All Blacks v France Test 3
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Good win that. 49 points, with the game done and dusted early was a good outcome, especially given the French first half.
Front row a complete mixed bag. Taylor is the goods now, even if our lineout was not perfect on the night. O Franks good on D, scrummed well, and is a waste of space with the ball. Moody is all over the shop at the moment, hopefully just needs game time, which he hasn't had a lot of.
Starting locks were the shit. That's two good tests out of three for Barrett, so i am willing to change my position with regards to him, a great 3rd choice. Whitelock much better this week too, buried in the tough stuff.
What to make of the loose forwards? Frizzle Fry was up and down. Would appear for a couple of passages, then disappear for a couple. I reckon that had a lot to do with game fitness, and his lack of it. When he was visible, i think it's hard to say he was any less effective than Squire normally is. Also knocked Parra the fuck out, which we can all cheer a little bit. A Savea was his usual self, then got hurt. One French try was a direct result of him being driven back while trying to tackle. I'm not 100%, but i think it has to do with him worrying about being able to get at the ball after the tackle, rather than just effecting a solid tackle, and letting the rest take care of itself. I thought L Whitelock was invisible until a couple of errors, but, we kept the ball a lot, so someone had to be hitting those rucks. R Thorne indeed.
A Smith was fucking great. Is a yappy little shit who had to be told by the ref to shut his mouth at one point. Fucking halfbacks.
DMac. Wow. Fucking confident that bloke. Throws an intercept, kicks the ball dead, and it doesn't phase him one bit. A cracking game from him. He directed play, played straight, took good options, and his kicking from hand was a lot longer than i expected. Again, i am willing to change my position on this call by the selectors.
Good from the midfield. SBW was at his absolute best, and i hope he's not hurt. Goodhue looked at home actually, soft missed tackle aside. Plenty to work with in the future. I would pair SBW and ALB for the first Bledisloe.
Outsides. Hmmm. Ioane doesn't need more bigging up, a great game. Looked alright at centre too, albeit against a team rapidly back pedalling. B Smith looks goodish, but below some pretty high standards. Naholo was shit. He doesn't even look fast any more, and can't tackle for shit.Bench? love our bench props. Stil struggling to sww what more Ofa has to do to prove he is a great bench option. Good around the track, strong in the scrum. Karl T James eats scrums for fun. Hemapo was busy, but he just lacks the physical requirements for test match rugby in his chosen positions. Todd was fucking awesome, and surely, surely gets to be the #2 now. I still don't like TJP. J Barrett was good, that wide ball to Naholo was nice.
Moving forward?
Still seriously lacking at 6 and 8. Fuck knows what we can do there. I really wish someone would fucking tell us why Akira can't get a game considering the varying level of "meh" we've had from his chosen positions this June. DMac is the bench impact, and B Barrett better up his game, because DMac will push him with that type of form. Outsides? I guess B Smith back to the wing, but he doesn't actually look that good there, and is getting slower. The cupboard is a bit bare on the right wing actually. SBW gives us great midfield attack, needs to stay fit. Someone good is going to miss out. -
@mariner4life Those Chiefs wing-fullbacks (Alaimalo and Stevenson) have a big opportunity eh?
Nanai and Duffie are suffering from the general Blues malaise.
Lam might still come into it.
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@tim there is definitely a spot open there. Of all of them i think Nanai has the most physical gifts, but he, like the last wing/FB from the Blues whose name completely escapes me, has just stalled in his development just below Super Rugby standard.
Who would have thought NZ would be scratching around for a winger? What are Goodhue's wheels like?
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@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France Test 3:
there is definitely a spot open there. Of all of them i think Nanai has the most physical gifts, but he, like the last wing/FB from the Blues whose name completely escapes me, has just stalled in his development just below Super Rugby standard.
Visinia?
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@duluth said in All Blacks v France Test 3:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France Test 3:
there is definitely a spot open there. Of all of them i think Nanai has the most physical gifts, but he, like the last wing/FB from the Blues whose name completely escapes me, has just stalled in his development just below Super Rugby standard.
Visinia?
yea, that's him! That boy could move! Where is he now? Japan?
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@mariner4life Playing for FC Grenoble in French D2. They have been promoted to the top division again next year.
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France
I think Nanai has been far better than him at SR level
If you go back to 2016, plenty of non Blues fans were suggesting him as an outside chance of making the AB's. That was the year he played for the Baabaas at Twickers and went well (Greenwood was a coach and thought he was next AB winger)
He's got himself offside with the franchise coach since then.
I would not be surprised if he had success immediately at another franchise
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@duluth said in All Blacks v France Test 3:
France
I think Nanai has been far better than him at SR level
If you go back to 2016 plenty of non Blues fans were suggesting him as an outside chance of making the AB's. I think that was the year be played for the Baabaas at Twickers and went well (Greenwood was a coach and thought he was next AB winger)
He's goten himself offside with the franchise coach since then.
I would not be surprised if he had success immediately at another franchise
he seems to have to have the tools. I wonder what his mental application and work ethic is like? His basic skill set ticks a lot of boxes, but he is a long way from the required standard at the moment. As you say, a new franchise (or a new coach) looks essential if he is to do anything with his career in NZ
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@tim you have to wonder with Naholo well out of touch, if Lam keeps his form up (assuming the canes make the finals) he might be a chance for the power wing spot?
Ioane & Naholo swapped wings for a period last night too didnt they?
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@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France Test 3:
he seems to have to have the tools. I wonder what his mental application and work ethic is like?
Not great if the rumours are correct. He's not going to fix that where he is (well, not until 2020 at the earliest)
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@Tim I think Alaimalo has the most potential going forward (getting him in soon) ... but probably needs to get out of the Chiefs, the ABs have never been that fond of what the Chiefs wings can bring (Randle, Lowe etc).
In form Nanai looked the business too and maybe it is worth giving Lam a shot.
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@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France Test 3:
@tim there is definitely a spot open there. Of all of them i think Nanai has the most physical gifts, but he, like the last wing/FB from the Blues whose name completely escapes me, has just stalled in his development just below Super Rugby standard.
Who would have thought NZ would be scratching around for a winger? What are Goodhue's wheels like?
More so than Lam?
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@mn5 said in All Blacks v France Test 3:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France Test 3:
@tim there is definitely a spot open there. Of all of them i think Nanai has the most physical gifts, but he, like the last wing/FB from the Blues whose name completely escapes me, has just stalled in his development just below Super Rugby standard.
Who would have thought NZ would be scratching around for a winger? What are Goodhue's wheels like?
More so than Lam?
yes.
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@rocky-rockbottom said in All Blacks v France Test 3:
@victor-meldrew said in All Blacks v France Test 3:
He need to focus on becoming as accurate, consistent and disciplined as SBW or Nonu c. 2006.
haha, Voltron and his DMac Stockholm Syndrome contagion claims another
Anyone who didn’t see what I saw last night is just a hater
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@mariner4life on Franks, I wouldn't say he's a waste of space ball in hand, he's actually very very good at distribution. Just doesn't have the application to leg drive in the tackle, which is really odd.
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Havent fully read the thread yet but some thoughts.
Predictable outcome. ABs prefer to play the game at pace so playing under the roof with the fastest distributing halfback in rugby against a French team playing their last game of a long season in a dead rubber.
So a very much improved performance but given the factors above wouldnt read too much into it.
DMac really showed his stuff at times. He looked best when he rain straight, commited defenders and distributed. I reckon his best play was covering back in the first half in the far corner to stop a French try scoring chance. However, the game was perfectly suited to his strengths (see above) so whilst a much better performance than test 2 he is still a work in progress.
SBW worked his way into the game excellently but like Crotty he cant stay fit - i'd like to see Jordie get some more time at 12.
Goodhue got better as the game went on but given the hype probably underwhelmed. Of course for a debut thats fine but a reminder he will need time.
A Smith much better and Rieko showed why he is the best winger in the world and looked super comfortable on the right wing second half.
Scott Barrett just sensational. Probably the biggest positive out of the series for me. Has really come on.
Frizell showed some glimpses, such as the power for his 'almost' try. The open style of the game probably suited him. Worth continuing to develop I think.
Really good bench impact from Ofa, Todd, Hemopo and as mentioned Jordie.
Fofana is fun to watch - classy player when he clicks.
I cant believe no one in the reffing team picked up Luke Whitelock's knock on at the back of the scrum before one of Rieko's tries. Really poor.
