Metal Sludge Gossip Board

The next four years are going to be fascinating too. Australia will probably feel like the World Cup came one year too early, but after a bleak period, they're ascending for sure, while the All Blacks are entering a rebuilding phase not unlike 1998 (when we lost five in a row), and have guys like Sonny Bill focussing on Sevens for the Olympics.

Argentina with four more years of regular competition and a new sense of attacking flair could also be primed to make the 'big five' the big six.

Meanwhile South Africa and the Northern Hemisphere teams will feel they've got a lot of work to do, but a lot will change between now and 2019. England and France having been so bad almost makes it more interesting as I have no doubt they'll be better next time.

demolition23 your sig picture is offensive to me please remove it immediately or I will be forced to report you to the Admin






Seriously though well done NZ you deserve it, now bring on the cricket we should have little trouble beating you in that

BootyDaddy69 wrote:demolition23 your sig picture is offensive to me please remove it immediately or I will be forced to report you to the Admin






Seriously though well done NZ you deserve it, now bring on the cricket we should have little trouble beating you in that

Hey, you won the Cricket World Cup and we were losing finalists. We won the Rugby World Cup and you were losing finalists. So I guess what I'm saying is we should both be happy that England were humiliated in each tournament.

demolition23 wrote:

BootyDaddy69 wrote:demolition23 your sig picture is offensive to me please remove it immediately or I will be forced to report you to the Admin






Seriously though well done NZ you deserve it, now bring on the cricket we should have little trouble beating you in that

Hey, you won the Cricket World Cup and we were losing finalists. We won the Rugby World Cup and you were losing finalists. So I guess what I'm saying is we should both be happy that England were humiliated in each tournament.

That is true as long as England keep losing all in good in the world

BootyDaddy69 wrote:demolition23 your sig picture is offensive to me please remove it immediately or I will be forced to report you to the Admin






Seriously though well done NZ you deserve it, now bring on the cricket we should have little trouble beating you in that

If NZ play to their best , they could beat Australia in the cricket test match series coming up.
They have one of their best ever squads, while Australia, it could be argued are rebuilding.
It should make for some interesting viewing.

Cyber Spirit wrote:

BootyDaddy69 wrote:demolition23 your sig picture is offensive to me please remove it immediately or I will be forced to report you to the Admin






Seriously though well done NZ you deserve it, now bring on the cricket we should have little trouble beating you in that

If NZ play to their best , they could beat Australia in the cricket test match series coming up.
They have one of their best ever squads, while Australia, it could be argued are rebuilding.
It should make for some interesting viewing.

True, but we're still big underdogs - bigger than Australia was in the rugby IMO.

Australia lost a lot of players but still the players coming in have had some experience, it will be a great game and a great way to recover after ACDC the night before, day 1 of the first test is always a great watch

BootyDaddy69 wrote:

demolition23 wrote:

BootyDaddy69 wrote:demolition23 your sig picture is offensive to me please remove it immediately or I will be forced to report you to the Admin






Seriously though well done NZ you deserve it, now bring on the cricket we should have little trouble beating you in that

Hey, you won the Cricket World Cup and we were losing finalists. We won the Rugby World Cup and you were losing finalists. So I guess what I'm saying is we should both be happy that England were humiliated in each tournament.

That is true as long as England keep losing all in good in the world

Hey, we just beat NZ in rugby league!

I saw that. Surprising outcome given we dealt to Australia last year.

Sad news breaking. Revolutionary player. Who knows what he could have done if he hadn't been cursed by ill health?

http://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-bl ... ies-report


Happier times, although hard to imagine he was already pretty brutally I'll at this stage.
http://youtu.be/aNbQuRXD6yA

demolition23 wrote:Sad news breaking. Revolutionary player. Who knows what he could have done if he hadn't been cursed by ill health?

http://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-bl ... ies-report


Happier times, although hard to imagine he was already pretty brutally I'll at this stage.
http://youtu.be/aNbQuRXD6yA

First world star of rugby. Incredible player.

Saw McCaw retired today. Not too surprising.

He was always retiring after this Cup - he just didn't want it to be part of the World Cup story. Amazing really, he played part of the last World Cup with a broken foot, a great player with one last chance at the title. And then he went and played another four years.

In McCaw's 14 year career we won 88.5% of the 148 games he played, but only 68% of the 37 games he missed.


As for Jonah, I was just reading about how sick he already was by the time of that dominant 95 semi-final performance. Unreal.

Beyond that, I'll leave it to the Irish.

Calcutta cup belongs to England still!

Weird seeing Scotland as pregame favourites.

Hardly the greatest display, but a good win to start the 6 nations.

pieceofme wrote:Calcutta cup belongs to England still!

Weird seeing Scotland as pregame favourites.

Hardly the greatest display, but a good win to start the 6 nations.

Or the next six nations, as we are wont to call it.

Going to be a fascinating international season. 7s in the Olympics too.

Three wins out of three for England under Jones. First win at Twickenham as well. Next game against Wales. Would be nice to get some revenge on Wales after the World Cup!

Like the stuff Jones says to the press. Some good mind games for sure.

This was an article on BBC.com about banning tackling at schools in England and Wales:

http://www.bbc.com/news/education-35704527

So England still on course for the Grand Slam. Almost blew it against Wales again! Luckily held on this time. Head to France next weekend so fingers crossed!


Went to the 7s tournament this weekend in Vancouver and had a lot of fun. Highlight was definitely Canada beating France with the last kick of the game! In fact, they also did that against Australia the previous day. Needless to day the locals loved it.

Grand Slam.

Well done England. A little surprised to read how uncommon that is.

We have just recruited a guy called Eddie you may be familiar with...

demolition23 wrote:The next four years are going to be fascinating too. Australia will probably feel like the World Cup came one year too early, but after a bleak period, they're ascending for sure, while the All Blacks are entering a rebuilding phase not unlike 1998 (when we lost five in a row)

Shows what I know!
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union ... qxd0e.html

demolition23 wrote:

demolition23 wrote:The next four years are going to be fascinating too. Australia will probably feel like the World Cup came one year too early, but after a bleak period, they're ascending for sure, while the All Blacks are entering a rebuilding phase not unlike 1998 (when we lost five in a row)

Shows what I know!
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union ... qxd0e.html

All Blacks already sealed the Rugby Championship with two games to spare!

Looking forward to the Autumn internationals! See how England do. Feeling confident.

pieceofme wrote:

demolition23 wrote:

demolition23 wrote:The next four years are going to be fascinating too. Australia will probably feel like the World Cup came one year too early, but after a bleak period, they're ascending for sure, while the All Blacks are entering a rebuilding phase not unlike 1998 (when we lost five in a row)

Shows what I know!
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union ... qxd0e.html

All Blacks already sealed the Rugby Championship with two games to spare!

Looking forward to the Autumn internationals! See how England do. Feeling confident.

Embarrassed Australia twice and then two crazy games against Argentina and SA. In both cases it was even after fifty minutes, but it's an 80 minute game and they ended as blowouts. This has been a much smoother transition than 98 (the last time half a team retired).

Shame we're not playing England at the end of the year.

I don't know if anyone here watches English Rugby League, but last weekend's Million Pound Game was crazy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uToyzHLg094

All Blacks v Springboks.
12-9 at half time
57-15 at full time.

Good God what a second half beatdown. Books were still within seven with about twenty minutes to go.

All Blacks win the first Rugby Championship of the post McCaw era by winning all six matches by an average of almost 30 points.

Tenacious_Dio wrote:I don't know if anyone here watches English Rugby League, but last weekend's Million Pound Game was crazy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uToyzHLg094

We used to get a fair bit of English league coverage back in the days of Offiah and Hanley and the Kiwis with Wigan but once we got a team in Australia's league interest dried up a bit.

Tenacious_Dio wrote:I don't know if anyone here watches English Rugby League, but last weekend's Million Pound Game was crazy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uToyzHLg094

I miss watching Saints and Wigan. Cable has been showing some Union league games recently, but of course it's not the same. Rugby League and some county cricket would be awesome to see.

NZ Maori are 28-0 up on the USA Eagles at half time at Toyota Park in Chicago.

Tomorrow the All Blacks play Ireland at Soldier Field.
After sweeping the Rugbt Championship, setting the winning streak record for tier 1 nations, and a bit of a break, there's a decent chance of the All Blacks dipping a bit. Could be much closer than people expect.

demolition23 wrote:NZ Maori are 28-0 up on the USA Eagles at half time at Toyota Park in Chicago.

Tomorrow the All Blacks play Ireland at Soldier Field.
After sweeping the Rugbt Championship, setting the winning streak record for tier 1 nations, and a bit of a break, there's a decent chance of the All Blacks dipping a bit. Could be much closer than people expect.

They will still win though.

Down 25-8 at half-time. This will test the bench!

Wow. Ireland did it. I'm shocked, First time beating New Zealand after 111 years of trying. Maybe they should play in Chicago more often!