England vs New Zealand/Match Thread/6th Nov Twickenham KO; 2pm.

handsomecake

rumours that sonny bill williams will start at centre with nonu playing first five eight.

hope the chariot gets de-railed this week

Judgement Day

Judging from some of the comment in the NZ media there's already building criticism of Graham Henry and certain members of the team (Donald and Rocokoko) and hopefully this will ramp up the pressure on the boys in a positive way to deliver a knockout blow to England. Judging from England's game plan they don't deserve to win, or even lose with respectability, and as for the quote from their defence coach, Mike Ford, that Tr-Nations rugby isn't Test rugby...English rugby is 'Endurance' Test rugby.

PhatPiggins

Do chariots run on rails ?

Judgement Day

I had forgotten just how sweet the 2008 wipeout of England at Twickenham was but this You Tube video brings it all black!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22wrL0USmmg

corny

Hope England beat them.

PhatPiggins

corny wrote: »

Hope England beat them.

Tough one isn't it. Our traditional enemy's or a bunch of egotistical, men of the people bottlers.

thomond2006

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/english/9149188.stm

England:
Ben Foden (Northampton); Mark Cueto (Sale), Mike Tindall (Gloucester), Shontayne Hape (Bath), Chris Ashton (Northampton); Toby Flood (Leicester), Ben Youngs (Leicester);
Andrew Sheridan (Sale), Steve Thompson (Leeds), Dan Cole (Leicester), Courtney Lawes (Northampton), Tom Palmer (Stade Francais), Tom Croft (Leicester), Lewis Moody (Bath, capt), Nick Easter (Harlequins)

Replacements: Dylan Hartley (Northampton), David Wilson (Bath), David Attwood (Gloucester), Hendre Fourie (Leeds), Danny Care (Harlequins), Charlie Hodgson (Sale), Delon Armitage (London Irish).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/9147415.stm

New Zealand team:
Mils Muliaina (Chiefs), Joe Rokocoko (Blues), Sonny Bill Williams (Canterbury), Ma'a Nonu (Hurricanes), Hosea Gear (Hurricanes), Dan Carter (Crusaders), Alby Mathewson (Blues);
Tony Woodcock (Blues), Keven Mealamu (Blues), Owen Franks (Crusaders), Brad Thorn (Crusaders), Sam Whitelock (Crusaders), Jerome Kaino (Blues), Richie McCaw (Crusaders, capt), Kieran Read (Crusaders).

Replacements: Hika Elliot (Hurricanes), Ben Franks (Crusaders), Anthony Boric (Blues), Liam Messam (Chiefs), Andy Ellis (Crusaders), Stephen Donald (Chiefs), Isaia Toeava (Blues).

SBW makes his test debut.

twinytwo

thomond2006 wrote: »

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/english/9149188.stm

England:
Ben Foden (Northampton); Mark Cueto (Sale), Mike Tindall (Gloucester), Shontayne Hape (Bath), Chris Ashton (Northampton); Toby Flood (Leicester), Ben Youngs (Leicester);
Andrew Sheridan (Sale), Steve Thompson (Leeds), Dan Cole (Leicester), Courtney Lawes (Northampton), Tom Palmer (Stade Francais), Tom Croft (Leicester), Lewis Moody (Bath, capt), Nick Easter (Harlequins)

Replacements: Dylan Hartley (Northampton), David Wilson (Bath), David Attwood (Gloucester), Hendre Fourie (Leeds), Danny Care (Harlequins), Charlie Hodgson (Sale), Delon Armitage (London Irish).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/9147415.stm

New Zealand team:
Mils Muliaina (Chiefs), Joe Rokocoko (Blues), Sonny Bill Williams (Canterbury), Ma'a Nonu (Hurricanes), Hosea Gear (Hurricanes), Dan Carter (Crusaders), Alby Mathewson (Blues);
Tony Woodcock (Blues), Keven Mealamu (Blues), Owen Franks (Crusaders), Brad Thorn (Crusaders), Sam Whitelock (Crusaders), Jerome Kaino (Blues), Richie McCaw (Crusaders, capt), Kieran Read (Crusaders).

Replacements: Hika Elliot (Hurricanes), Ben Franks (Crusaders), Anthony Boric (Blues), Liam Messam (Chiefs), Andy Ellis (Crusaders), Stephen Donald (Chiefs), Isaia Toeava (Blues).

SBW makes his test debut.

Tindell shouldnt make it easy for him.. will see what he is really made of if he comes up against drico

toomevara

twinytwo wrote: »

Tindell shouldnt make it easy for him.. will see what he is really made of if he comes up against drico

Maybe Hape will give them some insight seeing as how both are old NZ kiwis team mates...Tindall is there simply to attempt to physically contain SBW. He'll have his work cut out....

handsomecake

toomevara wrote: »

Maybe Hape will give them some insight seeing as how both are old NZ kiwis team mates...Tindall is there simply to attempt to physically contain SBW. He'll have his work cut out....

not necessarily,tindall was playing their regardless and they named their team before the all blacks and word all week was tins was playing 13.

handsomecake

PhatPiggins wrote: »

Tough one isn't it. Our traditional enemy's or a bunch of egotistical, men of the people bottlers.

i never undrstand the hate,and calling a team ireland have never beaten bottlers.its just over the top

irishbucsfan

handsomecake wrote: »

i never undrstand the hate,and calling a team ireland have never beaten bottlers.its just over the top

Just because they can beat Ireland doesn't save them from being bottlers.

If you want to understand the hatred, listen to a real Kiwi talk about the sport (or their commentary). It's infuriating.

handsomecake

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Just because they can beat Ireland doesn't save them from being bottlers.

If you want to understand the hatred, listen to a real Kiwi talk about the sport (or their commentary). It's infuriating.

is that the teams fault though? do we all hate kilkenny hurlers too? the fans turned up with "5 in a row" t-shirts before they even won it.i just dont understand how people dont like a team who play ARGUABLY(france,aus) the nicest most enterprising rugby.we get served up serious dross in the six nations.

corny

handsomecake wrote: »

i never undrstand the hate,and calling a team ireland have never beaten bottlers.its just over the top

I don't hate anyone but i seriously dislike the SH trio. The Aussies aren't too bad but the NZ'ers and SA's think the sport starts and stops with them. Whether it be the precious Haka or the disgusting unsporting behaviour, i'd rather cheer for England. Perish the thought.

irishbucsfan

handsomecake wrote: »

is that the teams fault though? do we all hate kilkenny hurlers too? the fans turned up with "5 in a row" t-shirts before they even won it.i just dont understand how people dont like a team who play ARGUABLY(france,aus) the nicest most enterprising rugby.we get served up serious dross in the six nations.

Noone said its the teams fault.

And most people were happy to see Kilkenny lose this year.

Judgement Day

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Just because they can beat Ireland doesn't save them from being bottlers.

If you want to understand the hatred, listen to a real Kiwi talk about the sport (or their commentary). It's infuriating.

I dunno, did you hear some of the Aussie commentary during the Hong Kong match - talk about partisan. I find that Boks fans are far worse but in any event, even in the case of the Boks, that is not perpetuated by the players.

irishbucsfan

Judgement Day wrote: »

I dunno, did you hear some of the Aussie commentary during the Hong Kong match - talk about partisan. I find that Boks fans are far worse but in any event, even in the case of the Boks, that is not perpetuated by the players.

I agree with you about the Boks.

The players are irrelevant in this case, they're not the ones we have to deal with in bars and stadia

handsomecake

corny wrote: »

The Aussies aren't too bad but the NZ'ers and SA's think the sport starts and stops with them.

essentially it does.

irishbucsfan

handsomecake wrote: »

essentially it does.

:rolleyes:

handsomecake

the aussie commentators are by far the worst bias wise but they are entertaining and in the nz vs ire match thread or maori vs ire match thread people on here were commending the new zealand commentary.

handsomecake

irishbucsfan wrote: »

:rolleyes:

:rolleyes:

corny

handsomecake wrote: »

essentially it does.

Confirmation. As if i needed it.

handsomecake

corny wrote: »

Confirmation. As if i needed it.

confirmation of what?

JustinDee

Judgement Day wrote: »

I dunno, did you hear some of the Aussie commentary during the Hong Kong match - talk about partisan. I find that Boks fans are far worse but in any event, even in the case of the Boks, that is not perpetuated by the players.

You're not even a New Zealander yet you're biased towards them!

You'd be hard pressed to find an entirely neutral commentary team. As for labelling entire sets of fans, its futile. I know plenty Kiwis who are more than fair in their outlook on the sport especially when their own team is involved.
Convenient tribalism can be fun (I love NSW v QLD kerfuffle for example) but some idiots, Irish included and posting here, take it far far too seriously.

handsomecake

JustinDee wrote: »

Convenient tribalism can be fun (I love NSW v QLD kerfuffle for example) but some idiots, Irish included and posting here, take it far far too seriously.

correct,the munster leinster thing goes too far.your hating on guys from two hours down the road!!!

twinytwo

handsomecake wrote: »

the aussie commentators are by far the worst bias wise but they are entertaining and in the nz vs ire match thread or maori vs ire match thread people on here were commending the new zealand commentary.

Tbf the Kiwi lads that commentated the Ire v Maori game during the summer were by far the best iv heard in a long time. No bs, had a great understanding of the game and clearly respected both sets of players.

irishbucsfan

twinytwo wrote: »

Tbf the Kiwi lads that commentated the Ire v Maori game during the summer were by far the best iv heard in a long time. No bs, had a great understanding of the game and clearly respected both sets of players.

Absolutely. The SH commentators are miles better than what we've got.

We must have some of the worst in the world

PhatPiggins

handsomecake wrote: »

is that the teams fault though? do we all hate kilkenny hurlers too? the fans turned up with "5 in a row" t-shirts before they even won it.i just dont understand how people dont like a team who play ARGUABLY(france,aus) the nicest most enterprising rugby.we get served up serious dross in the six nations.

Have you ever lived in New Zealand? Gone to an AB's test outside Ireland? Met an All Black in a social context? Absorbed yourself in the bile the Kiwi press churn out when defending their holy XV?

Come back to me when you have and tell how wonderful the AB's are

Gracelessly Tom

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Absolutely. The SH commentators are miles better than what we've got.

We must have some of the worst in the world

Ryle Nugent springs to mind.....

thomond2006

As much as I don't rate Donald, I couldn't believe some of the stuff the NZ press wrote about him after the Bledisloe Cup game. I googled a few articles, hilarious stuff. You'd swear he committed mass genocide or something. :pac:

PhatPiggins

PhatPiggins wrote: »

Have you ever lived in New Zealand? Gone to an AB's test outside Ireland? Met an All Black in a social context? Absorbed yourself in the bile the Kiwi press churn out when defending their holy XV?

Come back to me when you have and tell how wonderful the AB's are

In fairness Piggins at the 07 NZ/France game I spent the day chatting to some really sound Kiwis. They seemed to like the Irish and there was no bother having random chats in the pubs. The only guy who I didnt get on with was an ol' fella in the stadium and that was down to me being turbo pissed. So what does it boil down to? You get **** everywhere.

thomond2006

Deleted User wrote: »

In fairness Piggins at the 07 NZ/France game I spent the day chatting to some really sound Kiwis. They seemed to like the Irish and there was no bother having random chats in the pubs. The only guy who I didnt get on with was an ol' fella in the stadium and that was down to me being turbo pissed. So what does it boil down to? You get **** everywhere.

Very true. Just like the Student protest in Dublin yesterday (I was there), unfortunately the media present the "few ****" as the benchmark for judging groups of people.

Of course I've never been to NZ and only ever met one Kiwi so I can't really comment on that.

PhatPiggins

thomond2006 wrote: »

Very true. Just like the Student protest in Dublin yesterday (I was there), unfortunately the media present the "few ****" as the benchmark for judging groups of people.

Of course I've never been to NZ and only ever met one Kiwi so I can't really comment on that.

I'm not being selective though I've met hundreds of them and most of them are A1 but there is another side to the AB's then the shiny happy people we see on the Visa ads and shy boy after match interviews. In fairness its their press I dislike the most.

We dislike the Saffers because they're **** but at least they're honest about it.
Dito the Aussies and their arrogance.

handsomecake

PhatPiggins wrote: »

Have you ever lived in New Zealand? Gone to an AB's test outside Ireland? Met an All Black in a social context? Absorbed yourself in the bile the Kiwi press churn out when defending their holy XV?



Come back to me when you have and tell how wonderful the AB's are

no but i hope to visit/live there someday.

yeah ive seen the allblacks in twickenham,murrayfield and cardiff. the 40 nil drubbing of scotland in rwc 2007 was a great day out.ended up in a bar called the 3 sisters in edinburgh with hundreds of allblack fans.it was superb day out. im still in touch with some of them today. absolutely great to have a rugby natter with-and they actually know our players and fringe players.they are more rugby "educated" .some people on here are a year behind the times SH wise. even george hook was surprised by pocock after him playing a superb year in the super 14.



i used to watch games in major toms on king street with nz'ers ,aussies and SA fans. i never clicked with the saffers at all.very dry and confrontational.i watched the three lions tests there in 2005 and it had a decent few lions and nz fans there at 830 am.great atmosphere and the nz'ers were sound as a pound.



ill be watching this weekends games in the woolshed and there should be a few there too.



i go on the silverfern forum,planet rugby,subscribe to the new zealand herald and read passages by wynne gray,richard loe,dylan cleaver,gregor paul etc.

i get embarrased by ryle nugent,mc guirk ,hook.one thing that really gets me is irish pundits abusing hyperbole "o driscoll is the best centre in the world". after his tackle against sa last year "o driscoll is the hardest tackler in world rugby", "poc and doc are the best locks in the world" .if o driscoll puts in a huge hit he is "brave"- when wycliff palu does it he is " a pacific island dump truck" and hook fears for the players welfare in the gym monkey modern game.when they went to new zealand in the summer he was talking about ireland having a hospital ward full of injured players.i bet the springboks wont be extended the same courtesy if ireland beat them tomorrow.



in my opinion the biggest sore losers and people with biggest chips on their shoulders are the irish fans.they are the hardest to get on with.you spend 90 percent of the year arguing among yourselves through red and blue tinted glasses. "kidney hates leo cullen", "kidney hates sean o brien". he just droppd his pet o gara and the blue boys still arent happy that their johnny got the gig for saturday.(and im from leinster).









so phat phiggins the only thing i havnt done that you want is lived new zealand and far be it for me to quit my job,dump the girlfriend and move to the other side of the world to satisfy the criteria of a poster on www.boards.ie so he feels my opinion is valid.

OldRio

Dear me.
Sad.

JustinDee

PhatPiggins wrote: »

We dislike the Saffers because they're **** but at least they're honest about it.
Dito the Aussies and their arrogance.

Bloody hell.
Where to start . . . ?

LeeroyJones

Well this is thread has taken a nonsensical turn to say the least!!!

A team is successful, their fans enjoy it, their opposition don't, some take it too far, most don't. This is not unique to one country or team!

As so far as the match is concerned, as much as Sky et al like to be optimistic regarding England's hopes, I cannot see beyond a comfortable All Blacks win

PhatPiggins

LeeroyJones wrote: »

Well this is thread has taken a nonsensical turn to say the least!!!

A team is successful, their fans enjoy it, their opposition don't, some take it too far, most don't. This is not unique to one country or team!

As so far as the match is concerned, as much as Sky et al like to be optimistic regarding England's hopes, I cannot see beyond a comfortable All Blacks win

I can't see a single area where England can hurt them to be honest. They'll do ok in the scrums but not enough to win more then the odd penalty.

England to have a tendency to hang in there though and they rarely get trounced. It'll be an interesting test of this AB's sides mettle if its not a landslide within 60 minutes.

redroar1942

handsomecake wrote: »

no but i hope to visit/live there someday.

yeah ive seen the allblacks in twickenham,murrayfield and cardiff. the 40 nil drubbing of scotland in rwc 2007 was a great day out.ended up in a bar called the 3 sisters in edinburgh with hundreds of allblack fans.it was superb day out. im still in touch with some of them today. absolutely great to have a rugby natter with-and they actually know our players and fringe players.they are more rugby "educated" .some people on here are a year behind the times SH wise. even george hook was surprised by pocock after him playing a superb year in the super 14.



i used to watch games in major toms on king street with nz'ers ,aussies and SA fans. i never clicked with the saffers at all.very dry and confrontational.i watched the three lions tests there in 2005 and it had a decent few lions and nz fans there at 830 am.great atmosphere and the nz'ers were sound as a pound.



ill be watching this weekends games in the woolshed and there should be a few there too.



i go on the silverfern forum,planet rugby,subscribe to the new zealand herald and read passages by wynne gray,richard loe,dylan cleaver,gregor paul etc.

i get embarrased by ryle nugent,mc guirk ,hook.one thing that really gets me is irish pundits abusing hyperbole "o driscoll is the best centre in the world". after his tackle against sa last year "o driscoll is the hardest tackler in world rugby", "poc and doc are the best locks in the world" .if o driscoll puts in a huge hit he is "brave"- when wycliff palu does it he is " a pacific island dump truck" and hook fears for the players welfare in the gym monkey modern game.when they went to new zealand in the summer he was talking about ireland having a hospital ward full of injured players.i bet the springboks wont be extended the same courtesy if ireland beat them tomorrow.



in my opinion the biggest sore losers and people with biggest chips on their shoulders are the irish fans.they are the hardest to get on with.you spend 90 percent of the year arguing among yourselves through red and blue tinted glasses. "kidney hates leo cullen", "kidney hates sean o brien". he just droppd his pet o gara and the blue boys still arent happy that their johnny got the gig for saturday.(and im from leinster).









so phat phiggins the only thing i havnt done that you want is lived new zealand and far be it for me to quit my job,dump the girlfriend and move to the other side of the world to satisfy the criteria of a poster on www.boards.ie so he feels my opinion is valid.

That's unbelievably pathetic. Do you go to the games in your All Blacks jersey and put on a fake kiwi accent as well?

Seriously what do you think the kiwi fans think when this Irish guy is toadying up to them. Too fickle to even support his own nation.

What's wrong with supporting your own country

duckysauce

handsomecake wrote: »

no but i hope to visit/live there someday.

yeah ive seen the allblacks in twickenham,murrayfield and cardiff. the 40 nil drubbing of scotland in rwc 2007 was a great day out.ended up in a bar called the 3 sisters in edinburgh with hundreds of allblack fans.it was superb day out. im still in touch with some of them today. absolutely great to have a rugby natter with-and they actually know our players and fringe players.they are more rugby "educated" .some people on here are a year behind the times SH wise. even george hook was surprised by pocock after him playing a superb year in the super 14.



i used to watch games in major toms on king street with nz'ers ,aussies and SA fans. i never clicked with the saffers at all.very dry and confrontational.i watched the three lions tests there in 2005 and it had a decent few lions and nz fans there at 830 am.great atmosphere and the nz'ers were sound as a pound.



ill be watching this weekends games in the woolshed and there should be a few there too.



i go on the silverfern forum,planet rugby,subscribe to the new zealand herald and read passages by wynne gray,richard loe,dylan cleaver,gregor paul etc.

i get embarrased by ryle nugent,mc guirk ,hook.one thing that really gets me is irish pundits abusing hyperbole "o driscoll is the best centre in the world". after his tackle against sa last year "o driscoll is the hardest tackler in world rugby", "poc and doc are the best locks in the world" .if o driscoll puts in a huge hit he is "brave"- when wycliff palu does it he is " a pacific island dump truck" and hook fears for the players welfare in the gym monkey modern game.when they went to new zealand in the summer he was talking about ireland having a hospital ward full of injured players.i bet the springboks wont be extended the same courtesy if ireland beat them tomorrow.



in my opinion the biggest sore losers and people with biggest chips on their shoulders are the irish fans.they are the hardest to get on with.you spend 90 percent of the year arguing among yourselves through red and blue tinted glasses. "kidney hates leo cullen", "kidney hates sean o brien". he just droppd his pet o gara and the blue boys still arent happy that their johnny got the gig for saturday.(and im from leinster).









so phat phiggins the only thing i havnt done that you want is lived new zealand and far be it for me to quit my job,dump the girlfriend and move to the other side of the world to satisfy the criteria of a poster on www.boards.ie so he feels my opinion is valid.

Who do you want to win on the 20th - nz or Ireland ?

handsomecake

redroar1942 wrote: »

That's unbelievably pathetic. Do you go to the games in your All Blacks jersey and put on a fake kiwi accent as well?

Seriously what do you think the kiwi fans think when this Irish guy is toadying up to them. Too fickle to even support his own nation.

What's wrong with supporting your own country

i started the thread.i talked about rugby and sonny bill williams.
others came in and said they hated new zealand.
i questioned why?
then i was asked about whether i had been to their games abroad,lived there,etc.
i answered said questions.
and i still get stick.

i just want to talk about the game.

people come in to the thread saying i dont know who i want to lose more the brits or the arrogant kiwis.dont post in the thread then.dont watch it either.

if someone came in and said "i dont want england to win because they are dour and boring and the ball doesnt go past the flyhalf,and i dont want new zealand to win either because they are cynical and constantly cheating and get all the refs calls" then you would say fair enough,thats a well thought out rugby reason.but to just come in to a thread and intimate "i dont know which nation i hate more" does no-one any good.

didnt graham henry win an award for sportsmanship(i forget the name of it but ill find it if required) after the 1/4 final loss to france for going straight into the dressing room and shaking hands with every player and management on the french side and making a speech to the french even though he and nz were on the wrong end of a refereeing horror show in cardiff. didnt mccaw come out with a statement recently saying he bears no ill-will to heaslip even though he tried to take his head off twice with his knee. they dont sound too arrogant to me?

handsomecake

duckysauce wrote: »

Who do you want to win on the 20th - nz or Ireland ?

new zealand.honest answer

duckysauce

handsomecake wrote: »

new zealand.honest answer

and sorry don't know you too well, are you irish ?

handsomecake

corny wrote: »

Whether it be the precious Haka or the disgusting unsporting behaviour, i'd rather cheer for England. Perish the thought.

didnt one of our guys try to take their captains head off with a knee in june? and was subsequently banned after a judicial hearing and video review. id be keeping my powder dry in fairness after what happened there.

handsomecake

duckysauce wrote: »

and sorry don't know you too well, are you irish ?

i am indeed ducky.apologies if it offends.but im an honest bloke.

duckysauce

handsomecake wrote: »

i am indeed ducky.apologies if it offends.but im an honest bloke.

jasyus thats is very sad, can understand the munster /leinster ****e but not supporting your country that's sad, why do you support a country you have never visited, to your natural country ??

handsomecake

Henry to receive world sportsmanship award Fairfax Media




IAIN McGREGOR/Fairfax Media
GOOD SPORT: All Blacks coach Graham Henry has been honoured with the prestigious Pierre de Coubertin Trophy for the dignified way in which he handled last year's shock Rugby World Cup quarterfinal loss to France in Cardiff.

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All Blacks coach Graham Henry's silence over Wayne Barnes' World Cup refereeing has paid off - he has won the prestigious World Fair Play trophy for his "exemplary attitude" following last year's shock quarter-final loss to France.
As Henry gets set to return to Cardiff, the scene of his darkest hour, the International Committee for Fair Play (ICPF) has awarded the New Zealander their highest distinction, the prestigious Pierre de Coubertin trophy.
It is the same award All Blacks great Tana Umaga won in 2003 when he went to help unconscious Welsh loose forward Colin Charvis while the test match went on around them in Hamilton.
Henry has triumphed for very different reasons.
Barnes had a shocker that day, missing a forward pass that led to a try and failing to penalise France in the second half.
But Henry has never publicly uttered one word of criticism of the refereeing blunders that led to the top-ranked team suffering their earliest World Cup exit.
That attitude, recognised by the ICPF, and his actions immediately after the match won him the award which is run under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee.
Henry went straight to the French changing room to congratulate the winners, interrupting a diminutive Frenchman later identified as the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy.
"After the narrow defeat to France, the New Zealand coach Graham Henry behaved with great dignity and an exemplary sense of Fair Play," declared Jean Durry, the general secretary of the ICPF, from Budapest where the award will be presented to Henry at a gala dinner in January.
"For a rugby country such as New Zealand, one can only imagine how painful this defeat must have been.
"But with great sobriety, Henry went to the French team room to offer his congratulations. It was a very simple gesture, but it serves as an example to other sports people. In the context of today's professional sport, Henry's dignity in defeat was a magnificent example of sportsmanship."
In acknowledging the award Henry said it was "a huge honour for myself, and for New Zealand rugby".
"Ever since I started coaching, after every defeat, I have always made a point of congratulating the opposing coach and team. It's just what you should do. It was by no means an easy thing to do after losing to France, because it killed four years of a dream. But we just had to take it on the chin and act with some dignity."

Henry is just the fourth rugby winner of the award following Welsh great Gareth Edwards (1978), the Paris-based team Racing Club de France (1991) and Umaga.
Other recipients of the Pierre de Coubertin trophy include Emil Zatopek, Stanley Mathews and Nelson Mandela.
Henry held on to his job despite the loss and is now seeking his second Grand Slam with the All Blacks.
They have the first two legs in following comprehensive wins over Scotland and Ireland. They play Wales this weekend and finish their tour against England in London.
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csm

I was living in NZ when the Lions tour went through in 2005. Really got on well with the locals when there (one of my mates even married one in the end!) but there was a definite turn for the worse in some people's attitude when the rugby was on. I was working in the Westpac Stadium in Wellington so got to see the games there. I also went to some of the midweek Lions games. Notably getting a full beer can thrown at me for daring to cheer for the Lions at one point. It was an atmosphere I've never experienced in any other rugby environment and I went from being a big ABs fan to being more neutral about them. They play great rugby, but not a great fan of the press or a significant minority of the fans.

England play awful rugby, MJ is a cock and not a great fan of their press either, but I have great banter with rugby fans here (live in Devon; see premiership games regularly enough).

So I don't really care who wins between England and NZ. I'm excited to see how Williams gets on. I think the breakdown is going to be enlightening in terms of the officiating for the world cup. I hope the game is at least entertaining, although I fear that if it is a contest then the rugby will be boring; if the rugby is exciting then I think the ABs could have the contest finished before half time.

Judgement Day

And just to throw the cat amongst the pigeons, in 2008 I was well up for Munster to win against the ABs and gutted when Joe Rokocoko got in for the try in the dying moments and spoilt the party. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/7736564.stm

I have to admit that I have gradually transferred my allegiance to my province of choice rather than Ireland - almost to the extent of regarding the Six Nations as an unwanted interruption to the Heineken Cup campaign. When it comes down to who do I want to win on the 20th November, it will be schizo time again but probably the All Blacks if I'm honest - as long as they win convincingly.

Interesting piece here http://www.allblacks.com/news/14774/Wilkinson-inspired-Sonny-Bill where Sonny Bill admits to being inspired by Jonny Wilkinson while at Toulon - nearly as good as a Papal blessing!

British by birth, Irish by accident, Munster/Toulon/All Blacks by choice.

handsomecake

duckysauce wrote: »

jasyus thats is very sad, can understand the munster /leinster ****e but not supporting your country that's sad, why do you support a country you have never visited, to your natural country ??

sad for who though? strange might be a better word. i find "sad" a bit derogatory.i thouroghly enjoy watching them and have done since i was 4 or 5 .we named our dog after jeff wilson when i was a kid.the allblacks were on tour at the time and we got our dog around then and he is black so i named him after the star player of the hour.!i wake up most mornings and watch npc tri nations ,a bit of rugby league in the nrl and the super 14.if connaucht were on telly id switch channels.the commentary and all annoys me.it does nothing for me.its what your into yourself.i hate gaa and ive two very close relatives who have represented at county level.if they were playing in the back garden id close the curtains.i go to all home six nations games when i can get tickets off my friend .i used to go a lot more.

i support tottenham hotspurs too and not shamrock rovers who would be my nearest team . i like roger federer not that guy from clontarf who never comes anywher. i like sergio garcia and tiger woods.camillo villegas is good too.not too fond of rory mcilroy.i like watching mayweather and paquiao fights.ive never watched one of bernard dunnes.

lifes short............watch what you enjoy and what entertains you.

duckysauce

Judgement Day wrote: »

And just to throw the cat amongst the pigeons, in 2008 I was well up for Munster to win against the ABs and gutted when Joe Rokocoko got in for the try in the dying moments and spoilt the party. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/7736564.stm

I have to admit that I have gradually transferred my allegiance to my province of choice rather than Ireland - almost to the extent of regarding the Six Nations as an unwanted interruption to the Heineken Cup campaign. When it comes down to who do I want to win on the 20th November, it will be schizo time again but probably the All Blacks if I'm honest - as long as they win convincingly.

Interesting piece here http://www.allblacks.com/news/14774/Wilkinson-inspired-Sonny-Bill where Sonny Bill admits to being inspired by Jonny Wilkinson while at Toulon - nearly as good as a Papal blessing!

British by birth, Irish by accident, Munster/Toulon/All Blacks by choice.

that's fair enough you are a kiwi aren't you ? it's the stain from ireland following another country i have a problem with.