Springboks come good against the Wallabies at Loftus

Gotta love being the Resident Troll....

Good show by the boks in all honesty...least they made up for their terrible performances of late....

and 5th?

AHHHHHH BOOO....(I guess with the deletions I'll have to stick with just first....) (and second..)

Great kick

The SH talk like they are so much better than everyone else but in reality its new zealand who are streets ahead of everyone and australia/south africa cling on to their glory.

Anyone see the match? I know a lot of folks that saw it that would disagree with the description here, hearing that defense was atrociously bad on both sides.

Australia and South Africa are still head and shoulders above anything from the NH.

Off topic; did anyone see how terribly boring Munster have been in pre-season? Shite team, shite prospects. haha

@ElTigre

One, Two and Three in the world. We dont just talk like we're better then the NH teams, we ARE better than the NH teams.

@eltigre mate go to the IRB website and check the world rankings concentrate on the numbers 1,2 and 3 you will notice that those 3 teams are all geographically located in the southern Hemisphere. i.e New Zealand SA and Australia. its not talk mate that is called a fact. youre the only one talking rubbish.

curry cup highlights please

I'll take the first half, as the second was shit.
Mate, what an odd game, Quade was nowhere near his best (his mind was somewhere in Parramatta maybe?), and once SA had read the Aussie game, knock ons were followed by more knock ons and Matfield (congrats by the way) stole as much line out ball as he wanted.

Still, Wallabies are working great towards NZ 2011. Never write them off!

they are the top three teams, and NZ are playing awesome, but not "head and shoulders above the rest" take last nov int;
SA got beat by ireland and france
Aus drew against ireland and lost to the scots.
And NZ got beat at home by France last year.

Can I just say as an Ireland fan, massive O'driscol supporter and through and through northern H. rugby fan and player....
there is no doubt the southern H. lead when it comes to rugby, it is a massive win for us if we beat any of the SH teams, it does happen, but it has to be a massive game for us, whereas when a SH team beat us, it's a good day at the office for them, think little else of it kinda mentallity, that's just how rugby is at the momment, and yes there is very good rugby in the NH and very good players but just not the depth and spread and va va voom they have in the south........what a first 15 mins in that match....if that isnt an advertisement for rugby i don't know what is!

@mat

Silly way of looking at it mate, in the last tests of 2009 not only did New Zealand beat France they beat them with running rugby. They did it rather easily too.

Yes the All Blacks can be beaten, South Africa very nearly did it last week, but besides that performance where South Africa played with renewed passion, no other team has looked remotely close to beating the AB's. That being said, a lot can happen in a year.

Hard luck Wallabies, good luck next game. You will need it

Wow , look at the kick . And he only took 2 steps .

-B

The Wallabies really need to tighten up their ability to finish. How many times have the gotten a lead just to get it wrestled from them?

While we're waiting for RD's highlights, here's a short one from nzherald:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/video.cfm?c_id=4&gal_cid=4&gallery_id=113544

IRB rankings mean nothing
England just beat australia and even scotland did last year.
If south africa played the better NH teams now, they would lose.
You guys will cling onto new zealand until they choke at the world cup then move on.

hahaha Eltigre
what the hell are you on about man???
you say that SA would lose to the strong NH teams.
Well if i remember correctly the boks played the undefeated six nations champions france, in june.
the boks won by over 30 points
you douche....

That was a completely different french team to the one that won the grand slam

ElTigre
The england and scotland 'victories' were hardly convincing. lol. When the top 3 SH teams get beaten regularly then people will take you seriously.

ElTigre, what a bitter joker you are. australia/south africa cling on to their glory. That's because they can comepete and actually BEAT them, no other reason. When was the last time Ireland, Wales, Scotland, or even England beat them..? I can't remember it.

That was a completely different french team to the one that won the grand slam You say that as defence, and yet you'll no doubt be the first one to bring up the SA losses in Nov last year..

Of course NZ are awesome right now, nobody disputes that, but the fact of the matter is that world rankings are there for a reason, and no NH team has challenged the top 3 consistently for a long time now.

How can you say they mean nothing?? They're based on performances ie: you win, you get points, you loose, you dont. I'm not sure how you can question it. Who should be your top 3 then? :)

(PS: this isnt the NH/SH debate, this is a SH/ElTigre argument. Much respect to everyone else)

some lousy defending from both teams...but nevertheless one very entertaining match

Wow...crazy match.

Alain Rolland (and all referees and touchies), please learn to distinguish what a "knock-on" actually is.

Anyone see Quade Cooper getting kicked in the head a couple of times (the first was when the wallabies judo flip tackled de Villiers (?) and then later when Rossouw tried to hurdle Cooper and kicked him in the noggin). When it's not your night, it's not your night...

Also, did van der Linde get his face stepped on right at the end of the match?

And I don't know where these claims of poor defending are coming from...I mean, yes, the tries came from exploiting some weaknesses in defense (especially all the tries upfront, I was wondering if the teams were going to get their shit together at all), but the rest of the match (ie - when tries weren't being scored), the defenses held pretty solid until someone made a mistake ("knock-on", overthrown ball into touch, penalty, etc).

Also, ElTigre, you're a cunt.

And I say that as someone who spends every EOYT or summer tour hoping that the NH will come out on top (hardly ever happens, but a man can dream).

But you're still a cunt. Your comment had no place in this thread and has no derailed it from a discussion about this game into something that has nothing to do with anything, ever but retarded arguments between cunts like yourself.

I haven't seen the full game yet, but from the downloads it seemed the defense wasn't really world-class...

But still looked like a cracker of an open match, though!
Seems the Wallabies have a problem with protecting the lead and closing the game out?

All of the Aussie tries were superb. Great to see that their 4th try was off a quick tap pen.
@ElTigre, the NH teams (although perhaps France) do not even attempt to play at this pace and can't live with them as a result. Simple.

I second Slippery Pete's comments regarding El Tigre. haha

Habana had a mare... Francois Hougaard for president.
Only 3 points in the second half for Aus. Welcome to the highveld lads - feel the burn.

Nobody cares about the 2nd, and third place teams playing each other. Until someone beats NZ, stop hyping them up. Like Ricky Bobby says "If your not first your last"

south africa are very average

^ Keep telling yourself that buddy :)

@ Hendrick, so if it's not NZ playing, no other match in world rugby matters? Interesting thinking there.

HAVE TO SAY,SPIES IS THE MOST OVERATED PLAYER IN WORLD RUGBY, HE IS SOME ATHLETE ON PAPER BUT FAILS T BRING IT ONTO THE PITCH TIME AFTER TIME

^

agree with the above, he is a little cutie do

"nobody cares about your comments"
Stop replying to them then, genius

Eltigre, seriously shut up dude.. the rankings don't lie, look at the win loss ratios for, i dunno, the past 10 years. I'm northern myself.

I missed the game but it looks like it would of been fun to watch for the neutral, high scoring match.

Wonderful match and great rugby played by both teams, of course SH is light years away from NH, but don't be too arrogant, I remind you that SH teams are on peaking fit now, but let's meet again in NZ in 2011 and you'll see that France or Wales can teach you all very good rugby...

just off the subject...did anyone see mary byrne on x factor last night. f**k me boys she was the dogs bo**icks, on her home shhtomping ground and all

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hoDWyWsxFc

View Video

Franois Steyn was shithouse! The try was soft and he was average all night. Bit rough for Aplon to have been given the boot. Wicked game to watch though....

Just to back up what Benson said. Last time the Wallabies beat the All Blacks was in 2008 I think. South Africa beat them three times in 2009.

Then you have England who last beat them... twice 7 YEARS AGO in 2003. Wales I think is half a century ago, and Ireland and Scotland have never done it.

So yes right now All Blacks are number one, but its not like Australia/South Africa are useless. As you've seen recently, two tries in the last two minutes over the Boks and 20-10 over Australia before that. They aren't dominant performances

incredible! thats one of the best offensive rugby games ive seen, that feed from the aussie 9 to the aussie 14 just at the tryline was nasty, makes me wanna get back on the feild

Spies is ridiculously overrated. Awesome in the gym but poor on the pitch.
Great game to watch though.

amazing game

As someone who doesn't particularly like Spies (would rather see Kankowski put in to start a few matches), I think he's too often a bandwagon target, so to speak. It's not like he had a "bad match" by any accounts. In fact, I don't recall him ever having much of a "bad match" - it's just that when he doesn't have an extraordinary game, people jump at the chance to dismiss him (maybe it has to do with hype created around him? I don't know, nor do I care). He's usually in the right place at the right time, which is a huge portion of the game. And while he usually has a good work ethic around the pitch, I just wish PdV would be a bit more stringent and sub him out if/when he starts slacking off.

Who exactly is "overrating" Spies? I think "overrated" gets thrown around and misused way too often by children trying to get a rise out of others.

Great spectacle. Well done Boks, unlucky Aussies but that was a great advertisement for rugby.

Regarding the usual NH/SH nonsense debate, the gap isn't quite what is was before, but I'd still put the SH ahead of the NH every time. Ireland have beaten the Boks 3 times in a row, and played very poorly against Aus in Aus (who to be fair were no great shakes that day either) and lost by 6 or 7.

England (who have been appalling in the 6 Nations for a few years) beat the same Aus team that just played some great games against the Boks and the Kiwis.

And France (and to a lesser extent, Wales) can beat anyone on their day.

All in all, I think it adds to the game that there are such regional variations in the game and that different teams have different strengths.

But a word of warning for the SH folks - I (very slightly) bow down to the superiority of your hemisphere (here come Argentian too, by the way) but remember, nothing lasts forever :)

1 -- Juan Smith has to be the best blindside in world rugby. I'm not a Saffa, but just love the physicality and skill he brings every match.

2 -- Hougaard is the real thing. This Tri Nations has started to unearth some really quality young fellas, I have to think we're gonna be hearing about guys like Dagg and Hougaard for a long time to come.

3 -- Spies is not a bad player at all, and he is often unfairly a target, but against quality SH opposition I don't think he's a dominant player. To me, the form flankers of the 3N are Juan Smith, Pocock, McCaw, and Kieran Read.

Spies is a very good player - he wouldn't be in the Boks team otherwise. I think why he is targeted is because he is trumpeted by a few teens as 'the best in the world' because he is amazingly powerful and fast.

Of course, we know that there is a lot more to the game than that, and that as all-round players, Read, Heaslip, Parisse (possibly), and Harinorquy are better at 8 - possibly a couple more too. That still makes him a top player though. This 'Spies is crap' stuff is just an over-reaction to the 'Spies if the best' nonsense.

The Aussies have thrown another one away.
They just can't seem to defend a lead these days.
In regard to ElTigre, the SH teams, including Australia nd South Africa win the majority of their games against European opposition.
The winning percentage is around 75-80% for the SH teams over six nations opposition.
When the NH teams win you lot remember it for years, when Aus, SA and NZ beat NH teams, it's just business as usual.
But thanks for starting this stupid debate again, any one with any sense knows the state of play when it coems to rugby.
The NH is behind the SH, if only marignally.

Jono, you are dead right. What's going on with this place - intelligent contributions?? What happened to the old RD?

Re. the Aussies - I thought they put in a great performance and were unlucky to lose, but the pressure the Boks can bring to bear at home is massive. As I said before, that was a great game to watch - a great advert for rugby.

...Well - maybe not about the 'remember it for years' bit, but not far off it. Although when Ireland finally beat the Kiwis, I'll remember it forever...

@ Mike:

"Spies is a very good player - he wouldn't be in the Boks team otherwise". Well, it isn't like it would be the first time someone is there without deserving it (as many people say about luke watson, though I rate him highly). The problem isn't that Spies is a bad player, he most certainly is not. The problem is that SA seems to have many contenders for the spot, and people want to see more of the others, like Duane Vermuelen, Ryan Kankosfsky and some also claim Schalk Burger should move to n8 as soon as brussow comes back, too.
Similarly, I am a strong believer that England's Nick Easter should not be the national n8, and should be replaced by James Haskell


I do agree with you when you say Read, Heaslip, Harinordoquy and Parisse (he probably would be better rated by people if he played for a stronger country) are the top n8s in the world, arguably with Henry Tuilagui alongside them.


About Australia, they have loads of talent. Pokock, O'Connor, Genia, Cooper, Beale... And a very young team. They just seem to be let down by their psicological component

Cheers, RD

Sorry, in the last comment I meant to say Dewalt Potgieter

I don't wanna seem like a d-ck, but I'll play devil's advocate for El Tigre, who's quite popular right now.

NZ are no 1 in the world right now, with 8 ranking points clear of no 2 SAF. After SAF, AUS are 1 point behind them and FRA & IRE are only 3 points behind AUS.

So there are only 4 points separating teams ranked 2 to 5. But 8 points separating the top team to the second team.

So he does kinda have a point.

But I don't know about this whole 'cling to glory' thing. SAF and AUS both have been successful over the last 15 years.

What would be cool is if the winning team from the Super 14 plays the winning team from the Heineken Cup/French competition. Like a rugby Champions League. Then we can see the difference between NH vs SH styles of play.

Wallabies choked, However the Bokke team was starting to look a bit more dangerous, much more fierce looking line up with JDV in the middle and Steyn (though he had a mixed game) at the back.

I reckon the Bokke Halfback is awesome too, definitely will lock down the 9 jersey after they get rid of the old goat.

RIP Cock_2007

Great running game of rugby, but the commentary was excruciating! "And Matfield, takes up the mantle of security, for the kick-off". WTF?!

El Tigre is an idiot.
Obviously Australia and South africa are better overall than the European teams.
They win the vast majority of their games against European opposition, hence they have collected more points on the world rankings, hence they are ranked number 2 and 3 in the world, above the other European teams.
Obviously NZ is better than Aus and SA atm, just as they are better than everyone, just as it has been for much of the history of rugby union.
France and England both have the resources and playing numbers to challenge this state of affairs, but except for one period at the start of this decade, about 2001-2003, they have simply failed to do so with any consistency.
The rest of the 6 nations countries are only capable of the odd upset win over the big three.

Nobody cares, Tommy. None of that has to do with the SA-OZ game over the weekend. Obviously, anyone who isn't an idiot recognizes what you said to be true; if no one responded to ElTigre, there'd be no problem. Just leave it.

@ Aaron R

I agree, however you need to look at what the Boks did right all of last year and in the last test against the AB.

They piled up the pressure on the AB, not allowing them much room to play the ball wide and keeping their defensive lines tight. The forwards got back to drive over and steal ball possesion, thus keeping the AB on the back foot and preventing forward momentum which the AB thrive on.

The result? The AB start getting frustrated and infringe more and if this is applied consistently then they will lose. I see that the AB still have not been able to counter this, expect with MCcaw and his dubious infringements that go unpunished most of the time.

He is a very sneaky yet brilliant player, as he never moves his foot from behind the base of the maul thus giving the impression that he is on side, and allowed to play the ball.

@ El TIGRE

See my Avatar for reference on your comments.

Sore loser, what a knob.

Respect to the other NH fans who can actually think and debate like grown-ups.

But then again what would you expect from a guy whose username is based in a really crappy kiddies show.

rugbydump can you post up Butch James's hit on Adam Ashley-Cooper please? would be appreciated

Wow,I've always rated Hougaard and man he looked awesome, the step on Genia to step up the second try was out of this world. Always rated his WP teammate Adams as well. Both are much better than wasisname 10 turned 9.

Steyn's risky offload to create the (other) steyn try was a brilliant calculated risk as well.

Loved Genia taking the quick penalty to create Mumm's try as well, not enough play like this in world and professional rugby.

Did not see the game, but O'connor certainly seemed to live off the work of some (Kurtly Beals, you should have been a test player for some time now, ridicoulous speed) and the errors of others (poor Habana).

Good to see De Villiers back at 12, where he is one of the best in the world. Another WTF selection by PDV having him on the wing.

On the boring ongoing debate about NH vs SH rugby, as a neutral I'd have to agree that SH is clearly a step ahead. The question is why? Does not appear to be more money, perhaps its the quality of the athlete, for lack of a better term new world athlete vs old world? Less outdated systems leading to more progression (S14 vs antiquated club system) or simply a willingness to play an expansive game, thus leading to more opportunities? that being said, I still like the intensity of HC and 6 nation rugby.

Great match! Awesome running rugby displayed. Australia show they have the beginning's of a deadly back line and South africa also showed the quality of their attacking play. Both teams are'nt far off New Zealand. New Zealand's advantage is their confidence at attacking rugby, once other teams develop this. The edge the All blacks have on most teams won't be as easily exposed.

@DESPONDENT

Very good observation there. However this year when ever South Africa kicked it against the All Blacks they were severely punished. It seems as though the new law interpretations, along with some clever coaching, have allowed the game to flow a lot more. South Africas forward pack were run off their feet this year.

Richie has been playing fantastic. Though hes only as good as the pack around him, and every single one of them compliments each other perfectly. As great as Richie is, hes nothing without the others.

Cant wait for the NH Hemisphere tour, great way to gauge the opposition. Hopefully we get to see some entertaining rugby

Reeling 'em in ;)
We'll play again soon guys.

when talent and hard work made love u get francois hougaard.his step, pace and tackling technique coupled with his past exp playing scrumhalf makes him such a complete player.please upload video of hougaard's try saving tackle!

Francois Hougaard had a great game and is a great athlete. However you should remember that Fourie Du Preez is injured and that he is the best Scrumhalf for SA at the moment with his kicking game. He is also coaching Hougaard while he is absent with injury. Hougaard is the Scrumhalf of the future when Du Preez retires. I would love to see Hougaard on wing in Habana's place as Habana has not been on form since 2007. Hougaard played great on wing for the bulls and im sure he will be great for the boks with he's pace, step and defence. only something to think about

Hey anonymous - I think Habana "not being in form since 2007" has a lot to do with the lack of service he gets from the current SA set-up.

Overall I prefered watching Australia's backs try to move the ball around as it made for a very exciting games...If their pack sorts itself out than I can still see them possibly winning the world-cup. I wonder if Quade Cooper has one eye on a return to RL with this performance not being to his usual standard?

South Africa has not been in great form this year but if you know how history repeats itself, the boks play best under pressure. Lets take a look on a few things:

PDV has mix & match guys alot during tri nations this year due to guys been out on injury Fourie & Brussouw are a few examples. Hougaard is the man in for Fourie & Juan for Brussouw. 1st games of the tri nation Ricky was playing on 9 & tbh i dont like him he cant box kick for shit & does not have the ability to get the backline going, not to mention he is fat & slow. We had to experiment with various flankers as we have many good flankers to play with but Juan i think, along with Schalk is the better option. On 8 we have Spies & Kankowski who both play different games. Spies need to crashball with support from his pack & fall into attacking line with the backs due to his power running, speed & extra man in line for overlap. Kankowski plays intelligent rugby who dictates his own game enough said.

2nd point to take in consideration is the fact that SA has struggled to take the new laws & make it work for them. NZ on the other hand has made full use of it & therefore are tri nation champs & well deserved. Going as far to say they will win the WC next year is far fetched & reason for that is NZ might be peaking to early.

SA will bounce back there is no doubt in my mind, alot forget that in 09 we were a dominating force & will always be also (and this comment is purely my own opinion) if SA had the same coach year in & out & less politics things will be different, this is why i am a die hard bok supporter. We prevail under harsh circumstances & can still be top 3 in the world even though outside influences batter us on a daily basis.

Lastly Heineke Meyer for coach pls so we can take over the world ;-) (coming from a sharks supporter)

Well done NZ you deserve your tri nations victory but know that the boks will breathe down your necks next year, lets hope you dont choke like you always do & can actually pull through to the finals

To Anonymous above,

I agree with the majority of your comments with the exception of the "peaking" point. I am hopeful that (as an ABs supporter) PDV remains coach of the Boks. So long as he is at the helm, the Springboks will suffer, and the ABs will win. If he is replaced prior to the World Cup, I think it will be too close to call between NZ and South Africa.