Springboks v All Blacks
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its really strange , I cant remember ever feeling this relaxed watching the ABs ,
We can be behind in the first half , and normally I would be starting to sit on the edge of my seat
but there is this almost arrogant confidence right now , knowing our opposition cant go the 80 with us ,
to feel that way playing the Boks over there , almost feels a bit surreal
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@mimic said in Springboks v All Blacks:
Regarding TJP.. his service is still pretty bad.. there was one passage of play where 2 of his passes went to ground.. and the rest weren't in front of the man either..
A Smith is still the king
At the time I assumed a Bok had got a sly hand or foot somewhere to turn those passes into grubbed along the ground.
But up until about 3 months ago I had TJP rated as the worst AB I'd seen, so not beyond the realms of possibility that he can still throw the odd shocker.
Fair to say I do actually rate him now.
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@mimic said in Springboks v All Blacks:
Regarding TJP.. his service is still pretty bad.. there was one passage of play where 2 of his passes went to ground.. and the rest weren't in front of the man either..
A Smith is still the king
They are quite different players with their own strengths and weaknesses.
The past two tests have actually suited TJP. He's had to put in a heap of tackles and there's been a lot of stuff happening at the ruck that TJ's size has actually been an advantage.
If Smith comes back next test, great. But if TJP starts again, that will be great too.
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Yeah we already know Smith is the business ,
Long term , its not hurting us getting game time into the no 2 and 3
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@kiwiinmelb said in Springboks v All Blacks:
its really strange , I cant remember ever feeling this relaxed watching the ABs ,
We can be behind in the first half , and normally I would be starting to sit on the edge of my seat
but there is this almost arrogant confidence right now , knowing our opposition cant go the 80 with us ,
to feel that way playing the Boks over there , almost feels a bit surreal
There have been a few times but the one that really sticks out was the ABs team built around the great Auckland shield team of the late 80s. When Buck fronted for the Haka you knew it was over, just a question of how much. And Fox was the best NZ goalkicker I can remember. He never seemed to miss
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I'm not sure if it has been mentioned previously but BBs goal kicking style seems to have been adjusted (mostly for good, but it came unstuck in the wind).
Watch most kickers and they way 'over kick' what is necessary. That's because they want one procedure and standard irrespective of distance and angle and conditions. How many times do you see close kicks sail way up high and into the stands when a simple prod could have done the job? Also why you sometimes see what look like easy kick skew away because they are kicked hard but not perfectly.
They key is that that kicking movement must be perfect or the risk of missing increases (yes, stating the obvious). What I have noticed with BB is that he recently started just stroking the ball through quite low and with only enough force as was necessary. This worked for a while to combat his inconsistencies but last night the wind played havoc with this approach as there wasn't enough weight behind the ball.
He isn't a poor kicker, just needs to either work on picking the style for the moment or finding that one style that works for him at a high percentage.
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Heard Foxy on Veitch before the TRC and he said since Byrne left the kickers pretty much teach themselves as a group. Fox said he absolutely positively has never got involved in the coaching aspect of the goal kicking.
He should, or at least draft in Halligan or Botica or someone because the goal kicking is the glaring weakness of not only Beaudy's game but our entire performance.
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@Crucial said in Springboks v All Blacks:
I'm not sure if it has been mentioned previously but BBs goal kicking style seems to have been adjusted (mostly for good, but it came unstuck in the wind).
Watch most kickers and they way 'over kick' what is necessary. That's because they want one procedure and standard irrespective of distance and angle and conditions. How many times do you see close kicks sail way up high and into the stands when a simple prod could have done the job? Also why you sometimes see what look like easy kick skew away because they are kicked hard but not perfectly.
They key is that that kicking movement must be perfect or the risk of missing increases (yes, stating the obvious). What I have noticed with BB is that he recently started just stroking the ball through quite low and with only enough force as was necessary. This worked for a while to combat his inconsistencies but last night the wind played havoc with this approach as there wasn't enough weight behind the ball.
He isn't a poor kicker, just needs to either work on picking the style for the moment or finding that one style that works for him at a high percentage.
I think Barrett's low trajectory kicking is a specific cake tin adjustment .
He probably goes have 2 styles, techniques.
Therefore twice as likely for things to go wrong.
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@Rapido be surprised if he has 2 kicking styles/techniques...if he does, then that there is his problem.
Golfers don't have 2 swings, they just make adjustments for the wind (different club length) the mechanics of kicking and a golf swing have similarities.
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Back in 2003 for example when we put 50 on the Boks and Wobblies away. We used to live on about 40 % possession.
This game we had 60%.
I don't know what this means for opposition thinking up counter strategies.
But I'll take this opportunity to say once again how much I love everyone who has anything to do with our lineout.
Scrum is quite good too.
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@taniwharugby said in Springboks v All Blacks:
@Rapido be surprised if he has 2 kicking styles/techniques...if he does, then that there is his problem.
Golfers don't have 2 swings, they just make adjustments for the wind (different club length) the mechanics of kicking and a golf swing have similarities.
Its most likely the same with golf, same swing, but you adjust by moving the ball back or forwards in your address or if using a tee going lower or higher. If I'm looking to punch in golf I'll have the ball back further towards my back foot.
With goal kicking the easiest way to do it is chance the angle the ball sits on the tee. Leg swing & approach are exactly the same.
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To be rather hypercritical, there were a few areas where I'm not sure things were as quite as rosy as they seem.
I didn't feel Barrett in the first half managed the game that well. That said, from broken play and at fullback he is lethal.
Likewise I think Crotty/ALB, whilst working well is not the long term solution. Too similar -- a little like two Conrads. Didn't seem to trouble the Boks in the first half. It has usually been the case that a big unit allied to a skillful thinker has been our best combination.
ALB's youth and passing suggest he could well be the long term answer at 13. But I fancy SBW or Moala more at 12 to create some mayhem.
Crotty is a wonderful servant of the game and has been invaluable in this transition year but in the longer term I feel he may miss out as he did in the RWC. -
just got around to watching this after being out of circulation for a few days. fuck me, what an absolute thrashing. i would feel sorry for the boks if they were rebuilding and trying to play attacking rugby and got hammered like that, but since they picked steyn and kicked away everything they got i say fuck em, good job.
hard to defend against our boys when they play like that. every player has the skills and vision to move the ball. we make a turnover and it is just as likely to be crockett, coles etc as a back flicking the ball out so we can get it wide quick and take advantage.
crotty was very very good. everyone is messing the pants over ALB, justifiably so, but crotty's accuracy and decision-making and securing of ball, keeping ball alive, keeping the ball moving were all great.
i had hoped perenara had turned a corner last game, but this game he was back to shit passing. still a great support runner, but his passing was often horrible and often it was just great skills from other guys preventing his shit service from damaging us more.
dagg is doing some very good stuff out there. barrett very good, give someone else the tee. naholo deserves his spot. smith good as always.
the forwards: todd played well, seamless. everyone was bloody good really, but special mention must go to retallick, just huge. -
@ACT-Crusader
I agree with this. Aaron Smith is brilliant but I think TJs ability to clear the ball no matter how it comes back is stronger. He is not pressured at the breakdown the way Smith sometimes is. I thought there were two poor passes out of what seemed like the most passes ever by a half back. -
@Tregaskis I was going to mention this. If you ever wanted evidence of the impact the AB bench offers compared to other teams this was the game. Most of the AB subs came on between 63-68 mins and the score was still 29-15 with 10 mins to go. Nearly as many points (28) were scored in the final 10 mins as in the first 70 mins.
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Re TJP/Smith, I think you have to look at the impact his pass makes on the first five's game. I thought BB looked a bit flat in H1, but it could well be that the relative inaccuracy and delay in TJP's pass meant he lost some time in terms of both waiting and having to think about the catch -- a half second at that level probably makes a ton of difference. But great to have a no.2 playing as well as TJP, and TKB is still pretty sold.
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