The Rugby Championships

[rowan]

Predictable it may be, but certainly were some great tries!

[J Dory]

ABs team announced:

Damian McKenzie, Israel Dagg, Anton Lienert-Brown, Sonny Bill Williams, Nehe Milner-Skudder, Beauden Barrett, TJ Perenara, Kieran Read, Ardie Savea, Vaea Fifita, Brodie Retallick, Luke Romano, Nepo Laulala, Dane Coles, Joe Moody

Reserves: Codie Taylor, Wyatt Crockett, Ofa Tu'ungafasi, Scott Barrett, Sam Cane, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Lima Sopoaga, Ngani Laumape

[morepork]

That will be a lethal backline if the midfield can hang onto the ball.

[rowan]

The skud's on the wing? Has he played many tests there?

[J Dory]

He's played on the other wing.

[morepork]

The skud's on the wing? Has he played many tests there?

World cup bro.

[rowan]

I think the Pumas are going to give New Zealand a fright. But they still won't quite get that elusive All Blacks scalp. It's coming, and it's probably not too far away now, but it will happen in Argentina itself, not in NZ - where still only 4 nations have ever emerged victorious against the home nation.

[J Dory]

So rotation, some newish guys get a shot, some returning guys get a shot, all makes sense. My biggest disappointment is that Sopoaga didn't get a start. Opportunity wasted IMO.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[zer0]

I too am disappointed that Sopoaga hasn't been given a start. But I guess Barrett's inconsistencies may have played a role in his retention.

[Lizard]

I'm flying down to New Plymouth tomorrow night to go to the game. Should be a good atmosphere at least.

I don't know the town at all - does anyone have any suggestions for pre/post match drinks etc?

[rowan]

It's rural New Zealand, man. Just try every street corner . . .

[rowan]

I think the Pumas are going to give New Zealand a fright. But they still won't quite get that elusive All Blacks scalp. It's coming, and it's probably not too far away now, but it will happen in Argentina itself, not in NZ - where still only 4 nations have ever emerged victorious against the home nation.

15-19 early 2nd half

[zer0]

Hames has been called in for Moody. Hopefully he does a Laulala and jumps in straight into the starting XV ahead of Tu'ungafasi.

[zer0]

Even better. Though I had also forgotten about Crockett. It appears that he'll be starting with Hames on the bench.

[Lizard]

So at Yarrow Stadium I ended up in the terraces between two boisterous groups of Argentinians. They were singing and carrying on for the whole match, which was great. At half time there was even a tiny bit of me that didn't want the inevitable comeback to occur just to see them explode completely.

[zer0]

Duffie has certainly improved drastically since his first Blues season. I would avidly support his inclusion.

[rowan]

It's one of the few positive features about the championship - South Africa v Australia has basically been a 50/50 since the end of the amateur era (Boks kicked ass before that). We all know the All Blacks will win it and the Pumas will get the spoon, but when the Wallabies meet the Saffas these days you just can't call it. & that unpredictability is a necessary ingredient for any championship to be successful.

Hopefully the Lizard will now come up with a list of successive draws between two nations, because personally I can't think of any off the top of my head...

[Doorzetbornandbred]

Brodie Retallick will miss the final test of the competition against South Africa due to quite possibly the worst circumstances - the premature death of his baby boy.

That is bloody awful news. Very sad.

[rowan]

Hopefully there will be an upset in the final round this weekend. Both games have that potential, I believe. Saffas at home in a dead rubber against the All Blacks, Pumas looking for a first win against the Wallabies - also with home advantage. I'll take either one of them, but both would be better . . .

[scuzzaman]

I dunno. Look at the table for the RC; it's the All Blacks and an enormous gap to second and third place, and another gap to fourth.

Martin Johnson can crack all he likes about teams that rank 1st for years on end but don't win world cups (to be fair to him he said that before 2011), but the rankings tables has the same pattern: New Zealand at the top and the biggest gap in the table is between first and second. Been that way for ... always.

But coming back to this year's RC, this New Zealand side is massively depleted from the 2015 RWC side. And it is still humiliating the rest of the southern hemisphere.

Basically, today, England are the only real hope for the global game. God knows I don't want to lose to those expletives, but let's at least hope they put up a good fight.

[rowan]

I retracted that well before the game after seeing their team and watching a bit of footage. Unfortunately wins are going to be fewer and farther between than ever for the Pumas so long as they continue to ignore their offshore players. But there's an outside chance they could catch Aussie on the hop. That's not a prediction; just a bit of wishful thinking. Ditto Boks v NZ.

[Lizard]

Hopefully there will be an upset in the final round this weekend. Both games have that potential, I believe. Saffas at home in a dead rubber against the All Blacks, Pumas looking for a first win against the Wallabies - also with home advantage. I'll take either one of them, but both would be better . . .

Pumas looking for a first win against the Wallabies? They’ve beaten them 5 times already.

Or did you mean a first win in this year’s tournament and it just happening to be v Aust?

[rowan]

Hopefully there will be an upset in the final round this weekend. Both games have that potential, I believe. Saffas at home in a dead rubber against the All Blacks, Pumas looking for a first win against the Wallabies - also with home advantage. I'll take either one of them, but both would be better . . .

Pumas looking for a first win against the Wallabies? They’ve beaten them 5 times already.

Or did you mean a first win in this year’s tournament and it just happening to be v Aust?

Yeh, first win in the tournament, obviously. But the Aussies have been surprisingly decent this year (surprising given the Super Rugby results), and I'm not about to go out and place a bet on the upset or anything. Meanwhile, I see a fired up Boks leading the All Blacks for at least part of the game but ultimately wilting in the final quarter for yet another loss which will nonetheless be lauded as a vast improvement on Albany.

[rowan]

Hopefully there will be an upset in the final round this weekend. Both games have that potential, I believe. Saffas at home in a dead rubber against the All Blacks, Pumas looking for a first win against the Wallabies - also with home advantage. I'll take either one of them, but both would be better . . .

Pumas looking for a first win against the Wallabies? They’ve beaten them 5 times already.

Or did you mean a first win in this year’s tournament and it just happening to be v Aust?

Yeh, first win in the tournament, obviously. But the Aussies have been surprisingly decent this year (surprising given the Super Rugby results), and I'm not about to go out and place a bet on the upset or anything. Meanwhile, I see a fired up Boks leading the All Blacks for at least part of the game but ultimately wilting in the final quarter for yet another loss which will nonetheless be lauded as a vast improvement on Albany.

Well . . . there's still a chance the Pumas will provide that elusive upset

[Lizard]

The UAR be petitioning World Rugby to reduce tests to 60 minutes.