General Rugby Discussion II

Clegg

O'Connor had once in a generation potential. He amassed 44 caps for Australia by the age of 23 which is just incredible. I suppose his biggest problem back then was lack of fixed position. He played on the wing against Ireland in the 2011 World Cup and was starting at 10 for Oz against the Lions in 2013. If he hadn't went off the rails I'm sure he eventually would have settled at 12 and been world class there. He could have been their BoD, or at the very worst another Adam Ashley-Cooper. Someone talented enough to play anywhere across the backline and still win over 100 caps.

AdamD

Weird to see O'Connor and Fran Steyn back in the squads for their countries, both had huge amounts of caps at a young age and easily could have gotten over 100 caps but haven't for various reasons.

Quin_Dub

Clegg wrote: »

O'Connor had once in a generation potential. He amassed 44 caps for Australia by the age of 23 which is just incredible. I suppose his biggest problem back then was lack of fixed position. He played on the wing against Ireland in the 2011 World Cup and was starting at 10 for Oz against the Lions in 2013. If he hadn't went off the rails I'm sure he eventually would have settled at 12 and been world class there. He could have been their BoD, or at the very worst another Adam Ashley-Cooper. Someone talented enough to play anywhere across the backline and still win over 100 caps.

Absolutely..He was 18/19 yrs old and a regular starter and just had ridiculous skill levels. then it all went wrong.. Properly managed and mentored he could have been sitting on well over 100 caps now with a few world player awards on the mantle.

stephen_n

NeonWolf wrote: »

James O Connor returns to the Wallabies! Raelene Castle sending out mixed signals with this one.

Cocaine = good , Bible passages = bad

Have you ever tried snorting the Bible? That **** fu@ks your nose up.

sydthebeat

38 yo schalk brits on the bench for SA v australila

coetzee on bench

The Springbok team to Australia in Johannesburg:

15. Warrick Gelant (Vodacom Bulls), 5 caps – 5 points (1 try)

14. Sbu Nkosi (Cell C Sharks), 6 – 20 (4t)

13. Jesse Kriel (Vodacom Bulls), 40 – 60 (12t)

12. André Esterhuizen (Cell C Sharks), 6 – 0

11. Makazole Mapimpi (Cell C Sharks), 4 – 20 (4t)

10. Elton Jantjies (Emirates Lions), 33 – 229 (2t, 42c, 45p)

9. Herschel Jantjies (DHL Stormers), uncapped

8. Francois Louw (Bath, England), 65 – 45 (9t)

7. Pieter-Steph du Toit (DHL Stormers), 46 – 20 (4t)

6. Rynhardt Elstadt (Toulouse, France), uncapped

5. Lood de Jager (Vodacom Bulls), 38 – 20 (4t)

4. Eben Etzebeth (captain, DHL Stormers), 75 – 15 (3t)

3. Trevor Nyakane (Vodacom Bulls), 37 – 5 (1t)

2. Bongi Mbonambi (DHL Stormers), 26 – 15 (3t)

1. Tendai Mtawarira (Cell C Sharks), 107 – 10 (2t)

Replacements:

16. Schalk Brits (Vodacom Bulls), 11 – 5 (1t)

17. Lizo Gqoboka (Vodacom Bulls), uncapped

18. Vincent Koch (Saracens, England), 13 – 0

19. Marvin Orie (Emirates Lions), 1 – 0

20. Marcell Coetzee (Ulster, Ireland), 28 – 30 (6t)

21. Cobus Reinach (Northampton Saints, England), 10 – 10 (2t)

22. Frans Steyn (Montpellier, France), 56 – 132 (10t, 5c, 21p, 3d)

23. Dillyn Leyds (DHL Stormers), 9 – 5 (1t)

Squidgy Black

Rassie wasn't lying when he said he was going to be putting out a mix up of a squad against Australia.

Frans Steyn in the 22 shirt, and delighted for Coetzee making the 23.

sydthebeat

Squidgy Black wrote: »

Rassie wasn't lying when he said he was going to be putting out a mix up of a squad against Australia.

Frans Steyn in the 22 shirt, and delighted for Coetzee making the 23.

Yeah, it's hurt my spread a bit but I think they are still good enough to beat Australia...

Who are basically the brumbie forwards with a bunch of utility backs

Squidgy Black

AB squad named for Argentina, Sevu Reece will pick up his first cap.

15. Ben Smith
14. Sevu Reece
13. Anton Lienert-Brown
12. Ngani Laumape
11. Jordie Barrett
10. Beauden Barrett
9. Aaron Smith

8. Ardie Savea
7. Sam Cane (captain)
6. Vaea Fifit
5. Patrick Tuipulotu
4. Brodie Retallick
3. Angus Ta’avao
2. Dane Coles
1. Ofa Tuungafasi.

Replacements:

16. Liam Coltman
17. Atu Moli
18. Nepo Laulala
19. Jackson Hemopo
20. Luke Jacobson
21. Brad Weber
22. Josh Ioane
23. Braydon Ennor.

sydthebeat

Australia playing 3 full backs against SA, with another on the bench

Nic White walks onto the starting 15 for his first cap since 2015

Squidgy Black

Nic White for Australia, Francois Steyn and Schalk Brits for the saffers.

What year is it again?

Interested Observer

Quin_Dub wrote: »

To be fair to O'Connor he does seem to have sorted out his act and should be commended for that.

He got success very very young and the money and attention obviously got to him and he hit the booze and drugs hard.

He appears to have come out the other side , so fair play.

Having said that , he hasn't played anything like International standard in quite some time and probably shouldn't be making a WC squad..

It's a real shame how his career went. Back as an 18/19 year old I thought he was the most talented player in the world of his age bar none, thought the sky was the limit.

Dog Botherer

Squidgy Black wrote: »

AB squad named for Argentina, Sevu Reece will pick up his first cap.

15. Ben Smith
14. Sevu Reece
13. Anton Lienert-Brown
12. Ngani Laumape
11. Jordie Barrett
10. Beauden Barrett
9. Aaron Smith

8. Ardie Savea
7. Sam Cane (captain)
6. Vaea Fifit
5. Patrick Tuipulotu
4. Brodie Retallick
3. Angus Ta’avao
2. Dane Coles
1. Ofa Tuungafasi.

Replacements:

16. Liam Coltman
17. Atu Moli
18. Nepo Laulala
19. Jackson Hemopo
20. Luke Jacobson
21. Brad Weber
22. Josh Ioane
23. Braydon Ennor.

Whisper it, but that’s a very beatable NZ team.

NeonWolf

Dog Botherer wrote: »

Whisper it, but that’s a very beatable NZ team.

Reckon Argentina get spanked by 15+ points.

Ardie at 8 and Ngani at 12 give them ball carrying they have been lacking from Read and Crotty respectively.


Hopefully Read is pulling a McCaw or Carter-esque world cup peaking trick but he has been playing within himself for quite a while.

Ardie has the hot hand.

That Allbacks team may be green, but its arguably the form 15 from Super Rugby.


Ennor has test rugby written all over him. He is going to be a worldie.

sydthebeat

Delight to see the bearded wonder that is Liam coltman make the bench.... He has a real shout of making the 16 jersey his ahead of Harris.

NeonWolf

sydthebeat wrote: »

Delight to see the bearded wonder that is Liam coltman make the bench.... He has a real shout of making the 16 jersey his ahead of Harris.

Harris didn't make the squad........

Aumua, Taylor, Coles and Coltman are the hookers.

hahashake

NeonWolf wrote: »

Reckon Argentina get spanked by 15+ points.

Ardie at 8 and Ngani at 12 give them ball carrying they have been lacking from Read and Crotty respectively.


Hopefully Read is pulling a McCaw or Carter-esque world cup peaking trick but he has been playing within himself for quite a while.

Ardie has the hot hand.

That Allbacks team may be green, but its arguably the form 15 from Super Rugby.


Ennor has test rugby written all over him. He is going to be a worldie.

Read came into some form at the end of the season - not his POTY attacking form but did all his core roles very well.

This isn't the form team though, this is the team minus 8 Crusaders players (rested) and minus Reiko Ioane (to allow Reece a start).

Argentina:

Emiliano Boffelli; Matias Moroni, Matias Orlando, Jeronimo de la Fuente, Ramiro Moyano; Nicolas Sanchez, Tomas Cubelli; Javier Ortega Desio, Marcos Kremer, Pablo Matera (capt); Tomas Lavanini, Guido Petti; Juan Figallo, Agustin Creevy, Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro.

Replacements: Julian Montoya, Mayco Vivas, Santiago Medrano, Matias Alemanno, Tomas Lezana, Felipe Ezcurra, Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, Joaquin Tuculet

NeonWolf

hahashake wrote: »

Read came into some form at the end of the season - not his POTY attacking form but did all his core roles very well.

This isn't the form team though, this is the team minus 8 Crusaders players (rested) and minus Reiko Ioane (to allow Reece a start).

Argentina:

Emiliano Boffelli; Matias Moroni, Matias Orlando, Jeronimo de la Fuente, Ramiro Moyano; Nicolas Sanchez, Tomas Cubelli; Javier Ortega Desio, Marcos Kremer, Pablo Matera (capt); Tomas Lavanini, Guido Petti; Juan Figallo, Agustin Creevy, Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro.

Replacements: Julian Montoya, Mayco Vivas, Santiago Medrano, Matias Alemanno, Tomas Lezana, Felipe Ezcurra, Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, Joaquin Tuculet

Yeah minus the crusaders, but Ardie trumps Read for me on form . Mo'unga and Barrett are 50/50 and Goodhue and ALB are also a coin flip.
Whitelock and the front row from the Crusaders sure.... Rieko hasn't been tearing it up although he is the incumbent. George Bridge has been the better winger.

swiwi_

Squidgy Black wrote: »

AB squad named for Argentina, Sevu Reece will pick up his first cap.

He's pretty fast and hopefully he plays well

"Reece lightnin, go, Reece lightnin"

Yeah_Right

sydthebeat wrote: »

Delight to see the bearded wonder that is Liam coltman make the bench.... He has a real shout of making the 16 jersey his ahead of Harris.

He's a good player but Coles and Taylor are definitely the starting and bench hookers for the big matches this year. If Coles gets back to his best, he starts. But Taylor certainly grabbed his opportunity while Coles was injured. They are both world class and I don't think Coltman is at that level.

It will be interesting to see if they go with Coltman or Aumua for the RWC. Coltman has the experience and is better at the core duties but Aumua is so dynamic with the ball. Possibly the most dangerous front-rower in the world with ball in hand.

Exclamation Marc

Bastareaud moving to Lyon as a medical joker during the WC before his move to USA.

He's been signed as a number 8 which is really odd. He's 20 stone so has the heft but has he the stamina and ability at that position. We'll see!

PTH2009

New Rugby game due out before the World Cup

Hopefully a much better effort than the last one Rugby 18

Rugby 08 was by far the best Rugby video game ever

thomond2006

It's almost certainly going to be dog****. All of Bigben's releases have been moneygrabs.

Whatever about a proper rugby game which we’ll realistically never get due to the market size, I’d love an in depth rugby manager game similar to football manager.

It surely wouldn’t be thaaat difficult for a developer to put together?

PTH2009

Batrachotox wrote: »

Whatever about a proper rugby game which we’ll realistically never get due to the market size, I’d love an in depth rugby manager game similar to football manager.

It surely wouldn’t be thaaat difficult for a developer to put together?

there was a similar one out a few years ago but was a very odd game as you managed both club and nation in the same season and signing players was hard enough

Rugby Union manager was the title of the series and they were avialable through Steam

https://store.steampowered.com/app/752640/National_Rugby_Manager/

errlloyd

PTH2009 wrote: »

New Rugby game due out before the World Cup

Hopefully a much better effort than the last one Rugby 18

Rugby 08 was by far the best Rugby video game ever

Best ever? No, that was Jonah. It is currently the best though. Still play it monthly with the lads. Ps2 plugged into a 4k TV and only has one game. Hahaha.

Synode

errlloyd wrote: »

Best ever? No, that was Jonah. It is currently the best though. Still play it monthly with the lads. Ps2 plugged into a 4k TV and only has one game. Hahaha.

I got years of fun out of Jonah Lomu rugby. Great craic. My brother in law still has it and the kids play occasionally

nerd69

Itl be dog**** theywill have spent minimal money on it and people will buy it because we are desperate for a half decent rugby game. Vicious circle

feargale

Can anybody advise me re tv coverage of the RWC in Croatia and Italy? Thanks,

sydthebeat

Japan turning on the style against Fiji.

29 - 7 after 32 mins

Thrashssacre

Surprisingly powerful into contact this japan team I’m quite impressed so far, ireland or Scotland are gonna get a good scare off this lot.