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Agree...and then, of course, there was v Samoa as well, not Davies' finest hour.

I didn't say Bray was wrong and I was right, rather that there are (IMO) legitimate alternative views and for me these refs' managers are not auto-gospel. + Bray himself has said that last penalty needs to be considered by 'experts', he didn't state it as categorically wrong. And I will get...

Have to agree with Brisbok and you BJ. This almost random tendency of Bray's to publicly highlight some 'debatable' ref's judgements, yet stay quiet on others, is absolutely reckless for all the excellent reasons you and Brisbok note. It's also usually the case that publicly criticising, or...

There are obviously varying points of view re the issue of scrum dominance patterns in that match and how the scrum was reffed, overall and in particular cases. Some observers argue that the Brums 'deserved' the ref's rulings based upon their dominant performance in the latter parts of the game...

Every time I argue with you Paarl re these forthcoming matches in SA, your forecast of the Sharks' winning margin seems to get bigger ;-).

Hmmm Cyclo. I believe your scenario above rather contradicts your argument with Paarl directly above re: (1) precisely why that final penalty was awarded to the Brums, and, as you argued, (2) as the dominant scrummaging team, why they (from many scrum reffing precedents in rugby) deserved it...

Pleeeeease. At no time in 2012 have I said I know the Reds will win the 2012 comp or that they surely know how to win it, at absolutely no time, not even close. Rather, it just amuses me that nearly all commentators (here and in rugby media) are predicting one or other version of doom and...

The 'new black' descriptor for very close 2012 S15 wins right at the death or near to it seems to be an acute abuse of the word 'lucky'. Here's a dictionary definition of the word 'luck': "...success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one's own actions..." There is...

So amusing. The early 2011 Reds had a train wreck of an opening 3 rounds, the away loss against the Tahs was perhaps our worst and most meek for some time, and the Force was beaten by a whisker and actually played better than the Reds for most of that 2011 home match and gave the Reds an...

Two exciting things (for me) about this game: - one, great to see the Rebels now really improving in 2012, especially a la the Reds game, this is nothing but a terrific trend line for Aus rugby as a whole, and you'd expect to see significant improvement in Year 2 of a new franchise. - but...

What I find perplexing in much of these negative prognoses is that in early 2011 we had a very mediocre start to the season, an awful loss to the Tahs, tiny win v Force, an easy 'nothing' win over the then hapless Rebels and a tryless v close win over the Brumbies. Many observers then stated...

Totally agree fp, and it seems that some of us have even decided who the 'best' teams are after just 3 rounds! Maybe that'll be clearer after 6 rounds, but 3?

Re Shipperley. Those who know me can affirm I've been a big fan of Shipps for a couple of years since watching him at my son's club, Brothers in Brisbane. Gnostic and I were blown away at a Brothers' premier grade game last year re just how fast, strong, agile and skilful was this player down...

Of much interest in terms of crowd figures and trends relating thereto will be those for the Tahs v Force game this weekend. IIRC, other than the last game v Brumbies @ ANZ in the 2011 S15 season, the Tahs numbers were trending down to a (gate income and sponsorship) danger zone of around...

Have to say I thought the post-match interviews with White and Mowen were excellent: clear, informative, honest and positive without needless cliches and management speak. I really like the feel (so far) of the White-Mowen pairing...

OK, OK, already ;) , and I certainly 'know it' (I said last week we've become notably over-confident and a nasty loss is possibly what the team and the coaches needed as complete shock therapy). But it's also fair to note that, at this stage last year, all and sundry were attesting that, after...

I know you sympathise with our worrying plight Hawko and I admire your ability to predict the absolutely certain outcome of 'mentally simulated' S15 games. I guess I am just vaguely comforted by a 2012 game line to date of: Reds: 3 played, 0 losses, 3 wins. It's disappointing really. Just a tad...

Absolutely. The Rebels and their fans can rightly be really proud of that performance at Suncorp vs the 2011 champs. Bloody impressive improvement on 2011's games v Reds, and it was no means all 'Reds playing poorly in 2012'. The gradual upwards improvement curve is everything, witness the...

Btw: is not the simply massive impact that clearly Muggleton has had on the Rebels' defence (all aspects, including the willingness to tackle relentlessly, etc.) in a very short time, a gob-smacking advertisement for the power of retaining the right specialist coaches. Namely, the really...

One worrying sign of poorly managed pressure was the likes of Taps and others starting to contract that toxic habit of aimless mid-field kicks that typically are nothing more than golden gifts to the opposition, and typically get neatly taken by one of the more dangerous opposing backs.