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It's an important factor in the decline in the appeal and quality of youth rugby. Hybrid club/CHS School/private school comps would help haul the game back to relevance among the wider sports public, but it will never happen because of the dominance of private schools in NSW and Qld rugby. In...

One for the expats...anyone got any idea who might be carrying Super Rugby in the US this season? It's disappeared from ESPN+ .. the company says it has no plans to show. I'm sure the broadcast changes in Australia are impacting decisions internationally. ARU's "where to watch" page still list...

thank you

Agree. Getting schoolboys and especially club rugby right is the challenge, especially since the demise of organized and competitive sport through the CHS. I won't labor this as I realize I'm dribbling on in the GPS thread, but if you take a step back, it's so obvious that it's not just the...

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/nov/10/the-forgotten-story-of-wallabies-star-and-nagasaki-survivor-cecil-ramalli Or one who never got a chance.

Mark was also in the CHS 2ND XV in '77. Tony Melrose was the First XV pick. These were mighty, mighty teams. The disintegration of CHS and bush rugby is a disgrace and at the centre of why rugby union is on its knees.

Yes, I share your despair. But as I've said ad nauseam for an age, the key is making the game more inclusive rather than leaning more and more on the private school base. No one wants to destroy the elite roots of the game, just expand the sport to vast majority of the population. They have...

It may be worth noting that on this March night in New York, it is possible to watch five or more rugby games simultaneously on the telly and internet. (And every Super Rugby game is available). Admittedly a few of the games tonight are crap -- notably, Australia's loss to Samoa in the US Sevens...

Probably. So be it. Makes things more competitive for the 6 spot. That's healthy. He's a really good player.

He wasn't against the less than stellar Sunwolves or other games. Don't get me wrong, I like him as a player but he's in limbo. He's a backrower -- a 6, trying to play as a lock in a side that is lacking physical authority. He's on a hiding to nothing playing in the tight five or as an 8.

Doesn't mean he's a good lock

Respectfully, I'm quite sure that statistically there is an overwhelming case for getting over the gain line. That's the best quality ball you can receive. Making shit up from behind the advantage line -- effectively getting fast ball on the back foot -- isn't a game plan.

I don't think there's a combination issue or lack of talent in the Waratah backline that comes anywhere near the problem they have (and have had for a couple of years) in backrow/second row selections. They are undersized and under-powered -- it's the same issue with the Wallabies backrow (which...

Same nonsense. Not being direct. Not going forward before going wide. Forcing the pass. Crap kicking. Losing lineouts. Italy deserve to be a try or two up. Just awful and depressing.

Forwards lose lineouts, get beat up at the breakdown (cept Pocock) and constantly fail to make the gain line. Forget the backs, they won't win another test until they get some urgency in tight and win an attacking lineout or two. They were going backwards for seven minutes while camped in South...

And their overall school particpation numbers are dropping by double digits. Ten years down the track ABs might start feeling feeling the pinch.

It's not out of RA hands. The governing body and the culture that has not only propped up, but fed (continues to feed) an elitist mindset is why we're in this mess. It matters now more than ever that over the last forty years the game has had multiple chances to be more inclusive; to build a...

Oh, ok. What does this mean? Reads like they are telling us they have divised an improved model of talent ID and have strengthened structures to ensure when talented players leave to play other sports, they'll notice. Doesn't seem to be any sort of initiative to get more people to play the game...

Yeah, he looked great but more importantly his workrate (while on) was exceptional. At least briefly, he looked like the player he long threatened to be. He bends the line, hauls in the defence and seems to have given up trying to throw miracle passes.

Hope they get Vancouver up -- a traditionally strong rugby community -- and good news on Austin. Such a great city culturally. One of the places in the country that values difference. Rugby has a foothold there, it shouldn't waste it. Suspect the most successful programs will be where there is...