• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

International rugby thread

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
Steve19;1518081; said:
On the other hand, South Africa has won with the boot, which suggests a tougher time in Australia and New Zealand.
Click to expand...

Agreed, Steve. It's been mostly penalty kicks thus far. I would love to see more try production from the Boks and Habana and JP worked into the offense. That said, both wings have played impressive defense and Habana's shown that he can affect a match without the ball in his hands. I also love the Du Preez-Steyn halfback combination.

Interesting article today in which an All Black is claiming that the Bledisloe Cup (the winner of the series between NZ and Australia) is more important than the Tri-Nations. I guess so, once you're out of the running for the 3N. That's like scUM claiming that beating scUM Lite is more important than The Game.

Finally, as much as I enjoyed watching the Bullls crush the rest of the Super 14, I'm hoping to see Habana in a Stormers jersey.
 
Upvote 0
RugbyBuck;1518191; said:
Interesting article today in which an All Black is claiming that the Bledisloe Cup (the winner of the series between NZ and Australia) is more important than the Tri-Nations. I guess so, once you're out of the running for the 3N.

That's like scUM claiming that beating scUM Lite is more important than The Game.
Click to expand...

That is the exact translation. We got our arses handed to us by the Springboks. Now that they appear to own us, they aren't really our rivals anymore. Australia is bigger.

Right, All Blacks, keep telling yourself that. It worked for TSUN so well....

article-1196289-05829678000005DC-904_468x352.jpg
 
Upvote 0
The world champion Springboks became the first team in the Tri -Nations to win away from home when they beat Australia 32-25 and extended their unbeaten streak to four games in the tournament. The Springboks dominated the Wallabies by scoring four tries on their way to an emphatic 32-25 win at Subiaco Oval on Saturday.

The scoreline flattered the hosts? who scored two late tries to earn a bonus points for losing within seven.

The win sees the Boks retain the Mandela Shield and extend their lead at the top of the Tri-Nations standings.

Scrumhalf Fourie du Preez, playing in his 50th Test for the Boks, scored the opening try and walked away with the Man of the Match Award. (link)

For the first 50 minutes, South Africa gave Australia a clinic. During the run-up to the game, Australian players and news media made numerous comments about South Africa's low try scoring in the tournament. Today, South Africa ran all over Australia, scoring four tries and earning a bonus point.

The similarity to Ohio State football was South Africa's tough defense. Another similarity is that they almost let Australia back into the game at the end.

There were a number of questionable calls the favored the home team, with the South African captain actually laughing about it in a conversation that could be heard by the television mikes during the second half. One of those calls allowed Australian to score at the final whistle, flattering Australia with a seven-point losing margin.

The potential for the Springboks to go undefeated appears to be a real possibility in this year's tournament.
 
Upvote 0
One win today, one more to go

ALeqM5hmG-RNrJA-Ym4gbuh25FGbNJUlOg




The World Champion and World #1 Sprinboks added the Tri-Nations Trophy to their cabinet by finishing a three game whitewash of #2 New Zealand in Hamilton, NZ.

If you want to see some really shocking calls, watch the last twenty minutes of the game. At one point, an All Black player catches a kick-off, controls the ball, and then stretches to touch the sideline a meter away and the ref calls it back. Just before the end of the game and the All Blacks last score, they call South Africa for a knock-on at the bottom of a ten man pile-up. It is clear that he has no line of sight. Often, the Springboks walked away from calls with questioning surprises on their faces.

The game is a fete of smashmouth rugby, people bleeding everywhere. Here is the beginning of a report (link)

The dominant Springboks held off a late All Blacks charge for a 32-29 victory here Saturday to secure the Tri-Nations rugby crown for the first time in five years.

Both sides scored two tries, but the pertinent scoring difference for the world champions was the phenomenal boot of Frans Steyn who landed three penalties from inside his own half, the longest from 60 metres.


The Springboks went into the crucial Test knowing just one bonus point from a close loss should have been enough to secure the title, but said they would accept nothing less than victory.


In the end the final score flattered the All Blacks who fought back from a 17-point deficit early in the second half and were only a fingertip away from pulling off a surprise win at the end.


"At the end my heart was in my throat as we always knew the All Blacks would never give up," said South Africa coach Peter de Villiers who delayed bringing his team to New Zealand until 48 hours before the match.


He said that was because there was little to do in Hamilton, but his opinion changed as his side completed a clean-sweep over the All Blacks.
"We did find something in Hamilton -- we have the Tri-Nations Cup."


Despite the close finish, All Blacks coach Graham Henry had no argument with the result which ended the All Blacks four-year reign in the southern hemisphere championship.


"They deserved to win. They played very structured rugby and played it very well," he said.


"We didn't play well enough for the first 60 minutes. We needed to play for longer periods of time with a lot more consistency.


The win not only gave the Springboks their third Tri-Nations title, but for the first time since 1970-1976 they have beaten the All Blacks in three successive Tests.


(Long article continues at link above)
 
Upvote 0
Argentina has been conditionally invited to join South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand to create a Four Nations Southern Hemisphere tournament beginning play in 2012. This is great for rugby and is the right thing to do by Argentina which has consistently punched well above its weight without many of the advantages of other "first-tier" teams. The Pumas placed 3rd in the last World Cup (ahead of NZ and Australia) and are currently ranked 6th in the world rankings.
 
Upvote 0
The autumn internationals are approaching. Here are the fixtures:

Saturday, 31 October 2009
New Zealand v Australia, 8:35
Saturday, 07 November 2009
England v Australia, 14:30
Wales v New Zealand, 17:15
Friday, 13 November 2009
France v South Africa, 19:45
Wales v Samoa, 19:30
Saturday, 14 November 2009
England v Argentina, 14:30
Italy v New Zealand, 14:00
Scotland v Fiji, 14:30
Sunday, 15 November 2009
Ireland v Australia, 15:00
Saturday, 21 November 2009
England v New Zealand, 14:30
France v Samoa, 17:00
Ireland v Fiji, 17:15
Italy v South Africa, 14:00
Scotland v Australia, 17:15
Wales v Argentina, 14:30
Saturday, 28 November 2009
France v New Zealand, 15:00
Ireland v South Africa, 14:30
Italy v Samoa, 14:00
Scotland v Argentina, 14:30
Wales v Australia, 17:15

England, decimated by injuries, will probably take a couple of pastings from Australia and New Zealand, and will do well to avoid defeat to Argentina.
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top