AB's v Wales
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It will be interesting to compare the teams from the Lions 1st test to the team they roll out vs Wales. Not many would have predicted such a high injury toll.
I really think this will be a tight game and I am looking forward to the challenge. I actually think all of these challenges will help us in the long run. Some players suit test rugby and some don't, this tour sure is helping the coaches see who is stepping up.
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@kiwiinmelb said in AB's v Wales:
@mikethesnow said in AB's v Wales:
@gunner said in AB's v Wales:
We’re in serious danger of losing this one.
Pissing myself laughing here.
if there was a ever an opportunity to beat us , its probably now ,
Whether Wales is good enough to take advantage of that is another question , sounds like you dont think they are ,which is fair enough ,
But we are looking beatable right now
You're certainly looking beatable but realistically only England are good enough to do it.
We can't beat an egg.
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So that's now our 'best' front row out, our one of our starting locks out, one of our back up locks out, our best 6 still up in the air.
Our best back 3 out as well...all contributing factors in how average we are looking at the moment.
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@chimoaus said in AB's v Wales:
It will be interesting to compare the teams from the Lions 1st test to the team they roll out vs Wales. Not many would have predicted such a high injury toll.
I really think this will be a tight game and I am looking forward to the challenge. I actually think all of these challenges will help us in the long run. Some players suit test rugby and some don't, this tour sure is helping the coaches see who is stepping up.
1st Lions Test - Scotland Test
Moody - Hames
Taylor - N/C
Franks - Laulala
Retallick - Romano but out for Wales
Whitelock - N/C
Kaino - Fifita (expect Squire to come in)
Cane - N/C
Read - N/C
ASmith - N/C
BBarrett - N/C
Ioane - N/C but out for Wales test
SBW - N/C
Crotty - N/C
Dagg - Naholo
BSmith - McKenzieHarris - N/C
Crockett - N/C
Faumuina - Tu'ungafasi
SBarrett - Squire
ASavea - Todd
TJP - N/C
Cruden/Sopoaga - Sopoaga
ALB - N/C -
Mostly, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 have all been the same. Ioane of course out for Wales. Its about half the team changing pretty regularly.
Scrum has been solid all year. When you look at that list, the axis of the team is largely unchanged. Maybe we should be a little bit better performed than we have been.
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ABs by 20.
Not expecting a perfect performance by any stretch, but I reckon it will play out like the French test.
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@act-crusader said in AB's v Wales:
ABs by 20.
Not expecting a perfect performance by any stretch, but I reckon it will play out like the French test.
What was your prediction for the Scots test so I can decide whether to take this one seriously?
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@nepia said in AB's v Wales:
@act-crusader said in AB's v Wales:
ABs by 20.
Not expecting a perfect performance by any stretch, but I reckon it will play out like the French test.
What was your prediction for the Scots test so I can decide whether to take this one seriously?
Funny you should ask, a mate who likes a punt but doesn’t really follow rugby asked me about margin. I told him under 8 points and he walked away from a with a cool $250
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I'd really like to see Akira get some game-time in this one. Fifita and Squire are both flat track bullies, and are not the answer long term. Neither of them could put in a performance like Akira did for the Maori vs the Lions while the rest of the pack got their asses handed to them. I see him as our long term 6 following Kaino's retirement.
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@westcoastie Thanks for that, the core of the team are first choice. Maybe we have been using the injuries as an excuse for our poor play when we should be looking at other reasons. When you look at it our core backline 9,10,12,13 are all first choice players.
You have to wonder what impacts on discipline in games, is it an individual problem, coaching problem or combination of both. You really have to wonder what was going through Crocketts head when he tackled the halfback.
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I think they might do alright this game. Given the dross served up recently they will surely want to end the year on a high.
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Add #8 to that as well. You'd think 8-9-10-12-13 would provide enough direction, and include Whitelock & Cane in that, that we'd be playing better than we are.
Looks like we can excuse the 10-12-13 axis a bit, as its starting to show some signs (first half v French, 2nd half v Scots)
But overall, we're just not that cohesive. When we play like we did test 1 vs BIL, we're hard to stop. I know we had to adjust tactics for test 2, but maybe we went too far away from what worked so well - of course, we did have a healthy lead until SBW got carded.The answer has to be that we're resisting showing our hand now, so as to not give the opposition a chance to completely work us out come RWC. As long as we keep the Bledisloe, win the TRC, and keep losses on the EOYT to a 1 a year - no one will care that badly (we all do, but we've been blessed with results since mid-2005 in all honesty) so long as we win the RWC (of course if we lose the warning signs will have been there all along)
Losing to Ireland wasn't all bad, the whole stigma of losing them has gone now, and realistically we were going to lose to someone we hadn't lost to before sometime - I always assumed Argentina over in Argentina, but well there you go.
Still. I want us to fuck Wales up. -
@westcoastie our 12/13 was chopped/changed (not there) in the Lions series too.
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@taniwharugby yeh exactly, so its good to see it starting to come together. I can see the AB's rolling with SBW/Crotty through to RWC, but developing Laumape & Goodhue over the next two years.
They have to have seen the value in a strong combo at 12/13. ALB seems to have stalled, but will remain a great bench option I think covering both positions into the next RWC cycle. -
@westcoastie I'm bias, but I think Goodhue is an option to look at a player that can play 12/13, I know it is 'only NPC' but he played 12 at NPC and 13 at Super.
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@taniwharugby he looks the goods doesn't he... he was wing in his NZ u20 team also
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@gunner said in AB's v Wales:
We’re in serious danger of losing this one.
Wales I’m not sure. If it was England or Ireland I’d have us as underdogs which is a bit sickening.
