Another ref jumps fence to join a professional side

Changing up scene so that South Africa aren't beating thier competition all the time will mean enlarging that pool of teams (in SA you still keep the current ones but in NZ they're made up so can so be canned).

I don't think you realise how many SA'n players are abroad at the also ran level in places like Japan and America, and I assume in Europe as well. Your last sentence is the foundation behind how NZ systems is built as well.

Gone with the amateur era aye. A shame, but inevitable when rugby is now so global. It is one of the things that is keeping the game in NZ alive, there is simply now where else to pack up bags and go that has a bigger population/metrics.

You have to pack up the whole home and life if you are these Welsh names playing in NZ.

How the four provinces slice their way up north looked pretty unwieldy on a map, it played out like that in the grass roots structure as well?

I'd love to SR to become a bit part and enable aus to have true state sides that play in it. Brumbies would be the All-Brumbie(Aussie, Kangaroo?) 3rd team made of everyone outside the two states. 50k crowds at a dozen games would be epic.

Watching those next two scrums I thought to myself "why is the scrumhalf so lethargic at putting the ball in and picking it up?" but when I reviewed the first scrum he also just seemed to 'give' the ball to be hooked. You would have thought you'd learn from that first one, even on the fly at test level in the context around the lack of experienced game time.

That first scrum was very well done to be fair, can't be the easiest to repeat but I wonder if it was a head space issue after going back so quickly? Should have kept the priority on fast ball and not holding the shove.

Can't wait to read a few good ideas on where the game can go in Wales. From the surface they are in a much better position than the Australian sides as surely they could simple move two into the English Championship?