Twickenham stunner delivers powerful lesson

[Teh Mite]

Doesn't change the 24 point gap at the end. Especially when you think the average winning margin in England over the weekend was just shy of 24 points for all top flight matches (23.7 to be precise).

 

[smartcooky]

not this bloody nickdnz fella again its embarrassing how much you slag off people all the time your a downright nerd leave your fellow kiwis alone mate cos guess what there the only ones remotly close and the rest you please are further away than your thorts and einstiens

Get the Crusaders logo off your profile. Pr1cks like you are an embarrassment to the fans

Doesn't change the 24 point gap at the end. Especially when you think the average winning margin in England over the weekend was just shy of 24 points for all top flight matches (23.7 to be precise).

44-28, a 24 point winning margin?

Which school,did you go to again?

 

[Teh Mite]

Misread it as 48-24. Point is still valid enough, winning margins were still at least 3 scores everywhere except Sale.

 

[RTFT]

The man makes some good points about the differences between NH and SH teams, although the main one would have to be that northerners wouldn't rate a team that classed leaking four tries as a 'winning display' unless they were watching them play on the village green on a sunday morning in front of their parents...

 

[gingergenius]

44-28 looks like a big difference but there was only 1 try between them. 5 for the Saders, 4 for the Sharks. It's just JLP's poor kicking that cost us

no, what cost you was never being within a score after the first 10 minutes. it's not what i call close. The comeback in the 2nd half made the game much more tense and exciting in the same way the Ireland England game would have been if we'd got another just after Thompson's try. In other words, it was too tall an order to ever be called a close game.

Close games are more likely to happen when teams are chipping 3 points here and there, which in turn is what often happens in poor conditions and/ or when the match intensity is sky-high. That's why if you look at HC results, a lot of them are within just a few points.

High scoring games are more likely to happen in good weather, and also in fast-paced games where both teams are looking to run it.

 

[nickdnz]

not this bloody nickdnz fella again its embarrassing how much you slag off people all the time your a downright nerd leave your fellow kiwis alone mate cos guess what there the only ones remotly close and the rest you please are further away than your thorts and einstiens

Hmm, okay. Another constructive post. Love the last bit.

 

[d1e1m]

44-28 looks like a big difference but there was only 1 try between them. 5 for the Saders, 4 for the Sharks. It's just JLP's poor kicking that cost us

One could also say that the Crusaders slack defending gave JLP his try and Dagg (who's been off all season) gave the SHarks a gift for Ndungane in the corner. If anything, the score flatters the Sharks and I don't mean to offend with that statement. The Crusaders are really only playing at 75% with the way they're starting off games slowing and the defense has been a lot slower to adjust this year.

 

[ACT1NUP]

I see NH clubs are supposedly pretty ****** that this match went ahead claiming it was a commercial venture dressed as a 'chairty' match. Talk about speculation, could they not resist a dig? The game was a great outcome for the people of CHCH with over 1million pounds going to the red cross CHCH earthquake fund, a sum that would have never been raised in Wellington and definitely not Auckland (they can't do anything right). A media beatup? probably. Surely people aren't that dumb to even speculate about the reasoning considering what led the match to being played over there in the first place, although crazier things have happened.

 

[nickdnz]

I see NH clubs are supposedly pretty ****** that this match went ahead claiming it was a commercial venture dressed as a 'chairty' match. Talk about speculation, could they not resist a dig? The game was a great outcome for the people of CHCH with over 1million pounds going to the red cross CHCH earthquake fund, a sum that would have never been raised in Wellington and definitely not Auckland (they can't do anything right). A media beatup? probably. Surely people aren't that dumb to even speculate about the reasoning considering what led the match to being played over there in the first place, although crazier things have happened.

The decision to host the Crusaders S15 clash against the Sharks at Twickenham last weekend has reportedly fired up English rugby clubs.
According to British newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, English Premiership Rugby clubs are claiming the Crusaders exhibition game reportedly attracted fans away from last weekend's English club games.
They are so angry they are even threatening to move next season's Heineken Cup final away from Twickenham, known as the 'home of English rugby', in favour of grounds including Manchester's Old Trafford, or London's Wembely, both of which are famous soccer grounds.
Monday's match was the first time a Super Rugby game has been hosted outside of the competitions team nations and it was a success for the Red Cross Christchurch Earthquake fund with the game raising more than $1m, drawing a crowd of 35,094.
But despite the games success, some English rugby clubs are angry that the RFU succumbed to pressure of hosting the game on a weekend when "domestic rugby should have been given the opportunity to shine".
One unnamed source has even gone as far as to say the game was more about money than anything else.
"Teams from Super 15 have been trying for the last three years to get a game played in London and there were other options, such as Durban and any of the other stadiums in New Zealand for this game to have been played," they told the Telegraph.
"This was a commercial venture in every way, a commercial venture dressed up in charity clothing."
Something that the RFU has strongly denied.
"The idea that this was a purely a commercial venture is nonsense." An RFU spokesman said.
"Hosting this game at Twickenham was about English rugby showing its support for the rugby family in New Zealand and the people of Christchurch who had been affected by the earthquake."

http://nz.sports.yahoo.com/rugby/news/article/-/9117705/uk-clubs-fuming-crusaders-twickenham-clash/

Keeping in mind I haven't seen any sources named, so I don't know how much of it is true. If clubs are complaining, then I think they should feel pretty bad. Christchurch has had 15 billion dollars in damage, a figure that will put NZ's developments on hold for the better part of the next decade, while the Christchurch death toll is potentially over 182 people. It's hardly a scam to take money away from British clubs, but the money is well needed in CHCH. I think RFC showed a great deal of character and generousity in letting the Caders play at Twikenham, because at the end of the day it's just a game, and very bit of money counts towards rebuilding. I'm sure if Old Fraford was destroyed in a natural disaster, New Zealand would be more than happy to hoast a Man U game.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Saracens =/= all English clubs

 

[Teh Mite]

Since when was £175,000 equal to a million? :huh:

What Wray did was highlight the usual disregard the RFU have for the club game, however as per usual whenever Saracens make any sort of media statement, he times it to absolute perfection to paint them as whining sourpusses.

Then the fuckwit NZ media cherrypick certain quotes and paint the entire club system here in a bad light to sell more papers with sensationalist clap about this "rivalry".

 

[smartcooky]

In reality, I don't buy in to the idea that SH rugby is always exhilarating and NH rugby is always a borefest. Since having the Rugby Channel in NZ, and therefore having access to live Premiership, Magners league and delayed Top 14 and Heineken Cup matches, I have come to realise that there is some bloody good rugby played North of the Equator. A match between Quins and Gloucester seems to stick in the memory, with seven or eight tries being scored and a scoreline up around 33-28. Nick Evans played a blinder if I recall. It was a great game, and every bit as entertaining at this one at Twickenham.

To be sure, in the SANZAR countries, we play the game in dry conditions on hard tracks, conducive to running rugby, and this is not generally the case in the NH, where it is definitely still a winter game. It will be interesting to see what happens this year when Super Rugby is played beyond the Autumn into the winter months here for the first time.

Also, I believe the playing surfaces in the SANZAR countries are superior to most of the club grounds used in the Premiership. All the NZ stadia used in Super Rugby have been reworked over a period of the last 10-15 years with good draining sand based playing surfaces. It is not uncommon to see a few days of heavy rain leading up to match day, yet when the rain stops, the ground is drains very quickly, and the game is played on a relatively hard track. Compare that with grounds such as Edgeley Park, The Stoop, and Vicarage Road, where there are often bare or muddy patches, and when it rains it become very slick, and in some cases, muddy. Even with good skills, you just cannot expect teams to play open running rugby.

The words of my old High School coach "Taffy" Griffiths still ring in my ears.... "play to the conditions lads!!!"

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Very true about the playing surfaces
Edgeley Park was completely re-done over the summer, and it's already FUBAR