RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy
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@Victor-Meldrew said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
@canefan said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
@JayCee said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
looking forward to seeing this guy back in the number 6
All Black Shannon Frizell raring to go after ‘boring’ sideline spell
Flanker Shannon Frizell is nearing a return to international rugby after remaining “patient” during a “boring” stint on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.
Hoping he can be what we need him to be
I just hope the forwards re-discover their mojo and play like they did in the RC. Danger for me is they don't take this game as seriously as they would a crunch SA game as @Frank hinted at.
We will beat Italy easily, but optimism beyond that based on the forwards in the RC is tenuous at best. The state of Aussie and Argentinian rugby has been made clear, and the Boks were completely underdone.
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I fear you may be right. The forwards seem to have gone backwards under Ryan - despite some bright spots. Their performance against the Boks at Twickenham was the worst I've seen in years.
Might be able to turn it around though.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
@Old-Samurai-Jack said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
We need a revolution. The same isn't going to work..
Is that you, Eddie?
Feel for you after that Wales game, mate.
Thanks for the support
Signed Alex, John, and Fozzie -
@Victor-Meldrew said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
The forwards seem to have gone backwards under Ryan - despite some bright spots. Their performance against the Boks at Twickenham was the worst I've seen in years.
I think it's a bit disingenuous to cherry pick a warm up game with zero riding on it as proof the forwards have gone backwards.
The forwards are a hell of a lot better off under Ryan than they were under Plumtree.
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@KiwiMurph said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
@Victor-Meldrew said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
The forwards seem to have gone backwards under Ryan - despite some bright spots. Their performance against the Boks at Twickenham was the worst I've seen in years.
I think it's a bit disingenuous to cherry pick a warm up game with zero riding on it as proof the forwards have gone backwards.
The forwards are a hell of a lot better off under Ryan than they were under Plumtree.
When we play the wrong tactics, ie spin it wide before we go up the middle, our forwards understandably look poor. When we are more direct we look great. I scratch my head about why we choose to do this
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@canefan almost like internally there is a struggle of styles, and if all haven't bought into it or cant see the big picture it will affect everything from decision making, execution and discipline, a moments hesitation in making a decision can have huge ramifications to the outcome...IMO highlighted in our penalty/card count.
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I can see why they are keen on Clarke, he has unbelievable potential. He's had a lot of injury niggles the last few years, but if they finally have him fully fit then they'll be keen to unleash him as his pace and power can provide a real point of difference.
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is a RWC really where we want to be hoping someone finally lived up to their potential...or should we be playing guys that are already playing some of their best rugby
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@Kiwiwomble said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
or should we be playing guys that are already playing some of their best rugby
do we have many of them? Or has Fozzie got the team coming into peak at the perfect time....
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@taniwharugby i do find this discussion interesting, have seen it said a few time around the place, what are we generally considering "the peak" now days? i really feel previously "peaking" would be over this whole season, or at least for the whole world cup...but i see more and more people suggesting they can and have so precisely planned everything they can "peak" for 3 games
personally i have seen little to suggest this team or coaches are able to do that...and if they can im concerned they feel they only have a peak of 3 games in them
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@Kiwiwomble I think they should be able to plan for peak performance now with a plateau for a few weeks before a drop off, it isnt like a one off game/fight/run/row/jump to plan for, with optimum fitness and weight, they would have been planning for a period of high performance.
Point is, not many of our players are in form, let alone look to be coming into peak performance, but again, who knows, maybe Fozzie has had a long, long term plan....
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@taniwharugby agreed almost everyone looks a bit rusty in some way at least
a target of only a few weeks just feels really narrow compared to previous world cups, i feel we use to get shit pre 2011 for playing our best rugby in the YEARS in between world cups...peaking in the wrong YEAR...now all of a sudden we're talking about peaking in the wrong WEEK?
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@Kiwiwomble I think the talk of peaking between RWCs was more a general comment about us playing well except in RWCs, but I dont think professional athletes can maintain peak performance all year, which is why they would no doubt have been targetting peak performance for ~ Sept/Oct?
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@Kiwiwomble said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
is a RWC really where we want to be hoping someone finally lived up to their potential...or should we be playing guys that are already playing some of their best rugby
I don't think you could say Jordan is playing his best rugby right now, I wonder if he hasn't been fully fit. Moving Telea to the right where he has played a lot of footy in recent years and bringing Clarke or LF in makes sense. Clarke is faster, more powerful, and very solid under the high ball, so if he's fit and firing he's a very attractive option. He's also not fucking off next year which is a bonus.
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@george33 thanks for those insights, very interesting
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Re: peaking for the quarters onwards, that's absolutely what every top team tries to do, and is why you don't often see cricket scores run up in pool play these days. The game is now so bloody centered around size and power that players need to make sure they are in good shape come the quarter final. The 2015 ABs were very flat during pool play because they were following a plan that would keep them match fit and peaking for the quarter, which is exactly what they did.
Point being, form during pool play means very little unless it's a knockout scenario.
