The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread
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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!
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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!
Counts for half.
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@Kirwan said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@mariner4life said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@ACT-Crusader said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@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.
And that predates Hansen
yes it does. It predates Ted as well.
So I guess my point is the fix is long overdue?
I've got to ask, the fix to what? England beat us last year because that was their sole focus for four years. Even then it was close. Our winning percentage has been remarkable. Every time we've shown some hubris (Ireland) we've learned a valuable lesson and rectified it.
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Good win and we showed tactical nouse in the wet which means we are capable of different game plan. Team selection still appears as more of a forced hand than first choice which is a worry. But overall well done Fozzie in my book
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@antipodean said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@Kirwan said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@mariner4life said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@ACT-Crusader said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@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.
And that predates Hansen
yes it does. It predates Ted as well.
So I guess my point is the fix is long overdue?
I've got to ask, the fix to what? England beat us last year because that was their sole focus for four years. Even then it was close. Our winning percentage has been remarkable. Every time we've shown some hubris (Ireland) we've learned a valuable lesson and rectified it.
Fozzie basically said in the last round of interviews that we've been struggling to play in the wet for the past few years and are guilt of overplaying.
The 2015 side could switch gameplans to the point we could play like England (tight and hit drop goals) and it won us a tight semi final against the Boks in terrible conditions.
The current side reminds of 2003 where we rely on opposition mistakes and them kicking to us. If our opposition plays conservatively, or kicks well, this team is going to struggle.
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@Kirwan said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@antipodean said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@Kirwan said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@mariner4life said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@ACT-Crusader said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@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.
And that predates Hansen
yes it does. It predates Ted as well.
So I guess my point is the fix is long overdue?
I've got to ask, the fix to what? England beat us last year because that was their sole focus for four years. Even then it was close. Our winning percentage has been remarkable. Every time we've shown some hubris (Ireland) we've learned a valuable lesson and rectified it.
Fozzie basically said in the last round of interviews that we've been struggling to play in the wet for the past few years and are guilt of overplaying.
The 2015 side could switch gameplans to the point we could play like England (tight and hit drop goals) and it won us a tight semi final against the Boks in terrible conditions.
The current side reminds of 2003 where we rely on opposition mistakes and them kicking to us. If our opposition plays conservatively, or kicks well, this team is going to struggle.
I thought we played pretty well in the conditions on Saturday night. It was refreshing to hear Fozzie make mention of the third quarter where we didn't maintain the standard, sop he's making the right noises for me.
The reality is we don't know how good or bad the team is playing just the one opposition, how much of their errors are created by our pressure. Imagine if Covid hadn't interfered with the schedule and we were busy flogging the Welsh?
https://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/report?gameId=25710&league=244293
