NZ Politics TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 4 days ago • 83%

thespinoff.co.nz

Write up from my old mate Max Rashbrooke on the success of the school lunch program, and the likely impacts of the cuts to the program from the National-Act-NZ First government.

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 7 days ago • 100%

**Table:** |Pos.|Team|P|W|B|PTS| |-|-|-|-|-|-| |1|Wellington|6|6|6|30| |2|Hawke's Bay|6|5|7|27| |3|Tasman|5|5|3|23| |4|BoP|6|4|6|22| |5|Taranaki|5|4|4|20| |6|Waikato|6|3|5|17| |7|Canterbury|6|3|3|15| |8|Otago|6|2|4|12| |9|Counties-Manukau|6|2|4|12| |10|North Harbour|5|1|7|11| |11|Southland|5|2|7|11| |12|Auckland|5|1|3|7| |13|Northland|6|1|3|7| |14|Manawatū|5|0|2|2| **Fixtures:** 13/09: - Southland v Canterbury 14/09: - BoP v Taranaki - North Harbour v Manawatū - Waikato v Hawke's Bay 15/09: - Counties-Manukau v Otago - Tasman v Wellington - Northland v Auckland 18/09: - Manawatū v Southland **Predictions:** Canterbury 9- BoP 5+ North Harbour 25+ Hawke's Bay 5- Otago 5- Wellington 3+ Auckland 9- Southland 5- **Notes:** Well, after the absolute tragedy that befell Hawke's Bay in their Shield defense against the Mako, i'm hoping Wellington will visit Nelson and at least ensure that Tasman only get to celebrate for a week. That should be a hell of a game with all of the squad ABs being released to play for their provinces and Wellington have been very good so far this season. Last weekend saw a lot of movement in the bottom half of the table - with lots of drama as well. See if you can find clip of wet-ball-gate from the Battle of the Bridge. Absolute dastardly shithousery robbed North Harbour. There's plenty of other good matches ahead this weekend too - BoP v Taranaki should settle who's in 4th place, and the mid-week home game for the Turbos could be their only chance of picking up a win this season. I'm glad the tests are over for this weekend, hopefully the rugby pundits down here will pay *some* attention to the NPC in their shows. But likely it'll get a passing mention while they spend 45 minutes talking up the Wobblies and then at the end of the season they'll have another moan about how nobody cares about the NPC.

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 2 weeks ago • 80%

**Table:** |Pos.|Team|P|W|B|PTS| |-|-|-|-|-|-| |1|Hawke's Bay|5|5|5|25| |2|Wellington|4|4|4|20| |3|Tasman|4|4|3|19| |4|BoP|5|3|5|17| |5|Waikato|5|3|4|16| |6|Taranaki|4|3|3|15| |7|Southland|4|2|2|10| |8|Otago|4|2|2|10| |9|Canterbury|5|2|2|10| |10|North Harbour|4|1|5|9| |11|Northland|5|1|3|7| |12|Counties-Manukau|5|1|3|7| |13|Auckland|4|0|2|2| |14|Manawatū|4|0|2|2| **Fixtures:** Friday 06/09: BoP v Manawatū Saturday 07/09: Auckland v North Harbour Wellington v Southland Otago v Canterbury Hawke's Bay v Tasman (Ranfurly Shield) Sunday 08/09: Taranaki v Waikato Counties-Manukau v Northland Wednesday 11/09: Otago v Wellington **Notes:** The biggest game this round is the Ranfurly Shield match on Saturday night, Tasman have never one it as the combined union of Marlborough/Nelson Bays so they'll be up for it; and of course Hawke's Bay will be desperate to keep their winning record. Whoever wins gets both the log o' wood and top of the table. Other than that, there's a couple of other usually fierce derbies. The Battle of the Bridge on Satuurday, then Otago v Canterbury. Most of the rest of the matches aren't especially exciting. **My Predictions:** BoP 24+ North Harbour 9- Wellington 18+ Otago 3- Hawke's Bay 3- Taranaki 9+ Northland 9- Wellington 6+

NZ Politics TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 2 weeks ago • 100%

www.nzherald.co.nz

Unfortunately that's behind a paywall, but there's ways and means of reading it, eg via RSS subscription to NZ Herald. A couple of notes for the benefit of those that can't read it. Two lecturers in maths education have pointed out that Luxon's claim that there is a crisis is misleading as the achievement data is "based on a new draft curriculum, with a higher benchmark compared to previous years." ie, the standard for achievement is higher, not the level of maths knowledge declining suddenly. In fact "We’ve been tracking student achievement in mathematics at Year 8 for more than 10 years, and in that time, there has been no evidence for improvement or decline." More alarmingly for me, a ministerial advisory group was setup which has recommended a new curriculum even while acknowledging there is a lack of evidence for teaching maths the way it proscribes. That advisory group is chaired by an NZ Initiative idealogue, Dr Michael Johnston and the article almost infers he is basically pushing his own manifesto on how education should be conducted into the curriculum - again, despite evidence it has application to maths education. For anyone that doesn't know, the NZ Initiative was formed by merging the Business Roundtable and the NZ Institute. They are far right neoliberal idealogues and you'll see people cycle through the organisation before going into political reporting or lobbying, or in Nicola Willis case being placed into political party roles.

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 3 weeks ago • 100%

www.provincial.rugby

**Table:** |Pos.|Team|P|W|B|PTS| |-|-|-|-|-|-| |1|Hawke's Bay|4|4|4|20| |2|BoP|4|3|5|17| |3|Wellington|3|3|3|15| |4|Tasman|3|3|2|14| |5|Taranaki|3|2|3|11| |6|Canterbury|4|2|2|10| |7|Otago|3|2|1|9| |8|North Harbour|3|1|3|7| |9|Waikato|3|1|2|6| |10|Southland|3|1|1|5| |11|Northland|3|1|1|5| |12|Auckland|3|0|2|2| |13|Counties-Manukau|4|0|2|2| |14|Manawatū|3|0|1|1| **Fixtures:** Friday 30/08: - Northland v Southland Saturday 31/08: - North Harbour v Counties-Manukau - Taranaki v Otago - Waikato v Auckland - Tasman v BoP Sunday 01/09: - Canterbury v Wellington - Manawatū v Hawke's Bay Wednesday 04/09: - Waikato v Northland **My Predictions:** - Northland 9+ - North Habour 18+ - Taranaki 6+ - Waikato 9+ - Tasman 6+ - Wellington 9- - Hawke's Bay 15+ - Northland 6- **1/3 of Round Robin Notes:** With Round 3/9 complete now (the fixtures list I refer to has the playoffs as Rounds 10-12 which is a bit random) I figured i'd entertain myself by doing a bit of a stock-take of where we are at. The defending champs Taranaki are progressing ok with their 1 loss so far coming away to one of the top 4 teams Wellington, are sitting ok, but the draw is a little unkind to them in that their easier games are mostly at home but they still have to play BoP, Tasman & Hawke's Bay on the road. The comp progresses through quarter-finals, semis to the final so they'll make the playoffs but will need to work hard to get the home advantage they had last year. The beaten finalists Hawke's Bay are looking quite good especially this week picking up a win away in Canterbury during the storm week. Time will tell though as its all tough games from now, even this Sunday's match against cellar dwellers Manawatū could be banana peel being the 3rd match in 9 days. Probably the biggest surprise so far is how average Waikato, and how poor Auckland have been. You know you're having a bad season when Southland are ahead of you on the table. The current top 5 look likely to make the playoffs, of the rest Canterbury will surely make it in though are battling a lot of injuries. The table feels a bit similar to Super Rugby this year. The top 4-5 are clear but places 6-12 are still probably anyone's to take and really only Manawatū & Counties-Manukau are looking completely out of the running. Crowd wise - its the usual story. The over-saturated Super Rugby markets that struggled to get people to turn up unless it was a big game struggle to get people to show to the NPC. But the provinces that get one or no Super Rugby matches are having pretty good crowds in attendance from what i've seen so far.

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 4 weeks ago • 100%

www.nzherald.co.nz

This is my editorialising, but I struggle to see how its not yet more Crusaders bias selecting Bower over Numia. I get that the latter is uncapped and coming off an injury but Numia was probably *the* form prop in Super Rugby this year and is going to be 3rd choice prop, not playing in either game unless there's an injury anyway. Bower's only come back from even more serious injury this year and while he's had some tests under his belt i'd say there's just as many question marks over his international game with answers as unanswered questions about Numia.

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 4 weeks ago • 100%

**Table:** |Pos.|Team|P|W|B|PTS| |-|-|-|-|-|-| |1|BoP|3|3|3|15| |2|Hawke's Bay|2|2|2|10| |3|Wellington|2|2|2|10| |4|Tasman|2|2|1|9| |5|Taranaki|2|1|2|6| |6|Northland|2|1|1|5| |7|Canterbury|2|1|1|5| |8|Waikato|2|1|1|5| |9|Southland|2|1|0|4| |10|Otago|2|1|0|4| |11|North Harbour|2|0|2|2| |12|Counties-Manukau|3|0|2|2| |13|Auckland|2|0|1|1| |14|Manawatū|2|0|0|0| **Fixtures:** Friday 23/08: - Hawke's Bay v Northland *(Ranfurly Shield Challenge)* Saturday 24/08: - Counties-Manukau v Tasman - Auckland v Canterbury - Southland v Taranaki Sunday 25/08: - Otago v BoP - Wellington v Manawatū - North Harbour v Waikato Wednesday 28/08: - Canterbury v Hawke's Bay **My Predictions:** - Hawkes-Bay 6+ *(I'm on call this week so won't be at McLean Park :( )* - Tasman 18+ - Auckland 6- - Taranaki 6+ - BoP 6+ - Wellington 27+ - North Harbour 6+ - Canterbury 10-

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 1 month ago • 83%

- Australia v South Africa in Perth - New Zealand v Argentina in Auckland

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 1 month ago • 100%

**Table:** |Pos.|Team|P|W|B|PTS| |-|-|-|-|-|-| |1|BoP|2|2|2|10| |2|Tasman|1|1|1|5| |3|Taranaki|1|1|1|5| |4|Canterbury|1|1|1|5| |5|Hawke's Bay|1|1|1|5| |6|Wellington|1|1|1|5| |7|Southland|1|1|0|4| |8|North Harbour|1|0|1|1| |9|Counties-Manukau|2|0|1|1| |10|Auckland|1|0|0|0| |11|Otago|1|0|0|0| |12|Northland|1|0|0|0| |13|Waikato|1|0|0|0| |14|Manawatū|1|0|0|0| **Fixtures:** Friday 16/08: - Otago v Auckland Saturday 17/08: - Northland v Manawatū - Tasman v Canterbury - Hawke's Bay v Southland *(Ranfurly Shield Challenge)* Sunday 18/08: - BoP v North Harbour - Wellington v Taranaki - Counties-Manukau v Waikato **My Predictions:** - Auckland 13+ - Northland 21+ - Tasman 6- - Hawkes-Bay 6+ *(Hoping to make it to McLean Park for this one)* - BoP 13+ - Taranaki 6- - Waikato 13-

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 1 month ago • 100%

Seeing as I care more about the NPC than any other Rugby I feel like I ought to start a thread for this too, even though i'm the only person here that probably has any interest :) Round 1 Fixtures: - Taranaki v Counties-Manukau - Auckland v Wellington - Canterbury v Northland - Southland v Otago - Waikato v Bay of Plenty - North Harbour v Hawkes Bay - Manawatū v Tasman - Bay of Plenty v Counties-Manukau* *Due to the compressed nature of the competition every team has what's called a storm week where they end up playing 3 times in about 10 days which is why this match is marked as the 2nd game in round 1 for these two teams

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 1 month ago • 100%

- Australia v South Africa in Brisbane - New Zealand v Argentina in Wellington

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 2 months ago • 100%

Massive news for Moana Pasifika, probably the biggest signing announcement in the entire history of Super Rugby. No idea how they can afford him, but I've seen some people suggest they picked up some new finance from somewhere. It'll be interesting to see where he plays, possibly at 7 given Inisi had such a huge season at 8 for them this year.

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 2 months ago • 100%

Decided to tweak it from Summer Internationals bc its been freezing & frosty down here in my part of New Zealand! - Tonga vs Italy - Samoa vs Spain - USA vs Scotland - Canada vs Romania - New Zealand vs England - Australia vs Wales - Japan vs Georgia - Namibia vs Portugal - South Africa vs Ireland - Argentina vs France

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 3 months ago • 100%

Figured i'd write up a summary similar to the end of the round-robin. ## The Losers: **8 - Rebels:** Both a sad and successful way of ending the club. First time making the playoffs, last time playing a game. Some might argue that they spent a lot of money and didn't really get competitive - 8th place was earnt on 5 wins, 9 losses. But they actually played really well at times during the season. Maybe without all the off field stress the slump in the back half wouldn't have been so bad. A decent squad, coached fairly well - but trying to break the sporting market in Melbourne is tough. Even the NRL only has 1 team there in a city of 5 million, vs 9 in Sydney and (sortof) 2 in Brisbane. So small crowds probably leans into weaker home performances. Sad to see them go - the fans they did have were passionate, no idea who can replace them. **7 - Drua:** From some of the smallest passionate crowds to some of the biggest. The Drua are near unbeatable at home in either Lautoka or Suva, and even in the quarter final against Auckland their fans were so loud it almost felt like a home game at times. 6-8 for the season, if they can find a way to consistently win away from home they will easily get a winning record and if they ever got a home quarter or semi, they would be hard not to back to go further. Everybody loves the Drua, and hopes that Moana Pasifika can replicate it! **6 - Highlanders:** Like the Drua, a 6-8 season, the weakest kiwi squad struggled with injuries. When Rhys Patchell was playing they looked like a classic attacking NZ side. When he got injured out of the season up stepped Cam Millar and they went to a simple, old school game of slotting 3s and grinding teams out. I kinda loved it; especially de Groot's nonchalant one arm salute to the posts whenever the referee gave a penalty within 40m. Finally got a win against an NZ team after a long drought, and with a group of younger players maybe they're finally getting a development pathway that catches up with the rest of the clubs. If the playoffs are reduced to 6 next year and the Crusaders aren't having another shocker, they'll struggle to make it. **5 - Reds:** The Reds are the only losing quarter finalist to have a winning round-robin record at 8-6; there's a lot to like about them and their young players will have a lot to draw from in future seasons but boy did they manage to crap the bed at times this season. Particularly away to teams they *should* have been beating. 31-40 away to the Force, 17-14 away to Moana Pasifika after a bye week. You can forgive the losses to the Drua and the Highlanders on the road but to be serious title contenders they'll need to find a way to win one of those and also win home games against teams like the Blues or Brumbies. Possibly their worst result and why I backed the Chiefs 20+ was only just beating the Waratahs who'd only managed wins against the Crusaders before that match. Les Kiss seems like a great coach though and I expect them to do pretty well next year. ## The Semi-finals: Well, given how dominant the top 3 teams were this season (all 12-2 records) its no surprise that with home field advantage the Hurricanes, Blues & Brumbies all made it through. The Chiefs went 9-5 but made light work of the Reds at home in what was in a way the least competitive of the 4 quarters. The Rebels really made the Hurricanes work in the first half, and the Drua and Highlanders competed for a time as well before succumbing to classier outfits. None of the scores were close but they were decent matches; just fairly predictable results given the top 3 teams had double the wins of their opponents! Most of the crowds were on the low side, but the Aus-NZ games tend that way so maybe a bit of a disappointment but expected. **Blues - Brumbies:** This should be a cracker; two great forward packs and direct teams going hammer & tongs. The Blues might be without Tuipolotu which will be a big loss he has been huge at lock for them this season; and Akira Ioane also picked up a niggle. Tricky to pick a winner so maybe just go with the home field advantage? Probably one of those games that needs the squad announcements before making a confident pick. Lolesio & Tom Wright have been great for the Brumbies this season so their backline is working well with a settled midfield combo too. Plus Rob Valetini's floor for performance is so high it's easily other player's ceiling. They have 1 Magpie in Ollie Sapsford so if they weren't Australian i'd be tempted to back them. **Hurricanes - Chiefs:** The 'canes had 4 of my Magpies on the field at once in the quarter so I almost felt like supporting them. Don't know how many people they had at the stadium in Wellington - maybe only 9-10k, but i'd like to think if they'd made a bold call and held the quarter up at McLean park they'd have packed in 13,000 or so which would have looked & sounded cooler. Anyway, the Chiefs have under performed this season and failed in consecutive weeks against the Hurricanes at home, then the Blues away. But they only lost by 3 against the 'canes and can take a lot from how the Rebels used and abrasive defense and heavy work at the breakdown to limit the Hurricanes opportunities. I still think the Hurricanes have enough on defense to hold the Chiefs out, and more on attack to pick up points. If they get a roll on could even be a 13+ win, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Chiefs clinched a tight one.

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 4 months ago • 100%

Figured i'd share my thoughts on how the season shook out and what's coming up in the playoffs. Indulge me! ## The losers: **12 - Waratahs:** Even more injuries than the Crusaders, they've sucked for a few years now and just didn't have the cattle to compete. Maybe next year if they can pick up some decent players from the Rebels. **11 - Moana Pasifika:** Some people rate this year as a bit of a turnaround with a better coaching setup. I'm not sure I see it. They beat the Drua, Reds, Force & Waratahs at "home" but were pretty woeful on the road, including a big game playing in Tonga. They desperately need a real home base (or at least a couple of bases they visit regularly outside of Auckland) and I suspect if SR can't find a 12th team for 2026 they might get dropped for a 10 team comp. **10 - Force:** Of the losers, the Force actually looked pretty good at times. It feels a bit weird due to the allegations which he was acquitted of, but when Kurtley Beale started playing for them, the combo with Donaldson at 10 looked really good. Still they only managed 4 wins - even if they looked hard to beat at home. **9 - Crusaders:** an awful season which the last few rounds showed was more to do with personnel being unavailable than anything else. Take Whitelock, Mounga and Jordan out of a team and they'll lose some stars, but then ask them to do without Taylor, Barrett, Blackadder, Burke and Havili as well and decimate their coaching staff for Razor's benefit. It shouldn't have been a surprise they struggled to win, let alone dominate. On the bright side, their loss was Super Rugby's gain - I think the interest in the comp comes from the unpredictability and SR should strive to ensure no team can dominate like that again, for the benefit of the comp itself. ## The Playoffs: SR has been a season where the top 3 have been awesome - all with 12 wins, then there's been a logjam in the middle until the strugglers who've all had 4 wins except the 'tahs on 2. That makes most of the quarters a little uncompetitive, but still... **Chiefs - Reds:** There's a lot to like from the Reds this year, but they've been really inconsistent and away from home its hard to see them tipping over the Chiefs who've looked good whenever they're not playing the Hurricanes & Blues. Actually to be fair, they've looked ok against them too, but those two are on another level. **Hurricanes - Rebels:** The Rebels form over the last half of the season was awful, I see them getting stomped here. Hurricanes have been too good on attack this seasons. **Blues - Drua:** Everybody knows the Drua are incredible at home, but away they kinda suck. The Blues play a very direct & physical game, they should have even more players coming back for the playoffs and should have a dominant win. **Brumbies - Highlanders:** For a while there it was a chance that the Brumbies could take 2nd, or maybe even 1st place. They are near unbeatable at home. The Highlanders have had huge injury disruptions and have been solid enough but are unlikely to get past this round.

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 4 months ago • 91%

A lot of people mock the fact than in a 12 team competition a whole 8 teams make it into the playoffs. But with the top four teams secured with 2 rounds to go all of the drama is now in who will finish ranked 5th-12th. None of the teams ranked 9-12 are playing each other in the next two rounds, in a way that should significantly change their fortunes (barring 1 game) so I think its mathematically possible for any of them to actually qualify in 8th if the Drua lose both of their next two games. So in a way a generous qualification serves to deliver 4 matches in he first week of the playoffs and ensures there's something to play for all the way to the end of the round-robin. So thinking of the bottom 6 teams... - The Highlanders have the Drua at home, then the Hurricanes away so should bank at least another 4 points putting them on minimum 27. - The Drua struggle away but have the Rebels at home in the last round so should pick up another 4 putting them up on 25. - The Force go away to the Reds, and then have the Brumbies at home so ordinarily you'd think two losses, but they are a real force at home and Kurtley Beale has helped ignite their attack - its plausible they pick up two wins so land anywhere from 23-27 points. - The Crusaders are highly unlikely to beat the Blues away this weekend, then have Moana Pasifika at home. MP were very competitive against the Hurricanes this weekend so I could see an upset but it really depends on if Scott Barrett is back or not. Maybe 19-20 points. - Moana Pasifika are at "home" to the Waratahs and away to the Cru so are probable 19 points, possibly 23. - The Waratahs injury rates are so high that even though Moana Pasifika's "home" game won't give them the edge a normal home game would they probably won't win, and then they're at home to the Reds who haven't travelled well this year. Its possibly they pick up a couple of wins and end up on 20, if they got bonus points their ceiling is 22; but they've had a horrible season and its more likely they'll only land on 12-14. Based on what's likely the current top 8 are the top 8; the most likely change is The Force getting up and dropping either the Highlanders or Drua out depending on which one of them win that match. The top 4 are confirmed, but they all still have plenty to play for if they're hoping to move through the playoffs and want to secure home advantage for more games. Games to watch are Chiefs-Hurricanes this weekend, and then Blues-Chiefs the following as that will decide who finishes where. Also - the kiwi teams are going to be toughened / tired depending on how you look at it as Blues, Hurricanes, Chiefs all have some big games to play against other Kiwi teams heading into the playoffs.

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 4 months ago • 100%

Even more so than Foster, Sam Cane was very unfairly maligned by the NZ Rugby public during the trials of the '22 - '23 seasons. It reflects what we value in our rugby players that being the guy on the field that cleaned up after other's mistakes, did all the hard graft, the heavy tackling, clean-outs that he was often mocked for a drive of only a couple metres when receiving the ball. Most folks missed that what he was doing was giving the ABs attack line a chance to reform while under huge duress from defensive pressure. He hit top form in time for the World Cup and even after all the injuries he'd suffered over the years his defensive hits were huge. I'm a kiwi so of course I think it was unjust that he received a red, while Kolisi got only a yellow given the contrasting force in their two tackles. But even if the ABs had won the cup last year somehow he would still have his doubters back home. He's 32, has had to suffer through some major injuries - deserves a few years making big money with his family close by before retiring from rugby altogether.

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 4 months ago • 90%

www.world.rugby

New law changes confirmed by World Rugby and new law trials announced.

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 5 months ago • 100%

We're in the middle of the 3 bye weeks where each round 4 teams sit down and have a break. So the table looks a bit odd but because of the way the draw plays out at least teams in the top 5 are settled through to the end of Week 9. At the end of next week the possible changes I see are: - Fiji *_might_* get up over the Hurricanes playing at home, but the latter are playing so well and have such a strong squad it seems unlikely. The 'canes would still be top of the table on a loss I think, while Fiji would possibly sneak up to 6th depending on other results. - The Blues play the Brumbies at home and while either could win you'd hope the home advantage means the Blues get a better hold on 2nd place. But with 6 rounds to go after next weekend there's still plenty of movement possible. - Queensland are at home against the Highlanders, and were so woeful against Moana Pasifika that you'd expect some form of response so I don't see the Highlanders moving up the standings in round 9. - The Crusaders managed to lose to The Waratahs who have been decidedly average, leaking a bunch of points in the process. Next they are up against the Force who have been mostly terrible but also managed to beat Queensland at home, so anything's possible here. Either result just shuffles teams around in the group currently outside the playoffs so doesn't impact the top 8. - On the Crusaders, a bunch of their supporters have been holding on to their playoff pedigree and their more than mathematical chance of getting into the playoffs in 8th place, making them a real banana-skin game for whoever is 1st. Stuff like 'If you were in 1st place you wouldn't want to come up against the Crusaders in 8th'. Well, any other year's Crusaders sure, but so far nothing about this year's Cru with their horrid injury toll should cause the Hurricanes, Blues or Brumbies much concern. They will get Scott Barrett back soon, and probably Fergus Burke - though given he's heading off up north i'd just invest the time in Rivez Reihana & Riley Hohepa if I were the coaches. But the bigger loss for mine is Will Jordan not there to offer a spark on attack from 15, and none of their options at 9 offer what Bryn Hall did.

Aotearoa / New Zealand TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 6 months ago • 100%

thespinoff.co.nz

I love the work The Spinoff does.

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 6 months ago • 100%

 It feels a bit mean to enjoy the Crusader's pain so much; but heck - they won 7 in a row so they've had plenty of joy in seasons past.

Aotearoa / New Zealand TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 7 months ago • 100%

www.newshub.co.nz

This story keeps on giving. He lives in Auckland, Parliament was not in session, but hosted a party for his extended family at this unlivable place, and then it turns out he's actually stayed there at least a couple of nights. I wonder who paid for the private Christmas do at the place he doesn't live. Did he have it in the apartment or in the public reception areas. Some other articles suggest he's also stayed there other times as well. So, very unlivable then. I wonder, was he even staying in the apartment he was claiming the $52k benefit on?

Aotearoa / New Zealand TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 7 months ago • 88%

www.hcn.org

Saw this shared on Mastodon and it really made me think of National and their Atlas Network aligned astro-turf organisation the Taxpayer's Onion who campaigned against what they termed the 'ute tax'. If the results of this 2004 study hold true 20 years later, and in New Zealand, then knowingly or not, they in effect have campaigned for and enacted legislation that will kill more New Zealanders. *"A 2004 study found that for every life saved by a motorist who switched from a car to a light truck (SUV or pickup), 4.3 other drivers, pedestrians and cyclists were killed. "* That statistic also suggests that the safety fears driving people to SUVs are completely overblown and over-egged.

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 7 months ago • 100%

Figured I'd start a thread in honour of the initiative nobody asked for, and seemingly hardly anybody wants. The Super Round! All of this weekend's games are held at AAMI park in Melbourne; so yeah, of the 12 teams, 6 of them are missing a home game. But I believe they're compensated by the Victoria State government so they go along with it. Last weekend the Melbourne Rebels had 4000 in the crowd for a home derby against the Brumbies. It'll be interesting to see if they get much of a crowd for any of these games which for the home fans are all bar 1 neutral games.

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 10 months ago • 100%

Does anyone know what streaming options are available for watching MLR and Japan League One games that aren't geo restricted? We're a week out from the Japan season starting, and despite increasing their fees twice in the last 12 months or so Sky in NZ haven't bought the rights this year. As far as I am aware they never bothered with the MLR rights. There's so many kiwis playing in both comps that i'm pretty keen to watch a game from time to time so wondering if there's any globally available (and legit) streaming services that show either of these comps?

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 10 months ago • 92%

www.stuff.co.nz

Article summarises statistics provided by Opta and some from Warren Gatland; with headline stats: 1) This RWC saw fewer offloads per game than any other. 2) The average number of phases per possession dropped to 1.8, compared to 3 in 2019. 3) Ball in play time dropped marginally to 34.18 minutes / game - but excluding halftime breaks some games took over 100 minutes total to play out. 4) Tackles per game have grown to 169, up from 129 in 2019 & 119 in 2015. 5) Kicks per game (might) have grown, Gatland suggesting 57 per game, the highest since 1995. 6) 25% of all kicks are box kicks.

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 10 months ago • 100%

www.nzherald.co.nz

How he thought he could stay on after the fractious last couple of years, and disastrous time since sacking Rennie and hiring Eddie is baffling. NZR and most of the Super Rugby clubs will probably be glad to see the back of him as he was constantly holding a sword over any progress and change for that competition.

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 11 months ago • 100%

I'm not sure if this is a new intiative to get folks fizzing for next year's season, but there's a gap in Rugby news coverage with the World Cup over and no November tours so today starting at 10 NZDT every hour two teams will announce their squads for next season. 10am: Chiefs and Fijian Drua 11am: Highlanders and Rebels 12pm: Moana Pasifika and Waratahs 1pm: Hurricanes and Brumbies 2pm: Blues and Reds 3pm: Crusaders and Force I may be the only Southern Hemisphere rugby nerd here, but if I can spare some time amidst my work day i'll post links to the teams as they come out. Given its a World Cup year there'll be more churn than normal and there's already been a lot of moves pre-announced. Eg some of the big moves are Leigh Halfpenny coming down to the Crusaders, Angus Ta'avao returning to the Blues. What's potentially more interesting off the back of another great NPC season is the wider squad players who will almost certainly be needed as injury cover. Given the departure of Mounga, and uncertain international future for Beauden Barrett, the Flyhalf stocks in NZ are a bit pressed, so one to watch is whether Josh Jacomb gets picked up by anyone.

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 11 months ago • 100%

Excited to see how Stephen Jones improves Lincoln McClutchie's game; and Tom Coventry is a well proven forwards coach.

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 11 months ago • 100%

www.allblacks.com

Going to be some holes to fill; and while I don't watch a huge amount of Super Rugby I think in most places its apparent who the replacements already are. I think its interesting in a way that for some of these players the replacement is already neck & neck with them anyway. **Brodie / Sam** is kinda a combo - I think Scott Barrett is already obviously our #1 lock so its really who comes in as more of a lineout operator I think. Josh Lord is probably first cab off the rank but there's a few other young locks in NZ that look the goods too. **Nepo Laulala** - obvious replacement is already an All Black in Fletcher Newell, so we're probably looking at who would be the 6th prop in the squad and I have no idea. **Aaron Smith** - Cam Roigaard will be there, Finley Christie probably in the squad and then there's lads like Cortez Ratima or Folau Fakatava as well. NZ is not short on decent half backs, we're just short on ones that have got some international rugger under their belts. **Dane Coles** - another instance of replacing a squad member rather than a starting 15 player which is a position NZ isn't often in. Taukeiaho was the #2 #2 already. Of the players coming through, I think Asafo Aumua has been tried and found wanting - if I were NZR i'd be investing time into Tyrone Thompson and Brodie McAlister. **Richie Mo'unga** - Interestingly neither Beaudie or Ardie are listed as departing, so they presumably are both eligible for more games. DMac is the first cab off the rank at 10 for mine. Behind him there's a bit of a gap, Perofeta doesn't even play 10 at NPC and didn't get much time at the Blues. I think Blues should go all in on Zarn Sullivan at 10 anyway. Fergus Burke being out injured next year doesn't help, and Reuben Love looks good but needs a campaign or two at 10 to be sure. Big hole for the ABs unless BB is there as cover. **Shannon Frizell** - Had a great year but I wished he wasn't in the ABs after his off field stuff. Todd Blackadder, Samipeni Finau - younger dudes but just need time in the saddle. **Leicester Fainga'anuku** - Probably should have got more game time, but didn't because you can't deny Telea & Jordan and he was off overseas too early. Jordan will probably play 15, which leaves Emoni Narawa, Shaun Stevenson or Telea. **Ardie/Beaudie** - I dunno how ready for international rugby Ardie will be after playing so much rugby back to back. At 8 we've got the likes of Cullen Grace or Devan Flanders, plus Hoskins Sotutu might find some form too. BB gets replaced by Jordan at 15, but if he's still around as a backup 10 that'd be very much a nice to have; albeit Perofeta fills the same role.

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 11 months ago • 100%

www.theguardian.com

If true, then its no surprise that its Rassie coming up with the scheme.

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 12 months ago • 100%

Interesting selections for the match officials for the quarters. Fra v SA has an all NZ quartet [https://www.rugbyworldcup.com/2023/match/quarter-final-4-winner-pool-a-runner-up-pool-b#match_details](https://www.rugbyworldcup.com/2023/match/quarter-final-4-winner-pool-a-runner-up-pool-b#match_details) Ire v NZ has an all English quartet [https://www.rugbyworldcup.com/2023/match/quarter-final-2-winner-pool-b-runner-up-pool-a#match_details](https://www.rugbyworldcup.com/2023/match/quarter-final-2-winner-pool-b-runner-up-pool-a#match_details) But the two lower ranked quarters (in terms of sides of the draw, and rankings coming into the tournament) both have mixed appointments. Jaco Peyper heads up Wales v Arg [https://www.rugbyworldcup.com/2023/match/quarter-final-1-winner-pool-c-runner-up-pool-d#match_details](https://www.rugbyworldcup.com/2023/match/quarter-final-1-winner-pool-c-runner-up-pool-d#match_details) And Mathieu Raynal has Eng v Fiji [https://www.rugbyworldcup.com/2023/match/quarter-final-3-winner-pool-d-runner-up-pool-c#match_details](https://www.rugbyworldcup.com/2023/match/quarter-final-3-winner-pool-d-runner-up-pool-c#match_details) Its an interesting move, you could see the all English all NZ teams as looking to get a consistent view from the team, which sorta sounds like a good idea. Though depending on results either could be used exactly the same in the next matches, or be impossible depending on which teams go through. The good news is there's no experimenting with giving the whistle to inexperienced ref's, probably the one the NH has seen the least is Ben O'Keefe, but he's taken the whistle in a bunch of finals footy down here and has a pretty good temperament for it. He's also been pretty adaptable at refereeing to they style requested by the organisers too, say where Super Rugby is really clear on jackals supporting body weight and entry to rucks, but international rugby giving much more lee way - he seems to get the balance on point for whatever series he's in.

Aotearoa / New Zealand TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 12 months ago • 100%

www.rnz.co.nz

$2.5m in donations from the property industry to political parties since 2021. 97% of which has gone to National, Act & NZ First.

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 12 months ago • 100%

www.stuff.co.nz

This is an opinion piece arguing Rugby has increasingly become an all forwards game. The interesting section is a brief note on statistics that show the amount of dead time (real-time minus ball-in-play) is very high these days in international rugby. International games will take a minimum of 95 minutes (40+15+40), but increasingly internationals are pushing 120 minutes plus, and a huge chunk of that is time just standing around. In the World Cup some games have had in excess of 70 minutes dead time, while the average is 65 minutes. So much dead time allows players aerobic recovery, and this is what is allowing forwards to get bigger, making the collision even more important, and its why SA is going for 6-2, or 7-1 benches. Big forwards in Rugby are now as important as the big lads in NFL, seen through that lens you can see why the bomb squad makes so much sense. As an NPC fan, this helps to explain why I can't stand watching International rugby nowadays. The NPC averages mid-50s dead time, and some games are even lower. But, on top of the entertainment from the actual game* I suspect this is likely to be causing more lower level brain rattles that aren't obvious concussions and will potentially be a bigger cause of concussion related injuries and illnesses amongst former players in 10-20 years. *The way I look at entertainment is twofold; firstly the game itself - if you were a neutral with absolutely no interest in the result would the game be fun to watch. But the bigger factor is the stakes, which comes from the competition and loyalty to the team. Most of the games i've watched in the World Cup, even from highlights have been failures in terms of game fun, and the only thing making them interesting is the stakes of the tournament itself. The best games have been from teams like Portugal, Uruguay etc where we all know there's no chance they'll progress beyond the pools so the entertainment isn't from the stakes but they way they're playing.

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 1 year ago • 100%

I hate lineout mauls (even though my team the Magpies perfected it a few years ago with Ash Dixon being one of our top try scorers). The way they are refereed allows the attacking team to do almost limitless cheating while putting the entire responsibility for keeping a maul up on the defending team.  I caught this while watching highlights of a glorious game of NPC from last night. This is refereed as, and would be a perfect attacking lineout at the moment, at all levels - all the way up to international rugby. But these angles show just how stupid interpretations from lineouts have become, and why almost everyone kicks for a 5-10m lineout from penalties. If you can get this even half right you'll probably score a try, or even better a penalty try and an over reaction yellow card - similar to how Fiji suffered against Wales. The defending team has no chance here. They must let the player down before tackling, but he is already passing it to someone that the two lifters, and guards are blocking them from tackling while still a meter up in the air.  Then by the time he has landed his two lifters are completely blocking any possible tackle by landing in front of him, with their shoulders pointing longitudinally down the field - perfectly shielding the ball. By all rights this should be penalty against Canterbury here for obstruction, forming a maul in front of the ball carrier.

Lemmy.nz Support TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 1 year ago • 100%

I'm not sure if this is something going wrong, or just how Mastodon works. Anywho, when I go to Communities - Subscribed and click through to this one: https://lemmy.nz/c/rugby@sh.itjust.works There are posts that I think are there that don't show up in that view, eg: https://lemmy.nz/post/1077020 The only reason I know that post exists is because it does show up if I just go to https://lemmy.nz/ so i'm guessing it shows in the Subscribed Posts section, but if it isn't there then i'd be missing the post entirely I guess.

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 1 year ago • 100%

www.bbc.com

Realistically the only option left to WR was to appeal, and hopefully whoever the judiciary is that sits on this one was a bit more sense in it that the last lot.

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 1 year ago • 100%

::: spoiler spoiler NZ 23 - 20 Aus ::: Leaving the result hidden just in case some folks haven't seen it, will chat more in the replies!

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 1 year ago • 100%

Tana didn't have the success at the Blues' that they should have had, but I still think this is a good choice for Moana Pasifika given the coaching options that are available & the demand in NZ with 3 of 5 Super Rugby head coaches moving up to the ABs. I think as with Ian Foster, so long as Tana's assistants are up to scratch he should do ok. The big thing for MP is recruitment and retention of the players they have.

Rugby Union TagMeInSkipIGotThis • 1 year ago • 100%

www.stuff.co.nz

Quite a few surprises in here; pretty disappointed to not see Shooter given a shot at 15 - but I think this give a hint as to who our fullback will be at the RWC.