North vs South

[Rembrandt]

Loved the game. Hope this becomes a regular fixture. Jordie is definitely growing into his body, becoming a bit of a weapon.

[Yeetyaah]

Random thought on McKenzie. He's had his critics this year and rightly so, but I think he played pretty well, best he's been all year.

[sparky]

@MiketheSnow said in North vs South:

Great match for the non-partisan.

More of that please.

#NorthVSouth was the top trender on UK Twitter this morning. NZR's sponsors will be very happy.

[Bones]

@Yeetyaah steady on mate that's pretty random discussing a player's game in the game thread.

[broughie]

@Yeetyaah He does good stuff but I would have Jordie over him any day. His bad pass and Ralphs brain farct gave away points. He is great at times. Having said that Jordie makes the occassionally mistake too but I like his size, especially at international rugby level. Should have been a half back.

[cgrant]

@Daffy-Jaffy said in North vs South:

@cgrant Grant Nikora Kelly
Waikato 1992
Canterbury 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995
South Canterbury 1996
King Country 1997, 1998
NZ Maori 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996

Thanks a lot.

[broughie]

@Steven-Harris said in North vs South:

Sam Whitelocks calm head was everything in these closing minutes ..should be the All Black captain #justsaying

He is getting old. We need to look forward to 4 years and who will have the job then. He looked good because Mitch Hunt was on the field.

[Bones]

@broughie said in North vs South:

@Yeetyaah He does good stuff but I would have Jordie over him any day. His bad pass and Ralphs brain farct gave away points. He is great at times. Having said that Jordie makes the occassionally mistake too but I like his size, especially at international rugby level. Should have been a half back.

I ah....I.... nope I'm lost.

[pakman]

@Stargazer said in North vs South:

So that "much better backrow" from the North - according to some Ferners - wasn't much better after all. Of the starting loosies, Sotutu had a very good game; but - and I'm far from a fan of Sanders - he had a good game as well. Frizell was better than AIoane, but neither really stood out. Savea was underwhelming, while youngster T Christie wasn't bad at all, especially if you take into consideration the huge difference in experience between the two.

Thought North loosies much more dynamic/balanced when Papali'i (world's largest 7?) came on and Ardie went to 8. Perhaps Sotutu short of a gallop?

Christie was very good. I think he was helped playing in 'Crusaders' pack, whereas Frizell didn't seem to get the opportunities he did so well with at Clan. Sanders also gave it heaps.

[pakman]

@Rembrandt said in North vs South:

Loved the game. Hope this becomes a regular fixture. Jordie is definitely growing into his body, becoming a bit of a weapon.

Height a big plus in modern kicking game. DMac suffers from same problem as Mitchell Hunt.

[pakman]

Noted elswhere, but Aumua and Coltman's throwing not up to scratch. Commented to mate that Dixon was reliable, just lacked their size, and he wobbles on the money ball! Interesting who the third hooker will be.

[broughie]

@Bones Yes. So was I due to autocorrect. Switch Ralph to Clarke. Makes more sense.

[MN5]

@broughie said in North vs South:

@Bones Yes. So was I due to autocorrect. Switch Ralph to Clarke. Makes more sense.

Good God, I thought the carthorse was making a comeback. At least he wouldn't have much pace to lose.

[Bones]

@broughie said in North vs South:

@Bones Yes. So was I due to autocorrect. Switch Ralph to Clarke. Makes more sense.

Haaa holy shit that's a budgo autocorrect you got going on fella.

[broughie]

@Bones I’ll blame it on Siri. She does understand an American Kiwi accent.

[Stargazer]

[Mokey]

Some of these are HILARIOUS.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/300100468/north-v-south-player-ratings-who-shone-or-struggled-for-the-south

[kev]

@Mokey much like a lot of the comments on here. The highlights reel is poor way to evaluate a player.

[voodoo]

@kev I'd go further and say the whole game is a poor way to evaluate a player. I really enjoyed the match and hope it becomes a permanent fixture (or some variation of it at least). But its madness to fundamentally change your perception of a player based on a single performance , whether for better or worse. The teams come together late and players have no time to gel. We see time and time again at international level the value of tested combinations (if only we learned from this...), so its crazy to expect anything better in this fixture. Instead, I hope Foster had individual sessions with each player to talk through what he expected to see out of each from the game. And while we may not know what those things were thats what they should be evaluated on, along with their body of work for the year.

[junior]

@pakman said in North vs South:

@Stargazer said in North vs South:

So that "much better backrow" from the North - according to some Ferners - wasn't much better after all. Of the starting loosies, Sotutu had a very good game; but - and I'm far from a fan of Sanders - he had a good game as well. Frizell was better than AIoane, but neither really stood out. Savea was underwhelming, while youngster T Christie wasn't bad at all, especially if you take into consideration the huge difference in experience between the two.

Thought North loosies much more dynamic/balanced when Papali'i (world's largest 7?) came on and Ardie went to 8. Perhaps Sotutu short of a gallop?

Christie was very good. I think he was helped playing in 'Crusaders' pack, whereas Frizell didn't seem to get the opportunities he did so well with at Clan. Sanders also gave it heaps.

Yeah, I feel like that starting North loose trio are a little too similar - not exactly the same, but have more overlapping skills than a well balanced loose trio should have.