RWC: 3rd/4th game All Blacks vs Wales
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@Bones when he caught it...
Bit more direct from the forwards this week, which helped alot.
ALB looks fatigued
Not the send off many were hoping for these lads, but better than the send off some in the opposition got.
Gats looked wrecked.
Well...now NZR can get their arse into gear and appoint a coach...before Xmas, sheesh lots of time them to drag this shit out.
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Randomly
Watching third and forth is the most passionless AB test you'll experience.
Good win though
The first 8 minutes of watching Sam Cane had every AB fan sighing
Scott Barrett can always look back with pride the day he menaced rugby great Alun Wyn Jones. Got some great hits in.
Poor Reiko. Tried so hard to do what BFA did but couldn't find it within himself. Perhaps we forget how few years he's been plying his trade.
8 minutes of watching Bender had me postulating "that's what it looks like when one is past it". 72 minutes of "You know nothing Jon Snow!"
Barnes refereeing his last game in the limelight rather than what was in front of him. 2nd half was just silly. What, Wayne, was red number 6 doing for their pick and go try?
What if Jordie Barrett isn't actually that good? All I'm starting to see is a McCahill/Mannix/Ralph type with tons of opportunities.
55 minutes we just seemed to give up on d structure. Totally understandable though.
We just watched the end of an empire. The Ted Shag dynasty was better than any rugby fan, from anywhere, could ever expect from their team in their lifetime.
It was a great ride and hopefully discerning fans took time to pause and smell the roses on the way.
We bested the world for more than a decade with hard, clever graft minus the budget or population of others. So many great wins and so few losses.
Nothing but admiration and respect ( as the bitterness of last week's tepid performance wanes), for Shag et al for some terrific weekends over the years.
And, refreshingly nice to look forward to a new broom and a hitting of the reset button with the enthusiasm that comes from a new start. Hopefully we retain all the IP from the back room and management staff. All Black conditioning, culture and camaraderie looks superb, we just need the new coaches to focus on game plans and style for 80 minutes. Looking forward to it.
Finally in an ode to Babe:
That'll do Shag. That'll do
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@Siam said in RWC: 3rd/4th game All Blacks vs Wales:
Barnes refereeing
I think he decided the game didnt need a gate at the ruck (Both sides) and the number of times (both sides) had hands on, should have won the ball/penalty, they finally get taken off feet, and he says you are off your feet, lost...
Started by reffing a controversial AB loss, turned into a pretty good ref, but still did some odd things, finished by reffing ABs
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@MiketheSnow said in RWC: 3rd/4th game All Blacks vs Wales:
Fucking ITV with the overhead camera
It was the host broadcasters. Don't go thinking you're special.
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Just watching the replay of the QF. I know Wales were injury depleted, but it was frustrating to see us play the kind of tactics that we needed, with arguably some of the personnel we needed vs England; forwards hammered up front to set a platform, Richie kicking for territory, backs combat the rush D by taking it to the line then cutting back and through
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@Gunner said in RWC: 3rd/4th game All Blacks vs Wales:
@antipodean He was standing out when he caught it?
As mentioned they changed the rule.
Personally I think for the worse.
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@canefan yep definite change of tactic from the English game, more direct again, most of our forwards fronted up albeit against a tired Welsh pack but to me it highlights how wrong we got almost everything last week in regards to tactics
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@taniwharugby just like our arguably best showing of the year, bled 2, Cane and Sonny could have made a difference. BFA was excellent as well. Play these tactics, Cane in, SBW ALB midfield, BFA and Bridge on the wings, would have given us a better chance last week
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@canefan said in RWC: 3rd/4th game All Blacks vs Wales:
@taniwharugby just like our arguably best showing of the year, bled 2, Cane and Sonny could have made a difference. BFA was excellent as well. Play these tactics, Cane in, SBW ALB midfield, BFA and Bridge on the wings, would have given us a better chance last week
It’s all conjecture but I’ll counter that with ALB looked flat last week and Goodhue was to one bringing it. SBW’s form is so up and down, but his direct running does attract attention.
BFA and Reece might’ve been the better combo.
Cane definitely needed to start and Shag probably needed to trust that having Barrett and Tuipolotu on the bench would’ve been okay.
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@ACT-Crusader I reckon it was more tactics last week than personel, given they selected what we thought was a team to attack thier lineout, didnt.
We altered our point of attack from the previous games, and got caught behind the gainline mast times.
ALB had a big super load didnt he, and has played quite a bit for ABs, maybe he is fatigued?
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@Siam said in RWC: 3rd/4th game All Blacks vs Wales:
Poor Reiko. Tried so hard to do what BFA did but couldn't find it within himself. Perhaps we forget how few years he's been plying his trade.
8 minutes of watching Bender had me postulating "that's what it looks like when one is past it". 72 minutes of "You know nothing Jon Snow!"
It was almost like a switch got flicked. Bender looked old, slow and off the pace - and then suddenly he ran a good, well timed line - smashed through a couple of Welshmen to score and remembered that he is "Fucking Ben Smith". And away he went.
Rieko will have the same moment. I think it's like cricket, when you're in a bad trot. It doesn't seem like you are, but you're trying so hard and overthinking things and so your timing is fractionally out. And then suddenly you smack one through the covers out of the middle of the bat and away you go.
Two things I think I'd conclude out of this World Cup. Firstly, I suspect we didn't quite have the same bone deep hunger to win that we had in 2011. If you watch those Weight of a Nation and Chasing Great documentaries, Richie McCaw was pretty much consumed with winning in 2011 after losing in the QF in 2007. This time, we didn't have anyone in the playing team who had experienced a World Cup loss. Conversely, England has had three failures - including the humiliation of getting dumped out in pool play in their home Cup. They were so desperate, they hired Eddie!
Secondly, a bit like Ireland, I think this Cup came at a bad time in our player cycle. We had a bunch of older guys who were hanging on for this Cup and it was just a bridge too far - so we had hundreds of test caps watching from the sidelines - Franks, Bender, Crotty, SBW (from the bench).
So much that was pretty much new this season:
Nepo as the premier tighthead.
Angus and Ofa (loosehead) as the bench props.
Ardie and Sam as the dual opensides.
Scott Barrett as a blindside flanker.
Beaunga.
Anton and Jack as the premier midfield.
George and Sevu as the wings.The experienced players, unfortunately, were no longer the best players. And then you add in a few other factors like Retallick getting injured, Rieko losing some form, I reckon Sam Whitelock wasn't in top form either, leaving Sam Cane on the bench....
You can kind of imagine Eddie's team talk - "These guys are good players, but they're not legends - and we don't need to fear them. They're rookies and if we pressure them, they'll pop like a pimple!"
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Whilst a solid win, I think the game highlighted the same old weaknesses we have seen pretty much ever since the Lions tour mixed in with that individual brilliance that gets them points. For example, the ABs really need to be more confrontational / structured in the forwards at times (earn the right to go wide) and to be more pragmatic when they are in vulnerable positions on the field. At the moment the balanced just doesn't seem right. Helter-skelter and hope for the best kind of scenario.
Got the same feeling as someone mentioned before that maybe Jodie Barrett just isn't that good. Last weeks mistake was just beyond silly, it was comical.
Anyway, last night's game highlighted and confirmed one thing, we need a new coaching group. -
@MrDenmore said in RWC: 3rd/4th game All Blacks vs Wales:
Coltman for number 8?
Not sure he's got the right height to weight ratio
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@canefan said in RWC: 3rd/4th game All Blacks vs Wales:
@Chris-B I agree with you about the timing and our player cycle. Some of the younger players will form the core of the 2023 team, with greater experience and hopefully armed with the pain of 2019 to fuel them to victory
England even more potential
27 - The average age of @EnglandRugby's starting XVs at #RWC2019 is 27 years and 63 days, the youngest of any Tier 1 side and the 3rd youngest overall behind Uruguay (26y 140d) and Namibia (27y 43d). Future.
