RWC Semi Final: New Zealand - Australia (16-10-2011, 21:00)

[Black Heart]

not sure how the rules work but when a player is cut due to injury they have to be distanced from the squad because of IRB rules. The official cut over for Donald & Gear to come into the mix was this morning to allow the squad to fairwell Mills and Slade last night. Bit horid, you would think that injured players could stick around and help out but rules prevent that.

I'm sure I read somewhere in the Herald today that Dan Carter was hanging around the team motel giving instructions to Aaron Cruden and Colin Slade. He was obviously acting within the rules of the comp if it was made public.

 

[InsaneAsylum]

I feel the same way, except wanting the AB's to win. I'm not sure I can actually bear watching it live, it'll take years off my life.

It seems like Beale will be ok, minor hamstring strain doesn't sound too bad.

i'm thinking the same. will record the game and watch later regardless of the result. it's just the anticipation of sitting there for 40 minutes, then sitting through what feels like a 2 hour half time break and then flogging yourself out for another 40. I think i nearly suffered an aneurism on sunday, well maybe not but it felt like the veins in my head were pulsating coutesy of several try saving tackles and quade cooper brainfarts. i'll be more relaxed knowing that we've either conquered everest, or our world cup dream is over... then i'll call the all blacks cheats and accuse them of paying craig joubert.

you have to laugh at conspiracies... i'm sure bryce lawrence made the wallabies win because the springboks are a far superior side and would have crushed the allblacks, but what happens this week? does craig joubert rig the game so that the all blacks win, in order to punish the wallabies for beating his beloved springboks, or does he make the wallabies win because bryce lawrence is a kiwi and he should seek revenge on everything new zealand. seems like a tough predicament for the totally biased and unprofessional south african ref

 

[Wally]

It isn't rules. It's that it'd be expensive for the IRB to keep paying for hotels so they pay for their flights home as soon as possible. The players can stay if they want, it's just at their own cost to stay and they'd have to pay their own way home if they forfeit their free IRB flight. Most have club duties to attend to anyway.

Thought I read that somewhere.

 

[TRF_RC]

i'm thinking the same. will record the game and watch later regardless of the result. it's just the anticipation of sitting there for 40 minutes, then sitting through what feels like a 2 hour half time break and then flogging yourself out for another 40. I think i nearly suffered an aneurism on sunday, well maybe not but it felt like the veins in my head were pulsating coutesy of several try saving tackles and quade cooper brainfarts. i'll be more relaxed knowing that we've either conquered everest, or our world cup dream is over... then i'll call the all blacks cheats and accuse them of paying craig joubert.

We all feel the same way, but there's a part of you that feels like you're betraying your team. If you genuinely can't get to watch the match, no biggie.
But your boys go through the big game feeling the night before and the whole day leading up to it, then they have to play the game. I say the least you can do as a loyal supporter is to cheer them on.
That's what i keep telling myself everytime i'm nervous for a big wales game.
I really don't want to watch the france game, but if we win, i'm gonna miss out on the huge elation i felt last week against Ireland. The biggest joy you can experience is winning a huge game (yes, winning a quarter final was huge to Wales!) and if we lose, then we'll sulk and applaud our boys together.
Watching it live is just so much of a bonding experience.

 

[Black Heart]

i'm thinking the same. will record the game and watch later regardless of the result. it's just the anticipation of sitting there for 40 minutes, then sitting through what feels like a 2 hour half time break and then flogging yourself out for another 40. I think i nearly suffered an aneurism on sunday, well maybe not but it felt like the veins in my head were pulsating coutesy of several try saving tackles and quade cooper brainfarts. i'll be more relaxed knowing that we've either conquered everest, or our world cup dream is over... then i'll call the all blacks cheats and accuse them of paying craig joubert.

you have to laugh at conspiracies... i'm sure bryce lawrence made the wallabies win because the springboks are a far superior side and would have crushed the allblacks, but what happens this week? does craig joubert rig the game so that the all blacks win, in order to punish the wallabies for beating his beloved springboks, or does he make the wallabies win because bryce lawrence is a kiwi and he should seek revenge on everything new zealand. seems like a tough predicament for the totally biased and unprofessional south african ref

You probably don't even need to go that far. Stephen Donald is going to be named in the 22, so all the Wallabies need is for Samo to take Cruden out of the game and the tournament is yours for the taking.

 

[Darwin]

You probably don't even need to go that far. Stephen Donald is going to be named in the 22, so all the Wallabies need is for Samo to take Cruden out of the game and the tournament is yours for the taking.

Because Donald always loses to Australia... oh wait in the 7 games he's been involved in versus Australia the AB's have won 6! He clearly had a big part to play in losing the Hong Kong test in 2010, but he's certainly played a big part in a number of AB's victories over Australia (Auckland 2009 comes to mind).

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Manage Pocock's influence (or hit him in the ribs ala Brussow) and the Kiwi's are golden for the win. Rest of the team are average or off form if Beale ends up being n/a.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

you have to laugh at conspiracies... i'm sure bryce lawrence made the wallabies win because the springboks are a far superior side and would have crushed the allblacks, but what happens this week? does craig joubert rig the game so that the all blacks win, in order to punish the wallabies for beating his beloved springboks, or does he make the wallabies win because bryce lawrence is a kiwi and he should seek revenge on everything new zealand. seems like a tough predicament for the totally biased and unprofessional south african ref

Yeah, it's a tough one. He is probably lying awake at night and hoping he can get to whistle the final to give France/Wales victory to get back at both the Wallabies and Lawrence ;P

 

[Dizzy]

This is going to be a long week building up to this match. Here's hoping Beale is unfit[no offense to my fellow Aussie posters] he's one less danger we need out there. Beaver is enough on his own.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

NH clubs are playing atm though - as soon as they're knocked out of the RWC the NH based players get right back into club rugby

The Currie Cup is also still busy

With the Boks being eliminated, it might mean that the Sharks and WP have a better chance come the play offs in 2 weeks time.

 

[Black Heart]

Because Donald always loses to Australia... oh wait in the 7 games he's been involved in versus Australia the AB's have won 6! He clearly had a big part to play in losing the Hong Kong test in 2010, but he's certainly played a big part in a number of AB's victories over Australia (Auckland 2009 comes to mind).

Yes, and the fact that the All Blacks have won 17 of the last 21 tests against the Wallabies is of total coincidence.

Those stats paint no reflection on how well (or how poorly) he played. Aaron Cruden was abysmal against the Wallabies last year and yet he still has that win to his name.

Maybe you would like to touch on Stephen Donald's record against the Boks? 3 losses from 4 games.

 

[james5000]

Yes, and the fact that the All Blacks have won 17 of the last 21 tests against the Wallabies is of total coincidence.

Those stats paint no reflection on how well (or how poorly) he played. Aaron Cruden was abysmal against the Wallabies last year and yet he still has that win to his name.

Maybe you would like to touch on Stephen Donald's record against the Boks? 3 losses from 4 games.

All you ever do is moan, are you even a NZ supporter?

Love them or Hate them, there's no point in moaning about them!
We have to support each and every one of them if we want the team to win..

You seem to dislike Cruden and Donald, the thing is one of them or even both of them will be a major influence on our success in this tournament.

Your hero Colin Slade is gone, get over it.

 

[Larksea]

I think a big part of NZ's hate towards Donald comes from his record against the boks and those losses in 09..... But I dont think it's justified, in those games the NZ lineout was completely and utterly destroyed by the springboks. If you want to see a bad winning record check out Isaac Ross's test record, he was the main man for the All Black lineout during that time. I believe his record better reflects the problems with that team. Not Donalds record which is pretty good overall. And bar that last test in hong kong he's hardly put a foot wrong against Australia.

 

[Dizzy]

All you ever do is moan, are you even a NZ supporter?

Love them or Hate them, there's no point in moaning about them!
We have to support each and every one of them if we want the team to win..

You seem to dislike Cruden and Donald, the thing is one of them or even both of them will be a major influence on our success in this tournament.

Your hero Colin Slade is gone, get over it.

I find myself inclined to agree with you. Blackheart is quite negative

 

[Black Heart]

All you ever do is moan, are you even a NZ supporter?

Love them or Hate them, there's no point in moaning about them!
We have to support each and every one of them if we want the team to win..

You seem to dislike Cruden and Donald, the thing is one of them or even both of them will be a major influence on our success in this tournament.

Your hero Colin Slade is gone, get over it.

Haha. You actually made me laugh. There's a big difference between being critical and simply moaning.

I don't think Slade is a hero. He's average at best and if you did actually read my comments then you would see that I do like Cruden.

"We have to support each and every one of them if we want the team to win."

Obviously I support them. But people will always comment on their preferences on a public forum. What do you want me to do? Refrain from saying that Donald should not be an All Black just in case he reads this and has a mental breakdown as a result?

 

[Darwin]

Yes, and the fact that the All Blacks have won 17 of the last 21 tests against the Wallabies is of total coincidence.

Those stats paint no reflection on how well (or how poorly) he played. Aaron Cruden was abysmal against the Wallabies last year and yet he still has that win to his name.

Maybe you would like to touch on Stephen Donald's record against the Boks? 3 losses from 4 games.

Why is that even remotely relevant? You suggested that the AB's would lose against Australia if Donald came on - I simple pointed out that Donald has won 6/7 games versus Australia. This clearly shows New Zealand are capable of winning when Donald is playing (no matter how well he plays). In several of these games he made a big contribution towards the AB's win too (as I pointed out earlier). I understand that you don't like Donald, but that doesn't change the fact the he (like most other current AB's) has a very good record versus Australia.

Out of curiosity, who do you think should have been called into the AB's instead of Donald?

 

[Black Heart]

Why is that even remotely relevant?

It isn't relevant. In the same way that the Wallaby stats aren't relevant because both are no reflection on how well or how poorly an individual played - this was why I mentioned Cruden. The fact that Donald's record against Wallabies looks good is more relative to how poor Australian rugby has been over the last 4 years or so.

Anyway, that original comment was just a mild joke. I wasn't expecting anyone to take it literally (although it wouldn't surprise me if it turned out to be true)

Out of curiosity, who do you think should have been called into the AB's instead of Donald?

Wyatt Crockett would have been a good start. (joke)

With only one potential game after this weekend I would stick with Cruden and have Weepu cover. I persoanally think Weepu would be a better option than Cruden anyway but that's just me. I'd open the other slot up to outside cover along with Hosea Gear. That would probably mean someone like Rokocoko or Sivivatu (if his contract is still valid)
Kahui and Dagg are comming off injuries and if one, or both of them go down we have only Jane and Gear as cover. I discount Toeava and Guildford because I don't think they're set to play wing at the highest level of knockout rugby. It should go without saying that most people didn't want Guildford over Gear in the first place and Toeava was selected for his positional versitility, but that doesn't make him a better wing option over Sivivatu or Rokocoko.

But that's just me.

 

[InsaneAsylum]

I don't know, i'd rather read Black Heart's posts than some of the whack **** on facebook. at least he's honest and realistic.

 

[Black Heart]

I don't know, i'd rather read Black Heart's posts than some of the whack **** on facebook. at least he's honest and realistic.

Cheers mate.

Go Black!

 

[ranger]

Out of curiosity, who do you think should have been called into the AB's instead of Donald?

Barrett ftw. Better trying a guy that may be outstanding or may be poor than a guy you know will be poor.

Money or the bag? bag every time. winners take risks.