Better Rugby Rules

Sonny Bill Williams (School Days)

This man with all the hair helped crush Ireland 3-0 in a test series. Seriously Ireland, blokes like this beat you 60-0

Sad day for Ireland..

Smith has been in charge of sputter of a ABs back line for 10 years, and he still has not go the ABs backs working like the Aussie back line some years back ( ie Gregan, Larkham, Giteau, Mortlock etc , thats the best backline in 10 years, yes shut it up, it is !”…

Now the ABs have Foster,  we will see, he couldnt coach the Chiefs (ak Cheifs performance 2012 is stunning). Maybe Foster doesnt understand the forwards, and he is a back man only.  Time will tell.

England you can have him…

Consider the facts..

Australia : 2x RWC
South Africa: 2x RWC
New Zealand: 2x RWC
England: 1x RWC

France have been to the RWC final 3 times and lost. They have great players and nouse of the game. Yet they fail to win. The only reason they do not win is because they play in a sub standard international competition, and thus lack the consistency to reproduce rugby at the highest level. Yes they can have the best game in the world, but they must do this more than once in a RWC.

NZ, AU and SF play in the TriNations, this keeps the rugby standard very high, more so than the teams in the six nations.

Argentina are joining the TriNations (FourNations) and you can bet they will improve.

France should resign from the Six nations and join the down under tournament and reap future RWC final wins. Hows that for an idea!

The facts are larger than the nose on your face.

It was anyone’s game, a true tough physical contest. The best team of the tournament won.

Rugby union is the last true physical game of chess in world sport (with out helmets, and tights).

Well done the ABs.

Well done the French.

Well done NZ

Roll on England 2015

Piri Weepu, True All Black Rugby Hero of RWC 2011

The seen was set for a hero to arise from the ashes in the RWC 2011 quarter final ABs vs Argentina. Prior to the game the number one in the world Abs 1st five ‘Dan Carter’ was out with injury, the new replacement would be Colin Slade. The nation was nervous, a green first five in a tough game and we remember the misfortune of RWC 2007 were the ABs lost to France.

Shortly into the game, Colin Slade leaves the field with injury. The nation reached the height of anxiety. Gasp!

The first five position is one of leadership and direction, many a game has been lost with poor first five game management, more so in tough RWC games.

The scene was set for a leader to emerge, a Caesar. Step up Piri Weepu. Who kick goals, directed field play around the field like it was his kingdom, the nation watched in awe a true rugby hero stood up and took charge. The day was won.

The best compliment the New Zealand Rugby public can do to such a player is post positive puns about the man deeds.

In short he was awesome, rugby world take note!

Examples…

* Piri Weepu destroyed the periodic table because Piri Weepu only recognises the element of surprise …

* Piri Weepu can touch MC Hammer

* Piri Weepu and Mr T walked into a bar. The bar was instantly destroyed, as that level of awesomeness cannot be contained in one building.

*Google won’t search for Piri Weepu because it knows you don’t find Piri Weepu, he finds you.

* Piri Weepu ordered a Big Mac at Burger King, and got one.

* Some people wear Superman pyjamas. Superman wears Piri Weepu pyjamas.

* It takes Piri Weepu 20 minutes to watch 60 Minutes.

* If you spell Piri Weepu in Scrabble, you win. Forever.

* It takes Piri Weepu 20 minutes to watch 60 Minutes.

* Some people wear Superman pyjamas. Superman wears Piri Weepu pyjamas.

* Piri Weepu can win a game of Connect Four in only three moves.

* Piri Weepu can slam a revolving door.

* Piri Weepu doesn’t wear a watch. He decides what time it is.

* If at first you don’t succeed, you’re not Piri Weepu.

* Piri Weepu once ate a whole cake before his friends could tell him there was a stripper in it.

RWC 2011 French coach, and also the 1999 mastermind behind the All Blacks defeat in the semi final.

What if ALL BLACKS win:

1) Our 2nd RWC cup win in 24 years

2) The nation will be happy

3) Players will be applauded

What if France win:

1) The French players will be immortals forever, their names will be remember like Ceaser. True Hero’s !

2) France first RWC cup.

The New Zealand Tab are paying $7 for a French win, and $1.05 for an AB win.

My bank account says take the $7 odds. My heart says go the ABs.

Yes I am worried, why the French have done it to the ABs twice before, and third time would be just messy.

Go the ABs.

The place: Rugby World Cup 2011 Auckland,  New Zealand

The time: October 2011 8th and 9th

The reason: The only teams the made it through to RWC semi finals are those that run at the opposition with phase play compared to those teams that resort to a kicking game as a form of attack.

Ireland, England, Scotland failed at this world cup because they DO NOT promote and develop running rugby.  I know they have the players, we have seen them in their sevens sides, yet the national coaches have not made the cross over. England have a fantastic sevens team.

ITS A GREAT DAY FOR RUGBY UNION…

                  The Green Lantern comic star

After ZERO consultation with fans, a huge surprise to all.

The Highlanders management go out on the town, get drunk on Speights shandies and watch the movie called Green Lantern. One of them joked ‘Hey that outfit on the green fella, that’s we need for our team to start winning!’, what he didn’t know when he made the joke the half arse Marketing Manager said ‘Good idea!”

And this is the out come from the morons who run the Highlanders.

                   From 2012 Super Rugby season..

             GO THE GREEN LANTERNERS

Here is the Highlander Board Members responsible for such a moronic decision.

ChairmanRoss Laidlaw (Independent)
Board MemberMichael de Buyzer (North Otago)
Board MemberAdrian Read (Otago)
Board MemberMurray Acker (Southland)
Board MemberKereyn Smith (Dunedin City Council)

General Manager Roger Clark – [email protected]
Office Manager Diane Ede – [email protected]
Operations Manager Greg O’Brien – [email protected]
Commercial Manager Mike Kerr – [email protected]
Marketing ManagerDoug McSweeney – [email protected]

THE last time I saw such an aweful sight was when the ALL BLACKS wore the Silver (instead of the traditional white) Jersey vs France at the RWC 2007 and LOST !

PREDICTION: The Green Lanterners jersey has a short life span !

Source: French club offers Sonny Bill $1.8m per season

..”THE battle for Sonny Bill Williams has reached boiling point.”…

Take the money and thats the end of international rugby for him !

Good luck to him !

I watched the Crusaders vs Chiefs last night. Bloody hell the pace of the game was like sevens rugby for 80 minutes.

Watching the game, was hard work, I had to keep one eye on the TV and one eye on the beer I was raising to my mouth, I just cant do two things at once.

Slow the game so I can at least drink a beer !

How does one get a tube beer hat, now I know why they were invented !

God help the northern sides, they better prey for rain and mud for RWC in Oct 2011.

Whats the difference between soccer and rugby?

Rugby players do not carry the BALL this way !

Thank god !

Carl ‘too slow’ Hayman

Nick  ‘never passes’ Evans

Do we want Nick Evans and Carl Hayman join the ABs in RWC?

NO…

 The Franks brothers and Steven Brett are doing just fine !

England 100 yard dash try !

Reuters

Source: Rugby Runs Free

Not so long ago, international rugby was billed as a battle of the hemispheres: a trans-global power struggle between the three southern giants, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, and the rugby nations above the equator.

For years, the two sides were poles apart on even the most basic elements of this sport—They played the same game; they used the same rules; but the results were undeniably different.

Southern sides embraced an eye-catching, running approach, while the Europeans played a risk-free version of the game that had more in keeping with the British weather—dreary and predictable.

But if there’s any lesson to be gleaned from the first two rounds of the Investec Internationals, the annual end-of-year jousts between the northern and southern hemisphere nations, it’s that this sport’s great global divide is becoming increasingly blurred.

“I have never seen rugby change so much in a year,” said Marc Lièvremont, the France head coach. “It is a new trend… with more tries scored, [a] better balance between kicking and running. It is a new style.”

This trend has been especially pronounced during the opening weeks of the autumn tests. The six games of this series so far have produced 286 points and 27 tries at an absurd rate of 4.5 per game. A year ago, those same matches yielded just 181 points and a meagre total of 11 tries.

Perhaps the biggest evidence of the dramatic change came last Saturday, when England inexplicably dropped 35 points on Australia in a dynamic display of running rugby that featured one of the most memorable tries of recent times—a lung-busting 100-yard foot race from the shadow of its own posts.

Statistics show that this renewed emphasis on attack first emerged during the summer’s Tri-Nations tournament between the southern-hemisphere’s elite sides. After a dour 2009 tournament that featured just 27 tries in nine games, this year’s competition produced 52 tries, a record for the 14-year-old tournament and a 93% increase on last year’s tally.

In addition, the number of passes increased by 35%, the kicks out of hand dropped dramatically and the average time that the ball was in play increased by almost two and a half minutes per match.

In other words, as Wales prepare to play Fiji on Friday in the third round of Investec Internationals, the days of rugby as a glorified game of kick-chase are over and running rugby’s in again.

“There is no question the balance of the game has shifted for the better,” said Shaun Edwards, the London Wasps head coach and an assistant with the Welsh team. “Now all the top teams want to play rugby.”

It’s a far cry from the first meetings between rugby’s leading nations. When England first played South Africa in 1906, the match finished 3-3 and for much of the next century it appeared that the English preferred games to finish with football scorelines.

By contrast, rugby in the southern hemisphere was viewed as an opportunity for a country to showcase its attacking skill and keep the ball in hand, and when the two styles met, the results were predictable: the farther south you come from, the greater your chances of victory.

The advent of professionalism in the sport in 1995 helped bridge the gap by introducing full-time conditioning programs and raising overall standards of fitness and endurance, while recent agreements governing the availability of international players have also helped put the hemispheres on an equal footing.

But thanks partly to tweaks to the rules of rugby, the sport’s lawmakers have re-energized the game by encouraging all players to pass or retain the ball instead of kicking it.

Not so long ago, the way the sport was refereed had turned rugby into a game of defense and territory. Tacklers were able to steal possession at the breakdown, so rather than run with the ball and risk a turnover close to their own try-line, teams preferred to boot the ball away downfield.

As a result, a brand of kick-tennis came to dominate the game, epitomized by Argentina and eventual champion South Africa in the 2007 World Cup. But since rugby’s lawmakers issued new directives on tackle laws last year, giving attacking teams more latitude at the breakdown, the focus has been on a fast-paced and free-flowing rugby.

The revised interpretation of the tackle law has produced less kicking and more passing: In the 2009 Tri-Nations there were an average of 65 kicks per game; this year in the same tournament that figure was down to 35.

By making it easier to retain possession and build phases, international rugby has become a powerful chess game of attack and counter-attack. And every country is forced to try to get on board.

“It’s a different game of rugby now,” said Gregor Townsend, the former Scotland and British Lions fly-half. “Two years, even six months ago, it was different, [but] with these new laws, it’s a totally different game. If you use the ball well, the attack should get the advantage.”

Looks like USA is getting it on with world rugby.

This is a watershed event for world rugby growth.

Rugby is popular in the USA, but not on mass.

This is going to change..

Source: Universal Sports, NBC to broadcast Rugby World Cup

Super 15 or 18 rugby in 4 weeks !

Yipeee

If you are in the sun these holidays please slip on a shirt, slop on the 30+ and slap on those jandles !

If you are one of these nude rugby blokes, please get further protection with a SOCK ! For gawd sake !

Source  : Nude Rugby !

Have a good new years !

Rugby World Cup 2011

Its not all that great news for the ABs chances.

Here is why: Lack of mental focus !

“How can you say that !”..the reader says

Well consider this..

1) The ABs are ranked the number 1 team in the world today, this is the same as all previous RWC’s.

2) The praise, and it will be cheap, will conclude the ABs as having already won the cup before the very first kick off.

3) Players are already checking out high paying contracts around the world.

4) Henry’s coaching mob have little to add to this side, what you see is all you are going to get.

5) When you are on top of the heap the hunger for those below you is intense to knock you off: France 2007, Australia 2004, France 2001…

THIS IS WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN …

Henry’s mob must run the B team a few times in the Tri Nations, this means a few losses. This also means the A team will have a little doubt in their minds to remind them of the horrible ghosts of 2007,2004 and 2001 RWC’s.

God help them if the AB’s get knocked out before the final ….

Source: Bring test discards in from the cold

If a player has once played for the ABs (whatever), then spends 3 years out of international rugby, they should be allow to play for whom they want to after this period based on residency qualifications.

Thus Doug Howlett and Nick Evans could play for England, both have being playing for the English clubs, and come RWC 2011 they will have completed 3 years standown.

I guess this would be good for England and Pacific Nations, not so good for Scotland, Wales or Ireland. As they dont have professional rugby competitions to attract ex ABs and the like.

Kinda see why the IRB motion failed !

Source: Wales could have won had they shown greater composure

Ieuan Evans said Wales ‘could have’ won !

I remember Ieuan Evans, he ‘could have’ tackled, but he didn’t.

Wales could not have won, ABs points tally was hindered by the pitch inability to remain sound during scum time. Hence the Welsh got many a free 3 points from scrum issues.

I think Wales will struggle at RWC 2011, Samoa and/or Fiji will claim their scalp.

Another point to note..BEWARE CHEAP PRAISE !

 Toeava scored two tries, he botch another, his second try was a gift so nothing in my mind to say he is any better than Ranger, Dagg or Guilford !

Ma Nonu proves that he is ahead of Sonny Bill William for the starting 15, Nonu and Smith combination produced results immediately. SBW was a bit lost and puffed with the high paced game. Next year Super 15 and Tri Nations will be an education for SBW. He needs more fitness and rugby smarts.

McCaw, how does he do it, what a machine, he goes and goes and goes !

The game was 5 minutes of good rugby and 15 minutes of Ref whistle, and rotated like this for 80 minutes.

Well done ABs.. next year is the history books year or NOT !

King HenryII said out loud ..”Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?”

Upon hearing this two loyal nights murdered the priest Thomas Becket.

So what’s this got to do with the movie Invictus?

Invictus is a rugby movie about the Boks winning the 1995 rugby world cup. The ABs as we all now in NZ had timely food poisoning the day of the RWC final. Remember Jeff Wilson throwing up shortly after the game started. The only two ABs that didn’t get sick were those that went to MacDonald’s for dinner. Laurie Mains (ABs coach of the time) blamed a waitress named ‘Suzie’, and stated this this was a planned strategy of  an unknown South Africa party, this fact was supported by the ABs given dinnerl the night before the final in a separate dinning room away from the general population, whereas previously dinners had been in the main dining room with the general population.

Is there any merit to the allegation that ABs was slipped some tummy trouble!

Invictus gives me the idea that President Mandela was politically desperate to win the RWC 1995, and much pressure was placed upon Francois Pienaar to get a win. A fact the ABs rugby management could not have calculated.

I do not think that either Mandela or Pienaar gave the order to poison the ABs food/drink the night of the RWC final. However at the time the ABs were running over every team in the world, Jona Lomu was rampant, and the Boks new it would be a miracle if they won. But the Boks had to win to achieve a major step along the path of uniting the black and white population, they were desperate and failure was not an option.

So maybe Mandela said : ..”Will no one rid me of the All Blacks”..

No so much as giving the order, but over heard by enough Special Branch Officers (ex SA SAS) for one of them to go a little further than the law allows, and drop a vile of tummy trouble into the food/drink just to slow the ABs down so that the Boks could have a chance. After all loosing 50-nil in the RWC was not an option for the Boks, and that was in the tea leaves.

After all 3o years prior to the 1995 world cup, similar foke were giving orders to blow up buses!

YES all the above is fiction, but if you are a rugby crazy NZ’der this movie will make you think.

The movie is worth seeing, but it doesn’t cover the NZ version of events as those sort of facts get in the way of this ‘king making’ rugby story for Mandela and South Africa!

Clint Eastwood had is go, maybe Peter Jackson could tell the story in a more darker light, more of a terrorist come freedom fighter come president at all costs sort of way.

I did think Morgan Freeman did a great job of a ‘nice’ Mandela. Matt Damon did ok. Eastwood did a great ‘story tellling’ job as well, however unlike boxing movies that look very realistic the rugby action seams a little fake. Players weren’t puffed or sweating, you will notice this yourself.

Courtney Lawes: Flanker for England, Jamaican Father, English Mother, 6ft 7in, 17 st

UPDATE: I define immigrants as those who parents or grand parents immigrated to the current country. Of course Mr Lawes is not an immigrant, yet his father was!

We have all heard the English refer the to All Blacks as a mix of caucasian and pacific islands descent, with a little touch on needle.

New Zealand saw an explosion of its Pacific Island population under the Labor Prime Minster Norman Kirk (1970s, I think) as he saw the need to bring in a work force to assist New Zealand manufacturing base.

England, as we all know has millions of different nationalities within its population. Yet their rugby team is mostly caucasian, and has been for years. One should note that the West Indies population in England are large people, they are big, strong and very athletic.  Add to this Africans, Jamaicans etc.

QUESTION: Why is there a difference between New Zealand and England percentage mix of race in their respective rugby teams?

In New Zealand the secondary school rugby competition is the most competitive rugby tournament in the under 21 world, and if you are a headmaster and rugby coach (Graham Henry) of say St Peters College  and you want to beat Kings College  and you here about a 16 year old Tongan lad who is 6 ft 2 in, 100 kilo and fast (Jona Lomu, Inga, Nonu, etc), you would offer him a scholarship to your school so he can join the rugby team. In other words much is done to bring the cream to the top, rugby talent is hunted and promoted no matter of the individuals heritage status. The love of winning rugby guides all.

So what does England do ?

I dont know, but I am sure if they had more talented athletic West Indian and African giants playing rugby union at secondary school then they would have their own Lomu’s, Nonu’s etc.

Time to role out more  rugby scholarships to pommy exclusive  rugby schools, old boy ! It would be great to see.

This is a reason why I would love to see USA accept rugby union as much as we do, those black American athletes running down the wing would be a great thing to see!

Well what to say…

The ABs didn’t even have a sweat up until the Irish scored the first try of the game. They looked a bit bored ! Don’t believe me, compare the 2nd half with the 1st half.

The Irish need to play the game for 80 minutes they same way they did in the first 30 minutes, ONLY AT A FASTER PACE ! Then they will roll us, but that wont happen until all the Guinness in Ireland runs out  or their banks stop getting bailouts from German banks !

Well done ABs, another day at the office. Lets see if the Wales Boyos can force the ABs to have a sweat up by half time !

NOTE: Didnt a weak SOMOA team do well against England, two tries each. SOMOA play some of the best rugby in the world, wake up 6 Nations one day they will knock you over !

Source: Toulon boss sets sights on SBW return

To get the highest pay packet, and not a bad lifestyle RUGBY UNION is your first choice !

The Aussie League NRL players can read, they will become the poor cousins to rugby after DECADES of stealing players from rugby union..

There will be more cases like SBW in the future…

Source: Why SBW’s offload is so special

The latest rumor is that the IRB wish to take down the latest ABs advantage over other unions, and that is the ability for SBW (Sonny Bill Williams) to offload the rugby union ball with one hand.

The IRB proposes to increase the ball size by 25%. This is to insist that SBW uses two hands. This would reduce that chance of fast offloads in the tackle and return SBW to normal status, just like the rest of us.

However, after reading the tea leaves I feel this is correct the forecast for the world rugby and SBW: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsXTa7UCGlk&feature=related

IMPORTANT: I am joking about the ball size change..got ya !

So Sonny Bill Williams seams to work well at 2nd five in the All Blacks.

What does this mean for rugby?

Has the new application of the current rugby laws meant that a kicking 2nd five is not longer needed (Remember when coaches would select two skilled 1st fives for the 1st and 2nd five role in the backs). It seams so. Well assuming you have a on field back up for the 1st five kicking game from some one else, then it is a yes!  I haven’t seen SBW kick yet, have you ?

Does this mean each international rugby team must now find a player that is 100kg plus, can distribute the ball, think smart, be quick and strong in the go forward.

In other words all those talented blind side flankers out there please apply for the 2nd five role.

If the application of the laws stay this way, I can see the Boks doing just that, funny thing is that Fiji, Tonga and Somoa have always had this type of player at 2nd five.  Are we all going pacific ??