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Planet Rugby Team of the Year

I have more respect for 4chan than PR TBH. keo.co.za is by far the worst though.

Yes! Every time I go on there I put myself in a little fit of rage. I think about writing long posts explaining why the people commenting are wrong - and then give up in frustration as I know what ever I get back in unlikely to be a reasoned response. TRF is where its at!
 
We have a ton of French surnames in South Africa. Most famous in Rugby must be du Plessis, but others like Le Roux, Du Preez, Botha and de Villiers also derive from the French language

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noooooooooo, really ?!!!...;)
I was just pointing out Ruan's specifically. "Pinard" is slang for "wine", and that's the guy's surname...smt worth mentioning I think :p
 
Nah, that's RugbyDump!
Hey I like rugby dump :p.

I can't tell if my dislike of the man clouds my judgement of him, or if SBW really is one of the most overrated players to grace the game? I mean, I know he wasn't terrible by any means, but I never saw anything from him to suggest he was better than Nonu. Not that I think Nonu had a year to be selected as the best in his position, but still, there must be better out there?
I really don't want to like SBW for his sport hopping, but there is no denying just how game changing he is. Nonu maybe, makes more ground in a straight line but SBW creates tries for free.

Team looks good, I wouldn't change anything, although I probably would have Hooper in for François Louw and Kahn in for Pienaar.
 
606. Or TRF during test rugby season.

Good old 606.
Every thread: "Got a mate in the know, this is the team:"

Perhaps if we remove NZ and Ireland as national options, most of our problems would be solved.








OK... Sorry lads...
 
Good old 606.
Every thread: "Got a mate in the know, this is the team:"

Perhaps if we remove NZ and Ireland as national options, most of our problems would be solved.







OK... Sorry lads...

Or alternatively you could remove the the Welsh from the national scene. They seem to be the butt of Irish fans annoyance, from what ive seen in my limited time here anyways :D
 
I really don't want to like SBW for his sport hopping, but there is no denying just how game changing he is. Nonu maybe, makes more ground in a straight line but SBW creates tries for free.

I know that Nonu has been criticised a lot for such a one dimensional looking game, but he's been doing it for roughly ten years now and he's still got that ability to win a match/teams still struggle to deal with him. Apples and oranges, really, but I think Nonu's just as good at making/scoring tries as SBW. SBW also has the benefit of being in the game for a lesser time, meaning it's harder for opposition teams to work him out. I also think for the number of times SBW's magical offload worked, there were nine other times where it didn't.

I don't know, like I say, he was definitely a good player, but I don't know if he was as good as the (self generated) hype which followed him.
 
I don't know, like I say, he was definitely a good player, but I don't know if he was as good as the (self generated) hype which followed him.

That's probably because he can't walk on water.

I know what you mean and I generally agree. He was good - probably better than Nonu was towards the end (due in my mind to Nonu playing non-stop rugby for over a year) - but he certainly wasn't as good as people hyped him to be. From the beginning people seemed desperate to compare him to players like Daniel Carter and Jonah Lomu - the reality is he wasn't THAT influential. For all the hype and so on - the result was him playing ten minutes in the RWC semi-final and final combined (in which time he got a yellow card).

For me - what he was, was a good player with a lot of natural potential. Regardless I don't think the NZRU should have signed him in the first place as it sends a very wrong message, was literally a **** you to every other inside centre in NZ the amount of oppertunities he got - resulting in loyal players like Hosea Gear getting no time in the RWC (despite being a better winger than SBW ever could be), the loyalty of whom stays in NZ despite being overlooked in his best form, while SBW leaves (and people want him to return for the next RWC, I mean ffs!). I dislike what SBW stands for - but as a player he was good. Not what the media made him out to be, but good none the less.
 
No wonder SBW went off to Japan. He was the world's best #12 imo and a phenomenally skilled player who sells tickets aplenty and has kids taking up the sport trying to emulate what he does yet gets grief and criticism from a load of fans who simply don't like his lifestyle and personality.

If Kiwi fans had been a bit nicer to him then perhaps he wouldn't have been wasted in Japan (where few get to watch him play) and then NRL and rugby lose one of it's best players.
 
^ yeh...it's so fkn weird for me, all those guys who just "quit" playing for their own freaking country. I mean, it shouldn't be an option.
Quade and the Wallabies, I'm reading articles like "Cooper showing signs of wanting to move forward with Wallabies again", wtf, this ain't no club or anything...it's your DAMN COUNTRY, SON !! Same with Kaino and this dude SBW...

It's true they were a better team just a year ago with these two during the RWC than these past few tests...that's for sure...
 
No wonder SBW went off to Japan. He was the world's best #12 imo and a phenomenally skilled player who sells tickets aplenty and has kids taking up the sport trying to emulate what he does yet gets grief and criticism from a load of fans who simply don't like his lifestyle and personality.

If Kiwi fans had been a bit nicer to him
then perhaps he wouldn't have been wasted in Japan (where few get to watch him play) and then NRL and rugby lose one of it's best players.

Hahaha.

The Bulldogs were plenty nice to him - didn't stop him up and leaving mid contract.

Like I've said time and time again, I don't really care about SBW as a person. I disagree with signing a player for a lot of money, who wasn't developed by NZ rugby system, who was signed based on potential, who had a shady record of leaving clubs, who would only sign based on boxing clauses on his one year contracts, with outs in his contract if he didn't make the RWC team, to then be given an AB position based off a handful of games for NPC in which other players looked better, who would leave after time and money went into his development, after being a part of a team every loyal player in NZ would have killed to be apart of. THAT is what I object to - he shouldn't have been signed. Kids in NZ don't pick up rugby because SBW decides to play rugby. Kids in NZ play rugby. Admittedly he drew in crowds, but I'd say if the media hyped up Craig Clarke to the same level as SBW - then there would be similar crowds.

^ yeh...it's so fkn weird for me, all those guys who just "quit" playing for their own freaking country. I mean, it shouldn't be an option.
Quade and the Wallabies, I'm reading articles like "Cooper showing signs of wanting to move forward with Wallabies again", wtf, this ain't no club or anything...it's your DAMN COUNTRY, SON !! Same with Kaino and this dude SBW...

It's true they were a better team just a year ago with these two during the RWC than these past few tests...that's for sure...

I agree with most of this - but because of New Zealand's selection policy we don't allow players overseas to play for NZ (which I agree with for many reasons), so if player like Kaino want to make money to secure their faimilies future - signing overseas is pretty reasonable. I'm sure Kaino would play for NZ if he was allowed.
 
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hmmmmm yeah but all this is technicality...the more general question (without dwelling on technical details) is just simply: how the hell does it come to this, a NZ born citizen, pro rugby player who can't even play for HIS OWN COUNTRY.
I don't care about the reasons really, like I'm sure it's a bunch of boring legal yadiyada; but it's just absurd from the greater scope.
 
That's probably because he can't walk on water.

I know what you mean and I generally agree. He was good - probably better than Nonu was towards the end (due in my mind to Nonu playing non-stop rugby for over a year) - but he certainly wasn't as good as people hyped him to be. From the beginning people seemed desperate to compare him to players like Daniel Carter and Jonah Lomu - the reality is he wasn't THAT influential. For all the hype and so on - the result was him playing ten minutes in the RWC semi-final and final combined (in which time he got a yellow card).

For me - what he was, was a good player with a lot of natural potential. Regardless I don't think the NZRU should have signed him in the first place as it sends a very wrong message, was literally a **** you to every other inside centre in NZ the amount of oppertunities he got - resulting in loyal players like Hosea Gear getting no time in the RWC (despite being a better winger than SBW ever could be), the loyalty of whom stays in NZ despite being overlooked in his best form, while SBW leaves (and people want him to return for the next RWC, I mean ffs!). I dislike what SBW stands for - but as a player he was good. Not what the media made him out to be, but good none the less.

This exactly. I know there's huge question marks over whether Fruean could foot it in a black jersey, but what it must have said to him when he was in the form of his life and SBW was basically selected on name alone. Similarly, what it must have said to some players in the AB set-up that it was okay for SBW to injure himself skiing and box with an injury, but most likely not for others. I don't know him personally, but from the outside looking in he comes across as someone who thinks he's bigger than the team/sport.

SBW didn't leave because Kiwi fans were mean to him, he left because he wanted to return to league. I'm sure you'll get a good idea of the reason for why he is so disliked if you have a look at what some of the NRL players have said in Australia recently. If he truly left because we were nasty to him, then spare me, he's an even bigger twat then I initially thought. On top of that, he was hero worshipped for the majority of his time with the All Blacks, it wasn't until toward the end that people started talking ill of him.

He's not the main attraction for NZ rugby, although he might have been if he'd stayed around longer than the RWC.
 
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hmmmmm yeah but all this is technicality...the more general question (without dwelling on technical details) is just simply: how the hell does it come to this, a NZ born citizen, pro rugby player who can't even play for HIS OWN COUNTRY.
I don't care about the reasons really, like I'm sure it's a bunch of boring legal yadiyada; but it's just absurd from the greater scope.

Well every player can play for his country if he chooses to follow the criteria for selection. It makes sense if you consider the reasons why he cannot (which you're not interested in).
 
^ hehehe, nope, not really no !
But wtvr, Kaino can't play for NZ, he can't play for NZ....fk it....what can I tell you.
 

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