A honest question from a Kiwi about Richie and Australia

[Scarfman]

OK Jay, maybe I'm unfairly lumping you in with some other guys.

Next time I make this claim about McCaw maybe you can back me up, eh?

 

[hawktrain]

All these people who hate Ali Williams! I must be the only one who thinks he's hilarious. I've read his books and he seems like a really good bloke, pity about all his injuries because before them he was right up there with the best locks in the world.

I can understand why he rubs some people the wrong way though. I guess he's a bit like Quade, some of us hate him, but there are others who think he's god's gift to Aussie rugby.

 

[Lyall]

Please excuse my ignorance but I didn't get the "beans" thing.

Does Ritchie think that Quade hasn't got his beans yet?
If not, what beans do you think Ritchie would think appropriate? - Playing rugby no more (a permanent injury, going to rugby league, an ARU dummy spit), 'sorted' on the field or my favourite, the golden egg kind?

EDIT: I ask this because I can help but think that the Quade/Richie thing might have played right into the All Blacks hands. After all Richie seems an otherwise thoroughly nice bloke so why hasn't he patched it up with Quade (maybe he's already tried)?

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

All these people who hate Ali Williams! I must be the only one who thinks he's hilarious. I've read his books and he seems like a really good bloke, pity about all his injuries because before them he was right up there with the best locks in the world.

I can understand why he rubs some people the wrong way though. I guess he's a bit like Quade, some of us hate him, but there are others who think he's god's gift to Aussie rugby.

My own view is that Ali is a pest on the field but seems like a top bloke off it. His book(s) are pretty funny.

 

[Gagger]

Ok - genuine question from me:

Do you (or anyone else for that matter) honestly think that McCaw got preferential treatment from refs due to POB being in charge?

I don't deny McCaw cheats (as you say, job descript of most 7's) and I can acknowledge that he may indeed cheat more than most. But surely he gets away with it cause he's very good at it and knows when and where to push the boundaries rather than due to some conspiracy?

We need this framed or made sticky in some way for future use.

 

[Scarfman]

But how could we do that, Gags?

 

[Gagger]

What's so nice is how Jay let this one slip while defending Paddy O'Brien. It's some sort of karma, surely?

 

[Jay]

What's so nice is how Jay let this one slip while defending Paddy O'Brien. It's some sort of karma, surely?

Yeah, denying there's a global conspiracy is defending Paddy O'Brien.

Fucks sake, I know it's your place and your rules but you're acting like a smug fucking prick.

See you round.

 

[Gagger]

Pot, kettle.

 

[disco]

I don't hate the man as I don't know him.

But purely rugby speaking I don't like him I honestly believe that he goes out of his way to cheat & infringe. I think the difference between McCaw & other opensides is that pilfering the ball isn't his 1st objective I think his 1st objective is to disrupt & slow down the ball usually be falling on the wrong side of the ruck & being a general nuisance off his feet.

Slowing down opposition ball & being a nuisance is part of the game he just does it illegally more often than not.His favourite method is to flop on the wrong side of the ruck & playing the ball on the ground is also a Richie favourite.

But to put it in perspective for a Kiwi it would be like needing a boundry off the last delivery in a cricket match & the opposition rolls you an underarm sure it's part of the game it's just not great sportsmanship.

 

[AlexH]

Probably left before full time - as many do: perhaps McCaw could take the mike at 1/2 time.

frankly, his graciousness in victory (and Carter's etc) is what gives me the shits - they should at least conduct themselves in such a way as to make it easy to loathe them

Mate, I know that's how you and your Waratah fan mates carry on but in Queensland we do not boo the home team even when they are playing atrociously.

Nor do we walk out on our team at half-time

this is just plain untrue.
Listen to the post-match speeches on YouTube. Just because he doesn't use the formulaic "full credit to XXX" doesn't mean he doesn't acknowledge the opposition.
Instead he says stuff like "they certainly played a pretty physical game and took it to us early on" or "for the first 40 we were on the backfoot really, couldn't get our hands on the ball".

The Pocock-McCaw-drivel is not even worth arguing about

Yeah mate that is a load of shit.

I have never, ever heard Richie just give the opposition a wrap for playing well or putting the All Blacks under pressure. Its always a case of "we let them into the game" not "they had our number for that part of the game well done". Just about every other captain I have heard give a post-match speech will acknolwedge the opposition when they play well. Richie does not. It sounds as the SFS post-match speech I missed was the exception to this observation, but shit, how many tests has Richie played as captain of the ABs again?

 

[cyclopath]

AlexH, cut out the thinly veiled trolling. This thread has nothing to do with the Waratahs.
You could probably be a little less aggro in calling people's posts "shit" too. By all means disagree, but tone it down.

 

[AlexH]

Well, my second sentence responding to post by Inside Shoulder that I quoted disappeared so I will re-write it here:

"Nor do we walk out on our team at half-time."

 

[cyclopath]

That's all very well, but again, hardly the point of the thread.

 

[AlexH]

Neither is speculating about whether or not I left the game at half-time.

 

[cyclopath]

He didn't, he said "before full-time", which is not the same thing, but a very Sydney-centric thing a lot of spectators seem to do (dunno why). I suggest you let it go.

 

[hawktrain]

I actually think McCaw does the best post match interviews of any captain nowadays. You can tell he actually thinks about his answers rather than just ticking off his list of clichés.

 

[The Red Baron]

I actually think McCaw does the best post match interviews of any captain nowadays. You can tell he actually thinks about his answers rather than just ticking off his list of clichés.

I think this pretty much sums up Richie when it comes to post match interviews. I have always found him to be quite diplomatic when speaking after a game.

It's not like he gets out and says "yeah, we fucking rolled them yet again. This is getting too easy for us now". He also is not going to talk at length about his oppositions strengths and failings, that the realm of the opposing captain.

From post match interviews I have seem him give, he always gives a fair appraisal of what his team did, and will generally comment on how tough the going was on the field, given the situation. I can see how that might come across as arrogant, but hey, he is the captain of the best bloody rugby team in the world.

This isn't the reason I dislike him. As I commented earlier, it is the fact that he is the skipper of a team that constantly hands us our arse. Bastard..

 

[drewprint]

Regarding the Quade push, I wouldn't say I was outraged but I did think it was a fucking bogan dickhead thing to do - if your first instinct is to stick it to one of the opposition rather than celebrate the win (or good chance of it in that case), you're probably a dick. I would have thought the same thing if it had been Stephen Donald or Cory Jane who Quade had pushed (or indeed if it had been them who did the push).

Kind of like in McCaw's autobiography, it seems? Deans down, NZ flying, time to lay in.

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/a...says-skipper-richie-mccaw-20121009-27ad5.html

 

[hawktrain]

I think it's just coincidence that the book came out at this point. I don't know why everyone has gotten so worried about this (and what Graham Henry said in his book). I'd rather they tell the truth rather than sugar coating it and McCaw saying how much he wished both of them could've had the job equally etc when that wasn't true.

Got a good laugh out of the 'filthy Richie' headline in the SMH though, its such an over-reaction to a non-story.