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Likely Waratah squad man to man: Crusaders team to play the HSBC Waratahs 1. Wyatt Crockett Ben Robinson 2. Ben Funnell Tatafu Polota-Nau 3. Owen Franks Sekope Kepu 4. Luke Romano Kane Douglas 5. Samuel Whitelock Sitaleki Timani 6. George Whitelock Dave Dennis (c)...

I must be starved of Waratah rugby when I am analysing a highlights video to see what I can find! Just a fortnight more before the first game. I suspect the coaches will have seen a lot that they liked and a lot that they didn't. The bad: I hope that 5 (Douglas?) saved all his mistakes for...

Now Foley is injured and may have to miss the Crusaders game, Cheika says Volavola "could get more gametime". So I'll bite - it says more gametime, not the starting position or the whole game. Who is going to be 10 when Volavola is not playing and even more interestingly, who will be 10 if...

Not only that, but in sporting terms on Fox this part of the year before the start of Super Rugby and mungo, with only minor golf tournaments and little cricket, is a time you would have expected to get full coverage. They had ice hockey on a couple of nights ago, a sport with very few...

I don't think effort was the issue. Both teams will go to bed sore and sorry; one happy, the other disappointed. There was some heavy defence on show. The real issue I saw was that neither team found a plan of attack that produced results. France kicked the ball away far too much, it was...

That's not a good result.

Bruce, I am a little concerned that some may not catch the irony in your last paragraph. Some readers thought your take on Totality Tony was genuine. Me, I still chortle every time I remember it. While Gibson is not yet in that league, I'm yet to be convinced he will add significant value...

For me Volavola is not the issue. I know he has played a lot of 10 earlier in his career and he's an excellent prospect. But all last year in Shute he played 15, which IMO is a poor preparation for playing 10 in Super rugby. A good 10 runs the game and doing it well requires regular play in...

To listen to some, anyone who has come from mungo has been an unmitigated disaster for Union and totally incompetent to boot. That's arrant nonsense, of course. Some are bad, some OK, some good and some outstanding. Pretty much like any Union-only candidate we've seen.

Well, I thought it was the last straw. But the Herald is reporting today that Barnes will be out for 2-3 weeks with a damaged posterior cruciate ligament injury. Did it in a trial game against his own team, Sydney Uni. So now we are two weeks out from the start of the season, with two...

Love the Blues and Chiefs home jerseys! Highlanders are a bit naff.

I do too. Clearly the Crusaders game is the one that will be used to prepare the team for the Reds game, but I don't know why Lopeti isn't going unless he's copped an injury. Maybe he's the first into team rehab this year. I would not think Lopeti is already pencilled in for the Crusaders or the...

The best ever IMO was Cyril Towers

Not "forwards are an issue", the back 5 are as good as any other teams'. But I think they'll struggle in the scrum against the Sharks, Brumbies, Tahs, Chiefs?, Hurricanes, Crusaders and Highlanders

For those of us who struggle with the technology, can we have some basic instructions too. Adobe reader won't open this for me, for example.

This looks like the trial team just before you start the real deal: Beale at 10 and O'Connor at 15. Looks like this is the pairing that will start the competition. It means that Sidey goes to 12, which severely limits the backline performance because there won't be much creativity from 12 &...

Its a team balance issue. We have one out and out 10 - Foley - and one player who has played 10 at this level before - Barnes - but is probably more suited to 12/15. We then have Lane and Volavola in the EPS, though Volavola is probably more suited to 12/15. If either Barnes or Foley are...

Saifoloi. I would have picked him over Volavola as Volavola is more a 12/15 whereas Saifoloi is an out and out 10.

Scary stuff. The position we have the least cover for in the whole squad has one of the cover players seeking a release. The only suggested replacement posted has, according to my limited research, not yet played first grade Shute. If Foley goes down we are in deep, deep doo-doo unless we...

A better answer might be to threaten to sue Sanzar via a class action for the outlaid costs if they don't reimburse fans fully. Whoever did the scheduling needs to be fired; the mardi Gras dates would be known almost a year in advance. That no one at the Tahs checked the scheduling is an...