The Northern & Southern hemisphere Rugby union thread (6 Nations,Super Rugby,sevens)

[Batmannerism]

What a day for northern hemisphere rugby ! 3 away from home victories !

Ireland beats the All Blacks

England beats Australia

Wales beats South Africa @AverageMan ! Buddugoliaeth arbennig iawn !

Wooohooo !

 

[Iceman]

What a day for northern hemisphere rugby ! 3 away from home victories !

Ireland beats the All Blacks

England beats Australia

Wales beats South Africa @AverageMan ! Buddugoliaeth arbennig iawn !

Wooohooo !

Haha, trifecta!!

 

[Batmannerism]

Haha, trifecta!!

It was like that glorious weekend last year when Wales beat Australia, England beat South Africa, Scotland downed Argentina and the French massacred the AllBlacks. Can't remember who Ireland beat.

 

[Iceman]

It was like that glorious weekend last year when Wales beat Australia, England beat South Africa, Scotland downed Argentina and the French massacred the AllBlacks. Can't remember who Ireland beat.

When I was growing up things like this would have seemed impossible.

 

[Iceman]

Ireland complete a series win over New Zealand!

 

[Batmannerism]

Ireland complete a series win over New Zealand!

Been having technical difficulties, back now.

Wow. I cannot remember the last time any team got a series win in New Zealand- one off games maybe, the Lions draw of 2017, but Ireland have really done the near unthinkable.

 

[Iceman]

Been having technical difficulties, back now.

Wow. I cannot remember the last time any team got a series win in New Zealand- one off games maybe, the Lions draw of 2017, but Ireland have really done the near unthinkable.

Yeah luck can play a part in a one off game, and one team can be off the boil with the other team at their best. But winning over a series is a much different achievement.

 

[Batmannerism]

Holy ****, Argentina just beat the All Blacks at home 25-18.
Given the recent series loss to Ireland I can comfortably say that this is the worst All Black team since 1998, maybe even the worst AB team ever- given that although the 1998 ABS lost all their tests against Australia and South Africa they still held their own against touring sides.

Wow! What a shake up in the world of rugby.

Congratulations to Argentina on a historic result

 

[Iceman]

Holy ****, Argentina just beat the All Blacks at home 25-18.
Given the recent series loss to Ireland I can comfortably say that this is the worst All Black team since 1998, maybe even the worst AB team ever- given that although the 1998 ABS lost all their tests against Australia and South Africa they still held their own against touring sides.

Wow! What a shake up in the world of rugby.

Congratulations to Argentina on a historic result

This is a poor run for sure and wouldn’t have expected it from past AB teams. Any idea why it’s weaker now?

Yep, congrats to Argentina, massive for them and prices that they belong at the table.

 

[Batmannerism]

This is a poor run for sure and wouldn’t have expected it from past AB teams. Any idea why it’s weaker now?

Yep, congrats to Argentina, massive for them and prices that they belong at the table.

The ABs haven't moved on, coaching wise since the last world cup. Steve Hansen, who was assistant coach for the RWC win in 2011 and Head coach for the RWC win in 2015 has left and the guys in charge feel like caretakers who are just reading from the previous coaches' playbook.


The rest of the world has studied the tactics and skills that made them successful and adapted. To beat the AllBlacks you need to beat them at the breakdown and deprive them of possession.

Also, and this is key - since McCaw and Carter retired the team has been bereft of real on field leadership.
Sam Cane is trying to be Richie Mc Caw, by leading by example- but doesn't have the same level of talent and is more injury prone.

Richie Mo uga is very very good, easily in the top 5 fly halves in the world, but Dan Carter was always number one.
The Barrett brothers, particularly Beauden, are also top level players - Beauden Barrett was probably for a short time the best in the world, but he isn't enough to overcome the deficiencies in the AB's forward play.

What the ABs need is better loose forward trio and front row to dominate scrums and secure ball at breakdowns.

All that said, with some adjustments the ABs are still a strong contender at RWC time - which is over a year away.

 

[Iceman]

The ABs haven't moved on, coaching wise since the last world cup. Steve Hansen, who was assistant coach for the RWC win in 2011 and Head coach for the RWC win in 2015 has left and the guys in charge feel like caretakers who are just reading from the previous coaches' playbook.


The rest of the world has studied the tactics and skills that made them successful and adapted. To beat the AllBlacks you need to beat them at the breakdown and deprive them of possession.

Also, and this is key - since McCaw and Carter retired the team has been bereft of real on field leadership.
Sam Cane is trying to be Richie Mc Caw, by leading by example- but doesn't have the same level of talent and is more injury prone.

Richie Mo uga is very very good, easily in the top 5 fly halves in the world, but Dan Carter was always number one.
The Barrett brothers, particularly Beauden, are also top level players - Beauden Barrett was probably for a short time the best in the world, but he isn't enough to overcome the deficiencies in the AB's forward play.

What the ABs need is better loose forward trio and front row to dominate scrums and secure ball at breakdowns.

All that said, with some adjustments the ABs are still a strong contender at RWC time - which is over a year away.

Thanks for that detailed summary. I guess other teams could wise up to AB strategy and adapt, while at the same time the new leadership fail to come up with anything new. I guess I always thought the ABs would have too much underlying talent in depth to be taken down by a number of different teams. Hopefully they are strong again in time for the World Cup.

 

[Batmannerism]

Thanks for that detailed summary. I guess other teams could wise up to AB strategy and adapt, while at the same time the new leadership fail to come up with anything new. I guess I always thought the ABs would have too much underlying talent in depth to be taken down by a number of different teams. Hopefully they are strong again in time for the World Cup.

This is a very unpopular opinion, but I think the best result for rugby, as a sport, would be for France to win RWC 2024.

Following that, having Ireland or England win it would also help promote the sport.

I will always hold out hope that Wales will make a final- but if we dont and make the semis, I'll be very pleased.

The worst outcome would be NZ or SA winning, because that diminishes interest in the game.

 

[Iceman]

This is a very unpopular opinion, but I think the best result for rugby, as a sport, would be for France to win RWC 2024.

Following that, having Ireland or England win it would also help promote the sport.

I will always hold out hope that Wales will make a final- but if we dont and make the semis, I'll be very pleased.

The worst outcome would be NZ or SA winning, because that diminishes interest in the game.

I remember you mentioning something like that before. I think you’re right re wider interest in the game. My order of sporting preference in that hemisphere is NZ first by a long way and then SA behind most of the European sides and Australia last (even though I have friends there)

 

[Batmannerism]

Okay, the All Blacks found their form again and squashed my beloved Wales.

On that note, @AverageMan I was on "Jonathan" last week on Thursday ( on S4C) for the Holi Dwll game with Nigel Owens, Sarra and Jiffy. They wanted someone Welsh, who spoke a bit of Cymraeg but lived in NZ and was watching the rugby. It was great fun.

As for the rugby England....what happened?

This weekend the Women's rugby world cup comes to an end in Auckland, the Red Roses against the Black Ferns.
It's too tight to call - England squeaked by a strong looking team Canada ( yes Canada !) and the Black Ferns did just enough to beat a very tough France, who were let down by a couple of crucial errors and a missed penalty kick.

I feel a bit odd cheering for England against legitimate local heroes, but the Black Ferns have dominated World Cups for too long, someone else needs to win.

Some of those Black Ferns also have an Olympic gold Sevens medal, so if they do win they'll be in a very special class.

 

[Iceman]

Great matches today but England lose both the men's rugby league world cup semi to Samoa and the women's rugby union world cup final to New Zealand.

 

[Batmannerism]

Kind of gutted for you, about the rugby. I watched the RWC game, in which England fought hard, but stupid mistakes cost them the game- I mean, behind 34-31, with less than 5 minutes to play get a kickable penalty to level the score....and they go for a lineout. That was an unbelievable decision. The red card was the killer though, having to work so much harder put England under extra pressure.
For a 30 game winning streak to come to such an end, well I felt terrible for the team. I will say that there were some refereeing decisions that were a little dodgy and a couple of missed forward passes, and the last restart where the ball was clearly dropped forward, but overall I don't think the referee ruined the game or determined the outcome. A couple of better decisions and England could have, should have won this.
While everyone here is fawning over the Black Ferns, and they are lovely people, this sets women's rugby back a bit, as people must be asking whether anyone else can win a world cup - and whether it's worth even trying - when one team dominates a sport too much, it decreases interest in the game.
I would have been really happy with either England or France winning this one.


Haven't seen the League - but I'm married to a Samoan, and live in a predominantly Samoan neighbourhood, so while it's tough for England, it's really great for Samoa, and I hope they beat the Aussies.

By the way, Wales beat Argentina , surprising everyone and none more than me !

 

[Iceman]

Kind of gutted for you, about the rugby. I watched the RWC game, in which England fought hard, but stupid mistakes cost them the game- I mean, behind 34-31, with less than 5 minutes to play get a kickable penalty to level the score....and they go for a lineout. That was an unbelievable decision. The red card was the killer though, having to work so much harder put England under extra pressure.
For a 30 game winning streak to come to such an end, well I felt terrible for the team. I will say that there were some refereeing decisions that were a little dodgy and a couple of missed forward passes, and the last restart where the ball was clearly dropped forward, but overall I don't think the referee ruined the game or determined the outcome. A couple of better decisions and England could have, should have won this.
While everyone here is fawning over the Black Ferns, and they are lovely people, this sets women's rugby back a bit, as people must be asking whether anyone else can win a world cup - and whether it's worth even trying - when one team dominates a sport too much, it decreases interest in the game.
I would have been really happy with either England or France winning this one.


Haven't seen the League - but I'm married to a Samoan, and live in a predominantly Samoan neighbourhood, so while it's tough for England, it's really great for Samoa, and I hope they beat the Aussies.

By the way, Wales beat Argentina , surprising everyone and none more than me !

I was quite upset about losing that late on, after such a long unbeaten run and playing competitively with a player down. Definitely should have kicked though last minute.

Really great for Samoa to beat us in league.

At least England still won the cricket T20 world cup that weekend.

Have Wales become a lot weaker recently? I'm not quite up to date.

 

[Batmannerism]

I was quite upset about losing that late on, after such a long unbeaten run and playing competitively with a player down. Definitely should have kicked though last minute.

Really great for Samoa to beat us in league.

At least England still won the cricket T20 world cup that weekend.

Have Wales become a lot weaker recently? I'm not quite up to date.

Wales' Rugby form has been very inconsistent this year, from pretty decent to absolute garbage( eg losing to Italy, at home).

Injuries haven't helped, but what's worrying is that a lot of our best players have passed their use by date, and there aren't replacements in key positions.

I feel like its as much a coaching problem as a player problem.

 

[Iceman]

Wales' Rugby form has been very inconsistent this year, from pretty decent to absolute garbage( eg losing to Italy, at home).

Injuries haven't helped, but what's worrying is that a lot of our best players have passed their use by date, and there aren't replacements in key positions.

I feel like its as much a coaching problem as a player problem.

Ah, shame. If the coaching isn’t fixed soon then it could be the end of that era for now then.

Was fun seeing them take down the big teams in recent years. I’ve just looked at the World Cup odds to get a picture of rough current standings and I see they’re behind the 3 big Southern Hemisphere teams and England, France and Ireland.

 

[Batmannerism]

Ah, shame. If the coaching isn’t fixed soon then it could be the end of that era for now then.

Was fun seeing them take down the big teams in recent years. I’ve just looked at the World Cup odds to get a picture of rough current standings and I see they’re behind the 3 big Southern Hemisphere teams and England, France and Ireland.

One of the great thing about supporting Wales is having low expectations. I always believe we have a chance to win, against anyone - but often I'm presently surprised when we do. I think we will be a big nothing at the RWC next year, unless there are some serious changes.

To be honest, England is struggling at the moment - the top Northern Hemisphere team at present has to be France - I really hope they win RWC 2023, it would do great things for the global game. Really, they need to look after Ntamack, Dupont and Jaminet: if they can keep those three free from injury, they'll be tough to beat.

However, the All Blacks are on their way back up. There are some very dangerous players who are only starting to hit their stride - Dalton Papalii being one of them. If they select the right squad for the RWC they will be definitely contenders.

I love the Boks, but I don't want them to win another world cup just yet.

 

[Iceman]

England Vs NZ try highlights

Exciting match and a great comeback after being blown away at the start. The yellow card helped but as England’s league team showed, you still need to convert when you have the player advantage.

 

[Iceman]

Scotland fans very happy right now!

 

[Batmannerism]

Scotland fans very happy right now!

Well, someone has to be.

 

[Iceman]

Well, someone has to be.

I was invited to go to the Wales Ireland match last minute by a Welsh friend and unfortunately couldn’t go, but at least I didn’t miss a home victory.

 

[Batmannerism]

I was invited to go to the Wales Ireland match last minute by a Welsh friend and unfortunately couldn’t go, but at least I didn’t miss a home victory.

Yeah, it wouldnt have been a very cheery atmosphere - we played terribly.

Italy looked very close to beating France, their game has lifted significantly.

Looking forward to seeing Ireland v France next week - should be the game of the tournament. On current form Id back the Irish, they didnt play at their best and still crushed us in the first half.