RWC: 3rd/4th game All Blacks vs Wales
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Next World Cup will be more challenging.
Our Junior rugby teams have been beaten up recent years by sides with big forward packs. Development of our tight 5 depth and loose forwards that can win contact will be our challenge. We always have great footballers but size matters as the game gets tighter and defence dominates.
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@kev totally agree, many of these outgoing players are gonna be hard to replace ....I see a lot of talent ,but players with leadership qualities seem to run a little thin ..!
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Man NZers have grown up over the years. Not hard to imagine Hansen being booed etc while back. Ultimately his last 2 years were below par but overall a great coach. Fantastic selector too, very few dud squad selections even if last weeks 23 was an error.
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this thread is a bit of a pisser eh.
ben smith is terrible, too old! (watch it again, sbw didn't drift on that welsh try which meant bender was late moving out)
ben smith is awesome!
ben smith is awesome!
rieko is shit.
rieko would be awesome too if things went his way.
nah he wouldn't
yeah he would
nah he wouldn't
ben smith is awesome!if you look at it as a hindsight trial, then it's pretty clear ben smith should have been there, and that cane should have started. a decent argument for crotty on the bench or for ALB - and, surprisingly, frizzell and coltman might have been the next best tonight.
the funny thing about the bench is that i don't give a shit if jordie and sbw come on and do some flash shit while we're already up so we win by more. is that impact? so fucking what. i give a shit if we're losing and we can bring on guys who fix it and don't try to be the hero. that great after the whistle win against the potatoes a few years back was all guys doing their jobs well and showing error-free composure, not flash harrys trying to win the game in one play.
the other thing of note is that aaron smith is the best halfback i've ever seen when the forwards have parity. his passing is just an absolute fucking treat. if we can't beat a rush defence with his bullets, imagine trying to do it with another halfback.
fucken 3rd. fuck.
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Sooo....first off - Barnes should never ref the AB's in knock outs. Crucial moments appear and he goes out of his way to ignore the call that should be made and instead rule against the AB's. I don't see how that Wales try wasn't obstruction and I don't see how the Ioane knock on was clear and obvious.
Ioane...is probably having the worst "luck" for a winger you'll ever see - but I don't think he can be blameless in that department...the harder you work the luckier you get? His drop has been really weird, but he's just not performing better than anyone you could think of to put on the wing.
Watching our defence tonight...just WTF eh. Who's in charge? I'd probably go so far as to call it arrogant - we ignore the numbers game, I take it assuming that if we're outnumbered it doesn't matter because we're so good we'll stop the oppo and then they'll swing it back the other way where we'll out number them and get a turnover? It's annoying, because that combined with not being so passive are easy fixes.
Shag, you've been an outright legend, thanks for the memories, enjoy the quieter life.
Nice one Reado, way to bow out putting in a tough captains performance, even pulling out the old shoulder once or twice. Enjoy the yen!
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@Bones said in RWC: 3rd/4th game All Blacks vs Wales:
@reprobate you forgot to add...Rieko should move to centre, he'd be good. Based on nothing of course, but he's ordinary on the wing right now so let's ditch our good midfielders anyway.
now i'm no rieko hater, but centre? now that's remarkable. goodhue was great for the crusaders all year, hasn't put a foot wrong for the ABs, come back strongly from injury, best on our side of the park in the semi loss in my eyes.
still, rieko... hard done by not being given jack's spot eh? -
@kev said in RWC: 3rd/4th game All Blacks vs Wales:
Thought BBBR was lucky to get man of match. Sam Cane for me. Man he hits hard.
From the first breakdown - he drove some poor Wales player back about 3m.
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Forgot to add about Beauds...has the move to fullback brought out some bad traits in him? This game and last game we see so many moments where he seems really bad at working with anyone other than himself. Passes and offloads to the ground, kicks to nowhere unless it's a short one for him to chase. Just bizarre.
About as bizarre as ASmiths kicking game. Some really odd ones there eh...what on earth was that kid size bomb just over a ruck that no one was expecting?
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@Rembrandt said in RWC: 3rd/4th game All Blacks vs Wales:
Enjoyed that. Both teams came to play and put on a show for the crowd. 3rd/4th game makes sense as an exhibition match for fans.
Yeah, I came around to the idea of playing it today. We say it's bad for the players but it must be quite cathartic in the end. Just getting out and playing a good game of rugby to get the monkey off the back, respect the oppo and have a knees up after.
Plus I reckon in a few years if you stumble upon that bronze medal you might crack a smile and have a sense of pride.
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@Bones said in RWC: 3rd/4th game All Blacks vs Wales:
Plus I reckon in a few years if you stumble upon that bronze medal you might crack a smile and have a sense of pride.
This.
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@Bones said in RWC: 3rd/4th game All Blacks vs Wales:
Sooo....first off - Barnes should never ref the AB's in knock outs. Crucial moments appear and he goes out of his way to ignore the call that should be made and instead rule against the AB's. I don't see how that Wales try wasn't obstruction and I don't see how the Ioane knock on was clear and obvious.
Ioane...is probably having the worst "luck" for a winger you'll ever see - but I don't think he can be blameless in that department...the harder you work the luckier you get? His drop has been really weird, but he's just not performing better than anyone you could think of to put on the wing.
Watching our defence tonight...just WTF eh. Who's in charge? I'd probably go so far as to call it arrogant - we ignore the numbers game, I take it assuming that if we're outnumbered it doesn't matter because we're so good we'll stop the oppo and then they'll swing it back the other way where we'll out number them and get a turnover? It's annoying, because that combined with not being so passive are easy fixes.
Shag, you've been an outright legend, thanks for the memories, enjoy the quieter life.
Nice one Reado, way to bow out putting in a tough captains performance, even pulling out the old shoulder once or twice. Enjoy the yen!
Barnes and team missed plenty for both sides.
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@Bones said in RWC: 3rd/4th game All Blacks vs Wales:
Ioane...is probably having the worst "luck" for a winger you'll ever see - but I don't think he can be blameless in that department...the harder you work the luckier you get? His drop has been really weird, but he's just not performing better than anyone you could think of to put on the wing.
I've never seen a Super Rugby coach cast a player in their own image so quickly or so completely. Obviously I jest but I do think a lot of it is luck and getting infrequent B-grade opportunities (would it hurt to see him run with ALB-Goodhue for more than 10 mins in Perth). Play ran Ben Smith's way and up until five minutes before his first try everyone was writing him off as past it (which he probably is at test level) but give him a bit of ball and he looks like the Bender of old.
Watching our defence tonight...just WTF eh. Who's in charge? I'd probably go so far as to call it arrogant - we ignore the numbers game, I take it assuming that if we're outnumbered it doesn't matter because we're so good we'll stop the oppo and then they'll swing it back the other way where we'll out number them and get a turnover? It's annoying, because that combined with not being so passive are easy fixes.
If you grade on the scale of 3/4th playoffs that defence was probably above average. In a game like that where we got out to a lead early and opportunities were frequent the commitment level was always going to be a bit off the mark given the occasion. They did enough I guess.
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@rotated said in RWC: 3rd/4th game All Blacks vs Wales:
@Bones said in RWC: 3rd/4th game All Blacks vs Wales:
Plus I reckon in a few years if you stumble upon that bronze medal you might crack a smile and have a sense of pride.
Unlikley. The only crack coming out of this game is ALB's.
Well played
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ALB looked a bit flat after the match...he wasn't over the moon I suppose.
