England U20s make a dozen changes to starting XV to face Fiji

When you sign a SR contract you have to declare for New Zealand/ABs. Any Kiwi who chooses to represent a heritage nation falls under the quota amount.

Yeah the important thing is for WR to create a sustainable future for such nations, NZ will not always be able to or want to do it. Obviously a base in Apia (suspect more feasible than Tonga) and something higher profile like this Lions series tour match they’ve involved in. I have no problem with Auckland being a poly destination if the community is getting onboard to enable it (which hopefully after 3 years we are seeing).

We started calling you arrogant when you called our captain a ‘shit Richie McCaw’. In New Zealand. On our turf. Don’t think that kind of behaviour really calls for respect, does it.

NZ don’t really talk ourselves up, if anything the rugby does it for us. No kiwi goes in the media and says: ‘We are gonna win the RWC’. However, I have found many instance of IRISH media saying that the Irish should win, without a doubt. THAT is disrespectful.

The All Blacks have played good rugby, even some of the best rugby ever, at many points in history, but I don’t think you could find a single instance of one of those players, or the NZ media, saying that they should whitewash their opponents. Ever.

Now, onto your analysis. Ireland DID choke the QF. They beat the champions, they were ranked first coming into it, a lot of players at the peaks of their powers. Its hard to say that they didn’t choke. Obviously, their preparation was just not as good as NZ, and thats all there really is to it.

If Ireland had repsected that ABs team and that QF more, maybe they would’ve prepared properly for it and won. But they didn’t.

Maybe if Ireland had won their QF last RWC, they wouldn’t have to be in the same pool as SA and Scotland. I mean, its called a draw for a reason. NZ got third last RWC, so of course they should get a reasonable pool, and they were ranked pretty highly too. If you want to talk about easy pools, look no further than Pool 3 with England, Australia, Fiji, and Georgia I think?

Now, obviously you don’t remember how that QF ended, so I’ll go ahead and rectify that. Ireland reclaimed the ball off kickoff and marched for 20ish phases into the opposition half. Savea then won a turnover, but the referee refused to give it, so play went on. Finally, at the NZ 22, after not giving up a single penatly in 25 phases of hard defense, Sam Whitelock, the most capped All Black of all time, wins the game with an incredible steal.

Now, NZ players having a go at Ireland. Do you cry when you get hit after making the first swing? We all know Sexton is a prick on the field, its just the truth. And Ioane never backs down from a clash, so he thought he should humble a player who has never won an international knockout game who thought he was all that. Don’t really see the issue, its poetic justice really.

They could do a bit further and include some currently serving armed forces personnel to give it more a true ‘ANZAC’ feel. They have some pretty useful players in the armed services teams.

But the NRL have three weeks of Origin which effect the NRL season. While the Super Rugby season is shorter, they only want to effect one week of the season.

It doesn’t seem like an insurmountable thing to make work. My guess is the money wasn’t right for the NZRU.

Would love to see this more widely-implemented across rugby. For instance, Ireland should seek to tie the opening fixture of the Women’s Six Nations to St. Patrick’s Day and host the game in the RDS with the Leinster Schools Senior Cup Final serving as an opener (bonus points if you make the opponent England every year). Would pack out the stadium and the School’s final fans always bring fantastic atmosphere!