Rugby (6N, Tri-N, IRB 7s, etc.)

[Steve19]

The Springboks opened with tired legs after two straight games against the All Blacks. A rested Australia was fresher on the day and had a lot more quickness around the ball.

That said, this game was not won entirely on fresh legs.

It was another poorly officiated game in which the Boks got homered. Local TV commentators were wild and showed replay after replay of illegal play by Australia that went uncalled.

The most obvious example was that Australia was offsides in the lineouts for most of the game, especially the first half. They were jumping so far across in lineouts, that they were more than a meter behind the Bok line before the ball came down. I don't remember them getting called once for it.

The most egregious illegal play occurred in the breakdowns. The Wallabies were offsides repeatedly, without calls unless the Bok players screamed at the ref about it. They played the ball on the ground a lot, "squeezing the ball back" a lot. Despite endless replays (including in the stadium, which had more Bok fans than Wallaby fans), the Aussies got away with murder and the Springboks suffered a lot of questionable calls.

The Springboks hurt themselves a lot in the game. At least three tries went begging due to handling errors near the try line. It was disappointing but I think we beat both teams here in coming weeks and win the Tri-Nations.

[RugbyBuck]

Sorry to hear that, Steve. I missed the match for playing in the rugby portion of the Georgia Games yesterday (Silver medal). Having spent much of the day offsides and playing the ball on the ground and getting away with it, I can't be too down on the Koala Bears, though.

I'm actually glad to see Oz competing in the tournament. I thought it might be a two team Tri-Nations. That said, I'm hopeful that the Boks will beat both at home.

[Steve19]

RugbyBuck will be delighted. The All Blacks stunk up the place and got nailed by the Wallabies. The game was tight until an All Black high tackle gave Australia a one man advantage and 17 first half points. Nevertheless, after a late score in the first half and an opening score in the second, the All Blacks had the lead 19-17 early in the second half.

What followed will turn the rugby world upside down, at least until the Wallabies and All Blacks visit South Africa.

The Australians controlled the game the final 35 minutes. This was in stark contrast to the first half, when the All Blacks had possession for 36 minutes. The All Blacks looked flat and undisciplined. They were unable to mount any kind of a charge late in the game and spoiled a number of promising possessions with knock-ons and penalties.

Australia continued to get away with murder in the breakdowns and to collapse scrums. But, take nothing away from them, this was a solid win and the All Blacks will now be heading back to the drawing board to make a plan before next week. The Springboks have to like what they saw today.

Make no mistake. Australia is back in the Tri-Nations.

Wallabies go top of Tri-Nations with epic win over All Blacks

SYDNEY (AFP) ? The Wallabies powered to the top of the Tri-Nations standings with a pulsating 34-19 victory over New Zealand in a memorable Test match here on Saturday.


The Australians played superb attacking rugby to score four tries and a bonus point to leapfrog the All Blacks and the world champion Springboks to the tournament lead after two games.


The euphoric victory, only a point off the most ever scored against the All Blacks, was coach Robbie Deans' fifth straight and a special one against New Zealand counterpart Graham Henry.


New Zealand Rugby Union's World Cup autopsy after their quarter-final exit last year saw New Zealander Deans rejected as the new All Blacks coach in favour of retaining Henry.


Deans went on to become the Wallabies' first foreign boss and his side thrilled the near-79,000 home crowd with their adventurous rugby, and came after the All Blacks had edged to the front 19-17 five minutes after halftime.


But Australia finished the better with tries to Rocky Elsom and James Horwill clinching a famous victory.


[continues]

[RugbyBuck]

Thanks for the update, Steve. I missed this one as I was playing in a rain storm in Asheville. The worst of it was that I now have something in common with the scUMmers: we both lost to Appalachian State. I managed to dishonor the magic tOSU shorts by letting the ball slip out of my hand on a tap-and-go from the 5m line, but snuck in a try later to make up for it.


It's good for rugby to have Oz playing well and to draw 79K for a 3-N match. I'll try to catch a replay on Setanta this week. Looking forward to the Boks' home matches.

[RugbyBuck]

I just ran across this interesting statistic from the Oz-ABs match:


Interesting fact: Australia had only 27 percent possession in the entire match. Yet they managed to score 34 points, and win by 15, one of the biggest winning margins between the two teams in Tri-Nations history. It shows just how deadly the Wallabies were on attack. Conversely New Zealand's loss despite 73 percent possession illustrates their ineffectiveness with ball in hand, as well as the enormity of Australia's defensive effort.

I would never have expected an NZ loss with a 73% possession rate.

[Steve19]

Originally Posted by RugbyBuck

I just ran across this interesting statistic from the Oz-ABs match:


Interesting fact: Australia had only 27 percent possession in the entire match. Yet they managed to score 34 points, and win by 15, one of the biggest winning margins between the two teams in Tri-Nations history. It shows just how deadly the Wallabies were on attack. Conversely New Zealand's loss despite 73 percent possession illustrates their ineffectiveness with ball in hand, as well as the enormity of Australia's defensive effort.

I would never have expected an NZ loss with a 73% possession rate.

I think that stat may be inaccurate. In the first half, NZ had that kind of possession but in the second half I think Australia had it more. Even when the All Blacks had the ball, they were pinned back behind the 22 a lot.

This week is gonna be a stinker in Auckland. I look for the All Blacks to bring them down to earth with a thud!

[DaytonBuck]

I'm guessing the Haka didn't work

[RugbyBuck]

I think SA and Oz have seen the haka so much that it elicits a .

[RugbyBuck]

U.S.A Eagles vs Clermont Auvergne
2008-07-25 21:51:05



The U.S.A Eagles are gearing up for their match against the French rugby union club Clermont Auvergne at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, S.C. on August 9, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
The match will be shown LIVE on ESPN Classic

Any live broadcast of rugby in the US is a big deal. USA Rugby seems to have finally started to get its act together in the last year or so.

[wadc45]

I'm 50-50 on going...our staff has been invited down but there are some conflicts at this point.

[RugbyBuck]

If you guys drive down, let me know. Gotta be room for one more in the van.

[Steve19]

Insider word is that the All-Blacks are reeling a bit. Some attitude problems in the team need to come right, quickly!

[RugbyBuck]

It seems that they made the wrong call on coaches by keeping Henry. Now they're having their asses handed to them by a guy who wanted the ABs job and got turned down. Classic.

[RugbyBuck]

Tri-Nations: Three straight losses for the Springboks and Oz and NZ are fighting it out for the title. As much as I'd prefer a Bok win, I think having a winner different than the Worl Cup champ is good for the sport. The Tri-N is like the SEC, if Florida, LSU and a rotating team were the entire conference.

USA: Our Eagles lost their 13th (I may be off by one; they all seem to run together) in a row and are closing in on the all-time record for consecutive losses, held by France, but looked much better against Munster (an Irish "name" club team) than against Clermont (a mid-level French club team) a few weeks ago. They seem to be playing hard and created some breaks for themselves that I hadn't seen before. They also occasionally played some really good defense.

[RugbyBuck]

Apparently, the All Blacks and Wallabies will play one of their 3N matches next year at Invesco Field in Denver. Interesting. Not sure how many of the 78K seats that will fill, but it is interesting.