Rugby Union

I think it will be closer than Super Rugby forms suggests. I think Cheika has them building for this game

The ABā€™s have mentally damaged the Wallabies for the foreseeable future. There was a time there when Australia thought they could outplay them but not any more. Their only hope is that the Kiwis donā€™t turn up.

This is going to be ugly

Very ugly!

Oh well, that got ugly real quick.

a National disgraceā€¦worst team in the Australian sporting landscapeā€¦thatā€™s what happens when you forget grassroots rugbyā€¦

Yay, we won the second half.

Not often you see an ABs team get ahead of itself but that second half was awful

:grimacing:

The ABā€™s fall asleep and still win.

Think you are underselling your team @Diggers. The first half last week looks like the anomaly. The next three halves have been very competitive.

@Allblack
I disagree. The 1st half of the first test demonstrated just how sensational that side is. The 2nd half was them at 1/2 capacity. They continued at 1/2 pace in the first half of the 2nd test and the put the pedal to the metal when it was required. The gap between NZ and Aus rugby has never been greater. Development has stalled. The administration of the code is a shambles. Crowds continue to slide at international and Super Rugby level because the product is crap. More people turn up to watch a local game in the NSW competition than do to watch the Warratahs. The best young talent chooses League over Rugby in increasing numbers, narrowing an already shallow talent tool. The sport is, using a health related euphemism, in a serious condition at risk of slipping to critical. Itā€™s hard to see how it can regain the status it had in the mid/late 1990ā€™s-2000ā€™s.

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The NSW court of appeal has upheld the ARUā€™s right to terminate the Western Forceā€™s Super 18 licence leaving the club, itā€™s players, sponsors and the good tax paying people of WA out of pocket to the tune of over $100m. A Forrest today announced plans to form a rival completion outside of the current SANZAR arrangement. Heā€™s got a bit of money behind him after his dividing and conquering of the local indigenous communities up north to swindle the traditional owners out of their full clip of moneys to be extracted in the form of iron ore so who knows, he may actually get this off the ground, World Series Cricket style. Time will tell.

I cant see it. Australia barely has enough talent for 3 strong sides right now let alone another competition which would need teams from the Eastern States as well. The ARU are killing Union in this country. They need to watch the way the AFL support grass roots and start again. There are no short term fixes.

I grew up playing rugby for Nedlands in Perth. They produced some great players and the scene was great but it was never looked after. No one cared outside of NSW and QLD. The poaching of NRL players, the scattergun approach to identifying and nurturing young talent, it is all insane. World Rugby generally needs a strong Wallabies. Going to be waiting a while though,

Since the Western Force has been a thing, they (Western Force) have put enormous resources into junior development and the feeder competition which will all now be lost due to the ARUā€™s bungling. A couple of those lads have worked their way all the way to the Wallabies and a few more are playing for either the Western Force or the other Aus franchises. Itā€™s working in spite of the ARU, not because of them. Itā€™s a disgrace. Little wonder the public are walking away from Rugby. It has been reported that some of the players were in tears at the news today. All that effort for nothing. Andrew Forrest may have let his emotions get the better of him today because I agree with you that he has no hope of establishing a rival league. No chance. Heā€™d get a better return if he put his efforts towards removing the current board of the ARU and replacing it with people who actually know a thing or two about running a system from the ground up and not just at the top end.

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They should throw some money at Vlad.

And some knives.

For the life of me I canā€™t work out what ARUā€™s focus actually is. Elite pathway development? Grassroots growth? They donā€™t seem to be doing anything towards anything at the moment.

As much as I can figure. It is covering ones own ā– ā– ā– 

ARU seems to be a bunch of old school ties doing their best to safeguard the game from outsiders.

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