‘They are a tough race of people’
15 Aug 2012
Graham Henry says Argentina are ready for their first Rugby Championship campaign.
The World Cup-winning former All Blacks coach spent two weeks with the Pumas during the June international window as a consultant and another week before a warm-up match against Stade Francais.
‘They’ll be as ready as they can be,’ said Henry in an interview with New Zealand’s Rugby News magazine. ‘You’ve got the top three teams in the world playing in a tournament and the other one is the eighth best team in the world. So there is a considerable gap in perceived ability and historic ability.
‘But there’s no doubt the Argentines will give it their best shot,’ Henry added. ‘They are a tough race of people and they’ll be committed and will get better as time goes on. Where they finish [on the log this year], I’m not sure, I haven’t got a crystal ball, unfortunately.’
Argentina have never beaten the Springboks or All Blacks, but they did draw with the latter in 1985 and have beaten the Wallabies on four occasions (in 1979, 1983, 1987 and 1997).
122 Comments
Pages: « 1 2 [3] Show All
16 Aug 2012, 02:40 am
You have to be a sad f uk if your whole life revolves around what countries you may or may not have beaten in olympic medals? How pathetic!
NZ blabbed their mouth off at one stage cause they were ahead of OZ, then whamo, it all changed and suddenly it was medals per capita! I mean wtf??
Small man syndrome delux!
16 Aug 2012, 02:50 am
@whatever-101:
Well ity is a competition whatever, the last time i looked.
But you bought up something that i am embarrased about.
The way our media gave the Ozzies **** about there lack of golds is pathetic.
But i did bring this up over a week ago now and the fact is, all Kiwis did not like
what the media was going. I am glad the Ozzies picked up more golds. Hopefully it iwill
put a few media personal in there place, but we know they have big mouths and wee brains.
16 Aug 2012, 02:50 am
@whatever-101:
Is the **** measuring contest still going? How much longer?
16 Aug 2012, 02:53 am
@Slartibartfast-103:
lol
Its a no contest at the moment. But some of these guys are determined.
16 Aug 2012, 02:58 am
@Slartibartfast-103:
What poppadoos fails to grasp is the simple facts of SA politics re the sending of athletes and the funding thereof. Never a dull moment there and by all accounts athletes who did qualify did not go……but thats Africa for you!!
@Hurricane-102:
Mate NZ did really well and they can be proud, but you dont go pouting your chest out like a knobend proclaiming your greatness do you?, it’s like giving yourself a BJ. (ask poppadoos he knows)
16 Aug 2012, 03:02 am
@Hurricane-102:
Hurri, a competition yes but for individual/team honors as it may and surely not comparing countries at the end of it all. If so then it surely can only be measured on the number of gold medals when all is done and dusted and not all kinds of other ****.
Having said that, it ultimately boils down to two factors. First the number of true super stars ala Bolt and Phelps and second the amount of money you put into it. The first gets you the guarenteed gold and the second enhances your chances in whatever sport you decided to invest in.
Of course it is more complicated than that, take the Chinese diver(24 or 26 years old) for instance, she ‘left’ home when she was something like 9 years old and only have been back a few times. That amount of effort and a little talent will go a very long way, not many countries go that way though…
16 Aug 2012, 03:24 am
@whatever-105:
Well i can say i was proud of our latest Olympics medal haul.
But i also said from the beginning that both countries should be proud.
I dont know if SA left athletes, i have not read anything like that but if they did, its not only you guys that have mainly missed out but the rest of the world as well.
At the Olympics you want the best from all over the world to compete.
There has been a bit on here downing what NZ have won. Rowing is not a real sport etc. These sorts of comments make individuals drom NZ throw **** back at the people that says these daft things, this is happens on Keo. Not nice but some on here are not nice as well.
16 Aug 2012, 04:31 am
@Hurricane-107:
Well Hurri, will go further and say we should be proud of every single person competing at the games, winning or losing, they have probably put their heart and soul into it for a very long time.
As for what is a real sport, not for me to judge because no matter how much I ‘look down’ on rowing or pistol shooting or marbles or whatever sport, these guys can do it better than I ever will so i take my hat off to them all.
16 Aug 2012, 07:10 am
@Hurricane-107:
Yes, we can all be proud, and I thought the Poms put on a bloody good show to boot. I would have loved to have been in London, would have been a jol. Do they give gold medals for sitting in a pub, drinking beer and watching?
A final point from me is that certain countries target certain sports, eg NZ, rowing and cycling and sailing etc and that is where thew millions are pumped into. To be honest it comes down to funding. I know the NZ Govt has said there will not be the same funding for Rio due to the global financial crisis (dont you love how that is blambed for everything?), so lets see if the medal haul is the same in 4 years.
Not sure where SA pumped the money or how much, maybe Transie or someone will have the numbers?? So difficult to compare countries really.
16 Aug 2012, 07:21 am
@Slartibartfast-108:
You are right- people who look down upon certain Olympic sports usually do it because either they have no idea what it takes to perform at the top level in that particular sport or because their country is not good at it.
The problem that we have in SA is that here is too much emphasis on rugby/cricket and soccer and not enough incentive for potentially good sportman/women in other sports to continue with it once they reached senior level and it becomes more difficult – no wonder that we are relatively weak in most olympic events in comparison to a sport like rugby that is internationally not nearly as popular or competetive as many south africans think it is.
16 Aug 2012, 07:27 am
@whatever-109:
Money plays obviously a massive role- for example It cost the Britians about 5 million pounds per gold medal and 10 million pounds for each extra gold medal in comparison to Beijing, so we are not talking about peanuts.
The question is: “Is it worth it?” and does it really benefit a country to spend so much money – there will be many answers to that one.
16 Aug 2012, 08:06 am
Okay KEO/Mark…
Yesterday you pointedly ignored several requests that you address the issue of people using the identities or nics to impersonate other posters to post inflammatory and derogatory comments which not only kick the hornet’s nest but make life on the site pretty uncomfortable for the real owner of the abused identity.
What happened to the old system of posting the original sign-on nic with whatever new nic is used?
Why was it changed?
It seems it was obviously a conscious decision your part.
Your silence and Nikita’s comment the other day about it being a democracy… whatever that means… leaves little room but to accept the conspiracy theorists that this change was a management decision to empower the trouble-makers in an effort to drive up your decreasing monthly hits.
Some have speculated that your staff members are in fact guilty of this ‘crime’. I dismissed this as passing the buck, but perhaps they have a point after all.
There is also the problem of people registering several nics about which I appreciate there is little you can do but that is not half as annoying as people using the current identities of current members to stir up controversy.
This is not right or fair or ‘democratic’. In real life democracies it is illegal to impersonate anyone else. Surely the most basic of your responsibilities is to protect the identities/nics/personas of your members.
What a pity that you have decided to appeal to the lowest common denominator. I have always defended the fact that you have allowed full and robust debate with little censorship but this new low (even for you) low-road approach you seem to have adopted (in the absence of any comment or effort to sort the problem by you) leave me very disappointed in the site in general and you in particular.
This approach may attract hits in the short-term but you are underestimating the ill-feeling it is causing and you will lose hits and members in the long-term.
It seems you do not appreciate that while you created this site and facilitate the discussion on it… it is the many members who participate upon it that MAKE the site what it is.
I signed up with your site when you started it but I am no longer willing to tolerate the implied arrogance your position suggests, or participate any longer in this farce, so will vote with my feet. I will post this comment several times to ensure you can’t say you did not see it and then withdraw from the site. I may reconsider if and when such time as you have addressed the issue and returned the posting protocol to what it used to be with someone’s original identity always being visible to all. I know I am only one person and you may well ridicule my stance but hey… so what.
Cheers to all the decent people on this site, many of whom are very knowledgeable, intelligent, humourous and entertaining. I would suggest that everyone who disagrees with KEO’s low-life approach also leave the site but obviously you must all do what you feel is right for you.
Cheers
ufo…
over and out…
16 Aug 2012, 08:52 am
@whatever-109:
South Africa: Olympics 2012 – What Happened to Country Team Funding?
The Department of Sports and Recreation has allocated R31 million to preparing Team SA for the Olympics, a contribution of R70 million was made by the National Lottery and, according to a reply received from the Minister of Sports and Recreation today, R45 million has been made available by the private sector.
Sport and recreation service providers (mainly national federations) also received a total budget of R132.5 million this year, a portion of which must surely be used to support Olympians in the various sporting codes.
Where did this money go if athletes who are now ready for Olympic participation cannot be fully funded?
We know that the Department of Sport and Recreation spent more than 60% of the National Lottery Board’s contribution on a lavish R46 million sports awards ceremony.
source:
http://allafrica.com/stories/201205180056.html
16 Aug 2012, 08:57 am
@whatever-109:
so in total about 150 million went into funding the preperation and participation of the 120 member sa olympic squad.
by comparison the kiwis similarly spent 1.06 billion on a squad of 200.
16 Aug 2012, 09:49 am
@wait for it, wait for it…-114:
Hi Houston
Ahh is that 1.06 billion over 4 years? You also have to take into account, 2 soccer teams and 2 hockey teams which is say 50-55 team members fighing it out for 4 golds or should I say minor placings.
16 Aug 2012, 09:53 am
@wait for it, wait for it…-114: nah, about 100 mil of that was to entertain and accommodate the offcials
16 Aug 2012, 09:59 am
@Te Rangatira-115:
yes, that was the spend over four years. i quoted the nz article source i pulled ot from the other day.
sa sent football and hockey teams too.
@Keo-116:
it would surprise me in the least if that proved to be true.
16 Aug 2012, 10:02 am
@Te Rangatira-115:
our spend was also over four years
so basically we spent a tenth of what you guys did on 120 people compared to your 200.
i think we sent one football and two hockey teams?
16 Aug 2012, 10:19 am
@wait for it, wait for it…-118:
I’m blown away by those figures….if they spent 46 million on a knees up and the overall budget was 150 mil, then something is pretty fishy.
16 Aug 2012, 10:45 am
@Te Rangatira-119:
oh please, dont get me started on some of the things our government does.
16 Aug 2012, 10:45 am
@Te Rangatira-119: You should log on to a few South African news sites every now and again
Things round here aren’t just ‘pretty fishy’ but in fact stinking up the Southern Hemisphere like a rotting whale carcass in the February Cape Town sun.
Mate, there are things happening here that couldn’t be scripted by the Comedy Central crew if they tried.
Which is why I say again, the fact that we are able to pitch up to compete is a small miracle on it’s own. Actually winning something is on the ‘water to wine’ scale.
16 Aug 2012, 11:16 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.-121:
@wait for it, wait for it…-120:
The corrupt fukkers need to be taught a lesson in humility…….what comes around,goes around……their time will come.
Pages: « 1 2 [3] Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.