All Blacks on Grand Slam Tour

stevebaby

Cheeky little feller!
Why aren't you living in your own country?

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I'm Rooting for Chiara!
Drink!Feck!Arrse!Girls!
bastard

chch_legend

Someone has to keep the Aussies on their toes and what better person to do that than a Kiwi. Plus the salaries are higher in this country.

I'm also engaged to a lovely Irish lass, so it's war in our house this evening. Not to mention the fact that her father and brother will be at the game.

limerickman

The Aussies in cricket, rugby league and rugby union are now starting to show
that they're at least mortal..........for a nation who literally dominated cricket for the past twenty odd years and were able to hold more than their own in rugby terms, they seem to be going through a slight decline at present.
Beware of the backlash though !

I've always admired the Aussies sporting achievements - bloody hard on the pitch but good craic off it.

NZ though were always the benchmark in rugby.

I'm just sitting here waiting for the onslaught to begin.
My brother is a good friend of Malcolm O'Kelly and Mal was saying that Ireland will be lucky to keep it within 15-20 points today.

__________________
.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets" - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

darkboong

Irish #8 played well. Murphy was cool under pressure, but not much attack.

Well played AB's, special credit to Weepu. McCaw was fantastic, he's a real flanker. Nearly forgot, which is a crime, the AB #8 was damn good too.

limerickman

It was a master class in rugby - 20th century rugby against 21st century rugby.
NZ was magnificent.
No question about it.

McCaw, Woodcock, Williams, NZ No 6, McDonald, Howlett : all superb.
For me the best player was the NZ 13 (Manu ????? - I probably have the name wrong).
If he hadn't knocked forward, that try would have been one of the greatest ever.

Master class from NZ.

England beat Australia : didn't see the game but a good result for Robinson and a bad one for Eddie Jones.

BTW : I always rated Mourie as the best flank forward from NZ ever (I'm showing my age!!!!!).
But I take my hat off to McCaw, superb.

__________________
.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets" - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

darkboong

I have to say that while NZ were good, Ireland played well within themselves. A few of them did play to their potential, which is why I singled out Murphy for his coolness and the #8. The Irish #8 was pretty much operating alone when it came to attack, he had fuck all backup yet he made ground and I yet don't think that he ever gave away the ball. Worth watching for the future, hopefully he'll have a pack that wants to take on the opposition around him next time.



Howlett's tries reminded me of Rory Underwood, run ins (albeit very skillfull ones). The NZ. 13 was good, but I would rate the #12 above him.



Apparently the front row "splintered" the Wobblies. Doesn't surprise me, Vickery and Sheridan have more in common with angry Rhinos than human beings. I was very pleased that they were selected, I nearly felt sorry for the Aussie front row.

The weak spot for England will be the back row, although I think Moody is capable of being very disruptive, he will have his work cut out against the likes of Weepu, Aaron Williams and Nonu. His sin-binning is somewhat worrying.



I have to say that the ABs fielded a really beautifully balanced team today. Their back row were nothing too fancy, just good heads up play, power, techinique and 110% graft all the way.

The Fly-Half was very solid too. Never a wobble which is fantastic to see. O'Gara seems to becoming a liability as far as his temper goes, it's not the first time he's dished some afters. It's a pity that O Sullivan didn't give Humphries the whole 2nd half to play with, he seems to settle the Irish and get them moving forward.

darkboong

Watching the replay of England vs Australia... England were pretty dour, very reminiscent of the late 80s vs France matches. However, they did get the basics right in the main, the battering the forwards dished out was painfull to watch.

Direct, if unimaginative, running was nice to see, something that was missing last yet. I can't say that I am sorry to see England returning to battering teams into submission, it's probably their best hope against the ABs. Sheridan and Vickery were --ing awesome quite frankly.

Sheridan had an awesome day carrying, and Corry put in some good hard yards too. The nice thing was that England were getting getting the ball away from contact, although I think it was a bit slow at times. I am not convinced that the ABs will let them get the ball away as easily.

limerickman

I caught the England V Australia match highlights and I agree the game itself was very dour.
The Aussies scrum looked to be in trouble early on in the game.
It's evident from watching the Super 12 that Australian teams have chosen to place less emphasis on the scrum in recent years and this is now starting to tell against countries with big packs like England.

Sheridan caused a lot of damage, granted.
It will be interesting to see how England fare against Hayman and Woodcock.
The All Blacks are physically very very tough.

I thought England played well : Cueto is a very impressive player, I think.
Corry played well although the Guardian didn't give him a good review.
From what I saw he played well.

__________________
.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets" - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.