99 per cent tackle completion rate helps Tom Gordon win new Glasgow Warriors deal

URC quietly pleased with Croke Park final attendance

Ed the Duck 1 hour ago

Indeed, and who exactly owns the 2nd home? Only in Ireland…

Scott Robertson opens up on drama surrounding Bongi Mbonambi's knock-on try

BH 1 hour ago

I don’t think you know many New Zealand fans based on your anecdotes. And typing things in ALL CAPS does not emphasise your point. Don’t forget that the Boks coach made an hour long video ranting about the refereeing in the Lions series which is one of the worst things to happen in rugby history, it invalidates yours and every other whining Boks fans’ entire perspective about refereeing and nobody will ever forget it.

Scott Robertson opens up on drama surrounding Bongi Mbonambi's knock-on try

BH 1 hour ago

You are definitely not neutral. You are biased and prejudiced against anything related to New Zealand. Useless.

URC quietly pleased with Croke Park final attendance

aO 1 hour ago

Leinsters home venue under reconstruction, 2nd home was already occupied this is the 3rd choice venue

Why Brumbies could be key to avoiding a Lions tour cricket score

NH 1 hour ago

I get the idea of prioritising local, but I think a player has ‘paid their dues’ if they’ve played in aus that season. Seems like a double tax when you don’t pick them when they’re overseas and when they’re planning on it in the future. A player going overseas for 2 years becomes unavailable for 3 years in this case just by a matter of when they sign a contract.

135 Go to comments

JJ 1 hour ago

Adam Beard: 'It’s a bit clichéd, but you only have one life. You want to experience things.'

You have to blame someone. That’s how anti-Social Media works these days!

3 Go to comments

JR 1 hour ago

Scott Robertson opens up on drama surrounding Bongi Mbonambi's knock-on try

When any decision/call is highlighted, fans can easily bring up another, conflicting scenario… The obvious problem is the conflated ruleset that rugby admins have created - which is impossible to officiate perfectly. Instead, refs are each told to ‘interpret’ the rules - which is a recipe for inconsistency and frustration.

The Reds' 'whimpering' exit shows Super Rugby scrums still matter

NH 1 hour ago

Nongorr is someone I criticised alot in the past, I remember you doing pieces under Thorn’s tenure of the reds front row defence in the middle of the park being torn to shred by the kiwi teams, he wasn’t fit/fast enough. This year he is a different animal it seems around the park. Hungry, physical, mobile and getting alot of involvements - love to see it. I still remember a mid season game he took a hitup, ball went the other way next phase, and then there he was again putting his hand up for another carry and this was 2 minutes before halftime. Not sure what’s changed, but a switch has flicked for him. Maybe being under schmidt/Cron last year lit the fire or maybe pressure from Massimo… Scrumming still has a way to go you seem to surmise.

Scott Robertson opens up on drama surrounding Bongi Mbonambi's knock-on try

JR 2 hours ago

Don’t pretend to be neutral. You couldn’t even manage a paragraph without your imagination & resentment spilling out!

The Reds' 'whimpering' exit shows Super Rugby scrums still matter

NH 2 hours ago

I think it comes down to age/maturity Nick and the game at suncorp between the two teams couldn’t have shown this more clearly. Across the park their were comparisons of a muirhead vs junkyard dog = old, stable hand vs the young up and comer. And on all counts the brumbies won that day, playing smart wet weather footy while the reds tried to force playing dry weather footy and got petulant with the ref when things didn’t go their way.

URC quietly pleased with Croke Park final attendance

Red and White Dynamight 2 hours ago

60% of URC teams have average home gates <6000. Take out Leinster/Munster/Bulls/Stormers crowds and its sawdust. zzzzZebra @ 2000. Benetton <4000. Those Welsh clubs ? Dragons <4000, Scarlets <6000 Ospreys <3000

Meanwhile, in the real World of actual Super Rugby data as at 3rd June:-

Total match attendance across the competition has increased 6 per cent year-on-year.

In Australia, Stan Sport has confirmed a 27 per cent increase in average audience across the regular season, while average free-to-air audiences on Nine grew by 13 per cent. Average gates Waratahs >16,000 Reds >15,000. Lowest gate Force 7,000.

In New Zealand, more than 1.83 million people have tuned in, while digital viewership grew by more than 19 per cent. Ave home gates - Highlanders 13,000, Crusaders 13,000 Blues Canes 14,000 Chiefs 14,000. Even Moana are 9,000.

In Fiji concurrent viewership on the Walesi App peaked at 395,436 – more than a third of the Fijian population. Sellout crowds for Drua in Suva and Lautoka (unbeaten).

Super Rugby Pacific became the first domestic rugby competition in the world to achieve a total social media following of 2.5 million, driven by a 25 per cent increase in year-on-year follower growth.

More than 70,000 fans played Fantasy Super Rugby Pacific, making more than 4.5 million player trades across the season.

The Reds' 'whimpering' exit shows Super Rugby scrums still matter

NH 2 hours ago

Reds didn’t get close to beating a top 4 team all year Nick apart from maybe the chiefs game. Worrying considering that last year they took all of the top teams to the wire, winning a couple of games or being within 7 of the others if memory serves. Last year, they competed in the hard games but lost a few easy ones. This year, they won the easy ones but didn’t fire a shot in the real matches. I said it since thier get out of jail escape against the force in the early rounds, they didn’t look up to it and were their own worst enemy trying to force it too much.

The Reds' 'whimpering' exit shows Super Rugby scrums still matter

NH 2 hours ago

I’ve been flying this flag for years Nick. Thorn (and reds HQ) took a bottom of the table team to the top 6 with a bunch of young, academy kids. I think Jim Mckay in particular was also instrumental in developing the tactics of the team where tbh I think Thorn is pretty limited. Those first weeks of the reds under kiss last year showed that they were missing an edge in their gameplan, but at the moment Les has taken a 6th placed team to 5th... Not all that impressive. Where do you think Kiss has erred for all the promise and potential in the reds team? I criticised Thorn for not replacing the lost tight 5 talent of rodda, hockings, Lukhan, BPA, Slipper and thought Kiss was smart to bring in Revi, JTA, Hodgman, Lukhan and Canham. But, imo where the reds lacked this year was in game management, I don’t think Kiss has amply replaced the likes of JOC, hamish stewart, hegarty etc and lost a number of winnable games because they couldn’t get in the right areas of the field. That, and an almost 2019 cheika like stubbornness to try and play an uptempo, fast gameplan no matter the conditions or opposition. Lynagh and HMP have oodles of potential, but they are incredibly young. I think they needed a couple more old heads to help out Tate who imo was all alone in trying to control the game and by far the reds MVP this year.