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Mike Blair, the Scottish 9 and captain, had a cracker of a game last weekend and was one of the best players on the park. He is one to watch. I think the Scots will actually be tougher than you think. Their forwards are solid. The scrum battle should be interesting. Hines, one of their locks, is...

This is my view as well. God help us if we play Mortlock and Cross as a 12, 13 combo. Better ball skills at a chess championship than in that centre pairing.

Hmmm, prominent AFL identity living in Qld. Warwick Capper?

I'm guessing either Flats or Nathan Grey. Grey is an outside bet but I seem to recall him playing at 10 for the wallabies at Twickers. It might have been as a replacement though.

I'm with you Nod. If Barnes and Staniforth were fit, we could afford to do it. As it is, we cant. Gits = Ponting in my mind. Both special talents, but without the mental make up that I would like to see. To be fair to him, I suspect he was probably still carrying an injury from the week before.

Re: Wales vs Springbokke I enjoyed watching this but, I'm sorry to say PB, the Welsh were the only ones doing the entertaining. The Boks defended well, but, more to the point, the Welsh support players werent close enough to the ball carrier who made the break. The Welsh must have bombed at...

I agree with what you are saying Cyclo. What is in Cooper's favour is that he is a natural 10 and, with the possible exception of O'Connor, the only one left in the squad. That Gits is trying to go outside from 10 is a sign something is wrong.

There is some repetition of what has already been discussed in there, but I'm bringing it all together.

I actually disagree with a fair bit of what Stephen Jones has to say... As posted elsewhere: I dont think Robbie Deans will think things are quite as bad as has been suggested by the press or by Magic Martin Johnson. The Wallaby forward pack put in a reasonable performance against what is an...

Re: onwards and upwards - Italy The 2003 Blues and AB teams are the best counterattacking teams I have seen. It doesnt hurt when your back three includes Rupeni, Joe Rok and Howlett (for the Blues) and add in Muliaina (who played 13 for the Blues), however, they used, usually, pass it to...

When we are good enough, it wont matter what the ref does. Dominant teams get the rub of the green. We arent that far off.

I'll play 8 (assuming any surgical intervention between now and 2011 allows it).

Mate having an opinion isnt fishing as long as you can justify it. I agree with many of the points you have made and have made some of them myself previously. Captaincy isnt relevant to who is the best openside. McCaw has improved this year anyway. Smith is a better ball player. I would love...

Which is why we see so many 150kg front rowers? More than ever, they need to be able to run, pass, tackle and hit breakdowns. I suspect front rowers wont get heavier but, you are right, they probably wont get much lighter either. However, overly heavy and muscular back five players and backs...

I agree Virgil. Can we leave the nonsense out of it? Smith probably deserves a spot on the World XV bench but he isnt quite at McCaw's standard and they both play as close the edge as possible. I dont think any of us come to the scarf for anti kiwi 'jokes'*. *a joke that isnt funny is just...

If its an advantage to be fitter and faster, they might also weigh less.

I disagree. I dont want the same absurd situation arising for rugby as has arisen for this league world cup. That is a disaster and shows international league as a joke. Rugby doesnt need to go down that path.

To go back to a little bit of schoolboy physics, Force = Mass x Acceleration. The players are 10-20 kg heavier than they were even 15 years ago. They are also faster and fitter meaning the collisions are happening right throughout the game. Replacements are allowed throughtout a game. The...

Last time I looked he was starting most games but only playing between 43 and 60 mins. http://www.itsrugby.co.uk/modules/site/player3.php?id_same_year=103&id_season=602&id_player=2512&id_team=24&stat=min

If they want to play, they will play. I will have mixed feelings though (which is what I said above). Of course there are more dangerous sports, but rugby, particularly at higher levels, is becoming more and more brutal.