All Blacks vs Wales Test #2

kiwiinmelb

Yeah mixed bag , some good , some ordinary , 
 
I think this backline is going to take some time to sort out ,
 
While I agree this centre combination seemed the logical one to select before the series started , im not convinced now its the one to take us forward after watching it for two tests

booboo

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="No Quarter" data-cid="589297" data-time="1466240287">
Barrett is making Roberts his bitch.</blockquote>
 <blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Rancid Schnitzel" data-cid="589298" data-time="1466240292">
Fark me. Beauden making Roberts his bitch!</blockquote>
 
Amusing back to back posts... apparently Barrett making Roberts his bitch ...

nzzp

Righto, a belated match report from my couch. 
 
We won. I think we defended better than last week, except for the back end where the game was won and we went to sleep. Test level shows just how fine margins are - Kaino stays in and we concede a try ... that's tough.
 
Someone talked about wanting to commit more players to rucks. Defensively, the ABs have been running this philosophy for a while - they commit as few as possible to the breakdown. Sometimes the tackler rolls, gets up and there is a complete defensive line before the ball gets cleared. However, with this comes aggressive defence - pushing up hard and often winning metres. It was noticeable that the Welsh would sometimes run three or four phases, lose 10-20 m and then clear with a kick. If your backs stand deep, you're usually going to lose a lot of ground.
 
HOWEVER, our wide defence has been shocking the last two weeks. Every time the ball got air, we seemed to get outflanked and concede dozens of metres. It is massively frustrating, and not obvious to me why that keeps happening. Definitely something to think about and work on going forward. I'd still like to see better ball security and another player in our rucks though.
 
General thoughts
 
Beauden
BB is a fantastic rugby player and I rate him massively. That said, I'd start Cruden or Sopoaa over him I am yet to be convinced that BB can drive a side around the field when it needs to be done. His kicking length was average, which leads nicely to 
 
Dagg
OMFG. What a weapon his punt is from the back -- highlights how Ben Smith, despite being incredible, doesn't have the length on his kicks that Dagg has. Generally played well, his pass to set Naholo away in the first half was sensational and just what we need. I thought our back three went better as a unit, and two fullbacks suits our game.
 
Players colliding in the air.
Genuinely dont' know what the rules are any more Fair contests are meant to be OK, but Naholo almost gets YC and then Welsh wing (can't remember who sorry - Williams?) gets away with no sanction. Just weird. Hope this gets sorted soon, or we'll see more Stander-like Reds dished out. PLayers need to know what they can and can't do, and it has to be clear enough to implement at pace during a game situation.
 
Naholo
Mixed bag. Plenty of gas, chased everything, ran well almost copped a yellow for contesting, cynically took out a welsh wing with a shoulder (YC anyone?) but overall went OK. Suspect he will sit for Savea next week, but I'm not Steve Hansen.
 
Midfield
Kind of weird. My opinion of Crotty is dropping game by game. Not sure he's offering much there at the moment. ST took his chances, despite getting ragdolled in that fend by someone. Tough as after Nonu and Smith, Gandhi paired with Jesus would look bad. Hopefully Ngatai comes back. On the plus side, we didn't get torn apart here defensively. For a patched up combination, they went well. The Fekitoa Roberts head clash was fearsome and I'm amazed there were no concussion checks needed.
 
Fatties
Great work. Keep it up. Franks made some big hits, scrum went well, lineout went well, Brodie kept on Brodieing. 
 
Loosies
Read is back to 2013 Read. Unfortunately, Kaino is back to 2016 Blues Kaino. Cane was fine, Ardie OK and generally not much to report. No argument they've got the right guys in the squad, it's just using them right.
 
Cruden
Contact didn't seem unusual, but dodgy neck. Hopefully safety first precaution and we see him back, never good to see that on a rugby field.
 
Ref
Nothing to say. Didn't dish yellows (thankfully for us). I think we've got a Garces next week. Not sure what my response is, but we usually play better unde rhim that WFB.
 
 
So all in all, we won. Not sure we'll see a lot of changes to this side - they are still building combinations. Went to sleep when ahead by 30. Not the end fo the world - a great problem to have at test level. Wales have been great - brought a lot and competed all over the place.

Bones

Agree on Crotty there nzzp. He's trundling along and not doing much if anything wrong, but just seems a bit lacklustre.

leytonandamanda

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Bones" data-cid="589590" data-time="1466281048">Agree on Crotty there nzzp. He's trundling along and not doing much if anything wrong, but just seems a bit lacklustre.</blockquote>
I disagree! Think he done a lot more than fekitoa and taminevalu have. I would prefer crotty moves to 13 though 
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taniwharugby

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="pooler fan" data-cid="589526" data-time="1466252574">Possibly yes, anything in the air is a big no no these days. 
The Naholo one was worse as he ran into and tackled someone in mid air while Patchell was pretty stationary. 
Just think Naholo needs to be reigned in somewhat as I'm sure Hanson won't be too pleased if he does something similar in the rugby championship in a tight match and does end up taking 10minutes out. 
He also had the no arms shoulder on Liam Williams (who milked it), but again some refs will give yellow for that. It's unnecessary & will impact on the team at some point.</blockquote>
 
Roll back through the thread and I thought Naholo was in trouble on both occasions. 
Naholo was in the air when he made contact, as was the welsh man...was no tackles, both clumsy collisions, both should have had the same sanction. But Naholo got off his air raid because of how the guy landed.

booboo

This thread once again demonstrates the phenomenon whereby if you don't share the same opinion as someone they get to call you a hater. Jeez prople are precious nowadays. Happens in all sorts of areas. 
For the record I thought Barrett was good. I'd still have him on the bench though as that is the best use of his talents. 
So am expecting Lima to start next week (assuming Cruds is out). 
Other stuff: 
I thought Wales were vastly improved on last week. They created more rather than rely on AB errors, although we did help in that regard with ball control at rucks early on. 
Also thought they were rock solid on D as we struggled to go forward early on. 
But as they weren't leading with 20 to go their performance will likely to be viewed less favourably than last week. 
Like ehat I saw of Tamanivalu. Said as much at halftime after his blood bin appearance. 
Still rate Naholo. 
Dagg looked good. 
Read awesome. 
The Bench! 
I know there are guys who have their favourites and are adamant they should start. But some of these guys just give awesome awesome value from the bench. I'm thinking Beaudy (although his role was a little different last night), Pat T, Charley Farley, and Savea A in particular. To me they are more valuable at this stage in that role. 
So next week I don't see too many changes. 
Mind you I tried to help the selectors last week and they ignored my advice. Look where that got them ... 
But maybe we might see: 
Lima in for AC - injury 
Dixon in for JK - squad management 
Taylor in for Harris - squad management 
Maaaybe Tamanivalu for Fekitoa - form 
... and that's as far as I would go.

leytonandamanda

I would like to see McKenzie get capped,I think he deserves it,I think he can do the impact off the bench like Barrett does 
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taniwharugby

That's the thing isn't it, the likes of Cane and Savea probably have significantly different roles when they are in the park, so you can't say one is better, but the way they are being used makes our #7 awesome. 
I guess it'd be good to see what BB can offer as a starter against quality opposition, but his form from the bench make that option hard to consider changing. 
Our bench is significantly better than anyone else's, they up the tempo of the game, in turn energising the players who are already out there making it tough for anyone else to stay with them in the final quarter. 
Hansen talks about the 23 rather than 15, everyone has their roles.

Provincial Stalwart

Midfield still a work in progress. I thought seta was good overall, and would be pleased with his night as would the coaches. For mine the dream pairing on talent is SBW at 12 and Ngatai at 13, which may never eventuate if the selectors don't view CN as a 13. And we can't even contemplate that pairing until SBW returns in September. 
We'll just have to be patient with our midfield. 12 is a holding pattern and we're auditioning guys for 13 and the bench.

taniwharugby

Seta certainly looks more composed than Malakai at present, he won't wanna see that fend again though

Mattasaurus

Agree with most ... 
Think a lot of people in media miss how much the likes of cane and crotty do. It's not flash..it's the graft, the glue etc. 
A Smith is just awesome. Would love to see lima get a start next week. BB was good tonight but still not a starter for mine

leytonandamanda

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Mattasaurus" data-cid="589603" data-time="1466287292">Agree with most ... 
Think a lot of people in media miss how much the likes of cane and crotty do. It's not flash..it's the graft, the glue etc. 
A Smith is just awesome. Would love to see lima get a start next week. BB was good tonight but still not a starter for mine</blockquote>
Totally agree! I also think crotty and cane are important to the team,don't tend to make to many mistakes and I think crotty was excellent actually. 
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JC

I think BB is a sensational footballer, especially in broken play, but his tactical kicking just doesn't cut it when games are still an arm wrestle. Sorry if some of the posters think I'm a "hater" (what a baby-talk word BTW) but it's frustrating when the team is under pressure to see clearing kicks only get enough distance to put us back at the 22 only this time without the throw in to the lineout. 
We could get away with him starting at first five if someone else could clear the ball effectively but Crotty and Tamanivalu both showed off their kicking repertoire and it looks like it won't be them. 
Sign me up as one of those who think BB is best used as he has been used, as maybe the best bench impact player in the world.

Frank

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="pakman" data-cid="589565" data-time="1466267270">
<div>
 In a perfect world would like to see Ngatai/Fekitoa combo get a run. 
</div>
</blockquote>
 
Fekitoa has been in the squad since 2014 and has played 2 and half seasons of Super rugby.
To me, he looks much the same player as he always has, immensely physical, but plays a headless chook.

Frank

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="JC" data-cid="589605" data-time="1466287659">
<div>
We could get away with him starting at first five if someone else could clear the ball effectively but Crotty and Tamanivalu both showed off their kicking repertoire and it looks like it won't be them.
</div>
</blockquote>
 
Dagg??

kiwiinmelb

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="leytonandamanda" data-cid="589596" data-time="1466283368">
I would like to see McKenzie get capped,I think he deserves it,I think he can do the impact off the bench like Barrett does 
Ahead of who ? Barrett or Lima ? 
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk</blockquote>

hydro11

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="JC" data-cid="589605" data-time="1466287659">
<div>
I think BB is a sensational footballer, especially in broken play, but his tactical kicking just doesn't cut it when games are still an arm wrestle. Sorry if some of the posters think I'm a "hater" (what a baby-talk word BTW) but it's frustrating when the team is under pressure to see clearing kicks only get enough distance to put us back at the 22 only this time without the throw in to the lineout. 
We could get away with him starting at first five if someone else could clear the ball effectively but Crotty and Tamanivalu both showed off their kicking repertoire and it looks like it won't be them. 
Sign me up as one of those who think BB is best used as he has been used, as maybe the best bench impact player in the world.
</div>
</blockquote>
 
If Dagg and Ngatai are playing then we don't need our first five to kick deep. I think Barrett's kicking in general play is fine. He just doesn't have the distance.

African Monkey

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Bones" data-cid="589590" data-time="1466281048">
<div>
Agree on Crotty there nzzp. He's trundling along and not doing much if anything wrong, but just seems a bit lacklustre.
</div>
</blockquote>
Agreed. People from down south will harp on about him but the guy doesn't make any mistakes because he does sweet fuck all in the first place. He's not likely to get dropped anytime soon due to lack of options but the fact is is that he is nothing more than a journeyman.

nzzp

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="hydro11" data-cid="589610" data-time="1466290080">
<div>
 I think Barrett's kicking in general play is fine. He just doesn't have the distance.
</div>
</blockquote>
 
 
.

The Silver Fern

All Blacks vs Wales Test #2