Pre-Season
Rugbyzone wasn't showing them and I was too busy to get up to the Valley to watch the games live at the English pub there, so I missed the entire end of year All Blacks tour. I caught up on the NPC finals, but didn't really think about rugby until the recent end of the NFL regular & fantasy seasons heralded the stirrings of Super Rugby.
Tonight I caught up on the All Blacks' solid victory against England (was that England try as dodgy as it looked?), demolition of Scotland, deceptively hard fought victory against the aging Irish juggernaut, and fourth-grand-slam-sealing win over Wales which saw Dan Carter overtake Jonny Wilkinson to be the highest points scorer in test rugby.
A few other rugby highlights from the past couple of months caught my eye too: Munster's victory over the Aussies (hyuk hyuk!); the New Zealand Sevens team's victory in George, South Africa over the World Series leading English (by a penalty goal, while a man down no less! Hyuk, hyuk!); Canterbury and Crusaders alum Casey Laulala doing what he does best in the UK; BAM!;and this compilation of Sonny Bill Williams' tackle-breaking and offloading magic from the NPC:
(Source and an alternate link if that one is region locked)
The video-editor seems not to have wanted to trim his chosen music, so the best moves are shown several times from different angles. He only played half a season, after all. I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do in Super Rugby come February.
Meanwhile, in the summer game, I hope the Black Caps can summon some magic backbone in the second test against Pakistan. It's sad to be cautiously optimistic at a mere 246 for 6 on the first day.
346
Tonight I caught up on the All Blacks' solid victory against England (was that England try as dodgy as it looked?), demolition of Scotland, deceptively hard fought victory against the aging Irish juggernaut, and fourth-grand-slam-sealing win over Wales which saw Dan Carter overtake Jonny Wilkinson to be the highest points scorer in test rugby.
A few other rugby highlights from the past couple of months caught my eye too: Munster's victory over the Aussies (hyuk hyuk!); the New Zealand Sevens team's victory in George, South Africa over the World Series leading English (by a penalty goal, while a man down no less! Hyuk, hyuk!); Canterbury and Crusaders alum Casey Laulala doing what he does best in the UK; BAM!;and this compilation of Sonny Bill Williams' tackle-breaking and offloading magic from the NPC:
Click to view(Source and an alternate link if that one is region locked)
The video-editor seems not to have wanted to trim his chosen music, so the best moves are shown several times from different angles. He only played half a season, after all. I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do in Super Rugby come February.
Meanwhile, in the summer game, I hope the Black Caps can summon some magic backbone in the second test against Pakistan. It's sad to be cautiously optimistic at a mere 246 for 6 on the first day.
346