The Official Super14 Thread.

[Capital_Shark]

ARE YOU SERIOUS?

:!:

He is only the All Black captain, and the best player in the world!

Oh okay, good on him then. Best union player in the world? He might be up to scratch to be a union-to-league convert..

[Go_The_Doggies]

Oh okay, good on him then. Best union player in the world? He might be up to scratch to be a union-to-league convert..

hahaha NAH lol.

richie isnt going anywhere!

i'd cry if he left union.

just like i'll/i'd cry if Ma'a Nonu, or Piri Weepu ever go to league!! :box:

[Coaster]

hahaha NAH lol.

richie isnt going anywhere!

i'd cry if he left union.

just like i'll/i'd cry if Ma'a Nonu, or Piri Weepu ever go to league!! :box:

So would Rabs

[HighTitan]

Bizarre end to stalemate
By Darren Walton
March 02, 2007

NEW South Wales and Western Force fought out a thrilling 16-16 draw in the Super 14 derby at Aussie Stadium in Sydney tonight.

Mat Giteau produced a flash of brilliance to put Force within touching distance of its maiden win over an Australian opponent, but Waratahs full back Peter Hewat landed a penalty goal 15 minutes from time to deny the second-season franchise.

Giteau lit up Aussie Stadium with a breathtaking solo try early in the second half to give his team - which had trailed 13-0 at one stage - the lead for the first time.

Australian rugby's highest-paid player bamboozled Waratahs trio Will Caldwell, Wycliff Palu and Daniel Halangahu with a vicious right-foot step before outstripping the cover defence of opposing five-eighth Kurtley Beale.

Hewat levelled the scores in the 65th minute, and the game ended on a bizarre note when Waratahs replacement Sam Norton-Knight suffered a "brain explosion" at the death.

The Waratahs were awarded a penalty on the buzzer, 40 metres out on the right-hand touchline, presenting Hewat with what should have been an opportunity to kick New South Wales to victory, but Norton-Knight took a quick tap and kicked the ball out.

Hewat, who had earlier notched his 400th point for the Waratahs, was left aghast, standing with his hands on hips, while Norton-Knight's selfish act disgusted fellow teammate Lote Tuqiri so much that the wing pushed the replacement in the back.

The strange scenario provided a somewhat fitting end to a messy encounter in which the set pieces of both teams were at times diabolical.

If not for the excitement Giteau, Beale and Morgan Turinui generated with some sublime attacking rugby, the 31,149 fans at the ground may have felt short-changed after a week of intense build-up to the game.

The Waratahs jumped out to their 13-0 lead after just 20 minutes, thanks to two early penalty goals from Hewat and a brilliant solo try from Turinui.

Playing on the wing for the first time in his state career, Turinui chimed into the backline from a scrum win on the Force quarter-line, taking a crisp pass from Beale then stepping off his left foot to slice past Ryan Cross and Junior Pelasasa before straightening and accelerating to beat attempted cover tackles from Drew Mitchell and Cameron Shepherd.

Hewat landed the conversion, and few people in the ground would have predicted that he would not score for another 45 minutes - and then only to level the scores.

Giteau had a profound influence that was worthy of earning the visiting team a share of the spoils.
He first capitalised on an overlap on the Waratahs line to put full back Mitchell over, and his stunning strike in the 43rd minute deservedly earned him man-of-the-match honours.

The draw advanced Force to fifth place on the table but left the Waratahs languishing in 11th position.

AAP

Source: www.foxsports.com.au

[Titanium_BD1103]

He apologised in the media today for the incident. The moment was pretty tense for all who were there... Norton-Knight tried to be a hero when the correct option would be to take the 2 and stop the draw... Lote got frustrated like most fans were... but he let emotion get the better of him.

I think the whole thing is starting to take a toll on him... best hope he can sort it out soon for the sake of his playing prospects for 2007.

From: http://www.sportal.com.au/union.asp?i=news&id=95285

Tuqiri says sorry
by: Greg Campbell
Sportal
New South Wales Test winger Lote Tuqiri apologised to Sam Norton-Knight and his Waratahs team-mates after angrily pushing Norton-Knight at the completion of the 16-16 draw with the Western Force at Aussie Stadium.

Norton-Knight ignored the chance for NSW to win the match with a penalty goal after referee Paul Marks awarded the Waratahs a penalty 40 metres out from the Force line on the stroke of full-time.

With Hewat on his way over to take the shot for goal, Norton-Knight, a second half replacement for Morgan Turinui, grabbed the ball, took a tap penalty and raced ahead before chip kicking towards the Force goal-line.

But after Force winger Cameron Shepherd gathered the ball and hoofed it safely into touch to end the match, Tuqiri raced 20 metres towards Norton-Knight to unleash a verbal spray before pushing him in the back.

Once in the dressing-room, Tuqiri openly apologised to the team and to Norton-Knight saying his passion for winning had boiled over at the end of a frustrating match for the Waratahs.

The Waratahs had looked the good s early, racing to a 13-0 lead courtesy of a lovely running try to Turinui in the 25th minute and goals to Hewat.

But the Force found their rhythm, and struck back with tries to Drew Mitchell and Matt Giteau to lead 16-13 midway through the second half before Hewat kicked a penalty to level the scores with 15 minutes to go.

With the match there for the taking, both sides were guilty of being ultra conservative in the last quarter of the game, looking to not lose the match, rather than going all-out to win it and, as a result, the match fizzled into a disappointing draw.

[Go_The_Doggies]

Lote had NO EXCUSE for doing what he did! Everyone gets frustrated, did you see the AB's push and shove Rodney on the field last year after he had a brain explosion when we lost to the 'Boks? NOPE!

F'ing hell, I don't even want him in Union no more, I don't want him in league either!

[Future Star]

Lote had NO EXCUSE for doing what he did! Everyone gets frustrated, did you see the AB's push and shove Rodney on the field last year after he had a brain explosion when we lost to the 'Boks? NOPE!

F'ing hell, I don't even want him in Union no more, I don't want him in league either!

you're having a brand explosion now....

Lote did nothing wrong, he and whats-his-face are buddies, he came out an apoligized to both him and the genral public. hes handling it well, and shouldn't be punished.

[Social Loafer]

you're having a brand explosion now....

Lote did nothing wrong, he and whats-his-face are buddies, he came out an apoligized to both him and the genral public. hes handling it well, and shouldn't be punished.

I think your after the term 'brain explosion'..

Anyway what Lote did just makes the club look really bad, I remember in 2000 (I think) when Brett Mullins shoved Mark McLinden during a match, it is just something you do not do on the field.. If you want to voice your disgust do it in the change rooms... Having an image of a club that is frustrated and not getting along with each other is never a good thing...

Anyway in some positive news the Brumbies got done 19-7 infront of a crowd of 15,101- The Slide continues

[Go_The_Doggies]

you're having a brand explosion now....

Lote did nothing wrong, he and whats-his-face are buddies, he came out an apoligized to both him and the genral public. hes handling it well, and shouldn't be punished.

Ok so, he can push his own teammate in the back because they are buddies? pfft please!

It was the wrong thing to do, they are TEAMMATES, you don't dothat to your teammates even if you did disagree with the call they made.

[Go_The_Doggies]

I think your after the term 'brain explosion'..

Anyway what Lote did just makes the club look really bad, I remember in 2000 (I think) when Brett Mullins shoved Mark McLinden during a match, it is just something you do not do on the field.. If you want to voice your disgust do it in the change rooms... Having an image of a club that is frustrated and not getting along with each other is never a good thing...

Anyway in some positive news the Brumbies got done 19-7 infront of a crowd of 15,101- The Slide continues

haha brumbies..

that was a ****ing boring match, i wanted to watch the charity shield match but nooo had to watch that!

oh and clinton had a good game from what i seen last night for the reds go clinton! the only reds player i like!

[Capital_Shark]

Johns puts the Reg into Reds
March 5, 2007

Queensland rugby whiz-kids Quade Cooper and Berrick Barnes have been told not to panic nor despair, success is just around the corner.

Former NSW rugby league five-eighth Matthew Johns believes the talented Reds duo can repeat the tough initiations of himself and brother Andrew within 12 months.

Johns heeded a call from Reds coach Eddie Jones on Monday to be a surprise tutor to Cooper and Barnes at training at Ballymore before offering further advice over lunch in Brisbane.

The pair struck a scintillating combination early in Saturday night's loss to the Lions before the Reds self-destructed for a fourth straight loss.

Johns, who also tutors Melbourne Storm halves Greg Inglis and Cooper Cronk, cautioned Cooper, 18, and Barnes, 20, about allowing beleaguered Queensland's rut to mess with their heads.

"At the moment the Reds are having a tough trot and as young guys you can be too harsh on yourself so we had a yarn about that,'' Johns told AAP.

"Sometimes having hard times at the very start of your career is not a bad thing because what it does is teach you a lot of lessons.

"They're painful lessons but they're good ones and it's going to put them in good stead for years to come.

"They're on a steep learning curve but whether it be two weeks, a month or 12 months I don't know, but eventually I have no doubts these blokes will be two of the best players in their positions.''

The Newcastle premiership five-eighth related how he and his superstar sibling were in the same position at the start of their careers with the Knights in 1993 and 1994.

"When Andrew and I first started playing first grade together we were playing sides that were sometimes beating us 42-0 and more and we'd go home and you honestly felt you were never going to make it,'' he said.

"But then 12 months down the track you were doing the same to them.

"I remember thinking 'My God this is not the way it's meant to be'. And I can see the same in these guys, but it turns around quickly.''

By 1995, the Knights were a premiership force and the Johns brothers were named together in the NSW halves for the State of Origin series.

Cooper, ordered off-limits to the media by Jones, scored a try in his starting debut against the Lions which had former Queensland playmakers Elton Flatley and Paul McLean rating him a future star to vie with NSW dynamo Kurtley Beale for Test selection.

Johns also liked what he saw in the elusive running game and ball-play of Cooper, which reminded him of West Tigers star Benji Marshall.

Former Brisbane Bronco Barnes, who moved to inside centre from five-eighth, also enjoyed his new roving commission, helping set up both of the Reds' tries.

Johns highlighted the similarities in league's halfback and five-eighth combination to union's five-eighth and inside-centre pairing and said he gave similar advice to the Storm playmakers.

While his Reg Regan character was nowhere to be found, Johns joked his tuition wouldn't make him any more popular north of the border.

"A NSW rugby league bloke up here in Queensland helping with rugby union, it probably makes me as popular as al-Qaeda,'' he said.

AAP

First they buy league players, now they have league icons teaching them to play. Are union trying to prove the point that league is the superior code? To improve their game, they fill it with league players being coached by ex-league players. Deadset they'll have 13 blokes on the field soon.

[Go_The_Doggies]

Lol @ Eddie Jones..

Hes blaming the Western Force for Australia's **** round in the super14!

Hey mate, look where you own team is, LAST, and then look where the Farce are, 6TH, which might I add is the highest position that any Australian team is in atm.