goldorak comments

Completely agree, haaa.

The point i was trying to make is that NZ's bigger than rugby and that nz rugby itself is bigger than the AB. I and many other rugby fans -kiwi or not- love nz rugby, domestic, SR etc and that wont change (nz are still the benchmark, obviously).

Nothing beats a SR kiwi derby on a friday arvo to kick-off the w-e, not even a rwc final.

I’m starting to side with Koike. I think the IOC has been heavy-handed and made this decision without considering the following four points.

Very valid point, smartacus. Moving the marathon to Sapporo will/would indeed be a costly logistical nightmare.

Ultimately the IOC are responsible for the situation we are in, all about filling their coffers. Makes a mockery of the whole selecting/bidding process (no one's going to make me believe that the IOC didnt know about tokyo's hot/humid summers. Same with IAAF & worlds athletics in doha a few weeks ago, fifa & qatar... they all knew but chose to turn a blind eye. IOC now trying to save face "it's all about athletes etc' in the worst possible way).

Way to be an @ss and have no idea what your own phone contains.

Not sure whether you're being sarcastic or not but surely the bloke knew what he was doing & what was on his phone (naked pics 'oops sorry - didnt know' & shorts falling down: oldest trick in the book if you ask me, benny hill stuff).

Weirdly written article, probably directly/literally (imo 'too') translated from japanese & too focused on weird details.

The All Blacks' semifinal defeat to England has been a tough pill to swallow for New Zealand fans accustomed to success after back-to-back World Cup wins in 2011 and 2015, but Tew urged the nation to move on.

"This is sport. The best team won and it wasn't us. I am very proud of this team and how they carry themselves," he said. "I think people should take a deep breath and let it go. Everyone is hurting. These are not easy days."

That's the 'problem' with one-sport fans, they're either miserable & quiet or ecstatic & co**y. On the w-e 17yo kiwi Alice Robinson won her first giant slalom, beating shiffrin, worley and other us/euro girls, which is imo a much bigger achievement than winning a rugby comp when you're a kiwi.

NZ (& other) rugby fans should take their blinkers off and look around sometimes. Plenty of sports, activities etc to enjoy.

The guy with the English accent, not the more familiar one with glasses and the Eastern European accent

You mean aussie John Coates ( big bloke w glasses)?

just call it the Japan olympics instead of Tokyo olympics

Probably too late PR wise though.

The EU know that they have the upper hand, they're just running down the clock watching the uk self-destroy hence those 'endlextensions'.

They've (uk) lost already, even if they stay they're well down the EU pecking order. Now trying to figure out what the least bad option is and how to sell it to the ppl.

He's now won 4 of the last 13 tournaments he played. He just hadn't played --much less finished-- a lot of tournaments due to injuries. When he's not injured, he's really good

That's pretty impressive. 100 career wins? Not impossible if he stays injury-free for the next 5-7 years.

Trump said he watched the operation from the White House Situation room as it played out live "as though you were watching a movie." 

Trump's the only potus in history (or any democracy) who comes up with such child-like comments (this one's quite funny, actually).

Designated Survivor moment, tick.

You put these places and things (Geishas) on your travel books, brochures etc. and then you prohibit people to take pictures after spending so much money, isn't that a scam?

No it's not. Spending your hard earned $ doesn't mean you get a free pass to act ignorant & rude i.e climb uluru, take a selfie/touch Buckingham palace guards etc.

Nothing wrong with 'look but don't touch' sometimes.

Entitled much?

Nothing says 'look at me, I am a med student/future doc/complete tosser' like wearing your stethoscope around your neck 24/7 in/outside the hospital, campus etc.

Don’t remember ever seeing AB being outplayed like this tbh, england were superb. Their 2 shortish backrows were outstanding, completely dominated the breackdown & tackle area.

Saffa TMO kept NZ in the game but eng were just too strong.

Such a sad and powerful article, thanks jt.

I'm really scared, but those (euthanasia) papers give me a lot of peace of mind because I know when it's enough for me, I have those papers," she said.

I hope she knew how inspiring and brave she was.

Again Hansen wants to turn rugby into cricket i.e all about test footy, no/irrelevant domestic comps. NT already play 15-16 tests a year ffs! Very insular view imo.

All major sports soccer, basket, volley and even baseball, league, afl have strong domestic comps, world cups and other international tourneys being the cherry on top. Hansen has to understand that less is more sometimes: brazil, germany, spain etc don't play each other every year (soccer), same with the usa & russia/serbia & co in basket etc. No one wants a rwc every year (aka their league of nations). All about $, again.

The 6N have a great, historical (and lucrative) tournament, packed stadiums, big TV & still have strong domestic/euro leagues & cups etc, why would they throw that away?! Not their fault if sanzaar have made a complete mess of super rugby & the RC (dwindling crowds/ tv ratings) and if SA/NZ federations have done the same with their own currie cup/old npc (still watch some mitre cup -and oz nrc- games sometimes; appalling crowds). Should have been cc/npc/oz top 4 sides play a super 12 sort of comp, winner's crowned SH champs.

"Once they do that, they're starting to think about the game rather than themselves."

Coming from the bloke/federation that demands $2-3M appearance fee to play england, wales & co. lol, what a hypocrite.

 i sure can;t stand most rugby fans. Massive hypocrites the lot of them.

Just to clarify i mean online/social media fans (trolls, naysayers etc). much better in real life (at least with former players)

Classic deflection from the French fans. Direct your outrage towards your violent thug.

Huh? French fans have been ripping into Vahaamina for the last 48h, some of his teammates/former teammates have spoken out asking them to stop. Earlier today Vahaamina announced he's retiring from international footy. Sure french fans are still salty about the pic but who wouldnt be. How would you kiwi fans (or even worse boks fans) have reacted if Garces had taken a 'funny' pic with Lions fans after the sbw red card at eden park?

I love rugby, have played/watched the game pretty much my whole life but i sure can;t stand most rugby fans. Massive hypocrites the lot of them.

Nothing to be ashamed of japan, still a great rwc.

Barnes had a poor game though; many other refs would have given Beast a red card for that spear tackle. Then the poor bloke spent the whole game trying to compensate & turned a blind eye to Japan's infractions (could have had a couple of yellows).

Anyway, best team won but 15 vs 14 for 70min would have been a different game.

What a biased, deceitful article. "fantastic news...cheers...another chance" etc. Really don't think that these quotes are remotely representative of the mood in the uk & europe (even the euros who initially wanted britain to stay or didnt care are now fed up with the whole brexit pantomime)

I read dozens of articles last night & probably hundreds of comments (pundits & 'ordinary ppl' on both sides), many/most were embarrassed by what had just happened, and rightly so.

'Disgraceful - UK politics is a bloody joke - not again - I am embarrassed to be English - the EU should kick us out & refuse an extension - today our MPs again embarrassed our nation - I voted remain but get this deal through etc". For the first time in a long time i felt that brits -leavers & remainers- finally got it.

Only entitled/ self-centered fools were in a celebratory mood yesterday. For decent ppl on both sides, relief & or embarrassment/ frustration/ anger.

Basketball superstar LeBron James, who traveled to China with the Lakers for the exhibition games, this week said Morey "wasn't educated" on the situation and suggested the Rockets executive should have kept his mouth shut.

LeBron 'sold-out' Jame$

Should launch a 'chinese $ matter' movement. No honour no dignity.

Britain will once more be a laughing stock around the world if this does not go through. Parliament has lost sight of what the people want. See the latest polls. Get behind the scrum and push it through.

Who on earth would have the energy to pick up the reins once more if it fails...?

Yeah, tend to agree with that. I think that many Brits, euros (and even the notoriously bureaucratic EU pollies!!) have reached the point of exasperation with brexit though. Just want this -now completely silly/absurd/pointless- debate to end and get on with things... anything will do -deal/no deal/stay- just make up your bloody minds (UK MPs the only ones who want more of this, drives me mad).

My problem with Johnson is that he is cunning and deceitful ,

Not disagreeing with you but is he 'that' different from other UK pollies (and imo others)? I mean you know that England's been known as the 'Perfidious Albion' on euro soil for centuries so no one really expects a no-nonsense straight shooter. That's why euros & the EU have been pretty patient with the whole brexit shenanigans.

Springboks go for experience against Japan

and size: 6/2 split on the bench, 950kgs + pack, PSDT -who is taller/heavier than J locks- in the backrow etc. At least we know what's coming.

Really hope Japan can pull this one out.

This all followed a "drinking session" which happened to follow a "rugby session". So, I'm not all that surprised, but you wouldn't expect this type of behavior from the Japan team or the All Blacks. Much more professional.

I wouldn't 'expect' it from Japan and/or the AB (and most other NT btw) but i wouldnt be 'that' surprised either (look at what happened with the crusaders during their SA tour a few months ago, NH/SR clubs on tours are no stranger to pub fights/ shenanigans either, same with NT remember Tindall, Bastareaud !? ;)

Rowdy 'third-half' / mad Monday celebrations etc may not be as common as they used to be, they're still part of the game especially in the amateur ranks.

The Uruguayan federation should obviously pay for the damage and deal with it internally (fine/ban the players involved, up to them).

Not a good look but we're only human hey! (could have happened to Hanyu or the table tennis blokes, although probably much earlier in the night!)

"The basic foundations of this agreement are ready and theoretically we could accept a deal tomorrow," said European Council President Donald Tusk, who will chair a summit of EU leaders, including Johnson, on Thursday and Friday.

However, Tusk said in comments broadcast by Polish broadcaster TVN 24 that "certain doubts have appeared from the British side", a reference to Johnson's need to win over politicians who fear he may have conceded too much.

Lol, again!?

Pretty clear now that the UK (and their spineless MPs) are getting cold feet about jumping off the brexit cliff. Nothing wrong with that -per se- just own up and admit you were wrong. 3 years ff!!

 I don't know what a tackler is supposed to do if a player dips that low," said former Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll

Exactly.

Not saying we should keep things as they are but tackling lower means more knee to the head and boot to the face, i.e potentially serious injuries, concussions etc.

No satisfactory solution am afraid.

WR are trying to turn rugby into cricket i.e it's all about test footy, domestic leagues are struggling. That's not a healthy approach, look what's happening in oz, nz and sa, dwindling crowds & tv numbers (SR and national leagues) even test footy's stagnating.

Imo Japan should invest in grassroots/ club footy first, get proper domestic comps and clubs (engage the local community. Ppl no longer want to support docomo, Panasonic and other brands they want proper clubs with their own identity ).

Test footy should be the cherry on top not the be all and end all of ppl's footy season.

Don't think it's a Japan vs rest of the world thing tbh. Schools all across old europe have had canteens for decades (no food/lunch in classes though which is imo better/more hygienic).

Kids/teens sit around tables and are served proper 3-4 course meals (typically, salad or cold meats for starter, occasionally soup; fish/meat and veggies for main then cheese/mixed green salad & finish off with a piece of fruit/yogurt for dessert).

In Catalonia the only thing that differs from the rest of Spain is that they have a different language. And that's the only argument they have to ask for their right to independence. I live near Valencia. About 130 kilometers south of Catalan territory. I speak the Valencian language. A linguistic variant of the Catalan language. I know this problem very well.

I think you're over-simplifying, The Catalans do have their own culture, food, history, architecture, specificity etc it's not only a language thing (and so do other regions). The Moorish influences, for example, are less visible in say Barcelona or San Sebastian than they are in Cordoba/Sevilla.

Question is, where do we start, where do we stop? What do you say to other ppl/nations/regions/minorities etc? I'd like to think than catalans & other spaniards have more in common than they have differences.

"Under our tournament rules, we're very careful that people behave appropriately and as a result of that we've referred to independent disputes committee the behavior and comments of the Scottish Rugby Union," tournament director Alan Gilpin told a news conference.

Poor form WR. The Scots, Italians, Canadians, Namibians etc had every right to voice their concern/disappointment and feel disrespected. The fact remains that there was no contingency plan, no plan B/C etc and that smaller nations were treated like second class athletes just here to make up the numbers.

I hope all nations (not the only the few who got shafted) stick with the Scots against WR.

Catalan identity is a passionate issue in the northeastern region bordering France, but elsewhere it has failed to capture the public imagination and, crucially, lacked international support.

And understandably so. The last thing ppl want is more social instability. Who's next? The Basques, occitans, bavarians, sards, bretons, Rhine ppl, Sicilians, tatars, Frisians, corsicans etc?

9-13 years sentences is far too harsh though, they're just adding fuel to the fire.

With so many guys going down crock and delaying play,there were at least 5 or so minutes that should have been added on like in football

Rugby' different mate, no added time as clock's stopped for every TMO check, yellow card, injury etc.

What a game that was! Japan's slick passing/offloading's just awesome to watch, they really are a team like no other.

No wonder they're everyone's 2nd team (except on jt obviously haha!)