I thought rugby players had to watch what they eat nowadays?
Too much fatty meat.

Bets on which is deemed worse? “In the old days” biting was seen as the lesser of those two evils

Well the NZ teams have been lighting it up in Super Rugby. Good bit by BM in the Torygraph about the SH/NH gulf.

Here’s a good example:

I come at this from a biased viewpoint but whenever I watch SH rugby the game management and speed/ quality of ball from 9 and 10 always jumps out for me. I know the forwards have already done the hard work by that stage but I can’t see the same happening here in the same circumstances. I think most of us could pick 3 9’s and 3 10’s to go on the Lions Tour but none offer anything special or creative in addition to doing the basics very well. Aaron Smith has been on fire this season whenever I’ve watched him and the quality of distribution is too good/ quick for my NH accustomed eyes to follow on TV let alone imagine playing against! Not just the big names doing it either but skills across the board. just a small part of many NH/ SH differences in approaching the game but something that sticks out for me

Ah ha, you’ve been tricked into posting the classic NH reply 🙂

I remember going to the fund raising game Christchurch played at Twickenham after the earthquake. It was worth it for the donation and to see Carter but the score was 45-35 or something and it was actually really boring, my neighbour and I where close to leaving before the end.

@nameaste – that video makes my point 48-23. Is that more interesting than a tough 10-6 ? Not for me

On a lighter note, Drew Mitchell is a bit of a dude…. and now a multiple world record holder

More over at Rugbydump including press ups, crushing apples with biceps and jaffa cake eating 🙂

it was actually really boring,

And that’s the norm for Super Rugby matches?? Er, no.

@DanW – JW who ? 😉 enjoyed that

DezB agreed but was just trying to make a point about the one game I saw live and the video posted. The extreme is basketball (a game I used fo play and have watched a lot on tv and live) where there is plenty of scoring but only the last 2-3 mins are really interesting

Whilst I hate to agree with anything you say Jambalaya – it’s a fair point. 😉 I’d probably find Bath beating Saracens 10-6 (unlikely, I know) more interesting than 2 teams I don’t care about racking up a basketball type score.

However I watch at least a couple of complete SR games per week and likewise with the AP and, as I know the SR teams quite well, I find the games generally more exciting than the AP.

The bigger picture is that the players, especially the Kiwis, have a different mindset and also the skills to back up their ambitions. Not all the games are 55-45 but even in tighter, low scoring affairs many opportunities for tries are taking with, frequently, a breathtaking display of skills.

That’s good. I love watching him play.

Australian internal citing with an England tour imminent – what did you expect? It’s the same reason the Aus defence is so good close to the line – anything goes to save a try.

I always thought Pocock was better than that, continues to choke him after they have hit the ground.

Maybe Marler just brought biscuits? Does he not know it’s Ferrero Rocher and two giant Toblerones for a World Rugby hearing?

Not really a long enough ban, but the fine is substantial.

Had it been Henson they would have just banned him from spray tanning and hair gel, that would have hurt more than any time off rugby

Wonder what Marler earns? When Stevens was banned he was on 4k a week,Marler has lost international match fees for 6N I suspect.

I’m not over the moon with this signing, I wasn’t sad to hear that Morgan was off.