Geekzone Rugby (Union) Discussion Thread

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Networkn
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#1322782 11-Jun-2015 13:19

Anyone know if Israel Dagg has re-signed with the Crusaders or what his current contract status is?

networkn

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#1324292 13-Jun-2015 23:40

Wow what a night of Rugby!

Ritchie McCaw becomes the only person in Rugby to ever WIN 100 Super Rugby Games AND 100 Test Matches. That is a feat unlikely to ever be beaten I suspect and probably not for at least 30 years! The man simply is the best Rugby player to ever take the field. Was nice to see RM score that try. DC had another good night and pretty good (not perfect) with the boot. In terms of Goal Kicking I'd take him and Slade over the others right now. I think he has worked himself into reasonable contention for RWC Selection.

Nandolo really is the ultimate right now. He shows a lot of Carters Rugby brain, with power, and ball skills that are simply amazing.

It was a good win against the Brumbies, I wished they had showed some of these error free periods and forward punch in the early parts of the season. I'll be very sad to not see RM, DC, CS, CL, and TT not in Crusaders Colours, it's been a pleasure to watch them.

Another fairly average reffing session, with considerable times that Pocock played the ball on the ground not even picked up! I am completely unsure why TWO penalty tries were awarded, for the same thing. Surely if the try is scored, that is the end of it?

Hurricanes really showed they deserve to be in #1 position. I think Chiefs fans would have reason to be concerned that they have for a number of weeks in a row, seemingly panicked under pressure. Tamifuna had a pretty decent night I thought, Pulu looks better than Weber, Weber had a few brilliant weeks and has settled down a lot. I thought that SBW snapped Conrad Smith right in half with that tackle, I was incredibly surprised CS got up so quickly!

Chiefs fans might have reason to feel that the Yellow Card (100% deserved), AND the Penalty Try (though I think JS would have got it under control without the interference maybe) were a little harsher than required.

Highlanders get a home QF, they did well to secure that. Considering how completely out of contention both the Hurricanes and Esp the 'Landers were last season, it would have to be the two biggest turn arounds. Conrad Smith is a player I will miss sorely. I don't think we have anyone of his class to replace him as yet. Other positions like 7, we have Todd and Cane, Carter we have Barrett, and Cruden.

itxtme

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#1324307 14-Jun-2015 01:38

There was only 1 team playing in the Crusaders Brumbies match, solid performance to end the season.

The Canes/Chiefs was an interesting game, and I think this game highlighted the depth the canes have this year. Set piece is a massive issue, needs sorting yesterday. I think they Yellow and PT were justified. He made no attempt to use arms at all, in fact lined shoulder up. I would not be surprised if he has to sit an extra week out for that one. I also thought the chiefs tackler got off lightly on the 90 degree. This is where there needs to be a consistent approach, and whether the lifted player mitigates the action by oustretching their arm is irrlevant, 90 degress is not tolerated. We do not need an Alex McKinnon moment in union, (who incidently also out stretched his hand to no avail).

Last work goes to the young McNicols, that man has some speed.

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#1324349 14-Jun-2015 09:34

I believe this weekend's games pretty much summed up what had happened over the whole round robin. Blues, dreadful and trounced, Crusaders, moments of brilliance but not consistent, Chiefs, thrills but too many infringements and fumbles. And then the real contenders this year, the Highlanders with a masterclass on putting an underdog to the sword, and the Hurricanes making the most of their talent and converting opportunities when they were presented.
A Highlanders vs Hurricanes final would be awesome (3 ABs vs 8 ABs). Is that possible with the way the finals are structured? I haven't worked through the permutations yet but I think it is.

Some observations;
I hope Dane Coles learns to throw the ball into the lineout better before his first All Black game,
Dan Carter is still the best tactical first five but doesn't have the pace anymore,
Ritchie McCaw looks tired already, I hope he lifts for his AB duties, Kieran Read back towards awesome,
TJ Perenara needs to continue playing the game while appealing to the ref, rather than throwing up his arms and waiting for the whistle,
Rettalick makes a difference,
Milner-Skudder should get a crack at higher honours,
There is so much up and coming talent, the future of NZ rugby looks bright as long as they can fend off the Northern Hemisphere chequebooks.

Season has been marred for me though by some of the TMO decisions. Dangerous tackle decisions need to actually be dangerous. Marshall being sinbinned the way he tried to push Savea over the sideline was more to protect himself than damage the bus. Franks did worse in some of his ruck clean outs. Sense did prevail in the review of Retallick's tackle, however that was a surprise to me because it hasn't been displayed on multiple other occasions.
That and the ridiculous rolling maul laws. If you are going to have that many people barging in front of the ball carrier why not make everyone wear helmets and call it American Football?

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

itxtme

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#1324353 14-Jun-2015 09:45

I hope Dane Coles learns to throw the ball into the lineout better before his first All Black game,

And stops being a pratt off the ball

Hammerer

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#1325131 15-Jun-2015 15:57

itxtme:
I hope Dane Coles learns to throw the ball into the lineout better before his first All Black game,

And stops being a pratt off the ball

Me too. But I thought Retallick was so good that it did not make much difference even when Coles was throwing them right.

On the positive side, the Hurricanes are probably the only team that throw the ball away like that and still expect to win?

networkn

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#1325134 15-Jun-2015 16:05

itxtme:
I hope Dane Coles learns to throw the ball into the lineout better before his first All Black game,

And stops being a pratt off the ball

Agree 100% with both of these comments. I have commented that I think Dane Coles could lose us an important match with his temper.

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#1325305 15-Jun-2015 20:38

Maybe he's too young and hasn't got his head screwed on properly yet

networkn

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#1325784 16-Jun-2015 14:24

joker97: Maybe he's too young and hasn't got his head screwed on properly yet

I actually think it's his personality. He reminds me very much of a jock bully I had the misfortune of attracting he attention of during my high school years.

I suspect though, that part of what makes him so good at Rugby, is that fire, and if they fix one, they will reduce the effectiveness of the other.

He can MOVE though, for a big unit, he can seriously haul.

ludez

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#1325805 16-Jun-2015 14:48

Hes only this year become like that.There is a few key reasons why.Partly due to he was asked to be more aggresive and physical unfortunately its come out off the ball too
Guy away from rugby is the complete opposite.Such a funny dude

networkn

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#1325814 16-Jun-2015 14:50

ludez: Hes only this year become like that.There is a few key reasons why.Partly due to he was asked to be more aggresive and physical unfortunately its come out off the ball too
Guy away from rugby is the complete opposite.Such a funny dude

Disagree, he was like that end of last year too (Yellow card in England/AB's game). He clearly has a temper. I am not saying he isn't a nice guy, or funny, but he seems to be fairly easily fired up.

networkn

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#1327707 19-Jun-2015 10:45

Well as expected JK finally stepped down. I don't get the feeling that Umaga will shift their fortunes considerably. The problems at the Blues seem to be much deeper and I expect that this could actually harm Umanga's career, but I really hope not, and I really hope he turns them around.

Geektastic

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#1327734 19-Jun-2015 11:09

networkn: Well as expected JK finally stepped down. I don't get the feeling that Umaga will shift their fortunes considerably. The problems at the Blues seem to be much deeper and I expect that this could actually harm Umanga's career, but I really hope not, and I really hope he turns them around.

Thought it was a bit overkill for the Herald to bill this as "Breaking News" on their site.

Not exactly "World War Three Declared"...

networkn

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#1327742 19-Jun-2015 11:10

Geektastic:
networkn: Well as expected JK finally stepped down. I don't get the feeling that Umaga will shift their fortunes considerably. The problems at the Blues seem to be much deeper and I expect that this could actually harm Umanga's career, but I really hope not, and I really hope he turns them around.

Thought it was a bit overkill for the Herald to bill this as "Breaking News" on their site.

Not exactly "World War Three Declared"...

Well, I consider it breaking NATIONAL news. Didn't seem that out of place to me.

networkn

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#1327744 19-Jun-2015 11:12

JK Quote from Press Conference:

"There's too many things in my way to stop the club moving forward and I wish my successor all the best."

This is why I think until those matters are resolved, it won't matter who is in charge.

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