOD

OZGOD

Senior Test Player
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For all types of rugby, be it club rugby either in the UK, France, SA, Aus or NZ, or provincial rugby like Super Rugby, Test competitions like the Six Nations or the Rugby Championship, or the upcoming Rugby World Cup, this is the thread to post in!

Useful links:

2015 World Cup - held in England in 2015
http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/index.html

Six Nations - England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The NH rugby championship.
http://www.rbs6nations.com/en/home.php

SANZAR Rugby Championship - Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The SH rugby championship
http://www.sanzarrugby.com/therugbychampionship/

Super Rugby - SH international provincial rugby
http://www.superxv.com/

Aviva Premiership - English domestic rugby
http://www.premiershiprugby.com/

Currie Cup - SA domestic rugby
http://www.rugbyweek.com/curriecup/

ITM Cup - NZ National Provincial rugby
http://www.itmcup.co.nz/
 
I knew you'd make this thread after last night :moyo
 
Let's start the thread off by celebrating an epic win from the NSW Waratahs over the seven time winners of Super Rugby the Canterbury Crusaders. 33-32 with a penalty goal from NSW flyhalf Bernard Foley with half a minute to go to put the Tahs up after they had fallen behind 32-30 four minutes earlier. Pulsating match where both sides had great opportunities to win but I felt NSW were the better team over the course of the match and also the season, having finished as minor premiers. Full credit to the Saders who never gave up and to Colin Slade who kept his side in the match after coming on for Dan Carter. First ever victory to NSW, go you beauties!! Should be a good Rugby Championship coming up after this.
 
Aman said:
I knew you'd make this thread after last night :moyo
Click to expand...

LOL I've been meaning to make it for a while, just never got around to it. Rugby deserves its own thread :D
 
OZGOD said:
LOL I've been meaning to make it for a while, just never got around to it. Rugby deserves its own thread :D
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I wanted to congratulate the Wallabies on winning the S15, congrats I guess.
 
Aman said:
I wanted to congratulate the Wallabies on winning the S15, congrats I guess.
Click to expand...

Haha well if NSW is strong usually the Wobblies are strong too. I have a lot of hopes for Bernard Foley I've been following him for a while and given he plays in a position I used to play in I reckon he shows pretty good judgment.

The Brumbies did ok as well, we should be in decent shape for the TRC. The big question marks as always will be our performance whilst travelling, both to NZ and SA. Bledisloe this year might be a bridge too far but we should put up a decent showing.
 
OZGOD said:
Haha well if NSW is strong usually the Wobblies are strong too. I have a lot of hopes for Bernard Foley I've been following him for a while and given he plays in a position I used to play in I reckon he shows pretty good judgment.

The Brumbies did ok as well, we should be in decent shape for the TRC. The big question marks as always will be our performance whilst travelling, both to NZ and SA. Bledisloe this year might be a bridge too far but we should put up a decent showing.
Click to expand...
The Waratahs were brilliant last night, they deserved to win, the Crusaders were under the pump from the get go. I knew the Crusaders were going to lose the moment they chose to take a shot with plenty of time still left on the clock, it just always seems to happen, I would have preferred it if they should have played on a bit and winded down the clock and sealed it with a try or a late penalty. But they would have been murdered by papers if they messed up and the Tahs held on.

Beale and Foley should be your 10 and 12 for the first Test, it should be a belter of a game with a world record on the line to add to the already intriguing clash. I just hope your lot show up, we need some competition :D
 
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Aman said:
The Waratahs were brilliant last night, they deserved to win, the Crusaders were under the pump from the get go. I knew the Crusaders were going to lose the moment they chose to take a shot with plenty of time still left on the clock, it just always seems to happen, I would have preferred it if they should have played on a bit and winded down the clock and sealed it with a try or a late penalty. But they would have been murdered by papers if they messed up and the Tahs held on.

Beale and Foley should be your 10 and 12 for the first Test, it should be a belter of a game with a world record on the line to add to the already intriguing clash. I just hope your lot show up, we need some competition :D
Click to expand...

I think taking the shot was the right decision. What happened was that Heinz kicked the ball away afterwards which allowed the Tahs to put phases together. With 3 minutes to go you would trust the Saders to not lose possession and just wound down the clock. Kicking the ball away gave the Tahs chance to get field position. I'm sure Blackadder would have ripped his hair out when Heinz kicked the ball away.
 
OZGOD said:
I think taking the shot was the right decision. What happened was that Heinz kicked the ball away afterwards which allowed the Tahs to put phases together. With 3 minutes to go you would trust the Saders to not lose possession and just wound down the clock. Kicking the ball away gave the Tahs chance to get field position. I'm sure Blackadder would have ripped his hair out when Heinz kicked the ball away.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that too out on the full, probably should have kept Andy out there :facepalm:

I don't know, just had a gut feeling that the Tahs were always going to get a shot to win it if they took the shot then.
 
Sharks got hammered badly and i lost all interest after.
It was a thrilling final though.

(And this thread should be about Rugby UNiON, not the other rubbish such as the 7's or league)
[MENTION=132954]Aman[/MENTION] the championship is about to start and the world cup is next year. Someone must be quaking in his boots.
 
[MENTION=132982]soso_killer[/MENTION] we're going to win, like we always do :))
 
Aman said:
[MENTION=132982]soso_killer[/MENTION] we're going to win, like we always do :))
Click to expand...
Not the world cup though.
That's ours, pretty weak in the neck area your boys.
I thought france could have won the final in NZ.
Had you plated against a tactical kicking side like SA/Eng you would have lost.
"Running rugby" does not do in big matches hence your ratio of success in WC will always be poor.
It will be interesting to see were you guys stand after Carter retires coz your conversion rate will drop drasticaly. You're not going to score 5 tries in the final
 
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soso_killer said:
Not the world cup though.
That's ours, pretty weak in the neck area.
I thought france could have won the final in NZ.
Had you plated against a tactical kicking side like SA/Eng you would have lost.
"Running rugby" does not do in big matches hence your ratio of success in WC will always be poor.
It will be interesting to se were you guys stand after Carter retires coz your conversion rate will drop drasticaly. You're not going to score 5 tries in the final
Click to expand...
You're right about running rugby not working out in the WC in the past, but this team can grind it out with the best too. Life will be tough without Carter, and he may not even play next year, quite a few think he should retire and let Barrett and Cruden prepare for the WC, but I don't know, I think he still wants to 'win' a world cup as part of the playing 22.
 
Looks like the wallabies have gone with Beale at first five, interesting choice.

I thought Foley would have got the nod there and Beale at second, but whatever, it won't change a thing :p
 
This selection is a disaster. Link does some off the wall stuff based on hunches but this one is doomed to fail. Beale is a good player and a gamebreaker but he hasn't played flyhalf in a year, and has never played with Nic White and Toomua. They probably went with Toomua for his defence in that channel but where will Beale defend? He usually defends on the wing when he plays inside centre for the Tahs. If I were McCaw and Read I would be running straight at him every time the ABs have the ball. And none of them can kick the ball for a goal worth a damn. Should have been Foley at flyhalf and Toomua outside him with Beale to come on as a gamebreaker.
 
True, your only decent kicker was Lealiifano.

Who will be your first choice kicker? And is he any good?

Beales decent from long distance, but I don't think he'll fare too well with semi difficult-difficult conversations.
 
Izzy will be found out against us, the rugby equivalent of a minnow basher :shakib
 
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Bledisloe in the bag for another year, you ain't winning at Eden Park, we haven't lost a game there in 20 years :))
 
[MENTION=190]OZGOD[/MENTION] how does it feel to know you played against 14 men for 20 minutes and yet still couldn't find a way to get the job done :D
 
BvIU9pdCMAE923E.png
 
Aman said:
[MENTION=190]OZGOD[/MENTION] how does it feel to know you played against 14 men for 20 minutes and yet still couldn't find a way to get the job done :D
Click to expand...

How does it feel having your record 18 game winning streak ruined :D
 
OZGOD said:
How does it feel having your record 18 game winning streak ruined :D
Click to expand...
Meh they'll be plenty of other opportunities. Ref was garbage, definitely favored you guys throughout, it's the only reason you walked out with a draw.
 
The only reason we walked out with a draw was because Beale can't kick for peanuts...if Foley had started the game I reckon we would've won by 10 points.

I agree it's going to be tough in Auckland...if we can scrape a draw there I'll be happy.
 
OZGOD said:
The only reason we walked out with a draw was because Beale can't kick for peanuts...if Foley had started the game I reckon we would've won by 10 points.

I agree it's going to be tough in Auckland...if we can scrape a draw there I'll be happy.
Click to expand...
Don't rate Cruden, Barrett is the one who will replace DC once he retires. Crudens too small and isn't clutch like Barrett.
 
The current Southern Hemisphere Championship must be getting boring with NZ winning it every year
 
Donal Cozzie said:
The current Southern Hemisphere Championship must be getting boring with NZ winning it every year
Click to expand...
Aus look much better this year, so who knows.

BTW the only reason Aus won it a few years back was because we rested a few of our players for the game in SA, we should have sealed it before the last game in Aus.
 
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Link hasn't learned his lesson. Beale is still at fly half. We are going to get caned.


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With the record gone, I really expect us to beat you by 20+ at Eden Park.
 
Aman said:
With the record gone, I really expect us to beat you by 20+ at Eden Park.
Click to expand...

It's going to be ugly I think. The chance at an upset was in Sydney.
 
Hope the refs are consistent, we're not the only ones being 'cynical'.
 
Apparently we have to play with 14 to give other teams a chance.
 
[MENTION=190]OZGOD[/MENTION] how many players do we need to lose for your lot to have a chance? :D
 
Smith is easily the best fullback in the world. #Folauwho
 
[MENTION=190]OZGOD[/MENTION] you watching this massacre? :D
 
Half century up, you still watching [MENTION=190]OZGOD[/MENTION]? :91:
 
My favorite moment of the match was Barrett chasing down Tailunt with one leg :))
 
Didn't get to watch it I was out on sat nite here and they weren't showing it on Fox. I blame Link for it. They choked in defence the first 20 mins and it was all over by halftime. The chance to catch the AB off guard was in Sydney. You can put attacking players all over the park but if u can't a) retain possession and b) defend then you won't win many games.


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Dejected with the defeat, however the referring was shocking.
Its not the 1st time referees have cost us against Australia either, the Habana yellow was insipid really. That was never a dangerous tackle.
However we also have to take a close look at ourselves as well, we re not clinical and ruthless enough.
We should have won this game by a canter referee or not.

Oh well we might as well thrash the All Blacks in their den ;)
 
soso_killer said:
Dejected with the defeat, however the referring was shocking.
Its not the 1st time referees have cost us against Australia either, the Habana yellow was insipid really. That was never a dangerous tackle.
However we also have to take a close look at ourselves as well, we re not clinical and ruthless enough.
We should have won this game by a canter referee or not.

Oh well we might as well thrash the All Blacks in their den ;)
Click to expand...
You guys were robbed, can't believe he thought that was a yellow even on a second look :facepalm:

Should have carried on, there was nothing wrong in the tackle.

You guys need to give Morne the flick, not finding touch in such a situation is inexcusable, you probably would have held on if he did.
 
We'll give another hiding to the Aussies, wherever we play them next.

The SA tour will be a lot tougher, are we playing 2 in SA or are we getting 2 in NZ?
 
Aman said:
You guys were robbed, can't believe he thought that was a yellow even on a second look :facepalm:

Should have carried on, there was nothing wrong in the tackle.

You guys need to give Morne the flick, not finding touch in such a situation is inexcusable, you probably would have held on if he did.
Click to expand...

Yeah its really disappointing, especially for a senior player in such a situation.
 
Aman said:
We'll give another hiding to the Aussies, wherever we play them next.

The SA tour will be a lot tougher, are we playing 2 in SA or are we getting 2 in NZ?
Click to expand...

1 [MENTION=71635]H[/MENTION]ome and 1 away. Our next game is in NZ.
 
soso_killer said:
Dejected with the defeat, however the referring was shocking.
Its not the 1st time referees have cost us against Australia either, the Habana yellow was insipid really. That was never a dangerous tackle.
However we also have to take a close look at ourselves as well, we re not clinical and ruthless enough.
We should have won this game by a canter referee or not.

Oh well we might as well thrash the All Blacks in their den ;)
Click to expand...

Exactly. You're not the first nor the last to be on the wrong end of the referees. Argentina was robbed of a try vs the Hobbits - how could you call a charge down a knock on? I'm amazed we played so poorly and still beat you, provably because you played worse than us.

Foley-Phipps looked better than BEale-White in that midfield fulcrum. Beale would add a lot in defence if he played 12 instead of Toomua but Toomua makes our defence in that channel so much better. If Beale had been there the Japie back row would have run at him all day.

We definitely need plenty of room for improvement as I can't see Argentina playing as bad as the Japies did.


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So we win another RWC, if we win this week? :13:

Read the most absurd thing today, had SA won last week, they would have just needed to beat us by 3 this week to take the #1 ranking from us. They need to beat us by 15 to take it now (not going to happen) :facepalm: [MENTION=190]OZGOD[/MENTION] [MENTION=132982]soso_killer[/MENTION]
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but we've held onto that ranking for 5 years now right? :13:
 
Lol [MENTION=132954]Aman[/MENTION], see you guys soon. Let's let the rugby do the talking, shall we?
 
soso_killer said:
Lol [MENTION=132954]Aman[/MENTION], see you guys soon. Let's let the rugby do the talking, shall we?
Click to expand...
We're going to butcher you.

The take the kick when in range tactic isn't going to win you a game against us, you'll need to score tries to really put this side under pressure.

And at best that tactic will keep you in the game for 60 minutes before we run you off the park in the last 20.
 
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OZGOD said:
Exactly. You're not the first nor the last to be on the wrong end of the referees. Argentina was robbed of a try vs the Hobbits - how could you call a charge down a knock on? I'm amazed we played so poorly and still beat you, provably because you played worse than us
]
ley-Phipps looked better than BEale-White in that midfield fulcrum. Beale would add a lot in defense if he played 12 instead of Toomua but Toomua makes our defence in that channel so much better. If Beale had been there the Japie back row would have run at him all day.

We definitely need plenty of room for improvement as I can't see Argentina playing as bad as the Japies did.


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Click to expand...

Well NZ always get away with it.

Was surprised to hear that McCaw received his 1st yellow in international rugby.
His hands are always in the ruck and encroaching, but has been allowed to get away with it, hopefully the sin bin is the start of tough punishments.

Don't agree with the bolded part though.
We dominated the game, the yellow card and the penalty awarded for a legitimate tackle (in the 1st half) proved decisive in the end.
Of course M. Steyn brainfa€t did not help either.
We should have won that game as we were the better side throughout.
 
Aman said:
We're going to butcher you.

The take the kick when in range tactic isn't going to win you a game against us, you'll need to score tries to really put this side under pressure.

And at best that tactic will keep you in the game for 60 minutes before we run you off the park in the last 20.
Click to expand...

Our defence is pretty good, probably the best in the world. So don't have a problem if you guys want to pass kicking for points and searching for tries.
The last 20 will probably be the hardest, hopefully we will be able to guts it out.
 
Aman said:
We're going to butcher you.

The take the kick when in range tactic isn't going to win you a game against us, you'll need to score tries to really put this side under pressure.

And at best that tactic will keep you in the game for 60 minutes before we run you off the park in the last 20.
Click to expand...

Our defence is pretty good, probably the best in the world. So don't have a problem if you guys want to pass kicking for points and searching for tries.
The last 20 will probably be the hardest, hopefully we will be able to guts it out.
 
Broken play and on the counter, it doesn't matter how good your line defense is then. It's all on the scrabble, and the only side who is really good in the scrabble is the AB's.
 
I think the Jaaps may actually have the edge here against the Pacific Islands XI.
 
Every single player in the squad is NZ born. We poach less players than nearly every other top tier team in the rugby world.

Saffers are terrible against the All Blacks in recent years and can't even beat Aussie. Can't see them winning this.
 
Saffers defended hard but as usual had nothing to offer on attack. Still stuck in 2007 constantly kicking the ball away. The game has moved on from that style.
 
All Blacks still undefeated in Rugby Championship since its inception. Also i think have won 36 tests in a row at home.
 
We would have had the RC in the bag tonight, if only that glory seeking moron hadn't dummied :facepalm:
 
We pretty much have it in the bag anyway, just need to beat Argentina in Argentina to win.
 
I think the Saffers could definitely be a threat in the WC with the players they have but they need to change the way they use the ball.
 
Did we destroy Australian rugby? :D [MENTION=190]OZGOD[/MENTION]

Australian rugby reels from Eden Park mauling

Hit hard by slumping crowds, the Australian Rugby Union has admitted the Wallabies' Eden Park nightmare has taken the ''wind out of our sails''.

The All Blacks' 51-20 demolition of Australia three weeks ago also appears to have taken a significant number out of their ticket sales in ensuing Perth and Gold Coast tests.

Only 14,281 fans - the lowest test crowd in 16 years - turned out for Saturday night's Rugby Championship clash with Argentina at Cbus Super Stadium.

It was 8000 less than the corresponding fixture two years earlier, mirroring the decline for the previous week's Wallabies encounter in Perth where the crowd was 25,718 to watch Australia get out of jail against South Africa at Paterson Stadium.

ARU chief executive Bill Pulver admitted the drop-offs, which also occurred in Brisbane and Melbourne in the June series against France, were a major concern to the cash-strapped code.

Pulver stressed the revenue-sapping reduction in crowd numbers was a global phenomenon across virtually all sports, but felt it was inherent on the Wallabies to be ''winning and entertaining''.

''If you can find that sweet intersection of those two you have an opportunity to get the crowds back,'' he told AAP.

The Wallabies have done their best to do both in the past 10 months, recording a 9-1-1 record over 11 tests and average three tries a game.

However, what momentum that built up following seven straight wins and then a 12-12 draw against New Zealand in Sydney was lost once Australia forfeited the Bledisloe Cup for the 12th straight year in forgettable scenes in Auckland.

''I think that game at Eden Park, because we all felt we were in with a serious opportunity, took the wind out of our sails a little bit,'' Pulver said.

''But the reality is we have lost only one of our last 11 games.

''That New Zealand team have only lost one of their past 42 tests, so statistically there's a very strong case for them to be the best rugby team in the history of the game.''

Although the Wallabies get another chance for an elusive victory over the All Blacks in five weeks' time, Pulver argued their next fixture - against South Africa in Cape Town on Saturday week - was just as big, if not bigger.

''The game in two weeks' time is enormously important,'' he said.

''If we can beat South Africa we would move to number two on the IRB rankings and also reclaim the Mandela Shield.''

Despite the weekend's paltry crowd, Cbus Super Stadium is currently pencilled in to host Argentina again in 2018 as the last game in a three-Test agreement.

But the ARU says Gold Coast, to host the world sevens series next month, is in danger of losing future international rugby events, especially if they don't pack their 27,000-seat stadium.

An expanded world sevens series is set to kick-off in February 2016, six months before the sport debuts in the Olympics, and Pulver indicated there would be a bunfight for hosting rights.

''It's fair to say we have interest in virtually every state for that event,'' he said.
Click to expand...

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/...Australian-rugby-reels-from-Eden-Park-mauling
 
Was at the Sportsground for the Connaught vs Leinster match last night. Great game and Connaught fully deserved the win! Fantastic atmosphere too. Will definitely be going back for more
 
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