Hansen
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I think this one sums up the salient points
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@Machpants
Good article except the part saying Squire was a the hardman at 6 and we really missed him.
Flat track bully - imo -
@Frank there is a (misconceived) impression in our media Squire is a hardman, not sure where it came from
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@taniwharugby probably a good traditional six though. But I have no problem with our loose trio. When it was the proper 3 starters
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@Machpants said in Hansen:
I think this one sums up the salient points
I agree with almost all of the article. ABs could and maybe should have won both Irish games.
One game which for me encapsulated the change in mindset was Springboks last year in Wellington. We had them entirely and comprehensively under control, them a couple of ludicrous mistakes and then we were under pressure. At that point the fragility was evident. A game we ought never to have lost.
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@Machpants said in Hansen:
@taniwharugby probably a good traditional six though. But I have no problem with our loose trio. When it was the proper 3 starters
Squire was up and down, but he has a mean streak which seems a prerequisite for hard shouldered loosies.
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@Machpants said in Hansen:
@taniwharugby probably a good traditional six though. But I have no problem with our loose trio. When it was the proper 3 starters
Squire was up and down, but he has a mean streak which seems a prerequisite for hard shouldered loosies.
Although I thought he was a bit of a bully (he’d be great against Oz for example) and posted that here, someone pointed me to a game against SA where he was very good. That’s the standard, so he was probably just inconsistently strong and forceful. Had it, but never showed it enough.
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@Nevorian remember, Hansen lost about 10 games in 8 years, including 2 RWC.
That's frankly ridiculous in professional sport. Dead set honest to god first ballot hall of fame coach right there.
Yep he deserves to be viewed in the same catagory as Vic Cavenaugh , Fred Allen, Brian Lochore and Graham Henry belongs there too. I think we get a bit complacent about the abs results and where they fit in the context of sports.
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@Machpants said in Hansen:
I think this one sums up the salient points
When you look at those players , you get a feeling of trust that you dont quite get from the current side , they may end up getting there ,
You can add Kaino , Owen franks, Ben Smith to that group in that photo , and we lost ( team that took the field ) an irreplaceable amount of experience in 4 years
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Hansen:
All said and done the loss of Ritchie/Jerome/Dan and Ma'a was always going to be huge
There really does seem to a bit of an air-brushing out of Conrad Smith on the Fern these days.
He was one of the very best 13's NZ have ever had.
Really? I always thought Snake was very highly regarded here? He's in the best AB centre ever conversation, and he and Ma'a are the best AB midfield ever bar none. Our senior player group was gutted after 2015, and Hansen almost pulled off a RWC win with a transitional team
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Hansen:
All said and done the loss of Ritchie/Jerome/Dan and Ma'a was always going to be huge
There really does seem to a bit of an air-brushing out of Conrad Smith on the Fern these days.
He was one of the very best 13's NZ have ever had.
Really? I always thought Snake was very highly regarded here? He's in the best AB centre ever conversation, and he and Ma'a are the best AB midfield ever bar none. Our senior player group was gutted after 2015, and Hansen almost pulled off a RWC win with a transitional team
My comment was a bit tongue in cheek. Just noticed he hardly ever gets the same mention that the like of Ma'a and DC do
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First and second losses to Ireland were poor but at least they were a reflection of their level and ranking, which they had never reached in their history. Hell, they were the number one ranked side going into to RWC, which in combination with recent history explains why we 'played our final' against them in the quarter.
Lions series was a silly red card (which the fact a forward was subbed instead of a back was a bit strange, but we still could have won the game which is remarkable) and/or a non call by a filthy, cowardly frog away from a won series.
England game was bizarre. We didn't seem to ever get to out of 2nd gear, mainly due to how they played but have to wonder how much psychology and selections affected our performance. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. At the end of the day we lost a lot of legends at the end of 2015 that were replaced with players that were too green and probably never will never be at the level of their predecessors.
Make no mistake, SA wanted desperately wanted to win the pool game and didn't, then were flat against Wales. There will be a bit of history written about this SA side because they dominated the England side that dominated us - and fair play as they got up when it really counted - but they aren't head and shoulders above any other team. Perhaps their style was simply a better match for England.
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