General Rugby Discussion 3

It's moving deckchairs and won't solve the fact that rugby is heading for a crash.

I have no problem with this NZ tour of SA, especially as a kiwi. Despite playing SA fairly regularly, we don't get anything like the tours of old.

The Rugby Championship was great this year, but it's still got a ridiculous format. The inequality between home and away games doesn't make it a very 'fair' competition. That said, the 6N format has the same issues and people here don't seem bothered by it.

Have you experienced freezing your tits off at a Scotland match at the Aviva with zero atmosphere? 😂

Yeah, there's huge heritage and history to it being on at that time of year - I think it has literally always been played at that time of year going right back to the 1880's, with a handful of notable exceptions (foot & mouth scare in 2001 etc).

It kind of has the sporting calendar largely to itself to an extent at that time of year (at least for the sports I personally care about anyway).

Like Ireland, SA name only 1 uncapped player in their autumn squad with a squad a full year older than the Irish squad…I wonder will the same accusations thrown at Ireland for not “building for the RWC” be thrown at SA! Doubt it

https://www.news24.com/sport/rugby/springboks/bok-squad-rassie-calls-up-stormers-prop-zachary-porthen-for-november-tour-20251020-0528

The problem isn't age it's depth. No harm using these friendlies to see a few players who might be called on if we need them for real tournaments like the upcoming 6N.

The importance of these now twice yearly meetings of southern teams is just pure marketing hype at this stage.

Yeah, can't believe no one has mentioned that before now.

I’m just curious to see if this obsession about the age profile of the Irish squad by certain media/bloggers etc will be held about SA after this squad. That will confirm if this concern is genuine or just an attempt to push their narrative.

I literally see little to no difference between the squad age wise with the only big difference is SA have more players who are +31 years old…

I'm interested what narrative and what media/bloggers you are referring to here?

I think it's fair to say that Rassie is conservative. But I also think it's fair to say that Farrell is conservative too. I'd go far as as suggesting a lot of the media I consume has acknowledged both.

All I’m saying is I watched the reaction to the Boks squad by various YouTube channels and, kid you not, not even one mentioned the aging aspect of the bok squad…yet those same sources were obsessed about the age profile of the Irish squad despite A. being only 28.5 on average (not even “aging”, that’s a perfect age profile for a squad) and B. Being a full year and 6 weeks younger than the SA squad named.

I’m sorry but if I’m not hearing this “aging” narrative being thrown Ireland not being thrown at SA then I’m not buying it.

I didn't have any major issues with the age profile of the Ireland squad up to and including the 2023 RWC.

For me, it's the relative conservatism since then. A large cohort of this Irish team, starters and in the 23, are really beginning to push on.

But conservatism isn't just about age profile, it's also about the number of caps and minutes being given to those players. One stat that comes to mind in contrast is that Rassie played 47 players during the Rugby Champioship. I think Farrell played 31 in the 6 Nations?

And to concede, all the caveats about SA having a significantly bigger net are absolutely valid. I just think it's possible that's true, and that Rassie is a conservative selector, and that Farrell has become one too.

That's fair, I suppose I mean selection rather than game play type stuff (maybe "innovation" might be a good word for it?); but then 7-1, 4 SH's etc. too so fair point.