Super 15: Hurricanes v Highlanders. Wellington Regional Stadium. (17/3/2012 06:35GMT)

[Draggs]

Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington (17/3/2012, 06:35 GMT)

Referee: Bryce Lawrence
AR1: Keith Brown
AR2 : Mike Fraser
TMO : Richard Kelly
​

 

[Kiwiwomble]

Highlanders: Ben Smith, Kade Poki, Tamati Ellison, Phil Bureligh, Hosea Gear, Colin Slade, Jimmy Cowan; Nasi Manu, John Hardie, Adam Thomson, Nick Crosswell, Josh Bekhuis, Ma'afu Fia, Andrew Hore, Jamie Mackintosh (capt). Reserves: Jason Rutledge, Bronson Murray, Cullum Retallick, James Haskell, Aaron Smith, Buxton Popali'i.

 

[igziabeher]

Awful referee. We have two teams trying to develop good rugby, and he's whistling everything. He's making this one a crap one.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

The commentators really want Haskell to be doing everything wrong.
Lock knocks on? Oooh, Haskell's not taken that ball with the tryline begging!
#17 off his feet? Ooh, Haskell's given away a kickable penalty there!

 

[igziabeher]

Also, how a promising player like Slade has becoming a very very common player ? The worst on the field today, his passing is awful.

 

[welshglory]

The commentators really want Haskell to be doing everything wrong.
Lock knocks on? Oooh, Haskell's not taken that ball with the tryline begging!
#17 off his feet? Ooh, Haskell's given away a kickable penalty there!

Do you really expect anything else from NZ commentators? (Tony Johnson worst in the world)

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

What bugs me about NZ commentators and guys like TJ is that they cannot even get their facts straight. When you watch the show Re-Union (A tv show about rugby, presented by Tony Johnson) you really see how poor their knowledge and how biased their opinion is.

A few examples...

Episode 1: Talking about Tiaan Viljoen moving to the Sharks, Johann Sadie mentioned as a Sharks player departure
Episode 2: He talks about Lions-center Andries Strauss, while he plays for the Cheetahs
Episode 3:They were talking about Sian Ebersohn being tackled by Francois Hougaard while it was Robert Ebersohn. What makes it worse is that his brother is Sias, not Sian

 

[big ginger 8]

It's a bit unfair to single out the N.Z. commentators all the Super Rugby ones are pretty biased IMO.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Yeah, but my examples have nothing to do with being biased, just being poorly informed.

 

[big ginger 8]

Yeah, but my examples have nothing to do with being biased, just being poorly informed.

Sorry read the word biased and just..

One of the most annoying mistakes for me personally though was the S.A. commentators saying "Steven Sykes of course just back from playing with Munster".

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Same thing there. It's some sort of disease across the globe. I guess most TRF-members have better knowledge of world rugby than the commentators

 

[welshglory]

It's a bit unfair to single out the N.Z. commentators all the Super Rugby ones are pretty biased IMO.

That may be true but at least the Aussies are entertaining and they mention the opposition players quite a lot, same with the Saffers. I find the N.Z. commentators to be the most one eyed and biased in the world.

 

[big ginger 8]

That may be true but at least the Aussies are entertaining. I think the N.Z. commentators are the most biased in the world.

I used to think that about the Aussies until this:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/i0gV-Wbg04s" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Now I can't like them.

 

[William18]

I don't think our commentators are biased, we just look at the game from our own perspective. I think we give praise to other teams if they play well but we have no opinion on who should be starting first five for Ireland as an example. I have heard Australian commentators scream out "no" 20 times in a row when a New Zealand team scores a try.

 

[Draggs]

Blades knows his stuff, he just takes aaaages to say it.
I always imagine Warren Brosnihan bouncing up and down in his seat as he talks. He seems a bit excitable, perhaps been drinking some of Bladen's "good stuff".

Sian Ebersohn could be the long lost Welsh sister of Robert and Josias.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

Back on point.....go the highlanders!

 

[Dizzy]

I don't think NZ commentators are biased at all. Getting names wrong is hardly biased, and harsh to say misinformed. More like, Tony Johnson needs to be sacked because he's the worst at getting players mixed up. You should've watched the pre game build up. Ian Jones asked one of the Hurricanes players about the form of "Dan" Coles. And it wasn't a mix up, he said "Dan" three times before letting the player have his say and he corrected him right off the bat. "You mean, 'Dane' Coles?"....

Anyway on the game. Anyone else think the Highlanders got away with alot of breakdown infringements?.
They seem to join the ruck from the side, as the opposition player is tackled and Highlander forwards are retreating to get back on side, they join the ruck whilst they are still retreating, instead of getting behind the offside line and then going in through the gate. They do it all the time and don't get pinged. Another thing, they continued to attempt a steal at the breakdown with their hands whilst a ruck had been formed for quite some time. And they get away with it alot, they even gain penalties when it's absolutely obvious a ruck has been formed.
It's harsh to give Jason Eaton a penalty when he gets up from making the tackle and instantly takes the ball with his hands, no ruck was present, the highlander player had blownover off his feet and the ball was free IMO. Whereas, when there are 2, 3, 4 players in a ruck and a player is still trying to take the ball doesn't get pinged... Where's the consistency. Don't even get me started on the scrum put ins, that was ridiculous.

I think the referee's need to call when a ruck is formed, it will clear up alot of confusion at the breakdown. And once the ref calls ruck is formed, the players know it's hands out.

 

[Me 1]

I don't think NZ commentators are biased at all. Getting names wrong is hardly biased, and harsh to say misinformed. More like, Tony Johnson needs to be sacked because he's the worst at getting players mixed up. You should've watched the pre game build up. Ian Jones asked one of the Hurricanes players about the form of "Dan" Coles. And it wasn't a mix up, he said "Dan" three times before letting the player have his say and he corrected him right off the bat. "You mean, 'Dane' Coles?"....

Anyway on the game. Anyone else think the Highlanders got away with alot of breakdown infringements?.
They seem to join the ruck from the side, as the opposition player is tackled and Highlander forwards are retreating to get back on side, they join the ruck whilst they are still retreating, instead of getting behind the offside line and then going in through the gate. They do it all the time and don't get pinged. Another thing, they continued to attempt a steal at the breakdown with their hands whilst a ruck had been formed for quite some time. And they get away with it alot, they even gain penalties when it's absolutely obvious a ruck has been formed.
It's harsh to give Jason Eaton a penalty when he gets up from making the tackle and instantly takes the ball with his hands, no ruck was present, the highlander player had blownover off his feet and the ball was free IMO. Whereas, when there are 2, 3, 4 players in a ruck and a player is still trying to take the ball doesn't get pinged... Where's the consistency. Don't even get me started on the scrum put ins, that was ridiculous.

I think the referee's need to call when a ruck is formed, it will clear up alot of confusion at the breakdown. And once the ref calls ruck is formed, the players know it's hands out.

Reminded me of this

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

He really called him "Thierry Henry"??? That is almost as bad as calling the 7-times Tour de France winner Neil Armstrong

 

[Kiwiwomble]

no one thought smithie covered well pretending he was just saying Thierry Henry would have been proud.....and thats why he said it several times?.....no one? :huh:

The break downs are such a mess at the moment, i'm sick of guys getting pinged for not rolling away when they are trapped in a ruck, if the ball was being hindered back in the day the ref would just call a scrum but now they just look for someone to blame and give the other team three points!

I will make no comment specifically on the game or the highlanders in regards to the breakdown because i think we're awesome...but realise i might be bais