NPR

Sards wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 12:00 pm
I read that Eben wanted to play but wasn't up for practice on Monday. So Rassie said that team protocol is that if you don't train Monday you don't play the weekend. And Rassie is vas on that. So Eben went to the practice.

More gossip.

Sandstorm wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 2:04 pm

Sards wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 12:00 pm
I read that Eben wanted to play but wasn't up for practice on Monday. So Rassie said that team protocol is that if you don't train Monday you don't play the weekend. And Rassie is vas on that. So Eben went to the practice.

More gossip.

Is that all you got.
Read the article.
Rassie said he was happy Eben did the session but wanted him to still pass a fitness test. That's the influence of Eben.

Sards wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 2:24 pm

Sandstorm wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 2:04 pm

Sards wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 12:00 pm
I read that Eben wanted to play but wasn't up for practice on Monday. So Rassie said that team protocol is that if you don't train Monday you don't play the weekend. And Rassie is vas on that. So Eben went to the practice.

More gossip.

Is that all you got.
Read the article.
Rassie said he was happy Eben did the session but wanted him to still pass a fitness test. That's the influence of Eben.

What article? Where's the link?

You do understand how posting on a forum works, right?

One other good thing for Ellis Park is that they have revamped and re-opened the Ellis Park train station, so you can now use the Gautrain to Park station and jump onto one of the new PRASA trains and get off at Ellis Park. A private initiative started revamping the area around the stadium and the train station. Hope this can continue and more revamping of the wider area around the stadium will continue.
Will be trying out the trip myself instead of driving in and parking around the stadium.

bok_viking wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 2:50 pm One other good thing for Ellis Park is that they have revamped and re-opened the Ellis Park train station, so you can now use the Gautrain to Park station and jump onto one of the new PRASA trains and get off at Ellis Park. A private initiative started revamping the area around the stadium and the train station. Hope this can continue and more revamping of the wider area around the stadium will continue.
Will be trying out the trip myself instead of driving in and parking around the stadium.

Thats great. Understand the GauTrain works well. Now that the Lions start winning we may see better support for them.

Good to see the All Blacks still value & respect Springboks.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/sport/526370 ... uth-africa

OomStruisbaai wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 3:15 pm

bok_viking wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 2:50 pm One other good thing for Ellis Park is that they have revamped and re-opened the Ellis Park train station, so you can now use the Gautrain to Park station and jump onto one of the new PRASA trains and get off at Ellis Park. A private initiative started revamping the area around the stadium and the train station. Hope this can continue and more revamping of the wider area around the stadium will continue.
Will be trying out the trip myself instead of driving in and parking around the stadium.

Thats great. Understand the GauTrain works well. Now that the Lions start winning we may see better support for them.

Definitely, the Ellis Park station closed in the late 80's I think or maybe 90's, so I hope it will help the Lions with attendance giving fans a safe and convenient way to get to the stadium. It is much better and saver to park at the Gautrain stations, so not having to park around the stadium and driving through the CBD to get to the stadium will be a huge bonus. It is one of the main reasons I do not like to go to the stadium during URC/Currie Cup.

OomStruisbaai wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 3:15 pm

bok_viking wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 2:50 pm One other good thing for Ellis Park is that they have revamped and re-opened the Ellis Park train station, so you can now use the Gautrain to Park station and jump onto one of the new PRASA trains and get off at Ellis Park. A private initiative started revamping the area around the stadium and the train station. Hope this can continue and more revamping of the wider area around the stadium will continue.
Will be trying out the trip myself instead of driving in and parking around the stadium.

Thats great. Understand the GauTrain works well. Now that the Lions start winning we may see better support for them.

I think they will. No-one liked driving to Ellis Park and leaving their car unattended for 3 hours.

Sandstorm wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 3:40 pm

OomStruisbaai wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 3:15 pm

bok_viking wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 2:50 pm One other good thing for Ellis Park is that they have revamped and re-opened the Ellis Park train station, so you can now use the Gautrain to Park station and jump onto one of the new PRASA trains and get off at Ellis Park. A private initiative started revamping the area around the stadium and the train station. Hope this can continue and more revamping of the wider area around the stadium will continue.
Will be trying out the trip myself instead of driving in and parking around the stadium.

Thats great. Understand the GauTrain works well. Now that the Lions start winning we may see better support for them.

I think they will. No-one liked driving to Ellis Park and leaving their car unattended for 3 hours.

Specially with the Bokke team out there nicking anything that isn't nailed down

All Blacks:

Beauden Barrett, Will Jordan, Rieko Ioane, Jordie Barrett, Caleb Clarke, Damian McKenzie, TJ Perenara, Ardie Savea, Sam Cane, Ethan Blackadder, Tupou Vaa'i, Scott Barrett (capt), Tyrel Lomax, Codie Taylor, Tamaiti Williams

Reserves: Asafo Aumua, Ofa Tu'ungafasi, Fletcher Newell, Sam Darry, Samipeni Finau, Cortez Ratima, Anton Lienert-Brown, Mark Tele'a

Cane named at 7 to start...Papali'i nowhere to be seen.

Must have a dance class on at the same time. Darry and Finau on the bench, so Finau gets another chance to impress. No biggie, just the Boks at Ellis Park

Happy to see Vaa'i starting.

Caleb Clarke. Known for his strong defensive game...

Great to see Cane back starting, and I'm happy that they haven't given up on Finau.

Might be a thumb injury keeping Papali'i out of contention, I saw some gossip. I hope Finau grabs the chance. As for Clarke, he has to be there as a battering ram. Saffa fans are talking up PTSD targetting channels. We need some of the same.

I want Finau to come on and start bloody burying Springboks.

bok_viking wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 2:50 pm One other good thing for Ellis Park is that they have revamped and re-opened the Ellis Park train station, so you can now use the Gautrain to Park station and jump onto one of the new PRASA trains and get off at Ellis Park. A private initiative started revamping the area around the stadium and the train station. Hope this can continue and more revamping of the wider area around the stadium will continue.
Will be trying out the trip myself instead of driving in and parking around the stadium.

Ja, it's a great initiative. I think the local property owners have realised that they are sitting on a goldmine if they can gentrify the area around the stadium. Lots of opportunity for pubs and restaurants if they can secure the area and manage traffic and people flow away from some of the adjacent areas. The guys from Local Abode are doing great work getting the ball rolling.

And kudos to Prasa for coming to the party as well by getting the rail line up and running for game days.

It's been a shitshow at Prasa from more than a decade now with a ton of corruption and graft, lack of investment, vandalism and sabotage, and lack of maintenance but it seams like they are finally starting to get their act together and their marketing department is also doing a good job documenting their efforts on social media and Youtube. I really hope they can get the city-bound trains in Cape Town running again to alleviate some of the traffic on the N1 and N2. By all accounts the Simonstown line is pretty decent again now.

Off topic, but I'd love it if they got the Shosholoza Meyl running again too. Such a nice way to travel between Joburg and CT.

Blake wrote: ↑Thu Aug 29, 2024 8:10 am

bok_viking wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 2:50 pm One other good thing for Ellis Park is that they have revamped and re-opened the Ellis Park train station, so you can now use the Gautrain to Park station and jump onto one of the new PRASA trains and get off at Ellis Park. A private initiative started revamping the area around the stadium and the train station. Hope this can continue and more revamping of the wider area around the stadium will continue.
Will be trying out the trip myself instead of driving in and parking around the stadium.

Ja, it's a great initiative. I think the local property owners have realised that they are sitting on a goldmine if they can gentrify the area around the stadium. Lots of opportunity for pubs and restaurants if they can secure the area and manage traffic and people flow away from some of the adjacent areas. The guys from Local Abode are doing great work getting the ball rolling.

And kudos to Prasa for coming to the party as well by getting the rail line up and running for game days.

It's been a shitshow at Prasa from more than a decade now with a ton of corruption and graft, lack of investment, vandalism and sabotage, and lack of maintenance and but it seams like they are finally starting to get their act together and their marketing department is also doing a good job documenting their efforts on social media and Youtube. I really hope they can get the city-bound trains in Cape Town running again to alleviate some of the traffic on the N1 and N2. By all accounts the Simonstown line is pretty decent again now.

Yeah when I was at varsity, the area was great for nightlife, a few very good nightclubs and pubs as well as restaurants in the area in those days. Now you need to get back to Sandton, Rosebank, etc most likely to enjoy any safe nightlife after a game

As a young man just starting out, I commuted to work and back via Metrorail on the PTA Jozi main line. Even back then it was scary as fok. I won't want to go into the details of the things I saw and experienced. Many a day I feared for my life. Unless this Prassa train is a closed off reserved for the stadium affair, I won't go 50km near it.

average joe wrote: ↑Thu Aug 29, 2024 12:15 pm As a young man just starting out, I commuted to work and back via Metrorail on the PTA Jozi main line. Even back then it was scary as fok. I won't want to go into the details of the things I saw and experienced. Many a day I feared for my life. Unless this Prassa train is a closed off reserved for the stadium affair, I won't go 50km near it.

It is. It is a closed line that just runs back and forth between Park Station (which is also a Gautrain station) and Ellis Park Station before and after the match. You can use your match ticket as the train ticket (apparently).

So you could park at or Uber to Hatfield Station Gautrain station in Pretoria, grab a Gautrain to Park station in Joburg, walk through the Park Station Mall, and transfer onto the modern new Prasa train to Ellis Park station...and do the reverse after the match. You'll just have to be snappy for the return leg as Hatfield station closes at 21:17

Blake wrote: ↑Thu Aug 29, 2024 1:08 pm

average joe wrote: ↑Thu Aug 29, 2024 12:15 pm As a young man just starting out, I commuted to work and back via Metrorail on the PTA Jozi main line. Even back then it was scary as fok. I won't want to go into the details of the things I saw and experienced. Many a day I feared for my life. Unless this Prassa train is a closed off reserved for the stadium affair, I won't go 50km near it.

It is. It is a closed line that just runs back and forth between Park Station (which is also a Gautrain station) and Ellis Park Station before and after the match. You can use your match ticket as the train ticket (apparently).

So you could park at or Uber to Hatfield Station Gautrain station in Pretoria, grab a Gautrain to Park station in Joburg, walk through the Park Station Mall, and transfer onto the modern new Prasa train to Ellis Park station...and do the reverse after the match. You'll just have to be snappy for the return leg as Hatfield station closes at 21:17

Yeah it is free for match ticket holders and the train stop is only open on match days as it stands right now and is open until about 2.5-3 hours after matches. On Saturday the trains will run until 9:30pm. So I will take the trip from Midrand and test it out, they are doing it all in conjunction with the Lions union. The new PRASA commuter trains are similar to the Gautrain ones in design from my understanding. So it will all depend if PRASA can keep similar standards and safety as Gautrain in the long run. It would be nice if they can eventually do something similar at Loftus between Gautrain and PRASA. There is a train station right at the stadium as well that is not used.

Strong AB side.

This could be epic.

Sards wrote: ↑Thu Aug 29, 2024 8:24 pm Strong AB side.

This could be epic.

Have you got Tom Foley as TMO?

Sards wrote: ↑Thu Aug 29, 2024 8:24 pm Strong AB side.

This could be epic.

We’re going to get pumped. Mackenzie will run around like a headless chicken nullifying any offensive patterns the once mighty ABs have thought off. We’ll struggle to break down the Boks defence with individual efforts and they’ll score with all too regular frequency.

The forwards will have to play better than they did vs Argentina in Test 2 as DMac is not a great backfoot first five

D Mac vs our baby. He is going to have a good time. Will be difficult for us to keep the All Blacks out. They are going to nail us.

ScarfaceClaw wrote: ↑Fri Aug 30, 2024 3:09 am

Sards wrote: ↑Thu Aug 29, 2024 8:24 pm Strong AB side.

This could be epic.

We’re going to get pumped. Mackenzie will run around like a headless chicken nullifying any offensive patterns the once mighty ABs have thought off. We’ll struggle to break down the Boks defence with individual efforts and they’ll score with all too regular frequency.

I watched a bit of one of Rassie's press conferences the other day before the accent just got too much. Some of the questions were probing but he clearly enjoys fending things off and creating a sort of chum cloud. One thing he mentioned was the recent record between the two sides, 5 wins to the Boks, 4 to the ABs and one draw, including of course, a one point win in the Final. There's nothing in it and I think both teams have a lot to play for here. This is the biggest test in world rugby. The Boks will want to stamp the game with their trademark hard man approach. You can see that aspect of their game lift when they play the ABs. They have many pride.

I don't think it'll be a pumping, either way. I've got doubts about DMac and don't rate him at 10 in tests but he's one of 15 and Razor always has a plan. ( I also think there's been an admission made by Razor that DMac needs to learn about how to manage a game and this runs contrary to my understanding that the ABs are not a development team... but you do have to introduce players somehow. What I want to know is, who is the next candidate for the 10 jersey?)

I think it'll be a matter of how the ABs look to move the Boks around the park when they have the ball and where they look to make space. Countering the rush style defense is something this new AB side is starting to do more and not getting a lot of hype. Jordie's little chip kick behind trick might get a bit of work. I want to see a swarming frenzy from Black jerseys in defense...

and no cards.

Please, no cards.

Great little mini-documentary dropped by Squide about the rivalry:



Nothing I didn't know beforehand, but still nice to see it packaged in this way to make it accessible to newer fans that don't know.

Love our NZ boets.

Blake wrote: ↑Fri Aug 30, 2024 8:10 am Great little mini-documentary dropped by Squide about the rivalry:



Nothing I didn't know beforehand, but still nice to see it packaged in this way to make it accessible to newer fans that don't know.

Love our NZ boets.

No mention of the Cavaliers tour?

Minto was my teacher at school...

Grandpa wrote: ↑Fri Aug 30, 2024 10:22 am No mention of the Cavaliers tour?

He mentioned early on in the video that he had to leave that out, I assume because it was quite complex and would consume a lot of time explaining it.

Interesting the Squidge reckons the racist Saffers coming to NZ in 1981 forced the Whites in NZ to look inward at their own treatment of their own non-white population and make a change. I don't believe that's true......

Blake wrote: ↑Fri Aug 30, 2024 10:58 am

Grandpa wrote: ↑Fri Aug 30, 2024 10:22 am No mention of the Cavaliers tour?

He mentioned early on in the video that he had to leave that out, I assume because it was quite complex and would consume a lot of time explaining it.

Ah I missed that part... though he covered quite a few complex issues... and it seemed a relevant part of the story... surprised really...

Sandstorm wrote: ↑Fri Aug 30, 2024 11:02 am Interesting the Squidge reckons the racist Saffers coming to NZ in 1981 forced the Whites in NZ to look inward at their own treatment of their own non-white population and make a change. I don't believe that's true......

Yeah... I don't think that happened for at least another decade after that tour... or at least a greater awareness...

Sandstorm wrote: ↑Fri Aug 30, 2024 11:02 am Interesting the Squidge reckons the racist Saffers coming to NZ in 1981 forced the Whites in NZ to look inward at their own treatment of their own non-white population and make a change. I don't believe that's true......

He really dont have a clue.

Sandstorm wrote: ↑Fri Aug 30, 2024 11:02 am Interesting the Squidge reckons the racist Saffers coming to NZ in 1981 forced the Whites in NZ to look inward at their own treatment of their own non-white population and make a change. I don't believe that's true......

I like Squidge, but he really ought to stay off some topics.

assfly wrote: ↑Fri Aug 30, 2024 1:08 pm

Sandstorm wrote: ↑Fri Aug 30, 2024 11:02 am Interesting the Squidge reckons the racist Saffers coming to NZ in 1981 forced the Whites in NZ to look inward at their own treatment of their own non-white population and make a change. I don't believe that's true......

I like Squidge, but he really ought to stay off some topics.

Including rugby

JM2K6 wrote: ↑Fri Aug 30, 2024 1:11 pm Including rugby

I wouldn't go that far. I think some of his videos are the best analysis I've seen of the game. I've learnt a lot from him, and I think he's done his part to grow the game. Perhaps he can get a bit detailed, and I admit I don't watch all of his videos anymore, but I don't know any other YouTubers who do it better than him.

assfly wrote: ↑Fri Aug 30, 2024 1:13 pm

JM2K6 wrote: ↑Fri Aug 30, 2024 1:11 pm Including rugby

I wouldn't go that far. I think some of his videos are the best analysis I've seen of the game. I've learnt a lot from him, and I think he's done his part to grow the game. Perhaps he can get a bit detailed, and I admit I don't watch all of his videos anymore, but I don't know any other YouTubers who do it better than him.

It's not a popular sport for amateur analysis so there's little competition. He's not all bad, but he frequently invents plans and strategies when it's pure happenstance and he's a real fucker for having his favourites that make him completely blind to reality. He was convinced by Eddie Jones as England's coach, convinced he would gave won the world cup, and convinced that he would make Australia a huge force, and any analysis he did would assume every event was part of some detailed master plan.

He tries extremely hard to make sense of a messy sport and there is plenty of value in that, but he is addicted to seeing patterns in the noise. And because rugby is a complex sport with a big divide between the pro game and the amateur, the vast majority of fans are well positioned to believing his fairy tales and wishful thinking masquerading as fact.

Normally if I saw that AB lineup I would be concerned. Especially if everything worked for them.
However. Rassie is an astute coach.
We have read where the ABs might focus their attacks and from what I have seen Rassie has all that covered. So maybe the ABs bring their own surprises