Worst ever individual performance at an international?

First topic message reminder :

Worst I can think of was Henson v Ireland 2006. Disaster.

Henry Paul? Hauled off after 20 minutes.

Apparently (by his own words) Mujati's debut for SA was a shocker.

Not a performance in a game, but when Dominici crossed the try line, (forget who it was against), all he had to do was put the ball down, no one near him.

Tried to show off and dropped the ball.

Maybe this should be in most embarrising moments in rugby.

Very funny at the time,(unless your french).

Geoff Cross anyone?

ROG, second lions test.

Not saying he lost it for us or anything

I make it a three way tie between Wayne Banes, Matt Goddard and the local south african TMO drafted in at the last minute under suspicious circumstances.

ha. not like you to make comments about a ref.

TheGreyGhost wrote:I make it a three way tie between Wayne Banes, Matt Goddard and the local south african TMO drafted in at the last minute under suspicious circumstances.

No matter how many times you say he was South African, he wasn't, isn't and never will be as he's from Namibia.

He lived in Port Elizabeth. C'mon Nottins, you're not going to try to change tack now and argue that people are always the nationality of the country they came from, rather than the one they live in? are you? surely?

TheGreyGhost

Don't you live in the UK though... from your argument that would make you dare I say it.... baised towards the English/Irish etc?

I would have to agree with you there though that many white Namibians are South Africans in all bar name. It was part of the same country until the end of apartheid.. many Afrikaners moved there like they would move to another part of the country etc.

Percy Montegomery is an example of this... born & raised in Walvis Baai.

Whether or not he was biased doesn't take way the point that all he did was point out an actual error missed by the ref & the linesman. I know what you'll say 'One eyed Paddy thought it was wrong'... then again can he referee a SA vs. NZ match??? No because his view would also be naturally biased given he's a kiwi.

Opened a can of worms now for sure!

Danny 'Chargedown' Cipriani v South Africa 2008

I'd go as far as to say Flood's game against Wales at the M/S a few weeks back was one of the worst games I've seen him have in an England jersey. He didnt take control of Englands backline effectively once all game. He kept sending runners into brick walls.

Although nowhere near the same league as some others mentioned on this thread!

I was at the match for Toby Flood's Eng debut in 05.

Hodgson had a awful game at pivot once again... although England were still ahead when Flood replaced him deep into 2nd half.

First ball flood gets he throws a pass which is intercepted by an Argentinian who runs 50+ metres to take the lead for what was the winning try.

Wasn't exactly the start he was looking for and a pretty disasterous debut.

jb1973 wrote:neil jenkins vs france at wembley

Thomas Castaignede made a fool of him that day. What a player Castaignede was.

fa0019 wrote:I was at the match for Toby Flood's Eng debut in 05.

Hodgson had a awful game at pivot once again... although England were still ahead when Flood replaced him deep into 2nd half.

First ball flood gets he throws a pass which is intercepted by an Argentinian who runs 50+ metres to take the lead for what was the winning try.

Wasn't exactly the start he was looking for and a pretty disasterous debut.

2006

Anyone mentioned Shane Bryne in the 1st test of the lions 05 tour?

1st half lost something like 8 lineouts if I recall.. then was take off at halftime to be replaced by Thompson who steadied the ship at least from a hooker point of view.

Same goes for Lee Mears in 09... ok Flannery was injured sure and McGeechan is a legend but that was one crazy pick.... he has never looked close to a test level hooker for England at any point in his career.

HammerofThunor - yeah thanks for the correction... remembered it was Robinson era but didn't bother to check year.

Hook against France 2011. His mistakes resulted in 2 of France's trys and then got sin binned and France scored their third (through the gap he would have been defending).

O how could I forget. Huw Bennett in any game up until this season

mckay1402 wrote:O how could I forget. Huw Bennett in any game up until this season

You must have missed the Twickenham game 2008

Nope got it on DVD. Don't remember him doing anything spectacular and he was replaced on 58 minutes by Rees...

Watch his defensive display on the 39 minute mark - it probably changed the outcome and set us up with a blind hooker for 3 years.

Ok i'll have a look. that aside i stand by my statement

Me too

McKay - Below is an englishmans account of the 2008 6 Nations so not a one sided welsh one - Have a look at his choice of hooker - Henson is in his team as well although it pains the writer to choose him - It makes interesting reading


Monday, 17 March 2008Six Nations 2008 Review
Another Six Nations tournament bites the dust and congratulations must go to Wales, not only for achieving the coveted Grand Slam but also for the relative ease with which they handled a surprisingly flat and one-dimensional French challenge in Cardiff at the weekend. Apparently French scrum half Jean-Baptiste Ellisalde had labelled France’s opposition as “only Wales” before kick off but it was obvious that “only Wales” were streets ahead of “only France” in just about every department on Saturday.

So, congratulations Wales – a thoroughly deserved Slam - although (and far be it for me to be the one to urinate on your fireworks amidst all that euphoria on the other side of the Severn) here are a few things Welshmen might want to consider:


- if England hadn’t committed tactical hari-kari in the 2nd half at Twickenham the Welsh Grand Slam would have been stillborn. I know that many consider that the Twickenham result was the consequence of a great Welsh fightback but I beg to differ – all the Welsh achieved that afternoon was competence – English incompetence did the rest;

- even the most one-eyed Welshman must admit that the Welsh team was extremely lucky with injuries during the tournament, allowing Gatland to select from full strength more often than not and make changes that he wanted to make rather than having them forced upon him;

- while admittedly Wales do have strength in depth in certain positions, notably at half back, there are several areas – tight five, openside flanker and centres in particular – where injuries to frontline players would have seriously affected Welsh chances; and

- apart from England for 40 minutes, no other team showed anything in attack against Wales. While only 2 tries conceded is a testament to the Welsh defensive effort and goes a long way to deifying Shaun Edwards, the tactical approach from both France and Ireland in particular was shocking, whilst the Scottish and Italian attacking efforts were just inept.

As for the rest, a 2nd place for England in the championship might be their best result since 2003 but shouldn’t detract from a shoddily inconsistent overall effort as Ashton’s selectorial conservativism and obstinacy could just as easily have led the team to a wooden spoon. France might argue that they’ve found one or two players of promise for the future but the team lacked intelligence against both England in Paris and Wales in Cardiff and they have serious problems in the front row. Ireland suffered injuries to key players but Eddie O’Sullivan can only have himself to blame that there were no suitable replacements in the pipeline and it looks very much like his days are numbered. And, aside from 80 minutes in the rain at Murrayfield, Scotland were truly awful throughout the championship while Italy look as if they are only a proper fly-half away from being a half-decent team.

So, it now falls on me to select my best XV taken from those who have put their bodies on the line during the past six weeks as I name the TOTAL FLANKER TEAM OF THE TOURNAMENT:

15. You’ll be pleased to know that, not being Brian Ashton, I feel no compulsion to hand the fullback shirt to Iain Ballsup. It looked at the beginning of the tournament as if France’s Cedric Heymans would sew this position up (until he ran into Jamie Noon in Paris) but the overall solidity of LEE BYRNE wins this one (a surprise as he’d never threatened to impress me previously).

14. Paul Sackey had his moments, and Rob Kearney and Tommy Bowe both showed glimpses, but France’s VINCENT CLERC wins this shirt comfortably. As well as his tries he also looked like the only back with a half a clue against Wales.

13. One of the easiest decisions – TOM SHANKLIN was streets ahead of anyone, including the likes of Brian O’Driscoll. The reason for Warren Gatland going with the embarrassingly bad Sonny Parker to start the England game is anyone’s guess and perhaps punctures Gatland’s aura of perfection.

12. Until the Scotland game I’d been impressed with the contribution of Toby Flood to the England cause and Damian Traille had a decent tournament until Cardiff. It pains me to say it, but I’m afraid that the perma-tanned GAVIN HENSON gets my vote here – his dominance of Yannick Jauzion in Cardiff being the pick of his performances for me.

11. Ickle SHANE WILLIAMS. No contest. Player of the Championship.

10. Now then…logically this should be a toss up between Stephen Jones and James Hook, Jones being the far better tactical game-controller with Hook having the better eye for a break and creative output. However, on Saturday I witnessed the whole package and, although it surprises me to say this, on the strength of just one game I’m going to select tranny-dating nightclubber DANNY CIPRIANI – if only for the fact that he managed to say “Flip” live on the BBC.

9. Scotland’s Mike Blair, it has to be said, had a great game against England but he suffers by association with the dreadful overall contribution of the Scotland team. Eoin Reddan also had a good tournament but Wales scrum half MIKE PHILLIPS was the standout performer, appearing to be the biggest beneficiary of the Gatland/Edwards effect.

1. I know every Welshman would pick Gethin Jenkins, but I can’t ignore the scrummaging power of ANDREW SHERIDAN. He didn’t have his finest 80 minutes overall against the Scots by any means, but his scrummaging and ball carrying power has been central to most of the good things achieved by England.

2. No truly outstanding candidates for the hooker’s shirt. Lee Mears looks to have come of age for England while pretty-boy Dimitri Szarzewski adds dynamism to the French pack. My choice, however, is HUW BENNETT, if only for his tackle on Paul Sackey at Twickenham, saving a try that would surely have taken the English out of sight.

3. Italy’s pack was as fearsome as ever and MARTIN CASTROGIOVANNI was its tighthead cornerstone. Honourable mention also to Adam Jones, who not only proved that nowadays he can last the full 80 minutes if required, he can also do it while sporting a ridiculous Alice in Wonderland plaited hairdo.

4. A number of contenders for the front-jumping spot – Simon Shaw and Nathan Hines both having decent tournaments for instance, but it looked to me as if IAN GOUGH somehow managed to do the work of ten men each game - a huge effort worthy of recognition.

5. As for the middle jumping spot, Alun Wyn-Jones proved an athletic option for Wales while Jerome Thion looked the part for France and Donnacha O’Callaghan had a decent tournament, but I thought STEVE BORTHWICK really showed up well for England this championship and provided much needed leadership at times.

6. The one player who really impressed for Scotland was Alistair Strokosch, who kept Jason White out of the starting XV, while both James Haskell and Tom Croft looked promising for England. Josh Sole worked hard for Italy and Jonathan Thomas showed up well for Wales - but it’s Thomas’s skipper RYAN JONES who gets the nod – picked out of position to accommodate an even more impressive number 8.

7. There's only one realistic contender for the openside birth. Michael Lipman and Marco Bergamasco do get mentioned in dispatches but ex-retiree MARTIN WILLIAMS stole the show as the outstanding backrow forward of the tournament.

8. Finally to number 8 where France discovered a good young prospect in Louis Picamole and Jamie Heaslip will undoubtedly enjoy many seasons to come at the back of the Irish scrum. However Italy’s captain SERGIO PARISSE was head and shoulders above all the other contenders, Ryan Jones perhaps excepted.

There that’s it. No doubt there’ll be those thinking I’ve lost my marbles (if I ever had them) with some of those selections but hey, rugby’s all about opinions. Overall it wasn’t a tournament of huge quality, but there was plenty of drama, excitement and controversy and moments where the only option was to scream at the TV - and you can't ask for much more than that (other than an an England Grand Slam, of course, which never realistically looked on the cards).

Phil Vickery vs South Africa 1st lions test

Ronan O'Gara vs South Africa 2nd lions Test

The entire Welsh team vs Fiji 2010

Simon Mannix's test debut?

Percy Montgomery in the Blackout test in Dunedin 1999. Somehow he was rather put off by the thousands of black-clad fans telling him that they thought he was a merchant banker. Or something like that

funnyExiledScot wrote:Nick De Luca's debut for Scotland was something special. You'd struggle to find anything he did correctly bar putting on the right jersey.

I wish he hadn't

Gavin Thomas v NZ. Couldn't help but feel sorry for him

Tait vs Wales - sealed his test career in on tackle

Riskysports wrote:Tait vs Wales - sealed his test career in on tackle

Which "on tackle" are we talking about ? Was it one in 2005 ? And yet he went on to play in the 2007 RWC final ? It really sealed his test career didn't it ?

anyone remember the swansea winger mathew robinson for wales vs scotland in 5 or 6 nations think it was around 98/99 scots kicked it twice to him ff kick off resulted in two tries

Nottis - it really did seal it. He played a handful of games after that game and never really got a proper look in, as I feel his talent deserved. (38 Test appearances)

Considering the lack of talent England has had in centre for so many years, it is strange that he has not played more.

"one tackle" must remeber to press my 'e's

And 'Ms', sorry, couldn't resist.

Arrrghh - must stop drinking on school nights

Riskysports wrote:Nottis - it really did seal it. He played a handful of games after that game and never really got a proper look in, as I feel his talent deserved. (38 Test appearances)

Considering the lack of talent England has had in centre for so many years, it is strange that he has not played more.

"one tackle" must remeber to press my 'e's

And "n"'s

That was his first cap for England. He's now played 38 times for England. You must have big hands.

I think Tait's on-off injuries since he's moved to Sale have had more to do with the stall in his international career than a tackle when he was 18. He's starting afresh at the Tigers and is about 26(?) so plenty of time for him to get back in.

EDIT: Comparison with Hook. Tait is 25 and has 38 caps. Hook is 26 and has 54 caps. One year of rugby is about 11 caps. Not a lot between them even though Tait hasn't played much in the last few years.

Hands down.....Ugo Monye at fullback vs argentina wearing a purple shirt he looked and played like a giant purple bell ***

HammerofThunor wrote:

EDIT: Comparison with Hook. Tait is 25 and has 38 caps. Hook is 26 and has 54 caps. One year of rugby is about 11 caps. Not a lot between them even though Tait hasn't played much in the last few years.

I think if you throw international points scored and MOTM performances in an international jersey into the equation it might show there's quite a bit between Hook and Tait so far in their respective careers.

"peter francis (1 and only cap v scotland) 1987 ( i think)"

Was that the game where the ref said to Robert Norster 'I'm not happy with your prop' and Norster replied: "YOU'RE not happy???"

what about tait vs wales 05, not a terrible performance but a terrible experience for him, every time he got the ball he ended up going backwards and being in the air from henson. and the thing was the english commentators were bigging him up as the next best thing and...

RubyGuby wrote:Balshaw v Wales at Twickers 2008 = Thanks for the Slam

Wilkinson hardly acquitted himself that day either.

HammerofThunor wrote:He was much much much worse against France that year

Do you mean Scotland?

welshy824 wrote:what about tait vs wales 05, not a terrible performance but a terrible experience for him, every time he got the ball he ended up going backwards and being in the air from henson. and the thing was the english commentators were bigging him up as the next best thing and...

He got tackled backwards twice and managed to recycle the ball perfectly well on one of them. Agree it can't have been a nice experience for him, but at the end of the day it does just amount to giving away one penalty.

yappysnap wrote:Surprised no one has mentioned Steven Donald for last years Bledisloe cameo.

Or any of Donald's international appearances actually.

I really feel for the guy. Watching this mornings ITM cup final just reinforced for me that SD has a great rugby brain but his body is just a few seconds too slow to execute the commands. It's so frustrating watching him. This morning he was continually a threat with clever option taking, running to the defensive line with real penetration, cleverly weighted chips into space, great tactical kicking when the outside backs were out of position, putting guys into space close in and out wide at the right times. But every single time he managed to follow a moment of inspiration with some utter balls up. Flicking an offload that would never work, dropping the ball with the line open, re-taking his own chip kick and then juggling it, making a great wide pass, running a supporting line and then tripping over his own feet. There's something very odd about the way he punts as well, the way he seems to have to look directly down and throw his arms upwards, like a flightless bird trying to roll back a million years of evolution to escape a predator.

He's inches from greatness, but just can't quite bridge the gap. I hope the slightly different style played in the NH suits him and he finds success down at Bath, and he doesn't torture you guys too much with his seemingly unrealisable potential.

tomathy wrote:

He got tackled backwards twice and managed to recycle the ball perfectly well on one of them. Agree it can't have been a nice experience for him, but at the end of the day it does just amount to giving away one penalty.

Don't let the facts get in the way for some of the Welsh posters, who seem to think the lifting up in the air by perma tanned man means Tait was tackled backwards all match. To them, not you.

Referee Chris White who told Wales they had time for a line out in a game against Italy, then when Wales kicked to touch, he blew for full time. complete naughty naughty boy.

nottins wrote:

tomathy wrote:

He got tackled backwards twice and managed to recycle the ball perfectly well on one of them. Agree it can't have been a nice experience for him, but at the end of the day it does just amount to giving away one penalty.

Don't let the facts get in the way for some of the Welsh posters, who seem to think the lifting up in the air by perma tanned man means Tait was tackled backwards all match. To them, not you.

nottins i never said anything against the facts, i simply said not the worst performance but a bad experience for a debutant to be tackled liek that on his first touch of the ball, i mena fair play he did recycle it well, but cant have been a nice experience. and nottins we didnt say tackled backwards all match- first tackle was a good solid tackle which tait recycled well the 2nd tackle however tait got taken back 5/10 metres and gave away a penalty.

You actually said, "every time he got the ball he ended up going backwards"

ok well i apologise for the over exaggeration however as a welsh fans the three main things i remember from that match was THAT tackle, the henson penalty and the score!

funnyExiledScot wrote:Nick De Luca's debut for Scotland was something special. You'd struggle to find anything he did correctly bar putting on the right jersey.

Hahaha, I was wondering how long it would be before someone mentioned De Luca.
Still just like whisky it would appear he's maturing nicely...