The Marquis de Leech Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 So for my layman's perspective, what are the best teams in the world right now? It is New Zealand at 1, South Africa at 2, and then a batch of England/Wales/Ireland/ Scotland/Australia at the same level, followed by France, Argentina, Italy and the Fiji Islands/Samoa/Tonga? Or is there a more clear delineation between the strengths of the teams? 1. New Zealand2. South Africa (Daylight) England/Wales/Australia/France/IrelandArgentina/Scotland/Italy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The BlackBear Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 Really? Interesting.My impression from the uninformed side lines was always that it was a bit of a Six Nations dominated thing, with New Zealand as the big exception, but clearly that's changed ( or wasn't the case anyway the last 20 years).The Tri-nations are very big business, with Argentina rapidly climbing.New Zealands dominance is especially amazing given the population difference: UK ~60,000,000, NZ ~4,000,000. Also very interesting how Polynesian players have become somewhat of a commodity. On a different note, anyone else think the Wales kit looks fucking awful? Also I'll have to hide from all radio, and this thread until I can watch the England Highlights later. Bloody Sky stealing my BBC coverage, first F1 now England Rugby. Grrrrr! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 A couple of notes about the way rugby is run in New Zealand, as opposed to England: - All professional players are contracted directly to the NZRFU, rather than clubs, provinces, or franchises. Any Club vs Country struggle will always end in favour of the national authority. - You're only eligible to play for the All Blacks if you play in New Zealand. If you sign up with a French or Japanese Club, you're no longer eligible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The BlackBear Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 A couple of notes about the way rugby is run in New Zealand, as opposed to England: - All professional players are contracted directly to the NZRFU, rather than clubs, provinces, or franchises. Any Club vs Country struggle will always end in favour of the national authority. - You're only eligible to play for the All Blacks if you play in New Zealand. If you sign up with a French or Japanese Club, you're no longer eligible. That second one (it seems to me) is actually amazingly brave. And the first, isn't that how English Cricket do things? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Anti-Targ Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 Watching live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Anti-Targ Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 Really? Interesting.My impression from the uninformed side lines was always that it was a bit of a Six Nations dominated thing, with New Zealand as the big exception, but clearly that's changed ( or wasn't the case anyway the last 20 years).For almost all of test rugby history the 2 best sides in the world have been the All Blacks and South Africa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Anti-Targ Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 OMG Something from nothing! Kieran Reid's a rugby god! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Anti-Targ Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 Too many stupid penalties. But coming from England pressure. Very flat defence by them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calibandar Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 This is a great game to watch. I'm obviously not an expert but I feel the All Blacks had one or two calls in their favour that they shouldn't have had, one of them a really odd penalty that brought them to 10 points. Great stuff though. This England team seems to perform better than expected. Ireland vs Australia is on in a few hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 We are making damn hard work of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lessthanluke Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 Pretty good performance by Wales so far but Argentina look tired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 I'll take that. Phew. Some significant issues at the breakdown, but it takes character to recoup in the final twenty minutes when so much of the momentum was going the other way. Anyway, time for bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Anti-Targ Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 This is a great game to watch. I'm obviously not an expert but I feel the All Blacks had one or two calls in their favour that they shouldn't have had, one of them a really odd penalty that brought them to 10 points. Great stuff though. This England team seems to perform better than expected. Ireland vs Australia is on in a few hours. Some calls went the AB's way others went England's way. But the end result is the better team wins on the day, 3 tries to 1. But well played by England, they defended well, and they actually had a bit of penetration in the midfield, though it was pretty much Twelvetrees who made their midfield look good on attack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Anti-Targ Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 I'll take that. Phew. Some significant issues at the breakdown, but it takes character to recoup in the final twenty minutes when so much of the momentum was going the other way. Anyway, time for bed. AB's had the better bench, 'twas obvious. England virtually gave it back to the ABs with their lineout going to pieces, 4 lineout steals in the 2nd half was it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted November 16, 2013 Author Share Posted November 16, 2013 Not a bad game. Honestly I thought we'd get beaten by more than that so in that sense it's not a terrible result but to lose it in that fashion, with two lost lineouts and a charge down kick leading to the New Zealand try, is disappointing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Northman Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 England was surprisingly competitive. Well played to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Northman Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 The long term World Rugby rankings - at least for the top teams, generally probably look like this: 1. New Zealand2. South Africa3. Australia4. England5. France6. Wales7. Ireland Then you get the likes of Scotland and Argentina, and then another step down the likes of Italy, Samoa, Fiji etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Anti-Targ Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 The long term World Rugby rankings - at least for the top teams, generally probably look like this: 1. New Zealand - 79% 2. South Africa - 65% 3. Australia - 62% 4. England - 58% 5. France - 62% 6. Wales - 51% 7. Ireland - 47% Then you get the likes of Scotland and Argentina, and then another step down the likes of Italy, Samoa, Fiji etc. Now with win/loss percentages since 1970 (my arbitrarily chosen date for the "modern rugby era" but if you want all time since 1871 it's pretty similar)...mostly to show the awesome of New Zealand :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calibandar Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 So, the next big games after November will be the Six Nations Cup that starts in February right? Nothing in between? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lessthanluke Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 So, the next big games after November will be the Six Nations Cup that starts in February right? Nothing in between? In international rugby yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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