RWC Final: All Blacks v Springboks
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Only got ourselves to blame. It felt like the stars were aligning - easy pool, hard quarters but getting Argentina over England meant that the semifinal was always going to be a breeze, and then a final against a fatigued Bok team. For once, we were the ones with the easy path and SA had to slog to reach the final.
Apart from the draw, we didn't have any injuries either which is so rare in a RWC campaign. We had every advantage available to us, all we had to do was to keep 15 on the field. Opportunity blown.
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@akan004 I wouldn’t necessarily classify playing France and Ireland before reaching a semi final is an easy path.
One could very much argue that the Boks had an easy semi also given the way England had been and were playing. Not much different between them and Argentina in terms of performance output.
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@His-Bobness said in RWC Final: All Blacks v Springboks:
@akan004 Interesting that Razor chose McDonald where there seems little evidence for the selection. Is this because they’re old Crusader mates or is there a real respect there?
MacDonald and Holland don't exactly fill me with confidence, while it's great that 2 NZSR coach's got the assistants gig's it does, for both of them, seem to be a case of failing upwards.
Still if they can fail upwards to a 2027 RWC win I'd be delighted.
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Can we keep this thread about the final please
All Blacks 2024 thread is here:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/6385/all-blacks-2024/Or start a new thread about something specific in the Sports forum
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@KiwiMurph said in RWC Final: All Blacks v Springboks:
@akan004 said in RWC Final: All Blacks v Springboks:
Apart from the draw, we didn't have any injuries either
You mean aside from Lomax, Frizell, Cane and effectively Retallick all missing the opening game?
I meant in the games that mattered. We had a full deck available for the knockout games. That French game was of no consequence. By losing it we actually ended up getting on the easier side of the draw.
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Just an interesting what if...What if SA had beaten Ireland and we face them in the QF. Would have been fascinating to see how that game went down.
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@KiwiMurph EDG with his rest too
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@Nevorian said in RWC Final: All Blacks v Springboks:
So many ifs and buts.
I guess we should be grateful when only a few weeks ago people were even considering if we would make it out of the Pool Stage.
The thing that bugs me is we have to wait 9 months for redemption.
Those people were just fucking idiots.
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@Nevorian said in RWC Final: All Blacks v Springboks:
The thing that bugs me is we have to wait 9 months for redemption.
Four more years, in fact.
I was sick of the ABs being the best team in the world but not RWC Champs. But I would take that back in a moment compared to Foster's 3/4/5th best team in the world, and still not RWC Champs.
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Foster, as with Hansen circa 2019 before him, didn't seem to grasp what IMHO constitutes a winning style of rugby since the last cup. Foster's early teams played a helter skelter brand that felt like a poor imitation of the free running style that won us the cup in 2015. But it didn't work when we came up against England in Yokohama, and it won't work now. I think winning rugby for us is solid setpiece, an improved kicking game in terms of distance kicking and kick and chase, direct running in the forwards and midfield which can allow us to quickly recycle and open space to set our outside players free. Take points on offer to develop scoreboard pressure that forces our opponents into mistakes when they have to chase the game. If Razor can bring some or all of this I'll be happy
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@canefan said in RWC Final: All Blacks v Springboks:
Foster, as with Hansen circa 2019 before him, didn't seem to grasp what IMHO constitutes a winning style of rugby since the last cup. Foster's early teams played a helter skelter brand that felt like a poor imitation of the free running style that won us the cup in 2015. But it didn't work when we came up against England in Yokohama, and it won't work now. I think winning rugby for us is solid setpiece, an improved kicking game in terms of distance kicking and kick and chase, direct running in the forwards and midfield which can allow us to quickly recycle and open space to set our outside players free. Take points on offer to develop scoreboard pressure that forces our opponents into mistakes when they have to chase the game. If Razor can bring some or all of this I'll be happy
the only thing i would add is not being afraid to grind out points, if we're up against a big defensive team then accept we might need to put 10-20 phases together and not boot it away if we dont open them up after 3-5 phases
edit: exactly like we did against ireland, as you say
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@Kiwiwomble said in RWC Final: All Blacks v Springboks:
@canefan said in RWC Final: All Blacks v Springboks:
Foster, as with Hansen circa 2019 before him, didn't seem to grasp what IMHO constitutes a winning style of rugby since the last cup. Foster's early teams played a helter skelter brand that felt like a poor imitation of the free running style that won us the cup in 2015. But it didn't work when we came up against England in Yokohama, and it won't work now. I think winning rugby for us is solid setpiece, an improved kicking game in terms of distance kicking and kick and chase, direct running in the forwards and midfield which can allow us to quickly recycle and open space to set our outside players free. Take points on offer to develop scoreboard pressure that forces our opponents into mistakes when they have to chase the game. If Razor can bring some or all of this I'll be happy
the only thing i would add is not being afraid to grind out points, if we're up against a big defensive team then accept we might need to put 10-20 phases together and not boot it away if we dont open them up after 3-5 phases
edit: exactly like we did against ireland, as you say
Zero turnovers vs Ireland wasn't it? That stat shows we can do it
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@canefan i think in the end thats what was so frustrating...they proved they could do it...but didnt
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I remember McLeod's interview after halftime in the France game. Basically said they planned to run them around to tire them out. But instead of driving up the guts they decided to spin it wide like touch and make all sorts of silly chip kicks. Just not smart
