Rugby - Hemisphere Wars!

[Frozzy]

Isn't the State de France good enough for it

[Tamerlin]

Originally posted by Frozzy
Isn't the State de France good enough for it

No, the Stade de France can welcome 80,000 supporters when the Parc des Princes can hold 50,000 supporters but the Stade de France is opened to the air when the Parc des Princes is like a closed pressure-cooker. Two times more noise and a warm atmosphere where the Stade de France is a cold place. I have seen two French Championship finals in the Parc des Princes and two others in the Stade de France and they can not be compared in any way.

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by finbar


The Blues were terrific. They lost Carlos Spencer before the match with a knee injury but his replacement - Ai'i - was outstanding. They made many fewer mistakes in the conditions, their defence was powerful, and the counter-attacking was terrific. They were a lot more confident and aggressive than some of the Blues teams of recent years. It obviously helped that the Waratahs only played about 8 minutes of fluent rugby for the match and the scoreline ultimately flattered the Waratahs with two tries in the last 8 minutes when they actually looked like a decent team.

Well, I will be taping the two games I mentioned and watching them in the morning. What are your picks? I reckon the Highlanders will get a suprise win over the Crusaders, seeing as they did so well against the Chiefs. I expect the Brimbies will beat the Reds without too much trouble...

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by Frozzy
The Crusaders will fall flat on their faces this year, IMO.

Why do you say that?

[finbar]

Originally posted by Caligastia
Well, I will be taping the two games I mentioned and watching them in the morning. What are your picks? I reckon the Highlanders will get a suprise win over the Crusaders, seeing as they did so well against the Chiefs. I expect the Brimbies will beat the Reds without too much trouble...

I saw quite a bit of the Highlanders match. There wasn't anything sufficiently astonishing to suggest they would beat the Crusaders - the Crusaders of last season, anyway.

The Reds -v- Brumbies will be interesting to see. The Reds have a new coach - former Wallaby skipper and Reds assistant coach Andrew Slack - and, it is said, a new approach to the game. Formerly pretty dour and seemingly incapable of using their talent out wide - Tune and Latham - it's said they're going to play more expansively this season. We shall see. The Reds' real problem is their lack of depth. Their run-on team looks strong, but there's not much to back it up. It will also be interesting to see how the Brumbies bounce back from their très ordinaire trial form in which essentially second-string Brumbies teams were hammered by all and sundry.

[ravagon]

Originally posted by finbar


You certainly do have enough Civ gold left. Here's our current bank balance:

Andydog 186
Caligastia 37
finbar 123.5
Havak 60
LDiCesares 111
Mickeyj 143.5
NeoStar 114
ravagon 94
redbull 80
Tamerlin 59

So enough of this pussyfooting around and put some Civ gold where your ladle is! I'm willing to bet you - here and now - 50 Civ gold that the ABs will win the WRC. What about it?

Either my civ gold was playing the stock market in the off-season or you've dredged up an older bank balance .... this dates back to the days when I knew what a 50 civ-gold piece looked like ...
IIRC I was down to about 30 or so (but still ahead of somebody ).

Its still far too early for my liking to put anything on the AB's as favourites - not, mind you, that I have serious doubts about the side - rather I'd like to see everybody else play a round or two first.
(Yes, I know - chicken! )

The Crusaders will fall flat on their faces this year, IMO.

That's a pretty bold statement there, given their form last year. Not that it will necessarily follow of course.
Anything to back it up with by any chance?

[Caligastia]

Should I stay up and watch Crusaders v Hurricanes live at 1:30 am, or go to bed and watch it in the morning? If one of you guys watch it at the same time I might be persuaded...

[Frozzy]

Crusaders won't play well because:

a) Injuries hampered the side pre-season, and only a few played NPC, where Canturbury dumped out in the semis.

b) The other sides, especially the Blues, have fresh faces in their sides... and from what I see the Crusaders still have the old guard from last season. Sure... they're experienced enough, but do they have the "freshness" of the new sides?

c) I'm from Waikato. I dislike the Crusaders.

d) Lack of play for most. Many of the top Crusaders didn't play NPC, and most were injured before the ABs tour of Europe.

e) Subtle feeling. I just don't think the Crusaders will cut it this year, and I haven't seen enough in the NPC to disprove this.

I'll watch Crusaders Hurricanes, and if the Crusaders don't smoke Wellington then it'll back up my feeling.

[Frozzy]

And Cali! Get your Kiwi flag back dammit!

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by Frozzy
And Cali! Get your Kiwi flag back dammit!

I don't know what happened to it, but it's back again now.

Are you watching the Crusaders/Hurricanes live?

[Frozzy]

Naturally

[Caligastia]

So will you be on here for a few posts at half time?

[Tamerlin]

Originally posted by Frozzy

c) I'm from Waikato. I dislike the Crusaders.

In my own opinion this is the most sensible argument.

[Frozzy]

Cali, probably... depends if I remember

Tamerlin:

[finbar]

Originally posted by ravagon



Either my civ gold was playing the stock market in the off-season or you've dredged up an older bank balance .... this dates back to the days when I knew what a 50 civ-gold piece looked like ...
IIRC I was down to about 30 or so (but still ahead of somebody ).

This is actually our current Bank A/c balance. I hunted through the OT archives till I found it. The one I posted was slightly out of date. Regardless, ravagon, you're far from bankrupt!

Andydog 286.5
Bearcat 80.5
Caligastia 67
finbar 56.5
Havak 106.55
Journeyman 122.5
LDiCesares 141.8
Mickeyj 143.5
NeoStar 114
ravagon 77.75
redbull 80
Tamerlin 69.3