Thread: So is Rugby Union dead in Australia?

It's not dead, it just smells rather funny.

And cue Bob, in 3.....2.......1.......

Haha, I've have noticed Bob has been very quiet on this topic lately!

The ARU is to blame. They have not invested any money towards depth in Australian rugby. The whole Quade Cooper fiasco is alive because there is no one good enough to replace a 40 test player that has no vision or skills.

There is no 2nd tier national competition like The rest of the world has which leads to no depth and competition for the national jersey. See above.

Read Ritchie McCaw's autobiography. Then you will have an understanding as to why the AB's have been so successfull over the last 10 years. (RWC exempt haha) The passion to wear the black jersey is massive in NZ. Nothing that any of the current Wallabies have.

There you have it. I should be Wallabies coach, it's that easy.

I don't wanna ruffle feathers, but isn't Aussie Rules Football something like American Football? Sort of in-bred and incestuous?

Doesn't that plus Rugby League totally dilute any efforts to excel in Rugby Union?

Surely you can't have 3 different footy styles?

Originally Posted by jakeslouw

I don't wanna ruffle feathers, but isn't Aussie Rules Football something like American Football? Sort of in-bred and incestuous?

Doesn't that plus Rugby League totally dilute any efforts to excel in Rugby Union?

Surely you can't have 3 different footy styles?

MMM for someone not wishing to ruffle feathers you rub hard Jake!!!

Aussie Rules is what you play when...
-you want to use your hands as well (rules out soccer)
-you dont want to wear armour for sport (there goes gridiron)
-you dont wish to be involved in a sport where one bloke pushes two blokes up the arses of three blokes.... (there goes your rugby)


Lets be honest about the rugby though... you have the better team, and you have a larger pool of people to recruit from... so it could be a while until we catch up!! But one day... we will!

Originally Posted by digger

MMM for someone not wishing to ruffle feathers you rub hard Jake!!!

Aussie Rules is what you play when...
-you want to use your hands as well (rules out soccer)
-you dont want to wear armour for sport (there goes gridiron)
-you dont wish to be involved in a sport where one bloke pushes two blokes up the arses of three blokes.... (there goes your rugby)


Lets be honest about the rugby though... you have the better team, and you have a larger pool of people to recruit from... so it could be a while until we catch up!! But one day... we will!

And they seem to be constantly on the lookout for novel ways to improve on this theme ....................

Remember Hopoate and his "fingers up the bum" playing technique.

And now there's this ............. Anthony Watts banned for penis bite during rugby league match - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

One can only wonder what they'll think of next.

Originally Posted by digger

Lets be honest about the rugby though... you have the better team, and you have a larger pool of people to recruit from... so it could be a while until we catch up!! But one day... we will!

agree with the above

i not a huge fan of rugby.......but always love watching any of the aussies team playing at the top level

i'm sure our day will come

GO THE CATS.........port doesn't have a chance this weekend

Originally Posted by sheerluck

It's not dead, it just smells rather funny.

And cue Bob, in 3.....2.......1.......

ZERO! Anyone with any knowledge of the game would have seen Ewans tactic of playing open running rugby has led to the Wallabies committing less forwards to the breakdown, thus causing far too many turnovers. Opposition coaches picked up on it straight away. Also, the Wallabies just are not fit enough to play that style for 80 minutes. Yet. Genia is on the bench Nic White starting half against the Pumas, but , significantly Ben Mowen is captain, after 6 tests. The great Ken Catchpole led the Wallabies in his debut test in 1961, aged 21. Mark Ella was a test novice Captain in 1982. A new era is beginning, and may I remind the doubters, this is a marathon, not a sprint. To quote John Muggleton;from Fox Sports

Muggleton joined the Wallabies under Rod Macqueen in 1998, and just a year after conceding an average of 23 points, had the Wallabies only giving up 13.4 points per game. A year later — conceding just 13.9 per Test — they won the World Cup.
The former Kangaroos forward said a focus on individual skill in defence played a big part in the turnaround; the same skills he believes were allowed to atrophy in the Deans era.
"Certainly in Robbie Deans’ time they went away from the individual skillset of defence; your tackling technique, your tracking and being in right positions to make the tackle. I can’t speak for the current Wallabies but under Robbie Deans, that wasn’t done as well as it should have been," he said. "Playing that brand of football, there is a skill level that needs to be there defensively as well."
Muggleton said the Wallabies — and fans — should "have faith" in their attacking direction but focus on playing smarter and working harder when it comes to defence to turn the tide.
"Turnovers are the number one source of tries, and second is kicking," Muggleton said.
"If you are going to be that sort of attacking team, you have to have two things: a very definite kicking plan, and you have to work really hard on two phases after a turnover. If you threw a third one in, and this is a trap they can fall into, if you put too many blokes into defensive breakdowns, then that leaves you short in defence as well.
"Everybody just has to have faith. If they believe in what they’re going to do, ignore what people are saying, work hard and it’ll come along.
"Changing a whole style of football for a team, the results are not going to come immediately. It is going to be a road that has a few bumps in it."


Read more: http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/wa...#ixzz2edCqyWjE