Transfers for next season (including transfer rumours!)

sock puppet

sock puppet wrote: »

Meant to be a big clearout at the Hurricanes and Nonu is among those being let go. Seems like a stupid decision but I'd guess he's very likely to head north now.

Never mnd the Chiefs are apparently the frontrunners. Hore's been let go too. If this doesn't produce results you'd have to think that Hammett's coaching career is going to be short lived.

bamboozle

profitius wrote: »

Aironi continue to build by signing Frans Viljoen from the Cheetahs.

http://www.espnscrum.com/celticleague-2010-11/rugby/story/141146.html

looks like Glasgow and Edinburgh will be propping up the magner's league table the way the italian sides are recruiting.

wixfjord

CatFromHue wrote: »

kelleher has been confirmed to stade
http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3551_6969843,00.html

of the guys leaving what was ollie phillips like?

i dont see hugo southwell being a big loss either every time i see him i wonder how he gets picked

I thought Kelleher was going to Bayonne?
Stade team looking ok for next season imo.
Kelleher, Conters and Warwick are three solid signings.

totallegend

wixfjord wrote: »

I thought Kelleher was going to Bayonne?
Stade team looking ok for next season imo.
Kelleher, Conters and Warwick are three solid signings.

Yeah, he was supposed to but the Bayonne deal fell through (not sure why). Kelleher is a great player but he's really shoving on, as are Contempomi, Wright and Milloud; Sackey and Warwick are not exactly spring chickens either. I suppose Cheika doesn't have the luxury of a five-year plan and needs results next season, even at the expense of building for the future.

roycon

stade are looking way more solid. signing players on ability over how glamorous they are or how good they look. bernard laporte and cheika will be running things making the team alot more solid. alot of experience in team and player management there. all their new signings are solid players who will be looking to win not cause trouble and become celebrities. hopefully guazzinni will **** off a bit more and leave the rugby to the players and coaches. and tone down the jerseys even just a small bit

BrianOFlanagan

CatFromHue wrote: »

kelleher has been confirmed to stade
http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3551_6969843,00.html

of the guys leaving what was ollie phillips like?

i dont see hugo southwell being a big loss either every time i see him i wonder how he gets picked

Phillips was quality. Scored a try from a ball bouncing of the post during a penalty kick and should have started the amlin final instead of that useless s##te who let in the try. And I agree with you there Hugo was muck, Warwick will be the business.

profitius

Stade needs a complete change of culture in the club so the players they're buying will help to do that. Playing in fancy pink jerseys and gay calenders goes against the psychology that you need for a sport like rugby. Rugby is about winning the physical battle firstly and doing the gritty work well, not about putting on a show for the crowds.

BrianOFlanagan

profitius wrote: »

Stade needs a complete change of culture in the club so the players they're buying will help to do that. Playing in fancy pink jerseys and gay calenders goes against the psychology that you need for a sport like rugby. Rugby is about winning the physical battle firstly and doing the gritty work well, not about putting on a show for the crowds.

Nigel Owens is gay, does that go against the psychology of the sport? NO.
Did you not see the Heineken Cup Final? That looked like a show to me. And of course what about the Barbarians? Thats pure showmanship and yet fabulous skill.
The jerseys are pink on purpose, they want to stand out and obviously they do so job done!

profitius

BrianOFlanagan wrote: »

Nigel Owens is gay, does that go against the psychology of the sport? NO.
Did you not see the Heineken Cup Final? That looked like a show to me. And of course what about the Barbarians? Thats pure showmanship and yet fabulous skill.
The jerseys are pink on purpose, they want to stand out and obviously they do so job done!

Well if New Zealand wore pink and were called the All Pinks do you think that would have no effect on their psychology or the psychology of other teams playing them? Instead of the haka they could do a bit of ballet!

Look at the Ospreys. Their galacticos team failed to reach its potential because the culture of the team was not right. You won't see much fake tan in the dressing room of successful teams.

Richarz

There are more players playing for Munster who wear fake tan than playing for Ospreys. I really don't know why Ospreys get such abuse. Whether a team is metrosexual, hetrosexual or homosexual is not going to have an effect on the outcome of a game. Gareth Thomas is openly gay and was one of the toughest players in rugby. Donnacha O'Callaghan wears fake tan and is one of the most decorated locks currently playing. Less of the nonsense please.

wixfjord

profitius wrote: »

Well if New Zealand wore pink and were called the All Pinks do you think that would have no effect on their psychology or the psychology of other teams playing them? Instead of the haka they could do a bit of ballet!

Look at the Ospreys. Their galacticos team failed to reach its potential because the culture of the team was not right. You won't see much fake tan in the dressing room of successful teams.

Culture of the team is one thing, which I'm sure Cheika is addressing with the recent exits, but the colour you play in doesn't lend to the culture of the team. Sure, the Ospreys play in black too!

I think the cultural thing too is overplayed by the media, particularly in this country with regards Leinster and Munster and it colours a lot of the issues of peoples support and hatred for the other team.

Munster were always the ligind country boys who played through the forwards and were the people's team, while Leinster were Dublin RFC showboater spice boys who had no pack and liked to throw the ball around etc.
Neither of these were incredibly wide of the mark, but neither were correct either, and the media sure did play up to it.

GerM

profitius wrote: »

Well if New Zealand wore pink and were called the All Pinks do you think that would have no effect on their psychology or the psychology of other teams playing them? Instead of the haka they could do a bit of ballet!

Look at the Ospreys. Their galacticos team failed to reach its potential because the culture of the team was not right. You won't see much fake tan in the dressing room of successful teams.

What about the Welsh GS winning dressing room? How the players look means sweet FA when they're out on the pitch. I doubt people think Parisse or Roncero are soft touches because they're wearing pink. Stade have gone through a serious period of transition in the last couple of years and have lost some excellent first team players. The likes of Skrela (when he was good), Marconnet, De Villiers, Hernandez, Pichot, Dominici and Bergamasco have all hit the road in the last few years coinciding with their slide.

The NZ team don't have an aura or generate fear because of a jersey. They do it because they're the best team in the world and traditionally have been for decades. The team made the jersey something to be feared, not the other way around.

sock puppet

profitius wrote: »

Stade needs a complete change of culture in the club so the players they're buying will help to do that. Playing in fancy pink jerseys and gay calenders goes against the psychology that you need for a sport like rugby. Rugby is about winning the physical battle firstly and doing the gritty work well, not about putting on a show for the crowds.

What utter shit. They've been the most successful side in France since 2000.

pajunior

profitius wrote: »

Well if New Zealand wore pink and were called the All Pinks do you think that would have no effect on their psychology or the psychology of other teams playing them? Instead of the haka they could do a bit of ballet!

Look at the Ospreys. Their galacticos team failed to reach its potential because the culture of the team was not right. You won't see much fake tan in the dressing room of successful teams.

Jamie Heaslip is all about the showmanship off the pitch but does a fantastic physical job on it. Why can't Stade do the same?
Nothing wrong with having a bit of style and flair. Gives some teams great confidence.

roycon

what i was originally saying was its more important to be good than to look good. its very hard to disagree with this statement. stade francais have forgotten they are even playing rugby. they've underachieved hugely for the level of talent in there squad and despite their exciting and flamboyant jerseys theyve changed from the team with dominici,galthie and dominguez who were exciting and flamboyant to a boring negative team who cant seam to concentrate on the rugby for long enough to actually win a match. its as if theyve chosen to concentrate on the other off field activities and the whole stade francais brand - like theyre too cool to care about rugby. sure they want to win but they're not reallly bothered if they dont

in new zealand and south africa theres some times a similar feeling with physicality. its more important in some commentators and journalists eyes to be really physical and masculine than to actually win the game. theyd prefer to have aplayer playing whos big and strong and violent to a player whos actually better at rugby

profitius

Richarz wrote: »

There are more players playing for Munster who wear fake tan than playing for Ospreys. I really don't know why Ospreys get such abuse. Whether a team is metrosexual, hetrosexual or homosexual is not going to have an effect on the outcome of a game. Gareth Thomas is openly gay and was one of the toughest players in rugby. Donnacha O'Callaghan wears fake tan and is one of the most decorated locks currently playing. Less of the nonsense please.

Ospreys don't get abuse from me. I'm just pointing out that the culture at that club is all wrong. They're actively trying to change the culture and trying to get rid of the Galacticos label, which proves my point. The players got too involved in the media side of things and got carried away with themselves and results suffered. Also the big bustup last christmas didn't help matter.

wixfjord wrote: »

Culture of the team is one thing, which I'm sure Cheika is addressing with the recent exits, but the colour you play in doesn't lend to the culture of the team. Sure, the Ospreys play in black too!

I think the cultural thing too is overplayed by the media, particularly in this country with regards Leinster and Munster and it colours a lot of the issues of peoples support and hatred for the other team.

Munster were always the ligind country boys who played through the forwards and were the people's team, while Leinster were Dublin RFC showboater spice boys who had no pack and liked to throw the ball around etc.
Neither of these were incredibly wide of the mark, but neither were correct either, and the media sure did play up to it.

I don't think its overplayed. It can be exaggerated alright sometimes (all Leinster players are from D4 etc). Cheika did turn around the culture of Leinster though. It needed changing and its the players themselves who said that. Cheika was the right man for Leinster.

Munsters culture had a massive part to play in the HEC successes and Leinster did see themselves as being a more stylish team who used their backs more. Cheika changed all that.

sock puppet wrote: »

What utter shit. They've been the most successful side in France since 2000.

And how many HECs have SF won despite that? None despite all the talent they had. They don't have the respect of the opposition like Toulouse do.

pajunior wrote: »

Jamie Heaslip is all about the showmanship off the pitch but does a fantastic physical job on it. Why can't Stade do the same?
Nothing wrong with having a bit of style and flair. Gives some teams great confidence.

Nothing wrong with style, maybe people have got the wrong impression from what I've said (not for the first time). SF have gone for style over substance and thats the issue with them. The culture of the club is out of balance and needs to be put right.

GerM wrote:

What about the Welsh GS winning dressing room? How the players look means sweet FA when they're out on the pitch. I doubt people think Parisse or Roncero are soft touches because they're wearing pink. Stade have gone through a serious period of transition in the last couple of years and have lost some excellent first team players. The likes of Skrela (when he was good), Marconnet, De Villiers, Hernandez, Pichot, Dominici and Bergamasco have all hit the road in the last few years coinciding with their slide.

The NZ team don't have an aura or generate fear because of a jersey. They do it because they're the best team in the world and traditionally have been for decades. The team made the jersey something to be feared, not the other way around.

SF were better than Quins in the Amlin final and dominated the 2nd half and still managed to lose the match.

NZ do have an aura and the jersey does help. Ireland have blown plenty of chances against NZ because they feared them. And the NZ players feel pride wearing the jersey. Also they don't put any sponsorship on the jersey because it means alot to them and they're even called the All Blacks after their colours.

I'm not saying the colours have a magical effect over people I'm saying the culture of the team is important and wearing feminine jerseys and doing those silly calenders is creating a culture that you don't associate with winning teams.

Some of the best captains of recent times include Martin Johnson, POC, Leo Cullen, McCaw, Dallaglio, John Smit etc. No nonsense characters and thats why they're leaders. I doubt many of those would do those calenders.

GerM

profitius wrote: »

they're even called the All Blacks after their colours.

I'm not saying the colours have a magical effect over people I'm saying the culture of the team is important and wearing feminine jerseys and doing those silly calenders is creating a culture that you don't associate with winning teams.

Stringer advertising jocks? DOC advertising showers? *shudder* Toulouse players have done similar photo shoots. SF lost the game due to a lapse for 2 minutes and a terrible refereeing decision. They beat Harlequins up for 70 minutes. The jersey really does mean very little. NZ not putting a sponsor on it is as much to do with marketing these days as anything else. The players take pride in the jersey but any team worth their salt takes little heed of it. If they did, NZ wouldn't choke in the WC time and time again. Perhaps they saw Les Bleus in 2007 and the fear factor kicked in?

sock puppet

profitius wrote: »

And how many HECs have SF won despite that? None despite all the talent they had. They don't have the respect of the opposition like Toulouse do.

Who cares? Winning the Top 14 isn't meant to be a springboard to Heineken Cup success. It's a massive achievment which proves a side is the best in France.

wearing feminine jerseys and doing those silly calenders is creating a culture that you don't associate with winning teams.

And yet for a decade they won more than any other French side...

TheJims

Fear them now?? l:D

SomeFool

Seeing this thread suddenly grow two pages I thought Munster had announced a marquee signing

profitius

GerM wrote: »

Stringer advertising jocks? DOC advertising showers? *shudder* Toulouse players have done similar photo shoots. SF lost the game due to a lapse for 2 minutes and a terrible refereeing decision. They beat Harlequins up for 70 minutes. The jersey really does mean very little. NZ not putting a sponsor on it is as much to do with marketing these days as anything else. The players take pride in the jersey but any team worth their salt takes little heed of it. If they did, NZ wouldn't choke in the WC time and time again. Perhaps they saw Les Bleus in 2007 and the fear factor kicked in?

I don't have a problem with players advertising things. SF have gone overboard and need to get back to concentrating on rugby.

The jerseys mean little but they do have a psychological effect. There was some controversy in the last world cup because NZ had to change strip because it clashed with the French one. Likewise I remember the Irish soccer team got a new orange kit some years ago but stopped playing in it because they thought it was unlucky. So certain things can get into a persons psychology.

I personally think the haka is ridiculous. Grown men in the 21st century doing a dance and screaming, I'd be embarrassed to do it. It does have a psychological effect on some/most players though. Matt Williams had the right idea. Sing a funny song in your head and make it into a joke.

sock puppet wrote: »

Who cares? Winning the Top 14 isn't meant to be a springboard to Heineken Cup success. It's a massive achievment which proves a side is the best in France.

And yet for a decade they won more than any other French side...

Well its interesting you should mention that because at the start of the decade they were much better but then came all the nonsense. The owner is called a marketing genius but he has over egged this pudding. Calenders, pink jerseys etc, they were more concerned about marketing and as a result their team suffered.

I'm not saying its all bad. The big pre match show would be perfectly fine for instance.

irishbucsfan

I would love to hear you tell an Islander to his face that the haka is an embarrasing silly little dance.

profitius

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I would love to hear you tell an Islander to his face that the haka is an embarrasing silly little dance.

Well if he asked me my opinion he'd get it.

handsomecake

TheJims wrote: »

Fear them now?? l:D

they beat france 47-3 in lyon that week.savaged them

Gracelessly Tom

Stephen Donald signs two and a half year deal with Bath. Not exactly the best kept secret.

siltirocker

sock puppet wrote: »

What utter shit. They've been the most successful side in France since 2000.

Nah mate Toulouse are. I know SF won it more times but if take in that in 99 Toulouse won giving them the same amount and a few HCups to boot.

pajunior

Profitius, I think myself and a few others have read too much into your comments.
It comes across that you are saying that stylish/metro sexual/teams with lots of advertising/etc aren't going to be any good, or at least not successful.

Just about every club team needs a team ethos or spirit about them. National teams don't because just playing for your country is enough.
Munster have the "to the brave and . . . ", country lads, playing for your parish thing.
Leinster have that bit of style and 'tossing the ball about'
SF have their absolute aristocratic style and pnash
You could go to football where Liverpool have always been at their best when playing scoucers or Barcelona who play 'total footman'
Go to American Football and you have John Maddens Raiders who were known as the hardest hitting/fouling team in the league.

The list goes on, every team has this to some degree, and while most of it is media bs, it does have to come from some grain of truth and these sort of things give a team confidence and sometimes that little bit of extra motivation.

Cheika obviously feels the need to change SF's philosophy but that doesn't just make it the right thing to do, another coach would be able to work with that philosophy and make it work for the team.

thomond2006

Gracelessly Tom wrote: »

Stephen Donald signs two and a half year deal with Bath. Not exactly the best kept secret.

That's a Leinster home quarterfinal then.

Cpt_Blackbeard

thomond2006 wrote: »

That's a Leinster home quarterfinal then.

Was there ever any doubt once the groups were named?

Gracelessly Tom

thomond2006 wrote: »

That's a Leinster home quarterfinal then.

Still a long way to go before the comp even starts, anything could happen in the meantime, injuries, loss of form, etc. Montpellier away in the first or second round would be a bad draw and could cause problems. On paper, as things stand you're right, Leinster are favourites for topping the group and being a top 4 seed. But come November, that goes out the window.

BrianOFlanagan

profitius wrote: »

Well if New Zealand wore pink and were called the All Pinks do you think that would have no effect on their psychology or the psychology of other teams playing them? Instead of the haka they could do a bit of ballet!

Look at the Ospreys. Their galacticos team failed to reach its potential because the culture of the team was not right. You won't see much fake tan in the dressing room of successful teams.

New Zealand are a bunch of pansy chokers so yeah maybe they should try the pink and finally win a world cup in the pro era! as opposed to being the best team in the world which they clearly aren't (imo the best team is the one with the trophy and that happens to be South Africa). The haka is a load of nonsense that should be either gotten rid of or other teams should be allowed a chance to reply, bit of the walls of limerick maybe!
Your'e dead on about the ospreys, just another team without the fanbase and no pride in wearing the jersey. By your reasoning Munster is not successful because of DOC and his fake tan? Eh no.

wixfjord

thomond2006 wrote: »

That's a Leinster home quarterfinal then.

I actually don't go along with this Planet Rugby esque Donald bashing.
Sure he's no Dan Carter, but he's good enough to be starting 10 for a NZ Super 15 team, so he's no mug.

I think he'll be good at HEC and Aviva level for Bath, in much the same way that Nick Evans, Jimmy Gopperth and Glen Jackson are.

Still don't hold much fear for Leinster though.

wixfjord

BrianOFlanagan wrote: »

New Zealand are a bunch of pansy chokers so yeah maybe they should try the pink and finally win a world cup in the pro era! as opposed to being the best team in the world which they clearly aren't (imo the best team is the one with the trophy and that happens to be South Africa). The haka is a load of nonsense that should be either gotten rid of or other teams should be allowed a chance to reply, bit of the walls of limerick maybe!
Your'e dead on about the ospreys, just another team without the fanbase and no pride in wearing the jersey. By your reasoning Munster is not successful because of DOC and his fake tan? Eh no.

Uh oh! We all better hope that Handsomecake is on his holiers or something

jolley123

BrianOFlanagan wrote: »

New Zealand are a bunch of pansy chokers so yeah maybe they should try the pink and finally win a world cup in the pro era! as opposed to being the best team in the world which they clearly aren't (imo the best team is the one with the trophy and that happens to be South Africa). The haka is a load of nonsense that should be either gotten rid of or other teams should be allowed a chance to reply, bit of the walls of limerick maybe!
Your'e dead on about the ospreys, just another team without the fanbase and no pride in wearing the jersey. By your reasoning Munster is not successful because of DOC and his fake tan? Eh no.

What a wierd post. I'm assuming it's meant to be sarcastic because of your last bit, but it's hard to tell.

BrianOFlanagan

I'm quaking in my boots, actually I've no idea what you're on about.

Anyway, Stade confirm Kelleher signing.
http://www.espnscrum.com/francetop14-2010-11/rugby/story/141209.html
BTW: ESPN scrum, great website.

Gracelessly Tom

BrianOFlanagan wrote: »

New Zealand are a bunch of pansy chokers so yeah maybe they should try the pink and finally win a world cup in the pro era! as opposed to being the best team in the world which they clearly aren't (imo the best team is the one with the trophy and that happens to be South Africa). The haka is a load of nonsense that should be either gotten rid of or other teams should be allowed a chance to reply, bit of the walls of limerick maybe!
Your'e dead on about the ospreys, just another team without the fanbase and no pride in wearing the jersey. By your reasoning Munster is not successful because of DOC and his fake tan? Eh no.

Troll.

BrianOFlanagan

jolley123 wrote: »

What a wierd post. I'm assuming it's meant to be sarcastic because of your last bit, but it's hard to tell.

Nope, I firmly believe that New Zealand are not the best team now and have no right to be considered that until they win a RWC. The haka is an unfair advantage and its inclusion highlights a worldwide bias.

Gracelessly Tom wrote: »

Troll.

I'm so very sorry for not staying on topic.

roycon

"New Zealand are a bunch of pansy chokers" - what are ireland so?

we'll let you off with this one presuming youre about 12 years old

sock puppet

wixfjord wrote: »

I actually don't go along with this Planet Rugby esque Donald bashing.
Sure he's no Dan Carter, but he's good enough to be starting 10 for a NZ Super 15 team, so he's no mug.

I think he'll be good at HEC and Aviva level for Bath, in much the same way that Nick Evans, Jimmy Gopperth and Glen Jackson are.

Still don't hold much fear for Leinster though.

He's had a few shockers at Super Rugby level too. I'd say he'll do fine though. He's an improvement over James and better than the vast majority of European outhalves.

siltirocker wrote: »

Nah mate Toulouse are. I know SF won it more times but if take in that in 99 Toulouse won giving them the same amount and a few HCups to boot.

I picked 2000 for a reason

CatFromHue

sock puppet wrote: »

Meant to be a big clearout at the Hurricanes and Nonu is among those being let go. Seems like a stupid decision but I'd guess he's very likely to head north now.

interesting article here on nonu:

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3824_6971840,00.html
It has been reported that the Hurricanes' sacking of star centre Ma'a Nonu followed a campaign to undermine coach Mark Hammett, often in front of team-mates.


Hammett announced on Wednesday that Nonu and fellow All Black veteran Andrew Hore would not be offered contracts for the 2012 Super Rugby season but refused to reveal his reasoning, other than saying management wanted to "move on".

Wellington's Dominion Post reported that Nonu - who is set to play a key role in the All Blacks' World Cup campaign later this year - refused to accept Hammett, who is in his first season as head coach of the 'Canes.

It said Nonu questioned Hammett's ideas in front of Hurricanes players at training and ignored the coach's demands to end his on-field indiscipline which has cost the New Zealand team dearly during a disappointing season.

Despite Nonu's improved late-season form, it said the final straw for Hammett was when the 54-Test All Black appeared to deliberately throw the ball at a touch judge in the Hurricanes' 38-27 win over the Lions last Saturday.

"Nonu's was an act of petulance that may have rubber-stamped (Hammett's) belief that there were certain players who would not, and could not, change," said the newspaper.

Hurricanes chief executive James Te Puni said he had heard rumours about Nonu's supposedly divisive nature before taking the role last February but they were not a deciding factor in letting him go.

"I've seen comments on that from the outside... prior to arriving at the Hurricanes, he's probably best described as a mercurial character, but I don't know him well enough to comment in detail," he told Radio Sport on Thursday.

"He's clearly a fantastic player and ironically, it's been noted he's playing very very well in the last couple of weeks. Our view though is we've got a bunch of other midfielders who are coming through."

The sackings have prompted an online backlash against Hammett from Hurricanes fans, many of whom were against his appointment because of his links to bitter rivals the Crusaders.

"Forget the sacking of Nonu and Hore. Sack Hammet(t). He's ruined the Hurricanes," was a typical comment on the TVNZ website.

i do remember the rugby club on sky highlighting nonu's poor form, indiscipline, and some awful passing earlier in the season.

LeeroyJones

Top 14 newcomers Lyon have swooped in for Ricky Januarie

http://www.lequipe.fr/Rugby/breves2011/20110609_190647_lyon-engage-januarie.html

thomond2006

LeeroyJones wrote: »

Top 14 newcomers Lyon have swooped in for Ricky Januarie

http://www.lequipe.fr/Rugby/breves2011/20110609_190647_lyon-engage-januarie.html

Looks like Lyon have money to splash around.

IN: Jean-Philippe Bonrepaux (Brive), Arnauld Tchougong (Bourgoin), Anthony Roux (Colomiers), Coenie Basson (Bourgoin), Arnaud Marchois (Stade Français), Sisa Koyamaibole (Sale), Juan Manuel Leguizamón (Stade Français), Ricky Januarie (Stormers), Laurent Tranier (Biarritz), Régis Lespinas (Brive), Alipate Fatafehi (Saint-Étienne), Mark van Gisbergen (Wasps)

BrianOFlanagan

roycon wrote: »

"New Zealand are a bunch of pansy chokers" - what are ireland so?

we'll let you off with this one presuming youre about 12 years old

Ok pansy is probably going to far but I'm not wrong in saying they're over hyped, if they win the RWC however I'll gladly sing their praises and give credit where it's due. We all know Ireland aren't good enough now and never were good enough to win a RWC however NZ have consistently had the best world ranking and yet have no silverware to show for it hence chokers.

And no, you're 8 years out. I'm 4.

jolley123

BrianOFlanagan wrote: »

Ok pansy is probably going to far but I'm not wrong in saying they're over hyped, if they win the RWC however I'll gladly sing their praises and give credit where it's due. We all know Ireland aren't good enough now and never were good enough to win a RWC however NZ have consistently had the best world ranking and yet have no silverware to show for it hence chokers.

And no, you're 8 years out. I'm 4.

New Zealand are ranked 1st in the world because they are the best in the world.

But you're entitled to your opinion.

BrianOFlanagan

Anyone have info on Connacht? I know keatley, carr, cronin and nathan are out but have they brought in anyone decent? Especially to take over kicking duties?

If you are to judge a team on results alone you are not a sportsfan, you are a statistician.

The All Blacks are the best team on this planet bar none. Ask any player for any team in the world who they'd like to beat, and they'll all give you the same answer.

porterbelly

BrianOFlanagan wrote: »

Anyone have info on Connacht? I know keatley, carr, cronin and nathan are out but have they brought in anyone decent? Especially to take over kicking duties?

In : Mark McCrea, Tommy Anderson, Niall O'Connor (Ulster)
Fetu'u Vainikolo (Highlanders)
Etienne Reyneke (Saraccens)
Jamie Stevens (Galwegians)
Dave McSharry (Academy-UCD)
Kieran Marmion (Academy)
Paul O'Donoghue, Stewart Maguire (Leinster)
Geroge Naoupu (Kobelco Steelers)
James Loxton (Cardiff)
Matt Jarvis (Ospreys)
Dave Moore (Harlequins)

A new centre has been signed pending a medical. Could be announced by tomorrow

pajunior

BrianOFlanagan wrote: »

Ok pansy is probably going to far but I'm not wrong in saying they're over hyped, if they win the RWC however I'll gladly sing their praises and give credit where it's due. We all know Ireland aren't good enough now and never were good enough to win a RWC however NZ have consistently had the best world ranking and yet have no silverware to show for it hence chokers.

And no, you're 8 years out. I'm 4.

They have won maybe 6 out of the last 10 tri-nations.

You reckon that only a WC is a trophy. In that case only NZ, SA, Aus and Enland have ever won a trophy????

Get a grip mate, saying SA are the best team in the world because they're the current champions is nonsense.

GerM

pajunior wrote: »

They have won maybe 6 out of the last 10 tri-nations.

You reckon that only a WC is a trophy. In that case only NZ, SA, Aus and Enland have ever won a trophy????

Get a grip mate, saying SA are the best team in the world because they're the current champions is nonsense.

NZ are hands down the best team in the world. How a competition 4 years ago with a handy draw makes S.A. the best team in the world is beyond me. NZ have won 5 of the last 6 Tri Nations tournaments. If they had the draw that S.A. had in 2007 they would be champions now. France were arguably the only side that could stop them given the fact that France seem to have a psychological hex over them. S.A. played Fiji, Argentina and England in the knock out stages. If you had to select one opponent out of the quarter finals and semi finals to play you would choose Fiji and Argentina. NZ stuffed SA home and away last season in the Tri Nations. There's a gulf between them currently.

Careful Now

Get Sonny-Bill Williams to leinster and send darcy to munster. would be quality move for everyone. Never gonna happen but would snap up season ticket quickly if SBW were to come.