Māori All Blacks vs British and Irish Lions
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Having time to reflect on the match just increases the disappointment.
This promised to be such a great contest, however it failed to be one. The Lions totally dominant at pretty much everything and the Maori barely gave anything to this match, Lions kept kicking the ball to them, and when the Maori did actually catch it, they either kicked it back or took a poor option with where to run or to pass to someone in a worse position.
Yes this can be put to the pressure the Lions put them under, but some of the decisions and errors weren't really under any pressure other than the score board or statistically, that try aside, they failed to fire a shot or even get thier big guns into the game, which given only about 20% possession or territory isn't surprising.
But that isn't unusual for NZ teams to get dominated, not quite that dominated, and still manage to create things, but unfortunately last night errors and poor decisions killed any opportunity of counter attack or even continuity.
It was a handy super forward pack, with a world class backline, so should have acquitted themselves much, much better, I expect this match has given the Lions plenty of confidence, but I expect they aren't stupid enough to think that this match was even close to the intensity they will get next week, in fact that probably sits below the Baabaa game for that.
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I just wonder , just a suspicion , if the Maori got a little sidetracked with all the peripheral s , media , emphasis on the history , culture , hype etc etc
And not enough work went into how to play the game itself , they seemed a bit directionless to me .
Not intending to take anything away from the lions , who carried out their game perfectly.
But I reckon even they , they would've been a bit surprised how directionless the Maori were -
@kiwiinmelb surely cooper and umaga aren't that stupid to allow that to happen? Cooper in particular has been around long enough to know how to deal with the peripheral shit?
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@taniwharugby probably right , but they did seem to have a deer in the headlights look about them when it came to doing what they were there in the first place for .
Haka looked nicely well rehearsed though .
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Once they realised they were under real pressure up front the Maori looked lost imo. Only half the kicks they put up had any sort of chase, and that just handed the Lions a succession of set piece restarts. Did Reiko actually touch the ball??!
DM at 10 didn't work, and Lowe just kicked, and kicked, and kicked. I know it was wet weather but when you have sweet F all possession why would you just kick it back?!
Well done to the Lions - played to their strengths and locked the game down. On attack they looked dangerous at times, but their backs don't seem to have gelled as well as the guys up front.
If we can get any sort of equity up front we'll have our noses well in front. The AB's will punish the Lions for some of the mistakes they got away with in the Maori game.
ps agree with posts on TKB, worst game from him in a long while, and he was right on the verge of a red card. Jaco sounded like he was looking for a reason not to go red!!
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@taniwharugby said in Māori All Blacks vs British and Irish Lions:
Yes this can be put to the pressure the Lions put them under, but some of the decisions and errors weren't really under any pressure other than the score board or statistically, that try aside, they failed to fire a shot or even get thier big guns into the game, which given only about 20% possession or territory isn't surprising.
But that isn't unusual for NZ teams to get dominated, not quite that dominated, and still manage to create things, but unfortunately last night errors and poor decisions killed any opportunity of counter attack or even continuity.
It was a handy super forward pack, with a world class backline, so should have acquitted themselves much, much better, I expect this match has given the Lions plenty of confidence, but I expect they aren't stupid enough to think that this match was even close to the intensity they will get next week, in fact that probably sits below the Baabaa game for that.
There's probably a tipping point somewhere on how much lack of possession you can withstand and still compete (by counter attacking etc). I feel 20 odd % is too low, have seen ABs do it (and comfortably) with mid to low 30%.
Just smothered.
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Expected Lions victory in this one, expected Maori to be an easier game than the franchises due to cohesion, and expected the Lions to be gelling about this time.
(I hadn't considered, or remembered at all, how poor Maori wee on November tour until others mentioned it).
But I was impressed by the absolute smothering dominance.
Lions Saturday team is shaping well.
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@Stargazer similarly the Lions elbow to Lowes face was lucky to escape any sanction, accidental contact with the head has been treated harshly all year.
@kiwiinmelb yeah they did look like that, many players had the opportunity to press for higher honours in that game, and Akira was probably the only one who came out well ahead of where they started, the likes of NMS and Ngatai get slight pass marks, if only cos they didnt do much at all to do much wrong.
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@booboo said in Māori All Blacks vs British and Irish Lions:
@MiketheSnow said in Māori All Blacks vs British and Irish Lions:
Shut up Barnes you fucking idiot.
What up?
BTW we'll swap you Barnes for Marshall ...
When he was spouting about a great victory before the deed was done. I was anticursing tge curse of the commentator
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It always baffles me when the weather becomes a bigger factor for one side more than another.
If the Lions were playing the Egyptian Maori I could understand.
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@MiketheSnow said in Māori All Blacks vs British and Irish Lions:
It always baffles me when the weather becomes a bigger factor for one side more than another.
If the Lions were playing the Egyptian Maori I could understand.
Because one side has a better pack than the other? If you have the ability to tighten up a game with your strong pack you're going to adapt to the weather better.
I think if that was the Chiefs, not the Maori that night, it wouldn't have been so one sided and the backs would have had more direction.
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Well that is the blueprint for the Lions to win the test series - 75% dominance of territory and possession. They should have had the game sewn up by HT and the lack of intensity once they're awarded a kickable penalty deep in the opposite 22 might hurt them. Luckily for them last night they were virtually camped there all night. Lions v impressive in all contact areas ... unsure if they have stepped it up or just that the MABs looked to have no stomach for the battle.
I think we've seen how Lions will defend against the ABs. Rush defence (obviously) and making the rucks really messy with tacklers hanging around and competing players flying in from all angles. If the ref likes to flap his arms, then the ABs will struggle to get their game going.
DMac was a strange choice at 10 given he hasn't played there this season and even stranger in conditions like last night. He likes to play off the cuff ..... never going to work for a team under pressure. TKB looked like he'd rather be somewhere else - the penalty he conceded early in the second half was super dumb.
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OK, a brief match report.
The Lions were very good. Maori didn't show up, and off the pace got smacked around.
Longer version
Town was mental. Queued out of pubs, loads of lions fans, but weather not cooperating for pub hopping or being outside. Very hard to get drinks or food. The queue for busses to the ground was immense - was a few hundred metres long, but bus drivers reported after the game that they all go there. How, I don't know, but apparently it managed.Vegas International Stadium was good. Modern pitches are high quality - despite near constant drizzle all day, the turf was in great condition. The bank was OK, but some muddy areas - to be expected.
Watched the NZ ENG Women play on TV first. Thought it could be a precusor to the Maori game, and so it turned out. Playing against a dominant forward pack is damn hard, and even worse in wet and cool conditions. Maori tight 5 looked an area of weakness, and so it showed on the night. Also seemed to miss a specialist 7, too.
Lions executed very well. Knew their (simple but effective) gameplan, and brought it big time. Maori did not show up. They weren't allowed to get going, but there were things happening that you can't blame on the Lions. For instance - in Rugby, it's usually a good idea to catch uncontested balls. Or chase kicks, for instance. Simple stuff, done poorly. Once the ball got cut off at source, the backs just couldn't get going.
As a result the crowd was very subdued. Not much to yell about, and never really got going. A clash of styles, but a gulf in class meant the game never rose to great heights.
So, what does it mean for next weekend? Lions must be in with a shot, but it's a long-ish shot. They will need to get dominance up front, recycle all night, defend like maniacs, maul everything and hope they can stop the ABs from creating in the backs. World class forwards, but I can see the ABs keeping parity up there. If we can keep th emaul defended well, we should go well.
Roll on Saturday, and good luck the Chiefs on Tuesday. THe dropoff between the 1st and 2nd XV for the Lions is massive - Chiefs should be in with a shot.
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