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FIJI vs Wales

A great big hand for both sides, for producing probably one of the finest matches in RWC history. After a great game like that, actually a pity that there must be a winner and a loser. But well done to Fiji, and an excellently planned campaign it was indeed. You guys are worthy quarter-finalists. With the game on the line, you guys just kept on going for it until the end. **** safety first, just keep with what works for you guys- and that is playing an incredibly fast and skillful game. To see your 7 sprint upfield like a back, straight through the middle of a ruck, and to see the way Delasau steps, just epitomises what Fijian rugby is all about.

I can just imagine how gutted the Welsh must be. Well done for keeping the spirit and style of play alive that won Wales a triple crown and six nations a couple of seasons ago. Kudos to Shane Williams also, for an absolutely amazing, mesmerising run. You guys might have lost out this time, but there`s just too much passion in Welsh rugby for you guys to stay down for too long.
 
im just thinking what this game will do...i know the fijians pride themselves in the 7s arena because thats where they succeed..but now with this in there good books ya gotta think that this will boost the confidence for alotta sevens players to push for a 15s jerseys

and that means the next generations of rauluni's,caucaus,sivivatus,rokocoko's will be popping up in fiji from here on out...same with tonga aswell!

GO ISLANDERS!
 
im just thinking what this game will do...i know the fijians pride themselves in the 7s arena because thats where they succeed..but now with this in there good books ya gotta think that this will boost the confidence for alotta sevens players to push for a 15s jerseys

and that means the next generations of rauluni's,caucaus,sivivatus,rokocoko's will be popping up in fiji from here on out...same with tonga aswell!

GO ISLANDERS! [/b]
Will they though. Unless the Pacific Island teams are in a strong competitive tournament, I can't see many of the next wonder kids staying at they're country of birth with NZ domestic & International structure.

I do hope that these upcoming players do stay with they're birth countries, it would do wonders for World rugby to see more teams really competing at the top level.
 
As of mid-day today, I have watched the replay of the game 8 times...and am still loving it. The drama is unfolding, the cheering is rolling and the Kava keeps flowing.

Before the tournament started, I was one of the biggest critic of Delasau & Nicky Little inclusion in the team.....after the game, I have taken back every bad things I have called them. They were heroes in that game and congratulations to them.

And to whoever posted about Fiji being dirty and the Ref being lenient towards us (and not handing out more yellow cards)... please STFU.

If anyone deserved to be binned, it was the lazy, dirty Welsh who kept killing the ball in the rucks. Martyn Williams was lucky not to be binned in when he deliberately blocked the ball in the 74th minute of the game...so was Chris Horsman for blatantly joining the ruck from the side..geez, he might as well pull on a Fiji jersey.

Our defence was brutal, it was 'ard, it was legal and that's how we do it....

Anyway that's water under the bridge now. You should be happy that at least Jenkins has been told to FO. This should be a turning point for both Welsh & Fiji Rugby.

Now I'm heading home soon to watch the game for the 9th time now.
 
<div class='quotemain'> im just thinking what this game will do...i know the fijians pride themselves in the 7s arena because thats where they succeed..but now with this in there good books ya gotta think that this will boost the confidence for alotta sevens players to push for a 15s jerseys

and that means the next generations of rauluni's,caucaus,sivivatus,rokocoko's will be popping up in fiji from here on out...same with tonga aswell!

GO ISLANDERS! [/b]
Will they though. Unless the Pacific Island teams are in a strong competitive tournament, I can't see many of the next wonder kids staying at they're country of birth with NZ domestic & International structure.

I do hope that these upcoming players do stay with they're birth countries, it would do wonders for World rugby to see more teams really competing at the top level.

[/b][/quote]



Is that honestly any different than Scottish or Welsh players going across the fictitious border to play for England? I mean, England has a lot more money than either of those places.
 
yes it is...mainly cause we dont have a corrupt history with eac other as polynesians
 
I was very upset with te result and that's behind us now. But this is one sentence i couldn't just take on the chin:

Our defence was brutal, it was 'ard, it was legal and that's how we do it....
[/b]

Lol. Reall? Legal? I can't believe there was only 1 yellow card. I saw plenty of filthy play on Fiji's behalf. High tackles and late challenges (Popham was victim to a lot of these) and Peel caugh a nice shoulder to the chest well after he let the ball go.
No, Fiji deserved the game. Wales played poorly in far too many patches and Fiji took what was in front of them and deservedly so - but to concede they did it legally throughout the game? Hell no.
 
yes it is...mainly cause we dont have a corrupt history with eac other as polynesians

[/b]



Bulls***. Look at your football team. Giggs always moans that he should've played for England. Hargreaves is 100% Canadian (born there, lived there, raised there) and yet for some reason thinks he's a f-ing Englishman.



As far as rugby, here are actual stats instead of whining.



This is getting into the area I was originally looking at: how the various squads are made up and where all the players come from.

In terms of the biggest presence from any one country, New Zealand has
supplied 47 players spread across ten different countries: 22 in the NZ
squad, 12 in the Samoan squad, four for Japan, three for Italy and one each
for England, Fiji, Ireland, Tonga, USA and Wales.

South Africa isn't far behind, having supplied 44 players spread across nine different
countries: 28 in the SA squad, four for Namibia, three for USA, two each for
Canada, England and Italy and one for Australia, France and Wales.

In terms of which teams gain most from foreign-born players, Italy turns out to be only 47% Italian. The Italian squad contains players from eight different countries of origin: 14 Italians, seven Argentinians, three Kiwis, two South Africans and one each from Canada,
England, Fiji and France.



Both Romania and Georgia have benefited the least from foreign influence: they have exactly zero foreign-born players in their squad. South Africa is the most homogeneous of the big nations: 93% (or 28 out of 30) of their players are South Africa born. Of the other two, one was born in Namibia (Percy Montgomery - update: Percy was born in a part of what is now Namibia, but what was then South Africa, so he technically is South African through and through; which all just goes to show how stupid this "born" argument is!), and one was born in Zimbabwe (Bobby Skinstad).

The Home Nations, for all their bleating about player poaching, are as follows:
  • England: 87% homogeneous. The foreign-born players are Mike Catt (South Africa), Matt Stevens (South Africa), Perry Freshwater (New Zealand) and Simon Shaw (Kenya).
  • Scotland: 67% homogeneous. The foreign-born players are Dan Parks (Australia), Nathan Hines (Australia), John Barclay (Hong Kong) and seven Englishmen: Craig Smith, Gavin Kerr, Andrew Henderson, Rob Dewey, Simon Webster, Hugo Southwell, and Jim Hamilton.
  • Ireland: 83% homogeneous. Their foreign-born players are Frankie Sheahan (Canada), Malcolm O'Kelly (England), Simon Easterby (England), Isaac Boss (New Zealand) and Ronan O'Gara (USA).
  • Wales: 77% homogeneous. Their foreign-born players are Tom Shanklin (England), Will James (England), Colin Charvis (England), Chris Horsman (England), Sonny Parker (New Zealand), Ian Evans (South Africa) and Dafydd James (Zambia).
In comparison, New Zealand is 73% NZ-born. Of the eight born outside New Zealand, five were born in Samoa (Jerry Collins, Chris Masoe, Mils Muliaina, Rodney So'oialo and Isaia Toeava), two in Fiji (Josevata Rokocoko and Sitiveni Sivivatu) and one in Tonga (Sione Lauaki). To get back to the original point I was going to make about player poaching: none of these players were "poached" for their rugby playing ability. Most came to New Zealand with their families when they were very young and have been through the public school system. The closest to being "poached" would be Sivivatu, who came to New Zealand in his later teens.

It is also interesting to note that of the 30 in the Samoan squad, 12 were born in New Zealand. We taketh, and we giveth away.

Slightly related to country of origin, it should be noted that there are 26 players born in Buenos Aires at the World Cup: 25 in the Argentinian team and one in the Italian squad. Tblisi in Georgia is next with 21 players (all in the Georgian team). By comparison, only 8 players were born in Auckland, and of those only two are in the New Zealand team (Ali Williams and Doug Howlett)! The others are: Tanielu Fuga (Samoa), the fantastically named Census Johnston (Samoa), Leo Lafaiali'i (Samoa), Gavin Williams (Samoa), Ephraim Taukafa (Tonga) and Kaine Robertson (Italy). Christchurch has supplied four of the New Zealand squad (Andy Ellis, Aaron Mauger, Chris Jack and Reuben Thorne), otherwise the rest of the All Black squad is spread remarkably evenly around New Zealand (not counting those from the Pacific Islands, of course).[/b]
 
I was very upset with te result and that's behind us now. But this is one sentence i couldn't just take on the chin:

<div class='quotemain'>
Our defence was brutal, it was 'ard, it was legal and that's how we do it....
[/b]

Lol. Reall? Legal? I can't believe there was only 1 yellow card. I saw plenty of filthy play on Fiji's behalf. High tackles and late challenges (Popham was victim to a lot of these) and Peel caugh a nice shoulder to the chest well after he let the ball go.
No, Fiji deserved the game. Wales played poorly in far too many patches and Fiji took what was in front of them and deservedly so - but to concede they did it legally throughout the game? Hell no.
[/b][/quote]

I might need to re-size my drift nets and make it smaller.
 
<div class='quotemain'> yes it is...mainly cause we dont have a corrupt history with eac other as polynesians

[/b]



Bulls***. Look at your football team. Giggs always moans that he should've played for England. Hargreaves is 100% Canadian (born there, lived there, raised there) and yet for some reason thinks he's a f-ing Englishman.



As far as rugby, here are actual stats instead of whining.




[/b][/quote] Mate, Chiro isn't Welsh, he's from the southern hemisphere, somewhere.

As for Giggs, he never moaned about he should of played for England. England would of like him to play for England, but he played for Wales.

Also Owen Hargreaves actually played for Wales as a youngster, though I can't remember what age though.
 
Yep Giggs choose to play for Wales not England, also do some research before jumping at people Flyin Ryan
 
<div class='quotemain'> yes it is...mainly cause we dont have a corrupt history with eac other as polynesians

[/b]



Bulls***. Look at your football team. Giggs always moans that he should've played for England. Hargreaves is 100% Canadian (born there, lived there, raised there) and yet for some reason thinks he's a f-ing Englishman.



As far as rugby, here are actual stats instead of whining.



This is getting into the area I was originally looking at: how the various squads are made up and where all the players come from.

In terms of the biggest presence from any one country, New Zealand has
supplied 47 players spread across ten different countries: 22 in the NZ
squad, 12 in the Samoan squad, four for Japan, three for Italy and one each
for England, Fiji, Ireland, Tonga, USA and Wales.

South Africa isn't far behind, having supplied 44 players spread across nine different
countries: 28 in the SA squad, four for Namibia, three for USA, two each for
Canada, England and Italy and one for Australia, France and Wales.

In terms of which teams gain most from foreign-born players, Italy turns out to be only 47% Italian. The Italian squad contains players from eight different countries of origin: 14 Italians, seven Argentinians, three Kiwis, two South Africans and one each from Canada,
England, Fiji and France.



Both Romania and Georgia have benefited the least from foreign influence: they have exactly zero foreign-born players in their squad. South Africa is the most homogeneous of the big nations: 93% (or 28 out of 30) of their players are South Africa born. Of the other two, one was born in Namibia (Percy Montgomery - update: Percy was born in a part of what is now Namibia, but what was then South Africa, so he technically is South African through and through; which all just goes to show how stupid this "born" argument is!), and one was born in Zimbabwe (Bobby Skinstad).

The Home Nations, for all their bleating about player poaching, are as follows:
  • England: 87% homogeneous. The foreign-born players are Mike Catt (South Africa), Matt Stevens (South Africa), Perry Freshwater (New Zealand) and Simon Shaw (Kenya).
  • Scotland: 67% homogeneous. The foreign-born players are Dan Parks (Australia), Nathan Hines (Australia), John Barclay (Hong Kong) and seven Englishmen: Craig Smith, Gavin Kerr, Andrew Henderson, Rob Dewey, Simon Webster, Hugo Southwell, and Jim Hamilton.
  • Ireland: 83% homogeneous. Their foreign-born players are Frankie Sheahan (Canada), Malcolm O'Kelly (England), Simon Easterby (England), Isaac Boss (New Zealand) and Ronan O'Gara (USA).
  • Wales: 77% homogeneous. Their foreign-born players are Tom Shanklin (England), Will James (England), Colin Charvis (England), Chris Horsman (England), Sonny Parker (New Zealand), Ian Evans (South Africa) and Dafydd James (Zambia).
In comparison, New Zealand is 73% NZ-born. Of the eight born outside New Zealand, five were born in Samoa (Jerry Collins, Chris Masoe, Mils Muliaina, Rodney So'oialo and Isaia Toeava), two in Fiji (Josevata Rokocoko and Sitiveni Sivivatu) and one in Tonga (Sione Lauaki). To get back to the original point I was going to make about player poaching: none of these players were "poached" for their rugby playing ability. Most came to New Zealand with their families when they were very young and have been through the public school system. The closest to being "poached" would be Sivivatu, who came to New Zealand in his later teens.

It is also interesting to note that of the 30 in the Samoan squad, 12 were born in New Zealand. We taketh, and we giveth away.

Slightly related to country of origin, it should be noted that there are 26 players born in Buenos Aires at the World Cup: 25 in the Argentinian team and one in the Italian squad. Tblisi in Georgia is next with 21 players (all in the Georgian team). By comparison, only 8 players were born in Auckland, and of those only two are in the New Zealand team (Ali Williams and Doug Howlett)! The others are: Tanielu Fuga (Samoa), the fantastically named Census Johnston (Samoa), Leo Lafaiali'i (Samoa), Gavin Williams (Samoa), Ephraim Taukafa (Tonga) and Kaine Robertson (Italy). Christchurch has supplied four of the New Zealand squad (Andy Ellis, Aaron Mauger, Chris Jack and Reuben Thorne), otherwise the rest of the All Black squad is spread remarkably evenly around New Zealand (not counting those from the Pacific Islands, of course).[/b]

[/b][/quote]



get ya facts ya cry baby :lol2tn:
 
Brilliant, the southern hemisphere boys are turning on each other now.
At least we don't have to listen to their *****ing any more.
 
yes it is...mainly cause we dont have a corrupt history with eac other as polynesians



Bulls***. Look at your football team. Giggs always moans that he should've played for England. Hargreaves is 100% Canadian (born there, lived there, raised there) and yet for some reason thinks he's a f-ing Englishman.



As far as rugby, here are actual stats instead of whining.



This is getting into the area I was originally looking at: how the various squads are made up and where all the players come from.

In terms of the biggest presence from any one country, New Zealand has
supplied 47 players spread across ten different countries: 22 in the NZ
squad, 12 in the Samoan squad, four for Japan, three for Italy and one each
for England, Fiji, Ireland, Tonga, USA and Wales.

South Africa isn't far behind, having supplied 44 players spread across nine different
countries: 28 in the SA squad, four for Namibia, three for USA, two each for
Canada, England and Italy and one for Australia, France and Wales.

In terms of which teams gain most from foreign-born players, Italy turns out to be only 47% Italian. The Italian squad contains players from eight different countries of origin: 14 Italians, seven Argentinians, three Kiwis, two South Africans and one each from Canada,
England, Fiji and France.



Both Romania and Georgia have benefited the least from foreign influence: they have exactly zero foreign-born players in their squad. South Africa is the most homogeneous of the big nations: 93% (or 28 out of 30) of their players are South Africa born. Of the other two, one was born in Namibia (Percy Montgomery - update: Percy was born in a part of what is now Namibia, but what was then South Africa, so he technically is South African through and through; which all just goes to show how stupid this "born" argument is!), and one was born in Zimbabwe (Bobby Skinstad).

The Home Nations, for all their bleating about player poaching, are as follows:
  • England: 87% homogeneous. The foreign-born players are Mike Catt (South Africa), Matt Stevens (South Africa), Perry Freshwater (New Zealand) and Simon Shaw (Kenya).
  • Scotland: 67% homogeneous. The foreign-born players are Dan Parks (Australia), Nathan Hines (Australia), John Barclay (Hong Kong) and seven Englishmen: Craig Smith, Gavin Kerr, Andrew Henderson, Rob Dewey, Simon Webster, Hugo Southwell, and Jim Hamilton.
  • Ireland: 83% homogeneous. Their foreign-born players are Frankie Sheahan (Canada), Malcolm O'Kelly (England), Simon Easterby (England), Isaac Boss (New Zealand) and Ronan O'Gara (USA).
  • Wales: 77% homogeneous. Their foreign-born players are Tom Shanklin (England), Will James (England), Colin Charvis (England), Chris Horsman (England), Sonny Parker (New Zealand), Ian Evans (South Africa) and Dafydd James (Zambia).
In comparison, New Zealand is 73% NZ-born. Of the eight born outside New Zealand, five were born in Samoa (Jerry Collins, Chris Masoe, Mils Muliaina, Rodney So'oialo and Isaia Toeava), two in Fiji (Josevata Rokocoko and Sitiveni Sivivatu) and one in Tonga (Sione Lauaki). To get back to the original point I was going to make about player poaching: none of these players were "poached" for their rugby playing ability. Most came to New Zealand with their families when they were very young and have been through the public school system. The closest to being "poached" would be Sivivatu, who came to New Zealand in his later teens.

It is also interesting to note that of the 30 in the Samoan squad, 12 were born in New Zealand. We taketh, and we giveth away.

Slightly related to country of origin, it should be noted that there are 26 players born in Buenos Aires at the World Cup: 25 in the Argentinian team and one in the Italian squad. Tblisi in Georgia is next with 21 players (all in the Georgian team). By comparison, only 8 players were born in Auckland, and of those only two are in the New Zealand team (Ali Williams and Doug Howlett)! The others are: Tanielu Fuga (Samoa), the fantastically named Census Johnston (Samoa), Leo Lafaiali'i (Samoa), Gavin Williams (Samoa), Ephraim Taukafa (Tonga) and Kaine Robertson (Italy). Christchurch has supplied four of the New Zealand squad (Andy Ellis, Aaron Mauger, Chris Jack and Reuben Thorne), otherwise the rest of the All Black squad is spread remarkably evenly around New Zealand (not counting those from the Pacific Islands, of course).



The percieved poaching is not as bad as the Grannygate debacle with Shane Howarth. Although i have to say the most stupid nationality change has to have been Budge Poutney. His gran was born in Jersey so he could play for any of the British sides. No Scottish blood in his family. Never lived in Scottish.



I'd also point out that for many Welsh, Irish or Scottish players in the premiership this is less of a problem than the islanders in S14 sides. The GP clubs don't exist for the national sides benifit, so they can employ anyone, plus there is an excess of clubs relative to the national requirements so plenty of space for foreigners.
 

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