Now that Lauriel and I have SkyTV, it means we are able to watch ALLLLLL the Super Rugby & ALLLLLLL the All Blacks games we want to. And we do. With this increase in rugby viewing, we have been paying attention to players outside the Crusaders, and admittedly have been paying a lot of attention to Australian and South African teams & their players (to the point where I'm ashamed to admit that I now have favourite Australian & South African teams!).
A common phrase heard while we watch the rugby is "ooooo! tattoos!!!" - because while we love the game of rugby in itself, we also love the men who play - and there is something about a tattooed rugby player, that is rather hard to resist.
I now bring to you, the 2013 edition of 'them rugga boys and their ink' (the 2012 post is my most popular post to date, so I figured it was needed!).
Reds player, Digby Ioane
I personally have a weakness for
rib cage tattoos....
Also rather fond of back tattoos!
It's no secret I love a good sleeve tattoo...
What's not to love?
Then of course there is my favourite South African player...
Mr Francois Hougaard
It's the sleeve.. it gets me everytime...
Okay... the sleeve isn't the ONLY thing...
(the rib tattoo helps too...)
Admittedly the man is a lot
hotter without the mullet!
The most recent tattoo picture I could find
& he seems to have the hair under control...
Will Genia... right down his spine... Nom.
As much as I dislike Quade Cooper
(pre-requisite for any Kiwi rugby fan)
... the tattoo is hot
A bit closer to home, we have Elliot Dixon
... another example of a nice sleeve tat!
and here we can see the top of Elliot Dixon's tat
Not a rugby player... but a ref... Steve Walsh also sports some ink
Close up of Steve Walsh's tattoo... very true indeed
Don't worry Zac - I'm sad that you aren't
in the All Blacks squad as well...
Gone are the calls of 'Bring back Buck' - and here are the calls of 'Bring back Zac!'... because quite frankly, Hosea Gear is craptastic at what he does in the #11 jersey. I can't count how many times he dropped the ball on Saturday night, how many times he was in the wrong place at the right time, how many wrong angles he ran, or the fact that he missed a try that he would have got had he been more awesome. Y'know. More like Zac. Had Hosea actually been Zac on that night, he would have sidestepped and ran more infield, rather than allowing himself to be splattered by a Wallaby defender.
Bring. Back. Zac.
NOW.
SUTFM
- Squashed Up Toad Face Man
The inaugural Rugby Championship is underway - the All Blacks (as one would expect) beat the Wallabies on Saturday night. It wasn't exactly an exciting game, there weren't exactly thousands of points scored - but you could see that although the All Blacks weren't playing at their peak, they were still miles ahead of the Wallabies as far as class, talent and ability goes. It was almost embarrassing seeing how badly some of the Wallabies played - naturally one thinks of Kurtley Beale.. that squashed up toad face of a man had a horrendous game, and I would like to think that the Australian coaches will acknowledge that and kick his ass out of the team for this weekends match in Auckland. He was the reason the All Blacks scored their two tries - and generally ran circles around their so called 'tough' opponents.
Squashed up toad face's shockingly poor effort obviously leads us to expect that New Zealand's favourite son will be called into the team. That's right. Quade Cooper. We all know that the Kiwi crowds LOVE him... OH WAIT, that's right - they actually hate him. I still remember very clearly all the booing throughout the All Blacks v Wallabies semi final match at the RWC last year... Quade had a shocking performance that night - and literally from the kick off, where he kicked the ball out on the full. It really set the tone for the evening. Australia sucking. Crowd hating on Quade. All Blacks kicking some major ass. One of my fondest moments of that game - and quite possibly every New Zealander's favourite part of that game was the infamous QUADE SMASH........
Lets...
See...
That...
AGAIN!!!!!
Best. Game. Ever.
Try celebrations, AB's style!
Izzy is very proud of his buddy, CJ!
Back on the subject of this past weekends game though... While most players had a pretty average game, Izzy Dagg had a great game and ran in his 9th try as an All Black (in, I believe, 15 tests)... He also made the quick, snappy, brilliant pass that allowed CJ to slot in for a 'very CJ' try. Izzy was an obvious choice for man of the match - and he certainly deserved the honour... In an article (one of many) about the game, he said "I just had to back myself. It's something I haven't been doing much [lately]." He might not be backing himself, but I can guarantee that the whole of New Zealand is backing him - I have a feeling it's going to be an awesome series for Mr Dagg... he was certainly at his explosive best on Saturday, and surely that'll only get better the longer they're in camp & the more games they play!
As is always a nice thing to do, lets go out on a happy man lovey note
