Bismarck du Plessis
Wallabies (14) 28 / All Blacks (32) 49 (Final Score)
The Wallabies are hosting the All Blacks at Etihad Stadium, Melbourne, Australia at 12:00 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The game is broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on DSTV in SA.
The All Blacks got into their racing gears quickly in the match and before halftime had already secured their bonus point for tries after just more than half an hour of play.
Magnificent all round performance from the All Blacks and a valient effort by an outclassed Wallabies side.
The All Blacks rubbed salt into the wounds with a 7th try on 80 minutes and a comfortable romp of 49 / 28.
Richie McCaw has given a frank account of how he plays the referees as well as the opposition to maintain his mantle as the best openside flanker in test rugby.
THE All Blacks were all in a tizz yesterday about photographs that supposedly revealed back-line moves to be used in Saturday night’s Bledisloe Cup Test, but the Wallabies couldn’t care less.
Source – Rugby Heaven and News24
If you read the following article carefully and look how they explain Richie McCaw,s play as legitimate one wonders if the harsh criticism of Peter de Villiers is not just a opportunistic chance to kick us while we are down.
The line between calling something as you see it and whining seems to be very fine, so call me a whiner if you like, but I am getting tired of being politically correct when criticising referees. Continue reading
OPINION: Richie McCaw might get away with murder, but hey, at least he’s our murderer.
By PETER LAMPP – Manawatu Standard Continue reading
All I read this morning are excuses, blaming others and a good old SA whinge to excuse the Springboks diabolical performance for 2 straight weeks in a row.
My view is radically different… the All Blacks are a well oiled machine at the moment, they play situations and referees perfectly, they play cleverly and they use their heads, not for head butting and shannanigans but to outplay their opposition.
The Springboks and their coaching staff on the other hand come accross as hotheads who easily lose their cool with NO ABILITY to get the referee on their side… and they follow it up with sub-standard play and incompetance!
It wasn’t only the Springboks’ battered and scratched bodies that were aching when they boarded their flight for Brisbane yesterday.
By RICHARD KNOWLER – The Press
Article from Sport24 by Rob Houwing
Alain Rolland is the latest referee to find himself public enemy No 1 in the eyes of the South African rugby public and commentators.
Victor Matfield has been frighteningly calm this week when quizzed on South Africa’s response to their 32-12 loss in the Tri-Nations opener.
South Africa’s momentum must be stopped at Eden Park tonight. If it is not, then the Springboks’ confidence will swell to frightening proportions in the months to come.
By TOBY ROBSON in Auckland – The Dominion Post
The All Blacks have had nearly a year to stew on the discontent of their personal Springbok hell of 2009.
LEST WE FORGET: All Blacks Dan Carter (left) and Mils Muliaina reflect on a loss to South Africa in Hamilton in 2009.
We shall see tomorrow night whether they’ve put that time to good use.
The Springboks face a tough task in Auckland this coming weekend, but the truth of the matter is that the biggest enemy they face is themselves.
Reading on some web sites and in the press, there seems to be some confusion regarding the possible move of the Test on 21 August 2010 between the Springboks and All Blacks, from Coca-Cola Park (Ellis Park) to the National Stadium (Soccer City).
Some pundits believe the move is a forced move under presssure from SARU, forcing the GLRU (Gauteng Lions Rugby Union) to move the game in an attempt to recover the outstanding British and Irish Lions debt owing by the GLRU to SARU, some believe it is a new and exciting initiative by the GLRU to revive rugby in their region and a possible pre-curser to moving the home base of the GLRU permanently to the National Stadium.
Whatever the case, here is an insight from someone high up in the Club Scene in the GLRU structures.
This Tri-Nations will see one of its closest finishes where amazingly, all three teams will be looking to get something different out of the game as we start looking to the Rugby World Cup in 2011. Continue reading
Graham Henry loved the analogy. That the All Blacks are no longer the hunted but the hunter. That rugby’s international landscape has changed. The Springboks roll into Auckland today as the beast with the target on its back.
Richie McCaw admits he has to step up his game against the Springboks.
The Boks have been a persistent problem for All Blacks captain McCaw, touted as the world’s best No7.
ONE of the many hallmarks of Richie McCaw’s All Blacks captaincy has been an aversion to saying anything even mildly contentious.
Yesterday, McCaw the diplomat, holding fort at Camp All Black, stayed to script. He gave the Springboks, who arrive in Auckland tonight, not the smallest crumb to feed off, with one tiny but significant exception.
A big fat Springbok-sized reality check is coming for the All Blacks in just over a week’s time – and the challenge for Graham Henry’s men is to be a lot more ready for it than they were last year.
From the article – Swaggering Springboks up All Blacks’ ante
By MARC HINTON – Stuff
A new employment agreement signed by the New Zealand Rugby Union and the association representing its professional players has cleared the way for overseas players to join New Zealand Super Rugby teams for the first time.
Extracts from articles on News24 and Rugby Heaven.
It seems the the Bookies, around the world have made the Springboks slight favourites to win the Tri-Nations over the All Blacks and the Wallabies trailing way behind in the backgroud.
A humiliating 41-13 defeat by Argentina has left France’s players unable to explain how they could have fallen from Six Nations heros to touring zeros.
Kick at your peril. It’s a message the All Blacks have beamed out to the world in the opening two rugby tests of the season.
One would not be surprised if South Africa had been CC’d on the memo.
By TOBY ROBSON – The Dominion Post
All Blacks (15) 42 / Wales (9) 9 (Final Score)
The All Blacks hosted Wales in Hamilton at 09:35 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The game was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on DSTV in SA.
The All Blacks were slow out of the blocks in the 1st half and only led by 15 / 9 at halftime, but they turned on the pressure and the scores in the 2nd half to win comfortably in the last game at The House of Pain, before it is demolished to make place for a new stadium with a roof over it.
The All Blacks won by 42 / 9.
Times are changing in a once rugby-obsessed nation, writes Paul Rees.
All Blacks captain Richie McCaw says he has never had an easy game against Ireland and expects nothing to change when the two sides clash in New Plymouth on Saturday night.
There aren’t many people who have given Colin Meads a telling-off, but the newly minted Sir Fred Allen is one of them.
There has been a lot of debate on South Africa’s policy around the selection of foreign based players of late, but Peter de Villiers may just have it spot on. Continue reading
Impressive. Awesome. And just a little foreboding. Watching the Bulls pick apart the crumbling Crusaders with ruthless efficiency in the early hours of Sunday, it was hard not to feel humbled and slightly horrified.
Sometimes I sits and finks and Sometimes I just sits……ai ai ai ……..
Sharks coach John Plumtree appears to be ready to return home to New Zealand, after reports surfaced that he had applied to take over as Hurricanes coach next year. Continue reading
I am getting so sick and tired of rugby experts bitching about the laws of the game in the mainstream press. Continue reading
Only minor changes to the Wallaby team to take on Scotland on the weekend, whereas Graham Henry on the other hand made some major changes to his starting team against England. Continue reading
The All Blacks are using Italy to blood a few players with Bay of Plenty pivot Mike Delany being one of three new caps named in Graham Henry’s All Blacks side that will face Italy at the San Siro Stadium in Milan on Saturday. Continue reading