Well, for all the excitement of Euro 2004, people may have forgotten that there have been a few rugby internationals lately (some northern hemisphere supporters might <want> to forget! :mischief: )

But I think we need a thread to discuss them.

Firstly, of course I must mention that NZ beat england twice. It was really unfortunate that the second test was spoiled by Shaw's sending off. In the post-match analysis, it has been very interesting reading the contrasting views in the media from the two sides of the world.

The NZ papers have taken the philosophical approach that with all the veiled threats in the week leading up to the game, that England had obviously decided on a very 'physical' approach to the game, and NZ had made no claims that they would step back either. The fuse had been lit, and Shaw got a bit carried away. Whether it was a sending-off worthy offense became a bit of a moot-point, because (as the New Zealand papers said), he shouldn't have put himself in a position where whether he stayed on or was sent off was in the hands of the officials.

The england papers seem to take the 'travesty of justice' approach. They claim Shaw as a 'gentle giant', who 'kneed the (defenseless) player in the back just to 'let him know I was there'. 'He couldn't ruck the player because he couldn't reach his feed up, so he used the knee instead'. 'There was no malice involved'.

So what say you about this incident?

:hmm: I am not too knwledgeable a person when it comes to rugby -besides, our TVs only show rugby games when Italy plays... :rolleyes:

But I have some practice with martial arts and fighting sports in general, and from my very personal experience I am prone to think that one would not use a knee if he wanted to gently touch someone else.
I mean, if a 'gentle giant' came by and hit me with a knee just to make me aware that he's there, I might happen to misunderstand his motives... ;)

On another side, I am very proud of my countrymen for not letting the All Blacks score more than 100 points during the last matchup -when is the next one coming? ;)

On another side, I am very proud of my countrymen for not letting the All Blacks score more than 100 points during the last matchup -when is the next one coming? ;)November the 13th, In Italy! :D

I see that John Kirwan has been signed-up to stay as coach through until the next world cup, and it appears that everyone is pretty happy about that. :)

I'll note that down ;)

Kirwan really made a terrific job with the team. Now if we only managed to beat someone else beside Scotland in the Six Nations... :D

Well, New Zealand wins again against Argentina, but not really in as convincing a manner as some may have expected. The score didn't really reflect the way that argentina basically outplayed New Zealand in the forwards. Difficult game though, with Argentina seemingly more concerned about spoiling tactics than trying to win the game themselves.

Australia absolutely outplayed a tired english team. Whilst england were very good in parts (and had the lion's share of possession), Australia's defence was too good, and they were very quick to pounce given half a chance (and two fantastic tries)! Kicking a penalty goal when they were up by 48 - 15 appeared simply to be rubbing salt into the wounds. All credit to Lawrence Dallaglio, however. After basically coming across as a whinger post-NZ matches, he will have restored some respect by the gracious way that he acknowledged that england had been 'soundly beaten in three tests'. Hopefully they can go back, rest and reflect a while and be back playing better next season.

Well I'm glad Dallaglio can accept it.
I have spoken with some people about that match, and they're so angry about it that they have resorted to saying "Australia is not known for anything in the world, that was an unfair match, you didn't deserve to win the world cup anyway" blah blah blah.
bloody whingers

I've tried to tell them "just wait until november for the rematch, then."
But does it do any good? Nope :rolleyes:

Enjoyed almost every minute of yesterdays clash between the Pacific Islanders and All Blacks. While it showed up alot of weaknesses in the All Blacks, i was very impressed with how the Islanders never gave up - when playing the individual countries they always seemed to give it thier all in the first 20/40 mins and really drop off later in the game, not this time.

The question is where do they fit into the scheme of things? Without sacrificing the individual unions, or should they sacrifice them in order to be competitive?. I've heard of a Super 12 team, and/or a British Lions-type concept.