Le palmarès de la 20e Nuit du Rugby : Antoine Dupont reste le meilleur joueur

Schmidt has world rugby IQ also. Due to a variety of factors there are not many coaches like that in NZ but with the Irish/British/French/S.African mash there are plenty in that bigger group.

It may not be significant but I notice that NZ improved dramatically against Argentina a week after playing them in the flesh. The ability to accurately analyze and work out an opponent in great detail before playing them is a skillset not as required in league rugby where you see opponents often.

NZ were able to dismantle Ireland and co. under Foster/Schmidt. Not seeing it this time until the second match when first defgree evidence is available. NZ V SA is a different situation as those two have moulded each other over the years with not many chinks left to exploit.

Plz Ben get a fucking grip in yourself. You are embarrassing. We all know Ireland and the Boks are 1 and 2 in the world & WHO GIVES A CRAP about the rankings. NOBODY cares how many week or months you are number 1 IF YOU DONT WIN THE WORLD CUP.

Problem is not the talent coming through in Ireland it's how and when they are getting their experience in tier 1 rugby. problem with the current system is it doesn't allow for any mentoring by the 1st team or opportunity to adapt to the higher pace and pressure. There's a big difference between playing in an emerging Ireland tour and being dropped in a must win six nations game. Need to find the balance of introducing young players to key games and keeping experience and cool heads on the field to guide and mentor them. URC has definitely stepped up recently but does also create an additional layer of "us vs them" mentality with the provinces, so building combinations gets tricky if not done right and can lead to over indexing in selection of one province rather than the best player

I saw winning the 3 games in July as a non negotiable, so it was job done in July. I had hopes that we could push the Boks in at least one tests against them but that didn't happen. Ending the tournament with just 1 win would be disappointing, so a win this weekend is important. I think 2 wins in Europe is feasible but England and Ireland will be a bridge too far.

I am honoured that you would, in your delirium, refer to your humble servant in a comment to a third party. How is it that I am so fortunate to have been elevated to an unpaid dwelling between your dull ears...

May I thank you for, once again, proving your undisputed position as king of moronia through your clumsy use of language, as well as your misplaced and no doubt unintentionally hilarious "mocking" of my grammar.

If I may be so bold, the following two lumps of coal stand out:

1. The correct reference to me in the context above, if you choose to use apostrophes, would be "The One's". "The Ones" is a reference to a grouping of some sort, e.g. "Terry24 and Ben Smith are the ones who ruin the otherwise intelligent conversation on this site."

2. The second point that I wish to raise, with great respect and humility of course, is the unfortunate statement "Disgusting given you're history". It should be "Disgusting, given your history".

I hope to have served you in some small way, your xenophobicness, although I doubt your ability to grasp the meaning of my remarks. After all, your title has been well earned. You're undoubtedly the king of dullards (among other titles, your blockingness).

The alleged non compliance was due to legislation not being passed yet through to law in SA, nothing to do with Springboks, inadequate doping measures etc. legislation was passed through in June so fully compliant.

By all means keep misrepresenting the facts and speaking half truths if it makes you feel better about yourself

As I noted above in another reply, Jeffrey is the man to take over and get WR out of the stone age.

And hoping that Jeffrey gets the job, DP (see below), and I, would love to see Rassie as chairman maybe in four years' time because he would certainly improve union even more than JJ will have done. He's a rugby genius and the game would benefit hugely from his input, not that I'm biased in any shape, size or form!

Before you mention his lions tour video rant that was not to get under the lions skin but instead to get a reaction from world rugby and the refs. To this day I don't think I've seen another ref laugh at or brush off one Kolisi questions since... So mission accomplished.

Nienaber and Jones have strong accolades in their own rights but don't write off Rassie as someone who rides coat tales and don't discount how he has helped develop and sponsor them. His track record speaks for itself. Remembering his skill set isn't tactics and strategies it's build teams and support systems. SA have in large part him to thank for their approach to player depth and success of their rush defense, with all the ground work and systems he put in place across WP, the Free state and during his tenure as technical assistant to SA.

In terms of their future I'd say it's looking bright. Barring the Argentinian game there has been a lot of points left on the field by the boks and with time some of those players will gel and start converting those points. I wish I was as optimistic about Ireland however I'm growing more and more nervous that Schmidt aversion for blooding new players has hampered Ireland's depth and hamstrung Farrel, in particular across the backline. Larmour, Keenan, Frawley and Crowley should all have gotten call ups earlier than they did to start getting mentored and engrained in the team. Seem to be the only team in WR to debut players only after they turn 22 y.o

When the season started, I hoped we'd win the first 3 games, one against Argentina and one out of 4 against SA and NZ plus 2 on tour so, slightly better than 50%. Still a chance I suppose