 Week one of the Super 14, 2007 version come and gone - instead of 'match
reports', how about some random thoughts from the weekend and the games that I
managed to catch. Might be more interesting than my attempts at being TP
frikkin McLean! Then again, might contain more bile then than your average
Aussie TSF member...
New scrum rules, don't like 'em. Less collapsing perhaps, but more front
rows popping up when the pressure comes on. Much ado about fucking nothing if
you ask me. "Crouch, touch, fondle, touch again, stroke, engage"... Aarrrggghh,
shut up and let them rip into it. If you wanted to reduce the space at the
engage so there was less of a thump, just get the bloody refs to tell the packs
to come closer, and referee that. Not rocket science that needed rule
changes.
What the fark is up with the numbers on the New Zealand franchises jerseys? You
can't see the numbers on the Crusaders or the Chiefs jerseys at all, and they
look just plain ugly, which was not the object of the exercise one would think.
Stylised shitty looking things. They look like bloody Rolf Harris designed them
with his 6 inch house painting brush after a night over dosing on P. Why stuff
around with them - note to the mental midgets at Adidas, change the fuckers back
so you can see them and read them. I see that the Crusaders are going to
change them, but in the article saying this, Adidas talked about trying to jazz
up the numbers as rugby is now 'entertainment', or words to that effect.
Well, newsflash Adidas marketing department, numbers are NOT entertaining, they
are just bloody numbers, used to identify the players, they don't need to be
entertaining!!
The referees and their new directives, they can go and get poked. Or
rather the IRB, who passed down this shit that that is trying to turn rugby into
a non contact, non aggressive sport. We're not playing tiddly winks here you
bastards. Sanitising rugby to the extent that it looks like the IRB is
attempting to do, we may as well be watching synchronised swimming.
The rugby itself with the new 'no ruck, lets see how many yellow cards we
can give out in a weekend' rulings was pretty average I reckon. Players at
ruck and maul (well, not ruck now, pile up) were just belting into each other,
hands all over the ball, knowing that even if they deserve a shoeing, they are
not going to get penalised for it, and in fact might win a one man advantage for
a few minutes. Bloody stupid idea. Rucking should be allowed, and
welcomed, as it will speed the game up. Just come down hard on anyone who
gets a head or ball bag! Even by accident - stamp down hard on this, and
then these 'accidents' won't happen. Ball would be quicker, game more
enjoyable for all - more entertaining. Especially when you add in those
new numbers - is there no stopping the entertainment value - FFS...
Aussie commentators - after five minutes still hate the smarmy bastards.
Mind you, most of the commentators (Kiwis and off shore) have been pretty
average over the last year, so why expect them to change?
Chiefs, ahhhhh, good to see some things never change. At least they have
trampled the hopes of all their fans early in the piece this season, as opposed
to building the hopes to the height of a daisy before shitting on it like an
elephant with the shits.
Speaking of some things never changing - Stephen Donald. By fuck did he
have a rat-shit game. Would have trouble kicking a sandcastle over, let alone
points on a rugby field, and then add in his powder puff tackling, and in
general piss poor decision making, and you wonder why the fuck the Chiefs let
David Hill go. Replacement options, Lavea or Super 14 rookie Murray Williams.
Non changing - Flavell getting a yellow card. Besides the point that it
was not deserved apart from the new retarded IRB 'directives' that unless you
are wearing ballet slippers you cannot stand on a man. So Flavell was binned,
why wasn't Tom Willis for the Chiefs then? New directive, same discrepancies in
referees interpretations, hoo-rah.
Non changing - Ma'a Nonu, first touch of the ball, nice little run, and
losing the ball in contact.
Speed of the mark - the try that drew the Chiefs to 15-18 late in the loss
to the Brumbies. Masega, the little Counties winger, lightning on wheels!
How wrong did the Hurricanes forward pack look? With Kopelani, Latu and
Upton packing down for the breezes, it looked even more wrong than usual, and
the performance of the tight five of the Hurricanes was just like the good old
days. Proof, or partial proof that a loose trio can make a tight five look
good too, as opposed to just the other way around - bring back COllins, Masoe
and So'oialo!!
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