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Toulon

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Andrew Slack (58)
Ladies and gentleman that is how you support your team. Jaysus imagine being a player in Toulon at the moment. They look like they're loving it. The crowd are nutters.

Epi I watched a recording of that game lat night. Joe van Niekerk is on bloody fire. Steve Kefu tackled like a man posessed. Annnnddd...Sonny Bill looked bloody decent. He breaks the line, stands up in the taccle and offloads. Looks like he is learning.

The Toulon scrum was scary against a very powerful Perpignan scrum.

Two years ago people were laughing at Toulon...
 
Epi

Epi

Dave Cowper (27)
I regret never getting to a game when I lived over there. The atmosphere at that game would leave any sport in Oz for dead, never mind a super 14 game..
 
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BRIX

Guest
Froggy backs sure don't like to tackle do they?
Click to expand...

Did you see big Henry Tuilagis brute hits on Van Niekerk. 125 kg's of Samoan muscle; Absolutly relentless.

Seems like old Henry had his number until Van Niekerk evened up the ledger with some cheeky footwork inside the big fella to set up Rooneys try.

What about Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe's touch finder too. Wow. I'm a Stade Francais man but Fuck, this Toulon outfit is playing some attractive rugby.

Good post Epi

Tuilagi V Van Niekerk 2008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nz-xysyb70
 
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TOCC

Guest
i just marvel at the lack of French players actually in the Toulon team, whilst im sure there are still quite a few, you cant deny that the game plan revolves around the foreigners
 
matty_k

matty_k

Peter Johnson (47)
Haven't they changed the rules recently to limit the amount of international players in a team?
 
Epi

Epi

Dave Cowper (27)
Last time I checked La Porte (sports minister, ex-not very good french rugby coach) wants to restrict the number of foreigners from next season as he believes it weakens the standard of french rugby. Obviously the fact that France just completed the Grandslam and a french team will probably win the HC means that he is full of merde...

Either way - I believe players from developing countries e.g pacific islands would be exempt anyway so Toulon will be able to get round it for the most part.
 
Blue

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Andrew Slack (58)
TOCC said:
i just marvel at the lack of French players actually in the Toulon team, whilst im sure there are still quite a few, you cant deny that the game plan revolves around the foreigners
Click to expand...

It does.

The Top 14 is more akin to professional football.

Toulone fans donlt seem to be complaining.
 
Ash

Ash

Michael Lynagh (62)
That is Mafi Kefu at 13, not Steve. Mafi was the youngest of the 4 Kefu brothers (Steve was the second oldest, behind Toutai).

Managed to catch a lot of the game on Eurosport. Some good tries in there, and a SBW one-handed carry and offload created a good one for Rooney.
 
Ash

Ash

Michael Lynagh (62)
Digression time. Anyone know how Steve Kefu is going at London Wasps? His centre partner there is Ben Jacobs. Do they actually play together in the centres? Haven't seen the Wasps at all...
 
Scarfman

Scarfman

Knitter of the Scarf
Starts with an Aussie band, then a Maori warrior. Very very odd.

Maybe we need a guy playing an accordian with a Gitane haning from the lip.
 
matty_k

matty_k

Peter Johnson (47)
Umaga should get his agent to get fis face out there for the next Star Trek movie. There is bound to a spot for a Klingon extra.
 
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tranquility

Guest
So, I just watched the Toulon V Brive match. Toulon got up even without many players including; Wilk, Rooney, Mafi, etc. Booking themselves in the finals.

Sonny Bill Williams was consistently a menace at 12 without doing any one thing in particular. He is also getting more natural with the ruck contact, however he is still shoulder barging. But the man is such a physical specimen and also a brilliant footballer. I have never seen anyone play inside the way he does, and considering his age he really could be anything. I am really coming round to the train of thought that the best place for these converts to do their apprenticeships is actually in France away from the super 14. This enables them to earn big cash early on, play plenty of footy (much more than over here), play under less pressure and the best bit is we don't have to pay for the learning curve. Then they can come back to the finishing school of Super rugby.

Based on what I saw tonight Sonny could be a destructive force at next years WC for whichever team he decides to play for.

Also how did we lose Rooney to pommyland? This man should be inked up for the Rebels - I'm not sure anyone in Australia strikes the ball as sweetly as the former Blue mountains boy.
 
Lee Grant

Lee Grant

John Eales (66)
SBW is looking the real deal these days isn't he? His league attributes didn't hold him in good stead last year and he was a bit like a blind lesbian in a fish market, but now in his second season he has sorted things out about what works and what doesn't.

As tranquility says: he has learned to deal with the ruck situation which is a big shock to league players who haven't played the union game before. There is a huge difference in the game stopping, in effect, for every tackle in league, and the union situation.

In league your main goal if you are running north is to get tackled with your head facing north and not south and on your front and not your back. When tackling you want the opposite to happen.

Falling north is exactly wrong in union; instead you want to fall east west with the ball presented south. Also in union you have to make sure that you are tackled near your team mates but it doesn't matter a rat's in league. It takes time to adapt to this and also to lose fear of the touchline when running. Add in dealing with the extra defenders in his 12 position also.

Agree on Rooney - apart from Brock James, who is having a bad patch now, he was the form Aussie playing in the Top14 IMO and looked like a rugby head from Day 1. Unfortunately he qualifies for England and has committed to them.
 
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