All Blacks 2022
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@Donsteppa said in All Blacks 2022:
An idle reflection on seeing the latest "... Foster and Cane must go to save AB's" NZ Herald headline.
I wonder if Foster reinstating Cane to the captaincy after the pectoral injury last year might unwittingly bring Cane's All Blacks career to an earlier close than it would have otherwise.
Cane has played in an attritional position at international level for a decade, had a broken neck, and returned from another major with that torn pectoral tendon. Possibly he has had one injury too many now. But perhaps if he'd just been in a position to play as and when the right horse for the course, and in a well balanced trio - rather than being "it" as Captain - it probably would have worked out better all round...
Plus being captain in the 7 position must be a bit tricky at times..
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@Crucial said in All Blacks 2022:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2022:
Someone with hair like that really shouldn't draw attention to themselves.
The hair jokes are getting a bit old
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@Bones said in All Blacks 2022:
@Crucial said in All Blacks 2022:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2022:
Someone with hair like that really shouldn't draw attention to themselves.
The hair jokes are getting a bit old
Lucky the fat jokes aren’t
#fatjokesarealwaysfunny
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@Stargazer good to see he's on the road to recovery.
Damn though, would have hated to see the results if Porter's tackle was not of the "passive, absorption" variety. Definitely not worthy of a citing when you recklessly break someone's face 👍🏼
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@Frye said in All Blacks 2022:
@Stargazer good to see he's on the road to recovery.
Damn though, would have hated to see the results if Porter's tackle was not of the "passive, absorption" variety. Definitely not worthy of a citing when you recklessly break someone's face 👍🏼
It was one of the “deliberate tackles turned accident as soon as there was contact” variety….
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Cheers for all the messages. Head is all good! Few stitches and a black eye. Gutted with the outcome, but good to connect with this legend and move forward.
Ringrose responded to the post “late switch got us both,” -
@Crucial said in All Blacks 2022:
Timing of the footwork is so important though. If you de-power to run at a shoulder then you aren't as dominant. Running hard with a change of direction timed to keep power through the tackle is great and a skill not enough of our players have.
I actually think this was something Foster even alluded to when he talked about small skills and why Strawbridge was brought in. It's the type of thing that Byrne used to be so good at instilling in our players.This is a massive bugbear of mine, guys standing flat footed and trying to put on a step to find a weak should without any actual speed or momentum to break through. Even worse is the deceleration before contact trying to put on some footwork
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@Bones said in All Blacks 2022:
@Machpants said in All Blacks 2022:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2022:
@Crazy-Horse said in All Blacks 2022:
@Kirwan said in All Blacks 2022:
I go back to the covid week where Schmidt probably was forced to simplify everything, we played much better.
I would put it more as the Irish did not play well, rather than us playing better. The warning signs were there for the ABs - the Irish appeared to make ground at will and they crossed our line multiple times. And about the only attacking tactic anyone could spot was Smith firing the ball wide of the Irish defensive channels.
Yeah, not sure if I was in the minority, but I said afterwards that it was a paper over the cracks win. I really didn't see anything that structured by the AB's it still seemed helter skelter, it's just that it worked.
You weren't in the minority here, no one was that impressed. Apart from the media hacks
Really? That wasn't the impression I got. Many seemed very pleased at supposedly seeing a plan that worked. Maybe I dreamed it.
I think there were two things:
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Pleasure and optimism at the fact that they did something different that yielded results.
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Acknowledgment that Ireland actually did some really good shit and the score flattered us.
But in light of the first thing, even concerns about the second thing could not have led anyone to anticipate what happened in the second and third tests.
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@Daffy-Jaffy does Ringrose know he might just have a long lost brother at the chiefs by the name of Ollie Norris
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@FakatavaAllBlack said in All Blacks 2022:
@Daffy-Jaffy does Ringrose know he might just have a long lost brother at the chiefs by the name of Ollie Norris
He also opens the batting for the Black Caps and captains them sometimes too
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@canefan said in All Blacks 2022:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2022:
@canefan said in All Blacks 2022:
@Bovidae said in All Blacks 2022:
I'd say Blues fans might not be happy with the starting XV. We still need to find a 2nd 5 regardless who the coach is.
I'm curious to see what Razor could do fitting a few of the better Blues players into his system. Maybe he could get more out of Akira, Paps and Sotutu than Foster clearly could. They haven't reached their ceiling yet
I can't see all of them surviving a Razor cull.
Razor also likes Taylor and Ennor...
If he wants to succeed he will need to take the best the country has. Not just his own players. The task is to get the best out of the best players. Otherwise he might as well stay in Chch
Not advocating this, but does to recall that Andy Farrell was initially labelled a failure.
Turning point came when he changed course, and built Ireland around the Leinster team, and a game plan which protected Sexton, while enabling him to call the plays. Instant continuity and togetherness.
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@pakman said in All Blacks 2022:
@canefan said in All Blacks 2022:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2022:
@canefan said in All Blacks 2022:
@Bovidae said in All Blacks 2022:
I'd say Blues fans might not be happy with the starting XV. We still need to find a 2nd 5 regardless who the coach is.
I'm curious to see what Razor could do fitting a few of the better Blues players into his system. Maybe he could get more out of Akira, Paps and Sotutu than Foster clearly could. They haven't reached their ceiling yet
I can't see all of them surviving a Razor cull.
Razor also likes Taylor and Ennor...
If he wants to succeed he will need to take the best the country has. Not just his own players. The task is to get the best out of the best players. Otherwise he might as well stay in Chch
Not advocating this, but does to recall that Andy Farrell was initially labelled a failure.
Turning point came when he changed course, and built Ireland around the Leinster team, and a game plan which protected Sexton, while enabling him to call the plays. Instant continuity and togetherness.
The odds of ABs winning the RWC have actually gotten better because of the series loss.
Meanwhile, if Furlong or Sexton get crocked...
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@reprobate said in All Blacks 2022:
@junior If you had told people in advance that we'd get a red and two yellows in the second test, there would have been plenty betting on green after the dubious first test performance.
I was more alluding to the fact that we got so comprehensively outplayed in the next two tests - getting beaten, sure, we could see that as a possibility. But, getting so comprehensively dicked... I honestly did not see that coming.
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@junior said in All Blacks 2022:
@reprobate said in All Blacks 2022:
@junior If you had told people in advance that we'd get a red and two yellows in the second test, there would have been plenty betting on green after the dubious first test performance.
I was more alluding to the fact that we got so comprehensively outplayed in the next two tests - getting beaten, sure, we could see that as a possibility. But, getting so comprehensively dicked... I honestly did not see that coming.
I think we were outplayed in the first test, despite the scoreline. No possession, no territory. Ireland made a few mistakes and we took advantage.
Given the cards, and them tightening up their mistakes, I was surprised we got as close as we did in test 2.
As soon as we tried to take the points early in the third, I thought it was obvious we were going down.
If our aim is to play a high speed game and rely on individual brilliance and we aren't capable of playing territory and possession then we can't go into our shell. Our defence means we need to score 20-30 points to be competitive, and we are not going to achieve that from penalties because we are shit at territory and possession and are simply not going to get enough of those opportunities. We need to score in multiples of 7, and not be scared of having a crack - or change our entire approach to the game. I guess in that sense we did try to change things, just in a really dumb way. -
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@reprobate said in All Blacks 2022:
As soon as we tried to take the points early in the third, I thought it was obvious we were going down.
I disagree. Test rugby is about scoring from opportunities. Modern defences mean it's hard to score tries (except sometimes against us :P), so I am a fan of taking the likely 3, rather than a possible 5/7.
Take the three, get the ball back and go down again and do it again. If we got to 20 points, we very very used to lose; just get points any way you can
