The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread
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If you think changes were not required after the last WRC, then fine, everyone can have a different opinion. 88% is over the decade is amazing, but it didn't make the last WRC final and we were well beaten by England in the WRC. If we want to maintain 88% over the next decade, then I think we need to innovate to stay at that level. Far be it from me to try keep something on topic, but do I think Fozzie is the right person to even help us keep 88%? No, but I am willing to give him a chance.
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@mariner4life said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
"fresh off a decade where the All Blacks won 88% of the tests they played, and two World Cups, All Black fans ask "why can't we be ahead of the pack?""
But, but...what about the state of rugby? If Fitzy and a few others are to be believed AB success ruins rugby.
It’s like an ardent fan said to me some years ago when discussing AB success, “of course I don’t expect us to win every test, but I don’t accept that we should ever lose”
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@ACT-Crusader said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@mariner4life said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
"fresh off a decade where the All Blacks won 88% of the tests they played, and two World Cups, All Black fans ask "why can't we be ahead of the pack?""
But, but...what about the state of rugby? If Fitzy and a few others are to be believed AB success ruins rugby.
It’s like an ardent fan said to me some years ago when discussing AB success, “of course I don’t expect us to win every test, but I don’t accept that we should ever lose”
I always expect the ABs to win every test beforehand. With age I can accept defeat afterwards if the performance is okay and I think our opponent has had to raise their game to win.
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Ok this is getting more and more bizarre and stretched. Now we're even going back to 2018.
"We want improvement!"
Ok.
Australia last 3 games
-Lost
-Drew
-WonIreland last 2 games
-Lost
-Won (in a very important RWC match)SA last 2 games
-Drew
-Won (in a very important RWC match)So we're left with England, who we play very sporadically and they got up for a game last year, playing extremely well while the AB's lacked accuracy and were widely acknowledged to have made selection mistakes. Thankfully, they play this weekend against a club level side who we must be expecting to not score at all.
After the first AB test of the year, in which the AB's are known for being rusty, we played pretty ordinary and drew against a rejuvenated Australia - only to have someone ponder what an in form SA or England would do to an AB team playing like that. The same England that lost to France and scraped past Scotland and Wales this year. The same SA that won't have played a test in probably over 18 months by the time they play their next one. Imagine what an in form ABs will do to them.
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@mariner4life said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@Kirwan said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
Your basic point is right. We are great front runners, and struggle when matched up front by teams that don't play much.
but laying that at Foster's feet is a touch disingenuous because we've been like that for a long, long time. Slow the ball, limit turnovers, kick the ball out have been the keys to beating us for ages. We have, for a long time, played a simple game that is holding the opposition, then punishing the fuck out of errors (mainly bad kicks).
We don't pick teams apart with clever ball movement. We don't roll teams in the tight in a field position game and accumulate points. We rely on ruthlessly exploiting the opportunities that come from opposition errors, and a defensive system that keeps the opposition to 20 points or less. That's AB rugby.
This. And, as part of that, a philosophy and playing style, which aims to break down the opposition's structure so that our advantage in natural talent can be exploited. The issue seems to be when we come up against teams who have a structure that's inherently tough to break and, in addition, are really disciplined in holding their structure. We really seem to come up with lemons when we play these teams, probably because sleight-of-hand, clever ball movement bodies in motion or even clinical tight play aren't huge features of our game. It would be nice, I think, if we sharpened these tools a bit more. It's not like our teams have never used them, we just don't seem to know when to use them or be able to use them that well when we do.
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@sparky said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@Bones England haven't hit anything like the heights of that World Cup Semi in any of their outings since.
As you say, this weekend they play a hand-pick, scratch team that looks weaker than most NPC teams.
You drunk mate? They're clearly miles better than us. Our best winger won't even break tackles against them.
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@ACT-Crusader said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@Tim said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
I have fond memories of when NZ held SA to nil in Cape Town on 16 August 2008.
I remember there was a bit of angst going into that match after the Boks beat us in Dunners a few weeks earlier.
But McCaw being back for this match gave us a bit of hope.
There was a bit of ‘outrage’ too going into the Dunners test - Rodders at openside, the Wulf selection, Sivi moved to the right wing, Ellis and O’Neill selections, Afoa starting.
I loved the '08 season, real uncertainty at the beginning but then we ground out Tri-Nation win and ground out a grandslam. Emergence of Nonu, Kaino amd Thorn as genuine starters.
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This game showed quite a few plays that actually worked!
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@DMX said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@ACT-Crusader said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@Tim said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
I have fond memories of when NZ held SA to nil in Cape Town on 16 August 2008.
I remember there was a bit of angst going into that match after the Boks beat us in Dunners a few weeks earlier.
But McCaw being back for this match gave us a bit of hope.
There was a bit of ‘outrage’ too going into the Dunners test - Rodders at openside, the Wulf selection, Sivi moved to the right wing, Ellis and O’Neill selections, Afoa starting.
I loved the '08 season, real uncertainty at the beginning but then we ground out Tri-Nation win and ground out a grandslam. Emergence of Nonu, Kaino amd Thorn as genuine starters.
2009 doesn’t hold such fond memories.
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@pakman said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@DMX said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@ACT-Crusader said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@Tim said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
I have fond memories of when NZ held SA to nil in Cape Town on 16 August 2008.
I remember there was a bit of angst going into that match after the Boks beat us in Dunners a few weeks earlier.
But McCaw being back for this match gave us a bit of hope.
There was a bit of ‘outrage’ too going into the Dunners test - Rodders at openside, the Wulf selection, Sivi moved to the right wing, Ellis and O’Neill selections, Afoa starting.
I loved the '08 season, real uncertainty at the beginning but then we ground out Tri-Nation win and ground out a grandslam. Emergence of Nonu, Kaino amd Thorn as genuine starters.
2009 doesn’t hold such fond memories.
Ended well!
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@booboo said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
FYI Fozzie has an 83.3% record.
Undefeated!
Won his first away test in Oz, something that I believe neither Mitchell or Henry achieved.
Edit: Mains also lost his first away OZ test
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@Machpants said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@booboo said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
FYI Fozzie has an 83.3% record
3 games, 2 wins, that's very much incorrect. A draw does not count as half a win but a loss in ABs books!
So I guess you don't consider 1997 as an unbeaten year for the ABs!
https://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/report?gameId=25710&league=244293
