Re: Did the All blacks Miss Lomu ?

On Sun, 30 Nov 2003 18:41:03 -0000, "Groundhog" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:

>
>"Greig Blanchett" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
>news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>
[snip Oz v NZ results]
>>
>> Yeah? They won one match out of three for the year. They got nothing
>> for it. We won all the silverware that was up for grabs between us.
>
>Except the one you wanted....

And what was that? We won ALL the silverware that was up for grabs
BETWEEN us. Are you Welsh, by any chance?

>
>>
>> They probably wouldn't have if they'd had to play New Zealand.
>
>An utterly unsustainable comment, as you well know ! :)

No, I think it's perfectly valid. England beat NZ by one point in
June. England played their standard game. England continued to play
their standard game for the next 6 months. New Zealand improved,
easily enough to beat England.

>> The
>> poms are nowhere near as good as the Aussies at closing down New
>> Zealand. They don't do so well against unpredictable teams. Australia
>> was the perfect finals team for them because Australia play basically
>> one dimensional predictable rugby.
>
>Which was good enought to beat NZ when it mattered. NZ play the most
>predictable rugby of all.  

You must be Welsh. New Zealand are as unpredictable as the French
these days. Pick another day and NZ would have racked up 50 points
against that same Aussie side. But who could predict it?


>Of all the teams in the World Cup, England are
>arguably the most unpredictable, for the proven reason that they have a Plan
>B (and C, D & E, if necessary).

You ARE Welsh! You've confused "succesful" with "unpredictable". Tut
tut. And I saw no other plan in action than forward domination and get
in position for penalty or drop goal. The ending was predicted MONTHS
back. How predictable is that?

>
>
>> Whatever, I expect
>> England will follow our lead once again and have a shit year next
>> year.
>
>Follow NZ's lead after winning a World Cup ?  My God, man - you need to go
>back a long way to find that !
>

No, silly boy. You've copied us in so many ways - a dominant forward
pack, aggressive half backs, kicking five eights, burly centres and
mutant wings. Throw in the more esoteric similarities, like the age of
the pack etc. and once again, you're following NZ's ruts in the road.
We did all that last century.  As I've said before, what does Woody do
now? Try to build for the future by sacking his pack of old men and
then losing the next 18 months worth of big ones? Or keep them hanging
on for some short term wins but kiss good bye to the next RWC? Either
way, it's all going to be pretty amusing for those of us who are old
enough to appreciate the ebb and flow of "world domination" in rugby.