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Yeah possibly, that seems to be the trend but I think the team is too good to not get at least one more in the next five years.
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Your favourite rugby moments of 2011
- Thread starter LittleGuy
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They said that about Bealo's crew too
I'm going to throw in SOB's backhand on the toulouse flankers as one of my prefferred moments also ...just because I thought ..**** here comes a ban and then Guy Noves showed his class by not citing him.
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Not a highlight but Luke FitzGerald coming into some form is nice to see.
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RWC was the biggest rugby event of year 2011.
I think my favourite moments were when I had to woke up at 4 o'clock in the morning to watch Romania playing. The match against Scotland was something special ... the first important match I watched. We almost got the defensive bonus point.
I think my favourite moments were when I had to woke up at 4 o'clock in the morning to watch Romania playing. The match against Scotland was something special ... the first important match I watched. We almost got the defensive bonus point.
Just a few:
-Either of Phillips' left touchline burts against Ireland.
-Toby tearing it up.
-Lambie doing a pretty good job against NZ despite the rest giving up.
-Beating the Bulls at Loftus.
-The annual Osprey hunt at Rodney.
-Either of Phillips' left touchline burts against Ireland.
-Toby tearing it up.
-Lambie doing a pretty good job against NZ despite the rest giving up.
-Beating the Bulls at Loftus.
-The annual Osprey hunt at Rodney.
best moment for me by far was the redemption of Stephen Donald and his transition from national punching bag to national hero and rugby world cup winning first five.
I feel like I may have been one of only a handful of people that couldn't wait for Don to take the field and prove himself, don't mean to sound like an ass but I was happy Cruden was injured so Don could get an early pass. Cruden is a player for the future but Don was the man when he was needed.
2nd is the smile on McCaw's dial, with his record now he will surely go down as the greatest player in NZ history. The combination of 100+ caps a boat full of personal accolades and every bit of silverware worth winning has been won.
Other than that the two wins over Australia at Eden park are next because I still hate the fact Deans is coaching them and the longer the AB's keep the foot on Aussies throat the better.
Next it was good to see the highlanders improve this year
for my other team the chiefs it wasn't a great year but they did beat 3 out of the 4 South African teams they played. Liam Messam was absolutely brilliant and Brendon Leonard was back in great form.
On the flip side the most disappointing factor for me was the performance of Piri Weepu in the World Cup final. After believing for so long that weepu was the man for the big matches he missed those regulation kicks at goal and made a silly schoolboy error to give the french the ball that led to their only score in the game. Stephen Donald had been taken to by the NZ public for less. An acceptable performance from weepu and the AB's could have had it easy in that game and maybe won by 6+ points, just lucky for weepu they actually won or he would have had to live in regret about that stupid ass lazy kick pass he attempted that landed right in a frogs hands and ended up being touched down under the posts soon after.
#2 disappointment also involved a halfback. The fall of Jimmy Cowan - what the hell happened to him this year? He was mud for the all blacks. After being the #1 halfback in NZ for most of the last 4 years he was nowhere to be seen when it mattered. What is he now? 4th? 5th? 6th best 9 in NZ? not only was he not good enough he just did not look like he wanted it.
3# Sore point was Liam Messam losing his world cup spot, after a couple of solid but not spectacular games and one good performance off the bench he was dumped and at the same time Adam Thomson had two basically game losing performances in the tri nations (of the 4 penalties he gave away against the boks they scored from 3 and his 4th killed one of the AB's best chances for points - his miss against Samo's game winning try was worse than the miss that Vito was dumped for a year earlier) and soon after showed that he simply was not a good cover option for 8 in the world cup.
I feel like I may have been one of only a handful of people that couldn't wait for Don to take the field and prove himself, don't mean to sound like an ass but I was happy Cruden was injured so Don could get an early pass. Cruden is a player for the future but Don was the man when he was needed.
2nd is the smile on McCaw's dial, with his record now he will surely go down as the greatest player in NZ history. The combination of 100+ caps a boat full of personal accolades and every bit of silverware worth winning has been won.
Other than that the two wins over Australia at Eden park are next because I still hate the fact Deans is coaching them and the longer the AB's keep the foot on Aussies throat the better.
Next it was good to see the highlanders improve this year
for my other team the chiefs it wasn't a great year but they did beat 3 out of the 4 South African teams they played. Liam Messam was absolutely brilliant and Brendon Leonard was back in great form.
On the flip side the most disappointing factor for me was the performance of Piri Weepu in the World Cup final. After believing for so long that weepu was the man for the big matches he missed those regulation kicks at goal and made a silly schoolboy error to give the french the ball that led to their only score in the game. Stephen Donald had been taken to by the NZ public for less. An acceptable performance from weepu and the AB's could have had it easy in that game and maybe won by 6+ points, just lucky for weepu they actually won or he would have had to live in regret about that stupid ass lazy kick pass he attempted that landed right in a frogs hands and ended up being touched down under the posts soon after.
#2 disappointment also involved a halfback. The fall of Jimmy Cowan - what the hell happened to him this year? He was mud for the all blacks. After being the #1 halfback in NZ for most of the last 4 years he was nowhere to be seen when it mattered. What is he now? 4th? 5th? 6th best 9 in NZ? not only was he not good enough he just did not look like he wanted it.
3# Sore point was Liam Messam losing his world cup spot, after a couple of solid but not spectacular games and one good performance off the bench he was dumped and at the same time Adam Thomson had two basically game losing performances in the tri nations (of the 4 penalties he gave away against the boks they scored from 3 and his 4th killed one of the AB's best chances for points - his miss against Samo's game winning try was worse than the miss that Vito was dumped for a year earlier) and soon after showed that he simply was not a good cover option for 8 in the world cup.
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I agree that it was good to see Donald get some form of redemption, as the way he has been treated by the New Zealand public has been shocking at times - it wasn't his fault that the AB's coaches kept selecting him! He is widely regarded as one of the nicest guys in rugby, so it was great for him to leave New Zealand on a high note. Donald's performance in the RWC final really summed up Donald's game perfectly: solid defense, hard straight running and a solid kicking game. Lets be realistic though: he was hardly a star. He simply played the way he always does.
It is strange that you say that you were happy that Cruden was injured. The week before he had just lead the team to a 14 point win over Australia, and the AB's were winning the game with him at first-five: they were leading by 5-0, and if Piri Weepu had kicked the (relatively easy) goals the AB's could well have been 13-0 up! After Donald came on (after 30-odd mins) France undoubtedly had the better of the remainder of the game - indeed they won the last 50 mins of the game 7-3, which could well have won it 13-3 if they had kicked their penalties! This is certainly not to say that France coming back into the game was Donald's fault, nor that Donald played poorly. Indeed, as I mentioned above, I thought he had a solid game, but I do think his contribution to the finals win is vastly overstated at times (he did kick the goal that matter though!).
Piri Weepu's performance throughout the Rugby World Cup was pretty disappointing to me. He was solid during the pools stages, and kicked a whole pile of goals against Argentina. For some reason after this game Weepu seemed to be idolized by all of New Zealand, despite the fact that his general play versus Argentina was actually pretty poor - he ruined a number of clear try scoring opportunities due to his ridiculously slow distribution of the ball. He was pretty average versus Australia too, and his poor goal-kicking meant the game was far closer than it should have been. His performance in the final was very disappointing too - if he had kicked those early goals I feel the French may well have been demoralized and the AB's may have won comfortably (you never know with the French though!). Never before have I been happy to see Andy Ellis come off the bench for the AB's, but during the RWC semi and final I was so relived to see him come on!
I agree Cowan's performance during the RWC was very poor too - he just couldn't seem to pass the ball accurately at all. I really wonder if he was carrying an injury of some sort, as it seemed really strange that his form fell away so drastically after he had a pretty good season leading up to then.
While I wouldn't have minded seeing Messem go to the RWC, but he did have his chances, he just didn't take them. For some reason he just can't seem to transfer his Super Rugby form into the test arena - if he could do that he would be a very good test player. For whatever reason (maybe the different structure the AB's play) he has been almost completely anonymous at test level. I thought Vito, who replaced him, looked pretty good during the RWC, so in the end it may have been a good selection. I think Thomson was pretty lucky to be there too (I still think they should have taken another genuine 7), and though he didn't play a big part in the RWC due to injury, he did very well in the starts he had (at 8 versus France, and at 7 versus Japan).
Yeah good points
Agree about weepu but NZ needed a hero and weepu did kick all those goals against Argentina, really put him in the spotlight.
one theory I have with Messam re: super rugby vs. test rugby is the fact that he plays every minute of every game year in year out for the chiefs and there was a season he played every minute of for the chiefs and every minute for waikato in NPC. Looking at 2011 he did seem to finally slow down in the last couple of chiefs games. I partly blame Foster for that, Messam was in such good form he was almost sure of AB selection yet he got worked into the ground. A couple of weeks off, even an extra week after the last bye week would have helped a lot and given his body a rest. The vast majority of AB's had good breaks during super rugby some through injury some through rotation. I think it's needed for them to be ready for test footy.
The disappointing thing for me was that he seemed to be taking it easy in the early all black games and was building his form and fitness towards the world cup. He wasn't a standout but at the same time he made all his tackles, was high on the tackle count and all other stats and made some good plays. Didn't do anything wrong. One game he had off the bench he made #2 on the ball carrier stats even though he was only on for the last 15-20min of the game. Thompson was making a lot of tackles but also showing that he can be a liability and lose games with poor discipline and with that missed tackle on Samo he cost the all blacks the tri nations.
He was in a selection battle with Thomson to be the "backup guy" and was solid error free and showed some promise - exactly what was needed. Thomson in my view wasn't and the last thing you want is your backup guy to be injured all the time like Thomson was. I have no issue with Vito being included - it just does not make sense to me that he was taken in at the expense of Messam and not Thomson.
What also bothered me was that the all blacks did not use Messam well, use his strengths. Messam topped super rugby by a HUGE margin in pick and go yet when messam got his chance Pick and go was totally out of the all blacks gameplan yet when it came to the crunch games pick and go and that area of the game became one of the main strategies for the All Blacks......
Agree about weepu but NZ needed a hero and weepu did kick all those goals against Argentina, really put him in the spotlight.
one theory I have with Messam re: super rugby vs. test rugby is the fact that he plays every minute of every game year in year out for the chiefs and there was a season he played every minute of for the chiefs and every minute for waikato in NPC. Looking at 2011 he did seem to finally slow down in the last couple of chiefs games. I partly blame Foster for that, Messam was in such good form he was almost sure of AB selection yet he got worked into the ground. A couple of weeks off, even an extra week after the last bye week would have helped a lot and given his body a rest. The vast majority of AB's had good breaks during super rugby some through injury some through rotation. I think it's needed for them to be ready for test footy.
The disappointing thing for me was that he seemed to be taking it easy in the early all black games and was building his form and fitness towards the world cup. He wasn't a standout but at the same time he made all his tackles, was high on the tackle count and all other stats and made some good plays. Didn't do anything wrong. One game he had off the bench he made #2 on the ball carrier stats even though he was only on for the last 15-20min of the game. Thompson was making a lot of tackles but also showing that he can be a liability and lose games with poor discipline and with that missed tackle on Samo he cost the all blacks the tri nations.
He was in a selection battle with Thomson to be the "backup guy" and was solid error free and showed some promise - exactly what was needed. Thomson in my view wasn't and the last thing you want is your backup guy to be injured all the time like Thomson was. I have no issue with Vito being included - it just does not make sense to me that he was taken in at the expense of Messam and not Thomson.
What also bothered me was that the all blacks did not use Messam well, use his strengths. Messam topped super rugby by a HUGE margin in pick and go yet when messam got his chance Pick and go was totally out of the all blacks gameplan yet when it came to the crunch games pick and go and that area of the game became one of the main strategies for the All Blacks......
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As I browsed through these first 5 pages, I saw that my fellow Saffas didn't bother posting anything...
It's because 2011 was pretty much a very depressing year for SA Rugby.
We had a good showing in the super 15 with 3 teams in the top 7, with the Bulls and Sharks having a playoff in the last week of the round robin to decide who would qualify for the Semi's. then from there it was pretty much a see-saw year of little joy and great disappointment.
We lost terribly in the away leg of the Tri-Nations, came home, lost again, then beat the All Blacks.
Then it was the start of the World Cup, andas always, us Saffas were pretty much optimistic about our prospects in this tournament, we had no controversies before the tournament, no Kamp Staaldraad, only a helium-filled, Moustache-wearing, Politically chosen Idiot at the helm.
We won all our home games, even though there were controversies, nobody could've pointed the finger at us as we just tried to play the game and win. Then QF time, and a game many, if not all Saffas would love to forget. Losing against those criminals from Down Unda. END.
Back home, things were heating up, the top super 15 teams had a lot of guys not playing in the Currie Cup which paved the way for some young blood to show their worth. Finally, some highlight for us Saffas!! once again we saw how many talented youngsters we had to offer, and they couldn't have come at a better time with many of our Best Boks retiring, this was a great sight to see. it was like a fresh breeze coming through and with MANY rugby fans at this stage tired of all the depressing results the last year or so, we found something to look forward to.
2011 was rather KAK, but was necessary for our rugby fraternity, it got a wake-the-f-up call. Since November 2011 until now, the thing that has kept us going is the big unknown of 2012. The Springboks will get a new coach and captain. The Bulls, will be without the Best lock pair in the green jersey ever, as well as one of the best scrumhalves ever. The Sharks bid farewell to a great captain and leader, the Stormers parted ways with a top-bok, 2 future boks and one of the best rugby-brains in the country. The lions, who had a great 2011 in the end, lost all their money which was driving them forward, and the cheetahs managed to keep their good players in tact, as well as obtain the NEXT BIG NAME in World Rugby.
All in all, my Highlights of 2011 was that it's over. (oh and that awesome try by Francois Hougaard vs Wales)
It's because 2011 was pretty much a very depressing year for SA Rugby.
We had a good showing in the super 15 with 3 teams in the top 7, with the Bulls and Sharks having a playoff in the last week of the round robin to decide who would qualify for the Semi's. then from there it was pretty much a see-saw year of little joy and great disappointment.
We lost terribly in the away leg of the Tri-Nations, came home, lost again, then beat the All Blacks.
Then it was the start of the World Cup, andas always, us Saffas were pretty much optimistic about our prospects in this tournament, we had no controversies before the tournament, no Kamp Staaldraad, only a helium-filled, Moustache-wearing, Politically chosen Idiot at the helm.
We won all our home games, even though there were controversies, nobody could've pointed the finger at us as we just tried to play the game and win. Then QF time, and a game many, if not all Saffas would love to forget. Losing against those criminals from Down Unda. END.
Back home, things were heating up, the top super 15 teams had a lot of guys not playing in the Currie Cup which paved the way for some young blood to show their worth. Finally, some highlight for us Saffas!! once again we saw how many talented youngsters we had to offer, and they couldn't have come at a better time with many of our Best Boks retiring, this was a great sight to see. it was like a fresh breeze coming through and with MANY rugby fans at this stage tired of all the depressing results the last year or so, we found something to look forward to.
2011 was rather KAK, but was necessary for our rugby fraternity, it got a wake-the-f-up call. Since November 2011 until now, the thing that has kept us going is the big unknown of 2012. The Springboks will get a new coach and captain. The Bulls, will be without the Best lock pair in the green jersey ever, as well as one of the best scrumhalves ever. The Sharks bid farewell to a great captain and leader, the Stormers parted ways with a top-bok, 2 future boks and one of the best rugby-brains in the country. The lions, who had a great 2011 in the end, lost all their money which was driving them forward, and the cheetahs managed to keep their good players in tact, as well as obtain the NEXT BIG NAME in World Rugby.
All in all, my Highlights of 2011 was that it's over. (oh and that awesome try by Francois Hougaard vs Wales)
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^^^
What he said. Except the Cheetahs (S15) lost Sarel Pretorius and Riaan Viljoen though the Cheetahs (CC) managed to keep all their players and sign Raubenheimer on top of it... it blows my mind. Maybe that is the continuity they need to go one step further in SR (they have always struggled early due to losing a raft of players the previous year but then gather momentum at the end and have a good Currie Cup only to lose another raft of players).
Edit: I forgot about Corne Uys. Good player and the Cheetahs will probably miss him in midfield.
What he said. Except the Cheetahs (S15) lost Sarel Pretorius and Riaan Viljoen though the Cheetahs (CC) managed to keep all their players and sign Raubenheimer on top of it... it blows my mind. Maybe that is the continuity they need to go one step further in SR (they have always struggled early due to losing a raft of players the previous year but then gather momentum at the end and have a good Currie Cup only to lose another raft of players).
Edit: I forgot about Corne Uys. Good player and the Cheetahs will probably miss him in midfield.
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