Rugby IV - Striking Hookers Are Back In Fashion

[Which Tyler]

Ugalde is denying it. They also say that the maximum ban is 208 weeks - so 208 weeks it should be (I'd upgrade to life based on disrepute, or ungentlemanly conduct; or whatever they need to find to make if life)

[Slick Mongoose]

7 hours ago, Hereward said:

Interesting, if alarming, article on the trends in modern rugby:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/37171363

Quote

That's their choice - they've gone into this to get bigger, but the pressures to get bigger are huge. Because if you can't get bigger, it's such a tough road to get through."

All that and no mention of drugs....

[The Anti-Targ]

13 hours ago, Which Tyler said:

It will probably surprise no-one here that I want this sort of behaviour stamped out of the game; he'll probably get a year or so, but IMO should be a life ban.

Worse than Dupuy's that earned 24 weeks or Hartley's that got 26 weeks; far more consistent and repeated (but less pointed and specific) than Attoub's that earned 70 weeks.

I'd put it up there with Callum Clark, Duncan McRae or Umaga/Mealamu as the worst acts I've seen on a rugby pitch; and of the 4, this is a clear winner.

 

If only he'd been wearing a black shirt, or playing against the Lions (or even both!) - that would have been fine

Life ban IMO.

[The Marquis de Leech]

Dear god. At the risk of tempting fate, this might be the most dominant All Black side in history. It's a crying shame they're not facing England at Twickenham this year.

[The Marquis de Leech]

On 13/09/2016 at 8:37 PM, Hereward said:

Because when the forerunner of the Lions started, the whole of Ireland was still part of the UK, plus, later, most Irish rugby players used to be from Northern Ireland, or were Anglo-Irish protestants from the south with no nationalist qualms about playing for a British team.

The other point being that the Irish Rugby Football Union covers both the Republic and the North.

In defence of the Lions, it is the "last great tour". In an era where test matches are a dime a dozen, there is the novelty and sense of history that has been lost elsewhere.

[Calibandar]

On 17-9-2016 at 2:08 PM, Roose Boltons Pet Leech said:

Dear god. At the risk of tempting fate, this might be the most dominant All Black side in history. It's a crying shame they're not facing England at Twickenham this year.

It's incredible how good they are, and a joy to watch.

[ljkeane]

In recent rugby news England announced their training squad for the Autumn Internationals.

Other than missing Haskell through injury the notable omissions are probably Cipriani and Kvesic which you'd think means they don't have much chance of playing for England in the foreseeable future. Bit of a shame about Kvesic but Jones clearly doesn't fancy him, in fairness, he didn't play particularly well against South Africa A in the summer either. Cowan-Dickie's probably a little unlucky to miss out as well, he's been playing well, but Tommy Taylor's also a very good player.

The notable inclusion is probably Nathan Hughes. He is a cracking player but I must admit I'm not a huge fan of picking him. People tend to compare him to the other players in the England squad of Pacific Island heritage but the Vunipolas and Tuilagi came through England age grade rugby and Rokoduguni didn't come to the UK to play professional rugby. Hughes feels a lot more of a poach to me. Still those are the rules.

Unfortunately the most obvious replacement for Haskell in the squad in Sam Jones broke his leg in training. That makes openside a bit of an issue. Jones seems to fairly insistent Robshaw's staying at 6 so the talk is Mike Williams or Itoje are the front runners for 7. I like both of them but there's no way they are opensides, so even if there is talk of playing left and right I suspect it'll be Robshaw doing most of the actual openside work. Still, on the plus side we should have a big pack to match up with the Springboks.

In other news Aaron Smith has been suspended by the All Blacks for some bathroom related shenanigans.

[The Anti-Targ]

3 hours ago, ljkeane said:

 

In other news Aaron Smith has been suspended by the All Blacks for some bathroom related shenanigans.

I think this is another reason why there should be gender neutral bathrooms.

It's easier to be discrete if it's not unusual to see a man and a woman both walking into the same bathroom. It used to be what goes on tour stays on tour. Back in the day WaGs even tacitly gave permission for a bit of hanky-panky on tour, as long as it didn't involve penetration, and as long as they never found out.

[Which Tyler]

Good news here, but absolutely no reason for complacency - it's still a fairly small study, and I'd need to see the source before comming on methodology etc.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-37581000

A study on the long-term effects of concussions in former Scotland rugby players has found they displayed "only some mild memory effects".

Fifty-two ex-internationals with an average of 14 concussions each were examined by the University of Glasgow.

Multiple sports concussions have been linked to the neurodegenerative disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

It has been found in the brain tissue of deceased former NFL athletes, boxers and rugby players.

The former players were examined alongside 29 control subjects.

"Overall there is not a suggestion of widespread decline in daily function in ex-rugby internationalists who had a high number of repeat concussions," said Tom McMillan, Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology.

"Although some differences in memory were found, these were mild overall and their cause uncertain.

"Despite a high number of repeat concussions in the retired rugby players, effects on mental health, social or work function were not evident some 20 years after they had stopped playing."

...

[Calibandar]

New Zealand has utterly dominated the Rugby Championship in an incredible way.

McCaw, Conrad, Ma Nonu and Dan Carter have retired and they seem to be just as good already. Demolished the opponent in every single game. I have rarely seen such dominance in a team sport. Tremendous.

[ljkeane]

The All Blacks have been excellent, they really have managed the transition fantastically well.

Having said that the standard of the other sides in the competition has been disappointing. Australia and South Africa have been about as bad as I've ever seen them, the Springboks in particular barely look to have a game plan, and Argentina have taken a bit of a step back without Fernandez-Lobbe, Ayerza, Bosch and Imhoff. Hopefully we can see a bit of an improvement from these sides over the next year because it doesn't make for particularly good viewing.

[The Anti-Targ]

When do England and NZ face off next? It's hard to see NZ at risk of losing a game until they face England, or unless SA or AU get their shit together within the next year. While I never like seeing the ABs too long of a winning streak tends to stifle an attitude of striving for perfection because you delude yourself that you're already there.

[ljkeane]

November next year I'd assume.

In terms of their games in the Autumn I can't see  Italy or France providing too much of a threat. Ireland in Dublin could have been a tough game for them, Schmidt's a good coach and Ireland, off the back of a reasonable tour to South Africa and some players coming back from injury, don't have a bad side. Unfortunately I don't think playing the game in Chicago is going to help them, there's no way I can see them winning a game at a neutral venue and one of the most impressive things about the All Blacks is how quickly they adapt to any problems teams cause them. Given that I'd expect New Zealand to improve more than Ireland going into a second game in reasonably quick succession. 

[Calibandar]

It's a shame England and the AB's aren't paired in the Autumn Internationals, thought so before but more now.

They also don't play Wales.

[Hereward]

12 hours ago, ljkeane said:

November next year I'd assume.

 

I think it's 2018 actually.

[The Marquis de Leech]

On 09/10/2016 at 11:12 PM, Calibandar said:

 

[The Marquis de Leech]

OK, that wasn't pretty (and Australia will be going on about that disallowed try for the rest of time), but we got there in the end. I'll take it.

[ljkeane]

If I was a Wallabies fan I'd be absolutely fuming about the disallowed try, shocking decision and it put a very different complexion on the game with Wallabies having to force the game from behind rather than being level or in front which let the All Blacks pick them off. Just a completely bizarre thing for a TMO to interject himself into the game for.

Still probably the best game the Southern Hemisphere sides have put together this year and the Wallabies looked the best they have with ball in hand for a while. The balance of their pack is definitely better with Timani in. They still dug themselves a hole in the first half by conceding two soft tries though (fair enough the first New Zealand try was brilliant).

Interesting to see New Zealand yanking Barrett off for Cruden early in the second half. He's been fantastic this year but he's also not a test class goal kicker. Unless he sorts that out it's always going to be a concern in tight games.

[ljkeane]

Shit. Itoje's out of the Autumn Internationals with a broken hand.

I'm starting to get a little concerned now with both first choice second rows, Haskell, the likely replacement for Haskell in Sam Jones, his potential replacements Williams and Itoje (yes, I've counted him twice), Watson and Nowell all out. I'm not overly convinced Hartley will be ready for international rugby in time for the first test either although George and Taylor are both capable replacements if necessary.

 

 

[The Anti-Targ]

Is it legal for the TMO to step in like that (Aussie disallowed try)? Fair enough for dangerous play because that shit needs to be punished, but for a bump I don't recall it happening in the past. In terms of the infringement itself it seems like the ref and TMO agreed that it was an infringement and I tend to agree that Savea was blocked with the Aus player changing his line. So I think the final decision was right but I question the interjection of the TMO.

It was a decision that affected the game, but I think the ABs would have gotten up in the final 20 and won anyway. It's not like the ABs haven't won from behind in the final 20, and as always the AB bench proves superior to the opposition bench.

Still, for the first 60 the ABs looked ordinary and Aus looked like a world class unit. Disallowed try notwithstanding, that the ABs and AU were close in score after that disappointing 60 minutes for the ABs and impressive 60 minutes for Aus shows that on a bad day the current AB side can still beat the other top teams.