All Blacks vs. B&I Lions test #1
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@Crucial said in All Blacks vs. B&I Lions test #1:
Edit: credit where it is due to a good article by Stuart Barnes. If anyone has cut and paste abilities for the Times others here may wish to read it
Barnes's column:
"The Lions are on the horns of a dilemma. If they play with as much attacking fluency as they did for much of yesterday’s match they open the way for New Zealand to cut them to pieces. If they strip back their game and attempt to take all tempo out of the match they will be criticised on all sides, unless they win. And the chances of that are pretty remote. Remote but not out of the question.For all the brave talk in defeat, for all the majesty of what was one of the great Test match tries, the Lions are doomed if they see that score as the template for how to win in Wellington. That try was exceptional. British and Irish rugby is not. It may well be that last night was as good as it gets in attack.
There is constant talk of chances being created, not finished. It echoes through the press conferences of this tour. The failure is so repetitive because it takes a higher quality player to turn most chances into tries. Lions make breaks but, most of the time, the support isn’t close enough, the final pass isn’t good enough.
When the Lions get turned over my eyes immediately scan the New Zealanders ready to counterattack. It makes a match into a magnificent spectacle as much of yesterday’s game was. It is also a style of rugby with only one possible outcome.
The Lions say they can fix the fault lines from Auckland. The tries not being finished is not easy to fix. Otherwise the squad would have fixed them three weeks ago. Another awful problem that keeps popping up is the lack of discipline and the number of errors. “Discipline wasn’t where it was at,” said Peter O’Mahony. “Discipline and errors cost us,” said Jonathan Davies. The Lions talk about these issues. They do not resolve them. When they play at a pace to which they are accustomed, the penalty count drops to acceptably low levels. However, when the game spins out of control, as it did against the Blues, Highlanders and again yesterday, the penalty count rises into the teens. They haven’t worked out (or maybe acknowledged) that the quicker the tempo of the game, the more mistakes — penalties and errors alike — are made. Things are happening at a level outside their comfort zone. This is when the fixable (yet still unfixed) penalties and errors are made.
The breakdown has been an area of strength, especially against the Crusaders and Maori, where the Lions pack dictated the pace of the game. Not last night, not against the All Blacks. Suddenly the players were puffing, oxygen levels low as they struggled to think straight at the point of contact. New Zealanders, playing at a more familiar lick, bossed the breakdown.
If you lose the breakdown against the All Blacks you lose the match. So it transpired. The stark reality is that no matter how much the Lions finishing, discipline, error count and breakdown improves, only a quantum leap will see them beat a home team happy with a fast game. New Zealand too will improve.
The more committed the attacking intent, the greater the opportunities available for each side. There was something noble about the Lions performance, something truly admirable, but a winning formula it was not. I can envisage a scenario where the Lions play even faster and better and score, say, four tries instead of two. If that happens the All Blacks will probably double their own tally and score six. 60-30 to New Zealand.
The greater the ambition the more the outcome is settled by players and not strategy. Look through the two squads and it is hard not to notice the marked superiority of the Kiwis. Man for man they are more skilled; which is why they tend to take their chances and we Europeans do not. The inability not to link missed opportunities with skill deficits is truly mind-boggling but we are intent on pretending New Zealand are not that much better than the rest of us when the results scream otherwise, year after year.
Play the same game and go down in flames. Play a game with more box kicking, as we saw in the first 30 minutes in Auckland, more kick, more chase — all done well of course — and they might box the Blacks in, in the right parts of the field. Close enough to the line to turn last night’s many excellent line breaks into tries.
An ugly plan will win no friends outside the UK and Ireland. Maybe a few within would prefer their rugby as wondrous as the one try to which we were treated at Eden Park. Such a game will lead to penalties and errors, which ends in defeat. It has happened three times already this tour. Bet your last Kiwi dollar that New Zealand will be praising the Lions attacking game and luring them towards the rocks."
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I thought this comment stood out for me:
They haven’t worked out (or maybe acknowledged) that the quicker the tempo of the game, the more mistakes — penalties and errors alike — are made. Things are happening at a level outside their comfort zone. This is when the fixable (yet still unfixed) penalties and errors are made.
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Rewatched the first half last night and have to give the props some rare praise. Not only did they do the job in the scrum, their workrate around the paddock was immense.
Fark it was such a statement winning this up front. Wish I wasn't wearing jeans right now.
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@Rancid-Schnitzel A big yes on the props, and that means all of them too. Wyatt Crockett is having the season of his life I reckon.
The highlight of the game for me was Sam W's 20m leg drive in reverse, with bodies piling up in front of him like he had a dozer blade strapped to his arse. Marvellous!
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks vs. B&I Lions test #1:
I thought this comment stood out for me:
They haven’t worked out (or maybe acknowledged) that the quicker the tempo of the game, the more mistakes — penalties and errors alike — are made. Things are happening at a level outside their comfort zone. This is when the fixable (yet still unfixed) penalties and errors are made.
I think that's been the focus of the All Blacks for a long time now. Fitness for the forwards (especially the tight five) is a big deal, since we make poor decisions when you're tired..
I think the pace of the game is having an impact on the scrums.. harder to push when you're tired and under the pump.
Have a look at Aaron Smith after 14 mins.. he was sweating like he was playing in a day game in Queensland during the summer
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@mimic yeah our team have been the fittest for a number of years now, sure our players off the bench make an impact as well, but plenty just keep going and surely other coaches have realized how much fitter our guys are, or at least appear than everyone else.
Kudos to Nic Gill!
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It's not so much that our players are fitter, it's that they make better decisions when they are tired. They've talked at length about keeping a clear mind when the lungs are burning and the body is aching at the back end of the game. It's all about the top two inches, which I'm sure factors into the equation when players we like at Super level don't get selected for the ABs.
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I also think a huge part of it comes down to how the ABs prepare and train during the week.
The ABs harp on and on about how the weekend is a result of the work done during the week.
I heard Hansen after the game reference the intense training they had on Thursday, which sounded like an opposed session conducted at test intensity.
Therefore as the ABs train at this intensity and aim their whole weak to peak for game day, so when the intensity occurs on gameday - they expect it/can go with it.
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@No-Quarter although being fitter helps with your ability to make better decisions while fatigued, can be the smartest person in the world, but if you aint getting the blood and oxygen round the body to the brain, you will make poor decisions.
@KiwiMurph yeah I think it's smarter training, thnk they alluded to it in the RWC as well where the sessions varied form day to day in intensity, allowing the right amount of time to recover adequately to ensure at peak for game day.
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I think Gatland's just being consistent.
After the near death of BoD and all his family during the last Lions tour, pointing out the dangers of Te'os tackle was important.
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Sumos take on the game
https://www.rugbypass.com/article/difference-blacks-lions-one-word
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@JC quoted Barnes in All Blacks vs. B&I Lions test #1:
Bet your last Kiwi dollar that New Zealand will be praising the Lions attacking game and luring them towards the rocks.
He might be horrible to listen to, but his analysis here is spot on.
An attacking game is by its nature open and fast, which is the last thing the Lions should do. What they'll be acutely aware of now, is handing over possession by box kicks is a recipe for disaster.
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Now watching a replay. Within 9 minutes, there were three line-outs. The first one close to our try line after Dagg's magnificent try-saving tackle.
Just before the first line-out (AB throw), Peyper tells the Lions to "stop talking" and when they creep closer to the ABs lining up, he just shouts "move" with an arm movement away from the ABs to widen the gap.
Just before the 2nd throw (ABs), he points at one or more Lions players and tells them to "be quiet".
During the 3rd (Lions throw), he warns them there will be sanctions if they keep trying to close the gap with the lined-up ABs.
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@Stargazer said in All Blacks vs. B&I Lions test #1:
Now watching a replay. Within 9 minutes, there were three line-outs. The first one close to our try line after Dagg's magnificent try-saving tackle.
Just before the first line-out (AB throw), Peyper tells the Lions to "stop talking" and when they creep closer to the ABs lining up, he just shouts "move" with an arm movement away from the ABs to widen the gap.
Just before the 2nd throw (ABs), he points at one or more Lions players and tells them to "be quiet".
During the 3rd (Lions throw), he warns them there will be sanctions if they keep trying to close the gap with the lined-up ABs.
Yeah this was my point. He needed to start dishing free kicks. It was tedious.
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Does anyone know whether Kaino's shoulder problem was at the left or right?
One thing I've noticed about our scrums is that when Kaino was still on the field, Kaino was positioned at the right side of the scrum and Cane at the left. After Kaino left the field, Cane moved back to the right side of the scrum, with Ardie on the left.
Is Kaino always pushing at right side of the scrum or is this a possible left-over from his shoulder injury?
Edit: not sure why, but now (54th min), Cane is back at the left side of the scrum with Ardie on the right.
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@Stargazer and yet he did little when either team closed the gap later in the game.
Didnt realise there was a streaker...although it was at the end of the game
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@Stargazer said in All Blacks vs. B&I Lions test #1:
Does anyone know whether Kaino's shoulder problem was at the left or right?
One thing I've noticed about our scrums is that when Kaino was still on the field, Kaino was positioned at the right side of the scrum and Cane at the left. After Kaino left the field, Cane moved back to the right side of the scrum, with Ardie on the left.
Is Kaino always pushing at right side of the scrum or is this a possible left-over from his shoulder injury?
Edit: not sure why, but now (54th min), Cane is back at the left side of the scrum with Ardie on the right.
Errr ... i thought they were open and blindside. Did they stick to a left/right? That's a bit odd.
Unless they were planning a backrow move, or they had identified a defensive pattern to be used against their attacking set up.
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