Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18
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@Machpants Incredible isn't it that we seemingly had worked out how to unlock the rush D in Lions Test 1 by playing off 9 and then never used that tactic again for whatever strange reason.
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Just on BB, I am having trouble explaining what is going on there. It's like he has something major on his mind and rugby just isn't doing it for him anymore. He has just been off all year, did he miss Wellington that much or is married life not all he thought it would be?
Or is it possible he has always wanted to play 10 and has just got the shits the Fozzie has forced him to play 15 and influenced the Blues for him to play there also?
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@Bones said in Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18:
@chimoaus yeah he hasn't seemed to have the "spark" we're used to seeing. Maybe he's lost that extra yard of pace that made a difference? Maybe trying to change his game? Or as you say, maybe just not "into it".
He's barely played this year. But when he turned out for the Blues, his steadying influence was noticeable
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Don't get the Dmac hate after last week's game. He had a shit year for the Chiefs and y'all know that I was a massive critic of him on here, but dude played well during NvS and the test last week. I'd have no issues with him on the bench and if he had to start at 15 it wouldn't bother me.
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@canefan said in Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18:
@Bones said in Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18:
@chimoaus yeah he hasn't seemed to have the "spark" we're used to seeing. Maybe he's lost that extra yard of pace that made a difference? Maybe trying to change his game? Or as you say, maybe just not "into it".
He's barely played this year. But when he turned out for the Blues, his steadying influence was noticeable
How many Blues games did he miss?
It’s been a disrupted year for all, but he’s still played quite a bit.
I don’t know what influence AB selectors have over the franchises, but to me the Blues selections were more about weighing the positives of a Black/Barrett 10/15 combo over Barrett/anyone else. Quality fullback options for the Blues were pretty light on from what I remember.
Ideally you want your best options in each position playing there but to me Barrett was both the best 10 and best 15 in the Blues squad.
I agree he has looked less than his best and down on his regular confident and sometimes high risk play.
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@ACT-Crusader yeah I thought he played a decent amount of SRA.
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I think Beauden has played 10 games this year.
7 x Super Rugby Aotearoa (zero original Super Rugby)
North/South
2 x TaranakiI thought he looked far better in the 5 more recent games after he shifted to 10 (2 x Super Rugby Aotearoa, 2 x Taranaki, North/South).
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@mariner4life said in Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18:
@African-Monkey said in Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18:
Oh yay Mo'unga to get another start at 10......
he was never getting cut
And i don't mind that. He will hopefully learn a few lessons, either that, or given the time to prove he's not the guy. The bigger problem is, if he is not the guy, then who the fuck is? Jioane has "solid backup" written all over him. And that's it.
Trask
@Bones ...
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@mariner4life said in Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18:
@Stargazer said in Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18:
@Bovidae I think that's good news. I prefer only making a few minor changes and just want all players to lift their game. Find an answer to the rush defence, go faster to the rucks, make your tackles. If the forwards and midfielders do their job well, they make it easier for the halves to do their job well.
It was only the first test match. Making too many changes, especially to the spine, after only one match, is just a bad idea.
this post could have been made any time over the past 3 years to be honest. and that is the real problem.
Makes me think again we're trying to be too cute.
Over the last few years when we were dominant I always thought if our guys played to their potential and their guys played to their potential, regardless of who "they" were, we'd be better.
If we pick our best XV I still think that.
But am not sure we're picking our best XV as we're trying to "reinvent" rugby.
So I don't think that any more.
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Beauden is a senior player that likes to call the shots. There's no doubt in my mind whatsoever that he would rather play 10. Being shunted to 15 for the likes of Mo'unga who has not stepped up to test level at all would not sit well with him despite going along with it for "the benefit of the team".
Mo'unga should be on the bench as impact while he finds his feet, same as what Beauden did when he first made the ABs. We have no need for Beauden at 15 now with Jordie playing there, and we didn't need him there at the RWC with Ben Smith in the squad.
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@akan004 said in Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18:
@Machpants Incredible isn't it that we seemingly had worked out how to unlock the rush D in Lions Test 1 by playing off 9 and then never used that tactic again for whatever strange reason.
They kept that powder so dry that they forgot the combination to the waterproof safe.
But on a more serious note, it is a complete mystery. They pulled that same game plan out for a short period against England on one of the EOYTs but have played this other shitty non direct, counter attack/kick the ball away game 99% of the time for the last 3 years.
Would love to know why.
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Also re: the Blues, they were crazy not to play him at 10 from the get go and get him into form there. Pure madness at that level when you want him touching the ball as much as possible. That's not to say Black played poorly, but he will never offer what BB does.
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@No-Quarter BB played fullback in most SRA games because Black at 10 and BB at 15 was a better combo than BB at 10 and "someone else" at 15. The reason for this was Pefofeta's season-ending injury. IIRC, they only moved BB to 10 when Black got injured (concussion) in the game against the Canes (?).
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@No-Quarter I think you nailed it, he was very good at 15 off the bench when DC was playing and when he was a junior player. But clearly winning player of the year a few times and being the best 10 must make him scratch his head when they put him to 15. Never really thought of it as a demotion before but perhaps that's how he sees it.
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@Stargazer said in Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18:
@No-Quarter BB played fullback in most SRA games because Black at 10 and BB at 15 was a better combo than BB at 10 and "someone else" at 15. The reason for this was Pefofeta's season-ending injury. IIRC, they only moved BB to 10 when Black got injured (concussion) in the game against the Canes (?).
BB at 10 with just about anyone at 15 is the best combo, end of story. 10 is a far more important position than 15. If you have one of the best 10s in the world, you select the team around him, especially at Super level where he has a history of single handedly carving teams to pieces from that position. You don't shunt him around to cater for other players. It was utter madness.
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I recall BB got some criticism over his kicking. If 15 kicks conversions and penalties (given RM is also in a bit of a kicking slump), perhaps the gap if any between BB and RM is more debateable again?
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@pukunui said in Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18:
@akan004 said in Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18:
@Machpants Incredible isn't it that we seemingly had worked out how to unlock the rush D in Lions Test 1 by playing off 9 and then never used that tactic again for whatever strange reason.
They kept that powder so dry that they forgot the combination to the waterproof safe.
But on a more serious note, it is a complete mystery. They pulled that same game plan out for a short period against England on one of the EOYTs but have played this other shitty non direct, counter attack/kick the ball away game 99% of the time for the last 3 years.
Would love to know why.
It almost feels like the coaching group were/are just arrogant. The traditional style of Rugby is to smash the opposition up front and then spin it wide where the space has been created. It's like they decided they're going to invent a new way to play the game where we just spin it from the get go to see if we can run up a cricket score, and were so arrogant to think we have the players to pull that off against world class opposition.
We really, really needed a clean out after that RWC. It was the perfect time to do it. The previous coaches had a great run, but they'd been in the job too long and could no longer see the wood from the trees. It just boggles my mind that we decided to go for consistency when we had some really great candidates to approach.
