RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1)
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@JC said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):
I wonder if Eddie is pushing his luck with May’s hammy injury. I guess he has to roll the dice but as good as Jonathan Joseph and Henry Slade are they are both genuine midfielders aren’t they? I know Slade can play fullback but is he really a world class back 3 player?
Surprsied Nowell wasn't on the bench
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@jegga said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):
@Bones said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):
@jegga wait...y fronts?
Hey at least its not a g banger.
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That must be one of our more experienced benches for awhile. If England are going to give us plenty of possession,Shag may get Mo and Barrett to kick it out as often as they can in the hope we can disrupt their line out ball. With 4 jumpers we can put loads of pressure on.
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@Bovidae said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):
So what do we make of bringing back Ford? This points to more kicking for territory but the addition of SB might negate any advantage Jones thought England had in the lineout. Expect plenty of traffic down his channel.
Takes the ball flat, so expect Tuilagi and Vunipola Bros running off him.
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Anyway, in Steph Hanson we trust.
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@MrDenmore said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):
Out of interest, and giving the ritual Pommy complaints about NZ raiding the ‘south sea islands’ (despite being an, err, south sea island), how many of their team for this Saturday were actually born in England?
Billy Vunipola is Australian born of Tongan heritage; Mako Vunipola is NZ-born of Tongan heritage. Tuilagi was born in Samoa. Willi Heinz is from Christchurch. Sam Underhill is American isn’t he?
Has Nigel Farage approved this squad? Shock horror.
Both Vunipola brothers, Manu Tuilagi and Sam Underhill all went to school in England, grew up there and came through the England junior and schools system. They are English.
Only Willi Heinz of the 23 went to England to further his career as a professional Rugby player. He's a Kiwi.
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@JC said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):
Wow @Luigi and @BartMan both turn up in the same week. Is there a game on or something?
Come back @Phooey @Miller-V-Jackson @Dodge
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@ACT-Crusader said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):
@JC said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):
Wow @Luigi and @BartMan both turn up in the same week. Is there a game on or something?
Come back @Phooey @Miller-V-Jackson @Dodge
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@ACT-Crusader said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):
@JC said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):
Wow @Luigi and @BartMan both turn up in the same week. Is there a game on or something?
Come back @Phooey @Miller-V-Jackson @Dodge
How about that guy voltman. A million times better than any otagoites we get these days.
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@Bones said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):
@ACT-Crusader said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):
@JC said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):
Wow @Luigi and @BartMan both turn up in the same week. Is there a game on or something?
Come back @Phooey @Miller-V-Jackson @Dodge
How about that guy voltman. A million times better than any otagoites we get these days.
@Smudge likes this post.....
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I'm super excited. Feels like there's only moderate downside after back to back wins, and we can go out and play with freedom. The rugby the ABs are playing at the moment is magical, can't wait for tomorrow night.
Can't see England scorign more than 20, I reckon we'll get into the low 30's. Therefore,
Prediction: NZ by 12
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Much discussion on the starting forward pack ,
How does everyone expect the bench ( forwards) to be used ,Are we going to close the game with the two 7s ? how does pat t get used ? He does provide good impact , I’m sure they would like to utilise that in some capacity
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@kiwiinmelb said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):
Much discussion on the starting forward pack ,
How does everyone expect the bench ( forwards) to be used ,Are we going to close the game with the two 7s ? how does pat t get used ? He does provide good impact , I’m sure they would like to utilise that in some capacity
It's nearly impossible to guess - might be horses for courses depending on how the game is going. If we want to speed things up Cane comes on for SB, if we want to keep smashing them and attacking their set piece then Pat T may come on.
Hard to see us subbing Whitelock or BBBR in a semi final.
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@kiwiinmelb said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):
Much discussion on the starting forward pack ,
How does everyone expect the bench ( forwards) to be used ,Are we going to close the game with the two 7s ? how does pat t get used ? He does provide good impact , I’m sure they would like to utilise that in some capacity
We will have a very significant height advantage at the lineout - where we have four genuine lineout jumpers - where England only has two - and Itoje is a pretty short lock. If we can make this count, we could push Eddie into having to sub one of his fast flankers early and push Itoje to blindside. IF we're able to turn our height advantage at the lineout into steals and everything else is going well, then I think the introduction of Cane (for Barrett) will be delayed - maybe to around 60 minutes - otherwise they may make that change at halftime. I'll be surprised if Patty T. gets more than 15 minutes - in the event of an early injury to one of our starting locks, I think they'd shift Barrett to lock initially and bring on Cane.
In the scrum, I think my big worry would be an early injury to Joe Moody - our bench props' scrumming worries me, but if Nepo were to go down early, I'd be inclined to send Ofa out to play tighthead, which would be solid. I'd be really worried if Ta'avao was asked to play 60+ minutes.
Aside from that, we need to knock their big ball carriers down quickly, be very disciplined and deny Farrell opportunities to push the scoreboard along, and be a bit wary of interception opportunities with big, wide skip passes.
Whomever gets ahead with any sort of buffer is likely to be very hard to peg back - so lets hope it's us.
I've really got no idea how this game will play out - especially if we don't dominate their lineout. But, if we do - I think that should be a big step towards us winning.
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@No-Quarter said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):
Hard to see us subbing Whitelock or BBBR in a semi final.
I think that will very much depend on the score - as will most of the subs but they must have some sort of plan.
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This was always the crunch game for me between the two best sides in the world (yes, England are better than SA, no matter what you SH folk believe). Who ever wins will most certainly win the cup I feel.
The kiwis are confident and expecting their team to win comfortably, in most cases anyway. Who would blame them? But I feel England will be a very very tough proposition. This will be a tight game. If I was a betting man, I'd give this one a skip.
Really looking forward to this clash, since before the competition started in fact. These teams were always on a collision course.
My dilemma is who to support! I love the NZ team and Hansen, great coach and funny guy with his dry wit. NZ fans on the other hand? I'll keep that to myself on here! It's the complete opposite for England. Don't like their team or manager but their fans are grand and they are our neighbours.
I'll decide on the day!!
