All Blacks v Australia - Bledisloe II
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I do agree with what someone else was saying that DMac was probably under instructions to stand deeper to accommodate Christie’s laboured clearance. That didn’t excuse his poor non-contestable kicks, but that pairing was a disaster. Webber - who has an established combination with DMac - should be on the plane ahead of Christie. The only possible argument against it is that Brad is on his way overseas, but so is half of the rest of the existing team. The biggest problem in the first half, though, was the starting front row. Williams’ penalties opened the door for the Wallabies, while Laulala was back to his sloppy worst. That they couldn’t get ascendancy over an Australian front row down to its third or fourth choice props speaks volumes. It was also a bad day at the office for usually excellent Sam T at hooker. So nothing much went right in the first 40 minutes. But as Mike Snow says above, the fact that the senior contingent steadied the ship so calmly in the second half was testament to their resilience and bodes well for the crunch games ahead. Foster rolled the selection dice on this one and nearly came a cropper.
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Only saw the first half but based on that the first thing I would do is hire Dan Carter as our 10 coach and his first role would be to talk Dmac through every decision he made. This test could be defining if he learned from it, but will he?
He doesn’t need to try to make something happen to get us to score fast points, he’s at 10, not 15.
His role is to get us territory and get us in pattern - that chip kick when we turned them over, are down by two tries and finally have some territory, that’s where you hold it and put us in pattern. Him immediately chipping it away was the most unforgivable part of today, it was nothing to do with bad service or having a bad day with the boot, it highlighted that what he has (mostly) learned at super level has not transferred to the test arena.
I still have hope for him but he needs a huge kick in the ass.
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@No-Quarter said in All Blacks v Australia - Bledisloe II:
Jordan is a great player but better suited to wing at this level.
Sacrilege
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@frugby said in All Blacks v Australia - Bledisloe II:
It is funny how things look different when you are at the game... thought McKenzie was shocking but Christie quite good. Mo'unga changed the game when he came on for mine... Smith sharp, but as I say, felt Christie was actually quite good. Finau was rubbish in the first half, but really grew into it.
I thought Finlay went alright in this game, as well. A bit surprised - well, not really - to see him getting the razz here.
Not a good game to be playing in the first half if you were someone on the fringe.
Ofa and Fletch made a significant difference compared to Nepo and Big Tamaiti. If Joe Moody is fit - I think Tamaiti gives up his seat on the plane.
Sami T. had a bit of a mare - lost ground if he hoped to push Codie out of starting, but won't have lost his place to Coles.
I thought Vaa'i went alright - didn't hurt his chances.
Finau grew into the game and finished strongly - did enough to get on the plane IMO.
Ennor went well and didn't hurt his chances except getting broken. Dallas carried nicely. I still think Havili will take the fourth midfield slot and ALB didn't play well enough to convince me he's a better second five than Dave.
Big Leicester took his chance. Carried strongly throughout, including in the last couple of minutes - slightly tarnished by losing the ball instead of scoring, but I think he probably did enough to take the fourth wing spot ahead of Narawa.
Stevenson had a nervy start, but got better as the game went on. Don't think he did enough to get on the plane, but something to build on.
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@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks v Australia - Bledisloe II:
@Chris-B said in All Blacks v Australia - Bledisloe II:
I thought Finlay went alright in this game, as well. A bit surprised - well, not really - to see him getting the razz here.
About as surprising as you reckoning he went alright
You clearly haven't followed my comments on Finlay.
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Missed the first 30 minutes but saw enough to see Christie was crap, DMac was struggling and much of the team pretty shit. Only good thing I saw was a lack of collective panic. Second half was a different team with Smith & Mo'unga on. Satisfying win in the end - if only because Comical Eddie was giving his phone GBH.
Finau and Leicester booked their tickets as did Newell & Ennor. Thought Ofa was great but unconvinced by Va'ii. McLeod did OK and thought ALB was really good in the second half. Unsure about WJ at 15 on this performance against the big boys and think he's more value on the wing.
Wouldn't surprise me if Christie doesn't make the cut if Foster & co can only use him as a last 20 specialist. He's gone backwards since his debut for me - despite a decent game against the Boks. Webber may get the call.
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@Chris-B said in All Blacks v Australia - Bledisloe II:
I thought Finlay went alright in this game, as well. A bit surprised - well, not really - to see him getting the razz here.
I think people finally saw what I've been complaining about for ages. His speed to rucks is slow, his decision making is poor and slow, his passing is poor and slow. If he's considered the next best to Aaron, then that's the clear Achilles heel in the squad.
Mackenzie's effort has to be marked against the service he received, from a poor forwards effort in the first half, compounded by Christie. But his options and execution were woeful.
Players that made a case for RWC selection included Leicester. Ennor impressed with his defensive accuracy and good carrying. Finau got better and better as the game progressed. He also secured some quality lineout ball which makes him a valuable second option to Frizzel. Newel booked a seat on the bus too.
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@antipodean said in All Blacks v Australia - Bledisloe II:
@Chris-B said in All Blacks v Australia - Bledisloe II:
I thought Finlay went alright in this game, as well. A bit surprised - well, not really - to see him getting the razz here.
I think people finally saw what I've been complaining about for ages. His speed to rucks is slow, his decision making is poor and slow, his passing is poor and slow. If he's considered the next best to Aaron, then that's the clear Achilles heel in the squad.
My main criticism of Finlay is his dithering at the ruck while he makes up his mind what he's going to do. I didn't see much of that today - he seemed to arrive and shift the ball.
I'll have a re-watch because I wasn't closely watching the Finlay-DMac combo.
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@Machpants said in All Blacks v Australia - Bledisloe II:
Lol they've lost the tee
What's the rule there?
60 secs from the tee?
Or 60 secs from signalling the shot?
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@booboo said in All Blacks v Australia - Bledisloe II:
Did I miss something about Finau's hard shoulder?
Hard to miss.
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@booboo said in All Blacks v Australia - Bledisloe II:
Good result from 3-17.
Should have won by more though.
Blew plenty of points.
Been thinking about this.
They should have won because they should have been way further in front.
We should have won by more because we blew about three tries.
Rugby.
Is good.
(Especially when we win.)
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Thought Cane was a bit off the pace tonight, even fell off a few tackles. Ardie picked up the slack and was on fire.
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Fuck that was a pretty fun game aye?
Wallabies later but us
Shit we didn't do a lot wrong in the first half but we got down early. Wallabies were awesome and we couldn't do much
They got some sweet whistle and some sweet bounce and we were down by a bit without really doing much wrong
But, without Ardie saving that try we lose that game
Then we wrestled control back and won the 2nd halfThe plan tonight was obviously fucking loose compared to last week where we barely fired a shot, and that made some guys look worse than they should
Then we switched and played direct and fucking dominated them, even without the points
Huge international season, and you couldn't ask for better in to a world cup
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Thank you to Quade at the end by Richie McCaw's ghost.
Impressed with Stephenson, Finau . Obviously Finau has big upside.
Savea and Whitelock super fantastic at times.
Smith master.Quite a big gap between AB first and second team in many positions.
We got lucky a few times I thought.
