Player

[Dipper]

Hey mate do you fancy giving us your run down on what teams you expect to do well in this year's Super 12 & who you reckon will win it?

I saw a few results this weekend with the Blues absolutely stuffing Wellington.

You will no doubt be amused to learn of an article by David Kirk in one of our papers this weekend that poured scorn all over England's position at the top of the rankings & gave us no chance of lifting the next world cup-he said we have shown ourselves to be mentally weak in all the previous tournaments which is fair enough but I have a feeling that the present bunch may be made of sterner stuff come the next one.

PS I wonder if Colin & The Blues will come & give their thoughts on next weekend's 6 Nations games as they've been their absence this last week has been noted!

 

[colin]

Yeah very funny Dipper. I've been a tad depressed for the past week after the 'unfortunate incident' at Twickenham

"Now let us never speak of this again..."

Predictions this week:

Brits to beat the frogs

Taffees to beat the greaseballs

Paddies to shade it over the Jocks

 

[colin]

BTW if anyone's offended by that just let me know and I'll edit it or something.

Political correctness eh? pff...

 

[London Dave]

Martin Johnson Joke....

what a bloody joke the RFU is...Johnson clocks someone (not the first time he has king hit someone behind play, dirty mongrel) and the RFU gets to decide whether he is eligible to play for his country or not!!! Its like his coach is his judge and jury...time for an independent judiciary.....

what a suprise, he appeals, sentence is suspended because the RFU cant organise an appeal hearing....in this day and age...what a joke!

 

[Player]

The usual suspects.

From New Zealand, the Blues and the Crusaders to go well, especially against the other New Zealand sides, and for the rest of us to be repeatedly told just how good they are.

The Hurricanes are top heavy on big name backs, an overweight Cullen, a 'tired' Umaga who has said he would rather play club rugby than the Super 12 and Lomu, ever the sleeping giant.

With only a few hot heads in the forwards they will not make the final four.

Highlanders a team of honest journeymen.

Chiefs. Why do I bother to support this rabble.

They will go so badly again that Graham Henry will 'coach' them next year.

Well thats the Super 5, don't know where you got the Super 12 from.

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WOW just went online and discovered there are another 7 teams. Something about a certain country being incapable of running their own domestic competition.

Brumbies are obviously a good team, top four for sure but will struggle to repeat last years dominating form. Mind you they have looked bloody good for the last few years.

Waratahs Improving on a mid table finish. May sneak into the top four, but I doubt it. The new signings have improved the side.

Reds weakest of the Aussie side. Also rans, they just don't know it yet.

I've never bothered learning a thing about the South African sides, aside from the Cats having a decent forward pack and the Bulls are to the Super 12 what Barry Town is to European football.

London Dave you have to make allowances for the RFU, they have obviously been very busy lately, polishing that 'official test champions of the world' trophy and all.

 

[Dipper]

Cheers for that Player you'll no doubt be pleased if the Blues return to their glory days of the mid/late 90s.

I'm always left wondering on what has happened to South African rugby, the provincial sides never seem that strong & the Springboks have lost that aura that placed them up their with the All Blacks in rugby folklore.

LD,
Mmmm so he's a dirty mongrel for king hitting is he?Firstly you can hardly call it a king hit, the other fella saw it coming all right just couldn't do anything about it that's all.Secondly I remember a few indiscresions from the Wallabies against the Lions in the summer most notably a piece of filthy play from Nathan Grey that put Richard Hill out of the series who up until that point (half way through the 2nd test) had the beating of George 'next Don Bradman' Smith at the breakdown every time.

Also the thing I find most funny about the term 'king hit' is that you actually have a name for a cowardly unseen assault, a tacit admission if there ever was one that it is an accepted part of Australian sport.

In more seriousness regarding the whole Johnson affair there are a number of issues to address.Firstly I believe under the rules & regulations of the English Premiership that once a player is yellow carded for an offence he can't be punished again by the authorites-this is double jeopardy & isn't allowed & is basically what Leicester are appealing against.Also there have been a number of other punching incidents which haven't elicited bans from the authorities despite the referee not seeing them but being caught on camera most notably Craig Quinnel definitely king hitting some poor French forward & nearly knocking him into next week-the whole witch hunt is only because of Johnson's position as England captain.
Personally I like to see the odd punch thrown in Rugby it's sad that it's being sqeezed out of the international game it absolutely adds to the whole occasion for me.(I still remember Dean Richards holding some Taffy prop round the neck repeatedly smashing his fist into the top of his head-oh glory days )

If Johnson does indeed get banned then he's still going to miss games & I really believe that a time ban is ridiculous this is one area where football has it better where they give a player a definite number of games to sit out & the vageries of the schedule or whether don't make soem bans harsher than others.Also there is a case for saying that bans in domestic rugby should be kept seperate from internationals & vice versa.

 

[Dipper]

Originally posted by colin
BTW if anyone's offended by that just let me know and I'll edit it or something.

Political correctness eh? pff...

Yes I am deeply offended by you labelling those proud & noble inhabitants of the 'Emerald Isle' Paddies please be informed that if you persist in this description I will have no option to infrom Bluey, in future I suggest that they should only be known as Micks.

 

[Player]

Originally posted by DIPPER
Cheers for that Player you'll no doubt be pleased if the Blues return to their glory days of the mid/late 90s.

No

If Johnson does indeed get banned then he's still going to miss games & I really believe that a time ban is ridiculous this is one area where football has it better where they give a player a definite number of games to sit out & the vageries of the schedule or whether don't make soem bans harsher than others.

The NZRFU had definite match bans until 1992. Waikato organised a friendly midweek, in which none of the 1st team played, before a must win semi final against Auckland so Warren Gatland could serve his one game ban and still play in the finals.

Waikato , Player , Auckland .

You mean something fairer like this.

 

[Dipper]

Well obviously friendlies & reserve games wouldn't count.