Nz maori
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@Stargazer Goal kicking - yes, general play kicking - poor
An entertaining 1st half and the ref is doing well. This could get ugly for the USA.
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One thing that shits me no end about today's rugby is when support runners who are about to receive the pass feel the need to be so flat when they don't need to be. So many tries have been disallowed due to the pass being thrown forward, and it's solely due to the guys wanting to be as flat as possible.
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Clear yellow. Thought Elliot Dixon got better as the game went on. Ash Dixon and Proctor were bloody good too.
Even against this team I thought D Mackenzie got exposed a few times - he does some great things but also has a tendancy to get frazzled in his play and make a lot of errors - a long term AB he does not look.
Thought Akira looked a lot more focused than i'd seen in a long time and seemed to stay away from the niggle too.
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@Stargazer The first 2 kicks West did at the start of the game went straight down the throat of a USA player. The same at the start of the 2nd half. Compare that to Lowe's kick's for distance, which almost always found space.
The chip-kick from West leadiing to Lowe's try was very nice though.
As to the game, the USA didn't offer a lot in the backs but spolied well in the 2nd half. I expect Munster and Harlequins will look to make those games a forward battle so that will be a better test of the Maori pack.
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Everyone will most likely comment on Akira, however I thought Kara Pryor put in a good shift.
There was a noticeable drop in intensity when he was subbed, and the Maori turned over a fair bit of any decent ball they got in the 2nd half when the game loosened up.
