On fire: Izzy Dagg - On ice: Kurtley Beale
It is time for Planet Rugby's weekly wrap of who has their name in lights right now...and who is making the oval ball headlines for the wrong reasons...
You can't touch this!
New Zealand: It wasn't the most convincing All Blacks performance, however there were clear signs that the current world champions will be the side to beat in the Rugby Championship. They were rusty at times but still managed to dominate the Wallabies - in the opening 40 minutes especially - to win last Saturday's opener and now have one hand on the Bledisloe Cup which has been in their possession since 2003. Watch this space...
South Africa: The Boks will be disappointed at missing out on a four-try bonus point at home against Argentina, but their defensive platform was sound. The men in green and gold simply refused to give a inch at the gainline, which in turn nullified the Pumas' threat. They head to Mendoza with their tails up.
Israel Dagg: New Zealand backline coach Ian Foster has clearly given his full-back licence to express himself, and it was good to see Dagg back to his free-running best against the Wallabies in Sydney after a below-par Super Rugby season by his own standards with the Crusaders.
Morne Steyn: After a poor Super Rugby campaign and patchy performances in the June Test series against England, the Springbok pivot entered the Rugby Championship under immense pressure to produce the goods. But boy did he deliver! The 28-year-old repaid Heyneke Meyer's faith by playing a key role in the victory over the Pumas, converting all four of his goal attempts, put Zane Kirchner in for the opening try and was responsible for the perfectly weighted cross-kick that resulted in Bryan Habana's touchdown in the second half.
Graham Henry: Sir Graham gave the struggling Blues a massive boost by agreeing to assist in the same role (defence coach) he had the last time he worked with the Super Rugby team in 2003 - the season when the Auckland franchise won the Super 12 title. He just couldn't stay away could he?
The Sharks: The only side undefeated after two rounds in the Currie Cup, but their latest victory would have been particularly sweet in light of last year's final defeat against the Lions and gives the Sharks the early running in South Africa's domestic competition.
Edwin Maka: How this for making a great first impression: the 19- year-old loose forward plays one game for Toulouse (off the bench) on debut, helps set up the match-winning try and gets rewarded with five-year deal with Europe's biggest club.
Someone turn on the heater...!
Alain Rolland: The Irish referee dished out 28 penalties in Sydney with his non-stop whistle, contributing to a rather poor Bledisloe Cup/Rugby Championship opener. Lets hope his Northern Hemisphere colleague Nigel Owens can holster that whistle for a little longer in Auckland...
Kurtley Beale: While Israel Dagg put in one of his best performances ever in a black jersey, the complete opposite holds true for Wallaby full-back, who had a shocker of epic proportions. Everything Beale seemed to try did not come off and his misery was compounded when Dagg raced around him to score New Zealand's opening try.
Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu: After upsetting everyone from the Samoan Rugby Union to the IRB, it seems like rugby's serial tweeter broke new ground by getting on the wrong side of his...wife! Fuimaono-Sapolu did the unforgivable and, as usual, took to Twitter to vent his feelings. "Lets face it, where ever you live, whoever you are, whatever culture, race or religion, YES, it IS a crime to forget you wife's birthday!" he tweeted. Doh!
Cheeky Watson: Despite seeing his franchise being awarded a spot in next year's Super Rugby tournament the Kings' president was everything but happy because SARU's decision came with the provision that the South African team at the bottom of the table would have to take part in a promotion/relegation play-off to secure their spot for 2014. Watson said SARU's decision doesn't make sense "in church." Huh?
Toulon: Perpignan coach Marc Delpoux slammed Toulon's negative tactics after his team's loss at home in their Top 14 opener last weekend. Delpoux accused Toulon of breaking the world record for lack of passes and making only about 12 passes in the entire match which did not produce a single try! We think he has has a case as Toulon also failed to score tries in last year's Top 14 semi-final and final.
Leinster: Things went pear-shaped for Europe's leading side in their pre-season match against Northampton at Franklin Gardens. The Heineken Cup champions suffered a humiliating 43-0 defeat against a star-studded Saints team. Granted, Leinster were not at full strength but they will certainly want to rectify things soon as the start of the new season is imminent.
Comments
Rosbif says...
I've left it a few days to hopefully shake off you know who. I did a quick google search to see when he joined the site and what he's been saying etc. You cld do the same if you like. He probably knows i'm from toulouse since i've mentioned it a few times and seems to jump on threads to attack people who are debating with me. Seems he's now doing the same with some other regulars like APV1. A bit like Chris Ashton coming to help you clear out a ruck (I'm a second row by trade). I don't need it, it doesn't help, but there's not much I can do about it I'm afraid.
Re-reading this thread briefly, I can see why you got annoyed, and I am guilty of falling into that same troll trap myself. But if you re-read it and omit the troll's comments (which stirred both of us) we would probably have had a sensible chat, as we have done on many occasions before.
Sorry for losing it and falling for the troll.
(Then again, my google search also shows me you're no ingenu to drawn-out threads hehehe, e.g. new_j4a and makemehappy which i've posted below for posterity - priceless).
Go well !!
http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16016_7842587_1,00.html
http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16008_7715352,00.html
Posted 21:25 31st August 2012
crunchfit says...
@Rosbif
I'm surprised at the huge number of similarities between the way you and Toulousain write. You even make all the same grammar and punctuation mistakes. And Toulousain turned up to support you just after we exchange, despite this article being off the main website for almost a week. It's almost as if it's the same person using both usernames! Wow.
Posted 17:38 30th August 2012
crunchfit says...
@Rosbif
They are words, just like any other and they have appropriate uses. Where an argument doesn't seem to have a conclusion and has occurred repeatedly, especially in a short time frame, I feel that those words are applicable to the argument and any individual who repeatedly tries to make it occur.
Regarding the phrase you find condescending, well, perhaps you shouldn't have tried to rehash that argument and then I wouldn't have pointed out your apparent failure to grasp the system which people use to address others on this website. The system is very simple and as you said yourself, you're a veteran of the boards. So either, you actually were trying to start a fight, or you haven't grasped the system.
It's good that you don't care because it would seem you fall into at least one of the descriptions above. Thanks for the last word.
All the best.
Posted 17:22 30th August 2012
crunchfit says...
@Toulousain
Why would you assume there are no counter arguments? I just told you that there are. How does that even make sense? You just had to go and read them. Not having read the arguments doesn't mean they don't exist. You're just being too lazy to search for them and read them. I didn't call you any names but writing that kind of illogical stuff might result in that happening.
It's been over a number of different articles. There are pages of discussion. It all repeats itself. I've already read them so I'm not going to look through it again just so you can be up to date. Just go and read any article related to the issue.
Posted 19:37 29th August 2012
Rosbif says...
@crunchfit. using words like "stupid" or "pathetic" or patronising phrases like "it's quite simple" really have no place on these pages. i've tried to stick to plain English. and make only rugby-related comments. i wld respectfully ask you to observe the same courtesy.
(by the way, saying "all the best" at the end is no theriaca....)
I'll let you have the last word, and apologise in advance for not caring.
Posted 19:36 29th August 2012
Toulousain says...
@crunchfit. ok no worries. i think toulousain may need to have a lie down! peace :-)
Posted 18:39 29th August 2012
Toulousain says...
@crunchfit.
i thought i had read all the thread (which is the advantage of joining late).
cld you cut and paste the arguments i missed?
(i trust you realise i have not been repeatedly involved in this argument - this is my first post on this thread - with respect, i'm not sure you know me well enough to call me names?).
until i see some good counterfactuals, i will assume Rosbif's facts have not been challenged.
Posted 18:29 29th August 2012
crunchfit says...
@Rosbif
The counter-points have been before. The argument repeats itself, nobody wins and the people who repeatedly get involved in them or try to start them look like idiots. All the best.
@Toulousain
You missed the point, buddy. Go and read some of the discussions and you'll see this argument has been had, your points have been made and responded to by the Irish boys.
Toulouse Edinburgh was ridiculous! I guess they learned not to underestimate the Scottish sides.
Posted 16:17 29th August 2012
Toulousain says...
sorry, i'm a little late to this party....
you irish are funny. you get all excited and sensitive. but make no actual points. is rosbif wrong about any of his facts? the comparable squad sizes of leinster and clermont? the number of intl players held back till round 4 of pro12? The comparable number of games played by physical ball carriers? the ability to play pro12 games with your academy side? the format of top14? the ridiculous case of edinburgh beating toulouse (which by the way is where the politics really got started - that was the final straw for noves!).
where are your facts, irish boys? you seem very quiet on anything of substance. instead just getting angry that rosbif directs his posts to you personally.
Posted 11:09 29th August 2012
Rosbif says...
@crunchfit. you are, like me, a veteran of these pages. i have read your many posts with interest. I'm sorry we weren't able to exchange views on the current HCup debate. you haven't really offered any counter-points that might lead to further discussion. i nevertheless look fwd to chatting on another topic at another time. kind rgds.
@pog_mahone. you too are a regular! my memory is not as good as yours I'm afraid. some people may indeed have made the point that more game time was good for the clubs back in the early 2000s. I don't recall. what i do recall is that the Top16, as it was then, had a different format. There were 2 pools of 8 teams, followed by semis and relegation battles. So teams only played 14-16 games per season. Now teams play a minimum of 26 games before quarters, semis and final. So the winner plays 29 games. Plus international players have 3 autumn tests, 5 6N games and 2 summer tests. That's already 39 games. And then you squeeze in the HCup. 9 more games if you get to the final. So 48 games.
That's not a whinge. It's not nationalistic. There's no cake. It's just simple maths. Why don't you guys see it?
(I'm not asking anyone to accept it as THE ONLY reason why Celtic clubs have won lots of HCups recently - just to accept it as a FACT IN ITSELF)
Posted 10:21 29th August 2012
pog_mahone says...
Rosbif back to your original whinge. Good job of beating your national organization's drum for them. However, when English and French teams were dominating the HCup in the mid-2000's, the argument was being put forward that more games honed your ability to win games (no surprise there). Have your cake or eat it - your choice.
Posted 08:45 29th August 2012
crunchfit says...
@Rosbif
Then just address your response to him. It's quite simple.
I've read the stupid arguments you started or gotten involved with recently. I've see you frequently pick out Leinster supporters and start fights with them or make baiting comments about Leinster, just as you have here. My comment was about a completely unrelated issue but you addressed me to start a fight. It's apparent you've got some sort grudge against Leinster. I suggest you get over it because it's pathetic watching the same argument over and over, and the same person right in the middle of it every time. All the best.
Posted 23:46 28th August 2012
Rosbif says...
sorry crunchfit. not looking for a fight - or maybe just a little skirmish (not enough footie on at the moment, so it's easy to get bored!). was just responding to leinster_goy's comment about Leinster being "the best team in the NH (club or international)". i think that deserves a little perspective, no? if left alone, there's a risk people start believing that stuff (including, apparently, the PR staff who claim to be surprised at the result vs Saints).
Leinster senior squad is 40 players. 11 internationals not available until week 4 of the Rabo. A further 7 unavailable due to various stages of injury (Fitzgerald, Flanagan, Gilsenan, DKearney, SOB, OżMalley, Ruddock). Hence, one assumes, the whole point of the Saints experiment was to give the academy players a chance to get some continuity for the early part of the season. Very sensible. Exactly what you'd expect of a coaching set-up with Schmidt in charge.
I merely make the comparison with Clermont. Senior squad is 39 players. No-one is unavailable due to central contract "player welfare". A long list are already injured (I posted them on another thread). Vern Cotter is no mug and will rotate as best he can. But by the time they meet Leinster in December, the senior boys will be knackered.
Another curious stat. Some of the ball carriers for Leinster really do get to peak for important games. C Healy played 16 club games last season (8 HCup/8Rabo). SOB 15. Heaslip 16. (The numbers are so low cos of RWC). But the comparable numbers for ASM's ball carriers are shocking. Vermeulen 25, Bonnaire 23, Kayser 25.
What's wrong with pointing out the obvious?
(I really don't mean to dig. this isn't about me not liking Leinster. it's about T14 vs Celtic league and the whole HCup debate. I'm just using Leinster and Clermont as examples. We could do the same analysis with re Edin, Glasgow or Ospreys.)
Posted 09:29 28th August 2012
crunchfit says...
@kybone
There are already complaints of too much game time, so why give more game time, particularly to a full strength side against a mostly academy team? The Leinster coaching staff gained information about young players and the players gained experienced by playing more experienced players.
@Rosbif
What does that have to do with the Leinster Northampton friendly and the poor description of the team in this article?
I've noticed you've been whining and complaining about Leinster quite a bit over the last week or two. I'm not sure why you're so bitter about Leinster's success (especially seeing as you often write that you aren't actually a Clermont fan) - you are always going out of your way to start an argument about them such as right here - but at least comment where it is appropriate and make some new, more accurate arguments if you're going that road. All the best.
Posted 02:23 28th August 2012
Rosbif says...
...final question.... I vaguely recall something in the IRFU vs Provinces agreement that anyone who plays in a summer series can only play one of the first four games of the new season to ensure that they are rested... Is that right? Is that in the central contracts, or just a gentleman's agreement? If so, your elite boys will have even more rest than I thought. And good for them. The LNR/FFR and RFU should be doing the same!!
Posted 13:00 25th August 2012
cuw3100 says...
Looking at the picture makes me want to ask a question, which may not be relevant to being HOT or NOT.
have the rules regarding bloodbin changed??
In the NZ v OZ match, saw for the first time the new rule regarding concussion being applied; OZ 2nd row Timani (am i correct with the name?) was taken out for precautionary examination and returned again to play.
As far as I know players with blood wounds have to leave the field and get the wounds dressed, irrespective of the gravity of injury.
however beale played on despite cuts on both eye brows, bleeding the full 80 minutes!!!
u may see him without any dressing in the PR pics of the match at the end, alone.
was the ref too busy blowing his whistle that he failed to notice a bleeding player?
did beale ever leave the field to get his bleeding stopped / wound dressed?
maybe editor PR can enlighten me (and any other interested fan) if the rules have been changed / altered, please .
Posted 08:43 25th August 2012
kybone says...
crunchfit - Well my wild guess as to why Saints put out a strong side is that they wanted to give the players some game time as that is the point of pre season friendlies! I think a more valid point is why Leinster came all the way to Northampton to put out a 2nd/3rd string team! What did they get out of that game?
Posted 19:51 24th August 2012
Rosbif says...
@leinster_goy and @crunchfit, as we've established on the HCup thread, those first team Leinster guys were indeed not playing Northampton. Instead, they are busy resting, eating creatine, doing weights, conditioning, fine-tuning etc for the long season of "big" games ahead.....while their counterparts at Clermont and Toulouse had virtually no pre-season, no chance to set physiological programmes/targets, rest bodies, put-on or lose weight etc - just more endless game time in the never ending money-go-round that is the Top14.
Who d'ya reckon will be better prepared for the HCup games when Leinster meet Clermont?
No contest!
Posted 19:15 24th August 2012
crunchfit says...
Not at full strength would be a bit of an understatement for the Leinster team. It wasn't even a 2nd string team. More than half the 22 are still in the academy or just out and most of the other half aren't 1st choice. I mean Coughlan for example is still in the academy and is a number 8, but he was being tested out in the centre. I don't know why Northampton put out such a strong team.
Just surprised the writer would be so unaware.
Posted 13:58 24th August 2012
startledwombat says...
Late addition to "What's Not Hot"
ARFU marketing people
for inflicting hats that look like a stunted fox, onto Wallabies supporters at last weekend's game. Dear me, what a bunch of sad fans!
Posted 11:36 24th August 2012