The Silver Fern

@frugby said in Super Rugby 2026:

Might not be good for the players - but what about the fans?

You are taking a very narrow view of 'fans'. Of course it's good for fans in Dunedin to have a subsidised team. Is the current situation good for fans in Tauranga? They produce plenty of players have a population 150% that of Dunedin but they get pro rugby scraps

I think there should be more teams and the larger ones should be broken up. There should be more opportunities for players to play close to their home.. that makes for a more tribal competition with more interest.

@mariner4life said in Exodus:

Also, the financials might make a little more sense if we had better product to sell.

That's a point a lot of people don't understand. They keep speaking like any changes will just shuffle the same amount of cash around. There's ways of making a much more compelling competition which would increase the revenue

A good interview with Hooker. Talks about the errors in the last fight etc. I didn’t realise his nose got fractured at the last weigh in

This will be a few hours. We'll try to get most of the remaining upgrades done in one go

I'll give an exact start time later in the week. Likely around 11am nzt

@ploughboy said in Super Rugby 2026:

counties is part of the chiefs so Wesley is not outside

That would explain his population error too

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/360913526/numbers-which-super-rugby-franchise-has-most-players-schooled-within-their-region

Van Royen makes the mistake of talking about he population and assuming the Blues have a huge advantage.

The Chiefs region is more populated than people think

2019 population numbers for the franchises:

He should make the point about the schools comp attracting outside talent instead

I do think there is an issue with franchise distribution though. 40% of contracts being in the SI and 20% being in Dunedin isn't a good spread

Australia
1 Jake Weatherald, 2 Travis Head, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith (capt), 5 Usman Khawaja, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 Cameron Green, 8 Beau Webster, 9 Michael Neser, 10 Mitchell Starc, 11 Scott Boland

England
1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Jacob Bethell, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Will Jacks, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 Matthew Potts, 11 Josh Tongue

England choose to bat

Also Tuipulotu retires after the 2028 SR season

@WoodysRFC

I'd expect Norrie to be there somewhere

Yates is an unusual selection at this stage. However he's only 25 and large. Feek must see something he likes longer term. So I'd pencil him in as one of the TH's

Halfback is the problem position. I've wanted at least one of the halfbacks to move on for years but we've stayed with the same 3

So yeah, a lot depends on the young guys kicking on. Maybe a couple of the older guys don't leave. Also 2-3 recruits in certain positions makes a huge difference. The BB top up cash frees up soon

@chchfanatic said in All Blacks 2026:

I think Razor was always up against it , no matter how well he did. The nth island journos hammer him on everything. Which is par for the course and something I’m sure he expected.

He’s had friendlier media than any coach before him. It’s not even close.

@booboo said in 2025 The Silver Fern Team of the Year:

In a final indictment on the All Blacks’ 2025 season only one New Zealander has made it

I guess a second xv would not have many either? 2 or 3?

Australia
1 Jake Weatherald, 2 Travis Head, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith (capt), 5 Usman Khawaja, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 Cameron Green, 8 Michael Neser, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Jhye Richardson, 11 Scott Boland

England
1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Jacob Bethell, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Will Jacks, 9 Gus Atkinson, 10 Brydon Carse, 11 Josh Tongue

England choose to bowl

Lyon 1 over, 2 wickets

@kiwiinmelb said in All Blacks 2026:

the problem will be, even if 2026 isnt good,

Who is going to want to take over the team 1 year out from the WC and be judged on that

A guy like Vern Cotter. He would be almost at retirement age and it would be his last gig

1 Jake Weatherald, 2 Travis Head, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Usman Khawaja, 5 Cameron Green, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 Josh Inglis, 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Scott Boland

It was longer than that

The forum is now locked for guests and embedding is switched off. It seems quick now

I'll open it back up after the upgrades are complete

Looks like the forum crashed. I just restarted it at 9:30am nzt

When did it stop responding? Late last night?

Sometimes you need to hit refresh while on the first post. It's a bit flakey

@Victor-Meldrew

Also it's not just the top job (culture coach), I'm astounded that NZR got into a situation where the 3 selectors are all from the same franchise. In previous appointments there was an effort to have a variety of backgrounds. It's unthinkable that Henry could've had two Blues selectors with him etc

One of the reasons that the cartel succeeded was because they challenged each other and Henry didn't win every argument