All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.
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Thought this was pretty good:
Wallabies need to go up the guts to stand a chance against All Blacks
The rare meaningful incursions opposition teams have made against the All Blacks share a common denominator: they have been the result of good, direct running in the centre of the field.
Paul Cully
Wallabies need to go up the guts to stand a chance against All Blacks
The rare meaningful incursions opposition teams have made against the All Blacks share a common denominator: they have been the result of good, direct running in the centre of the field.
Liam Williams in the Wales series, Will Genia in Wellington, the combination of Johan Goosen and Pieter-Steph du Toit in Christchurch, and the inside balls the Pumas used in Hamilton: that's where the holes have been found.
Typically, that's where their tight forwards defend. In fact, if you were to point a finger at the players who were stepped, or missed the tackle, in the examples above, the list would be Brodie Retallick, Joe Moody, Dane Coles and Coles again.
Is there a weakness there? Not fundamentally, of course, otherwise there wouldn't be such a gap between the All Blacks and the rest of the competition. It's more needles and haystacks territory but when the bookies have you at $10 in a two-horse race you have to take cheer in the smallest of openings.
There are two elements at play here. First, the back three have got to be prepared to carry into the big men and look for these little mismatches off counterattack ball. Those spotted trying to outflank the All Blacks instead of targeting the low numbers should be given one chance but if they repeat the error they should be immediately hooked. It is not where the opportunities are.
Second, there is a big onus on the tight five to carry strongly and clean out with purpose when the Wallabies are trying to build pressure.
They've got to punch around the fringes and punch again and then bring in some deception with Quade Cooper.
It is all dependent on the tight five though. I have not seen enough of Stephen Moore as a physical force this year. As captain he is the barometer, but the most common adjective associated with him in 2016 has been solid. His graciousness in defeat and position as captain has perhaps spared him from more scrutiny, but no one should be immune. He has to go up a level in Auckland.
The All Blacks aren't unaware that teams might try and hit with direct play. For all that is said about their supposed arrogance, they select teams with a huge amount of respect for the physical nature of Test rugby. That's why Matt Todd is in the team ahead of Ardie Savea.
A New Zealand colleague of mine, Ben Strang, did a fascinating piece on the New Zealand No 7s in July. It showed that the injured Sam Cane and Todd have more in common than either do with Savea.
The key stat in his analysis was the dominant tackle percentage. In short, Cane was by far the most dominant tackler of the trio, and Todd was some way ahead of Savea. It reflected with how they played the game at Super Rugby level, with Savea given more licence to try and win a turnover while the physically larger Cane and Todd would wait back and try to dominate the contact with ball carrier.
I say this unequivocally - Todd's selection at No. 7 is a sign of respect for the Wallabies, a nod to how they think the Wallabies will try to challenge them with aggression and size. If they were anticipating a game of basketball Savea would have been the man.
A Wallabies loss is still the most likely outcome: a loss by 30 points-plus is apparently tempting the casual punters. But a Wallabies performance to be proud of is still in Australian hands, and the way to do that is through the middle. -
Thanks for explaining yourself. The reasons behind the deleted post were really bugging me. Now I can sleep easier 😉
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A GAGR poster posted this just before noon NZT:
WALLABIES TEAM
- Scott Sio (24 Tests)
- Stephen Moore (c) (111 Tests)
- Sekope Kepu (72 Tests)
- Rory Arnold (5 Tests)
- Adam Coleman (6 Tests)
- Dean Mumm (52 Tests)
- Michael Hooper (60 Tests)
- Lopeti Timani (2 Tests)
- Nick Phipps (47 Tests)
- Bernard Foley (36 Tests)
- Henry Speight (5 Tests)
- Reece Hodge (5 Tests)
- Samu Kerevi (7 Tests)
- Dane Haylett-Petty (9 Tests)
- Israel Folau (47 Tests)
RESERVES
- James Hanson (11 Tests)
- Tom Robertson (3 Tests)
- Allan Alaalatoa (4 Tests)
- Rob Simmons (65 Tests)
- David Pocock (60 Tests)
- Nick Frisby (2 Tests)
- Quade Cooper (63 Tests)
- Sefa Naivalu (1 Test)
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@Tregaskis can't be right, there is only 23 names
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@Tregaskis That line-up is correct.
The official media release can be found here:
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@mariner4life said in All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.:
@Tregaskis can't be right, there is only 23 names
SURPRISE MUTHAFUCKA!!!
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Not a bad lineup, i think they've got the calls pretty much right. Their best tight 5, a balanced back row, probably their best midfield, and a decent set of outsides. Cooper off the bench for spark. Not sure about Pocock and Simmons as "impact" but i guess they have a plan
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@NTA said in All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.:
@Tregaskis can't be right, there is only 23 names
SURPRISE MUTHAFUCKA!!!
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@Crucial said in All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.:
I don't exactly see Naholo scorching up the tracks either.
i'm not bothered by jules being given a run, but if you were to view their respective highlights packages from super rugby over the last two years... well, one would be a lot longer than the other.
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Had to pop into the shops last night and was listening to the radio on the way. It was the daily sports roundup but is usually an NRL circle jerk. Anyway they got Matt Burke on the line to discuss the coming game and they were absolutely gushing about the ABs. The host (uber-okker called Dobbo I think) wondered whether that instead of stressing about how the Wallabies are travelling, union fans should just celebrate how good the ABs are now and their incredible achievements. One thing he was mentioning was that this is the greatest team of all time. Ironically man-for-man this team is probably considerably weaker than the team that won the RWC. It's just that this year they've perfected their game plan and are just nailing it week in week out.
Obviously all that goodwill will evaporate if the Wallabies pull off the impossible on Saturday, but as someone who suffered no end of shit at school for being a kiwi it was nice to hear, if not 25 odd years too late for me.
Unfortunately, that was balanced out by my 11 year old son in the passenger seat asking me asking if the ABs have won many games this year. I farking give up on him and will have to focus all my efforts on my youngest who at least knows what a flanker is (eldest doesn't and he plays the farking game.)
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@reprobate said in All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.:
@Crucial said in All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.:
I don't exactly see Naholo scorching up the tracks either.
i'm not bothered by jules being given a run, but if you were to view their respective highlights packages from super rugby over the last two years... well, one would be a lot longer than the other.
Yep, but I was talking about their test performances
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@Rancid-Schnitzel I don't think this team is any weaker than the 2015 RWC team. In some positions this team is considerably stronger imo. I think Barret has taken the running game of a 10 to a new level and surpasses Carter for mine. Woodcock was on his last legs and Moody is definitely an improvement. GOAT was past his prime and Cane has been his equal this year. ALB is arguably better than what Conrad was last year. Nonu is the only guy whom I can think of from last year who is well ahead of his counterpart in 2016. Add fresh players like Squire, Taylor and Ardie, and this team has arguably a stronger bench than last year as well.
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While I know what fans say and do has no bearing on the ABs, but am getting a bit over all these media outlets that were keen to put the boot into rugby over the past month or so climbing all over this bandwagon...they're the fuckers that will jinx this!
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@akan004 said in All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.:
@Rancid-Schnitzel I don't think this team is any weaker than the 2015 RWC team. In some positions this team is considerable stronger imo. I think Barret has taken the running game of a 10 to a new level and surpasses Carter for mine. Woodcock was on his last legs and Moody is definitely an improvement. GOAT was past his prime and Cane has been his equal this year. ALB is arguably better than what Conrad was last year. Nonu is the only guy whom I can think of from last year who is well ahead of his counterpart in 2016. Add fresh players like Squire, Taylor and Ardie, and this team has arguably a stronger bench than last year as well.
Moody was there for the most important games as well so I reckon he's classified as part of the 2015 mob. Barrett has indeed been a revelation and I haven't felt this excited about a player since Cullen. But Carter had a better boot and better game management (man of the match in the RWC final). Thought GOAT was great last year and him and Cane kind of cancel each other out now. ALB has been great, but you'd still take the Nonu-Smith combo over Crotty-ALB any day.
Bench last year was Mealamu, Franks, Faumuina, Vito, Cane, TKB, BB and SBW. I reckon that's pretty tough to beat.
You also have to factor in that Savea has been below his best for most of the season and NMS has been out for the entire season.
It's obviously open for debate but I think man for man the 2015 side was better.
IMHO one thing that has been particular great about the team this year is TJP becoming a genuine test player. That is of massive significance going forward and I really hope it continues.
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@Rancid-Schnitzel Forgot about NMS. He's definitely superior to Dagg and agree with Savea not being as good as last year.
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I don't bother trying to distinguish between the various teams fielded from 2004 onwards until now. To me they are a continuous era of almost unprecedented excellence and success. Some of the most engaging and awesome games of Rugby have been played by the AB teams of that era from the initial demolition of France in 2004 that rocked the NH scribes from their surety of AB forward weakness, through the dismembering of the Lions in 2005, even the Game That Shall Not Be Viewed in 2007 became an integral part of the AB game management.
I just loike that fact we score so many tries it takes the refereeing out of it. But for the love of gawd can we pencil in the Welsh wonder and his Australian counterpart as our refs for the rest of time? The games they officiate turn into Rugby-fests that never tire of watching.
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thats a pretty big piece of smelly bait
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