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I was expecting a long kicking strategy in the first game and a more helter skelter approach in the second. In fact it seemed to be the opposite. After Bled II, Cooper said that part of the strategy was to kick more to pin the All Blacks down the other end. If that was true then Robbie...

I'm sure he is devastated.

That may well be true in business and in the economy in general, but I don't think it is ultimately true for a sport like rugby that has at its core a country v country competition. Someone or something needs to have a mind to the overview to ensure that the interests of the country are kept in...

It makes sense, especially if the national coaches have a say in the training and techniques that these appointed coaches use. If all the players are used to playing with a similar style in their franchises this will translate into a consistent style once they get to the national side...

SUNDAY MAUL Former Springboks coach Peter de Villiers is the master of putting himself and others into trouble. Now Wallabies coach Robbie Deans and ARU official David Nucifora will probably be miffed with several sentences in his recent autobiography, Politically Incorrect. De Villiers...

I reckon an Aussie could do worse than adopt the Makos. They just had a spirited win against Canterbury and put up a great challenge for the Ranfurly Shield. If I wasn't already attached (unfortunately as it turns out) I'd be looking at them.

Don't do it ACR. It's not worth getting yourself excited for what will be an inevitable last-minute heartbreaking loss.

Take the Bloody Points!!!!! 10 minutes to go and trailing by 4. WTF are they thinking?

The amount of offloading and the ball movement in this game is crazy. The amount of dynamic interplay between backs and forwards is pretty amazing. The short passing game in contact seems to have filtered down from what the AB's were trying to do, but is having more success due to poorer...

The defence from both teams is a bit shaky, but then you get that at this level. Tremendous ball skills and breakdown aggression on display from most of the teams thus far. 32-30 to Taranaki at half time.

I appreciate that, but I think that Zavos is writing for a much wider audience than dedicated rugby fans like yourself and most at GaGR. He isn't addressing knowldegeable people who have question marks about Dean's ability to select, coach and motivate a team. He's addressing those that are...

To be fair, I think Spiros point is not so much that Deans should be immune from criticism, but that the criticism that says he is failing because he is a kiwi is a bit silly. He makes the point, which I am inclined to agree with, that some of the criticism against Deans comes from a deep down...

There was a very interesting point in Henry's book that bears on this discussion of team talks. After Henry's first Tri-Nations in 2004, the captain Tana Umaga came to him and asked him to stop doing pre match pep talks. According to Umaga, they were completely wasted on the team who were...

I remember the speech that quote comes from. It is one of his finest where he defends the right of free speech, and in particular speech that is unpopular. I wonder if one day there will be a rugby coach as eloquent as the Hitch.

Henry had a very dry sense of humour that was not always appreciated. Hansen is a bit more gruff, straightforward and lacking in subtlety. He does occasionally come up with the odd memorable one-liner - "flush the dunny and move on" was a rather laconic response to criticism after a scratchy...

Obviously this thread is a trollers paradise, but I shall do my best to refrain. I think there is a lot of sense to what the guy is saying. His point is not so much that the Wallabies can't have good stretches where they beat the best in the world regularly. Rather it is that these...

That's nothing. I did a 60 hour bus trip from the bottom tip up to Iguazu falls. Good times.

Well, now that the video is out there and everyone can turn their minds to the issue, you might get some more support.

Although I don't have the video editing skills that some at GaGR have, I thought I'd make a little video with some clips from the Eden Park test that demonstrate what we have been talking about. I don't have access to any flash editing software so its all a bit basic, but hopefully you'll get...

I don't think there are many who seriously doubt this now.