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All Blacks v England
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  • voodooV Offline
    voodooV Offline
    voodoo
    replied to Kirwan on last edited by
    #148

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @voodoo said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @Bones said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan there's more and more rocks. I think his performance recently has probably been on a par to what saw Faingaanuku dropped, I'd be very tempted to give Leicester another go.

    But I've said before I think Clarke has free reign to find something until the world cup selection.

    That's the negativity nexus again, he's still doing plenty well - but people just talk about the mistakes - which is fine, but I'm happy to point out the positive and hope he sorts out whatever is going on with his balance.

    I kind of think that Foster needs to tell him to be super selfish, sort of like Cullen, and if it's 1 on 1 don't look to link up just run over/around the defender.

    I agree with your last sentence, that's what I was getting at earlier when I said I'd actually be ok if he was just hungus and not a great linker.

    But when you take the attacking lapses with the now multiple defensive errors, it's hard to keep justifying his place. In a RWC knock out game, one of those defensive errors can mean a game and an exit. That's not to say all the guys will be perfect always, but he's made enough errors now to suggest he's more prone than most

    Yep, he definitely needs to improve. But also, the person replacing him has to be better. In this squad that's Reece or Reiko - and Reiko is also the best centre so not really an option. Last game Reece was disappointing too, and also a different style of player.

    With Telea able to play a more powerful/physical wing style it might open the door for Reece at 11 again, but others seem to think it's too much of a risk to play him. Personally I think you should reward good games and pick him again.

    I'm not as down on Reece as some, he may not have been great last outing, but he has been bloody consistent prior.

    I def wouldn't advocate for moving RI, he's locked in for 13 IMO and should start there in 90% of the remaining tests inside JB

    I REALLY, REALLY like Clarke and want him to be great - excellent in the air, powerful, seems like a great guy - but the defensive lapses are killing me at the moment. I'm not quite ready to send him home on the next flight, but I do think that his spot should be closely monitored next year

    KirwanK 1 Reply Last reply
    4
  • voodooV Offline
    voodooV Offline
    voodoo
    wrote on last edited by
    #149

    Just to add, the reason why I'm not too concerned is that I don't see a new wing as requiring much time to assimilate or build a combination - Telea slotted in fine in his first outing, LF is an option, even Stevenson if he kicks on next year. Add Jordan and Reece to the mix, and we will be fine

    KirwanK 1 Reply Last reply
    3
  • KirwanK Offline
    KirwanK Offline
    Kirwan
    replied to voodoo on last edited by
    #150

    @voodoo said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @voodoo said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @Bones said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan there's more and more rocks. I think his performance recently has probably been on a par to what saw Faingaanuku dropped, I'd be very tempted to give Leicester another go.

    But I've said before I think Clarke has free reign to find something until the world cup selection.

    That's the negativity nexus again, he's still doing plenty well - but people just talk about the mistakes - which is fine, but I'm happy to point out the positive and hope he sorts out whatever is going on with his balance.

    I kind of think that Foster needs to tell him to be super selfish, sort of like Cullen, and if it's 1 on 1 don't look to link up just run over/around the defender.

    I agree with your last sentence, that's what I was getting at earlier when I said I'd actually be ok if he was just hungus and not a great linker.

    But when you take the attacking lapses with the now multiple defensive errors, it's hard to keep justifying his place. In a RWC knock out game, one of those defensive errors can mean a game and an exit. That's not to say all the guys will be perfect always, but he's made enough errors now to suggest he's more prone than most

    Yep, he definitely needs to improve. But also, the person replacing him has to be better. In this squad that's Reece or Reiko - and Reiko is also the best centre so not really an option. Last game Reece was disappointing too, and also a different style of player.

    With Telea able to play a more powerful/physical wing style it might open the door for Reece at 11 again, but others seem to think it's too much of a risk to play him. Personally I think you should reward good games and pick him again.

    I'm not as down on Reece as some, he may not have been great last outing, but he has been bloody consistent prior.

    I def wouldn't advocate for moving RI, he's locked in for 13 IMO and should start there in 90% of the remaining tests inside JB

    I REALLY, REALLY like Clarke and want him to be great - excellent in the air, powerful, seems like a great guy - but the defensive lapses are killing me at the moment. I'm not quite ready to send him home on the next flight, but I do think that his spot should be closely monitored next year

    With the defence side of things, we tackled as a team 80% the last game, JB missed four tackles, and a group missed 3 each. Something is definitely wrong with this side of the game, not just with Clarke.

    It used to be you could point at one or two players, now it seems to be across the team.

    A P 2 Replies Last reply
    2
  • KirwanK Offline
    KirwanK Offline
    Kirwan
    replied to voodoo on last edited by
    #151

    @voodoo said in All Blacks v England:

    Just to add, the reason why I'm not too concerned is that I don't see a new wing as requiring much time to assimilate or build a combination - Telea slotted in fine in his first outing, LF is an option, even Stevenson if he kicks on next year. Add Jordan and Reece to the mix, and we will be fine

    Yeah, Milner-Skudder proved that point in 2015.

    1 Reply Last reply
    2
  • KiwiwombleK Offline
    KiwiwombleK Offline
    Kiwiwomble
    wrote on last edited by
    #152

    one concession i give clarke, for whatever reason, we dont seem to flush from right to left....i just dont remember many times where the ball has gone through the hand to put clarke in space. we see him more on crash ball coming in from the blind side and he obvious get s shot on the counter where he seems very comfortable under the highball...just need to work on finding the gaps

    broughieB 1 Reply Last reply
    1
  • broughieB Offline
    broughieB Offline
    broughie
    replied to Kiwiwomble on last edited by
    #153

    @Kiwiwomble and he might have to work more around the rucks and have less ball, because that's where we need to dominate ( the forwards) before we do the spiny thing along the back line. It's taken Foster 3 years to figure this out. Perhaps more if considering time with Hansen.

    1 Reply Last reply
    0
  • A Offline
    A Offline
    ARHS
    replied to Kirwan on last edited by
    #154

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @voodoo said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @voodoo said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @Bones said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan there's more and more rocks. I think his performance recently has probably been on a par to what saw Faingaanuku dropped, I'd be very tempted to give Leicester another go.

    But I've said before I think Clarke has free reign to find something until the world cup selection.

    That's the negativity nexus again, he's still doing plenty well - but people just talk about the mistakes - which is fine, but I'm happy to point out the positive and hope he sorts out whatever is going on with his balance.

    I kind of think that Foster needs to tell him to be super selfish, sort of like Cullen, and if it's 1 on 1 don't look to link up just run over/around the defender.

    I agree with your last sentence, that's what I was getting at earlier when I said I'd actually be ok if he was just hungus and not a great linker.

    But when you take the attacking lapses with the now multiple defensive errors, it's hard to keep justifying his place. In a RWC knock out game, one of those defensive errors can mean a game and an exit. That's not to say all the guys will be perfect always, but he's made enough errors now to suggest he's more prone than most

    Yep, he definitely needs to improve. But also, the person replacing him has to be better. In this squad that's Reece or Reiko - and Reiko is also the best centre so not really an option. Last game Reece was disappointing too, and also a different style of player.

    With Telea able to play a more powerful/physical wing style it might open the door for Reece at 11 again, but others seem to think it's too much of a risk to play him. Personally I think you should reward good games and pick him again.

    I'm not as down on Reece as some, he may not have been great last outing, but he has been bloody consistent prior.

    I def wouldn't advocate for moving RI, he's locked in for 13 IMO and should start there in 90% of the remaining tests inside JB

    I REALLY, REALLY like Clarke and want him to be great - excellent in the air, powerful, seems like a great guy - but the defensive lapses are killing me at the moment. I'm not quite ready to send him home on the next flight, but I do think that his spot should be closely monitored next year

    With the defence side of things, we tackled as a team 80% the last game, JB missed four tackles, and a group missed 3 each. Something is definitely wrong with this side of the game, not just with Clarke.

    It used to be you could point at one or two players, now it seems to be across the team.

    I think all opponents will notice Clarkes positioning and how he commits to a point he can't recover defensively from. I watched him closely in sevens and thought it was an insurmountable problem there. Seems too high risk for AB's to play him without marked improvements as he becomes a target for opposition attacks in my view.

    No QuarterN 1 Reply Last reply
    4
  • No QuarterN Online
    No QuarterN Online
    No Quarter
    replied to ARHS on last edited by
    #155

    @ARHS said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @voodoo said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @voodoo said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @Bones said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan there's more and more rocks. I think his performance recently has probably been on a par to what saw Faingaanuku dropped, I'd be very tempted to give Leicester another go.

    But I've said before I think Clarke has free reign to find something until the world cup selection.

    That's the negativity nexus again, he's still doing plenty well - but people just talk about the mistakes - which is fine, but I'm happy to point out the positive and hope he sorts out whatever is going on with his balance.

    I kind of think that Foster needs to tell him to be super selfish, sort of like Cullen, and if it's 1 on 1 don't look to link up just run over/around the defender.

    I agree with your last sentence, that's what I was getting at earlier when I said I'd actually be ok if he was just hungus and not a great linker.

    But when you take the attacking lapses with the now multiple defensive errors, it's hard to keep justifying his place. In a RWC knock out game, one of those defensive errors can mean a game and an exit. That's not to say all the guys will be perfect always, but he's made enough errors now to suggest he's more prone than most

    Yep, he definitely needs to improve. But also, the person replacing him has to be better. In this squad that's Reece or Reiko - and Reiko is also the best centre so not really an option. Last game Reece was disappointing too, and also a different style of player.

    With Telea able to play a more powerful/physical wing style it might open the door for Reece at 11 again, but others seem to think it's too much of a risk to play him. Personally I think you should reward good games and pick him again.

    I'm not as down on Reece as some, he may not have been great last outing, but he has been bloody consistent prior.

    I def wouldn't advocate for moving RI, he's locked in for 13 IMO and should start there in 90% of the remaining tests inside JB

    I REALLY, REALLY like Clarke and want him to be great - excellent in the air, powerful, seems like a great guy - but the defensive lapses are killing me at the moment. I'm not quite ready to send him home on the next flight, but I do think that his spot should be closely monitored next year

    With the defence side of things, we tackled as a team 80% the last game, JB missed four tackles, and a group missed 3 each. Something is definitely wrong with this side of the game, not just with Clarke.

    It used to be you could point at one or two players, now it seems to be across the team.

    I think all opponents will notice Clarkes positioning and how he commits to a point he can't recover defensively from. I watched him closely in sevens and thought it was an insurmountable problem there. Seems too high risk for AB's to play him without marked improvements as he becomes a target for opposition attacks in my view.

    Unfortunately we don't have the right defense coach to help address that either. Instead we have someone that seems intent on overcomplicating things and then blaming the players for "not learning quick enough". I really think that is a big factor in Clarke's decision making on defense.

    KirwanK 1 Reply Last reply
    2
  • KirwanK Offline
    KirwanK Offline
    Kirwan
    replied to No Quarter on last edited by
    #156

    @No-Quarter said in All Blacks v England:

    @ARHS said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @voodoo said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @voodoo said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @Bones said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan there's more and more rocks. I think his performance recently has probably been on a par to what saw Faingaanuku dropped, I'd be very tempted to give Leicester another go.

    But I've said before I think Clarke has free reign to find something until the world cup selection.

    That's the negativity nexus again, he's still doing plenty well - but people just talk about the mistakes - which is fine, but I'm happy to point out the positive and hope he sorts out whatever is going on with his balance.

    I kind of think that Foster needs to tell him to be super selfish, sort of like Cullen, and if it's 1 on 1 don't look to link up just run over/around the defender.

    I agree with your last sentence, that's what I was getting at earlier when I said I'd actually be ok if he was just hungus and not a great linker.

    But when you take the attacking lapses with the now multiple defensive errors, it's hard to keep justifying his place. In a RWC knock out game, one of those defensive errors can mean a game and an exit. That's not to say all the guys will be perfect always, but he's made enough errors now to suggest he's more prone than most

    Yep, he definitely needs to improve. But also, the person replacing him has to be better. In this squad that's Reece or Reiko - and Reiko is also the best centre so not really an option. Last game Reece was disappointing too, and also a different style of player.

    With Telea able to play a more powerful/physical wing style it might open the door for Reece at 11 again, but others seem to think it's too much of a risk to play him. Personally I think you should reward good games and pick him again.

    I'm not as down on Reece as some, he may not have been great last outing, but he has been bloody consistent prior.

    I def wouldn't advocate for moving RI, he's locked in for 13 IMO and should start there in 90% of the remaining tests inside JB

    I REALLY, REALLY like Clarke and want him to be great - excellent in the air, powerful, seems like a great guy - but the defensive lapses are killing me at the moment. I'm not quite ready to send him home on the next flight, but I do think that his spot should be closely monitored next year

    With the defence side of things, we tackled as a team 80% the last game, JB missed four tackles, and a group missed 3 each. Something is definitely wrong with this side of the game, not just with Clarke.

    It used to be you could point at one or two players, now it seems to be across the team.

    I think all opponents will notice Clarkes positioning and how he commits to a point he can't recover defensively from. I watched him closely in sevens and thought it was an insurmountable problem there. Seems too high risk for AB's to play him without marked improvements as he becomes a target for opposition attacks in my view.

    Unfortunately we don't have the right defense coach to help address that either. Instead we have someone that seems intent on overcomplicating things and then blaming the players for "not learning quick enough". I really think that is a big factor in Clarke's decision making on defense.

    He certainly doesn't defend like this for the Blues. That game where we had the wings shooting up and in just didn't work IMO.

    ACT CrusaderA A 2 Replies Last reply
    0
  • P Offline
    P Offline
    pakman
    replied to Kirwan on last edited by pakman
    #157

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @voodoo said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @voodoo said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @Bones said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan there's more and more rocks. I think his performance recently has probably been on a par to what saw Faingaanuku dropped, I'd be very tempted to give Leicester another go.

    But I've said before I think Clarke has free reign to find something until the world cup selection.

    That's the negativity nexus again, he's still doing plenty well - but people just talk about the mistakes - which is fine, but I'm happy to point out the positive and hope he sorts out whatever is going on with his balance.

    I kind of think that Foster needs to tell him to be super selfish, sort of like Cullen, and if it's 1 on 1 don't look to link up just run over/around the defender.

    I agree with your last sentence, that's what I was getting at earlier when I said I'd actually be ok if he was just hungus and not a great linker.

    But when you take the attacking lapses with the now multiple defensive errors, it's hard to keep justifying his place. In a RWC knock out game, one of those defensive errors can mean a game and an exit. That's not to say all the guys will be perfect always, but he's made enough errors now to suggest he's more prone than most

    Yep, he definitely needs to improve. But also, the person replacing him has to be better. In this squad that's Reece or Reiko - and Reiko is also the best centre so not really an option. Last game Reece was disappointing too, and also a different style of player.

    With Telea able to play a more powerful/physical wing style it might open the door for Reece at 11 again, but others seem to think it's too much of a risk to play him. Personally I think you should reward good games and pick him again.

    I'm not as down on Reece as some, he may not have been great last outing, but he has been bloody consistent prior.

    I def wouldn't advocate for moving RI, he's locked in for 13 IMO and should start there in 90% of the remaining tests inside JB

    I REALLY, REALLY like Clarke and want him to be great - excellent in the air, powerful, seems like a great guy - but the defensive lapses are killing me at the moment. I'm not quite ready to send him home on the next flight, but I do think that his spot should be closely monitored next year

    With the defence side of things, we tackled as a team 80% the last game, JB missed four tackles, and a group missed 3 each. Something is definitely wrong with this side of the game, not just with Clarke.

    It used to be you could point at one or two players, now it seems to be across the team.

    It's the area of our game which hasn't improved.

    nostrildamusN 1 Reply Last reply
    0
  • nostrildamusN Offline
    nostrildamusN Offline
    nostrildamus Banned
    replied to pakman on last edited by
    #158

    I wonder if they need fresh coaching ideas on defense, other teams predict us too well and players are getting isolated, out of position, or targetted.

    P 1 Reply Last reply
    2
  • P Offline
    P Offline
    pakman
    replied to nostrildamus on last edited by
    #159

    @nostrildamus Sure the Irish did that.

    1 Reply Last reply
    0
  • ACT CrusaderA Do not disturb
    ACT CrusaderA Do not disturb
    ACT Crusader
    replied to Kirwan on last edited by
    #160

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @No-Quarter said in All Blacks v England:

    @ARHS said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @voodoo said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @voodoo said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @Bones said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan there's more and more rocks. I think his performance recently has probably been on a par to what saw Faingaanuku dropped, I'd be very tempted to give Leicester another go.

    But I've said before I think Clarke has free reign to find something until the world cup selection.

    That's the negativity nexus again, he's still doing plenty well - but people just talk about the mistakes - which is fine, but I'm happy to point out the positive and hope he sorts out whatever is going on with his balance.

    I kind of think that Foster needs to tell him to be super selfish, sort of like Cullen, and if it's 1 on 1 don't look to link up just run over/around the defender.

    I agree with your last sentence, that's what I was getting at earlier when I said I'd actually be ok if he was just hungus and not a great linker.

    But when you take the attacking lapses with the now multiple defensive errors, it's hard to keep justifying his place. In a RWC knock out game, one of those defensive errors can mean a game and an exit. That's not to say all the guys will be perfect always, but he's made enough errors now to suggest he's more prone than most

    Yep, he definitely needs to improve. But also, the person replacing him has to be better. In this squad that's Reece or Reiko - and Reiko is also the best centre so not really an option. Last game Reece was disappointing too, and also a different style of player.

    With Telea able to play a more powerful/physical wing style it might open the door for Reece at 11 again, but others seem to think it's too much of a risk to play him. Personally I think you should reward good games and pick him again.

    I'm not as down on Reece as some, he may not have been great last outing, but he has been bloody consistent prior.

    I def wouldn't advocate for moving RI, he's locked in for 13 IMO and should start there in 90% of the remaining tests inside JB

    I REALLY, REALLY like Clarke and want him to be great - excellent in the air, powerful, seems like a great guy - but the defensive lapses are killing me at the moment. I'm not quite ready to send him home on the next flight, but I do think that his spot should be closely monitored next year

    With the defence side of things, we tackled as a team 80% the last game, JB missed four tackles, and a group missed 3 each. Something is definitely wrong with this side of the game, not just with Clarke.

    It used to be you could point at one or two players, now it seems to be across the team.

    I think all opponents will notice Clarkes positioning and how he commits to a point he can't recover defensively from. I watched him closely in sevens and thought it was an insurmountable problem there. Seems too high risk for AB's to play him without marked improvements as he becomes a target for opposition attacks in my view.

    Unfortunately we don't have the right defense coach to help address that either. Instead we have someone that seems intent on overcomplicating things and then blaming the players for "not learning quick enough". I really think that is a big factor in Clarke's decision making on defense.

    He certainly doesn't defend like this for the Blues. That game where we had the wings shooting up and in just didn't work IMO.

    And Havili attacks very differently for the Crusaders and has had great success, but hey that doesn’t matter 😎

    There’s a couple of things I notice with Clarke’s defence - he seems flat footed and hence we’ve seen him chasing the player far too often; he just misreads the attack, that’s not pattern it’s just about decision making.

    Hopefully he can turn it around because the more other teams see footage of his play, it will be exploited over and over.

    1 Reply Last reply
    2
  • DuluthD Duluth forked this topic on
  • A Offline
    A Offline
    ARHS
    replied to Kirwan on last edited by
    #161

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @No-Quarter said in All Blacks v England:

    @ARHS said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @voodoo said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @voodoo said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @Bones said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan there's more and more rocks. I think his performance recently has probably been on a par to what saw Faingaanuku dropped, I'd be very tempted to give Leicester another go.

    But I've said before I think Clarke has free reign to find something until the world cup selection.

    That's the negativity nexus again, he's still doing plenty well - but people just talk about the mistakes - which is fine, but I'm happy to point out the positive and hope he sorts out whatever is going on with his balance.

    I kind of think that Foster needs to tell him to be super selfish, sort of like Cullen, and if it's 1 on 1 don't look to link up just run over/around the defender.

    I agree with your last sentence, that's what I was getting at earlier when I said I'd actually be ok if he was just hungus and not a great linker.

    But when you take the attacking lapses with the now multiple defensive errors, it's hard to keep justifying his place. In a RWC knock out game, one of those defensive errors can mean a game and an exit. That's not to say all the guys will be perfect always, but he's made enough errors now to suggest he's more prone than most

    Yep, he definitely needs to improve. But also, the person replacing him has to be better. In this squad that's Reece or Reiko - and Reiko is also the best centre so not really an option. Last game Reece was disappointing too, and also a different style of player.

    With Telea able to play a more powerful/physical wing style it might open the door for Reece at 11 again, but others seem to think it's too much of a risk to play him. Personally I think you should reward good games and pick him again.

    I'm not as down on Reece as some, he may not have been great last outing, but he has been bloody consistent prior.

    I def wouldn't advocate for moving RI, he's locked in for 13 IMO and should start there in 90% of the remaining tests inside JB

    I REALLY, REALLY like Clarke and want him to be great - excellent in the air, powerful, seems like a great guy - but the defensive lapses are killing me at the moment. I'm not quite ready to send him home on the next flight, but I do think that his spot should be closely monitored next year

    With the defence side of things, we tackled as a team 80% the last game, JB missed four tackles, and a group missed 3 each. Something is definitely wrong with this side of the game, not just with Clarke.

    It used to be you could point at one or two players, now it seems to be across the team.

    I think all opponents will notice Clarkes positioning and how he commits to a point he can't recover defensively from. I watched him closely in sevens and thought it was an insurmountable problem there. Seems too high risk for AB's to play him without marked improvements as he becomes a target for opposition attacks in my view.

    Unfortunately we don't have the right defense coach to help address that either. Instead we have someone that seems intent on overcomplicating things and then blaming the players for "not learning quick enough". I really think that is a big factor in Clarke's decision making on defense.

    He certainly doesn't defend like this for the Blues. That game where we had the wings shooting up and in just didn't work IMO.

    Agreed on that aspect as evidenced. But the sevens coaches did not seem to be able to improve his defensive positioning and decision making either.
    It is always about matching a set of skills to the game plan for coaches. I. E. Linebreaking power v agility and speed to react. No issues with the former.
    I think Nankivell and Aumua need to be viewed in a similar light across the full skillset. The former has lapses in passing accuracy but is exceptional elsewhere.

    KirwanK 1 Reply Last reply
    0
  • KirwanK Offline
    KirwanK Offline
    Kirwan
    replied to ARHS on last edited by
    #162

    @ARHS said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @No-Quarter said in All Blacks v England:

    @ARHS said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @voodoo said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @voodoo said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan said in All Blacks v England:

    @Bones said in All Blacks v England:

    @Kirwan there's more and more rocks. I think his performance recently has probably been on a par to what saw Faingaanuku dropped, I'd be very tempted to give Leicester another go.

    But I've said before I think Clarke has free reign to find something until the world cup selection.

    That's the negativity nexus again, he's still doing plenty well - but people just talk about the mistakes - which is fine, but I'm happy to point out the positive and hope he sorts out whatever is going on with his balance.

    I kind of think that Foster needs to tell him to be super selfish, sort of like Cullen, and if it's 1 on 1 don't look to link up just run over/around the defender.

    I agree with your last sentence, that's what I was getting at earlier when I said I'd actually be ok if he was just hungus and not a great linker.

    But when you take the attacking lapses with the now multiple defensive errors, it's hard to keep justifying his place. In a RWC knock out game, one of those defensive errors can mean a game and an exit. That's not to say all the guys will be perfect always, but he's made enough errors now to suggest he's more prone than most

    Yep, he definitely needs to improve. But also, the person replacing him has to be better. In this squad that's Reece or Reiko - and Reiko is also the best centre so not really an option. Last game Reece was disappointing too, and also a different style of player.

    With Telea able to play a more powerful/physical wing style it might open the door for Reece at 11 again, but others seem to think it's too much of a risk to play him. Personally I think you should reward good games and pick him again.

    I'm not as down on Reece as some, he may not have been great last outing, but he has been bloody consistent prior.

    I def wouldn't advocate for moving RI, he's locked in for 13 IMO and should start there in 90% of the remaining tests inside JB

    I REALLY, REALLY like Clarke and want him to be great - excellent in the air, powerful, seems like a great guy - but the defensive lapses are killing me at the moment. I'm not quite ready to send him home on the next flight, but I do think that his spot should be closely monitored next year

    With the defence side of things, we tackled as a team 80% the last game, JB missed four tackles, and a group missed 3 each. Something is definitely wrong with this side of the game, not just with Clarke.

    It used to be you could point at one or two players, now it seems to be across the team.

    I think all opponents will notice Clarkes positioning and how he commits to a point he can't recover defensively from. I watched him closely in sevens and thought it was an insurmountable problem there. Seems too high risk for AB's to play him without marked improvements as he becomes a target for opposition attacks in my view.

    Unfortunately we don't have the right defense coach to help address that either. Instead we have someone that seems intent on overcomplicating things and then blaming the players for "not learning quick enough". I really think that is a big factor in Clarke's decision making on defense.

    He certainly doesn't defend like this for the Blues. That game where we had the wings shooting up and in just didn't work IMO.

    Agreed on that aspect as evidenced. But the sevens coaches did not seem to be able to improve his defensive positioning and decision making either.
    It is always about matching a set of skills to the game plan for coaches. I. E. Linebreaking power v agility and speed to react. No issues with the former.
    I think Nankivell and Aumua need to be viewed in a similar light across the full skillset. The former has lapses in passing accuracy but is exceptional elsewhere.

    A coachable problem though, so might explain why they are persisting with playing him. Not many wingers better in the air, if any. Has speed and power and a high workrate. So plenty to like.

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  • B Offline
    B Offline
    bayimports
    wrote on last edited by bayimports
    #163

    For all the talk of removing Caleb, there doesn't appear to be a left wing that would walk in, unless people want to move RI again.

    Options appear currently with who we think is fit and available;
    RI moves from 13 to 11?, where he has looked good at 13 and most want to see more game time with JB at 12
    Do they bring back Leicester at 11 ? unlikely
    Does Reece play 11 and Telea 14? possible and Reece can play 11
    Does Stevenson who has played (11,14,15) play 11? possible also but unlikely

    I don't mind the last option as other players don't have to move to accommodate, but revolves around a different skill set. I suspect although Caleb has things he can work on, the things he does do well, fit for their power winger strategy and although we haven't seen a complete performance probably keep him in the team rather than trying anyone new.

    KiwiwombleK 1 Reply Last reply
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  • BovidaeB Offline
    BovidaeB Offline
    Bovidae
    wrote on last edited by
    #164

    Reece would be the only option to replace Clarke in the starting XV. If Clarke does start, which is more likely, I would prefer Reece on the bench so Ioane doesn't need to be moved.

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  • KiwiwombleK Offline
    KiwiwombleK Offline
    Kiwiwomble
    replied to bayimports on last edited by
    #165

    @bayimports i dont think im at the "drop him" phase yet, but i think we need to play to his strengths first...if he under delivers after that then questions can be asked but at the moment we seem to only be asking him for front foot crash ball and a safe pair of hands under the high ball

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  • FrankF Offline
    FrankF Offline
    Frank
    wrote on last edited by
    #166

    I'd like Shaun Stevenson to be given the start ahead of Caleb.
    Just because I like shiny new things.

    NepiaN 1 Reply Last reply
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  • sparkyS Offline
    sparkyS Offline
    sparky
    wrote on last edited by sparky
    #167

    More rain. This must be one of the wettest weeks in the London area for some time. Expect the ground to be heavy and the ball to be slippy on Saturday. I don't know who that favours.

    1 Reply Last reply
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