All Blacks vs Springboks II
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@stodders said in All Blacks vs Springboks II:
@mikethesnow I'd disagree. In the last 15 mins ABs won 3 penalties by playing in the right areas of the pitch. The problem was that between minutes 40 to 60 they played in the wrong areas. AB lineout woes compounded this. They coughed up possession and allowed pressure to come back on them.
ABs with a functioning lineout ends in a v different territorial game IMO.
Small margins. Boks managed game badly in last mins last week and lost. ABs did likewise this week and lost. All square on aggregate 😬.
Let's see what our teams up north can do on EOYT to gauge where ABs and Boks are in world pecking order. It may be that they are both ahead (with Wallabies catching them up).
There’s no doubt that if each of the teams playing in the EOYT can field the majority of their best players each match then the top four teams will be NZ, SA, Aus, Eng (not necessarily in that order)
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@berniescorner Jordie couldn't be trusted in other areas. He's matured and been allowed to develop. He now owns the 15 jersey and the kicking duties. He's a success story.
It'll be interesting to see how Mo'unga and Barrett go outside Smith when he returns. Smith is such a brilliant player that he takes pressure off the 10s to make decisions and has greater control over the forwards in front of him. NZ missed him and Whitelock against the Boks.
At least you have them to return to improve the team 😊
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Vermeulen pretty much GOAT material over last decade along w DC and GOAT
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@mikethesnow France? They have the forwards to lay a platform and the 9/10 axis to ignite the backline. I'd say France have more upside than England right now. Eddie's team will be v raw in Nov.
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@berniescorner greater than Read?
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@berniescorner Vermeulen is forged in the same mould as Shelford. An absolute test match animal.
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@stodders said in All Blacks vs Springboks II:
brain farts come from pressure. This is only the second game some ABs have played against the Boks.
Fair point, but experienced players had brain-farts out there tonight and last week.
I'm not being negative - I think Foster has done well in some areas and the team overall done OK considering their missing key players- just think that progress has stalled in the last two games.
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@stodders said in All Blacks vs Springboks II:
@berniescorner Jordie couldn't be trusted in other areas. He's matured and been allowed to develop. He now owns the 15 jersey and the kicking duties. He's a success story.
It'll be interesting to see how Mo'unga and Barrett go outside Smith when he returns. Smith is such a brilliant player that he takes pressure off the 10s to make decisions and has greater control over the forwards in front of him. NZ missed him and Whitelock against the Boks.
At least you have them to return to improve the team 😊
Smith isn't going on the EOYT sadly
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@berniescorner said in All Blacks vs Springboks II:
Vermeulen pretty much GOAT material over last decade along w DC and GOAT
Though Vermeulen's a very good player, he has way too many off games to be considered "great". Far from "greatest" for mine.
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@victor-meldrew the Boks strangle teams and are clinical when given chances in the red zone. Playing them is like playing Chelsea under Mourinho. You have to earn the win.
You will rarely get a blow out because they keep the pressure ratcheted high. The average score between ABs and SA in last few years prior to today's game has been 25-23 to ABs. Boks aren't the 57-0 team of 2017 anymore.
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@victor-meldrew McCaw et al had to learn the hard lessons to become the players they did, even when they were experienced.
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@victor-meldrew the biggest criticism of the evening was that the ABs put themselves in a position to close the game out. In possession and seconds on the clock. Boks had looked threatening with the ball, but not "strike from 80m" threatening.
TJP should have hoisted a box kick and put the pressure on Boks to win it from 80m. The breakdown is too much of a lottery to wind the clock down.
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@african-monkey That’s so accurate. Looking at the posts 6 hours later while watching the game and half the fern need a sedagive.
