Rugby - Hemisphere Wars!

[Tamerlin]

Poor France

As Havak has already wrote it the only satisfaction is coming from the defence but you can not win a game if you are unable to score points.

Many handling errors from the French players prevented almost any attack to reach its goal. The halves have played very bad, Yachvili (Biarritz scrum half) has not created anything and has even made some awful tactical choices. I have never been convinced by any of its performances this year. Gelez (Agen fly-half) is unable to weigh on the game... how can the coach still have some confidence in these men though François Gelez has clearly a potential... but certainly not with Yachvili as a half-scrum.

The forwards have played a good game (and especially Fabien Pelous) but have lost many balls because of too many handling errors though some of them were because of a real lack of luck.

The French players should have used the mauls more often as this was clearly a phase the Irish had some trouble to deal with. Are the halves guilty because they are in charge of the tactic, is the coach guilty because he have not ordered them to use the mauls? :hmmm

Traille was really in a bad day, slow, clumsy, weak kicks, awful performance.

The wingers have mainly defended and have almost never received the ball when the french players attacked as handling errors have interrupted most of the actions... when it was not because of the bad choices made by the halves.

Clement Poitrenaud (full back) has been the only back that has tried something and with some success.

Andre Watson... well he has made 2 or 3 big mistakes but the French team did not deserved to win this game.

One of the great lacks of this French team is coming from the kicks as a tactical weapon. When the british teams (and especially England and Ireland) are able to use it skillfully and efficiently the french kicks are poor and are seldom efficient.

Bad day for the French rugby and I am predicting hard times for this team...

[Tamerlin]

Originally posted by finbar
Another candidate for a new thread title! Having watched 3 S12 matches yesterday and last night, I don't know why we haven't used it before:

Rugby - Crouch and Hold!

Shhhh... why are you shouting like that?
I am almost deaf now.

hmmm... not bad for a thread title.

Or has someone suggested it before?

No!

I'm not thinking straight this morning. I'm grieving - last night a couple of mongrel cutworms demolished 3 of my heirloom tomato seedlings!

Condolences!

[finbar]

Originally posted by Tamerlin


Shhhh... why are you shouting like that?
I am almost deaf now.

Sorry. I had the TV volume turned up. I couldn't hear myself.

Condolences!

Thanks. One of the seedlings is in intensive care. It might pull through.

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by finbar
Mmmmm. I'll give it some more thought. There must be heaps more obscure technical stuff we can exploit.

How about Rugby - Pulled into touch!

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by finbar
Chiefs 43 -d- Reds 27

Very entertaining if error-ridden match with everyone throwing the ball around, lots of counter-attacking, and lots of tries. The Chiefs made many fewer mistakes and looked good. Obviously taking on the Reds after a couple of matches against the top guns was a bit of a relief. The Reds had patches of good play but seemed to get seriously disorganised at times. For the Wallaby cause, though, it was good to see Ben Tune fit and breaking the line at speed, and Nathan Sharpe did plenty of good work at lock.

Yes, they certainly weren't afraid to experiment were they? Unfortunately for the Reds, their skill level was not up to par on the day. A well deserved win for the Chiefs. I really didn't think they would win by a margin as large as that when the score was only a 1 point difference at half-time.

Final score:

Blues 39 -d- Crusaders 5

Gee. The Crusaders fell apart. Or, more accurately, the Blues blew them off the park. Carlos Spencer's effort was possibly one of the most dominating I've seen from an individual in a top class match. Certainly, the Crusaders were missing Andrew Mehrtens, but he wouldn't have made a huge difference. For that matter, the Blues were also missing players. The Crusaders' lineout fell apart, they were fumbling, they were made to look pretty ordinary - and they're far from an ordinary team.

Quite an incredible game. If the Blues can maintain their form they will definitely be the champs this year.

it's too early to say the Crusaders' bubble has burst. They started last season slowly and fell over the line in a couple of matches before turning into the superpower. But this is the third time I've seen the Blues this season - and they're getting better and better. Quick, aggressive, tremendous defence and an absolutely terrifying backline.

When you said they make Howlett look like a draught horse, I took it with a grain of salt, but they really are something special aren't they? Incredible speed.

I wouldn't write off the Crusaders just yet either, they were close to scoring many times, and the huge margin on the scoreboard is a testament to the Blues' fantastic defence. Not to mention Spencer's brilliance.

I'm beginning to think Carlos has come of age as a rugby player. This was the first game in which I have seen him play with total consistency. Now that he's matured he might become one of the greats.

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by finbar
Rugby - Crouch and Hold!

I think that's the best one so far.

BTW, my quest to convert my American friend to rugby is going very well. He was very impressed with the skill and fitness level of the players, and with me explaining the rules to him he was able to follow the game reasonably well towards the end. I know he enjoyed it because now he wants to see the Blues play the Brumbies in a couple of weeks.

He has seen the light.

[LDiCesare]

A few comments about the Tournament now I found a working modem.
Ireland-France was mostly lost by France rather than won by Ireland, so that bodes well for the English team.
I slightly disagree with Tamerlin on the analysis:
French mauls were strong but in these Ibanez managed to make a knock on 4 times, thereby missing one try. Considering the handling errors, I don't think the French should have tried more mauls than they did.
Magne certainly did waste a perfect try ball too.
The scrum half was uninspired, in particular making a pass to the right when the game was moving on to the left, thus managing to get intercepted by a second rower. That tells a lot.
Gelez missed many kicks, which is bad because he is usually a good kicker. He hadn't trained on the field because of some thigh injury. Better let someone else play in that case.
Now I disagree about Traille. He didn't perform well because he was always given balls of such pitiful quality that he couldn't do anything but run straight to create a ruck. That is IMO more of a bad tactical choice at the fly half level (who should have made long passes to Garbajosa from time to time) than a personal bad performance. His game was in fact too stereotypical, but, again, when you see some of the balls he was handled, I cannot blame him.
Overall, discipline was poor, and Pelous, as a captain, did nothing to make it better. For instance when Clerc was tackled at nose level by Maggs (which the ref didn't see), Pelous found nothing better to do than enter the maul from the side right under the ref's nose. That kind of behaviour is really silly considering entering from the side is being very heavily penalised. Yet the French did it, thus providing penalties to Humphreys, who played a very solid match, with better reading of the game and use of the wind than Gelez.

I saw a bit of the Scots-Welsh game, it was entertaining, but left me unconvinced about the chances of Italy against Scotland when they'll meet. That one will be interesting to see.

As for England - Italy, I missed most of it (out walking my daughter with my parents during the first half while my brother monopolised my parents'tV looking at something involving a round ball kicked by people in shorts with apparently nonfunctionning arms, then trying to catch a train on a strikes day during the end of the match). I saw 2 tries, one from Mirco Bergamasco (I like this full back) and one from Luger (I think). The English seemed to have stopped playing after scoring a lot of points in the first fifteen minutes of the match, and the referee tended not to mind players knocking off the ball then hurling themselves upon it to prevent others from playing. The English backs showed some great qualities in their counters, but I think their right winger will not forget his vis-a-vis for quite a while.

[Bearcat]

Originally posted by Caligastia
BTW, my quest to convert my American friend to rugby is going very well. He was very impressed with the skill and fitness level of the players, and with me explaining the rules to him he was able to follow the game reasonably well towards the end. I know he enjoyed it because now he wants to see the Blues play the Brumbies in a couple of weeks.

He has seen the light.

Yay!

I wanted to see the Blues-Crusaders game but my friend who has Fox Sports World was out of town and I don't have cable

[finbar]

Originally posted by Caligastia
Yes, they certainly weren't afraid to experiment were they? Unfortunately for the Reds, their skill level was not up to par on the day. A well deserved win for the Chiefs. I really didn't think they would win by a margin as large as that when the score was only a 1 point difference at half-time.

The Reds did their best work early. The further the game went, the less competent they looked. They started the game without the likes of Kefu, Daniel Herbert, and others, accounting for some of their best, most experienced talent. They lost others during the match. I recall pointing out prior to the start of the season that the Reds have a very shallow talent pool - the run-on team, at full strength, has quality about it but there's little to back them up.

Quite an incredible game. If the Blues can maintain their form they will definitely be the champs this year.

The Blues have been building to that sort of performance. It was, ironically, Cruaders-like in terms of dominance all over the park, but with a much more potent backline than the Crusaders had last season.

When you said they make Howlett look like a draught horse, I took it with a grain of salt, but they really are something special aren't they? Incredible speed.

As I said, thank God Caucau plays for Fiji and not the ABs.

I wouldn't write off the Crusaders just yet either, they were close to scoring many times, and the huge margin on the scoreboard is a testament to the Blues' fantastic defence. Not to mention Spencer's brilliance.

You can't write off the Crusaders because it's basically the same team as last year and they're loaded with talent. They simply ran into a mighty force on the day. The Crusaders haven't approached last year's heights in any of their matches this season but - as I said somewhere else - they only won narrowly in a couple of early matches last season. In fact there were a couple of lucky wins early on last season. It was later in the season that they developed their momentum. There's absolutely no reason why that shouldn't happen again.

I'm beginning to think Carlos has come of age as a rugby player. This was the first game in which I have seen him play with total consistency. Now that he's matured he might become one of the greats.

Carlos is obviously the key to the Blues. Only time will tell if he's overcome his biggest problem - inconsistency. He has strung together some great games in the past, only to go off the boil. What he has now, obviously, is great confidence. As I say, only time will tell.

[finbar]

Originally posted by Bearcat
I wanted to see the Blues-Crusaders game but my friend who has Fox Sports World was out of town and I don't have cable

Your friend didn't leave you a key? The bastard! If I were you, I'd've broken in, watched the game, cleaning out his fridge and drinking all his beer.

[Bearcat]

And than getting arrested for breaking and entering?

[finbar]

Originally posted by Bearcat
And than getting arrested for breaking and entering?

Only if you're still there when he gets back, you dummy!

So -

(a) You make sure you're not still there when he gets back;
(b) You wear surgical gloves at all times in order not to leave fingerprints;
(c) If you're feeling particularly perverse, in order to punish him for not leaving the key for you in the first place, you ring up while you're there and cancel his credit cards, his telephone, his gas and electricity, and so on. Most importantly, you cancel his cable TV subscription, but only to take effect as soon as the game finishes;
(d) And if you're feeling really particularly perverse, you decide whom you absolutely hate most in the world and leave behind evidence that will incriminate this person.

[Tamerlin]

Originally posted by LDiCesare
Ireland-France was mostly lost by France rather than won by Ireland, so that bodes well for the English team.

I agree completely, the Irish team has not been impressive though the quality of their kicks, and especially those of Humphreys, made a great diffrence.

I slightly disagree with Tamerlin on the analysis:
French mauls were strong but in these Ibanez managed to make a knock on 4 times, thereby missing one try.

True though two of its handling errors were the result of sheer bad luck, especially the one that deprived France of a try.

Considering the handling errors, I don't think the French should have tried more mauls than they did.
Magne certainly did waste a perfect try ball too.

The ball should have been directly handled to the backs placed right after Olivier Magne. It seems once again the mistake has been made by Yachvili.

The scrum half was uninspired, in particular making a pass to the right when the game was moving on to the left, thus managing to get intercepted by a second rower. That tells a lot.

I can't agree more, his choices were in total contradiction with the flow of the game.

Now I disagree about Traille. He didn't perform well because he was always given balls of such pitiful quality that he couldn't do anything but run straight to create a ruck.

It is true he did not received many good balls.

...all That is IMO more of a bad tactical choice at the fly half level (who should have made long passes to Garbajosa from time to time) than a personal bad performance. His game was in fact too stereotypical, but, again, when you see some of the balls he was handled, I cannot blame him.

True again though I still think he was not in good shape.

Overall, discipline was poor, and Pelous, as a captain, did nothing to make it better. For instance when Clerc was tackled at nose level by Maggs (which the ref didn't see), Pelous found nothing better to do than enter the maul from the side right under the ref's nose. That kind of behaviour is really silly considering entering from the side is being very heavily penalised. Yet the French did it, thus providing penalties to Humphreys, who played a very solid match, with better reading of the game and use of the wind than Gelez.

Once again you are right, it is as if this team was once again facing its old demons.

[Bearcat]

Originally posted by finbar
(c) If you're feeling particularly perverse, in order to punish him for not leaving the key for you in the first place, you ring up while you're there and cancel his credit cards, his telephone, his gas and electricity, and so on. Most importantly, you cancel his cable TV subscription, but only to take effect as soon as the game finishes;

Yeah great, I'll cancel his cable so I can't watch the games anymore too. Great idea!

[finbar]

Originally posted by Bearcat

Yeah great, I'll cancel his cable so I can't watch the games anymore too. Great idea!

Keep up with me, Bearcat! The first thing he does on his return, obviously, is have his cable reconnected!