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I am not a Brumbies fan but IMO he has one of the weakest passes of the Super rugby half-backs and he gets referees off-side with his constant chat (look at club rugby GF). For mine, I don't know why they retain him when he hasn't been able to lock down a starting spot in the last 3 years.

I think it will also be interesting to see whether their international recruits play Oz club rugby eg Cipriani, Delve & all the Kiwis.

Luke Holmes was cut by the Force at the end of 2009. I don't believe there is an "on loan" concept in Aust. I understand that he didn't attract much os interest, so he joined the Tahs as Hooker No 4.

great post

I think David Smith is a great pick-up for the Force. Their depth in the backs is pretty limited with the unproven Dellit, injury-riddled Shepherd, out of sorts Cummins and IMO well past their best players in Fairbanks and Bartholomeus. Smith is a much better player than John Grant. For mine...

Also Ryan Tyrrell is still there - I thought he had suffered a career-ending neck injury.

I'm pretty sure Stanford has broken his contract and gone to Japan.

I see a few problems with pushing the Shute Shield back. 1. Many grounds are handed over to their cricket clubs - Uni, Randwick, Manly, Gordon. 2. I actually think that the S15/WBs would not be happy as they want a break after starting trials in January. I think that their game quotas would...

If the contest was brought back, would you also be happy to see more FKs for not straight, early hook and for hookers not maintaining their weight on either foot and probably more re-sets for "same tunnell"?

Lee, despite many tinkering with the Laws including ELVs and interpretations and the referees ignoring the straightness of the feeds, the scrum contest seems as important today as ever. It is very difficult to win a game with a weak scrum. The nature of the contest has changed and there are...

They have in fact allowed a 23rd man or 6th front rower for many years but it was optional until mandated this year. Other Aus U20's front rowers were Scott Sio (Prop), Sam Roberson and Siliva Siliva (Hookers) The referees would request the "E" of Engage but most fron rowers go on the...

Personally there is still a glut in both positions. I think the only props who could claim to dominant at S15 level more often than not are Alexander, Robinson and Baxter (and he has had more bad days than good at Test level). 4 of our 8 best hookers have barely played Super rugby.

IMO what makes rugby great is the scrum and the variety of body types that play the game coupled with the various skill sets players must have at each phase of the game. Unfortunately Sevens doesn't have this and I just can't feel the same passion for it as the 15 man game. I would rather see...

The Shute Shield played this rule this year. 6 front rowers in a 23 man list.

While I agree to a certain extent, the effect of losing Genia or Cooper would be greater than losing Burgess or Barnes or Valentine or To'omua. Their replacements are not match winners like Genia and Cooper. Even the Crusaders could better handle the loss of Carter.

is that Braam?

I still think he would trade many of the recruits to have Braid back. That is one of the big questions for the Reds 2011 - can they succeed without Braid and what would happen if Genia or Cooper were injured for a significant part of the tournament?

I am interested to know how evening up the playing field would be for the good of rugby? What impact would it have?

Assuming they get on the field - here are a few - Peter Betham, Nick Phipps, JP du Plessis, Liam Gill, Ed Stubbs (haven't see much of him but has big raps), PAE. There are also some marquee players like Cipriani (if he shows up) and Gareth Delve. Unknown quantities who might be super are...

Isn't the 8, Wells, back as well?