Rugby Championship 2022

[jezzer]

With a relatively inexperienced ref I'm charge, his whole team pitched in with calls, which upped the penalty count massively. An older ref might have waved some of them off, but the Georgian (who's generally good) gave them all. It suited Arg massively, esp given their ultra pragmatic game plan.

Good tactical win with incredible defence. Kremer and Montoya would be in most world 15s.

[Dave Cahill]

In that second half, the All Blacks resembled a mid-table Top14 team. Once they went through three or four phases they had no plan or pattern.

[jezzer]

Great win for Oz. Only saw the last few minutes so will have to dive in later but the Wallabies are a sneaky good team, if not blessed with a ton of depth.

You're absolutely bang on there.

I've been watching them for the last while and thinking they look really good, with some nice young players and a dangerous backline.

Massive amount of injuries at the moment but once they get everyone back (particularly Bell & Tuopou starting) they can do serious damage at the RWC.

Rodda, Hooper, Cooper, Petaia, Perese, Bell, Sio, Kerevi are all either starters or would be in the 23.

Valentini has really impressed me.

[dropkick]

I only saw bits of the game but I didn't see Argentina do anything of note, only feed off NZ mistakes.


Once they got the flukey try to take the lead, NZ heads were gone.

[jezzer]

In that second half, the All Blacks resembled a mid-table Top14 team. Once they went through three or four phases they had no plan or pattern.

Agree. The passing was better but still nobody in midfield is fixing their man. No believable dummy lines either once they get into multiphase. Too easy for a good defence like Args to drift off the carrier onto the receiver. Ioane the biggest culprit but he's not alone. I just don't think he's a 13.

I'm not a Clarke fan, but if you're going to play him at least get him involved in midfield to bust some holes.

[riocard911]

RSA fans going mad on the social media, criticising the Bok's troglodyte rugby and calling for Niemaber's head.

[hugonaut]

RSA fans going mad on the social media, criticising the Bok's troglodyte rugby and calling for Niemaber's head.

There are so many a*seholes amongst the South African fans on social media.

Normally you'd say 'every team has them' or something similarly diplomatic, but they seem to be very much the majority. Every time the Boks lose, the ref has robbed them. Every time they win, they ref tried to rob them but the Boks are just too good and all the opposition players are over-rated.

To be frank, they can't lose often enough for me at the moment.

[OTT]

RSA fans going mad on the social media, criticising the Bok's troglodyte rugby and calling for Niemaber's head.

There are so many a*seholes amongst the South African fans on social media.

Normally you'd say 'every team has them' or something similarly diplomatic, but they seem to be very much the majority. Every time the Boks lose, the ref has robbed them. Every time they win, they ref tried to rob them but the Boks are just too good and all the opposition players are over-rated.

To be frank, they can't lose often enough for me at the moment.

Your man who licks the hole off squidge and TRK’s is one of the worst. When he sees how public opinion totally disagrees with him he changes his opinion on “review”. Begging for f%~king likes bless him. AP something or other I think is his name. Huge following though so what do I know.

[Dave Cahill]

You know you can choose who to follow and who to see in your social media feeds?

[jezzer]

You know you can choose who to follow and who to see in your social media feeds?

I highly recommend choosing not to be on social media at all!

[LeRouxIsPHat]

I’ve only watched the first half of the NZ so far but they had the try from the maul and then a lovely try from the turnover but I see that they didn’t score a try in the second half, what has happened to their attacking game? It was the same against us, a lot of their scores came from our errors. Pundits praised the pack at half time and fair enough the set piece was good but they aren’t making any inroads in open play. They lack carriers, handlers, and keep getting turned over.

Said it before our tour that they have loads of talented newcomers and I stand by it but the pack is poor and the confidence of the team is through the floor. If you look at someone like Will Jordan, anyone who has seen him for the Crusaders knows that he is one of the biggest talents in world rugby but he looks lost out there. A good few others are in the same boat and I’m sure that they’ll show what they can do when the team sorts itself out but it looks a long way off right now. Isa was very worried about them after our tour and I can see why now, no quick fix here.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Australia have found so many players over the last few years and I think the new Super Rugby format really suits them, whereas it’s the opposite for NZ. It’s great to see, rugby has been so up and down there over the last few years and there have been some false dawns but they really have a quality squad now and can play some great stuff. They used to be flaky and rely too much on guys like Hooper or Folau but there’s an edge to them now and they’ve carriers all over the park.

To me it looks like SA don’t have the players to beat teams up week on week anymore but still want to play that way. Pollard starting to look like a weak link too IMO, used to be such a defensive weapon but now can look exposed very often by guys with quicker feet.

[Ruckedtobits]

Australia now have a Coach who looks at the talents available and plays to them. Lots of strong young athletes.

[hugonaut]

You know you can choose who to follow and who to see in your social media feeds?

I think I follow one SA rugby journalist [Brendan Nel, who I think is quite good] on Twitter, but I still get a measure of 'this person who follows somebody who follows you liked this tweet' sort of stuff. After that, going down the rabbit-hole of South African ref-blaming ... well, it's my own fault. It remains a work-on for me.

[riocard911]

Thought Caleb Clarke could have done more to prevent the Argentina number 6's try up the blind side off the 5 yard line out. D sure doesn't seem to be his strong suit....

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Thought Caleb Clarke could have done more to prevent the Argentina number 6's try up the blind side off the 5 yard line out. D sure doesn't seem to be his strong suit....

There seems to be a pandemic of misremembered tries from this game

It was from a restart and I think that’s a bit harsh on Clarke. Barrett wasn’t strong enough on the catch, Frizell made a fairly weak attempt to tackle, and then Smith was done badly. Clarke had stepped up to cover the 12 and I think that was correct. Made a good effort to get back and got the tackle in but it was finished well.

[jezzer]

Australia have found so many players over the last few years and I think the new Super Rugby format really suits them, whereas it’s the opposite for NZ. It’s great to see, rugby has been so up and down there over the last few years and there have been some false dawns but they really have a quality squad now and can play some great stuff. They used to be flaky and rely too much on guys like Hooper or Folau but there’s an edge to them now and they’ve carriers all over the park.

To me it looks like SA don’t have the players to beat teams up week on week anymore but still want to play that way. Pollard starting to look like a weak link too IMO, used to be such a defensive weapon but now can look exposed very often by guys with quicker feet.

There are more and more serious athletes coming through from the Sharks and Stormers especially. Won't be long before they have to tweak the game to take advantage.

[jezzer]

I’ve only watched the first half of the NZ so far but they had the try from the maul and then a lovely try from the turnover but I see that they didn’t score a try in the second half, what has happened to their attacking game? It was the same against us, a lot of their scores came from our errors. Pundits praised the pack at half time and fair enough the set piece was good but they aren’t making any inroads in open play. They lack carriers, handlers, and keep getting turned over.

Lots of phases with little production, turnovers and penalties.

[riocard911]

Thought Caleb Clarke could have done more to prevent the Argentina number 6's try up the blind side off the 5 yard line out. D sure doesn't seem to be his strong suit....

There seems to be a pandemic of misremembered tries from this game

It was from a restart and I think that’s a bit harsh on Clarke. Barrett wasn’t strong enough on the catch, Frizell made a fairly weak attempt to tackle, and then Smith was done badly. Clarke had stepped up to cover the 12 and I think that was correct. Made a good effort to get back and got the tackle in but it was finished well.

That's a fair assessment. I was maybe a tad harsh.

[Ruckedtobits]

NZ still good rugby players in space but, no longer in traffic.

Partially a contribution as to how Super Rugby is refereed, but mainly about how it's coached and played. They've missed having to work against Bok teams in particular to find space. That's hard work and habit and when you lose it, it's hard to get back.