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All Blacks

Just woken after a fantastic day in Auckland and the match at Eden Park. I've been to more rugby games than you could shake a stick at and I have to say the atmosphere in the ground was absolutely Electric. I don't know how it sounded on the TV but the Lions supporters made a massive noise from where we were seated.

Fantastic game and on reflection probably a fair result as no side deserved to loose, especially with a penalty.

The NZ people are truely fantastic hosts and very accommodating in every respect. The only thing they need to do now is to build a proper stadium so that more people can see their wonderful All Black team. Eden Park is the biggest and it holds 48,000 which in 2017 simply doesn't cut it ! I know there's only 4 million people here but that can be said of Wales and they'vegot one of the best stadium's in the world.

Off to nurse my headache .... I could hear a moth fart at 100 yards !
 
The problem is the limited number of games that would attract those numbers.

Eden Park looks pretty empty these days for any Super Rugby games, which in part reflects a couple of things:

1) The Blues have been rubbish for some time now

2) Super Rugby itself has lost its appeal, thanks to a stupid and greedy expansionist policy which was always doomed to failure.

But yes, EP looked and sounded fantastic on screen last night, and even Auckland's fickle weather behaved.
 
Absolutely do not need larger stadiums than 48,000 anywhere IMO. For sports or gigs that is large enough if you want to actually see who is playing. Otherwise watch it on TV.
 
fay spook said:
This is a thread about the All Blacks. That is why they have been mentioned a lot. If it worries you start a thread about England and we can await debate on their high tackles and tales of their molestations off the pitch. My point has nothing to do with the size of the country, it has to do with hearing about "the best team in the world", I pass comments about the players and their pathetic cheating and off pitch shenanigans (tell me what is incorrect here) that I find unbecoming of the label "best team in the world".

I await your defence of the ongoing and deliberate high tackles and off pitch activities the NZ press also shakes its head at..........

The classy way the All Black fans here reacted on this thread to the Irish beating them.

I have family from Uruguay. They have won the football world cup twice (the country's team, not my family). They are a small nation. NZ isn't unique in its achievements.
Click to expand...

I think this worthy of greater analysis.
In the top tear of rugby winning is everything we have entered the era of marketing, propaganda and large amounts money since the sport went Proffesional. The all blacks are now a brand, If you go back and watch any recording of any international rugby game you will be amazed how many times somebody is holding an opposing players leg or holding him into a ruck after the ball has been released, or after a scrum. Players that are pulled back by the shirt, pushed over, tripped, blocked, and that's just what you see from the coverage, just as much happens that you don't see. (probably more)

The problem is the ref cant see everything even with the TMO and linesmen, so they can only single out the most obvious infringements. If you stopped the game for everything you simply wouldn't have one. It was noticeable how many times the TMO drew attention to the ref relating to foul play after the event, and then went back for penalties during the tour.
The all blacks are masters of this always have been, and always will be. However other teams are now catching up and at such close quarters there's a lot you can get away with and will.
It's now part of the game (gamesmanship) and personally I accept it However dangerous play is very different you would never have had Sonny bill sent off a few years ago if it wasn't for the introduction of the TMO. So in that respect the game has got much better and safer along with the introduction of HIA assessments, but we just need to make sure that the direction of travel isn't to much analysis as this will kill and stop the flow of the game.
So still one of the best sports in the world and long may it continue.
 
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