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Tauekei'aho over Coles as bench hooker reflects Coach bias at every level of the game in NZ. The solid Islander will get selected every time, ahead of the pakeha boy, no matter skill level; speed; ability to read the game etc.

There's a guy in Wellington (NZ) club rugby who attempts these charge downs. He often gets close, but spectators just laugh and say "He should save his breath."

I thought Aki's theatrical reaction to the tackle was the one blight on a great game of rugby. The guys a Kiwi and as such, he knows full well you just don't do that sort of carry on. Win a game fair and square, not by trying to buy Red Cards.

Good call Rugby Fan. The game at the top level is moving to more akin to American Football (Gridiron). For example - International Rugby games move methodically from one play to the next; long breaks between each play as injured players are checked or boot laces tied; there are numerous players...

Fair go! That decision is unbelievable in light of many previous cases. I feel the issue here is a lack of consistency. I can think of any number of red carded, no arms, high tackles that could have been mitigated by a "change of dynamics in the contact area." Does this case now set a...

In the final 5 minutes of the Blues v Moana Pacifica match on Saturday, the Ref fell into that classic trap of only reffing the defending side. He was blind to any infringement the Blues might make... and they infringed a few times. I've seen this before from Refs. Human nature I guess!

Hey there notadoctor - "I'm a wimp" Without a doubt, on the wing is the place for you!!

I agree. "The jackler" is now favoured across all levels of the game. Players not released, knees on the tackled player, hands in front on ground then raking the ball back, holding the ball against the tackled player. All sides doing it. Constant penalties. Late in a game you don't want to be in...

We'll likely never again see a call where a penalty for playing the ball in an offside position is changed to accidental; but in 2017 at Eden Park, that's exactly what a French Referee did. Don't mess with them.

Bernard Foley, who'd had a great game up to that point, rolled the dice with a French Referee and lost. That is no surprise to me, given the officials nationality. Warned at the end of the 1st half; warned again when penalty awarded; time off blown; warned to kick immediately..... Bernard's team...

I thought the AB's victory at Ellis Park had as much to do with poor decisions by the Springbok camp, as it did with how the AB's played. 1. Poor selections. 2. Subbing in the 1st half, (meaning the subbed in AB's, late in the game, were far fresher going into that final 10 minutes.) 3. Players...

The Athletics crowds were outstanding every day. Birmingham is to be congratulated.

I thought the first two scrums were quite vital in setting the tone of the Test Match. Both involved secondary shoves, resulting in Bok penalties. This saw them them camp down the All Blacks end for an extended period, getting a nice lead and making AB's play catch-up.

I found the first five minutes of the 3rd Test quite telling. (Sam Cane spoke about this period in his post match interview). This is where both teams come out fired up, with the Coaches/Captains words ringing in their ears. Fatigue is not a factor, with player's fresh, clear minded and...

Re the head clashes. What I saw in both cases (Kiwi in the 2nd test, Irish in the 3rd) was two, big, dumb props caught unaware by the speed at which the ball carrier arrived. Put it in super-slow motion and they have all the time in the world to bend at the waist. But that's not real life...

A great win by the Irish. They played like you'd expect the AB's to play. The looked harder, more combative, more skilful and with more ideas about how to unlock the opposition defence.

I feel the writing was on the wall some five or so years back, when NZ Under 20's began getting regularly beaten in the annual World Under 20 tournament. Up until that point NZ U20's had dominated that tournament. I thought at the time that it didn't auger well for the All Blacks in the future.

I don't know if Melbourne is a good place to look when trying to gauge the strength of Aussie Rugby Union, Womble. You're never going to get a look in there, with Aussie Rules so dominant in the culture. Watching last quarter of Carlton v Collingwood yesterday. 80,000 plus at a premier sporting...

Here's my thoughts on this and all other extensive TMO enquiries, echoing exactly what Tim Horan said on The Breakdown rugby show in NZ earlier this week. We sit watching Super Rugby on SKY Sport NZ. At the same time on other channels you have a variety of sports, including live Rugby League...

Pivac and his coaching staff should have played. They'd have shown more heart than their players.