Refuge for the positive.....
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One of the strange things is people are acting like because we are not red-hot favourites for the World Cup we can't win it. If we used that logic, no-one could win the cup. Welcome to the majority of sporting competitions. Most of them are meant to be close. We are in with a chance - as much of a chance as any other.
It's bloody hilarious reading actual analysis from people saying "Mounga isn't international standard" or saying the same thing about Scott Barrett. Mounga is better than most starting tens for 6N/RC teams. The best one was that, Hansen is a shit coach and just inherited the success from Henry. Yeah, right. If Hansen was a shit coach, it wouldn't take 8 years to find out.
Having said all of this, last night was a disaster. We need to have a big re-think but I still back Hansen to do it. Let's not forget we are trying to win the toughest rugby competition three times in a row. It's a tough ask in any sport. Even if Hansen gets the tactics and selections right someone might get red carded in the first minute and none of it will matter.
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My car once had a fault. It was a tiny little thing, but very hard to pin down, and it took quite a few trips to the mechanic before it was finally sorted.
Someone looking at the car would have gone --it's a perfectly good car, all the necessary bits are there. It just wouldn't start some mornings.
Eventually, once sorted, it went back to being a really good car. The key there is "once sorted".
Oh, and I had to take it to a second mechanic to find the problem.
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Screw it, I'll post it here, as this is just a one eyed optimistic view of the world. I don't think this is entirely accurate, but I'm throwing it out there.
Steve Hansen is the genius we need. He's keeping our powder so dry that when we unleash our tactics at the RWC, no-one will expect them.
Think about it - how do yo uplan to beat the ABs. Aside from just playing a tremendous physical game, kicking your goals, hoping for some opportunistic tries or a card or two ... what's our game plan? WE DON'T HAVE ONE. That's the goddamn genius of it; no one knows what's coming.
Rush defences get beaten by hard physical running near the ruck, and a dominant pack of forwards just rolling forward pick and go, pick and go. Fark it, I don't care if we do that for 80 minutes three times in a row; winning is winning.
So there you have it. He's playing 4D chess while we're playing checkers. We're just going to pull one out of the bag and win the Cup again.
Also, I don't feel particularly better having tried to write this down... not convinced at all that we can change it up when needed any more. Going to be a cracking cup though, going in with low expectations and any success is on the upside.
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Oz played well and despite some performances of late are still a 1st tier side. We were a man down for an entire half, no team can win against a top tier team under those conditions. The score blew out because unlike some other teams we thought we'd give it a crack anyway.
The real test is this weekend. Are oz the real deal? Are the AB's a spent force?
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@nzzp said in Refuge for the positive.....:
Screw it, I'll post it here, as this is just a one eyed optimistic view of the world. I don't think this is entirely accurate, but I'm throwing it out there.
Steve Hansen is the genius we need. He's keeping our powder so dry that when we unleash our tactics at the RWC, no-one will expect them.
Think about it - how do yo uplan to beat the ABs. Aside from just playing a tremendous physical game, kicking your goals, hoping for some opportunistic tries or a card or two ... what's our game plan? WE DON'T HAVE ONE. That's the goddamn genius of it; no one knows what's coming.
Rush defences get beaten by hard physical running near the ruck, and a dominant pack of forwards just rolling forward pick and go, pick and go. Fark it, I don't care if we do that for 80 minutes three times in a row; winning is winning.
So there you have it. He's playing 4D chess while we're playing checkers. We're just going to pull one out of the bag and win the Cup again.
Also, I don't feel particularly better having tried to write this down... not convinced at all that we can change it up when needed any more. Going to be a cracking cup though, going in with low expectations and any success is on the upside.
^^^ Hey Fern, I’ll have what he’s having. ^^^
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The positive I will take from this result is that I have been so bored with Rugby Championship and Bled for the past few years.
It's nice to see Aussie and South Africa really competitive again.
It will be nice to be nervous with anticipation this weekend. I haven't looked forward to a game against Aussie in years and I can't wait for the team naming and the game!
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@Hooroo said in Refuge for the positive.....:
The positive I will take from this result is that I have been so bored with Rugby Championship and Bled for the past few years.
It's nice to see Aussie and South Africa really competitive again.
It will be nice to be nervous with anticipation this weekend. I haven't looked forward to a game against Aussie in years and I can't wait for the team naming and the game!
That is indeed a positive. As long as it's them improving, not us going back to the pack.
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The way we don't compete for possession at the breakdown, and then the way we are so frivolous with possession when we do have it drives me crazy.
The positive ..... last few years - is that often the teams dominating possession lose. E.g. When the boot is on the other foot (V SAF in Wellington last year, Lions 2nd and 3rd test IIRC, and any Auckland Blues game ....) the team 'playing all the rugby' loses and the team defending wins.
I don't like this trend, though .....
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@Kirwan said in Refuge for the positive.....:
That is indeed a positive. As long as it's them improving, not us going back to the pack.
Their first 40 at the weekend suggested that both were happening - we were good defensively, but they played really really well. Will be such an open RWC, with 6 teams with a good chance, and another couple as outsiders (france, argentina)
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@nzzp said in Refuge for the positive.....:
@Kirwan said in Refuge for the positive.....:
That is indeed a positive. As long as it's them improving, not us going back to the pack.
Their first 40 at the weekend suggested that both were happening - we were good defensively, but they played really really well. Will be such an open RWC, with 6 teams with a good chance, and another couple as outsiders (france, argentina)
Were we good defensively? I thought the missed tackles started then, and I remember Hodge going right through us.
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@Kirwan said in Refuge for the positive.....:
@nzzp said in Refuge for the positive.....:
@Kirwan said in Refuge for the positive.....:
That is indeed a positive. As long as it's them improving, not us going back to the pack.
Their first 40 at the weekend suggested that both were happening - we were good defensively, but they played really really well. Will be such an open RWC, with 6 teams with a good chance, and another couple as outsiders (france, argentina)
Were we good defensively? I thought the missed tackles started then, and I remember Hodge going right through us.
I guess I'd say good considering
Given how many tackles we slipped off, and how they were running, going into the last minute only conceding 13 points was pretty good! -
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I would be more positive if i could remember the last time the All Blacks played well
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@Kirwan said in Refuge for the positive.....:
@nzzp scramble defence was great, good attitude and all that. Conceding all those linebreaks and falling off the first up tackles, not great.
fair call.
This is the refuge for the positive thread though, so try re-framing that:
WE were Great at conceding line breaks, our falling off tackles was a spectacular swan dive of beauty, and everyone got a certificate of participation.
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@mariner4life said in Refuge for the positive.....:
I would be more positive if i could remember the last time the All Blacks played well
Hey negative nellies.... fuck off.. this is a refuge for the POSITIVE, there are a plethora of other threads to tell each other shit we are.
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@Baron-Silas-Greenback said in Refuge for the positive.....:
@mariner4life said in Refuge for the positive.....:
I would be more positive if i could remember the last time the All Blacks played well
Hey negative nellies.... fuck off.. this is a refuge for the POSITIVE, there are a plethora of other threads to tell each other shit we are.
my bad
fundamentally, i actually agree with you. We are as likely to win the World Cup as any of the other top sides.
And a fair bit of the chat at the moment is entirely reminiscent of 2015, where questions were asked.
The best rugby of our players is collectively still better than our opponents, we just have to have a bit of faith that this best is still coming. And to be fair it better start this weekend.
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@mariner4life said in Refuge for the positive.....:
We are as likely to win the World Cup as any of the other top sides.
More likely IMO
..and thats if we continue with the same selections/tactics
We can improve our chances even more if we make a few adjustments though
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Plenty of fapping about that Wallabies on the radio this morning. The fact that they played against 14 players for 40 minutes only mentioned as an aside. The fact is that they were only 4 ahead and had scored only one try with 80% possession. If ALB hadn't totally farked that intercept they may not have even been leading.
Again that doesn't disguise the fact that the ABs were several colours of shit for much of that first half, but they still got 2 tries with almost zero ball. I think the result would have been similar in 2015 if a player had been sent. Shit we shipped 14 points in 10 minutes when Ben FA was carded in the final. The game this weekend will be a better indication of where both we and Aus are at.
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Question is if SB wasn’t sent off ALB got the intercept we probably would have won
Would we all be as negative.
The coaches are my concern I think the players are in confusion in what we are trying to achieve.
You think with Hansens experience he will strip the game plan back and give the players positive direction to get some confidence in them.
If that happens we spank the wallabies and win the WC. -
@Chris said in Refuge for the positive.....:
The coaches are my concern I think the players are in confusion in what we are trying to achieve.
You think with Hansens experience he will strip the game plan back and give the players positive direction to get some confidence in them.
If that happens we spank the wallabies and win the WC.To put a positive spin on the current situation, that was the talk in the leadup to the 2015 RWC where the ABs weren't impressive in the pool games. We later found out what was happening behind the scenes with inter-squad games etc.
