The Rugby Championship MMXIV

Yeah_Right

sydthebeat wrote: »

Owen franks at 3

faumuina is good, but not THAT good

Damn you NZ Herald!!!!! I copied and pasted without checking. Thanks for the heads up. Fixed.

sydthebeat

Judgement Day wrote: »

Can't get excited about this game since the Championship is already over but at least it's on at a civilised hour.

im really looking forward to it, seeing at as a real hard one off test game.

regardless of all blacks having a record unbeaten steak to hold onto, its Kiwis versus boks, nuff said

You mentioned SBW, is he returning to union?

Judgement Day

Deleted User wrote: »

You mentioned SBW, is he returning to union?

http://www.espn.co.uk/newzealand/rugby/story/242785.html

In plenty of time for the RWC.

sydthebeat

Deleted User wrote: »

You mentioned SBW, is he returning to union?

http://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/rugby/sonny-bill-williams-will-make-a-lowprofile-return-to-rugby-a-world-away-from-anz-stadium/story-fnhq65ja-1227076112746?nk=66df5b32c19e3e76f1feb36d2c1e91b4

hes already on his way back to play with manukua in the ITM next wednesday

Philo Beddoe

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/international/wallabies-drop-kurtley-beale-after-altercation-1.1949820

According to the article Kurtley Beale was dropped from the Wallabies squad after an altercation with a member of the team management on a flight to Argentina. Ewen McKenzie then said this:

“We recognise the need to have enough strike-power in the forwards to get us through the back-end of the game, especially after such a physical encounter against South Africa followed by a difficult period of travel,” McKenzie said in a statement yesterday.

“That only leaves two spots for the backs, and we believe in this instance the combination of Nic White and Rob Horne will provide us with the best balance given the physicality we expect in this match.”

Does anybody really believe Rob Horne offers more off the bench than Kurtley Beale? If he's dropped because he had a row with a coach, why not just say so? It has me wondering if the selection didn't actually precede and cause the argument!

CatFromHue

I wouldn't have thought Beale is the most physical of players so if that's what you're interested in than Horne would be a better option.

WTO

Yeah_Right wrote: »

Very excited about the AB v SA game this weekend. If it is even half as good as last year's fixture then it will be a cracker. A few changes to the line-ups from last week.

All Black :
15: Israel Dagg; 14: Ben Smith; 13: Conrad Smith; 12: Malakai Fekitoa; 11: Julian Savea; 10: Beauden Barrett; 9: Aaron Smith; 8: Kieran Read; 7: Richie McCaw; 6: Jerome Kaino; 5: Sam Whitelock; 4: Jeremy Thrush; 3: Owen Franks; 2: Keven Mealamu; 1: Joe Moody.
Reserves: 16: Dane Coles, 17: Charlie Faumuina, 18: Ben Franks, 19: Steven Luatua, 20: Liam Messam, 21: Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22: Colin Slade, 23: Ryan Crotty.

South Africa :
15: Willie le Roux, 14: Cornal Hendricks, 13: Jan Serfontein, 12: Jean de Villiers (captain), 11: Bryan Habana, 10: Handre Pollard, 9: Francois Hougaard; 8: Duane Vermeulen/Schalk Burger, 7: Teboho Mohoje, 6: Marcell Coetzee, 5: Victor Matfield, 4: Eben Etzebeth, 3: Jannie du Plessis, 2: Bismarck du Plessis, 1: Tendai Mtawarira. Reserves: 16: Adriaan Strauss, 17: Trevor Nyakane, 18: Marcel van der Merwe, 19: Bakkies Botha, 20: Schalk Burger/Warren Whiteley, 21: Cobus Reinach, 22: Pat Lambie, 23: JP Pietersen.

After last week's effort Fekitoa and Mealamu hold on to their starting spots. And deservedly so. The young fella looked like he was finally finding his feet at test level and tore into everything. A couple more performances like that this year and Maa and SBW will have trouble removing him. The old man must have discovered the fountain of youth over in Beunos Aires as that was the best performance by him in a long time. It was a real throw back to 2005-9. Speaking of throwing, his lineout throwing was good :eek:

Crockett and Retallick both miss out due to injuries. Its a shame to lose Retallick as he has been in some great form and I was really looking forward to watching the battle between Etzebeth/Matfield vs. Retallick/Whitelock. Hopefully Thrush can do a solid job as he did in Wellington. He might even win me over.

Huge step up for Joe Moody. After 20 odd games for Canterbury, a similar amount for the Crusaders and a few bench appearances for the ABs; he gets his first start in a test. Against the Boks. In Jo'burg. F**k me!!!! The selectors must really rate him.

The bench has a few interesting selections. Coles is back from being a daddy and onto the bench in place Harris. Good option to come on for the last 30 to up the pace. Luatua is the lock cover on the bench which means I will be fervently praying to all that is holy and unholy that neither of the starters gets injured early. Sam Cane misses out to Messam which I guess is due to the expectation of a rather physical battle up front.

TKB replaces TJP as the halfback cover which is a surprise. I don't think there is much between the 2. And every Irishman's favourite, Ryan Crotty, also returns to the bench. Beardless.

The Boks have made one change. Bismarck comes in for Strauss at hooker. Brilliant player. Love watching him play....... except when its against a team I support. Mohoje keeps his (token:rolleyes:) place after a strong game against the Convicts. Its wait and see for Vermeulen. If he's out, then thats a big loss for SA. Obviously Burger is no slouch but Vermeulen has been in outstanding form all season.

I don't rate Hougaard that highly. I think its a big step down to him from Fourie Du Preez and Ruan Pienaar. The rest of the SA backline has a good look about it. This young 10 looks more likely to unleash it's talents than the kicking machine that is Morne Steyne. JDV is........ well JDV. Serforntein could have a long career ahead of him, while the back 3 looks lethal. They need to let Willie free though. He strikes me as player that can be over coached and if the game plan is too strict, you lose his best asset which is his instincts. His combinations with Habana and Hendricks just screams out for a counter-attack every time the ball is kicked to them.

Can't wait for this game!!!

Cheers for that! It's always good to get a NZ viewpoint. I see Rene Ranger is apparently looking to headback to NZ, and I think Richard Kahui is looking about returning too. Could be quite a logjam for the NZ selectors to sift through. Do you still rate Nonu & Smith as NZ's best midfield combination, and if they are out, what is your next best combination? Do you prefer TJ Perenara or Tawera Kerr-Barlow on the bench? Good luck for the game anyway, I reckon it will be close, and SA might just edge it out of desperation.

sydthebeat

Personally

A smith > tj > ........................> tkb

Emperor1989

Joost van der Westhuizen to lead out the Boks today at Ellis Park.

Spine tingling stuff this. Can't wait.

Larbre34

Disappointed not to spot Joost, maybe he was out earlier. Anthem was powerful, de Villiers looking possessed.

Nice appetiser for the derby later!

sydthebeat

Easy pen Missed by pollard! He needs to be getting those

Kiwi_knock

Brilliant try, great atmosphere so far.

What a try.

That was right out of the NZ playbook, ruthless.

ionapaul

Mod: No discussion of tv streams

Mod: No discussion of tv streams

Jacovs

FFS doctor Jannie.

Kiwi_knock

Easy as you like for Pollard

Jacovs

Spotted that gap nicely. Helps that it was the front row.

matthew8

This is as good as last year!

Jacovs

lol "good work from springboks in defence"

Yeah but, they scored a try?

How slow were the boks at reseting thei defense for that try. Some of the forwards were nowhere near it

bilston

matthew8 wrote: »

This is as good as last year!

There is nothing riding on it though which takes away from it a wee bit as a neutral (not so if you are South African or a Kiwi obviously), but still it's a very good watch.

Jacovs

JP Pietersen has his work cut out if he wants his place in the team back.

Jacovs

Well done Pollard to hold onto that. Try number 2 for him.

Larbre34

Good old fashioned test match, nothing at stake but the day thats in it. Some great athleticism on show

WTO

Nothing beats

1) NZ v SA at Ellis Park
2) RWC final
3) 1st test of a Lions series

Great match, SA finally have a flyhalf to write home about. I really like Cornal Hendricks too, he's just a good old fashioned speed merchant. Would like to see him tested under the high ball though, not sure about that. Heineke Meyer would make a great motivational speaker, so passionate. For NZ, their lineout is struggling, and probably losing the breakdown. More ball to Savea I would think.

SA getting a lot of joy just by going wide, drawing defenders and giving the pass. Unusual enough against NZ imo.

Jacovs

Oupa de Villiers still has some speed.

Aaron Smith refusing to ruck

That's nearly worth a card imo, cynically killed the attack.

matthew8

Horrific decision to take the scrum. No special move either, went through the hands.

Buer

What a pass from Conrad Smith.

sydthebeat

Brilliant score!! Highlanders boys doing well

matthew8

And we have ourselves a game.

Jacovs

Not very good from de Villiers or Habana.

Larbre34

Is Conrad better than Drico, all things taken into account?

sydthebeat

Larbre34 wrote: »

Is Conrad better than Drico, all things taken into account?

No

matthew8

Wow, go ABs.

Zzippy

Smashing try

Jacovs

nononononononononono
NO

Buer

Larbre34 wrote: »

Is Conrad better than Drico, all things taken into account?

Smith's emergence into a world class player coincided with BOD's slide. Smith didn't become a first choice All Black until 2008 when BOD's best years were behind him.

BOD 2001 - 2008 or Smith 2007 - 2014?

Not a contest, for me.

WTO

sydthebeat wrote: »

No

Maybe.

Wow, Coles & Luatua have been dynamite as replacements. Dynamite.

Micky Dolenz

NZ are something else.

Jacovs

That looked sore.

Buer

That may be a very bad injury. I suppose it's probably the best time of year for it to happen if it's a 6 month lay off.

WTO

Buer wrote: »

Smith's emergence into a world class player coincided with BOD's slide. Smith didn't become a first choice All Black until 2008 when BOD's best years were behind him.

BOD 2001 - 2008 or Smith 2007 - 2014?

Not a contest, for me.

That's a weird comment uer. Are you saying there's a correlation...?

Let's be honest, BOD generally played in a lesser team, so that's worth a bit. They're both excellent, I don't really care who is better, it's hard to say.

Tox56

Buer wrote: »

Smith's emergence into a world class player coincided with BOD's slide. Smith didn't become a first choice All Black until 2008 when BOD's best years were behind him.

BOD 2001 - 2008 or Smith 2007 - 2014?

Not a contest, for me.

How can you not include 2009 for BOD?? Smith is a great 13 but BOD was like a one man team

Jacovs

Is it going to be decided with a Lambie drop goal?

Do you think Julian Savea would start for Ireland?