All Blacks v Ireland - 1st Test
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@Crazy-Horse I think the most pleasing thing for me was the pressure we put on them which caused some of those errors or held ups or rushed plays.
For me that is a very positive step forward.
Still very much a work in progress around using the front foot ball that was there and also kicking for territory. But I’m willing to take that positive progress.
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@Machpants said in All Blacks v Ireland - 1st Test:
@sparky said in All Blacks v Ireland - 1st Test:
I fucking love Ardie Savea.
He was equal top clean breaks and defenders beaten with Reece, second in metres. Also second in tackles made at 17 with 1 miss. He fucking rocks
People have underrated him over past 4 seasons. Was easily best forward at 2019 World Cup but he ended up coping blame for loss. For me that loss really fell on Read being past due date as well as Whitelock and Retallick failing to fire.
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks v Ireland - 1st Test:
@booboo but they were over it, or they shouldn't have been there...?
Either way, thought it looked daft with one box all masked up, and the other not.
If you remember, isolation used to be 2 weeks, even 3 in some countries. It was reduced to 7 so the country didn’t grind to a halt. So even with no symptoms you stil can spread it after 7 days, so the coaches are being cautious when stuck in a small box that they won’t spread it to someone else.
I mean Foster must hold a lot of virus in him!
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If only the selectors had listened to the collective wisdom of The Fern we wouldn't have had to be subjected to the shit served up by Barret (S) and Savea.
@TheMojoman Was quite telling how many AB's talked (seemingly genuinely) about being back playing live in NZ after the travails of the last two years. I don't think it totally explains the EOYT failures but being in a bubble for 3 months on a long tour can't have been much fun.
Best performance in quite a while and still plenty to work on - which can't be bad.
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so, upon a bit of reflection, nice win.
While i didn't see a lot different from the last two years, it definitely looked like we had a plan
Play nothing in our half, make Ireland play from a long way out
Play fast fast to keep them out of their rhythm.And you know what? it worked. Ireland are no good chasing a game, and in the end, points are the only thing that matters.
The pack seemed to relish the speed, and smashed in to everything. Smith was all energy, and while BB was erratic, he suits that game plan down to the ground, and QT was the perfect outlet.
One big highlight was the defense in the midfield, that's where Ireland make their gains usually, and we snuffed everything out.I am very wary of how well Ireland played in the patches they did get their rhythm going (that first try was ominous, and the two great goal line stands) and i can't wait to see what adjustments both teams make this week.
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@Chris said in All Blacks v Ireland - 1st Test:
Once again Storm in a tea cup, Scott Barrett not citied as I said after it happened nothing in it,You could find many instances of contact in a game and send half the players off.Neck rolls are one of the worst, illegal but let go all the time.
Watched it again and SB is very lucky the Irish player ducked his head at the last second, otherwise there would have been direct head contact. Someone needs to have a serious word with him, he cannot continue to be so reckless. It's going to cost us in the future.
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on players that i whinged about pre-game
SBarrett very good, but also really dumb. I still think we lacked a bit in the loose from playing a lock there, and would be happy to see SB starting in his usual position. I have never said that before.
That said, he has some dumb fucking moments, and for all the "storm in a teacup" he had two instances i reckon he would want again because even his face knew he had put himself in a dumb spot. And that's without the superman dives over the ruck. Calm the fuck down sonA Savea showed his absolute worth and also illustrated why i don't like him starting at 8 all in the same game. His 2nd half was majestic and he's a fucking menace out wide. That bloke is a point of difference, and i swear him playing the last 30 minutes as an all-energy impact sub makes us a very dangerous proposition.
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@mariner4life agree on both counts.
SB is in good form and I like the physicality he brings, but he's a lock so should play there, and for fuck sakes he is a liability with the cards. The shoulder he put on the Blues player during SR was pure filth and at the time I was comfortable if he didn't make the ABs based on that. The AB coaches really need to sort that part of his game out, as he's cost us before and is going to cost us again.
And Ardie, holy shit would he be a match winner as a super sub. Coming on for 30 odd mins per game and just wrecking havoc would win us a lot of games. And with a world class 8 in Sotutu waiting in the wings, we are really missing a trick not starting him with Ardie on the bench. We have a player that would allow us to use our bench as a genuine weapon and we don't do it, which is frustrating as hell.
Can you imagine as the opposition looking up at the 55min mark and see Ardie and Samisoni coming on fresh and fired up? The bench can be a weapon for us Fozzie, use it!!
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@mariner4life it was just nice for our pack to not be bullied, and we were more direct.
Rugby is a fairly simple game if you want it to be, I think sometimes we try to be too cute and over complicate things.
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks v Ireland - 1st Test:
@mariner4life it was just nice for our pack to not be bullied, and we were more direct.
Rugby is a fairly simple game if you want it to be, I think sometimes we try to be too cute and over complicate things.
yeah, i feel like every time NZ needs a reset all we do is go out and bash people for a bit.
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks v Ireland - 1st Test:
@mariner4life it was just nice for our pack to not be bullied, and we were more direct.
Rugby is a fairly simple game if you want it to be, I think sometimes we try to be too cute and over complicate things.
"Up the guts" then "feed the backs".
Vastly underrated advice from every sideline supporter ever
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@mariner4life said in All Blacks v Ireland - 1st Test:
on players that i whinged about pre-game
SBarrett very good, but also really dumb. I still think we lacked a bit in the loose from playing a lock there, and would be happy to see SB starting in his usual position. I have never said that before.
That said, he has some dumb fucking moments, and for all the "storm in a teacup" he had two instances i reckon he would want again because even his face knew he had put himself in a dumb spot. And that's without the superman dives over the ruck. Calm the fuck down sonA Savea showed his absolute worth and also illustrated why i don't like him starting at 8 all in the same game. His 2nd half was majestic and he's a fucking menace out wide. That bloke is a point of difference, and i swear him playing the last 30 minutes as an all-energy impact sub makes us a very dangerous proposition.
also agreed, the game confirmed things i already believed rather than changed anything, savea is a great 7 or a world beating sub...but not a starting 8 and SB is a great mobile lock...but also always on the verge of getting a card...which does make me wonder if hes a guy you want in a RWC playoff
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@mariner4life and I think managing the guys like Taylor, Whitelock, Retallick, Cane is important too, utilising guys like Dalton, Hoskins, Vaii, Coles etc who are all capable starters to start or off the bench rather than running these guys into the ground will help too.
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks v Ireland - 1st Test:
@mariner4life and I think managing the guys like Taylor, Whitelock, Retallick, Cane is important too, utilising guys like Dalton, Hoskins, Vaii, Coles etc who are all capable starters to start or off the bench rather than running these guys into the ground will help too.
yeah, sort of
I definitely don't want wholesale changes every friggen week. Rotating 1 a week, better use of the bench should be enough.
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I think we saw some new things in the game, which I liked. They seems to be passing to the outside forward of the pod which leaves the inside man as a big runner, the outsides to distribute, and the loop man behind. It was quite Crusaders style and I think it is a good way to use our edge runners in particular. So, if they insist on starting Ardie (and after that performance, it won’t change), they need to put the ball in his hands on the edges more.
As a pattern, if we can have Ardie on one side, Akira on the other, and keep the locks and Cane through the middle, perhaps with a Taukei’aho in there, we can have ball runners across the field and options to use others, such as Leicester on the inside ball.
I’m not a Bower fan, but for me he was the big mover last week. He dealt with Furlong well, who is in the top three THs in the world, and was nice and busy with his carries. He didn’t get much ground but was doing the work around the ruck that we’d hope.
My surprise package was Ta’avao. I’m soooo uncomfortable with his scrummaging but he was excellent last week. If he can hold up his side under pressure, I can see why they want him there, as he has a big motor and can do a lot in traffic.
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@mariner4life oh no, I reckon they can manage them off the bench, I'd be thinking somethign like moving SB to lock, Vai to bench, Akira to 6, HOskins to bench over PGS, Coles to bench, start ST.
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks v Ireland - 1st Test:
@mariner4life oh no, I reckon they can manage them off the bench, I'd be thinking somethign like moving SB to lock, Vai to bench, Akira to 6, HOskins to bench over PGS, Coles to bench, start ST.
I think they’ll continue to use ST off the bench with maybe a start against the Argies or OZ. Taylor or Coles to start
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@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v Ireland - 1st Test:
@taniwharugby said in All Blacks v Ireland - 1st Test:
@mariner4life oh no, I reckon they can manage them off the bench, I'd be thinking somethign like moving SB to lock, Vai to bench, Akira to 6, HOskins to bench over PGS, Coles to bench, start ST.
I think they’ll continue to use ST off the bench with maybe a start against the Argies or OZ. Taylor or Coles to start
In my mind Foster will continue status quo unless something forces his hand..eg injury, supsension etc . I will be pleasantly surprised if it does change, but I do not share the same optimism
