Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18
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Heard Bryn Hall say a few months back on the Super Rugby Aoteroa podcast that Caleb Clarke is one of the best in the country under the high ball, so having Clarke and J Barrett on the wings might be perfect in the future to counter all of the box kicks from england and SA just saying..... we can afford to have J Barrett playing a Ben Smith (2015) role of the second full back safety net defusing bombs, with Clarke as a destructive ball runner too
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okay, now that i'm sober
thoughts of a bloke who watched at a pub that was overwhelmingly full of kiwis, while deleting schooners.
Great fucking game of rugby. That is what test rugby should be, it was open and fast, errors were made while trying things, both sides had a fucking crack. Australia were amazing for the first quarter, controlled the ball, controlled the field, and picked us apart. It was a credit to the defense we didn't give up any points. I thought a couple of turnovers were a little dicey, but that proved to be the way the ref played it all game. Then we looked dangerous as soon as the game opened up, and i thought "shit this is Fozzie's chiefs alright". But we seemed to grow as the game went on, and our forwards got on top the old fashioned way.
And i thought the game was a seesaw contest from then on, with both sides having their opportunity to have a crack. The only difference in the score was that little bit of "luck" that stopped Aussie scoring, while we did.
The significant difference to last week, from an AB perspective, was the greater intent in the physical stuff. Harder shots, harder running, harder cleaning out. And this created more opportunity for the flair players, because they had a fraction more time, and more broken field opportunities. It also resulted in Aussie defending from their heels more (like we did last week) which always results in more missed tackles.
Clarke was obviously the eye catcher, but then a big strong quick winger is always going to look good in a game like that. BBarrett was a menace, and now very obviously our best 15 just because he's still such a threat in broken play. ALB made a difference on both sides of the ball. If A Savea is going to play like that every week he can stay. I thought the rookie locks were fucking good. Scrum wobbled as i expected, but around the tracks they both had good games. Good stuff from the newbies off the bench.
It's not all rosey by any means, but this was such a step up from last week. It's a simple game rugby.
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@Yeahtheboys Bryn Hall said recently that the Crusaders had a game plan in this year's game v Blues to avoid kicking to Caleb Clarke because he is so good under the high ball.
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@Derpus said in Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18:
@DMX It's funny how one week Foster is singlehandedly leading the downfall of NZ rugby and the next all is rosy.
I think the ABs weaknesses remain - i thought the Wallabies were at least several notches below where they were the week before and still managed to keep the losing margin to our lowest in 10 years at Eden Park.
As good as he is, I can't see Caleb Clarke running straight over the top of three Saffa or English forwards. That was a uniquely Australian performance.
You haven't been here long have you?
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im going to ask a stupid question,
there was a ruck in the second half, aussie took it in, we tried to counter, pile of bodies with a halfback on either side, ball sitting on top dead centre...both half backs could reach it but when TJP went to pick it up the ref said no....if we have driven back and can now reach the ball...isn't is fair game?...i assume not
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@Kiwiwomble said in Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18:
im going to ask a stupid question,
there was a ruck in the second half, aussie took it in, we tried to counter, pile of bodies with a halfback on either side, ball sitting on top dead centre...both half backs could reach it but when TJP went to pick it up the ref said no....if we have driven back and can now reach the ball...isn't is fair game?...i assume not
Mmm.
Some of the rucks where we had countered blowing them back off the ball defied logic that the Wobs still won possession.
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@Kiwiwomble said in Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18:
im going to ask a stupid question,
there was a ruck in the second half, aussie took it in, we tried to counter, pile of bodies with a halfback on either side, ball sitting on top dead centre...both half backs could reach it but when TJP went to pick it up the ref said no....if we have driven back and can now reach the ball...isn't is fair game?...i assume not
It is, but Angus is special. He should've let it go because for it to be a ruck the ball needs to be on the ground. So instead he's determined that the defending team needs to drive over the ball which would make sense if it was on the ground.
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@Derpus said in Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18:
As good as he is, I can't see Caleb Clarke running straight over the top of three Saffa or English forwards. That was a uniquely Australian performance.
I can't see a Saffer or English box kick into the midfield where things become rapidly shit.
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Players aimlessly hoofing the ball downfield is what makes rugby exciting to watch.
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@antipodean said in Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18:
Players aimlessly hoofing the ball downfield is what makes rugby exciting to watch.
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@NTA said in Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18:
@antipodean said in Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18:
Players aimlessly hoofing the ball downfield is what makes rugby exciting to watch.
That would be you if other teams aimlessly kicked to yours.
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Some of the ruck rulings leave you scratching your head. I think the ruck ruling was basically if you got hands on the ball quickly, everything was fine. But god knows - Hooper worked magic out there at times, but it seemed to be ruled inconsistently. IT was noticeable to me (after a couple of drinks anyway) that ABs seemed slightly slower getting over the ball, but did well in cleanouts when we did get there. If hands went to ball, it didn't seem to matter if you were on or off feet.
In modern rugby, you can get tackled hard, bounce off the ground after the impact, but concede a penalty for not releasing before you've actually stopped moving vertically is ... interesting. Still, that's the modern game, we need to be good at it.
Seems you get good reward for body position in the tackle - getting the ball well back on your side prevents turnovers
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@Frank said in Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18:
Ardie does the best dramatic flailing arm gestures right after he tackles someone.
That combined with Kieran Read and his whinging at the ref antics made it very dangerous to stand near either of them back in 2019.
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@MN5 said in Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18:
@Frank said in Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18:
Ardie does the best dramatic flailing arm gestures right after he tackles someone.
That combined with Kieran Read and his whinging at the ref antics made it very dangerous to stand near either of them back in 2019.
he was at it again for counties against otago on the weekend, even got a ball throw in frustration
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@Kiwiwomble said in Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18:
im going to ask a stupid question,
there was a ruck in the second half, aussie took it in, we tried to counter, pile of bodies with a halfback on either side, ball sitting on top dead centre...both half backs could reach it but when TJP went to pick it up the ref said no....if we have driven back and can now reach the ball...isn't is fair game?...i assume not
Back in the day if the ball wasn’t physically on the deck and just lying on top of a player that has no protection then it was seen as fair game to take.
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Caleb Clarke rightfully getting lots of plaudits, but I was especially pleased with Hodgman.
I was a bit concerned about his early entry, but he scrummed well and was active around the park. ESPN says 8 tackles and no misses.
With all due respect to Big Karl, he would have needed 8 guys to run into him to match that.
His stats say that he's 1.96 metres tall. Is that correct? If so, he needs to watch out - that's a tall lock to John Plumtree!
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@antipodean said in Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18:
That would be you if other teams aimlessly kicked to yours.
Actually the ABs did a couple of times, but we don't have Caleb Clarke.
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@Chris-B I was concerned about Hodgman too. I remember Hodgman being destroyed by Taniela Tupou a couple of years ago in a SR game and feared that he would not be able to handle him at scrum time, but he ended up getting the upper hand which was a pleasant surprise. Feek seems to be doing a very good job with our scrum.
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@NTA said in Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18:
@antipodean said in Bledisloe Two: Auckland, October 18:
That would be you if other teams aimlessly kicked to yours.
Actually the ABs did a couple of times, but we don't have Caleb Clarke.
my guess was, some of those infield box kicks were deliberate so that the ball was away from those 2 blockers teh Wallabies have used to effectively to break up the kick chase.
that might be wishful thinking though.
