All Blacks v BI Lions Test #3
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Anyway, I feel like I need to make one more post just to give myself a bit of closure on this. One of the most frustrating AB games I've watched in a long time.
First of all, thanks to the Lions for what has been, overall, a wonderful tour. Lions fans in NZ have been fantastic value and there are countless stories of ABs-Lions fans comradery. It's a really special tour and your players and fans have done you proud. The NH posters on here have been great, sifting through plenty of NZ bias and adding plenty of insight into the Lions squad - I hope you guys all stick around as it's awesome to get another perspective.
Further to that I am very proud of the way NZ hosted the whole thing. Mrs Ioane putting up that Lions fan at her place sums up the way the majority of people have embraced the tour. Great stuff.
Now, to the third and final test. I have to admit sleep hasn't lessoned my frustration much at all. The ABs were actually very good in every department except ball handling. People keep saying the Lions defense was water-tight, and is was very very good, but the ABs did more than enough to open it up. I counted four knock-ons deep in the Lions 22 in the first half alone. That's absolutely killer, and we could have been well ahead at the half.
The Lions to their credit held on for dear life, but that's really all the were doing for large parts of this match, praying for an AB mistake to stop momentum and the rugby Gods obliged nearly every time. I was pulling my hair out watching chance after chance squandered through basic errors. Not good enough and only ourselves to blame.
Then came the Kaino YC when it was still a 3 point game. All of a sudden, after dominating most of the match, it was advantage Lions. We held out well a man down, but it stiffled our attack right when we wanted impact from our subs - terrible timing.
The final 10 minutes then became a desperate scramble for both sides as it often does when the match is in the balance. And that is when a lot of focus comes onto not only the players, but the ref. And he bottled it big time. It was bloody unfortunate for Owens, he knew immediately what he had done - played at a ball that was knocked on from an offiside position - and as per the laws of the game it's an automatic penalty. I'm not sure we'll ever get a clear explanation as to why Poite changed his mind at the last second, I'm not sure he'll be able to explain it, but it left a very sour taste in the mouth and was a pretty big anti-climax to the tour - which is a massive shame.
So a drawn series where the Lions led for a total of three minutes across three test matches. That's an incredible statistic, and some credit has to go to the Lions for hanging in there and taking half the spoils against the odds.
For the ABs I think we finally confirmed that we are not as good as we were in 2015, which you'd expect as a bunch of all-time greats retired that year. But Hansen has done a great job since then. For this series, we touched them up in the first test, nearly pulled off a heroic win with 14 men in the 2nd, and but for handling errors and a baffling call would have won the last. Against the best of the best from England, Ireland, and Wales. Oh and Scotland I guess. Not a complete disaster though anything less then a win will not be tolerated and rightly so. But plently of positives to take with young guys stepping up, we're going to be bloody tough to beat in the next few years with this core group of players.
For the Lions, they've shown that the concept can work well so long as you do it right. They started slow as expected then built into the tour well, and by the end of it they were playing quality footy and proved a more than worthy foe. Long live Lions tours, anyone that says otherwise can fuck right off back to their miserable existence.
Anyway, thanks to all on here for the analysis, banter and emotion. I've pretty much avoided all mainstream media as I know most of it is just dumb clickbait crap that is not worth reading. Not sure what I'd do without this place TBH.
Now... back to Super Rugby... which seems so much less, I don't know, exciting? important? Like travelling 50kmph after doing 120 on the freeway.
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@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #3:
@hydro11 All Blacks lost 1 game last year and didnt play England. Folau's form last year was garbage.
But some people were saying we were average last year and winning the World Cup has made us complacent. If we were average last year, then how come we had 11 of the 15 best players in the world?
Some people are worried about England beating us but would seemingly not put one Englishman into the All Blacks. That doesn't make sense to me.
I'm very comfortable with saying that Itoje, Murray, O'Brien, Joseph or Davies, Liam Williams, Stander and Folau would all make a World XV at a minimum. If you disagree with most of those names, then you shouldn't be worried about out form.
I think I rate the individual Lions players higher than most relative to the individual All Blacks players. I still think we are overall the best team though.
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@antipodean said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #3:
WTF I missed that at the ground!! He should have taken a pot shot from the scrum we had late in the game. Bloody legend in the making I tell you
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@Tim said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #3:
@jegga Eh, he's entitled to make that call. A drawn series at home, especially one where we score two tries in the last two games, is a real step down from us.
He's entitled to fuck all , his tenure as coach of the lions was a joke.
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the fact that the NH teams always talk about the 'aura' and 'mystique' just means there is one, in thier minds anyway.
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@hydro11 I think I rate the individual Lions players higher than most relative to the individual All Blacks players. I still think we are overall the best team though
This! The Lions are a team of test-hardened individuals who know all the tricks. ABs are a team in better sync. -
@Tim is it good or bad that this guy agrees with you
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@taniwharugby Stopped clocks!
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@taniwharugby If we romp away with TRC later in the year, with Coles Crotty and BFA back in the mix, will Ratpoo crawl back in his box?
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@Samurai-Jack said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #3:
@hydro11 I think I rate the individual Lions players higher than most relative to the individual All Blacks players. I still think we are overall the best team though
This! The Lions are a team of test-hardened individuals who know all the tricks. ABs are a team in better sync.Which is why I'm really disappointed but not alarmed by this result.
Gatland had 40 of the best British and Irish professionals at his disposal, recognised a simple gameplan largely based on defence would be needed, and then they practiced it in every single game and every single training session on tour. For those reasons I don't buy this "rag-tag thrown together at the last minute" bullshit.
If Woodentop and his cohorts want to claim some sort of halo effect that will flow like a Mystique-destroying salve over all the brave heroes of the North, then let them lull themselves into that warm sense of security.
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Have to get this rant off my back!
The Lions from the top （Gatland）to the players on the field had too much to say and influence about the reffing of the game. Murray/ Sexton/Farrell - just shut the fuck up and when the ref tells you to get back, have some fucken respect and do it. From my perspective, it looks like soccer antics are creeping into the game and the refs let them do it! It was unfair advantage.
I know the ABs are guilty as well with TJ needing a backhander from Reid.
By the way, who let a British or Irish person run the replays at the game? If it was a kiwi, they need a smack! Kaino spends 10 mins in the bin cos of that person. Too bloody fair! ABs won't get fair treatment away from home!Other observations:
Gats has an annoying personality. I think he suits the more dramatic northern game better.
The Welsh Lions center is an unsung hero. He is seriously good both on attack and defense.
Lions forwads ignoring the gap in the lineout in the last two tests with impunity was weird. I thought there had to be a gap. -
@Tim said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #3:
@hydro11 I don't know how I would've combatted the rush defence - my fulltime job isn't coaching the All Blacks. I probably wouldn't have used the inside channel scheme in every game, and wouldn't have kicked so much ball away in the second half. More offloading runs from forwards (see Luatua vs the Lions) would've been nice.
The lack of impact from the bench was very noticeable in this series. S Barrett and A Savea simply aren't big or physical enough to have much impact against a large, quality pack like the Lions. Romano and Luatua would've been better options, with the (excellent) Cane playing 80 mins.
But then again, as Hansen put it, "it's just a game."
NQ is right. We created more than enough chances to win the game handsomely. We just failed to execute the last pass too many times. Keep calm and carry on!!
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@antipodean said in All Blacks v BI Lions Test #3:
Nowe that I'm sober, Poite should be held to account for this.
Accidental offside is still offside
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@canefan an accidental forearm to the head is still accidental, except last week
