posted Jun 11, 2007

Gatland could get the nod as well, I don't think he got a super14 role which is incredible!
Hansen may have been bad, but surely not all his fault - look at how the forwards in NZ have come on to be some of the best since he took over from the good but not great John Mitchell.. p.s. Shabal v played well on Sat, but got domintated by the return of Jerry!

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posted Jun 11, 2007

kinglos10 - i hope you're right regarding haymens departure, but personally i feel we will feel the loss - he is an absolute rock for the team.

on another note, i thought it was great to see Chabal get a healthy round of applause when he was subbed on Saturday - nice to see the respect from the kiwi crowd!

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posted Jun 11, 2007

Collins is a beast, world class .
I can;t wait to see the boks back row and the ab's clash in the tri nations.

Have to say the back up bok side didn't impress that much Saturday, the abs have much more depth.

Correct me if i'm wrong but Hansen was a back when he played? seems strange that he is a forwards coach now, was he assistant coach at canterbury or head coach?

The guy is well thought of by the welsh players and seems popular to be honest he seems popular with the ab players, next head coach?

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posted Jun 11, 2007

Not sure about Hansen being a back as a player or having head coach aspirations...He might not have the whole package for that
I can not wait for the SA V AB game either. It will be an absolute brilliant game which ever way it goes in Durban. The two forms teams at the moment vying for bragging rights! Add to that some pay back for Super14 and two packs that will be desperate to assert their dominance and two back lines pumping to score tries!!! Could be one of the better games of the last few years if all shapes up and the ABs don't loose another batch of locks!!!!
Shabal was the only Frenchman I would select in the WC squad. Great player.

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posted Jun 11, 2007

indeed the first SA v NZ test is a huge game and is definitely the most anticipate game for a while. Strong liklihood SA will win I think, but expect it to be close and NZ to win the home leg. In the unlikely event carter is still injured, am sure evans or even mcdonald are better kicking options than macallister?! he was poor on saturday with place kicks. not sure what henry was up to there.........

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posted Jun 11, 2007

I would ignore stephen jones. He is a bitter welshman who has had to watch his team get worse over the year while the NZers got better. he is just jealous and bitter. he is a wet mop, a quack and a fraud.

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posted Jun 11, 2007

would have to agree 100% with the comments of goodstarsandandstripes. stephen jones a sad and bitter twisted man time he was put out to grass.

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posted Jun 12, 2007

This all comes down to centralised contracts vs private ownership of clubs. NZ rugby can't compete with the money on offer by European clubs, therefore the only incentive they have to retain top talent in NZ to play in the S14 and ANZ Cup is the prospect of an AB jersey. If this wasn't the case then provincial rugby would die in NZ and the AB's international season would be dictated by the European clubs. If the European unions hadn't modelled their structure on the Football model, which treats internationals as friendlies and not test matches, and puts the interests of the clubs and the private owners over the international game, then maybe test rugby between NH and SH nations would not be the joke it is today.

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posted Jun 12, 2007

Stephen Jones is the worst kind of Welshman... one who wishes he was English... who also wishes England (or at least the NH teams) were as good as the NZers. He has always been jealous of NZ rugby. Even if NZ win the WC he will moan that they either cheated or poached players. He goes to bed with a Graeme Henry voodoo doll that he sticks pins into. Let's face it, Jones writes like the NH plays rugby; dull and boring.

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posted Jun 13, 2007

Stephen Jones is paid well by the Sunday Times to give a Northern Hemisphere voice (particularly an English one, well that's where the pay cheque comes after all) to counter the Southern Hemisphere voice. Most of the time, he doesn't even attend the games he reports on. To actually see the match might provide a contrary view to the hand that feeds him. Much better to stay at home in his bubble world and pen his poisoned words. Oviously he does it very effectively: as you can see I loathe the muppet!

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