The Last Aussie Game

[mania]

Love it aaroSmith being interviewed and Genia and his daughter photo bombs the interview to give Aaron a huge hug. They both call each other the best.
Respect.

 

[Caitlyn Jenner]

More hits than a naughty child in that game! Great to watch!

 

[mania]

No doubt he will have a witty retort that explains the magin of error!!

Dunno about witty

 

[mania]

More hits than a naughty child in that game! Great to watch!

More hits than google

WBs absorbed shtloads of pressure

 

[mania]

More hits than a naughty child in that game! Great to watch!

Bigger hits than Michael Jackson

 

[KanyeWest]

Didn't think the first half was great, lots of soft errors. Some good line speed in defence though that lasted the full game.

Really pleased Australia won. Haven't watched them in a while but they look like a different team. Much more well organised, they had options on both sides of the ruck and were able to play through or around them. Didn't think they controlled the game too well in the last 20 but hung in there. Couple of excellent performances in the back row and Beale makes a difference. Not necessarily about what he does/doesn't do with the ball, he keeps defenders honest and enables Australia to play wide and attack different areas of the field.

 

[Caitlyn Jenner]

Bigger hits than Michael Jackson

That one from Ofa on Foley was one of the most brutal shots I've seen in a while!

 

[mania]

That one from Ofa on Foley was one of the most brutal shots I've seen in a while!

Yeah foley hard nut to get up after that.

I'd only give ofa 5 outta 10 overall tho.
Drop balls and dumb penalty didn't help

 

[McTallshort]

Anyone moaned about Mr Barnes yet?

 

[Caitlyn Jenner]

Anyone moaned about Mr Barnes yet?

Thought he had a good game personally.

 

[AM_Bokke]

Excellent game.

Very happy that Australia won and I usually don't rate them. IMHO, this SH test season has shown that SH test rugby is the best annual rugby product in the world. It is better than the 6 nations and better than the English Premiership. I don't know much about the Top 14 but as far as I can tell most people think that the Premiership is more exciting.

We'll see how the autumn int'ls go. I definitely think that the SH's overall record will be better than last year.

 

[The Jones Boy]

Congratulations to the Wallabies fans.
This is yet another example that on the day any of the top 5 teams in the world can beat each other and that makes for an exciting prospect every time they play.
I would say, that when there is silverware on the line, the AB's will still be favourites wherever they are on the planet, but not by a big margin.
Ireland have firepower these days and a killer coach.
England have a massive depth of quality players and the best coach since Woodward.
The Boks are still hit and miss but they can rise to the occasion.
The Wallabies have got the offence for sure, when their defence lifts a notch they can beat anyone.
Great effort again by the Wallabies.
The AB's will be licking their wounds.

 

[nzlizard]

To be honest Sopoaga was the weak link for me, sure nice goal kicking but offered nothing that Cruden and Barrett would have.

Lots of players made mistakes and did dumb things but we missed Barrett so hard out there.

As for the ref comment above, I thought he had a great game, missed things but that went both ways, communicated great.

 

[FrenchFan]

This is yet another example that on the day any of the top 5 teams in the world can beat each other and that makes for an exciting prospect every time they play.

but 5 nations is not a great return worldwide compared with what the club game has to offer at national (T14, Prem etc) and European levels.

 

[FrenchFan]

IMHO, this SH test season has shown that SH test rugby is the best annual rugby product in the world. It is better than the 6 nations...

Debatable. All in the eyes of the beholder...The 6 Nations is more open. There's not one nation consistently dominating the rest like NZ in the RC. England won the last 2 6N. Ireland won the 2 ***les before. Wales the 2 before etc.

The winner of the last RC was known before the last round had even been played. And that's boring.

and better than the English Premiership. I don't know much about the Top 14 but as far as I can tell most people think that the Premiership is more exciting.

Not much point in comparing test and club rugby. Apples v bananas etc.

We'll see how the autumn int'ls go. I definitely think that the SH's overall record will be better than last year.

Possibly. But it won't take away from the T14 and Prem as a result.

 

[RoosTah]

Debatable. All in the eyes of the beholder...The 6 Nations is more open. There's not one nation consistently dominating the rest like NZ in the RC. England won the last 2 6N. Ireland won the 2 ***les before. Wales the 2 before etc.

This is true, but that's also partly a function of Europe not having a team as consistently dominant as the All Blacks. In other words, it's more open because they don't have a team in the competition that so often plays pretty well a perfect all round game like the ABs.

That said, that looks to be changing. This England outfit under EJ is pretty special and I'd be willing to put a bet on that they'll clean sweep the rest of Europe for a third year running this year, as to my eye no other side in the comp looks in their class

 

[AM_Bokke]

IF England wins the next 6 Nations, the 6 Nations will have the same winner for more consecutive years than the Rugby Championship.

NZ is the only country in the world where rugby is the number sport and they get the pick of athletes. They happen to play in the Rugby Championship.

 

[The Jones Boy]

IF England wins the next 6 Nations, the 6 Nations will have the same winner for more consecutive years than the Rugby Championship.

NZ is the only country in the world where rugby is the sport and they get the pick of athletes. They happen to play in the Rugby Championship.

NZ rugby player catchment is very small in comparison to other countries...and we lose many of our talented elite to the northern hemisphere because we can't afford to keep the talent stock.
The rewards from clubs (and national teams) in Japan, France, England, Italy, Wales, Scotland and Ireland are too rich to compete with...

Please bear this in mind...

With a population of 53 million inhabitants England has 2,139,604 rugby players , the most rugby players of any country in the world.

New Zealand has 157,000 registered rugby players.


That is a staggering contrast.


Try digesting those numbers before we move on to how much more money the ERU has on it's yearly balance than the NZRFU.
Or before we move on to the stadia that support those numbers of teams in the club competition or the absolutely glorious edifice that is Twickenham stadium where all things about English rugby are enshrined in style, smack bang in the heart of the capital city where fans go in their droves to support their national team.
Yes rugby is the national sport in NZ however...

We also have a very successful rugby League team that punches far above it's weight... oh for some of those players to have come across the codes, but wait there's more...


Have a look at this...

Top New Zealand sports by registered membership.
1) Golf
2) Netball
3) Soccer (Football up here- in primary and high schools soccer players hugely outnumber rugby players)
4) Rugby Union (That would be 4th ;-) )
5) Cricket (This may include participating dogs during beach cricket. Although it may not include those that fetch the ball and then decide to try to keep it for themselves as a chew toy)

I can see England thoroughly dominating northern hemisphere rugby for the forseeable future and becoming the pre-eminent world champions and world no.1 in time to come, all the odds are stacked in their favour.
The unfulfilled potential in England is mind boggling.
The juggernaut is slowly waking up and when it gets going it will be unstoppable.
When they finally eclipse the AB's, I doubt we will ever have the means to rule the roost again.
We will become alike to Carthage and Twickenham will be Rome.
In terms of player catchment and economics we (NZ) are a minnow compared to England.
Only South Africa can appear to compete with England and they have a debiliating quota system.



It's another matter, but it's worth pointing to why the AB's want a bigger share of the money at Twickenham when the AB's meet England. We simply don't have the money to keep our players, yet we have the globally best known most respected and most successful rugby brand in the world. If we don't ask for more, then we will fall behind financially even faster than we already are...

 

[FrenchFan]

IF England wins the next 6 Nations, the 6 Nations will have the same winner for more consecutive years than the Rugby Championship.

Not true. They would equal NZ's run of 3 wins btw 2012-2014. NZ have won the 4Nations (same comp, different name) 4 times in a row from 2005 to 2008. This has never happened in the 6N since the War. This is why the 6N is more fun to watch. We don't want the same winner everytime because it's boring.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

That said, that looks to be changing. This England outfit under EJ is pretty special and I'd be willing to put a bet on that they'll clean sweep the rest of Europe for a third year running this year, as to my eye no other side in the comp looks in their class

Betting on them sweeping Europe for the third year in a row when they didn't sweep Europe this year... Ballsy.