Fixtures Round 1 South Africa 43 - 12 Australia - Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
Referee: Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)
Argentina 10 - 41 New Zealand - Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza
Referee: Angus Gardiner (Australia)
Round 2 New Zealand 35 - 20 South Africa - Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Australia 31 - 34 Argentina - CommBank Stadium, Sydney
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Round 3
Australia 7 - 38 New Zealand - Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
South Africa 22 - 21 Argentina - Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Re: The Champions of the Rugby, of 2023 at least.
Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2023 2:27 am
by cashead
Argentina
The big beef boys with the anthem that has the really, really long intro. Best known for their scrummaging, the Argies have been upping their game in their backline play and are starting to show some parity with the other teams in the Rugby Champs since being integrated in 2012. They achieved a breakthrough win in 2015, beating the Springboks for the first time, and beat the All Blacks in 2020.
Cheika has brought a controlled aggression to the squad that makes quite dangerous, especially around the rucks.
Props
Eduardo Bello (Saracens)
Ignacio Calles (Pau)
Thomas Gallo (Benetton)
Francisco Gómez Kodela (Lyon)
Santiago Medrano (Western Force)
Joel Scalvi (La Rochelle)
Lucio Sordoni (Glasgow Warriors)
Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro (Benetton)
Mayco Vivas (Gloucester)
Loose Forwards
Rodrigo Bruni (Brive)
Facundo Isa (Toulon)
Juan Martin González (London Irish)
Santiago Grondona (Exeter Chiefs)
Pablo Matera (Mie Honda Heat)
Joaquin Oviedo (Perpignan)
Pedro Rubiolo (Newcastle Falcons)
Midfielders
Santiago Chocobares (Toulouse)
Lucio Cinti (London Irish)
Jeronimo de la Fuente (Perpignan)
Luciano González (Argentina Sevens)
Matias Moroni (Newcastle Falcons)
Matias Orlando (Newcastle Falcons)
Back Three Quarters
Emiliano Boffelli (Edinburgh)
Martin Bogado (Bayonne)
Sebastián Cancelliere (Glasgow Warriors)
Mateo Carreras (Newcastle Falcons)
Santiago Cordero (Bordeaux)
Juan Cruz Mallia (Toulouse)
Bautista Delguy (Clermont)
Juan Imhoff (Racing 92)
Rodrigo Isgro (Argentina Sevens)
Re: The Champions of the Rugby, of 2023 at least.
Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2023 2:38 am
by cashead
Australia
With a brand new coach, the Wallabies of 2023 are largely an unknown quantity as of yet. However, knowing Eddie Jones' coaching philosophy, and his emphasis on the quality of that nation, we can expect intelligent play, slick back play and a very handy set of loose forwards built around a strong set-piece, namely the line-outs.
Coach: Eddie Jones Captains: Michael Hooper and James Slipper
Squad Hookers
Matt Faessler (Reds)
Dave Porecki (Waratahs)
Jordan Uelese (Rebels)
Props
Allan Ala'alatoa (Brumbies)
Matt Gibbon (Rebels)
Zane Nonggorr (Reds)
Taniela Tupou (Reds)
James Slipper (Captain, Brumbies)
Locks
Richie Arnold (Toulouse)
Nick Frost (Brumbies)
Jed Holloway (Waratahs)
Tom Hooper (Brumbies)
Will Skelton (La Rochelle)
Loose Forwards
Michael Hooper (Captain, Waratahs)
Josh Kemeny (Rebels)
Rob Leota (Rebels)
Fraser McReight (Reds)
Pete Samu (Brumbies)
Rob Valetini (Brumbies)
Halfbacks
Ryan Lonergan (Brumbies)
Tate McDermott (Reds)
Nic White (Brumbies)
Five-Eighths
Quade Cooper (Hanazono Kintetsu Liners)
Ben Donaldson (Waratahs)
Carter Gordon (Rebels)
Midfielders
Lalakai Foketi (Waratahs)
Len Ikitau (Brumbies)
Izaia Perese (Waratahs)
Back Three Quarters
Reece Hodge (Rebels)
Marika Koroibete (Saitama Wild Knights)
Mark Nawaqanitawase (Waratahs)
Dylan Pietsch (Waratahs)
Suliasi Vunivalu (Reds)
Tom Wright (Brumbies)
Re: The Champions of the Rugby, of 2023 at least.
Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2023 2:51 am
by cashead
New Zealand
The perennial champions, the team has fallen into some hard times as they struggle to live up to their own legacy and the standard the public expects of them. Under Schmidt's guidance, the team focuses on breaking down and nullifying the opposition team's strengths, meeting them at their own game and marrying it to a non-stop off-load based game. The biggest issue though, is their struggles to maintain consistency. Unplayable one week, and idiotically bad the next and saddled with a coach and captain duo that hasn't really captured the hearts of the public, the All Blacks have become the new France.
Back Three Quarters
Caleb Clarke (Blues/Auckland)
Leicester Fainga'anuku (Crusaders/Tasman)
Will Jordan (Crusaders/Tasman)
Emoni Narawa (Chiefs/Bay of Plenty)
Shaun Stevenson (Chiefs/North Harbour)
Mark Telea (Blues/North Harbour)
Re: The Champions of the Rugby, of 2023 at least.
Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2023 3:02 am
by cashead
South Africa
Probably the most predictable of the teams, the way the Boks go about things is like a train rushing towards you. You know exactly what it's fixing to do, and there's not a lot you can do about it. Lots of kicks, lots of mauling, lots of big, beef boys shouting in Afrikaans about this and that, with stupidly fast wingers.
Props
Thomas du Toit (Sharks)
Steven Kitshoff (Stormers)
Vincent Koch (Stade Français)
Frans Malherbe (Stormers)
Ox Nché (Sharks)
Trevor Nyakane (Racing 92)
Locks
Lood de Jager (Saitama Wild Knights)
Eben Etzebeth (Sharks)
Franco Mostert (Mie Honda Heat)
Marvin Orie (Stormers)
Loose Forwards
Jean-Luc du Preez (Sale Sharks)
Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz)
Siya Kolisi (Captain, Sharks)
Evan Roos (Stormers)
Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs)
Marco van Staden (Bulls)
Duane Vermeulen (Ulster)
Jasper Wiese (Leicester Tigers)
Halfbacks
Faf de Klerk (Yokohama Canon Eagles)
Jaden Hendrikse (Sharks)
Herschel Jantjies (Stormers)
Cobus Reinach (Montpellier)
Grant Williams (Sharks)
dmac pretty impressive in the 10 jersey, running hard at the line and distributing in the hit, not something barrett or mounga do
Re: The Champions of the Rugby, of 2023 at least.
Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2023 12:25 am
by morepork
I missed it and am looking for a replay. I like the sound of that type of distribution. Was J Barrett onto that shit?
p.s. Warriors won too. I know how many fans there are on here...
Re: The Champions of the Rugby, of 2023 at least.
Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2023 12:41 am
by Puja
morepork wrote: ↑Sat Jul 08, 2023 11:35 pm
Yeah, nice return for Eddie Jones.
I'm torn. On the one hand, a strong Australia is good for the global game and I don't want them to disappear as a force, which is entirely possible if they fuck up this next 5 year period. On the other, Eddie Jones's smugness and self-satisfaction being hammered solidly into the ground would be rather satisfying.
Puja
Re: The Champions of the Rugby, of 2023 at least.
Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2023 2:09 am
by J Dory
morepork wrote: ↑Sun Jul 09, 2023 12:25 am
I missed it and am looking for a replay. I like the sound of that type of distribution. Was J Barrett onto that shit?
p.s. Warriors won too. I know how many fans there are on here...
Go warriors, only saw the highlights but .... Bam! Early days for the abs, lots of good stuff, Jordie voted man of the match by the argintine press.
Re: The Champions of the Rugby, of 2023 at least.
Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2023 10:57 am
by paddy no 11
Sam cane up for dickhead of the year again
Re: The Champions of the Rugby, of 2023 at least.
Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2023 1:56 pm
by monkey
paddy no 11 wrote: ↑Sun Jul 09, 2023 10:57 am
Sam cane up for dickhead of the year again
yup. wtf was he thinking?
Re: The Champions of the Rugby, of 2023 at least.
Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2023 3:12 pm
by Banquo
paddy no 11 wrote: ↑Sun Jul 09, 2023 10:57 am
Sam cane up for dickhead of the year again
what did he do? I fast forwarded after NZ were 31-0 up.
morepork wrote: ↑Sun Jul 09, 2023 12:25 am
I missed it and am looking for a replay. I like the sound of that type of distribution. Was J Barrett onto that shit?
p.s. Warriors won too. I know how many fans there are on here...
Go warriors, only saw the highlights but .... Bam! Early days for the abs, lots of good stuff, Jordie voted man of the match by the argintine press.
Yep, Barrett and Ioane seem to be turning into a decent pairing, and mixing Mackenzie and Barrett B seems a better bet than Mo'n'Beau
paddy no 11 wrote: ↑Sun Jul 09, 2023 10:57 am
Sam cane up for dickhead of the year again
what did he do? I fast forwarded after NZ were 31-0 up.
He kicked his foot out tripped up a spectator than ran onto the pitch at the end of the game. A metaphor for the stupid penalties he gives away at the wrong time. Cynical and fucking stupid. He probably like torturing puppies.
Re: The Champions of the Rugby, of 2023 at least.
Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2023 8:25 am
by cashead
Meh, don't go running onto the pitch like a fucking dickhead, then. Don't mess with the bull, you get the horns.
Re: The Champions of the Rugby, of 2023 at least.
Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2023 4:15 pm
by morepork
Thank God Sam's Cane is here to protect us from Invaders.
Re: The Champions of the Rugby, of 2023 at least.
Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2023 5:57 pm
by Mikey Brown
I can’t tell if you’re being serious. Are people actually taking issue with Cane tripping up a person who’d run on to the pitch to disrupt* the game?
Re: The Champions of the Rugby, of 2023 at least.
Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2023 7:33 pm
by J Dory
Game was over I believe, however the guy was being chased by security, but yeah, storm in a teacup if you ask me.
Re: The Champions of the Rugby, of 2023 at least.
Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2023 7:50 pm
by Which Tyler
Mikey Brown wrote: ↑Mon Jul 10, 2023 5:57 pm
I can’t tell if you’re being serious. Are people actually taking issue with Cane tripping up a person who’d run on to the pitch to disrupt* the game?
More that he did such a bad job of it, and made himself look a tit in the process.
Re: The Champions of the Rugby, of 2023 at least.
Posted: Tue Jul 11, 2023 8:30 am
by cashead
morepork wrote: ↑Mon Jul 10, 2023 4:15 pm
Thank God Sam's Cane is here to protect us from Invaders.
I'm not saying it could've been another Inejiro Asanuma or Monica Seles moment, but you've got some rando running around on the pitch:
Who is he? Who knows.
Where'd he come from? Could be anywhere.
Is he stashing something in his pockets? Maybe.
What's he fixing to do? Beats the hell out of me.
Maybe don't go rushing around on the field like a dipshit?
morepork wrote: ↑Mon Jul 10, 2023 4:15 pm
Thank God Sam's Cane is here to protect us from Invaders.
I'm not saying it could've been another Inejiro Asanuma or Monica Seles moment, but you've got some rando running around on the pitch:
Who is he? Who knows.
Where'd he come from? Could be anywhere.
Is he stashing something in his pockets? Maybe.
What's he fixing to do? Beats the hell out of me.
Maybe don't go rushing around on the field like a dipshit?
I would agree with you that it is very much a play-stupid-games-win-stupid-prizes moment for the pitch invader and I've got very little sympathy for any hurt that the dipshit may have sustained, but it is a touch sociopathic for Cane's first instinct to be swinging a boot hard through the shins of the person running by. Didn't exactly stop the guy either, just seemed to be lashing out to hurt him.
I won't judge him on a one-off reaction in the moment, but it was a bit of a nasty action to opt for.
morepork wrote: ↑Sun Jul 09, 2023 12:25 am
I missed it and am looking for a replay. I like the sound of that type of distribution. Was J Barrett onto that shit?
p.s. Warriors won too. I know how many fans there are on here...
Go warriors, only saw the highlights but .... Bam! Early days for the abs, lots of good stuff, Jordie voted man of the match by the argintine press.
