Argentina One: Parramatta, 14 November
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@Chris-B right now, I reckon Coles, Whitelock, Smith, ALB, BB (where he plays is the issue) and I think you could even lock Clarke in...Cane is an auto selection due to captaincy, if he is the right 7 or provides the best balance, well, there are arguments there
But, the key is, how many of those players are also the best in the world in the position they play, and that is where it gets tricky, I'd say only Smith comes into the conversation then.
1 truly world class player in our 1st 15...
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@taniwharugby On form, maybe Coles, but Taylor has regularly been preferred.
Probably Whitelock - it's hard to see how he's not one of our two best locks.
Yes - Smith. you'd have to be a bit of a knucklehead to choose someone else.
ALB - probably at 2nd five, but I prefer Goodhue at centre. Fozzie and I are in disagreement - he of course is an AB coach and I am just a minor social media influencer...
Beaudy at fullback - you won't get much argument from me, but there might be some Jordie fans who disagree. At first five, in my view there's not a lot between him and Richie....seemingly the AB coach agrees with me, but I'm expecting some incoming from several other minor social media influencers.
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@taniwharugby said in Argentina One: Parramatta, 14 November:
But, the key is, how many of those players are also the best in the world in the position they play, >
👍🏻 Always the most accurate way of roughly assessing overall national team foundation strength I’ve found... opposition or your own team
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@Nepia You'd hope that he's learned something from his experiences....
But, SB has probably played in more big matches than PT and for most of their careers seems to have been preferred. To be honest, at test level I think what he currently brings more than PT is confidence.
He plays like he belongs there.
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@Chris-B said in Argentina One: Parramatta, 14 November:
@Nepia You'd hope that he's learned something from his experiences....
But, SB has probably played in more big matches than PT and for most of their careers seems to have been preferred. To be honest, at test level I think what he currently brings more than PT is confidence.
He plays like he belongs there.
Well clearly he hasn't.
He hasn't had a huge test match in a while though, unless you mean by his last-name birthright.
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TBF they were v Aus, has he had cards against anyone else?
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@Nepia He might be a bit slow and need a week or two of remedial classes.
But, he doesn't look like someone who's playing within himself. Even that dumb slap was him trying to make a difference.
From what i can see, Patty T. simply hasn't unleashed himself.
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@taniwharugby said in Argentina One: Parramatta, 14 November:
TBF they were v Aus, has he had cards against anyone else?
So you reckon it's selective idiocy?
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@Chris-B said in Argentina One: Parramatta, 14 November:
@Nepia He might be a bit slow and need a week or two of remedial classes.
But, he doesn't look like someone who's playing within himself. Even that dumb slap was him trying to make a difference.
From what i can see, Patty T. simply hasn't unleashed himself.
Hahaha, I love the way the Barrett bros idiocy gets minimised on the Fern.
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@Chris-B he did have one where he was outstanding didnt he, although was that off the bench?
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@taniwharugby No use asking me - I've got a completely shit memory for what happened in most tests!
I've just banked a lot of observations of him not making much impact.
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@Chris-B I think he had a few handy ones off the bench, then one outstanding one, but agree he has struggled to impose himself this year, which is disappointing as he looked like he was ready to explode into INternational rugby after a stellar super rugby campaign and no Brodie to block his way.
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@taniwharugby yeah, a feature of Tuipulotu off the bench is how often he comes on and steals the first lineout, that's my predominant memory.
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@Bones said in Argentina One: Parramatta, 14 November:
@taniwharugby yeah, a feature of Tuipulotu off the bench is how often he comes on and steals the first lineout, that's my predominant memory.
What was apparent was that when ABs started throwing to Savea the lineout worked better. Sam is top class, of course, but Patty is marginal at test level. Sotutu is good test option.
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@Chris-B said in Argentina One: Parramatta, 14 November:
@nzzp Also being fair, today's probably about the second time I've mentioned Romano in two years.
I probably commented on his performance vs Ta$man at the time.
Edit: I don't mind being the President, Founding Member and Principal Spokesman of the Will Jordan fan club!
Shit!
I've had a hangover today.
Can't remember much about last night, but I've just logged on and club membership is through the roof!
And, while I've been nursing myself back to health there has been a coup.
I've been removed as President and some unimaginative bastard calling himself "Ian F." has declared himself El Presidente.
Strange character - prattling some line that, "Thanks to Will, I'm an Era not an Error after all".
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@PecoTrain said in Argentina One: Parramatta, 14 November:
@Victor-Meldrew said in Argentina One: Parramatta, 14 November:
The thing which frustrates me is this is the same-old, same-old.
The problems we saw from 2017 onward are still there and it shows against a team which can out-muscle and out-discipline us. The strategy doesn't seem to have changed much either - go down the blind, spin it into the midfield where the likes of BB can exploit the gaps and fast counter attacks. That and occasional shit kicks and poor discipline.
Bullshit - the problem is that we don't try to build pressure on the opposition before running the ball. Seeing a gap early and exploiting it is a fantastic skill but running into it only to get smashed by the opposition and turnover the ball multiple times SHOULDN'T be part of the game plan.
I don't blame Foster for all of this as he's inherited a lot of the problems and you have to give him credit for some good stuff like making the lineout drive a potent weapon and actually trying to bring some continuity to team selection. But he really needs to have a good, hard look at his tactics, his team plan/style of play development and, above all, get the players heads right, both individually and collectively.
And I can't fault Cane either for his on-field attitude. Sure, he's still learning and some of his decisions aren't good, but he's giving 120% and is at least focussing on controlling the team and the game. Do Senior players like Sam Whitelock, Nugget and Beauden Barrett need to step up and get more involved both on and off the field?
I blame Foster and his coaching team - we have brilliant individuals that don't play well as a team and seem to have lost a lot of confidence in the space of a few weeks. Playing people out of position just compounds that. Our handling errors and lack of awareness during the game (Whitelock offloading to Lomax where Lomax just watches the ball go past him as an example) makes me question what the players are doing during training because they don't seem that familiar with how each other plays in the pitch.
I'm unsure Cane and Ardie can play well as a unit - I assume Foster subbed Frizell because of discipline warnings rather than Ardie as Frizell/Sotutu played well together versus Australia while I wouldn't have even noticed Ardie on the pitch if it wasn't for a late turnover.
And Ardie leads on to the real issue in the team - our mix of experience. Our senior players put in their shifts and generally play very well (Whitelock/Nugget/Moody/Coles/Beauden/Cane) but its the guys that are the next step down and have 20+ tests experience that are really struggling.
Jordie had a poor game, ALB was pretty anonymous, Goodhue did enough to be an average 12 today, Mo'unga was ordinary today, Ardie was ordinary, Tuipulotu was anonymous. And the majority of their subs don't look much better - they generally turn in average at best performances. Reiko's performances starting or off the bench are error ridden. Taylor is likely as good as Coles. Add in TJs performance last week and it looks awful.
As our senior guys start hanging up their boots, what will the next generation look like? At the moment it looks like we need a major shift to younger players because unless things improve, we will end up with a glut of journeymen.
Enough ranting....
This post is well worth rereading.
