RWC Week 2: All Blacks v Namibia
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@pakman said in RWC Week 2: All Blacks v Namibia:
@gt12 said in RWC Week 2: All Blacks v Namibia:
@Tim said in RWC Week 2: All Blacks v Namibia:
@gt12 Three awful games in a row.
Our props, overall, are a long way away from being a WC group.
EDG has the skill but lacks brains and consistency, Newell and Williams aren’t ready, Ofa and Laulala are defensive liabilities.
None of them can really carry for shit.
Tamaiti's carrying is his forte.
To say de Groot lacks brains is just lazy, because he looks like a dumb bogan from Southland. That was his first career red, and I believe he only has one career yellow.
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@Kiwiwomble said in RWC Week 2: All Blacks v Namibia:
i have to admit i never really think of clarke as a speedster, faster than most maybe just because he's an outside back...
Clarke has an athletics background, which makes his balance issues even more puzzling. I wonder if he has bulked up too much as he definitely isn't that quick now?
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@Bovidae said in RWC Week 2: All Blacks v Namibia:
@Kiwiwomble said in RWC Week 2: All Blacks v Namibia:
i have to admit i never really think of clarke as a speedster, faster than most maybe just because he's an outside back...
Clarke has an athletics background, which makes his balance issues even more puzzling. I wonder if he has bulked up too much as he definitely isn't that quick now?
Just had a quick look at SR videos and Clarke was still quick during SR this year. Lots of initial acceleration. That's why I raised the injury thing.. he has had issues with his calf previously
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@Canes4life said in RWC Week 2: All Blacks v Namibia:
@canefan yeah we need x-factor. It’s not a coincidence that the guys I’ve mentioned were the best players in Super aswell. We need to run teams off their feet instead of playing into the hands of other teams by kicking.
Kicking down the centre keeps the ball in play and the fatties moving. Running straight into the rush isn't going to get there.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in RWC Week 2: All Blacks v Namibia:
@Jailbreak7 said in RWC Week 2: All Blacks v Namibia:
@Dan54 I agree. You have to think how much does a WC in 2023 mean for some of these older guys, who have already been there and won a WC. Mentioned in the ABs v France thread how both locks look spent, but who the hell would we replace either of them with?
I think the real question is what has happened to the forwards since the first two games of this years RC?
Either Cane and Frizzell are absolutely key to success or something has gone badly wrong in tactics, training or attitude in the last 3-4 games.
It seems to correlate to more and more time under Foster...
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@Bovidae said in RWC Week 2: All Blacks v Namibia:
@Kiwiwomble said in RWC Week 2: All Blacks v Namibia:
i have to admit i never really think of clarke as a speedster, faster than most maybe just because he's an outside back...
Clarke has an athletics background, which makes his balance issues even more puzzling. I wonder if he has bulked up too much as he definitely isn't that quick now?
As in sprinting? Because they generally only run in a straight line eh...
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@Bones said in RWC Week 2: All Blacks v Namibia:
@Bovidae said in RWC Week 2: All Blacks v Namibia:
@Kiwiwomble said in RWC Week 2: All Blacks v Namibia:
i have to admit i never really think of clarke as a speedster, faster than most maybe just because he's an outside back...
Clarke has an athletics background, which makes his balance issues even more puzzling. I wonder if he has bulked up too much as he definitely isn't that quick now?
As in sprinting? Because they generally only run in a straight line eh...
sometimes they throw things or jump over things though.
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@Bones said in RWC Week 2: All Blacks v Namibia:
Clarke has an athletics background, which makes his balance issues even more puzzling. I wonder if he has bulked up too much as he definitely isn't that quick now?
As in sprinting? Because they generally only run in a straight line eh...
yes I think 100 m sprints. Don't know if he was involved in other events. But I think he was fast in the Auckland school champs, 10.7 seconds fast over 100m.
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@nostrildamus said in RWC Week 2: All Blacks v Namibia:
@Bones said in RWC Week 2: All Blacks v Namibia:
Clarke has an athletics background, which makes his balance issues even more puzzling. I wonder if he has bulked up too much as he definitely isn't that quick now?
As in sprinting? Because they generally only run in a straight line eh...
yes I think 100 m sprints. Don't know if he was involved in other events. But I think he was fast in the Auckland school champs, 10.7 seconds fast over 100m.
That would make him in the top 10 players in the world of all time that records are kept for,
Equal with Lomu at no 8 in the list.
He doesn’t look that quick anymore. -
@Chris said in RWC Week 2: All Blacks v Namibia:
Equal with Lomu at no 8 in the list.
He doesn’t look that quick anymore.Well 10.72, a shade behind.
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@nostrildamus said in RWC Week 2: All Blacks v Namibia:
@Bones said in RWC Week 2: All Blacks v Namibia:
Clarke has an athletics background, which makes his balance issues even more puzzling. I wonder if he has bulked up too much as he definitely isn't that quick now?
As in sprinting? Because they generally only run in a straight line eh...
yes I think 100 m sprints. Don't know if he was involved in other events. But I think he was fast in the Auckland school champs, 10.7 seconds fast over 100m.
Still, sprinting in a straight line on a track in no way translates to balance on a rugby field.
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@DaGrubster said in RWC Week 2: All Blacks v Namibia:
We had half of our starting pack unavailable for that french match.
Frizzel, Lomax, Cane and BBBR. And we then played Vaai at 6.
But I agree with your point - what has changed from 2 months ago?
Maybe the teams we played were underdone but I can’t see how we were so far ahead of them as we had only been together for 10 or so days before playing Argentina.
Maybe we have repeated our ‘99 year where after a bad year previously, we had to prove a point straight away against teams that were building for the World Cup and we played our best rugby before the RWC started?
Maybe this squad isn’t drilled hard enough and it shows through the lack of discipline and lack of consistency?
We can speculate all we like but the fact is this side is capable of playing great rugby but it feels as though they will die wondering in this World cup
It's been a long season, and peaks and troughs are inevitable. Blacks were clearly fired up for Boks in Auckland, whereas the oppo were coming back after a break.
By the friendly, the boot was on the other foot.
The ONLY thing which matters is building game by game from HERE.
Expect some of first XV to be unavailable/not 100% for Italy, but by Uruguay we need to be playing the top 23 and in savage mode.
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Watching last night the tape of a 2023 Super Rugby match it struck me that a fair bit of the AB (and Wallaby) discipline 'problem' relates to the laissez faire approach Super Rugby refs (not BOK) have to breakdown and maul Laws.
For the players, old habits die hard.
Might be different with an Aussie ref?
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Yeah I was complaining about how much leeway the attacking sides got in SR in recent seasons. In particular not joining through the gate but also going off their feet and shenanigans past the ruck
I think it has a few consequences when going up to Test level. More penalties obviously.. but also we're picking players who thrive under very different interpretations. Also it has to have a tactical impact when suddenly you need to send more men in to secure the ball
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