Should South Africa have racial quotas for rugby?

[Havak]

Oh yeah there's a few of them about for sure

I'm not sure who is involved with the Pumas but I do think elsewhere Kirwan taking on Italy is as ill advised as when Henry took on Wales though? Neither country has the quality and depth of players to do justice to NZ coaches.

Smith on the other hand has taken over Northampton in the domestic League here and turned them around from relegation fodder to solid top half safety - but then they have a core of solid English players to build around.

Its also interesting though that the flow has been reversed in a way - as you know your current coach was honed into the real deal under the wing of Clive Woodward.

[Caligastia]

Henry did ok with Wales except for the last couple of games. They did manage to beat South Africa under his coaching.

Hopefully the new All Blacks coach can toughen up our forwards a bit. Im sure Clive taught him a thing or two in that department.

So who do you think will win the super12 final this weekend? I reckon the Crusaders will do it.

[Caligastia]

*bump*

[finbar]

Originally posted by ravagon

Btw finbar, did you happen to catch that story a few nights ago about a big Queensland push to divert most of their upcoming talent to the AFL? ie: Away from Union and League (Not that the latter would be a big loss ).

Didn't see it. But it's a crap idea.

I saw it but couldn't understand the reasoning behind it. No other country plays AFL so why on earth would they want to focus on this over the others.

That's why it's a crap idea. No one in their right mind would choose such an isolated game as Australian Rules over a game with an international footing. There's also next to nothing in common between Australian Rules and the two rugby codes. Totally different prerequisites.

[finbar]

Originally posted by Havak

Finbar might be disappointed in me on that - but I doubt he would be surprised.

[finbar]

Originally posted by Caligastia

So who do you think will win the super12 final this weekend? I reckon the Crusaders will do it.

Never in doubt. At least Steve Larkham's elbow injury isn't as bad as first feared.

I'll treat the Wallaby-bashing that went on while I was away as the mindless blather that it was by totally ignoring it.

[Caligastia]

Fantastic super12 final! A real nailbiter till the end. Obviously Im very happy to see a NZ team win, especially undefeated, and hope the success will translate to The All Blacks winning the Tri-nations this year.

Good to see you back Finbar, did you get to watch the final before knowing the result?

[finbar]

Nice to see you back, too, Caligastia. On the basis that my hol was only ten hours drive away, I remain bitterly jealous.

Typical of the stupidity of the broadcast rights situation, Channel 7 only has the free-to-air replay rights for S12 games played within Australia. Ergo, any matches played in SA or NZ - the final, for example - don't get a free-to-air outing except in highlights form in the news. But it was broadcast on ABC radio. I listened to the first half before I had to go out. Oddly enough, it was the first time I'd ever heard a Union match broadcast on radio and it was interesting. It's a much harder game to call on radio than RL with that game's tedious predictability.

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by finbar
Oddly enough, it was the first time I'd ever heard a Union match broadcast on radio and it was interesting. It's a much harder game to call on radio than RL with that game's tedious predictability.

uuuhhhh...tedious predictability? I presume you are referring to the s12 final, not rugby in general as that would be sacrilege!



Do I detect a hint of sour grapes?

[finbar]

Read the sentence again! Union is a much harder game to call than League because of that game's - which is to say, League's - tedious predictability. By which I mean, calling six hit-ups and a kick is a lot easier - because it's so predictable - than trying to anticipate what's going to happen in the much more flexible Unoin.

Sheesh!

[Havak]

Well heck we had to keep the thread ticking. What do you expect a Kiwi and a Pom to do???

I tried to emphasise it was not the Wallabies I was bashing, though surely? It's that 'soccer' type success following 'fan' who don't know the game from AFL I dislike. It's a growing problem here too (soccer fans infiltrating Tigers because we are successful and the soccer team isn't), and where I find overt rudeness to the opposition I try to stamp on it.

Anyway onto less mean spirited stuff on my part - I have only seen the highlights but what a final that looked like. Some truly immense defence by Cantebury, and the Brumbies did their berth in the final justice after all. Very impressed. What we want now is a Tigers-Crusaders show down - but we will not get it sadly.

Two other games of interest to me this weekend. Tigers retained the European cup beating Munster 15-9 in the final and outscoring them two tries to none. Again defence was the key and Tigers were immense in that department. They did not concede a single try in the semi or the final and you have to say they were worthy winners. They were forty thousand broken Irish hearts in Cardiff on Saturday night - and at least one very happy drunken Englishman

There was a little controversy in that the dark arts of the flanker were caught on camera for once - in the closing minutes as Munster put in to the scrum in Tigers 22 the scrum half was mortally embarrassed as Tiger's openside, the ageless Neil Back, tapped the ball out of his hand and gave a 'strike' against the head. The French officals missed it entirely (and I was at the far end so I did too - but I heard all about it 40000 times after the game!!!)

The other game is one that sadly throws doubt on my ability to read the game - McQueens superstar Baa-baas were handily put away by the English development squad 53-29. It was a fantastic game and the young guns played superbly. It says a lot about the strength in depth we have right now - and maybe the Argentina tour will be more successful than I feared. McQueen need sto get a few training sessions in with these guys and make them a team - I still think he can turn them around and overcome the Celts handily.

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by finbar
Read the sentence again! Union is a much harder game to call than League because of that game's - which is to say, League's - tedious predictability. By which I mean, calling six hit-ups and a kick is a lot easier - because it's so predictable - than trying to anticipate what's going to happen in the much more flexible Unoin.

Sheesh!

Oops! hehe. Never mind.

[finbar]

Originally posted by Havak
Well heck we had to keep the thread ticking. What do you expect a Kiwi and a Pom to do???

Well, quite. Bang two empty vessels together and you get a din, don't you.

I tried to emphasise it was not the Wallabies I was bashing, though surely? It's that 'soccer' type success following 'fan' who don't know the game from AFL I dislike. It's a growing problem here too (soccer fans infiltrating Tigers because we are successful and the soccer team isn't), and where I find overt rudeness to the opposition I try to stamp on it.

You're always going to get penisheads, regardless. But they're a minority.

The other game is one that sadly throws doubt on my ability to read the game - McQueens superstar Baa-baas were handily put away by the English development squad 53-29. It was a fantastic game and the young guns played superbly. It says a lot about the strength in depth we have right now - and maybe the Argentina tour will be more successful than I feared. McQueen need sto get a few training sessions in with these guys and make them a team - I still think he can turn them around and overcome the Celts handily.

But the Barbs were missing a few big guns, weren't they? Particularly Kiwis? I know a couple of them were injured in the last round of S12.

[Havak]

Well, quite. Bang two empty vessels together and you get a din, don't you.

Okay, I deserved that!

But they're a minority.

I think the really big games draw them out to be honest? There were a few near me on Saturday, from both sides it has to be said. We must be vigilant against them ruining our game.

But the Barbs were missing a few big guns, weren't they? Particularly Kiwis? I know a couple of them were injured in the last round of S12.

I missed the pre-amble and first 20 mins but it still looked like a powerful team to me. Josh (he didn't get off the bench Sat sadly) and Jonah played - the latter funnily enough being exposed badly because they turned him in defence several times (as mentioned way back in the thread).

I'll check out the report and see who missed the game.

[finbar]

Things are starting to warm up here selectionwise. The Australian A team plays the Canadians on the weekend. The result will be academic - the Canadians having just been thumped by the NSW Country team - but the selectors' initiatives are interesting.

Unsurprisingly, they've picked ex-League star Wendell Sailor on the wing. There's a huge push - mainly from Queensland - to slot him into the Wallaby team. Which amounts to a joke. Sadly, Ben Tune is injured once more, but there are several wingers a mile in front of Wendell for a Wallaby guernsey. Apparently Wendell led the S12 stats for the most tackles broken. Whatever that means. Of more interest is the selection of ex-League star Matt Rogers at inside centre. He had an outstanding debut season for NSW at full back and he's a very versatile, creative player - one of those rare players whose speed and stepping lets him create gaps where there aren't (or weren't) any. There's no doubt he's being groomed as a back up for Steve Larkham at 5/8.

The truly interesting selection is Daniel Heenan in the second row. He's 20, played part of one S12 game for Queensland this season and is a John Eales protegee. A former Schoolboys captain, a lot of people - including Eales - think he's the goods.

Eddie Jones said this morning that at least 4 of the A team are serious candidates for the Wallaby line up against the French next month. Sailor is, nominally, one of the 4, but I suspect the real candidates are Rogers, NSW winger Scott Staniforth, NSW #8 David Lyons who will probably play as a flanker, and the experienced and versatile Matt Cockbain.