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That's my point though. It's not a simple question of Beale vs the FACTS. There's a whole lot of weird shit that's been going on for months now. Breaking it down to that is fine, but it's not super helpful. I think Beale is an idiot, but saying he's the sole reason McKenzie and Patson walked...

I wasn't having a go at you in particular. Conspiracy theories seek to explain the world around us, and tend to emerge when shit gets weird. Then when you start looking at things like identity-protective cognition, motivated reasoning etc. it really isn't enormously surprising that people...

Some people need there to be a scapegoat. Makes it much easier to understand.

Good stuff from Cheika. Not being dictated to by petty provincial grievances or the whims of fans

Totally agree. He's consistently good, but you rarely/never get those 'holy shit did you just see that?' moments you do from Retallick/Vermeulen/Savea. I do have a deep and abiding weakness for flakey x-factor types though, so a player like Sexton is never really going to do it for me.

For sure. I just think he's a slightly better version of Bernard Foley is all. He's a good player, but nothing special.

I think it's because his defining trait, in my eyes anyway, is his competence. He's just a good, solid, player who runs a game well. He'd be a pretty marginal selection for best flyhalf in the world, so saying he's the best player is just a bit eh.

Hopefully Jones makes the bench at least. Will have been a complete waste bringing him on tour otherwise.

Le Roux getting nominated is complete joke shop stuff. Close to the most overrated player in the world. It should go to Retallick, wouldn't be overly fussed if Vermeulen won it though. We're due the token NH winner by now, so it'll be Sexton.

It's the vibe of the thing though. If everything clicked with that backline it would destroy worlds.

I'm more than a little firm imagining that tbh

That's not how it works though. Fainga'a hasn't CEMENTED his starting spot at the Reds. McMahon hasn't CEMENTED his starting spot for the Rebels. Nor Skelton for the Tahs, Faulkner for the Force, and probably a few more players besides. It's just a nonsense criteria.

He is good enough to start in Super rugby, which is why he has. That's like saying Kepu shouldn't be talked about because he wasn't starting for the Tahs. People are keen on him because he's young, strong, and looks fundamentally very solid. If you ever read Dwyer's stuff, he's constantly going...

Debreczeni was woeful in the Soup last year, utterly out of his depth. The NRC will have helped but it's still too early to tell whether he's ready yet. We've got a fair few outside backs, enough that we shouldn't need to shoehorn Debreczeni in at fullback. Crawford, Veainu and Placid should...

I'm sticking with my original view. Very bad first half, decent second half. Didn't look out of his depth, just got a bit rattled early and the errors compounded. I'd probably start him against the French then bring Jones off the bench. Need to see what we have with Jones, and I reckon McMahon...

Sickening hype. You're going to destroy him and his career with this kind of carry on!

I haven't actually seen a replay yet so my memory is a bit hazy, but I was absolutely frothing when Foley kicked it. Giving the opposition another crack at things unless there's no other option is a very dicey business.

It's hard work having so much influence, not going to lie. He had a rough first half and a better second one. He's not the first, and won't be the last, player to find out that Test rugby is a bit of a step up. I'd expect him to slide back to the bench for the next game, but I'm not super...

Dreadful first half. Looked paralysed with nerves and made some very, very, poor errors. I'd have given him 2/10 for the first half and 6/10 for the second. Call it a four all up. Be interesting to see if he gets the start next week.