All Blacks vs Springboks - Twickenham
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@Smuts I thought the Boks enjoyed spanking each other…….
LIST: Some of rugby's weirdest initiation ceremonies - Page 2 of 4 - Ruck
Forget a warm welcome: joining a new team has often involved heavy drinking, little clothing and a live chicken...
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@booboo when the stats say he's knackered to the extent that his performance is worse than the bloke replacing him - which is reasonably similar across most teams, so yeah. Marx is a pain at the breakdown, and particularly Taylor but also Coles are both quick and competent in that area, so I would see them as a decent counter to Marx. That sort of tactical 'match our starter/bench to counter the opposition' is pretty clearly not Foster's thinking though is it? He's doing it against Australia, and I don't think their reserve hooker warrants a tactical selection to counter him.
The worry is that when we get beaten, it is usually because a rush defence gets on top of us and we can't create go-forward. Samisoni and Frizzell are the two guys who can do something about that in the current pack, so starting neither of them seems to lack balance. At least we now have Jordie Barrett at 12, whereas previously our going-backwards forwards would pass their shit static ball to the lightweight Smith, Mo'unga and Havili - who would go further backwards. -
@reprobate there’s also the mix and balance of the two front rows we select. If for example they persist with Laulala as the bench option then I think we need an active ball carrying front rower (like Sami T) with him.
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In the space of two or three test matches comments have gone from wondering what the hell SF is doing in the ABs to lamenting his absence. Not necessarily the same posters, but I do find it amusing.
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@Crazy-Horse i was one wondering what he was doing in the AB's but can't argue with his change in form this season for the AB's...play well and people will want you to get picked...not rocket surgery
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@Kiwiwomble agree he seems to have played better recently and why nit puck hin, but I do wonder whether it's an aberration. I guess I am sceptical because even in the games he played well he did have longish patches where he 'reverted to type'.
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@Crazy-Horse said in All Blacks vs Springboks - Twickenham:
In the space of two or three test matches comments have gone from wondering what the hell SF is doing in the ABs to lamenting his absence. Not necessarily the same posters, but I do find it amusing.
I think it's hilarious, and arguably it's based on 20 minutes of one of those test matches (and yep, as you said even in that game he reverted to type).
He'll be a dud at the RWC. SB at 6 in the semi in 2019 was a huge mistake, but I think we'll need him there for the crunch games this year.
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@Crazy-Horse and it could be....but i think you cant second guess form because sometimes a player is just riding a wave of confidence, i think you play him until his form drops again
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@Crazy-Horse said in All Blacks vs Springboks - Twickenham:
@Kiwiwomble agree he seems to have played better recently and why nit puck hin, but I do wonder whether it's an aberration. I guess I am sceptical because even in the games he played well he did have longish patches where he 'reverted to type'.
I tend to disagree because he was pretty active during those patches when he wasn’t doing the big run or scoring or finding his hard shoulder.
His activity level is up at ruck time and for me that is the most promising thing - not the really noticeable stuff
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@Hooroo said in All Blacks vs Springboks - Twickenham:
Having a freindly match before WC against the class of SA could have some fun repercussions
Aren’t they all friendlies? World Cup matches is all that matters. Well that’s what every one said between 1991 and 2011….
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@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks vs Springboks - Twickenham:
@Hooroo said in All Blacks vs Springboks - Twickenham:
Having a freindly match before WC against the class of SA could have some fun repercussions
Aren’t they all friendlies? World Cup matches is all that matters. Well that’s what every one said between 1991 and 2011….
They're not playing soccer so no friendlies, it's a test match
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@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks vs Springboks - Twickenham:
@Crazy-Horse said in All Blacks vs Springboks - Twickenham:
@Kiwiwomble agree he seems to have played better recently and why nit puck hin, but I do wonder whether it's an aberration. I guess I am sceptical because even in the games he played well he did have longish patches where he 'reverted to type'.
I tend to disagree because he was pretty active during those patches when he wasn’t doing the big run or scoring or finding his hard shoulder.
His activity level is up at ruck time and for me that is the most promising thing - not the really noticeable stuff
I wasn't talking about the glory runs. What frustrates me the most about SF, and what I reckon he reverted to in patches, was while he may have been busy, he stopped winning the contact. For such a sizable fella it has always been an annoyance for me. It's like he has limited fight in him.
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@Machpants said in All Blacks vs Springboks - Twickenham:
@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks vs Springboks - Twickenham:
@Hooroo said in All Blacks vs Springboks - Twickenham:
Having a freindly match before WC against the class of SA could have some fun repercussions
Aren’t they all friendlies? World Cup matches is all that matters. Well that’s what every one said between 1991 and 2011….
They're not playing soccer so no friendlies, it's a test match
Try telling that jaguares ex ferner that
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Will this be a statement for the ABs if they win? Will it affect them more than SA if they lose? Dumb question but I'm thinking of the pysche for the ABs will be impacted more. If SA lose they won't give a phuck and carry on and do some damage but I can't help but feel it might hurt the ABs more if they lose.
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@MN5 said in All Blacks vs Springboks - Twickenham:
@Machpants said in All Blacks vs Springboks - Twickenham:
@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks vs Springboks - Twickenham:
@Hooroo said in All Blacks vs Springboks - Twickenham:
Having a freindly match before WC against the class of SA could have some fun repercussions
Aren’t they all friendlies? World Cup matches is all that matters. Well that’s what every one said between 1991 and 2011….
They're not playing soccer so no friendlies, it's a test match
Try telling that jaguares ex ferner that
That's why he's ex, obviously just a soccer supporter being curious
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@Joans-Town-Jones said in All Blacks vs Springboks - Twickenham:
Will this be a statement for the ABs if they win? Will it affect them more than SA if they lose? Dumb question but I'm thinking of the pysche for the ABs will be impacted more. If SA lose they won't give a phuck and carry on and do some damage but I can't help but feel it might hurt the ABs more if they lose.
I hope we win and I’m sure the players do as well, but I don’t think it means as much to the RWC campaign because that tournament format is so different to a one off test like this.
I think back to 2011 and our final test before the RWC we lost to a pretty mediocre Aussie side. We had already secured the Bledisloe so it wasn’t as significant as the previous match up.
