North vs. South the ultimate Test!

[raymondm2a]

the hole world knows the blacks is the best in the hole world.if you guys dont know that,well you guys should start watchuing the all blacks play

 

[SelimNiai]

Oh just stop it now

 

[lynam1104]

don't mind him Bristol hes a glory grabber.

 

[Sam Owen]

the hole world knows the blacks is the best in the hole world.if you guys dont know that,well you guys should start watchuing the all blacks play

Yeah I agree with you raymondm2a All Blacks are a force in rugby and have been for a very long time but not all of us are from New Zealand and so we support our own countries fully. Even if it means that we dont admit that this team is better than that team.

Its like this:-

ME:- 'Yes yes yes the All Blacks are the best team in the world'

INTERVIEWER:- 'So whos the best team in the world?'

ME:- 'SAMOA!!!!"

I dont blame you if you dont understand me hahaha...

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

How do you define the best team? Winning matches or winning trophies? We all agree that the All Blacks have an amazing team, but time and time again they fall apart once the World Cup starts. Weak in the knees, choking under pressure or just bad luck... We'll never know what stopped them every 4 years to win the Webb Ellis trophy.

 

[DonBilly]

Private companies do not represent you. Fact.

Didn't know North was a company, didn't know South was a company. All I know is that the New Zealand rugby union is a company and the French rugby union is a company. How do things get combined?

Yes, I'm going to my local coffee shop and start talking to the manager (although If you will forgive me I'll have to do this in a few hours as it is 5:52am here) saying how we are really doing such a superb job business wise attracting all the tourists and watching his face recoil in horror as he has no idea what I mean by we.

So why do we use it for rugby teams?

French Rugby Union is not a company, it's a sport federation which cannot be a lucrative organisation according to French laws.

 

[Sam Owen]

How do you define the best team? Winning matches or winning trophies? We all agree that the All Blacks have an amazing team, but time and time again they fall apart once the World Cup starts. Weak in the knees, choking under pressure or just bad luck... We'll never know what stopped them every 4 years to win the Webb Ellis trophy.

I agree the All Blacks seem to always find themselves upset in world cups by teams they would normally beat, chokers???...you could say that wheather thats the case or not I wouldnt know. What I do know is that the All Blacks seem to ALWAYS have a bloody good team other countries dont really have the same quality consistency over the years. South Africa and Australia are the next best or just as good. All Blacks have a huge advantage next year in hosting the world cup it could be NZs year next year after all that is where the All Blacks won the first ever world cup and a team at home is always hard to beat.

Ezequiel Im not sure about the All Blacks falling apart time and time again. Yes they have been beaten many times in world cups but I dont think they fall apart. Every year they play well even on world cup year they play well. Last year the Springboks was the best team in the southren hemisphere but their games against the Blacks were always good ones to watch and were a lot closer then this years 2 games that have already past. The end of year tours last year looked like the northren hemisphere was about to feel the full wrath of the tri-nations teams with the Springbok carrying the crown instead it seemed the Springbok had fell apart somewhere and it was the All Blacks who were left to represent the might of the tri-nations teams. I dont think they (the ABs) fall apart time and time again its just that when they are beaten the other team was better than them on that day.

Like I said before the best team in the world as far as this forum goes is any team you type in to your reply post and for me its Samoa lol...

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

The problem is that every time the whole world thinks New Zealand will win it. In 1995 they were very close, but in 1991, 1999 and 2003 they just choked against either France or Australia. Luckily this time they meet France in the group stage which makes a loss not directly fatal. Very clever, those kiwi's hehe.

 

[nickdnz]

Well, Brazil are well known to be the best team in the football world, and yet they didn't make it to the semi finals. Usually the All Blacks are the hardest team to beat. We don't even do badly in the World Cup. We tend to play great at the pool stages, well in the quater finals (not 2007 obviously), but then we seem to drop the ball in the final knock out stages. In 1995 we were amazing up until the final, where South Africa just seemed to play better that one game. In 1999 we destroyed England again in the quaterfinal. It's just when it comes down to the knock out stages, we either do really well, or we just lose. That's the reason why I'm not worried about us beating Wales and to a bigger extent, France in the pool stages. We should manage it, because the pressure isn't on to the same extent. However if we meet them again in the finals or semi finals, then I get worried.

 

[Sam Owen]

Having Wales and France before the semis is a good build up for the kiwis. All Blacks are very good at home and very hard to beat South Africa seem to play well in New Zealand too lately. Springbok All Black final perhaps who knows???...or maybe Australia and Samoa

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

The big advantage for New Zealand of course is the fact that they are the host nation. There will definitely more pressure than before because next year's World Cup they will be favorites even more than they were ever before.

The question is if they will be able to perform twice a week. Maybe that's the problem. A World Cup is a tournament where you play a match every 4 or 5 days. Normally in Tri-Nations or Super14 you have at least a week between the matches. Maybe the problem is that the gameplay used by the All Blacks is so demanding that they do not have enough time to recover physically from the matches before playing again. This won't be a problem in the groupstage but later on it might result in fatigue and injuries or just lack of concentration.

Other teams, like England, Australia and South Africa play a less hectic type of rugby where they slow down the play every once in a while during the match. That might give them an edge later on in the tournament.

While the fast and mindblowing play by the All Blacks wipes out every team, they might end up having nothing left when it comes to stamina. Something they won't have trouble with in the Tri-Nations or Super 14 with longer periodes in between matches.

This is just a theory though

 

[Sam Owen]

Its a good point and could be the reason behind the All Blacks failling to win world cups, it could be. They do go all out in their pool matches and then seem to simmer after pool play or semi final which is understandable.

A good theory to ponder.