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Just back from the ground. Pretty comprehensive win for the AB's but it felt a bit flat at the stadium. Certainly a better performance from than the AB's than last week though! The French showed a bit of endevour (which was good to see) but AB's were far too passive in defense, and slipped off...

I forgot to mention that I thought that the referee overall had a pretty good game, apart from his yellow card decisions (the French player obviously should not have received a yellow, while Cane should have received a yellow IMO). He was perhaps a little pedantic, but I think with experience...

Always? Twice in his career that I can recall (spanning over 100 Super Rugby games and over 50 tests). Having watched a huge amount of Sam Cane I completely disagree he is a dirty player. Yes, he's been involved in a couple of incidents where players have been injured, but in both cases his...

Shields is a very good Super Rugby player, and has the potential to be a good test player too. In my opinion he's been the 3rd/4th best blindside flanker in the country for the last 4-5 years. If he had stuck around in NZ may have even managed to sneak a few All Blacks caps... It's hard to...

Below is Law 9 from the World Rugby handbook (governing the release of players states the following). It's a bit wordy, but I've tried to highlight the most relevant parts. Basically players with dual eligibility (such as Shields) represent special cases. It seems the NZ Rugby Union is...

I give up. If you are incapable of following basic logic I'm not going to waste my time.

Folau was better with ball in hand during the end of year tour than Smith. There is no doubt about that. He did some good things, but I don't think he was as effective as he was earlier in the season (e.g. at Super Rugby level / vs France) when he was all but unstoppable at times. I felt his...

I actually don't think Folau had a great end of year tour at all (unless of course we judge fullbacks solely by their metres run stat ;)). He was generally well contained, and his lack of kicking game was exposed by England and Ireland in particular. He was solid, but I don't think he was much...

That's fine, and I can certainly understand why people would choose Folau. I just don't think you should be surprised that some people (not just Kiwi's either!) favour Ben Smith, as he has had another excellent season. While I commend you for your use of stats to back-up you arguments I do...

I have edited my post several times too accordingly ;) As I understand it this is World XV for 2014 - not a World XV for the the last month - hence all of the stats I've provided (from earlier in 2014) are entirely relevant. If I were picking a world XV based on the end of year tour I'm not...

Comparing stats from a one off game is completely pointless. If you must compare stats you need to do it of a decent periods of time, rather than just selecting a one off game that supports your point of view (then claiming it is typical of the statistics when it is clearly not!) ;) Yes Ben...

I'm not. His running game has been fine for the AB's in 2014. He has been a bit quieter (yet still very good) during the end of year tour, but he has some outstanding games for the AB's this season (2nd and 3rd English test, 2nd Bledisloe, 1st South African test). Folau may have a slight edge...

No I didn't. I said that Taylor was probably slightly ahead of Slade in the AB's pecking order at the time (near the start of the Super Rugby season), which I have no doubt is correct. Slade then had a good Super Rugby season, while Taylor had a relatively poor season, so of course those...

Well I was close :) I won $200 on the match too (Argentina 12-) so I'm pretty happy. I'm glad France are such a predictable rugby side...

He was indeed Rad :) Personally I would have gone for Retallick, but Read too had a good game. I thought the Welsh halfback was pretty sharp too. He's pretty clearly not. Like it or not he's currently 4th in the AB's pecking order. In case you forgot he wasn't even selected on this tour...

He wasn't playing like crap. His goal-kicking was poor. His general play was very good. I know it's not worth debating with you though. The poll on the stuff.co.nz website shows that over 40% of voters think Barrett deserved man of the match. This suggests (a) there were a lot of people...

I would, but I'm still fired up after watching the AB's game. I was hoping this match would put me to sleep, but alas the drop goals have keep me excited :)

Or three...

For much of that match the AB's played like a side that hadn't played much rugby in the last few months. Perhaps we shouldn't have been surprised by that - most of the players haven't actually played that much rugby recently. The AB's plan to keep players fresh certainly played off in those...

Game over. Score definitely flattered the AB's in the end. I thought Wayne Barnes did a fantastic job as referee (I feel all dirty saying that ;) )