Rugby: All rugby discussion

[Siamese Dream]

I've just bought Rugby Challenge 4 for xbox, hopefully it's not too shit. It is only the early access version so should be some updates to come

 

[flyingkiwi]

Super Rugby Aotearoa an absolutely cracking competition. Good Blues and Hurricanes wins last weekend mean a Crusaders win (again, sigh) isn't completely given anymore. Can't wait to get along to Blues v Crusaders at Eden Park in a couple of weeks.

The state of southern hemisphere rugby competition going forward is concerning though. Will be sad to see the SA teams go.

 

[Siamese Dream]

I've been enjoying Super Rugby Aotearoa, only been able to watch the later kick-off Saturday matches in full but they've all been great.

Think I've now played enough Rugby Challenge 4 to give my verdict. I realise this is just the early access version but I had Rugby Challenge 2 on the xbox 360 and this seems like essentially the same game in almost every way. The player ratings are a lot better and not as biased towards the southern hemisphere but you can tell it's still very SH-centric in terms of the depth of research into player positions, where most of the SH players have their secondary and tertiary positions while a lot of NH players don't.

The lack of licensing is disappointing but at least there is the fan hub or whatever it's called where you can download edited rosters that other people have made.

There's also still a lot of bugs in the game. Players who are listed as left-footed still kick with their right foot in the gameplay, the commentary is really clunky in general and poorly edited, sometimes they say you've missed the conversion when you didn't and they kept calling Worcester Warriors "The Wolverines" As for the actual gameplay itself the AI often makes impossible 40 yard passes and you can still throw those passes as offloads when taking the ball into contact which is completely unrealistic.

EA Sports Rugby 08 remains the last good rugby video game released.

 

[I am not exposed]

Super Rugby Aotearoa an absolutely cracking competition. Good Blues and Hurricanes wins last weekend mean a Crusaders win (again, sigh) isn't completely given anymore. Can't wait to get along to Blues v Crusaders at Eden Park in a couple of weeks.

The state of southern hemisphere rugby competition going forward is concerning though. Will be sad to see the SA teams go.

Rumours the South African teams will join the "Pro 14"

A couple of the rejected franchise already did join 3 seasons ago (Cheetahs and Southern Kings). But the Southern Kings was disbanded in September 2020 after going into voluntary liquidation.

 

[BMann]

Vamos carajo Pumas. Great to see several of the successful u20 team of a couple of seasons ago perform admirably. Chocobares, Carreras for instance. Lucio Cinti coming in from the sevens. Don't think Foster has too much time left as AB coach if this carries on.

 

[Siamese Dream]

Can't wait to listen to 5 Live Rugby Union weekly hosts foaming at the mouth because there's no England players in this.

 

[mkev400]

To be fair, I cant see any England player replacing any of them. I mean yeah Farrell is well on his way to stroll into that 10 jersey for the 2020's, but no rational person was ever going to pick him over Carter for the 2010's.
For whatever my (personal) 2 cents are worth, I suppose some (admittedly rather weak) arguments could be made for Alun Wyn Jones and at a stretch Paul O'Connell at Lock. And maybe a very short argument could be had for Leigh Halfpenny at fullback over Smith (Ok, I'll see myself out now), but the selection of the All blacks are fairly solid.

Having not paid all that much attention to the selection criteria, did it matter for wingers which side they primarily played? If its irrespective of side, then I would say Imhoff could feel a little hard done by. Though looking at his cap count, I'd happily concede that North is an outright better choice.

It would however be interesting who people would rate next in line, to make it a full 23 of the decade.

 

[Siamese Dream]

I do have a slight problem with O'Driscoll, he's obviously the best 13 ever and was still a starting Lion in 2013 but retired in 2014 so he belongs in a 2000s squad. So maybe you move Nonu to 13 and slot Farrell in at 12. Jamie Roberts or Jonathan Davies could also make a case for 13. Paul O'Connell is a tough one, I'd say he probably had a better career than Retallick and Whitelock, but he retired in 2015 and unlike McCaw and Carter, didn't win 2 world cups in that timespan. I don't think which side wing matters, I agree North probably doesn't have the highest peak of wingers in this era but nobody else has been such a consistent starter for their nation (including the Lions) over the decade.

It's so difficult to pick replacements just because you need to cover all the positions. Of the players not mentioned so far the names I'd throw in would be Kieran Read, Michael Hooper, Will Genia, Rory Best, James Slipper

 

[BKIslandersFan]

Might be a dumb question to ask on here, but anyone bother to follow MLR?

 

[mkev400]

I do have a slight problem with O'Driscoll, he's obviously the best 13 ever and was still a starting Lion in 2013 but retired in 2014 so he belongs in a 2000s squad. So maybe you move Nonu to 13 and slot Farrell in at 12. Jamie Roberts or Jonathan Davies could also make a case for 13. Paul O'Connell is a tough one, I'd say he probably had a better career than Retallick and Whitelock, but he retired in 2015 and unlike McCaw and Carter, didn't win 2 world cups in that timespan. I don't think which side wing matters, I agree North probably doesn't have the highest peak of wingers in this era but nobody else has been such a consistent starter for their nation (including the Lions) over the decade.

It's so difficult to pick replacements just because you need to cover all the positions. Of the players not mentioned so far the names I'd throw in would be Kieran Read, Michael Hooper, Will Genia, Rory Best, James Slipper

I mean, I live in Ireland and am a Leinster season ticket holder so I don't dare touch the BOD selection (that much has been indoctrinated into me since I moved there 10+ years ago)... But I get what you mean with Drico having retired early. Davies is an interesting pick actually. Great 13, but also out or out of form rather often because of some bad injuries. To be honest 13 has been a bit of a crapshoot over the last decade. If we are throwing in the World Cup argument, you could also throw Ryan Crotty's name in. Not as flashy offensively, but defensively fantastic and an all round solid midfielder. Overall I'm fine with O'Driscoll there.
Actually, I somehow didnt register that Kieran Read didnt make the team. Thats a big omission alright.

Might be a dumb question to ask on here, but anyone bother to follow MLR?

I do occasionally catch up on it and watch a couple of Re-Live games, since a lot of the Irish players have moved over to try and qualify for the eagles or to extend their pro-careers. Not quite sure where I would rate the standard of the league to be honest. Maybe lower level Pro14 teams like Kings or maybe Zebre of 1-2 years ago might be about the level of the better teams, despite the MLS like allure to get big names like Basteraud, Robshaw and Nonu in. I mean New York was playing Mathieu Basteraud at 8...
Much like MLS it'll find its niche somewhere in the Rugby Landscape and can be viewed as a serious competition and become the backbone of a good national team. It just needs to be given a chance and for that I think it ultimately needs a serious performance of the USA at the next World Cup. They seriously played below their means in Japan.

 

[Siamese Dream]

England and Wales top seeds in RWC draw

Looks to be the most competitive group stage ever. Depending on the draw, each group could have a possible 3-way fight to qualify for the quarters. I don't see Italy possibly upsetting anyone except Japan, but we've seen what Argentina can do this tri-nations, and Scotland are capable of beating Wales and Ireland. As a Wales fan I know too well what Fiji can do when they turn up.

Still a long time to go though so don't want to get too ahead of ourselves.

 

[Siamese Dream]

Definitely got ahead of myself, looks like the most boring draw it could possibly have been

Pool A: New Zealand, France, Italy, Americas 1, Africa 1 - so that's Italy going home

Pool B: South Africa, Ireland, Scotland, Asia/Pacific 1, Europe 2 - could get interesting depending on Ireland strength

Pool C: Wales, Australia, Fiji, Europe 1, Qualifier winner - Wales, Australia and Fiji all in the same group AGAIN! Yawn.

Pool D: England, Japan, Argentina, Oceania 1, Americas 2 - The only good group, but with the way England are playing at the moment I'd expect them to walk it.

 

[flyingkiwi]

Sucks for Italy but as a kiwi living in France that couldn't have gone better. Gonna try and get to that pool game for sure.

 

[Siamese Dream]

Apart from that group each pool has the potential to be close, it just would have been nice for different teams to play each other. As I've said Wales had Australia and Fiji the last two times (on top of that it's likely Georgia and Canada getting those last two spots, see a pattern here?), Scotland and Ireland were together last time and obviously always play each other in the 6N. France don't play South Africa or Australia very often, that would be interesting.

As a Wales fan, Japan and Italy would have been the ideal draw in terms of difficulty but even though the "bands" didn't make it possible I wouldn't have minded getting the All Blacks just for variety since we seem too scared to play them in the autumn in recent years. Playing France, Scotland or Ireland would have been interesting just because it's always a dice roll in the 6 Nations.

 

[mkev400]

Hey, the worst part is, Ireland have to look forward to France at home or New Zealand away, if they dont go into the tournament seriously undercooked again, like 2019 and lose to scotland to finish 3rd in the group.
Every beat writer and fan is already planning the customary quarter final exit, for the boys in green...

 

[Islay1989]

Can't wait to listen to 5 Live Rugby Union weekly hosts foaming at the mouth because there's no England players in this.

Well the Pommes weren't good enough

On a more serious note, when you pick arbitrary cut-off points you're going to get poor selections. Every single player on this list is brilliant, Richie and Carter best to ever play the game, but have the 5 years they played in the last decade been enough to make the team? For Richie, I'd say yes, for Dan who missed the '11 WC because of injury I'm not really sure even though he's my favorite player of all time alongside BOD, I might give a nod to Sexton, as I think Beaudy didn't play enough at #10. Pocock at 6? Really? Just seems like a cheap attempt to shoe-horn him in. He didn't play 6 a lot and he certainly didn't have his best years there. I'd have Ried over Parisse personally, and I have no idea how Bismarck and North made the team. BOD I don't know what to think. He played only 5 years and his best years were before the turn of the decade. I think Davies is more deserving of the spot, compared to BOD or Conrad Smith.

Props are fine I guess, especially Tendai, even though Franks isn't my favorite player and I might rate Furlong higher. Locks are spot on IMHO, Etzhebeth might have a case or Alun Wyn, but Brodie was the world player of the year as a lock which is quite an accomplishment and Whitelock is just a beast. As for #2, I'd pick Coles just for his peak. I know he had a lot of injury issues and didn't play a lot, but at his peak, he was just insane, might be the best hooker ever. Going peak in 2010s is interesting, I would have it like this:

Tendai - Coles - Furlong
McCaw - Whitelock - Retallick - du Toit
Ried
Murray - Carter - Nonu - C. Smith
Habana - B. Smith - Savea

I was tempted to put in Beaudy over Dan or Ben Smith, but I just can't do that. Carter was immense in 2015 and Ben is just a brilliant fullback. Beaudy had chase down tackles and when attacking from the 2nd level is just unfair, but Ben is so good defensively, so smart with his kicking, such an amazing support runner etc, can't go against him. Murray over Aaron Smith is also a tough one, but I rate Murray as the best scrum-half in the game.

 

[Siamese Dream]

Well the Pommes weren't good enough

If your only rugby exposure was listening to them, you'd think Ben Youngs was the best scrum half in the world to ever play the game

Surprisingly, there's been a couple of episodes out since these awards and not a single mention of it. Probably out of embarrassment.

 

[Islay1989]

If your only rugby exposure was listening to them, you'd think Ben Youngs was the best scrum half in the world to ever play the game

Surprisingly, there's been a couple of episodes out since these awards and not a single mention of it. Probably out of embarrassment.

Thankfully, I steer clear of that

 

[Islay1989]

Can't believe I forgot Dusautoir for #6 shirt

 

[Siamese Dream]

Listening to BBC 5 Live Rugby Union weekly picking their potential Lions starting 15 on this week's episode

BBC website has had one of their polls out where the public picks their own team and submits it and they can see the data. Bear in mind there's generally an enormous England bias.

For the #9 shirt the public has Connor Murray leading the poll with Gareth Davies behind.

So who do the hosts of the podcasts pick?

bEn YoUnGs

"bOx KiCk ThEm InTo SuBmIsSiOn"

 

[Siamese Dream]

6 Nations starting tomorrow

Have to think England are favourites with Ntamack out for France, but it should still be close. I am predicting either an England grand-slam or France to win by bonus points or points difference (maybe they slip up away at Ireland but beat England). Scotland to finish 3rd (they've got Ireland and Wales at home), with Wales and Ireland battling for 4th/5th, Italy last obviously.

Predictions for the first weekend:

- Easy bonus point win for France over Italy
- England with a close low-scoring win over Scotland. No 4 try bonus for England but losing bonus for Scotland
- Ireland with a fairly convincing win against Wales, no 4 try bonus point but no losing bonus for Wales (George North is starting at 13 because JD2 is injured and we don't have any centres, this has never gone well the previous times it has been tried)

 

[flyingkiwi]

How are those England predictions looking now @Siamese Dream ?

Awesome France win, great to see Jalibert step up with the boot. And always nice to see Scotland get one over the bigger teams.

 

[Siamese Dream]

How are those England predictions looking now @Siamese Dream ?

Awesome France win, great to see Jalibert step up with the boot. And always nice to see Scotland get one over the bigger teams.

Well I was right that it would be a close low-scoring game honestly as poor as they were, England looked like they could have undeservedly nicked it at any point in the 2nd half.

 

[I am not exposed]

Scotland deserved that win. Well done to them.

 

[I am not exposed]

Listening to BBC 5 Live Rugby Union weekly picking their potential Lions starting 15 on this week's episode

BBC website has had one of their polls out where the public picks their own team and submits it and they can see the data. Bear in mind there's generally an enormous England bias.

For the #9 shirt the public has Connor Murray leading the poll with Gareth Davies behind.

So who do the hosts of the podcasts pick?

bEn YoUnGs

"bOx KiCk ThEm InTo SuBmIsSiOn"

Ben Youngs had one of his better years last year, but he should not be the starting 9.