Super Rugby AB Watch 2022
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@machpants said in Super Rugby AB Watch 2022:
@crucial said in Super Rugby AB Watch 2022:
@taniwharugby said in Super Rugby AB Watch 2022:
@booboo said in Super Rugby AB Watch 2022:
Can't see Havili getting back to 12
I know its a long season and we are only 2 weeks in, but he seems to have carried on his largely ineffective AB form into Super so far...
The guy is a good smart rugby player but just isn’t what is needed at 12 for a team under pressure.
To be fair though, there’s a reason he wasn’t really a 12 until he got shoehorned in there.
Can’t blame him for doing what he was asked.
I also get the feeling that he’s one of those players that play well enough at Super that they get a chance at test but aren’t really better than other options.
Bridge is similar. Very skilled player that catches the eye but doesn’t have what’s needed except as a fill in.The thing which is making him look worse is both Robertson, and Foster, are using him to crash it up - he’s totally inneffective at that. Sure you have to run into contact, but he is used in set plays/planned moves like that - dumb
Or maybe he just isnt good enough to execute lines and steps under pressure so resorts to taking the tackle?
We aren't party to what he is being told to do.12s usually have a number of options, none of whichI see evidence of him being that good at except catch and pass. He doesn't have time on the ball to kick from hand. He doesn't hold a defender with a dummy run. He doesn't have much of a step in traffic. He doesn't have the power to bend the line.
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If we are to have any chance of winning RWC 2023, we will need to win it in the backs. I simply do not see us achieving better than parity in the forwards against the better teams (SA, France, Ireland, maybe England).
We have been through a phase dating from the switch after Sivivatu & Rococo to these wing/FB hybrid options. And lots of relatively small backs, such as ALB.
I thought the Blues in the first half of their game vs Hurricanes (before they ran out of puff and average bench contributes) looked like the perfect template for the ABs.
We need more of players like Leicester and Caleb and less of George. We need to improve the midfield and get more powerful options on the wings.
I'm hoping Schmidt does get involved. As much as Ireland was sterile at times under his watch, I think he would have a contribution to make.
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oddly, it would seem the way they want the 12 to play for the past few seasons, was more suited to Laumape, but they didnt seem to like Laumape.
That season they played Goodhue at 12, he was largely hitting it up, so you'd have to think given that was Laumapes main trick, there was other issues with his game they didnt trust.
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@billy-tell I wouldn't classify ALB as "relatively small". He is 103 kg, like Rieko.
It is interesting to look at the size and weight of the French outside backs. They are small by comparison, some <90 kg.
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@machpants said in Super Rugby AB Watch 2022:
@crucial said in Super Rugby AB Watch 2022:
@taniwharugby said in Super Rugby AB Watch 2022:
@booboo said in Super Rugby AB Watch 2022:
Can't see Havili getting back to 12
I know its a long season and we are only 2 weeks in, but he seems to have carried on his largely ineffective AB form into Super so far...
The guy is a good smart rugby player but just isn’t what is needed at 12 for a team under pressure.
To be fair though, there’s a reason he wasn’t really a 12 until he got shoehorned in there.
Can’t blame him for doing what he was asked.
I also get the feeling that he’s one of those players that play well enough at Super that they get a chance at test but aren’t really better than other options.
Bridge is similar. Very skilled player that catches the eye but doesn’t have what’s needed except as a fill in.The thing which is making him look worse is both Robertson, and Foster, are using him to crash it up - he’s totally inneffective at that. Sure you have to run into contact, but he is used in set plays/planned moves like that - dumb
Yep, he's not a big, powerful munter and shouldn't be asked to do that role. If that's the type of player you want, select one.
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@bovidae said in Super Rugby AB Watch 2022:
@billy-tell I wouldn't classify ALB as "relatively small". He is 103 kg, like Rieko.
It is interesting to look at the size and weight of the French outside backs. They are small by comparison, some <90 kg.
Their forwards make up for it.
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What would be handy is if Rieko matures into a genuinely international class centre this year.
A matchday set of backs something like:
Smith, Barrett, Clarke, ALB, Rieko, Jordan, Jordie
Fakatava, Mo'unga, Goodhue
...would have pretty much everything we need. And then TJP/Christie/Weber, RTS, Havili, Tupaea, Big Leicester, Reece, DMac and a few others on the fringe.
It shouldn't be a lack of talent in the backs that stops us winning the next RWC.
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@chris-b said in Super Rugby AB Watch 2022:
It shouldn't be a lack of talent in the backs that stops us winning the next RWC.
I expect it will be combinations unless we settle early this year on our preferred 23.
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@antipodean That and the forwards!
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@dan54 said in Super Rugby AB Watch 2022:
Have to say, I know we only 2 weeks in, but does anyone else think an awful lot of ABs have started season bloody well? I agree with most of posts where it has been pointed out that different ones are playing well. Makes for real good and interesting viewing!
i think it's more that the core ABs are that far ahead of the average Super player these days that they stand out no matter what.
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@mariner4life said in Super Rugby AB Watch 2022:
@dan54 said in Super Rugby AB Watch 2022:
Have to say, I know we only 2 weeks in, but does anyone else think an awful lot of ABs have started season bloody well? I agree with most of posts where it has been pointed out that different ones are playing well. Makes for real good and interesting viewing!
i think it's more that the core ABs are that far ahead of the average Super player these days that they stand out no matter what.
Ok, just I thought in previous years they tended to start season a lot slower.
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@antipodean said in Super Rugby AB Watch 2022:
@chris-b said in Super Rugby AB Watch 2022:
It shouldn't be a lack of talent in the backs that stops us winning the next RWC.
I expect it will be combinations unless we settle early this year on our preferred 23.
Absolutely. Combinations and the right plan for the right players.
When we get the ball we need to swarm the defence which decisions to make then strike where they have made a weakness. I call it 'bodies in motion' and in a way it is what Eddie Jones is trying to create with England and his 'no numbers' thing.
Rush defences rely partly on the atteck doing what is expected of them Mixing up that picture is a way of disrupting that.
Picking players based on how well they play in different systems isn't the answer. Picking players that can play in the system you want is.Despite all that the backs are only there to use what ball the forwards can give them moving forward. That same dynamismis needed in the forwards. Why can we produce dynamic hookers but not props? Surely there's a Samisoni out there that wants to wear the 1 jersey?
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@kiwiwomble said in Super Rugby AB Watch 2022:
@bones said in Super Rugby AB Watch 2022:
@kiwiwomble said in Super Rugby AB Watch 2022:
he can play safe
Really? I struggle to think of a more unsafe starting 10 in SR. Loves a panic.
Hunt? i always think his default is boring rather than panic, he'll clear for touch...not very far but at least it will go out, Ioane was always more likely to go rogue and try a bomb from his own line or risky chip and chase
I have embedded memories of his look up and shit himself at oncoming close defence, almost DMac like.
