The UAFC

I'd like to see a pre season training camp from hell with a focus on breaking players down mentally, not just testing them physically. A three day no warning camp with no sleep, round the clock exercises, not told when to stop, swollen joints, extreme pain and fatigue, players losing their minds and...

I love the late footwork of the poly boys in the Kiwi teams. Laumape is finding his feet this year with the Canes and developing his passing game. Against the Cheetahs he was given the space to run riot and provide assists for Aso. Still don't think he has the passing precision (nearly butchered Aso...

Pierre Spies is as close as you'll get to a mature version of Arno Botha. In Arnie we dodged one overrated gym monkey and don't want the over the hill version.

Botha is overrated as a ball carrier. He's an athletic power Runner who reacts quickly and looks explosive but with a narrow waist/torso, elongated limbs and a high centre of gravity he frequently got knocked off balance too easily in contact for the Bulls with his own momentum. Girthy clever back r...

A very tough, physical match. Played with an intensity that the Lions will need to replicate. Hats off to Scotty Robinson and his Crues outfit who played both sides of the football better on the night. They shut out the free scoring Canes with a defensive shift that would have had Andy Farrell purri...

Remember Christian Welch the Aussie Storm player who spent a day with UR last October. This past weekend in a freak accident against the Dragons He fell over in back play with no one near him. His badly damaged his left knee ACL and He's out for the season. His Storm teammate Nelson Asofa-Solomona i...

Jordie Barrett by comparison, is an ice cool headed kid, less frantic than McKenzie, bigger framed, glides through space like a swan on rocket fuel, very accurate pass kick and generally more structured than Damien. Yup, I can see Jordie making it. Looks fairly comfortable already - how many fekkin...

The ball has to be on the ground when touched and the word is touched the manner of the touch is not important the big no no is losing the ball and the ball going forward then the call is a knock on . What the ball does after it is touched doesn't matter because after it is touched it is a dead bal...

Nigel Owens should have asked the Bunker to check the grounding on the first try @ 3 minutes. Yato was not in possession of the ball at any time during the attempted grounding. He neither 'held' nor pressed down' on the ball. The ball continued to roll forward (and checked only for a millisecond) as...

'Plunket' Bill Williams has been quiet during his first two outings for Auckland, re-adjusting to the 15 man code in a new team. The Canes did a good job of flooding the passing channels around him last weekend on the few occasions he carried the ball. His telescopic handling has raised the bar for ...

On the rushed drop the biggest mistake was going back left after the initial burst by big stu. Another round the corner carry would have left paddy right in front of the posts. Once we went left we were always losing ground and i think ruan decided we are only going backwards from here. Just the us...

McKenzie is one Daring player. Totally fearless. Skeletric running full of little details with lots of trick shots. He has an unrestricted role at 15 in a confident, flowing Chiefs team. It fits his skill set. Playing at stand off next year will be a different proposition. He will be relied upon to ...

I know this will be unpopular but Chris Ashton is the form winger in Europe and I would take him on tour. Especially considering the poor choice of wide men we have compared to New Zealand. Massive disparity in that area in particular. Nick Abendanen and Denny Solmona also could be considered for s...

The Bulls have switched on at the start of this match. Can they keep up this intensity into the final quarter of the match?
Arno handled the football 3 or 4 times in short carries.
Taken off at 20 minutes with an ankle injury

The game has moved on from the halcyon days when the Bulls used to brutalize teams into submission (orchestrated by the tactical genius of Fourie Du Preez). The current Bulls crop are arguably the worst ball handling outfit in Super Rugby. Some great specimens but agricultural in attack. In terms of...