Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Tue Aug 16, 2011 3:58 pm  

Mallett unhappy at imports. He's got a point but it's a bit rich coming from an English born South African international who has constantly filled his Italy side with foreigners.

Mallett unhappy at imports. He's got a point but it's a bit rich coming from an English born South African international who has constantly filled his Italy side with foreigners.

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Wed Aug 17, 2011 12:30 pm  

Course, if Nick Mallett was in charge of Aironi he'd fill the side with entirely Italian eligible players, irrespective of results.

No, really he would.

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Wed Aug 17, 2011 3:06 pm  

Andy Gilder wrote:

Course, if Nick Mallett was in charge of Aironi he'd fill the side with entirely Italian eligible players, irrespective of results.
No, really he would.

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Thu Aug 18, 2011 11:51 am  

It's the South African way - just look at all those exciting young English players at Saaarikans.

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Thu Aug 18, 2011 2:38 pm  

Newport-Gwent Dragons beat Russia 40-12 in a world cup warm-up game on Tuesday night. Matt Giteau left out of Australian world cup squad... and announces retirement from international union. Am I alone in believing he was one of the most overrated players in recent years? I often got the feeling he got a Wallabies shirt because of his ability to play so many positions.

Newport-Gwent Dragons beat Russia 40-12 in a world cup warm-up game on Tuesday night. Matt Giteau left out of Australian world cup squad... and announces retirement from international union. Am I alone in believing he was one of the most overrated players in recent years? I often got the feeling he got a Wallabies shirt because of his ability to play so many positions.

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Thu Aug 18, 2011 3:10 pm  

Catalancs wrote:

Am I alone in believing he was one of the most overrated players in recent years?
I often got the feeling he got a Wallabies shirt because of his ability to play so many positions.

For my part you are off the mark - always thought Giteau was a fantastic player though probably not able to control a game well enough to play 10.

Andy Gilder wrote:

England are entirely a counter-attacking side. With Foden, Ashton and Cueto they can cut you to pieces if you kick poorly or don't chase well.

Present them with a well organised defensive line however, and the midfield partnership of Flood/Wilkinson, Tindall and Hape has all the cutting edge of a rubber knife. The bash and barge nature of the Premiership has led to a generation of centres happy to take the contact rather than look to do something creative.

I'd pretty much agree with this - I was really looking forward to Hape making a big impact but sad to say he just looks completely out of place. Flood seems to have lost confidence since early promise and he was never the great runner that some commentators were suggesting anyway.

Personally I would go with Manu Tuilagi and one of Hape/Tindall, but it still doesn't give you a really creative centre along the lines of SBW or Conrad Smith.

Johnson fundamentally is just far too conservative and risk averse.

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Thu Aug 18, 2011 6:55 pm  

red_death wrote:

For my part you are off the mark - always thought Giteau was a fantastic player though probably not able to control a game well enough to play 10.

He's been a fantastic player but the way he's talked about sometimes you'd think he was the second coming.
He plays with the mindset that he can stand at 9, 10, 12 or 13, all at the same time. He also has a habit that all centres and wings despise in a fly-half, running sideways and cutting off their line. I would never say he is a bad player, I just think that he is overrated as the total package.

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Fri Aug 19, 2011 9:30 am  

Discovered last night that there are not one, but TWO RU games finally been released for the 360 - Rugby World Cup 2011 and Jonah Lomu's Rugby Challenge! Anyone made a decision yet which one they're going to go for? (RWC is released late August IIRC, JLRC is early Sept).

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Sat Aug 20, 2011 6:41 pm  

Wasps beat Munster 15-0 last night in a freindly

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:04 pm  

Mark Reason tells it like it is. BOOM! 'That's another aspect of this England side that offends many a former supporter - the sheer opportunism. Manu Tuilagi has five brothers who have represented Samoa. He entered Britain on a tourist visa and stayed illegally. Hape has represented New Zealand. Flutey is another New Zealander. Yet Johnson has picked them all in his time as England manager, along with a posse of South Africans.' and in other news... Wallabies rugby union players in brawl scandal. According to the Nine Network, O'Connor and Wallabies playmaker Quade Cooper ganged up on close friend and teammate Kurtley Beale in a late-night scuffle in the lead-up to the season-ending test against France. Russia pick Australian Byrnes for rugby union world cup

Mark Reason tells it like it is. BOOM! 'That's another aspect of this England side that offends many a former supporter - the sheer opportunism. Manu Tuilagi has five brothers who have represented Samoa. He entered Britain on a tourist visa and stayed illegally. Hape has represented New Zealand. Flutey is another New Zealander. Yet Johnson has picked them all in his time as England manager, along with a posse of South Africans.' and in other news... Wallabies rugby union players in brawl scandal. According to the Nine Network, O'Connor and Wallabies playmaker Quade Cooper ganged up on close friend and teammate Kurtley Beale in a late-night scuffle in the lead-up to the season-ending test against France. Russia pick Australian Byrnes for rugby union world cup