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HiKa

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Joined October 2014

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To be fair, when O’Connor was playing at 10, it was run a forwards screen and throw it out the back to JOC and see if he can make anything happen.

Kiss of death for Thorn's assistants with Wallabies walkout Brad Davis joining Reds revolution

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3d

The TMO has a bunch of screens with lots of angles. They aren’t dependent on a TV producer.
As for the stadium big screen, that is a different story unless the TMO specifically calls to show a particular angle to the ref.

'Not good enough': England in disarray as Fiji pull off historic win to emerge as World Cup's darkest horse

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1w

I think with the addition of their Euro-based players, the gap between Fiji and Samoa is less than it has been (say last year’s Pacific Nations Cup). I rate Sapoanga and Leali’ifano as better #10’s than Muntz and Tela. Samoa might have them in the scrum, too. England play Samoa in last round of the pool matches, so cohesion should be improved by then, but Lord knows how injuries will play out by then.
What changes can Borthwick wring out of this England team without making personnel changes now? I expect Samoa to finish ahead of Japan and provide a very tough game for England.

'Not good enough': England in disarray as Fiji pull off historic win to emerge as World Cup's darkest horse

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1w

England are no sure thing to beat Samoa. The Samoans now have some real quality all over the park with Lima Sapoanga at 10 and Leali’ifano on the bench to steer them around. They gave Ireland a good match overnight.

'Not good enough': England in disarray as Fiji pull off historic win to emerge as World Cup's darkest horse

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1w

Those early YC’s were for cynical infringements under pressure near their own line denying SA an early try. You can’t just wave them away. However, I expect once the RWC starts the AB’s will run a tighter ship and any return encounter will have a different shape to it with Retallick and Frizzel playing.

Who caught Eddie's eye? Swinton, Pietsch star in 'underwhelming' Aus A win over RWC rivals Portugal

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1w

Piru, I reckon it’s turned up in the Rugby section because the word ‘union’ is in the headline. There’s a chance the Roar has some scripts to pick key words for automatically tagging articles.

Hermoso calls in union to take action against Spanish FA president after World Cup Final kiss

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2w

There’s certainly been more focus on reducing time wasting tactics since that Lions tour, up to and including the introduction of the YC-bunker review system which also takes away what was a multi-minute breather for the big lads.

Weakest links, not superstars, often decide World Cups: So where are the fatal flaws in the top 10 contenders?

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2w

Every half-back’s speed and quality of passing looks 2nd rate when compared to Aaron Smith. It’s not unreasonable to say that Dupont is the best rugby player in the world right now, but Aaron Smith remains the best at the role of serving up high quality ball to his teammates.

Weakest links, not superstars, often decide World Cups: So where are the fatal flaws in the top 10 contenders?

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2w

Lonergan would also have solved that tricky question about having a reliably good goal kicker.

Weakest links, not superstars, often decide World Cups: So where are the fatal flaws in the top 10 contenders?

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2w

This often comes down to the referee’s time management.

Weakest links, not superstars, often decide World Cups: So where are the fatal flaws in the top 10 contenders?

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2w

Genge’s card was just after Steward took Adams out in the air and just before Farrrell’s fateful fit. The card was given as the culmination of a series of team infringements at the scrum, so not wholly Genge’s fault, but I agree with you that it is good to see ref’s being prepared to ping deliberate infringements.

Weakest links, not superstars, often decide World Cups: So where are the fatal flaws in the top 10 contenders?

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2w

A new World Champ would indeed be good for the game.

Weakest links, not superstars, often decide World Cups: So where are the fatal flaws in the top 10 contenders?

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2w

Sure. But do you consider that Eddie does have an unusually high turnover rate for ‘staff’ compared to other coaches in similar positions? You can argue that just shows he sets high standards, but then you have to look at the results his approach produces – like the Curate’s Egg, they are excellent in parts, but there does seem to be a problem with sustaining the successes he has had. By the time Eddie finished his first run as WB coach, the WB’s were not in good shape. After a long stint with England, including great early success, they are in pretty bad shape.
The WB’s may do well at this RWC and I’ll be cheering for them. How will the good ship WB be sailing when the Lions turn up? We’ll have to see. And will Eddie make it all the way to another home RWC? I will be surprised if that happens.

Weakest links, not superstars, often decide World Cups: So where are the fatal flaws in the top 10 contenders?

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2w

Going to watch your son play first-class cricket on a designated day off is not seen as a sacking offence in any reasonable workplace.

Weakest links, not superstars, often decide World Cups: So where are the fatal flaws in the top 10 contenders?

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2w

Nice article, Hazza.
No mention of the uncomfortably high number of tries scored on the Wallabies left wing during the RC? The winger on that side has also had a number of tries scored by catchers out-jumping him in previous years. But, worrying about such things is heresy because he puts in such an effort all over the park.
(It’s curious that I can remember Quade Cooper making a try-saving tackle on Will Jordan yet our brilliant left winger missed young Will more than once.)

Weakest links, not superstars, often decide World Cups: So where are the fatal flaws in the top 10 contenders?

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2w

KT, are you aware of how John Mitchell and Eddie parted ways? Go look it up and you will get a better sense of how Eddie’s obsessiveness can damage a team environment.

Weakest links, not superstars, often decide World Cups: So where are the fatal flaws in the top 10 contenders?

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2w

I like your analysis but four matches is a small sample so no firm conclusions can be made just yet, although the impetus to score early is clear. We’ll have to cross our fingers and see how it goes over the next couple of months. 👍

Fast starts and hard finishes: How scoring patterns prove the Wallabies are still a chance at the World Cup

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2w

From SMH via Google of terms “rugby australia judiciary panel david croft”
[I had seen Croft’s name mentioned in a UK newspaper’s coverage but couldn’t remember the others involved.]
“The all-Australian panel of lawyer Adam Casselden, and former Wallabies John Langford and David Croft, heard the case by video link …”

'Always illegal': World Rugby successful in appeal as Owen Farrell banned for start of World Cup

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2w

Hansen’s brilliant AB’s coaching record is in sharp contrast with his record with Wales. His tenure as Wales coach had 31 tests for just 11 wins (but one of those was a win over Romania in a RWC warm-up match where the team was coached by the Wales A coach). So effectively, a 10/30 (33%) record. He had a couple of wins over Scotland, three wins over Italy and wins over Fiji, Canada(x2), Romania (at 2003 RWC after the warm-up match) and Tonga. Hansen moved on after the 2004 6 Nations in which Wales had beaten just Scotland and Italy. The very next year, 2005, Wales won the 6 Nations with a Grand Slam (5-0).
No doubt, based on those results, RA would never consider such a dud for national coach. 😛

'Like a mate having a beer': Eddie explains Hansen role and 'two main areas' where ABs legend has helped Wallabies

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2w

To get the consistency (essential for fairness and alignment with player safety goals) that everyone wants, WR should establish an independent commission (i.e. not answerable to national unions or competition organizers) that takes responsibility for all disciplinary actions for high-level provincial and professional rugby. It just isn’t good enough to have panels of part-timers who are ‘gigging’ for a pay-check from the same organizations that sell rugby as a product to broadcasters.
SRP, French Top-14, English Premier, United Rugby Championship, Currie Cup, NPC, MLR should all have the same standards for dangerous/foul play and suspensions/’tackle school’/bans. If this is done, then the amateur levels will also get more consistency in their decisions because they will have consistent reference points from the international pro system. Ideally, there would also be a parallel system to make referees independent of national unions and competition organizers so refereeing standards can be more consistently applied, too. This again would assist amateur levels by again providing consistent guidelines for interpretation across the globe.
RA should take note of this decision in Farrell’s case. The incorrect decision by the Australian panel, that managed to ignore a fundamental factor (always illegal action not able to be mitigated), suggests that something is wrong in the existing mindset of Australian rugby’s judiciary.

'Always illegal': World Rugby successful in appeal as Owen Farrell banned for start of World Cup

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2w

Geoff, a mate suggested years ago that for safety, rugby should only allow vertical leaps when contesting a catch of the ball. This immediately makes safe[r] the jumping contest under a high-ball, instead of having blokes running and leaping in from either direction which is inherently unsafe. Either you chase fast enough to get under the ball and leap upwards in a straight jumping contest with the opponent, or you stay on the ground. A similar standard could apply to charge-downs where you allow a jump but that jump cannot land beyond where the kick is made. You either run all the way on the charge down, or you jump up and land before you get to the kicker.

The Wrap: Why the Owen Farrell fiasco is a good thing for rugby

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2w

A mate’s son boxes and plays rugby and cricket. Want to guess which of these sports has the most stringent process to handle return after concussion? (Found out after the lad clashed heads with a team mate going for a catch at cricket.)

The Wrap: Why the Owen Farrell fiasco is a good thing for rugby

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2w

Matches aren’t ruined by refs giving RC’s. They are ruined by players committing foul acts that deserve RC’s.

The Wrap: Why the Owen Farrell fiasco is a good thing for rugby

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2w

~ deleted ~

The Wrap: Why the Owen Farrell fiasco is a good thing for rugby

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2w

Moaman, on the idea of getting coaches to take this stuff seriously, a thought that passed through my little skull a few seasons ago was that coaches should get suspended when multiple players from their team get carded/suspended for the same type of foul play. What brought this on was a bunch of Queensland Reds players getting suspensions for tip tackles – and it was mostly the backs that were getting into trouble. Memory fails me, but I’m pretty sure it involved Hunter Paisami and Hamish Stewart. In this go round with England, we have seen both Farrell and Vunipola use their right shoulders with no arms to fell opponents. How clear would Borthwick’s instructions to his team be if he were to be up for 5 weeks out and a re-education program if a third transgression of this type occurs anytime soon?

The Wrap: Why the Owen Farrell fiasco is a good thing for rugby

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2w
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