All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.
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Just to add if BB had an ear infection he shouldn't have been kicking.
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I love it when the Aussies lose, they just look to deflect away from how shit they really are. Its the ref, its the AB's that have changed the laws, its the NZR run world rugby, its the media, its the aliens that are invading, the grass was too green, the ball had too many dimples on it than normal. Cheika is a F******* clown the paper got it right. And by the way how can you respect a team or a coach when they react like this.
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But on Sunday, Hansen softened his stance and extended an olive branch to Cheika for the good of rugby in Australasia.
"For a long time the relationship with Australia has probably been a little frosty and maybe we need to sit down and have a beer together and sort it out," Hansen told Australian reporters, describing the Wallabies as a "formidable opponent" and important ally.
"But I think some of it comes down to the fact that the Bledisloe Cup means so much to both teams and when one team's having a dominant period like we're at the moment, the other team really gets frustrated.
Steve Hanson says Cheika needs to be 'bigger' than what the media is betraying him as.
"It's how you deal with those frustrations and how you handle yourself when you're winning, I guess, is important.
"This week we've tried to play a pretty straight bat and not tried to aggravate anyone. Our media didn't help with the clown thing but that's the media. It's not us.
"But at the same time you've got to look at your own history and your own backyard and there's been plenty of people who've had a crack at (former All Blacks captain Richie) McCaw and so forth."
Hansen said he had empathy for Cheika.
"I lost 10 tests in a row with Wales and it was tough. Of course you get hurt by it," he said.
"It's how you deal with the adversity that's important." -
Interesting to see the same cabbal of NZ journos are out in force today on Twitter pumping Cheika's tires big time.
It is the same group that were saying NZ fans were myopic after saying Hansen or Jones should have got coach of the year over Cheika.
Not sure what he has over them, I can only imagine their reaction if Andrew McFadden had been carrying on like this with the Warriors - they would have brutalised him.
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@Donsteppa Funny , I never heard Kaefer complaining about Scotland game at the World Cup!
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@Samurai-Jack said in All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.:
Wow! Cheika is having a meltdown! He has basically lost the plot ...
I've come to the conclusion that he never had the plot to begin with ...
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The Herald cartoon was low class and unfunny, and the disallowed try could have gone either way, but Cheika needs to shut up. His team didn't lose by less than 7. They got pumped by the AB's in the second half because the AB's are fitter and the reserves are a cut above.
When you've only won a few games all year, you need to look a lot closer to home than the opposition country's media (who are actually pretty rubbish on the whole). And as for the humility thing, oh FFS. Newsflash, cupcake, acting like a lollie-deprived toddler does not endear you to anyone. I've heard plenty of generous words from Read and Hansen, despite their being not a lot to praise.
I quite like Cheika's passion, and he's done good things with the team in the past. But the last few days has been an epic failure for him, and utterly unworthy of an international coach.
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Hansen said he would like the Aussies to come into the changing rooms after for a beer, said there is an open invitation but they never take it nor do they get invited into the Aussies.
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I'm no fan of the herald but I hope next time they come back they do something similar, its not as if the aussie media and union haven't done similar things many many times before and worse. Whats pretty clear is they don't seem to like it in return, do any of you remember the time the NSWRU got a ground announcer fired for calling the Tahds "sheep rooters"? Thats a ground announcer yet a couple of years earlier they were doing the same thing to us on prime time tv.
Tldr? Fuck em, they had this coming.
How do I make this my avatar?
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@Crucial said in All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.:
Away from the sideshows and hopefully to generate discussion other than Cheika, I did think that the Wobs gave a taste of what we can expect from a firing opposition and showed up all of my pre-match concerns.
Imagine you are Eddie Jones and there was an England/AB test on this EOYT. You'd be following the same game plan with a better coached team and better personnel. You'd be running big munters up the guts to get over the gain line. Be looking at targeting our midfield for easy bending. Would be pulling out every scrum trick in the book (as we still sometime come across as bewildered with some of the rulings that go against us). With Farrell kicking they would be keeping pressure on a lot more than Oz did.
I'll give BB benefit of the doubt due to illness but my fear of him not taking control in this type of game came to fruition. I understand the argument that he didm't get much ball to use but that could also mean that he didn't impose himself and demand it (as DC would have done in the past).
I also find it funny how before the match everyone was bitching about Julian's selection and afterward voting for him in MOTM votes. He did exactly the thing I wanted to see him there to do. A Lomu-esque run to break the game open. I haven't seen Naholo do that.I voted for Savea as MotM but still prefer Naholo. In the game Savea made all sorts of basic fundamental errors - the missed tackle on Speight stood out. It's just that Savea turned around in the second half and did things no one else in the team could do. Problem is that Savea hasn't been consistently playing as well as he had been in that ten minute period.
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Though, as another journo here wrote yesterday: this is a far bigger story in Australia than "Wallabies lose again" and so Rugby is probably gaining profile it otherwise wouldn't.
Not many people in the msm are writing about the record here (because why should they?)
Cheika put the focus on the respect thing with his comments.
The problem with that is it perpetuates the clickbait media style.
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So is all the constant claims of the ABs being cheats not also disrespectful? IMO calling someone a cheat is worse than calling them a clown, I call my son a clown all the time.
That's not at you NTA
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The UK media have all gone down the track of 'the ABs always get favourable calls from the officials and Australia were robbed' while describing the incident with so called facts that are actually just opinions. Also quick to point out that the officials got the Coles call correct (even though that was also contentious).
The rugby press over here is quite funny though. There is a real underlying theme of making excuses before their team has even done anything. They have been incredibly pessimistic about the recent injuries to squad members (even when they haven't been to first choice players), have been busy pointing out the 'hoodoo' against South Africa (although I must admit I didn't realise they hadn't beaten them in 10 years), pumping the Saffies up big time as if they are currently a massive force and laying down a foundation of bullshit to build on when the ABs finally play them.
I guess now McCaw has gnu they need a new target and it is now the complicity of the world's reffing fraternity. -
@DMX said in All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.:
@Donsteppa Funny , I never heard Kaefer complaining about Scotland game at the World Cup!
It's all good though. Next time Kafer makes an alleged mistake in the commentary box he'll never be allowed to call another game of rugby in his life...
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The problem with the mainstream rugby media in Australia is that all but two appear to be on the ARU payroll. The two being Zavos and Paul Cully. The rest would rather look for excuses and deflect a la Cheika before offering proper analysis of the games, and hence Cheika can carry on like a petulant child and get away with it. That's why I tend to not watch the 360 and other mainstream shows anymore. The GnGR podcasts are good, even though most of the posters on that site are one eyed plums, but the best show going around is the Rugga Matrix one on youtube. I think the media in both countries have been disgraceful over the last two years with their irresponsible reporting. Smith was a case in point. This clown picture is a disgrace, and the various attempts from the Aussie media to poke fun at the haka, Richie and the cheating claims have been just as bad.
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@cgrant said in All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.:
@Chris-B.
Barrett regressing ?
I have watched the Durban game two times and if you had done the same, you could have seen him tear the SA defence on his own on multiple occasions. He was involved and prominent in most of the tries.
I agree his kicking from the tee has regressed (maybe a question of confidence ?), but not his general play.My comments are all about his goalkicking.
The rest of his play is outstanding - but, enough to keep him ahead of two other excellent first fives? Maybe not if he's going to consistently leave 10 points out there.
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@Rancid-Schnitzel said in All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.:
@Marty said in All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.:
@Rancid-Schnitzel said in All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.:
@Marty said in All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.:
@Chris-B. said in All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks v Wallabies at Eden Park.:
Thoughts on the All Blacks playing without a goal kicker?
Wondering about this.
Beaudy was pretty ordinary in the first part of the Super season. Came right in the ABs camp, but he seems to be regressing.
I wonder how long the coaches will put up with substandard goal kicking - eventually it will cost us a match, so he needs to sort it - otherwise he'll have to be relegated to super-sub status again.
General performance from Beaudy has me wondering again how effective he can be when his forwards are getting munched. I didn't see him trying to take control at any point. In fact after the game I realised I could barely remember seeing him.
They had 30 something percent possession in the first half. He barely had the ball enough to make an impression before he was hooked. When and where was he supposed to take control?
35% is not great but it's adequate. A more controlling performance from a Beauden Barrett would include, for example, taking on the line himself - something that has been his hallmark this season. Aaron Cruden had more direct influence on proceedings when he came on, though admittedly not always positive.
As mentioned, he only had the ball a handful of times in attack. It would be interesting to know at what stage him taking the ball to the line would have been a controlling performance or indeed called for under the circumstances.
Cruden came on and failed to find touch from a penalty and then sent a harmless kick into the 22. With much more possession and a tiring opponent of course he's going to be more involved.
BB totally deserves any criticism for his kicking, which could prove crucial in some of the typical arm-wrestles up north. It could even be argued that Lima S gets the nod if BB cant get at least 70%. But complaining that he didn't control the game enough when his team had 35% possession and he barely touched the ball in attack is absolutely ridiculous.
Far from ridiculous but OK, if you're happy with that level of influence from your field general , then fair enough. You can probably even argue that the pattern this team plays removes the need for one central decision maker and that's probably what got them through on Saturday.
Still, the great first five performances I remember were the ones where, when things weren't panning out, the player demanded the ball and took the game on his shoulders. And that includes situations where possession was poor. Andrew Mehrtens is a classic example, he often played behind a pack that served up less than 40% possession, especially in the latter half of his career. Dan Carter was frequently in those situations too.
I've got no doubt Barrett will get there with more time under his belt but he hasn't yet and Saturday's game was clear evidence of that.
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