Hot: Baker - Not: Farrell
It is time for our weekly wrap up of who has their name in lights at the moment...and who is making the headlines for the wrong reasons.
They're on fire!
Ulster: Extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 13 matches with a convincing 25-6 away win against Northampton in the Heineken Cup. This gives them a six-point lead at the top of Pool Four.
New Zealand Sevens: Gordon Tietjens' side made history when they won the Port Elizabeth leg of the Sevens World Series to become the first side to win the same leg of the competition for a fourth consecutive time. No other team has achieved this feat since the tournament started in 1999.
Clermont: Extended their unbeaten home record to 51 matches with a narrow victory over defending champions Leinster. What made their win extra special is that it also ended Leinster's 17-match unbeaten record in the Heineken Cup.
Kurt Baker: Made his return to the Sevens circuit - after an absence of nearly three years - in fine style by leading New Zealand's charge at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. Baker scored eight tries in Port Elizabeth, including two hat-tricks on finals day.
Jared Payne: Put in a top-class display in Ulster's win over Northampton. Payne was at the heart of Ulster's attacking play and apart from scoring a try he also set one up for Tommy Bowe.
Harlequins: Scored eight tries in their 57-14 Heineken Cup victory over Zebre which has taken them six points clear of their nearest rivals at the top of Pool 3.
Connacht: The Irish province claimed the biggest upset of the weekend when they beat Biarritz 22-14 in their Heineken Cup tie. The victory moves them into second spot, behind Quins, in their pool.
Someone turn on the heater...!
Owen Farrell: The Saracens stalwart had a shocker from the kicking tee in his side's 15-9 Heineken Cup loss to Munster. Farrell missed four out of seven shots at goal which proved the difference between winning and losing in the end.
Northampton: Although Ulster delivered a superb performance, more was expected from the Saints who were playing at Franklin's Gardens. They hardly put up a fight and suffered an ignominious defeat in front of their home crowd.
England Sevens: Ben Ryan's team are usually amongst the frontrunners on the international Sevens circuit but they have been far from impressive this season. They are currently languishing in 13th position in the point standings behind minnows like the United States, Canada and Portugal.
Dan Carter: He might have won the IRB's Player of the Year award but DC is not hot in his homeland. This after he failed to make the shortlist for the New Zealand Rugby Union's Kel Tremain Memorial Player of the Year award.
Dylan Hartley: The Northampton and England hooker is in trouble after he was cited for allegedly striking Ulster's Rory Best in their Heineken Cup tie. Hartley is no stranger to disciplinary hearings and was banned for eight weeks after being cited for biting Ireland flanker Stephen Ferris during a Six Nations match earlier this year.
Sevens World Series organisers: The system being used for allocating teams places the top three teams from the previous tournament into pools A, B and C with the rest of the teams selected randomly from tiered bands. The results of this saw New Zealand being drawn in the same pool as traditional rivals Fiji and England in the Port Elizabeth tournament while hosts South Africa had Australia, Samoa and France to contend with. We have to agree with Tietjens who believes a seeding system using the current rankings as a barometer would be a fairer option.
By David Skippers
Comments
APV1 says...
@ hellovanite - as someone with a sore arse from sitting on this fence, the one thing I do absolutely agree with you about is the statement about Mr 99:
"You sir have a bias towards anything that helps your international club team win."
Don't we all?
Posted 10:14 17th December 2012
hellovanite says...
Apologies for the name calling, that I retract. Please though try to comprehend what you are saying and investigate it's legitimacy before you make baseless assertions
Posted 11:19 15th December 2012
hellovanite says...
99call... All of those players you mentioned bar one moved here at a very young ago and most with their parents, all coming through the age groups when Identified at school level, no body scouted them.... douche
Posted 01:28 15th December 2012
hellovanite says...
99call... there is a difference between people who moved to a country when they were small and not for rugby and some fat cat waving cash at a player in their 20s to come play club and international rugby miles from their real home. That mate no matter what Ferdie say's is poaching, plain and simple. You obviously can't tell the difference because you're too busy ejaculating over all the players that could be eligible to play for your country in 3 years. I don't blame the players as money talks, but I would strongly suggest that you cannot do it forever and if I was an Irish born and breed player I would certainly hope not. To say Jared Payne is anything but a Kiwi is utter crud and if you think he won't return to NZ as will Bent you are dreaming, because this is where their family lives. I can't say the same about South Africans because hey not many want to live in that politically corrupt and violent environment. You sir have a bias towards anything that helps your international club team win.
Posted 01:18 15th December 2012
99call says...
ferdie, Im not saying theres anything new or secret here just saying that some of the great ABs over the last few years have been born outside NZ, I didnt for one minute say you personally have moaned but there are plenty who do.
trust me Id far rather have Irish born players pulling on the green shirt but needs must and sometimes youve got to go looking for qualified players to compete at the top level, you lot are lucky in NZ as youve got such a large number of players and every kid grows up wanting to be an AB, in our country rugby is about the 4 sport and not played serioulsy in all parts of the country
I thank you in advance for Mike Bent as I see him having a long a successful career for us but again I would far rather have irish lads in there but he will bridge a gap to the good young props we have coming through are old enough to play at this level.
Anyway until they change the rules none of us can moan
Posted 16:10 13th December 2012
ferdie says...
99call - if you 'think then come up with the names.
All the ones you gave are on the website I provided. Is comprehension an issue for you?
Nothing new or secret there.
Maybe too difficult for you - look under American Samoa the very first country and you'll see Kaino. Scroll down to Samoa you'll find the others you have mentioned plus more. NZRU is the only country who maintains a public register like this one.
Can you find a post where I have 'moaned' as you so eloquently put it, about player poaching? I've been one of the strongest 'backers' on this forum of local (Taranaki) man Michael Bent shifting to Ireland, and current Fiji captain Deacon Manu who was born in same Taranaki town as me, went to same school as me (and Conrad Smith, Beauden Barrett, John Mitchell), but chose Fiji and has to my knowledge never been criticised for that.
Posted 12:52 13th December 2012
99call says...
ferdie I think youve had a few more PI players than that
Jerome Kaino born American Samoa
Mils Muliaina born Samoa
Isaia Toeava born Samoa
Rodney So'oiala born Samoa
Jerry Collins Born Samoa
Not to mention Joe and Sivivatu and Im sure if I could be bothered Id find some more.
Im sure youll say they were brought up in NZ so it was their choice and thats fine so if it is the choice of the individual then stop moaning about players leaving NZ and playng for somone else
Posted 09:36 13th December 2012
ferdie says...
99call - you may want to look at this site before you spill too much dribble.
http://stats.allblacks.com/asp/bornoverseas.ASP?stats_ID=8
eg for Fiji - four Fiji-born players have played tests for NZ, another four played mid-week/non-test matches, since the 1880s when AB rugby began.
You can count the rest for yourself, you should be able to manage that.
The last PI-born player to be newly selected for the All Blacks was John Schwalger in 2007 (2 tests), note that was his choice, he was eligible having grown up in NZ, his brother Mahonri chose Samoa.
The most recent overseas-born player is Tawera Kerr-Barlow, born to two NZ parents in Australia. Again - his choice he was also eligible for Australia.
Posted 00:01 13th December 2012
fattysock says...
@99call
Typical ill-informed attitude. Joe Rocks was 5 when his family moved to new Zealand. Let me repeat that. HE WAS FIVE.
I can't find a definitive age for Sivi. . But he went to school in NZ... so at the very worst he was 16, but probably earlier.
How you can compare that to someone who moved to Ireland, or anywhere new, when they were well into their 20s is beyond me. Are you seriously claiming that the New Zealand selectors are so unbelievably good that they can talent spot someone before they've even started playing rugby? That's impressive.
If you want to have a go at us, then show me any recent All Black that grew up overseas and only moved to New Zealand after establishing themselves as a professional rugby player? Because that's what we're looking at here... not some kids that moved to NZ with their families before they were out of nappies and decided to play for the country they grew up in.
Posted 20:34 12th December 2012
kiwi_n_US says...
Would be nice if the people that talked about player poaching by NZ had a clue. Not sure how many of you grew up in the largest Polynesian city in the world with Samoans, Rarotongans, Fijians, Niueans etc. I did. Maybe y'all should head to South Auckland one day, particularly Otara/Papatoetoe/Mangere. Kiwi's may head to Aus (I did for a brief forgettable time) and there are many from the Islands that head to NZ for a multitude of reasons, it is not poaching if they live there/grew up there/built their skills there.
Shit, Australia claim Phar Lap, Crowded House and Russell Crowe as Aussie's (they also claimed The Lord of the Rings).
The sports world is changing, people move for professional and personal reasons and as long as they fulfill whatever rules are set by the IRB (in this case) then y'all just need to shut it.
Posted 20:30 12th December 2012
hellovanite says...
99call... You're an idiot if you think for one second NZ poaches islanders and should keep your ignorant ill informed rubbish to yourself.
Posted 19:34 12th December 2012
99call says...
Ive just realised why you lot are moaning about players being nicked by other countries, the current ABs are all NZ by birth, well done so the days of Sivivatu and Rokocoko are over and youve got your house in order you now feel you can have a pop at everyone else...... sorry but you can't
Posted 14:45 12th December 2012
99call says...
Sorry but I cant take this rubbish from some Kiwis about their players being poached by other countries how many Tongans, Samoans and Fijians have pulled on the All Black shirt, the ABs have been the worst for this for years and the Pacific nations have been complaining but its only an issue now because the ABs are losing players no one ever paid attention to the Pacific nations when they complained as they dont have the same standing in the world game.
So do us all a favour wind your necks in or show me the last AB team not to have a foreign born player in it
Posted 14:36 12th December 2012
PTplayer says...
Are United States, Canada and Portugal still minows in the 7s circuit? I GUESS NOT ANYMORE!!!
Posted 14:25 12th December 2012
GCP_jones says...
@Jmehrtens...
Here Here How dare those Sevens World Series organisers upset the Old Boys Club, the IRB should take them to task on actually trying to develope the game as something approaching a world spo
Posted 11:10 12th December 2012
ferdie says...
hellovanite says...Ferdie... 'get the athlete, learn the rugby afterwards'
If you watch the video, listen to commentary you will hear that is their quote, not mine.
And who mentioned 15 man game?
Sevens is so specialist, few of the top sevens players are involved in 15s, NZ's coach Tietjins made it clear in 2011 he sees them as separate sports and does not want players doing both. As he is by far the most successful sevens coach in history, who am i to argue?
More countries will focus on sevens specialists leading up to the 2016 Olympics - in fact this has been quite a topic for the Asian Rugby bosses with many countries funding for sevens at the expense of their 15s teams as they see they have a better chance of competing internationally at sevens than they ever will at 15s.
As he has already played for USA sevens at international level, what is your point re him playing elsewhere? You do not have one.
Posted 11:09 12th December 2012
Jmehrtens says...
regarding Sevens World Series organisers:
A system that for once favours the minnor rugby countries, (although only due to the odd roll of the dice) it shouldn't be allowed and very un-rugby like.
The Sevens World Series organisers should watch and learn from the RWC organisers. They know how to treat the little ones.
Posted 10:25 12th December 2012
GCP_jones says...
@hellovanite...
I think your right its an issue thats has to be addressed, if a player like say M Bent has a family connection to a place then no problem, but I think there should be a limit on these special project players, say no more than 3 in a squad.
At the moment Ireland has,Struass,and in a couple of years, Jared Payne, CJ Stander, Quinn Roux, Danie Poolman,Nathan White,several others, I heard talk off Penney bringing over a couple of players he coached at Canterbury, a guy called Ash Parker and a young fella from their back line John Mc Nicholl .
Not just in Ireland its being repeated around Europe, in France and England countries with the biggest pools of players their head hunting kids and bringing them over in their teens, a couple of guys playing for Toulouse and the Vunipola brothers in England.
This is one of the many issues the IRB need to address.
Posted 10:19 12th December 2012
Jmehrtens says...
Owen Farrell, Poor guy has aggravated the powers of PR with his nomination and is now their favourite target.
Posted 10:14 12th December 2012
hellovanite says...
Ferdie... 'get the athlete, learn the rugby afterwards' that easy is it? Yeah is it that easy is it? he is incredibly quick and maybe he is just that good, but the 15 man game will not provide him with the same amount of space. There have been players that run sub 11's in rugby before and there will be again. Maybe the country with the most money will sign him and he will play for their united nations team
Posted 08:34 12th December 2012