[EOYT] U.S.A. vs. New Zealand Maori. 09/11/13

[dasNdanger]

Well I don't find it arousing...

Hey, neither do I!!!






das

 

[usausa]

Ahh damn USA getting to a little adventurous with the offloads, Maori come down a few phases and score right corner. As psychic duck said, USA still have issues trying to punch it in on the goalline.

 

[Toko_11]

well they fought until the last minute left their hearts out there.... First time i cheered for the American team this hard.

Should be an exciting match in Tbilisi next week

 

[nickdnz]

Really enjoyable game to watch. USA were very good.

I actually really enjoyed the commentary - even if the commentators perhaps showed a bias towards the Eagles.

 

[dudeabides]

Congrats to the Maori, I don't like to call things moral v-words but it was nice to see the Eagles hang in there with them as long as they did.

 

[usausa]

29-19 Maori, final. Sprited effort by the US side but they couldn't capitalize enough on the goaline, man up. US forwards worked extremely hard at the breakdown, especially to retain possession but the Maori were able to not get sucked in and when the USA tried to spin wide there were more than enough defenders. Viz was spot on in saying this was the best effort we've seen in awhile out of this USA side. First time in a long time that they've really gone a full 80 toe to toe and attack with the ball and not just sit back and defend. Well done to the Eagles, but off on a wicked tough road trip to Tbilisi.

 

[Toko_11]

today was a really exciting Rugby brake for me! Finally managed to Get myself enough time for this see you next week people. Good luck

 

[psychic duck]

Where was this Eagles in the RWC qualifiers then? This side was without Wyles, Manoa, Ngwenya and LaValla and put in a much better effort, despite having some real inexperienced players.

 

[usausa]

Players certainly stepped up, especially the ones coming off poor form like Harriman, Dahl, L'Estrange, Clever to an extent. The real bright spots tonight individually were those domestic guys like Dolan, Tuisamoa, Siddall, etc.

-pd, Ngwenya is not on the touring party this fall if you didn't know.

 

[dasNdanger]

'Twas fun watching and chatting with you guys! Great match - I really wish now that I had gone...until I think about the fact that I'd have a two hour drive home, in the dark, with a couple drinks in me.

Best I sat home with my bottle of wine, the tv, and the internet. Cheers to our august company!

das

 

[Adakins]

Good game, so glad I went. I had a blast and the people in the crowd were awesome. Hopefully it happens again!

 

[Jaguares]

Zac Guildford with Eric Rush:

I love the new Maori ABs kit:

 

[norcalbuff]

Good game, so glad I went. I had a blast and the people in the crowd were awesome. Hopefully it happens again!

There is talk about the All Blacks playing in NY next November. They had talked about playing an invitational side, but maybe the American performance against the Maori will cause them to have a re-think about the opponent? I reckon the All Blacks would smash a cobbled-together invitational side anyway so might as well play the US team to try and draw a bigger crowd.

 

[Nielsch]

There is talk about the All Blacks playing in NY next November. They had talked about playing an invitational side, but maybe the American performance against the Maori will cause them to have a re-think about the opponent? I reckon the All Blacks would smash a cobbled-together invitational side anyway so might as well play the US team to try and draw a bigger crowd.

Problem is that said match will fall out of the Test window so the clubs won't have to release their players. You are right about the invitational side though; just look at the last few results of the Barbarians.

They really need to think this through. The development of the sport won't benefit from weak opposition.

 

[smartcooky]

Problem is that said match will fall out of the Test window so the clubs won't have to release their players. You are right about the invitational side though; just look at the last few results of the Barbarians.

They really need to think this through. The development of the sport won't benefit from weak opposition.

Why must it fall outside the test window?

If they played in NY on the way to Europe for the 2014 EOYT, there is no reason why it could not be scheduled in the first week of the window.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

The Barbarians would be fine opposition if they managed to bring together a team similar to the one that beat the All Blacks a couple of years ago. Of course that was basically just a combination of the Australian and South African touring teams, so it's unlikely we'd see something similar prior to the tour.

The current squad to face Fiji is looking quite interesting, we'll probably see a lineup along the lines of:
1 Mtawarira
2 du Plessis
3 Oosthuizen
4 Etzebeth
5 Bird
6 Luatua
7 Burger
8 Whitelock
9 Perenara
10 Lambie
11 le Roux
12 Taylor
13 de Villiers
14 Halai
15 Piutau

16 Mealamu
17 ??
18 ??
19 Carizza
20 Vermeulen
21 ??
22 ??
23 ??

Looks like Hansen is just using it as another training game for his young All Blacks

 

[Nielsch]

Anyway, could this match be held at Yankee Stadium? Soccer and football matches have been played there as well.

Does the IRB already sanction Test matches on artificial pitches like the one at MetLife Stadium?

 

[norcalbuff]

Problem is that said match will fall out of the Test window so the clubs won't have to release their players. You are right about the invitational side though; just look at the last few results of the Barbarians.

They really need to think this through. The development of the sport won't benefit from weak opposition.

Yes, it would fall outside the test window, but a deal could probably be worked out with the clubs to not release them during a different window and/or a payment as the match would likely generate quite a bit of money.

Anyway, could this match be held at Yankee Stadium? Soccer and football matches have been played there as well.

Does the IRB already sanction Test matches on artificial pitches like the one at MetLife Stadium?

Yankee Stadium's dimensions are too small for a proper sized rugby pitch.

The recent IRB-sanctioned and funded ARC was played on artificial turf but I'm not sure the IRB has sanctioned them for full internationals. I know Rugby Canada was unable to use BC Place because of the turf, which is FIFA 2* rated.

There are very few places in the Northeast that check all the boxes of grass pitch, proper dimensions, 40-50k seats (fewer would be leaving something on the table and not grand enough while more would probably look empty). Really only Rentschler Field fits the bill, and that's in Connecticut. A much better option would be Stanford Stadium, which is in the San Francisco Bay Area:



Of course, there is a final issue with using football stadiums in November and that is availability since it's in the middle of football season.

 

[smartcooky]

Yes, it would fall outside the test window, but a deal could probably be worked out with the clubs to not release them during a different window and/or a payment as the match would likely generate quite a bit of money.

Again, I ask, why would this match have to fall outside the test window? Saturday November 2, 2014 v USA, then the weekend of November 9-10, 16-17 and 23-24 would be for the other three Autumn Internationals in Europe

Yankee Stadium's dimensions are too small for a proper sized rugby pitch.

The recent IRB-sanctioned and funded ARC was played on artificial turf but I'm not sure the IRB has sanctioned them for full internationals. I know Rugby Canada was unable to use BC Place because of the turf, which is FIFA 2* rated.

There are very few places in the Northeast that check all the boxes of grass pitch, proper dimensions, 40-50k seats (fewer would be leaving something on the table and not grand enough while more would probably look empty). Really only Rentschler Field fits the bill, and that's in Connecticut. A much better option would be Stanford Stadium, which is in the San Francisco Bay Area:

View attachment 2533

Of course, there is a final issue with using football stadiums in November and that is availability since it's in the middle of football season.

What about Gillette Stadium, home of the Patriots? Yes it artificial turf, but that turf is FieldTurf which passes the FIFA 2-Star test for suitability for Wendyball. Its also wide enough for Wendyball and long enough for NFL, so a rugby field should fit OK.

 

[norcalbuff]

The reason it would be outside the window is that the articles about the potential match have included quotes saying they wanted the match to be the same weekend as the Japan match was this year. The test window is only 3 weeks of November, not the entire month.

Gilette is too big. Also, I don't see the All Blacks agreeing to play on Field Turf. As I said in the post before, the IRB didn't let Canada host a test match on that same surface.