RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland
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@taniwharugby Ofa and Nepo maybe
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@chimoaus said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
If Finlay was always going to play this QF why start Roigard last week, why not give Finlay as many minutes as possible. Yes he might be good in D but Cams boot, his ability to score points far outweigh Finlay’s pros. I just think he is severely short of minutes.
Rope on a dope. The Irish have been preparing for the best possible AB selections and have totally underestimated Foster's ability to surprise.*
It's all in the
lemmingslearnings.*I may be relying on a lot of dry powder, but donuts are made of dry powder and Foster does know his donuts.
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@game_film said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
Baby Dupont should be in the team but maybe Christie surprises with a TJP-esque turnover late on.
Surely Telea wasn’t out alone? Appreciate the need for standards of performance though. Leicester can come into the middle and do some work at least.
But come on, this is not a game based on these individuals, this one is based on tactics and execution. Lions game 1. Do or die vs Boks. It’s there.
Those are often the most fun nights as I recall. Not everyone needs a wingman when out hitting on hot French chicks.
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@MN5 said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
Those are often the most fun nights as I recall. Not everyone needs a wingman when out hitting on hot French chicks.
and Telea does have excellent footwork. Although, unlike you, the biggest fun nights I have had, I wasn't able to clearly recall them.
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@BerniesCorner said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
Where's Razor.
Probably not in the stands watching
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@DaGrubster said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
He missed a flight to Argentina mate! 😂
Grubs he didn't miss the flight, who told you that? He missed the team assembly time, and so bus , but got to airport, but was stood down by the leadership group. Well according to Dane Coles and Conrad Smith on tv. And also heard TJ Perenara talk about it at a lunch thing I was at, when someone asked how much he missed plane by.
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I can't really see us winning unless Ireland fold to the occasion - as ironically they've done every time in the past. Still Fozzie loves breaking those records...
As it stands they'll be 3 ex-pats in the Irish backline all deemed "not good enough" to make the AB's yet Ireland have consistently beaten us over the years.
Why is this?
Well they have a better forward pack, a better kicking game and are more disciplined
Our forward pack has improved but not enough to boss the likes of Ireland, SA or even France. Our backs used to be good enough that even if we just had parity in the forwards they could pull something out of the fire and score points - I fear those days are past.
Our kicking game is among the worst of all the top nations in the world, we don't have the length of kick to get us out of tricky situations, our short kicking game to contest the ball and get it back is dire.
I just don't rate this team to win the forward battle nor the tactical kicking game and without either of those winning is very difficult.
Our best chance lies in Ireland bottling it and the game getting unstructured, funny things can happen under pressure and I can only hope that come the end of 80 minutes I'm the one laughing (with joy - not bitter irony).
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I think it was expected he wouldn’t make it.
Especially when Dane Cole’s did a pressed at the start of the week.
He had suffered through lack of minutes this year while they have pushed Taylor. Taylor has player pretty well this year and they invested a lot of time in him to get his form back to the detriment of ST.
Maybe it’s the crusaders connection with Ryan. But when ST arrived on the scene he was the one bright spark when our tight 5 was very poor.
He should have been backed to be the starting hooker for the RWC and developed into one of the top hookers in the world by now.
Instead we have old Father Time on the bench and I am not sure that Coles can really worry another team as good as Ireland
Same thing happened with Aumua and I know this is not so straitforward, but he should have been developed to be a mainstay of the ABs by now.
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That is my worry about the Lomax/Newell selection.
I would feel better with Laulala on the bench
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The young reserve props selections are interesting. I think the Irish pack is very mobile and they are trying to counter this. Williams is making every post a winner so selection justified and Nepo misses out vs the Irish but would he have played against the Boks or France? I think so. Just hope the young fellas can play out of their skins at set piece.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@ACT-Crusader said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@Tim said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
Retallick plays 80, and Scott Barrett shifts to six?
Whitelock to replace Frizzel
Papali’i to replace CaneThere's flexibility there to mix and match too
Not really. We are in a bit of trouble if Ardie goes down early.
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I hope the "Shit Ritchie McCaw" has a rocket up his arse this weekend. He has seemed off the pace for a long time. I hope he throws egg all over my face this weekend.
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I was thinking more about replacement, I guess.
Frizzle or maybe Cane would move to 8?
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@Old-Samurai-Jack well that would be the ultimate sledge after 78 mins if we have the game, Cane standing over POM after winning a t/o "I might be a poor mans McCaw, but you will never get past the 1/4 finals!"
But we know he would never do that.
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@Donsteppa said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
At least the end of two decades of suffering from Foster's inconsistent coaching marches ever closer....
Knowing our luck the BOP RU will pick him up as head coach...
