All Blacks v Ireland II
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@Donsteppa Barrett seems to be playing better than PT, so I'm fine with him getting selected ahead.
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@Crash said in Ireland II:
How the fuck does JSavea earn so much redemption? Exactly what has he done to show Shag and co he has upped his game? And when does Sops get a start?
Fuck if it is shitty weather and comes down to goal-kicking I hope bloody Barrett and Cruds have their kicking boots..
It almost may have been better for a 6-2 split as you can guarantee Ireland will mauk all nightI see no justification for giving sopoaga his first start of the season in a must-win test. Don't think Barrett and Cruden have been that poor...
Would love him to start in Paris though.
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@Crash said in Ireland II:
How the fuck does JSavea earn so much redemption? Exactly what has he done to show Shag and co he has upped his game? And when does Sops get a start?
Fuck if it is shitty weather and comes down to goal-kicking I hope bloody Barrett and Cruds have their kicking boots..
It almost may have been better for a 6-2 split as you can guarantee Ireland will mauk all nightWe have very little depth in that position atm. Having said that, I would personally have taken the risk and picked Reiko Ioane over an out of sorts Savea.
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@Crash said in Ireland II:
How the fuck does JSavea earn so much redemption? Exactly what has he done to show Shag and co he has upped his game? And when does Sops get a start?
Julian earns redemption because of his try scoring rate.
Sopoaga might get to come off the bench against France. Clearly, he's not good enough to start given the alternatives. Or he would be.
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@Hooroo said in Ireland II:
@Donsteppa now you've done it, you have upset the Canerbry of Auckland rugby!
That's just not fair!
A very different side to the Chicago shitshow, two proper locks, two actual midfielders and Israel Dagg mean the world.
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So with Smith and Dagg in the back three, the Irish kickers will be targetting Savea's wing. Jules better be ready.
The lineout and KO receptions should also be much more secure with Whitelock and Retallick back.
Peyper as the ref should be an advantage too.
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Fuck. What does Aura think of this?
...
Never one to shy away from mind games, Hansen even suggested the back-to-back world champions would be underdogs in the Irish capital.
"We know the challenge we face from Ireland will again be massive and we are going into the game as the underdogs," he said.
"They'll be full of confidence and committed to delivering on their home patch."
Despite his comments, bookies in both New Zealand and Ireland have the All Blacks as short-priced favourites to prevent a well-drilled Ireland repeating their Windy City heroics. -
No panic stations , Hansen sticks with his trusted soldiers which is ok. He was never going to drop Barrett, that would have reeked of panic, hopefully Moody has been warned on discipline after flirting with a red card. I have not been a fan of Savea this year but I would hope a wider pitch is good for a few more blockbusting runs. Aaron Smith owes the team a big one.
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Happy with that team. Would have preferred to have Crotty in there but hopefully Fekitoa can calm down a bit. I always find him a bit frantic at international level.
For me having Dagg back will make a big difference. He gets involved a lot near the ruck and can work as a play maker freeing Barrett to get a bit wider. He was very sharp in this role vs Italy.
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Ireland essentially unchanged. O Brien in for the injured Murphy while on the bench Henderson in for the injured dillane, and Jackson in for kiwi Carbery.
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New Zealand are underdogs.
Right.
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@Pot-Hale said in Ireland II:
New Zealand are underdogs.
Right.
Yes, they are. After a serious beating at the hands of what looked like a much better team, how else could you call it?
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@Pot-Hale said in Ireland II:
New Zealand are underdogs.
Right.
You know you can beat us offshore and now have home advantage. Your winning streak is better than ours as well.
This is yours to lose.
(No pressure)
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@Samurai-Jack said in Ireland II:
@Pot-Hale said in Ireland II:
New Zealand are underdogs.
Right.
Yes, they are. After a serious beating at the hands of what looked like a much better team, how else could you call it?
Not so much just what PH would call it, how about:-
Kiwinmelb "Going to be interesting , I would not be overly surprised if we blew them away , and I wouldn't be surprised if it went down to the wire either ."
raznomore "ABs by plenty"
dogmeat "Having a full width field will alter the dynamics of the game. Still gotta give Ireland a starters chance though with the monkey off their back. (AB's by >30 :))"
mooshld "The areas I think we need to sharpen are aerial defense. Bringing Dagg back will help in this. A bit of steel in the rucks, improved midfield defense, and a bit of street smarts. Getting choke tackled is just lazy get your body position right and that should never happen. Not like its a new tactic for the Irish we just were lazy and played into it."
BillyTell "I think we'll win - for starters we are not going to gift (I hope) Ireland territory and possession again by having no functioning lineout and charity levels of indiscipline. If Ireland have to work for their points rather than being handed them on a platter, it should be much more interesting. At the end of the day, we played like rubbish and still got 29 points, and I don't see Ireland putting 40 points past us again (and if they do, then we have big problems)."And, and, and, I'm bored now. Was bored to start with to be honest.
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@Catogrande You just concentrate on maintaining your soon-to-be-world-record winning streak.
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Hansen has said Ireland are clear favorites, they beat us easily in Chicago, and now playing at home...
Schmidt said Hansen shouldn't give up his current job to become a bookie.
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only as good as your last game.
i'm surprised that we still have some of the hubris going on, as pointed out by cato.
a 5m wider field? really, that's what is going to make the difference? total bullshit.
we had some injuries, took the game too lightly and got rolled for the first time ever. losing that record is a disaster. i don't think we were taking it lightly in the 2nd half though, so we only have a partial excuse there.
this time around we certainly won't be taking it lightly at all, but we still have injury concerns, and the guys we have got back may be underdone, or not quite 100%. sam and brodie are a huge difference - but on the other side the irish are now at home, and with the monkey off the back they will have a lot more confidence. -
I think there is a nervous confidence...if we play well, we will win, but there is that nagging feeling if we aren't quite there, we will lose, again.
As mentioned already, this has created a buzz about this game nothing since probably the 2011 final IMO
All Blacks taking underdog tag in Dublin
