Well, seeing as how I get (robbed blind by paying for) SN World and they've been playing European Championship Rugby and its been awesome to watch I figured we should have an all-purpose Rugby thread.
I really enjoy watching and I'm gradually working my up to picking a team to support but I'm really in the dark.
I watched the Wasps pound Toulon this weekend which was a great game.
Post your Rugby commentary here.
Although I understand that our friends and fans 'down under' get totally different coverage than we do, please talk about your favourite teams and how they're doing. This is the all-inclusive Rugby thread!
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Hey Locke, glad you started this thread. Might I suggest supporting my Highlanders? They are kind of the plucky little guy team in NZ rugby, and are just coming off their first championship, a remarkable turnaround after being last place with only two wins just two seasons prior. The current squad features All Blacks Aaron Smith, Ben Smith, Malakai Fekitoa, Waisake Naholo, and Lima Sopoaga. Sopoaga wasn't on the world cup squad, having just earned his first international cap this year against South Africa, but he will be one to watch in the future. He was instrumental in their championship win as his kicking was lights out all season. He also scored 12 points in his first test match. In my opinion (and most Highlanders fans') he should have been selected over Colin Slade, but you can't really fault the selections too much when you win the world cup. The squad also features Japan's Fumiaki Tanaka, the first Japanese player in Super Rugby.
I say they are the plucky little guy team because Dunedin, where they play most of their home games, is a small city of just over 100 000 in the far south, far removed from the civilised world. Invercargill, which gets one token match per season, is even smaller and farther removed. Being from North America it's hard to fathom a city/region that small having a top flight professional sports team! You might remember their main home stadium, Forsyth Barr Stadium, from the Flames arena/stadium thread as some posters here mentioned it as a comparable to the CalgaryNext fieldhouse. It was built for the 2011 world cup and is the source of regular criticism in my region still to this day, and probably for many years to come. Dunedin is a fairly old and run down city with plenty of economic struggles so naturally a brand new stadium with lots of public money poured into it was very controversial.
Anyways, the season starts in February, so a bit of a wait. At that time of year NZ and Calgary are only four hours apart (plus a day) so if you don't mind staying up late you can catch plenty of games which are only played on the weekend. Of course with Super Rugby games are all over the place so when teams are doing their South Africa tour they're on at mid-morning.
Looking forward to talking rugby in here!
Last edited by Party Elephant; 11-24-2015 at 12:24 AM.
Reason: forgot to add Naholo
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Hey Locke, glad you started this thread. Might I suggest supporting my Highlanders?...
Looking forward to talking rugby in here!
+1 The Highlanders have the underdog factor with a cool stadium and unis. Also Reds vs Highlanders 2010 was likely the most exciting game I ever been to and one that cemented me as a rugby fan.
Unfortunately I don't think that we get Super Rugby on SN World. (World is a bit of a misnomer, it more like SN Europe)
I watch a little bit of the European Championship also being a newly conned SN World subscriber. I don't have a team there but kind of lean towards Ospreys a little because Canada captain Tyler Ardron plays there. I really don't care one way or the other though. In Super Rugby I always liked the Crusaders because they were so good years ago with Andrew Mehrtens.
Locke, I don't have team suggestions, rather I have competition suggestions.
I am a big fan of the ITM Cup. It runs, IIRC, August-November, in New Zealand. It is the evolved old Provincial Competition. It is the Currie Cup and NRC of NZ. In short, it is a step below Super Rugby. The thing that makes ITM rugby good, is these guys are all playing for a contract on the Super teams. They are much more inclined to "have a go" than take the safe option. Party Elephant, most likely has an opinion, but for me this is where the most exciting rugby is being played (anywhere actually). In most ITM games, when presented with a safe & adventurous option, the player will most likely take the adventurous option to show their skills.
I don't have a favorite team per se, usually I just cheer for hard running rugby.
In the North I am not a fan of the Premiership. It really is too much bosh, it is very akin to League IMO. I do enjoy the Top 14 (France) which has plenty of Bosh and skill.
If you want a team to cheer for up North with Canadian connection, try the Scarlets out of Wales. They play in the Pro 12 and have Daniel Tailliferrer Hauman van der Merwe, aka DTH. He is a Canadian National 15 player and is a true excitement machine.
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
Yep, ITM Cup is really entertaining for sure, best part is every part of NZ is represented so the smaller areas really get behind their teams. Also, during the ITM Cup teams compete for the Ranfurly Shield, which is basically like a boxing title belt. You have to defeat the current Shield holder on their home ground in order to take it from them, and when you win it you spend the next week touring around your region to all the small towns with it, Stanley Cup style. I went to a Ranfurly Shield defence a couple years ago in New Plymouth and the atmosphere was great. They had a parade down the main street before the game to show off the Shield. It has no effect on the overall standings or playoffs, but is a little bit of extra prestige in the competition.
Yep, ITM Cup is really entertaining for sure, best part is every part of NZ is represented so the smaller areas really get behind their teams. Also, during the ITM Cup teams compete for the Ranfurly Shield, which is basically like a boxing title belt. You have to defeat the current Shield holder on their home ground in order to take it from them, and when you win it you spend the next week touring around your region to all the small towns with it, Stanley Cup style. I went to a Ranfurly Shield defence a couple years ago in New Plymouth and the atmosphere was great. They had a parade down the main street before the game to show off the Shield. It has no effect on the overall standings or playoffs, but is a little bit of extra prestige in the competition.
Okay, I've got two more rugby matches PVR'd and in the pipe so I'm going to watch some of them.
As best I can tell this is basically Rugby's equivalent of the Champion's League? Can someone explain how this tournament works?
I like the discussion about the NZ Rugby tournaments but I need a little more clarification and then I have to find a way to watch some of those games.
__________________ The Beatings Shall Continue Until Morale Improves!
This Post Has Been Distilled for the Eradication of Seemingly Incurable Sadness.
The World Ends when you're dead. Until then, you've got more punishment in store. - Flames Fans
Life is pain. Anyone who says differently is selling something. - The Dread Pirate Roberts
Yeah, essentially Champions Cup is just like Champions League. The top finishers in Engand, France and Wales/Ireland/Scotland/Italy or something like that combine to form 20 teams.
Munster! Theres a name I recognize! Its also kind of funny!
I should mention from the other thread:
Watch this film.
And, non-Rugby related but as an interesting aside, the Legitimate and Genuine 'Most Interesting Man in the World!'
Quote:
He undertook numerous expeditions and was the first person to visit both the North and South Poles by surface means and the first to completely cross Antarctica on foot. In May 2009, at the age of 65, he climbed to the summit of Mount Everest. According to the Guinness Book of World Records in 1984, he was the world's greatest living explorer.
In 2000 he attempted to walk solo and unsupported to the North Pole. The expedition failed when his sleds fell through weak ice and Fiennes was forced to pull them out by hand. He sustained severe frostbite to the tips of all the fingers on his left hand, forcing him to abandon the attempt. On returning home, his surgeon insisted the necrotic fingertips be retained for several months before amputation, to allow regrowth of the remaining healthy tissue. Impatient at the pain the dying fingertips caused, Fiennes cut them off himself with a fretsaw, just above where the blood and the soreness was.
Despite suffering from a heart attack and undergoing a double heart bypass operation just four months before, Fiennes joined Stroud again in 2003 to complete seven marathons in seven days on seven continents in the Land Rover 7x7x7 Challenge for the British Heart Foundation. "In retrospect I wouldn't have done it. I wouldn't do it again. It was Mike Stroud's idea"
I don't know which thread this belongs in (I think his death on here is in the RWC thread). At any rate, here are a number of All Blacks doing the haka as Jonah Lomu is carried into Eden Park.
I don't know which thread this belongs in (I think his death on here is in the RWC thread). At any rate, here are a number of All Blacks doing the haka as Jonah Lomu is carried into Eden Park.
Cape Town - South African prop Nicholas Schonert was on the receiving end of a nasty facial injury at Twickenham on Saturday.
Durban-born Schonert, 24, was playing for the Worcester Warriors in their 48-18 loss to Saracens.
Schonert was reportedly hit in the face by a stray boot, and he posted a picture to his Twitter account that was enough to put somebody off their dinner.
Spoiler!
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
This is pretty funny. Pumas half back Tomas Cubelli was held up entering Australia to join the ACT Brumbies because his immigration form was filled out as "female".
LANGFORD, British Columbia – Americas Rugby Championship has announced the dates and cities for the 2016 updated competition featuring six of North and South America's top-ranked international rugby union teams.
Initially agreed to between executive members of the respective unions under the guidance of the Pan American Rugby Association (PARA), the groundbreaking Americas Rugby Championship will provide Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the U.S., and Uruguay with five additional rankings tests annually.
"We are delighted to be able to announce the inaugural Americas Rugby Championship that will take place next year," PARA Chairman Agustín Pichot said. "This could not have happened without the hard work and cooperation of all six rugby unions involved.
Quote:
Americas Rugby Championship | 2016 Competition Calendar
(Home v Away)
Round 1 – Weekend of Feb. 6 -7, 2016
Canada v Uruguay
USA v Argentina
Chile v Brazil
Round 2 – Weekend of Feb. 13 - 14, 2016
USA v Canada
Argentina v Chile
Brazil v Uruguay
Round 3 – Weekend of Feb. 20 -21, 2016
Canada v Brazil
USA v Chile
Uruguay v Argentina
Round 4 – Weekend of Feb. 27 - 28, 2016
Argentina v Canada
Brazil v USA
Chile v Uruguay
Round 5 – Weekend of March 5 - 6, 2016
Chile v Canada
Uruguay v USA
Brazil v Argentina
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
Corporal Jean-Marc H. BECHARD, 6 Aug 1993
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