Field Theory: Horrors of the Past
43 Responses
First ←Older Page 1 2 Newer→ Last
-
Wait, wait. Is that it?!?
Wellington just won the shield FFS, is that all you have to say?
"The 1984 Almanac has something for everyone including some shield photos yada yada"...
I'd just like to say, this "oversight" will be remembered when the Wellingtonista voting opens.
-
What's so bad about the Adidas uniforms? At least they're not so multicoloured that you can't tell which team is which in a ruck (a problem with some of the modern designs.
Although I have to say that David Campese is very pretty in that picture.
Re the Ranfurly Shield, I can still remember my disappointment at Wellington losing to Canterbury. It took an awfully long time for me to forgive Wayne Smith for scoring the winning try.
When told we would be moving to Mid Canterbury when I was 14, I said "But Wayne Smith is the only All Black I don't like!"
That said, I've well come around since then (and admire Wayne Smith now). Ironically, I have become a Canterbury/Crusaders fan...to the extent that I go to the games when I have a free ticket (which is most of the time), and have a red and black hat and scarf and everything. Not something I would have believed as a 10-year old!
I wish the CRFU (and others) would price their tickets closer to those in almanac days. It' quite possible their average return would go up (at the moment vast numbers of seat return them $0 as they are empty (with no extra $$ for hotdogs and pies either)
I'd rather they charged $10 a seat and had the place full each week. Or at least adjusted the PA system so it's not set for a full crowd each week.
-
Wait, wait. Is that it?!?
Did I mention the bronchitis? You were lucky to get that.
Wellington just won the shield FFS, is that all you have to say?
Congratulations? Ah, I'm kinda winding you up.
It was a good game, but nothing really to enthuse over. Auckland played terribly and lost. The real question is can Wellington hold onto it?
They've won the shield 10 times (including this most recent win) and defended it 36 times. Canterbury on the other hand have had the shield 12 times and defended it 125 times!
Wellington know how to win the Shield, they just don't know how to hold the Shield.
-
and after some more calculation...
On average Wellington hold the Shield for 3.6 challenges, which means at least they get to keep it until next year.
Auckland averages 10.1 challenges before losing it and Canterbury 10.4
But the team to watch for is Hawkes Bay. They've had the Shield 3 times and defended it 47 times! Which gives them an average of 15.7 challenges before losing it.
Marlborough do better than Wellington in terms of defence. They only won it once, but defended it six times, making them the most successful of the single victory teams.
The worst defender is South Canterbury who won the Shield twice (1950 and 1974) but only defended it once.
-
If the unthinkable happens and Tasman actually beat Wellington this weekend, thus winning the Shield, and that they then defend it successfully until next season, when they will be broken into their constituent parts and demoted to Heartland, which chunk of the former Tasman holds the Sheild?
OTOH, will be quite good for the Heartland unions to have the Shield circulating in their ranks without the big boys coming and hogging it... -
Wellington know how to win the Shield, they just don't know how to hold the Shield.
Well apart from between 1983 and 2005 that is…
It was a good game, but nothing really to enthuse over.
Believe me, the quality of the game was irrelevant. Wellington was never going to win a close one, so it was important we nailed it properly.
And there’s something nice about winning it to nil.
-
And there’s something nice about winning it to nil.
There was that.
which chunk of the former Tasman holds the Sheild?
They should play each other for it.
-
which chunk of the former Tasman holds the Sheild?
It'd probably end up at Canterbury...
-
The worst defender is South Canterbury who won the Shield twice (1950 and 1974) but only defended it once.
Presumably, you mean they only successfully defended it once? because otherwise, they'd still have it.
You are defending it in the next (home?) game after you gain it... So, aftwerwards, win or lose, you did defend it... even if you dont hold it any more.
-
I went to see Jean Pierre Rives France play Marlborough at Lansdowne Park in 1979. I'm pretty sure the French 1st 5 put up a high ball and killed a seagull. That was primo entertainment back in the day.
-
Howdy Haydn, finally registered over here.
Woulda been cool if you'd talked about this photo here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hadyn/2853986613/in/set-72157607275355975/Marlborough v France? 1973? Jim Joseph? :)
How about ol' Byron Kelleher aye? French rugby 'Player of the Year' :X
49ers are getting up now, Smith, Battle and Gore are a great 4th quarter combo (except for Smith being a retard and coming back from injury early) Live scoring made for interesting viewing yesterday, Cassel and the Pats tanked against the Dolphins, Bengals came back from 10 down to take the Giants into OT (which NY won 26 - 23), Saints went down to the Broncos, but Brees threw 421yds... Twice what Cutler made!
And as to the weekend's sport, wow! That Warriors match was f***ing awesome, as was Wellington.
-
OTOH, will be quite good for the Heartland unions to have the Shield circulating in their ranks without the big boys coming and hogging it...
If it did end up in he heartland, they would have to defend it in pre-season games against Air NZ Cup teams, so likely it would never make it into the main season where it would be played for during that team's home games during the heartland season - a Air NZ Cup team would snaffle it quick.
-
Presumably, you mean they only successfully defended it once?
Yep.
Woulda been cool if you'd talked about this photo here...
Marlborough v France? 1973? Jim Joseph?Nice spotting. The article didn't mention Joseph so I didn't click
-
Wellington know how to win the Shield, they just don't know how to hold the Shield.
Who would have thunk it... sly Seinfeld-ian references in a sports blog!
@Peter Darlington
I went to see Jean Pierre Rives France play Marlborough at Lansdowne Park in 1979
"Les Coqs" trained on the fields at my high school (Whangarei Boys' High Scool) during the '79 tour. Jean-Pierre Rives and Jean-Michelle Aguirre came to our 4th form French class to help us "parle français" .
All of us spotty teenagers were too intimidated to actually say anything to them in French. It was one of those "squirm-in-your-seat embarrassing" silences... -
Re the photo:
Don’t want to be a pedant but…
France weren’t here between 68 and 79,
-
Legbreak: I suspect its from the '68 tour. (opening match: Marlborough won, the only provincial side to do so on that tour)
As for disappointments and the Ranfurly Shield: Counties (my home region team) has had a singularly ill-starred history.
Was winning the NPC or whatever it was called in the mid-70s. North Auckland won the Shield and Counties was due to play them. There was some rule which said a holder could decline to make a game a Shield game and North Auckland invoked the rule.
Next season they lost it to Auckland: Counties played Auckland and led for most of the game; but lost at the end. The score was something like 12-9.
A few years later when Canterbury won the Shield Counties was playing them the next game: it was a draw, 13-13 from memory. That was the start of Canterbury's long run until Auckland took it off them in '85.
But its been all downhill, pretty much, for Counties since then.
-
But its been all downhill, pretty much, for Counties since then.
Oh I don’t know. Someone at NZRU obviously likes Counties.
Well, more than Northland anyway…
-
Who would have thunk it... sly Seinfeld-ian references in a sports blog!
Points to Evan!
@LB &Rob, yep it probably was 1968
-
Rob
You got the counties scores almost right - 11-9 against auckland and 15-15 against canterbury. But you forgot the third in the trio - 20-20 against waikato in 1981.....Old sports books are great. I have Mark Nicholls one of the 1928 tour of south africa where he notes that the Boks' game is based on a big lumbering forwards and a first five who kicks all day. plus ca change.
the older rugby annuals are also good fun. the 1981 annual has a great photo of some auckland schoolboys team featuring grant fox looking very young (but still only a few years from bigtime rugby - he helped auckland beat the lions in '83), and a very freshfaced sean fitzpatrick receiving an award. and of course good old shots of things like the all black alternative strip, plain white with a black backed silver fern...none of this weird grey nonsense that they lost last year's QF in (didn't they know anything about manchester united's problems in a grey alternative strip?).
-
Jean-Pierre Rives and Jean-Michelle Aguirre came to our 4th form French class to help us "parle français" .
I was in France on holiday a couple of months ago staying at my sister's place in Provence. She has an American mate there whose partner is French.
He's a steward for Air France and was telling me one night that he'd managed to get to the 1995 RWC final between the AB's and South Africa. He had flown the French team down to the tournament and Jean Pierre Rives was on board, pissed. Stefan was serving him the drinks and at the end of the flight he basically said you're a good bloke, I'll sort you a couple of tickets to the final, just pick them up from the hotel the day before the match.
Stefan presumed it was just the drink talking but went to the hotel the day before just in case. Sure enough, Rives was as good as his word and there were two tickets waiting for him. He assured me the ABs were sick as dogs on the day as well, but I suspect he was just humouring me.
-
That 11-9 win by Auckland over Counties gave new meaning to the term “Ranfurly Shield All Black”.
Tim Twigden, possibly the slowest and lest talented All Black winger of all time, scored the match-winning try in the dying minutes and was rewarded with an All Black trip.
Subsequent “Ranfurly Shield All Blacks” include Bernie MacCahill, Sam Broomhall and Ben Blair.
-
Was he the truck driver?
There was one All Black, I think a winger, around that time (late 70s) who was a truck driver and who distinguished himself by dumping a load off somewhere and driving off with the back of the truck still tilted up.
It was OK until he had to pass under a bridge....
-
It was a good game, but nothing really to enthuse over. Auckland played terribly and lost.
Hah, we had a parade too you know (in 120kmh winds, how hard is that!).
-
In the news this morning: Rugby poised for radical changes
[John] O'Neill said the annual Super rugby competition which involves 14 teams at present could expand to 18 sides, possibly into Japan and North America, by 2013.
Test matches between Australia and New Zealand could also be hosted overseas.
Every time bloody John O'Neill opens his gob I groan.
-
What O’Neill is suggesting here is a very good idea.
For Australian rugby.
Post your response…
This topic is closed.