Bledisloe 3
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@nta said in BLEDISLOE 3:
I'd also like to draw attention to the fact that, midway through the Aussie presser, Cheika was very generous in his praise and good wishes for Wayne Smith. Along the lines of
"I don't know him that well, personally, but every player and coach who was worked with him has nothing but praise, and he's done wonderful things for New Zealand" etc
much like the game itself nick, that never happened. he did nothing but criticise the referee, swear, and call us cheats.
also his shirt wasn't well ironed, and he needed a shave. -
@stargazer ok missed that. I usually notice Savea on the field, must have been half asleep!
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@chimoaus said in BLEDISLOE 3:
@reprobate said in BLEDISLOE 3:
cane to 6 isn't the worst idea, he certainly has the defensive presence for it.
He is the same height as the Irish 6 Stander who goes all right. He is a tackling machine already so he can continue doing that. Or do you look at someone like S Barrett at 6. Or can the coaches get the best from Squire and Fifita. Is Ioane a 6/8 option? I guess we will see on the tour.
I suspect Scott Barrett would have had more impact at 6 than Squire last night. He is also IMO a smarter player.
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@nostrildamus said in BLEDISLOE 3:
@stargazer ok missed that. I usually notice Savea on the field, must have been half asleep!
He's quite hard to spot as he's not very tall.
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@reprobate said in BLEDISLOE 3:
he did nothing but criticise the referee,
Funnily enough when asked about the referee he laughed and said he'd probably be best to shut up.
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Was an odd game in a number of ways, but I'm bloody stoked we won it.
In many ways the usual roles were reversed last night. We played a horrible first 38 minutes, but snagged a try right before half time to put the game on an even keel - something McCaw's ABs used to do time and time again.
We then upped the tempo in the second 40, and while the focus will be on our attack it was the defensive pressure that won us the game. Big hits, great reads and accuracy - so, so, so far from what we dished up in Sydney.
The ABs looked Wallaby-esque in their kicking game. Short clearances that didn't find touch, overcooked up-and-unders, shitty grubbers in the attacking 22. I don't think the tactics were bad at all, but it was so poorly executed.
A Wallaby loss would have been heartbreaking, more so than Dunedin. Because the ABs played well in Dunedin. In Brisbane they were undermanned and off their game, and you just can't let a chance like that slip away.
Credit to the team, though. Our improvement this season has been great to see, and now you can actually glimpse a competitive World Cup 23 emerging.
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@magpie_in_aus and here I am Sunday night finding out what happened at the game. Came in way to hot for kick off!
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Never felt good while watching that game. Even the haka seemed a bit forced. Will force myself to watch recording but initial thoughts:
Oz stood up to us in the tight. Whitelock is exceptional when paired with a power lock. Barrett (S) doesn't seem to fit the bill. Not helped by also being short of the power Franks and Moody provide. Would make more sense for Pat T to start.
We seemed to miss go forward up front. Cane made lots of tackles, often strong, but seemed a bit off to me. Squire wasn't able to impose himself the way JK usually did. Aussie trio seemed to get us off balance. Tui very good once he came on at getting some momentum.
Midfield not working. SBW2017 does get us some reliable yards, but 18m from 11 carries isn't setting world on fire. Did his tackling duties well. Crotty doesn't seem much of a foil for SBW2017. Even Moala seemed to offer more threat at Blues. Someone needs to be running lines off SBW to feed off his offloading.
Lima shocking intercept, but for most of first half seemed to get us into the right parts of the park. Need to watch the tape to try and see what changed in second.
Overall our kicking made us metres, but stats suggest Oz made it all back through running. Subject to tape, expect our kicks mainly lacked contestability (if that's a real word).
Steve says he didn't see niggle, but Oz sledging/windup definitely corresponded to a lot of AB hotheadedness.
Last, but maybe most significant, the last quarter is no longer a strength. We did turn up intensity after third Oz try, but we appeared to get overexcited. We had too many callow faces on the field at the end. Thomas/DMac is not a combo one would bet the farm on in squeaky bum time. But Crotty is a tried and tested vet. ALB for SBW would have made more sense.
Not looking forward to the recording...!
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@gunner said in BLEDISLOE 3:
Just watched it, and fuck me that was the dumbest most stupid attacking play I’ve seen from the ABs in a long time.
Shovelling shit ball backwards and sideways, aimless kicking, giving away really dumb penalties while on attack. And that fucking kick from Havilli when you need a try with 4 minutes to play and you’re attacking inside the 22.
What happened to the pick and go after they used it to create the space for our first try - it was unsighted again.
And just errors at crucial times killed our chances in that game.DMac’s decision making was poor at the back and really put us under pressure.
They say defence wins matches, and the physicality we defended with should have been enough to get the job done with just a little bit of smart play. But unfortunately we so so fucking clueless when we had the ball that impressive defence was neutralised.
Wasn't it SBW rather than Havili ?
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One of the problems in attack last night was that they just crowded Sonny Bill because Lima was not really attacking the line.
With Barrett at 10 the opposition are weary of his running and short kicking game that it gives our midfield more space.
I remember a test that the Wallabies played under Deans and they did the same thing to Nonu. Carter was out and we had an inexperienced 10 playing. Wallabies won that one as well.
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@nostrildamus said in BLEDISLOE 3:
@stargazer ok missed that. I usually notice Savea on the field, must have been half asleep!
How could you miss him? Did you not see that last lineout?
The guy won a lineout without even jumping. Who needs lifters when you have Ardie.. -
@mimic said in BLEDISLOE 3:
@nostrildamus said in BLEDISLOE 3:
@stargazer ok missed that. I usually notice Savea on the field, must have been half asleep!
How could you miss him? Did you not see that last lineout?
The guy won a lineout without even jumping. Who needs lifters when you have Ardie..That was a quality play. We got the maul setup well. Just didn’t execute at the end. Cane had a good game but he was tired physically and that probably contributed to him knocking on.
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@mimic said in BLEDISLOE 3:
@nostrildamus said in BLEDISLOE 3:
@stargazer ok missed that. I usually notice Savea on the field, must have been half asleep!
How could you miss him? Did you not see that last lineout?
The guy won a lineout without even jumping. Who needs lifters when you have Ardie..Hmm ok, I guess I will have to watch again, my attention was diverted by some of the words being uttered at the end of the match...
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@pakman said in BLEDISLOE 3:
Never felt good while watching that game. Even the haka seemed a bit forced. Will force myself to watch recording but initial thoughts:
Oz stood up to us in the tight. Whitelock is exceptional when paired with a power lock. Barrett (S) doesn't seem to fit the bill. Not helped by also being short of the power Franks and Moody provide. Would make more sense for Pat T to start.
We seemed to miss go forward up front. Cane made lots of tackles, often strong, but seemed a bit off to me. Squire wasn't able to impose himself the way JK usually did. Aussie trio seemed to get us off balance. Tui very good once he came on at getting some momentum.
Midfield not working. SBW2017 does get us some reliable yards, but 18m from 11 carries isn't setting world on fire. Did his tackling duties well. Crotty doesn't seem much of a foil for SBW2017. Even Moala seemed to offer more threat at Blues. Someone needs to be running lines off SBW to feed off his offloading.
Lima shocking intercept, but for most of first half seemed to get us into the right parts of the park. Need to watch the tape to try and see what changed in second.
Overall our kicking made us metres, but stats suggest Oz made it all back through running. Subject to tape, expect our kicks mainly lacked contestability (if that's a real word).
Steve says he didn't see niggle, but Oz sledging/windup definitely corresponded to a lot of AB hotheadedness.
Last, but maybe most significant, the last quarter is no longer a strength. We did turn up intensity after third Oz try, but we appeared to get overexcited. We had too many callow faces on the field at the end. Thomas/DMac is not a combo one would bet the farm on in squeaky bum time. But Crotty is a tried and tested vet. ALB for SBW would have made more sense.
Not looking forward to the recording...!
Now watched H2 tape. ABs need to give themselves enormous uppercut.
We thrive on tempo and momentum. Forget the above comments: we simply stuffed ourselves with seven stupid penalties from 50th to 63rd, at least a couple completely off the ball and killing our momentum, and culminating with Hodge penalty for 20-13.
Made worse by (only) a couple of down the gullet kicks, Lima & DMac one each, and several dropsies.
No change from several lineouts in Wallabies red zones. Really paid for DMac at 10 in last ten when from penalties and handy angles we couldn't get the ball within 10m of Wallabies line.
Worst offense at 75:30 when had them under the pump and SBW (after some magic for the Rieko try) chose the worst grubber option I can remember seeing. Kick to DMac, Ofa sashay and Hodge makes it 23-18 -- when ABs holding the ball and working through phases was heading for points (three to win)!!!
I don't think Lima was bad in second: he only touched the ball four times or so.
ALB/Crotty switch made no difference although Havilli pass to SBW, before Ioane try was weighted beautifully, allowing him an extra half second to work his spell.
Will be an uncomfortable video session today. Topic -- Self-inflicted Wounds.
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I haven't watched a replay , but the sbw grubber was a momentum killer , I actually still thought we would pinch the game just before that .
Was a Luke Mcallister moment
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I watched this recovering from a cracking hangover and it didn't make me feel any better. From the moment I saw Lima shovel a looping pass into the hands of an Aussie I knew it would be a long day in the office. It was certainly a "learning experience" for him.
DMac had a predictably average game in wet weather; unable to secure ball, inject himself or kick to relieve pressure. The coaches need a bullet for thinking he'd be capable of covering for Sopoaga. As soon as Jordie is fit and BFA is back, he'll be lucky to be in the squad.
Crotty had a game to forget. Squires was quiet. The bench didn't offer a lot.
We defended poorly (28 missed tackles) which is a major problem when you're providing the opposition so much possession which permitted the Wallabies to make 50% more runs. We were lucky to be in front at half time thanks to the amount of handling errors the Wallabies had.
The Wallabies really should have done better. I get they're pleased with getting a win, but it reminded me of their excitement in Hong Kong. We'll see how their tour north goes - they really should win three from four given who they're playing.
And anyone who thinks SBW had a poor day should really stop commenting on rugby.
