Rockinnreelininaucklandnewzealand - Rugby 2017

[ursus arctos]

Lions making a match of this after the Kiwis take their foot off the gas

25-17 with ten minutes to go

[ursus arctos]

And that's it

Eighth SuperRugby title for Crusaders

[ursus arctos]

As happens every year, I was surprised by the start of the Rugby Championship

All Blacks dominated Australia in Sydney, while the Boks won rather easily against the Pumas in Port Elizabeth.

Even more shocking is Agen's kit this season (Pro D2, the second level in France, also started yesterday).

[Antepli Ejderha]

Didn't see either game but heard that NZ scored 40 points in the first half.

[Janik]

Intense first half in the Women's World Cup final ends with England 17-10 up, with the difference mostly being goalkicking.

I didn't know the rule had changed on penalty tries to be an automatic seven with no conversion. Makes sense, I guess.

[Janik]

Two second half tries put New Zealand ahead (they actually trailed 17-5 after 35 minutes), but England strike straight back and now lead 25-24. Great game so far.

[Janik]

And straight from kick off another seven for New Zealand. Which makes it a hat trick of tries for their prop.

[Janik]

Yet another New Zealand score. They have taken it up two levels in this second half. They seem to have spent around 50% of it camped on the England line, each attack finally ending wth a score.

[Janik]

Repeat. Up to 41-25 before the conversion. A heat map of this half would be fascinating. The England 22 would be glowing hot.

[Janik]

One back for England. But too late, as they are 11 points down with four minutes left. The try count is into double figures.

[Janik]

Finishes 41-32 for NZ. Their forward power was the decisive factor.

[Antepli Ejderha]

The England game is now unemployed unless they have made the sevens squad.

[Janik]

Putting them back on a par with all the other nations, who have managed to avoid the bad press of not renewing full-time contracts for 15s by never giving more than a handful of them out in the first place. However being the only fully-pro team in the competition does make getting apparently over-powered and out-fitnessed by a semi-pro side (which is what NZ are) not a great look.

[Antepli Ejderha]

Didn't know that Janik.

[Janik]

The entire thing is probably being written up by various people as a lesson in message management. Don't allow what you are doing to be overstated, even if what you are doing is somewhat progressive and ahead of the curve. Because if it does get spun as something more than it is, in the long run that mismatch will become apparent and you'll end up being castigated for it.

There is a new 15-a-side club competition being launched, which will be semi-pro and so should provide some sort of longer-term employment options for those whose contracts have run out. However Lichfield, who had 5 players in the England squad, are not part of it. Disruption to players lives is a certainty.

[Antepli Ejderha]

Australia were very unlucky against New Zealand today but a defeat is still a defeat. Argentina lose again, this time at home to South Africa.

[ursus arctos]

The All Blacks' winning try is a thing of beauty.

All in all, a very entertaining match, even if that was created by them gifting the Wallabies an early 17-0 lead.

[Antepli Ejderha]

Interesting ish article about Liam Williams in which he reveals he's got a stammer and that's why he doesn't do TV interviews.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/r...wsApp_AppShare

[Antepli Ejderha]

New Zealand begin to suffer from player exodus to the wealthy north

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/bl...y_to_clipboard

Good article this.

[Ray de Galles]

I've only just realised there is a complete programme of Welsh rugby fixtures on Saturday afternoon prior to Wales v Austria. I may try and see Dragons (sic) v Leinster in the Pro14 or Cardiff v Merthyr in the Premiership.

[Ray de Galles]

New laws coming in with this weekend's start to the domestic season :


"The season kicks off on Friday with six new law amendments for players, coaches and referees to get their heads around – three at the scrum, three at the ruck/tackle area. First, the scrum where the changes include a compulsory strike for the ball, allowing the No8 to reach in and pick up the ball and a tweak to the put-in; all effectively done to speed things up by reducing the number of penalties and reset scrums.

The three other amendments are that a ruck can be formed by a single player, that a defender cannot kick a ball forwards out of a breakdown and that a defender can only play the ball from their side of the tackle. Again, three changes to encourage quickly recycled ball for the attacking side."

[Kevin S]

The Premiership highlights are now on Channel 5, not ITV4 - Sundays at 8:00pm. They will also have five live matches this season.

[Ray de Galles]

Bloody hell, Dan Biggar signs for Northampton for 2018/19!

I've not reported back on the Dragons v Leinster match as I figured nobody would want to intrude on private grief. A long way to go for the brave new world at Rodney Parade.

[Antepli Ejderha]

Bloody hell, Dan Biggar signs for Northampton for 2018/19!

I've not reported back on the Dragons v Leinster match as I figured nobody would want to intrude on private grief. A long way to go for the brave new world at Rodney Parade.

Not a great surprise as this rumour has been doing the roads since about Easter. The bigger news is that Rhys Webb could also be off at the end of the season as his central contract also expires.

[Antepli Ejderha]

Sam Warburton out with neck injury until the New Year at least. Who'll be at 6 in the autumn internationals?

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/r...wsApp_AppShare