England Red Roses v Black Ferns 2
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Could get ugly
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That is 2 pastings. From the bit I saw England looked very impressive and nz a bit clueless.
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@sparky said in England Red Roses v Black Ferns 2:
England looked professional and very organised. NZ looked amateur and like they are had just met.
Which is exactly the case. Like 7s we've carried on like we did in the past and other teams went pro and changed their org well before us. SR will help, but that's too late for this world cup cycle.
But the 7s has shown we can come back, as long as the investment is there.
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@billy-tell said in England Red Roses v Black Ferns 2:
That is 2 pastings. From the bit I saw England looked very impressive and nz a bit clueless.
professionalism makes a difference. Critical to invest in our players if we're serious about competing long term
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NZ needs to find a competitive forward pack in the next 12 months. For 2 weeks in a row they've been outmuscled up front and can't stop the lineout drive. I really question the decision of not competing in those 5 m lineouts. Some of the young players (e.g., Mikaele-Tu'u, Leti-I’iga, Maliepo and Robins-Reti) stood up but without a forward platform the rockstar backs aren't in the game enough.
I really hope that Bayler gets a start in one of the tests against France. Cocksedge was really poor again and seemed too involved in niggle.
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@yeetyaah said in England Red Roses v Black Ferns 2:
Ludacris call. Cockedge yellowed for a "deliberate knock down" as her hand touched the ball in the tackle process, eyes on the player not the ball. So stupid.
Just saw this (watching the replay, couldn't watch live). Absolutely terrible call. If she even touched the ball (and that's a big "if"), then there's no way it was deliberate.
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England Roses are very reminiscent of how far NZ were ahead of the rest in 1987. The gap is that big. Being professional since 2017 has given them a huge advantage, and with good coaching they have capitalised on that advantage.
However...I remember watching the ABs play France in Lyon in 2006. They won 47-3 that night and it could have been more. There was daylight between the teams. Which made 2007 all the more insane.
Pressure and expectation does peculiar things.