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Its going to be a VERY, VERY long season. The Blues did everything they could to lose and still won by heaps. Two things happened last season: The team management failed to hold Gibson to account for the recruiting clusterfuck. Instead they blamed Cron and told him he wasn't head coach...

Its just a sample of one, but I was in Kayo for the RWC, out of it till last week and now back in for Super. Although the cricket has been interesting plus a few other sports, I'll be out again as soon as Super is over. Getting in and out is dead easy.

And now Deegan's out of the 23. Draw your own conclusions.

Yeah. Until At 55 minutes they bring on Ioane, who has been absolutely seething at his treatment by the coaches to date and completely determined to show up their stupidity by making about 30 bone-crushing tackles and about 200 run metres in 25 minutes. We better be up by about 40 by then I...

The writer phoned in the report half an hour before the game so he wouldn't miss the deadline'

That's a very good looking Stormers pack. The Hurricanes might be up against it I think Every year the Stormers disappoint me but maybe this year will be different

Gotta review my tips now... maybe the Blues might get up? Nah, stick with my first impressions, Stevenson's a pretty handy replacement. Abductor muscle strains are usually a couple of weeks? No? Is there a doctor in the house?

Does that mean that the captain only plays 40? That's unusual. Already we see NZ "resting" players after the WC. They have a totally different philosophy to Australia in terms of player management and burnout. Perhaps that's why the National team does so well in International matches? If the...

The Crusaders were notoriously slow Super starters, but I think that was because they were full of senior NZ players who wanted to ease back into the season. Now that a lot of them have retired/sabbaticals/gone overseas I reckon the team will start a lot better. That's not good news for the...

I'm thinking that it could be a very long and painful season for the Tahs. Beale looked slow and out of condition, the midfield was abysmal, the handling and skills gifted the game to the Reds and the back five in the pack were clearly outplayed. The open field defence looked OK, but maul...

I would think that most weeks he would be the lock to play 80. That would be true in spades if Skelton comes in but Holloway usually was first off last year, despite his good performances. There is an absolute logjam of talent in the backrow. If we stay injury free and the starters perform...

Maybe you're right but I don't think that as a fan you learn anything about a season from the first trial. The coaches probably do but us fans not so much. If you can get any statistical correlation between the first trial and the season over the last ten years I would be dead-set shocked.

Its probably more accurate to say that its "the best of a bad bunch" system. When there are games going on in different seasons (north and south) and some teams not playing others for long periods (Eng vs NZ last couple of years), devising a system that works in all cases is not that easy.

This is all predicated on a 5:3 bench. If Cheika runs a 6:2 bench then Samu, Hooper and Pocock could play, but probably only one of those three would start. I would start Jones next week to give him a chance to show what he's got. He's not the sort of player you give 15 minutes to show impact...

Given that there is probably only one team in the whole shebang out of the running for the semi-finals, there are fourteen teams who do not want to give up a point right now, let alone give up a win! Every one of those teams is desperate. The only sensible forecast at this stage is that there...

Since they imploded against the Sharks, they have to win both games in SA. I thought it was quite obvious that the Sharks were the most likely winners, despite playing poorly themselves. That was long before the red card! I doubt if one forward consistently breached the gainline for the Tahs -...

Two weeks ago the Sharks were on top of the world and top of their conference. Now they are 3rd on the back of two bad losses and this is the first game of four in Australasia; they are pretty much guaranteed to lose to the two NZ teams so the two Australian games are pretty much must-win or the...

Do you mean Glen (I let anything go at the breakdown) Jackson? The ref whose games usually turn into a shit-fight? Am I missing some deep-seated irony? I thought the ref had a poor night and contributed to the poor spectacle overall. On a number of occasions he allowed players to handle the...

Some random thoughts: Fitzpatrick is seriously under-rated IMO HJH (Harry Johnson-Holmes) will be very very good in two years time. His play this year has been terrific. Hunt had a very nondescript game, his second on the trot. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) is way better than the knockers say. Not always flash but super-reliable, always...

The SA conference is just crazy! Last week the Sharks were at home to the Bulls and lost by 3.The week before, those same Bulls capitulated to the Chiefs and lost by 40. This week the Sharks go to the high veldt and dish up the Lions 6 tries to 1. The Lions were top of the conference. Week to...