The Rugby thread

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Officially knocked out and it's not like European supporters even wanted SA teams there anyways.

I'm really not happy with the constant losses in key games by our clubs.
 
sand_man said:
Black Saturday for SA rugby.
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I was just thinking about the whole situation this morning over a cup of coffee and it's sad that we don't have anyone that supports us really. Facebook knows your interests, so it keeps coming up on my feeds. Like if a European team win then suddenly you see congrats from all fans in Europe. Even Italy gets support from everyone Europe. When NZL or Australia play you see support from oceanic countries like Fiji, Samoa, New Zealand, Australia.

When a South African team plays, we have no support other than SA. The Aussie and New Zealand supporters go at us for leaving Super rugby. We lose up north everyone goes at us because we aren't even supposed to be in Europe because South Africa isn't Europe. It can actually be quite toxic.

I think moving to NH before the RWC was a good move but over time maybe not so much. We have only 4 teams allowed, and the travelling is significantly more than any other teams even when it was Super Rugby. Traveling between NZL and Australia is not the same as traveling between SA and AUS/NZL and now with the NH traveling between SA and Ireland is not the same as traveling from Ireland to Scotland for example. Is all this money spend on this traveling worth it?
 
cavedog said:
Like if a European team win then suddenly you see congrats from all fans in Europe. Even Italy gets support from everyone Europe.
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I think you are missing it. If england won a game, you wont see anyone else than England supporters really congratulate them, well because they are the english and no-one likes them. Its true that if a smaller team like Italy wins something that people show support, because people like to support the underdogs. That being said, Europe will always go against South Africa when picking a side, that's just how things are.

cavedog said:
When a South African team plays, we have no support other than SA. The Aussie and New Zealand supporters go at us for leaving Super rugby.
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I have only seen the supports and especially players saying that they miss playing against us because of the level of competition we bring.

With regards to travel, the flight times to Europe seem to be more or less the same, than flying to AUS or NZ. Since the teams competing against us at home need to travel to us as well, I would say its more or less fair. Although I am not traveling enough to be an expert, so maybe there is merit to your argument.
 
cavedog said:
I was just thinking about the whole situation this morning over a cup of coffee and it's sad that we don't have anyone that supports us really. Facebook knows your interests, so it keeps coming up on my feeds. Like if a European team win then suddenly you see congrats from all fans in Europe. Even Italy gets support from everyone Europe. When NZL or Australia play you see support from oceanic countries like Fiji, Samoa, New Zealand, Australia.

When a South African team plays, we have no support other than SA. The Aussie and New Zealand supporters go at us for leaving Super rugby. We lose up north everyone goes at us because we aren't even supposed to be in Europe because South Africa isn't Europe. It can actually be quite toxic.

I think moving to NH before the RWC was a good move but over time maybe not so much. We have only 4 teams allowed, and the travelling is significantly more than any other teams even when it was Super Rugby. Traveling between NZL and Australia is not the same as traveling between SA and AUS/NZL and now with the NH traveling between SA and Ireland is not the same as traveling from Ireland to Scotland for example. Is all this money spend on this traveling worth it?
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Traveling up North is much cheaper and there is no time zone changes so in theory should be easier than going to Aus/NZ.

The Stormers teams just felt like stripped of many stars. Other NH teams know have a much better view of which players to steal from SA teams if they play them and they pay better. Players can go to Japan too and get easier matches.
 
Avbob se stoep said:
I think you are missing it. If england won a game, you wont see anyone else than England supporters really congratulate them, well because they are the english and no-one likes them. Its true that if a smaller team like Italy wins something that people show support, because people like to support the underdogs. That being said, Europe will always go against South Africa when picking a side, that's just how things are.


I have only seen the supports and especially players saying that they miss playing against us because of the level of competition we bring.

With regards to travel, the flight times to Europe seem to be more or less the same, than flying to AUS or NZ. Since the teams competing against us at home need to travel to us as well, I would say its more or less fair. Although I am not traveling enough to be an expert, so maybe there is merit to your argument.
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If you look at the time spend traveling it's not favouring SA at all.

If the Bulls have to play Munster away and Scarlets away that is 2 multi stop return flights. Munster and Scartlets to SA are just 1 long return flight. Munster to Scarlets is a short domestic like flight so yes the time you tracel are the same but the distance isn't and I can't help but wonder if this is still a factor that is contributing to our poor show in key matches.

No doubt if the Stormers were facing Exeter Chiefs at home it would have probably been a different game.
 
The big issue is building squad depth, surficient enough to be able to compete on multiple fronts.

SA franchises aren't there yet.

I would imagine it takes careful planning and extremely deep pockets to build a quality squad of 50 to 60 players and that's what is required.

SA participation has meant travel challenges for European clubs too and just like we battle with their winter conditions, they battle playing at altitude in 30C heat!

6 of the one half a dozen of the other.

Similar time zones means less travel fatigue and favourable viewership times which drives up tv revenue.

I'm super happy we competing in Europe but keeping our stars representing SA franchises remains the biggest threat.

There a whole host of Boks that will be playing abroad from next season.

All our franchises are local grown talent, little to no international imports. That's going to take a massive toll and stunt our ability to remain competitive.
 
A dark Easter weekend in terms of all our teams losing in the 2 European competitions. Sharks put up a good fight but lost focus in the latter part of the game. Stormers didn't turn up an the Lions played manfully but started slow. It's gonna take some time to get used to playing on 2 fronts so to speak, squad depth, managing players and getting used to European conditions but overall we haven't performed too badly since we joined Europe.
 
Werner1975 said:
A dark Easter weekend in terms of all our teams losing in the 2 European competitions. Sharks put up a good fight but lost focus in the latter part of the game. Stormers didn't turn up an the Lions played manfully but started slow. It's gonna take some time to get used to playing on 2 fronts so to speak, squad depth, managing players and getting used to European conditions but overall we haven't performed too badly since we joined Europe.
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Adding to the bad news our sevens lost to Spain, WTF.

I would be very worried if I where the SA rugby brain trust, the European teams looks much more composed than our teams. We looked liked we where playing without any game plans.
 
Yes, losing to Spain was a bitter pill to swallow.
I do feel that the European teams are better drilled and, like the All Blacks, can absorb pressure and strike back when it matters. We have good coaches, so not sure where the problem is. I do however feel that the travelling was also a factor. Home advantage is huge.
 
Charlie Ewels, an England lock with 30 caps has signed with the Bulls on a short-term deal. The Bulls are nursing him back to fitness after he sustained an injury against Australia last year.

Strange indeed.
 
sand_man said:
No one else watching? Smart...
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I'm unable to watch but I see the Sharks are just ahead. Are they playing badly or is it a case of Benetton not getting the credit they deserve for not being blown away as everyone expected they would.
 
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