Rugby

[Padraig]

I think this was a very poor 6 Nations on the whole and I don't fancy any teams from the Northern Hemisphere to do much at the world cup.

Seems so. France have gone backwards. Ireland suggest they only have one good match in them. Wales have stalled. Scotland and Italy continue to struggle at the bottom of the table. England have moved forwards but they are still an inexperienced side.

[Fireball07]

I haven't posted for the whole tournament but I don't think it's all doom and gloom for the Northern hemisphere.

England had a good championship really, they have a young team, they won the whole thing and it was definitely a step in the right direction. I don't expect them to win the World Cup but they could do well. The got to the final last time with an inferior side...I just think they lack class at 12 and 13. Solid but inspiring.

Ireland had a poor championship but there were encouraging signs too. By the end of the championship we cut out the indiscipline that plagued us early on and our defence is really very very good. We looked very solid throughout, and teams never looked like scoring tries against us through their own attacking ability. The horrible Darcy missed tackle, the Thompson intercept and the dodgy lineout call + 1 McLean try were scored against us...not bad imo. And going forward, we were unlucky at times and it eventually clicked in the last game. Kidney has got to give us extra options from the bench though, having Paddy Wallace as the only outside backs option is just stupid when we have McFadden, Trimble and Fitzgerald available. The scrum seems to be getting more solid too, and I definitely think we can make an impact in the World Cup if we have any bit of luck.

France are France. Enough said really. No matter how good are bad they might be, they are unpredictable and are the one team capable of shocking everyone.

Wales have declined....I don't know how they beat us, that was definitely our worst performance. They were so uninspiring but we just kept kicking the ball aimlessly to them.

As for Scotland and Italy, I don't think either team will embarass themselves but they're never really contenders for a semi-final place so it's hard to say what would be considered good for them. Get to the quarters and lose? Italy's win over France was huge, I'm delighted for them.

[ljkeane]

Very good game in the match between the Crusaders and the Sharks at Twickenham today. A good advert for the Super 15, I'm regretting not making it down now.

The Crusaders really were excellent for long periods of game against a strong team in the Sharks, they look stronger than they have been for years and still have McCaw to come back. In fact most of the New Zealand teams look strong this year which is a good sign for the All Blacks. The combination between Carter, Williams and Fruean was top class and Williams is looking like he's on track to be a great player in both codes. Probably the most impressive sign for me was the way the Crusaders mullered a Sharks pack featuring what is likely to be the Springbok first choice front row, both the Franks brothers in particular were impressive.

On the downside for the Crusaders I think they'll be a bit disappointed with the way they eased off after building a big lead and the injury to Carter will be a concern.

[The Anti-Targ]

In fact most of the New Zealand teams look strong this year which is a good sign for the All Blacks.

Except for the Hurricanes :bawl:

A crowd of 34,000 at Twickenham for the Super 15 game. That's a great turn out in New Zealand terms (pretty much fills the Wellington stadium), but I imagine there were lots of empty seats.

I guess England losing to Ireland was all but fated once that "England wins Grand Slam" add got leaked. Probably a good thing for England, because now they'll only have a slightly over inflated sense of themselves going in to the RWC, rather than a massively over-inflated one. I do wish New Zealand had a bit of that Aussie/England type ego though. A little bit of that arrogance does help.

[Fireball07]

Except for the Hurricanes :bawl:

A crowd of 34,000 at Twickenham for the Super 15 game. That's a great turn out in New Zealand terms (pretty much fills the Wellington stadium), but I imagine there were lots of empty seats.

I guess England losing to Ireland was all but fated once that "England wins Grand Slam" add got leaked. Probably a good thing for England, because now they'll only have a slightly over inflated sense of themselves going in to the RWC, rather than a massively over-inflated one. I do wish New Zealand had a bit of that Aussie/England type ego though. A little bit of that arrogance does help.

I only saw the ad after the match. Are you sure it was leaked before the game?

To be quite honest, I was always confident we'd win that match. We are actually quite a good team and had a bit of bad luck during the tournament. It's been years since England beat us at home.

[The Anti-Targ]

I only saw the ad after the match. Are you sure it was leaked before the game?

To be quite honest, I was always confident we'd win that match. We are actually quite a good team and had a bit of bad luck during the tournament. It's been years since England beat us at home.

Well I saw the print ad before I saw the highlights of the game. But maybe the game was played before images of the ad came out. I'm sure that when the All Blacks reach the RWC final every newspaper in the country is going to have 2 headlines prepared. I also reckon a number of key team sponsors are going to have advertising copy all prepared for running in hopes of their team being the final victors. Some might even have alternate ads in case thier team falls at the final hurdle.

[The Anti-Targ]

So I heard today that some England clubs are threatening to blacklist Twickenham if they let any Super 15 matches be played there again.

What's the thinking behind making such serious threats? The radio news article didn't realy go into any detail about why the clubs are so against it. It did say that SANZAR have been trying for a few years to get the odd S14/15 game played in England, and that the clubs are pissed off that the Christchurch earthquake was used as a Trojan horse excuse to get something in that the English clubs have been [successfully] resisting for years.

[ljkeane]

So I heard today that some England clubs are threatening to blacklist Twickenham if they let any Super 15 matches be played there again.

What's the thinking behind making such serious threats? The radio news article didn't realy go into any detail about why the clubs are so against it. It did say that SANZAR have been trying for a few years to get the odd S14/15 game played in England, and that the clubs are pissed off that the Christchurch earthquake was used as a Trojan horse excuse to get something in that the English clubs have been [successfully] resisting for years.

Some of the clubs (mainly Saracens from what I've seen) are unhappy with the competition in the middle of the English domestic season. I can't see it being a big issue, there isn't really much chance of enough Super 15 games being played in the UK for it to be serious competition for domestic leagues.

[Fireball07]

Btw if Munster played with the kind of intensity they did in the 2nd half on Friday, they would not be playing in the Challenge Cup. Superb performance.

But not perfect...there is hope for the future but there are certain areas that need replacing. With Warwick and Tuitupou leaving and Dowling retiring, we need a top class back.

But I think Coughlan could turn out to be a really good player. Was fantastic against Leinster, and he usually is.

[The Anti-Targ]

Some of the clubs (mainly Saracens from what I've seen) are unhappy with the competition in the middle of the English domestic season. I can't see it being a big issue, there isn't really much chance of enough Super 15 games being played in the UK for it to be serious competition for domestic leagues.

Yeah, I'd have thought there would need to be a significant novelty element to playing S15 games in the UK to draw enough of a crowd. So I'd think SANZAR would probably only want 1 game per year to be played outside the 3 competing countries. Perhaps even only 1 game every other year.

Personally I'd like to see a S15 game being played in one of the 2nd tier countries, which are close to breaking into the top tier. Like Argentina. Give the game a better profile in those countries. And I imagine Argentine rugby fans will be keen as mustard to go see a S15 match.

[Vestrit]

I’m a bit torn on this

On the one hand, sport has obviously become major entertainment. And if there’s an audience, then why not play a game there once a season? There are always going to be enough Kiwis, Aussies and Crunchies in London to make a game there viable, particularly when you add in all the British rugby fans that will go along as well. And there are the benefits of spreading the gospel of rugby

But on the other hand, I have a bit of an old-fashioned feeling that a domestic competition should be held within its own boundaries. English premiership games are played in England because they are that country’s domestic competition. You don’t see GP games between Leicester and Harlequins played in Edinburgh or Barcelona or Auckland.

I know the S15 covers three countries, but surely it should stay within those countries as it’s their competition, not England’s or France’s or Argentina’s.

This recent game was a one-off; you can’t argue with trying to raise money for Christchurch and the Crusaders don’t really have a home ground at the moment anyway.

But looking ahead, if I was a Blues fan living in Auckland, I’d be pretty annoyed if one of my team’s home games was being played in Buenos Aires (for a start, having a beer or two at The Neighbourhood bar in Kingsland before popping down to the ground could be problematic)

Talking about the game itself: I know everybody went wild about Sonny Bill Williams’ offloads. They were awesome but I was more blown away by his running lines and angles. Just amazing manipulation of the defence and of space, and incredible timing and footwork. I was a bit annoyed watching Rugby Club last week that Stuart Barnes didn’t make more of that when he was dissecting the Crusaders’ back play. To be fair, he did show how awesome Carter was.

Also, did anybody pick up the halftime interview with Carter? Again, just showed a world class athlete’s ability to be both within the game but also seeing the wider picture at the same time. He got asked one question and replied by basically describing everything that had been going on tactically by both sides during the half. In particular he pointed out to the commentator that the Sharks changed their defensive system 20 minutes into the game and hence the Crusaders changed how they were attacking (mainly, both wingers becoming options runners off 10, rather than staying wide)

[Hereward]

English premiership games are played in England because they are that country’s domestic competition. You don’t see GP games between Leicester and Harlequins played in Edinburgh or Barcelona or Auckland.

Though they did hold an LV Cup match in Abu Dhabi.

[ljkeane]

Though they did hold an LV Cup match in Abu Dhabi.

I was just about to say that. It's pretty clearly a money spinning exercise but so long as it's just the odd game I can't say it bothers me that much.

There should be a lot of decent games this weekend. Saturday morning there's the game between the Crusaders and the Bulls and then all the quaterfinals of the Heineken Cup look like good match ups, you have to think the home teams are favourites as usual but I wouldn't completely rule out any of the away teams.

The Super 15 game in New Zealand should be a pretty interesting one as the core of both the All Blacks and the Sprinboks will probably come from the Crusaders and the Bulls so it might be fairly key for the World Cup. The Bulls have been a bit out of form this year but they were better last week so hopefully both team will be at their best. I'd expect the game to follow the general pattern of the Twickenham game with the big South African pack trying to dominate the game enough to neutralise the Crusaders backs but the Bulls have the added advantage of the game management of Du Preez and Steyn.

All of the Heineken Cup game should be good but I'm looking forward to the game in Dublin in particular. Leinster will have to be favourites at home (and probably favourites to win the tournament) but Leicester will definitely be in the game and they won't give up without a fight. How Thomas Waldrom performs in a game of this intensity should be interesting, especially now he's declared himself available for England. He's probably been the best 8 in the Premiership this season but this will be a step up. Ayerza getting himself banned doesn't help their chances though.

Actually I can see both the Northampton-Ulster and Perpignon-Toulon games following fairly similar patterns to the Dublin game as well with the away team with strong packs/half back partnerships that won't make it easy for the home team.

[Vestrit]

Though they did hold an LV Cup match in Abu Dhabi.

yeah, fair point (I knew there would be an example out there somewhere that would trip me up!)

I guess, as ljkeane says, if it's the odd game, then, yeah, no worries and everybody have a good time. I guess the issue is at which point is it becoming ridiculous, or unfair to home fans

anyway, onwards and upwards.

Yep, Leinster v Leicester should be very interesting!

[ljkeane]

Cracking game in the Amlin between Quins and Wasps tonight. Running rugby weather is clearly upon us again and that's one reason to be thankful I'm injured and watching rugby instead of playing.

Nick Evans is clearly the best Kiwi flyhalf after Dan Carter in my opinion. He takes the ball to the line about as well as any ten in world rugby and his game management is better than the other options as Carter's back up. If I was Graham Henry I'd get him into the squad for the World Cup.

From an England perspective that's the best I've seen Flutey play since the Lions tour and if he stays fit and in form I'd say he has to come in at 12 now. With Waldrom declaring himself available for England selection Easter seemed to be fired up and he had a storming first twenty minutes although he ran out of steam a bit towards the end. It would be good if he showed that kind of synamism with the ball in hand more consistently.

[Vestrit]

Don’t want to brag but…

Scored a free corporate hospitality ticket to the Melrose Sevens on Saturday.

Three course lunch and free bar all day. :cheers:

Luckily after the second beer I recognised that this had danger written all over it so slowed down and just enjoyed some relaxed pints with some cracking sevens in great weather.

Memo to Scottish Rugby Union – this is how you create atmosphere. Crowd crammed into a smallish capacity venue with fantastic food, bar and WC facilities (not just the corporate stuff) in a picturesque venue.

Not 8,000 rattling around an empty and soulless Murrayfield (which never fails to disappoint in terms of food and drink services and general organisation).

Just in case you ever get round to doing something about the fact that Edinburgh home games and the Edinburgh leg of the IRB sevens are a disgrace.

[ljkeane]

There's been some great semifinals in Europe this weekend with the two on Saturday being particularly good.

The win by Leinster over Toulouse was very impressive, they were good against Leicester but the Tigers did fail to turn up a bit, Toulouse on the other hand put in a very good performance away from home. The Leinster pack in particular have been excellent this year and the way they matched a Toulouse pack that dominated them last year shows how much they've improved. I can't really see them losing the final but having said that the way Northampton demolished Perpignan's massive pack today makes me a bit less certain about that. It should be a good final.

The performance of the weekend though undoubtedly has to be Quins becoming only the second team to beat Munster at Thomond Park in Europe. I really didn't think they had a hope before the game but they were immense in every facet of the game and to go on to win after losing Evans was even more unexpected. They could do with him being fit for the final though.

[ljkeane]

Good physical game between Leicester and Northampton today, probably the best Leicester have played since the Leinster game. The way they controlled the game in the second half was very impressive and Youngs and Flood looked back in form for the first time in a couple of months. Having said that they were very lucky not to be down to 14 men for the majority of the game, I'm not normally too concerned about players being given yellows for the odd punch but there's no doubt that Tuilangi should have been sent off.

From the Northampton perspective they didn't play badly and going away to Welford Road was always going to be tough but the way that Leicester were able to put the squeeze on in the second half will be a concern. It's not going to get any easier next week and they'll need to improve at the lineouts and in midfield.

In the Magners semi Leinster cruised to a win against a weakened Ulster team. Good to get the win for them but it'll definitely be a big step up in intensity against Northampton.

[SerArthurHeath]

2 great matches (one in atmosphere the other in quality) in the 2 European Cup finals this weekend. Well played Leinster with a second well deserved HC. I thought Saints were fantastic in the first half but Sexton's wonderful second undid them and they fell apart a little.

I was speechless with joy at the Quins match, I was sure we had lost it and though many have blamed the referee I thought he was generally ok and made decisions that benefitted both sides, like most over-maligned officials in most sports. I love Nick Evans and only wish Dany Care could keep his head when playing in a White shirt. Bad luck Stade, you were a lot better than Quins in the second half and best of luck next year.

[Hereward]

Welcome, even if you are a Quin.* Fantastic match yesterday. If Northampton could play like that for a whole match, they'd be close to unbeatable.

* I'd rather be a Paddy than a Quin. :wideeyed: