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Rugby - RIP Jonah Lomu.


The Anti-Targ

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Reddit comment: "It's like watching the school jock pistol whipping the special needs kid."

Rather mean, but not entirely inaccurate unfortunately.

was anyone expecting it to be anything but? The ABs just don't do 'going easy' on anyone.

TBH USA did well to keep NZ below 100, even with it being the B team (narrow pitch probably helped too)

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Back to the Rugby League England have been absolutely robbed of certainly a draw and probably a win against Australia in Australia by the TMO. Just a shocking decision not to give that Hall try at the end. Still England do have themselves to blame a bit as they really did stop playing for large parts of the second half until they went behind.

To be fair this has been a really good Four Nations tournament though. Having a competitive fourth side in Samoa, and a slightly weaker Australia, does make a big difference. It should be a good last round of games.

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was anyone expecting it to be anything but? The ABs just don't do 'going easy' on anyone.

TBH USA did well to keep NZ below 100, even with it being the B team (narrow pitch probably helped too)

It was a solid effort by the US lads no doubt. I don;t think the AB's were put off by the narrow pitch, because they seemed to pretty much score at will on the outside. One thing that saved them from the ton was the AB's taking 3 time soaking scrums in the final 10, when a lineout penalty would have been much more likely to result in a try. But still they were a ways off getting to 100 by the final 10 minutes.

and LOL!

A Chicago newspaper has apologised after calling the All Blacks the "legendary Aussie team" in an article hailing their win over the USA Eagles yesterday.

The proper meaning of the Aussie tag was clearly confused, with the article going on to name the All Blacks as a New Zealand team.

New Zealand just can't catch a break!

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Back to the Rugby League England have been absolutely robbed of certainly a draw and probably a win against Australia in Australia by the TMO. Just a shocking decision not to give that Hall try at the end. Still England do have themselves to blame a bit as they really did stop playing for large parts of the second half until they went behind.

To be fair this has been a really good Four Nations tournament though. Having a competitive fourth side in Samoa, and a slightly weaker Australia, does make a big difference. It should be a good last round of games.

I haven't seen that game so I don't know how bad the decision was but I agree the tournament's been fun. Of the four games so far only one was any kind of blow-out. Samoa was within a whisker of beating the Kiwis.

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Once again a British hack (Telegraph journalist Oliver Brown) decides to get all critical of the haka ahead of the Twickenham test, and mouth of with the usual display of ignorance.



He complains that there is no right of reply, for instance. Has he not seen the games between NZ and Samoa, or Tonga or Fiji? If England had something interesting to watch in the form of a challenge we'd be more than happy for them to perform it. But somehow I don't think Morris dancing would quite set the right tone for the team or the crowd.


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The teams for the England-New Zealand game have been announced. Not a bad England side given the injuries I suppose, I'm not sure about Farrell starting with only one start for Saracens under his belt but given they're going with Eastmond at 12 I can understand not wanting Ford next to him. The All Black team looks worryingly full strength though, that may well be first choice 1-15 at this point.

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Every time I watch the All Blacks the refs favour them. Every time. I don't know what it is.


Last year against Ireland as well. England last year against NZ the same story.



Now they award a try for New Zealand after Johnny May puts England up 5-0. It wasn't a try. Clearly not. Video ref wasn't even consulted.


Fuck up by the ref IMO. It completely helps NZ in the saddle. Then they get a penalty in the first half for a supposed late tackle. It wasn't late, he threw the ball just as the English player hit him, that should be fine. Again 3 free points from the ref.



It just annoys me.


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I agree. That was not a try and the ABs seem to get the rub of the green when it comes to decisions. However, despite England's domination for large swathes of the game, they were unable to convert this domination into points and ultimately paid the price.


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Well that was disappointing. No complaints. Ireland were the better side and fully deserved their victory.





ETA. Where are all the rugby fans? The football/soccer thread moves pretty quickly when there is a big match on but sadly this appears not to be the case when it comes to rugby.


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I just caught up with the England game. Decent effort from England, but really they need to start winning some of these close games. That Cruden try may not have been a try but honestly it's still poor defence either way so England can't have too many complaints.

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The poor refereeing was far from one-sided in the ABs vs England game. It was absolute nonsense not to award the Sam Whitelock "knock on" try, England were lucky to have 15 men on the field after Sonny Bill's break and the penalty try near the end was 50/50. Owens even decided to take another look at the film to try and take away Charlie Faumuina's perfectly legit try after he'd already awarded it.



More than anything though it seemed like England just weren't fit enough. They have power, they have intelligence, they have pace, but they come off the boil in the second half and when you're tired your assets can't shine. The injuries don't help of course, but you still expect better staying power from pros. The way they continued to monster the scrum and lineouts even till the end was the bright point and they can build on that to be a genuine force for the World Cup.


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