Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11
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The other key thing for me is the combination, and whilst the debate of Savea vs Cane has almost reached Trump/Biden levels, it was evident that the combination just wasn’t there with our back row. I remember the scratchy play initially with Collins, McCaw and Rodders before that settled. Many calling for a bigger (Lauaki) or someone taller (Tuiali’i) or something else because it wasn’t performing. Also some criticised Collins for drifting in and out of games.
What I saw today was a team not in sync. It was evident though that when we were on the counter or in broken play, our instincts kick in and it seems to trigger something in our backs at least. But in set piece or phase play it was off.
The question for the coaches is are they ‘all in’ on the back row and midfield? Or are we testing combinations like what other AB coaches have done when they’ve started out before landing on the sweet spot.
See for me ALB is the best midfielder in the squad including those unavailable due to injury. But he’s on the bench?
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@Nepia said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
@rotated said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
The leader in the clubhouse for worst first year is Laurie Mains' and Fozzie ain't off to a good start.
Bit hard on Laurie, he had to mould together a new team against the current RWC holders after a disastrous ABs RWC campaign rife with division - and he lost 2-1 in one of the greatest and closest Bledisloe Cup series ever (I think the exact same number of points were scored by both teams and the biggest margin was 3 or 4).
It wasn't just the Bledisloe; they lost the midweek game to NSW, lost to World XV then lost to SA on reentry. They should have lost to Ireland in Dunedin that year too?
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Its always hard to know what to make of a draw. Strange we were at home, picked 3 full backs and still seemed to struggle with the conditions. I did not have much of a problem with the forwards, not quite sure why Fritzell catching so much flack but was happy with Sotutu but don't really expect many changes to the pack. In the backs I would expect Clarke to come in to the XV and BB to 15 if fit. Even though Bridge is not as bad as some make out the ball carrying of Clarke is something we need. If BB and Mounga are fit DMac has almost no shot at being in the 23. Also not seeing how Reiko is going to start next game.
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@DMX said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
Its always hard to know what to make of a draw. Strange we were at home, picked 3 full backs and still seemed to struggle with the conditions. I did not have much of a problem with the forwards, not quite sure why Fritzell catching so much flack but was happy with Sotutu but don't really expect many changes to the pack. In the backs I would expect Clarke to come in to the XV and BB to 15 if fit. Even though Bridge is not as bad as some make out the ball carrying of Clarke is something we need. If BB and Mounga are fit DMac has almost no shot at being in the 23. Also not seeing how Reiko is going to start next game.
Mounga openly admitted in the "In the Sheds" video after the match that he hated playing at the Caketin because of the conditions. Such a shit attitude - you're playing in an AB test match, which could go a long way to securing your stewardship of the 10 jersey for the foreseeable, and you've resigned yourself to having a shitter from the off. Explains a lot about his performance and suggests he might not have what it takes to make it at test level
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@junior He just hates playing at test level altogether judging by his first 19 tests. Why not just let him enjoy himself by bullying the domestic scene like he always does.
He's like the Mathew Sinclair of NZ rugby.
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Mounga had a really poor game I thought given the weather. I also think goodhue should be 13 or not in the team. Best memory will be Clarke’s cameo. O for awesome. You’d have to think BB to 10 and JB to 15 for the next game.
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@ACT-Crusader said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
But how good was that Aggies win over the Gators!!
Result! I watched a bit of Miami-Clemson ... Clemson just dismantled them, and Miami struggled to fire a shot. Defence got ripped.
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@westcoastie said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
@Crazy-Horse Aaron Smith does have a habit of trying to do too much, when his first role should be give the ball to the 10. He box-kicked heaps from our 22 when I would've preferred he give it to RM. Maybe Nugget is the issue?
If we are kicking from our 22, I 100% want the halfback to do it. Why pass it back 10 meters to do the same thing. Only want it going to 10 in those situations when need to open the angle.
That's pretty standard from all teams in modern rugby because of the allowed blockers.
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To be honest I think the problems were more game plan oriented than the personnel we selected.
We seemed to not play to our strengths with those we selected, I don't think the issues were Jordie, Ardie, Goodhue or Ioane being selected out of position, they are all quality players and none of them on thier own were poor nor the cause of the
lossdraw (sure point to Ioanes error, but it kinda summed up the accuracy of the team as a whole)Not sure we will see too much change either, maybe Clarke over Bridge, or Ioane back to 11, but if Foster is showing a similar pattern and style to Hansen, I expect we may see the same team rolled out.
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@NTA said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
I've calmed down a bit now, having had to go pay $430 to get my daughter's macbook fixed after she spilled water on it last week.
That whole process - forking out money to Apple
- was more enjoyable than watching Williams referee.And before you get going: I completed my field test with NSW Rugby and am an accredited ref so I come from a position of knowledge on this. So... yeah... suck my balls all of you armchair fucking refs
As an introductory note: how AFG missed that foot on the line will forever be a mystery. You make a living out of this Angus. The lines are nice and straight. Stick your fucking flag up. Does it make some kind of cosmic justice thing when Ioane refuses to mess up his hair while dropping the ball later? No. It does not.
Some refs - a lot of the French ones - just let players sort it out, mostly. Sometimes that can looks weird, but then they make a decision and you figure they're just keeping the threshold for intervention high i.e. they don't want to be the star attraction. Sometimes the decision made is a head scratcher but you sort of accept French people are weird and move on.
Williams tends to avoid decisions whenever he can - even when it is blindingly obvious that a decision needs to be made. In the first half Mounga gets rid of the ball and a full second later Wilson absolutely clatters him - right in front. Williams sort of puts his arm out and then does nothing. Just gets on with things. Multiple tackles from both teams go high - not dangerously so, but potential for escalation which should be ruled on early to set a marker - and he does nothing.
He rightly pings Tupou for being a shitwit at ruck time (twice
) because it is well past the back of the ruck when he finishes trying to piss off Aaron Smith (a noble pursuit). But I counted at least three times for each team where a cleanout happened from the side of the ruck and did zero.Penalises Koroibete for going off his feet when no AB was contesting the ball, then lets it go for another Wallaby player in the same situation and says nobody was contesting the ball
Of course, there are the big ones - the biggest of which is probably the two scrums later in the second half where Alalaatoa hands out a complete reaming to Karl T (who packed at an angle, pushed at an angle, and got folded into an angle on the ground), and tells the Wobs "you're not getting it", then does Sio for exactly the same thing at the next scrum. What were the fucking ARs doing while Alalaatoa was introducing Big Karl's forehead to the turf?
I'd love to be a fly on the wall at the referee review. It isn't easy - I know that from personal experience even at my gumby level of refereeing. But there are head scratchers and then there is out and out inconsistency that leads to incompetence.
EDIT: oh and the 2 short arms against Australia for going early at scrum time? Every fucking ref knows that the second one is a penalty you tit.
Oh no! A new amateur ref who suddenly thinks he knows it all. The worst kind of armchair commentator!
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@taniwharugby said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
To be honest I think the problems were more game plan oriented than the personnel we selected.
Yeah, partly. Three fullbacks but we got hammered in the kicking game? May as well pick Clarke, Sivivatu and Masaga if you don't care about kicking
Look, despite the poor play, we got dominated in possession and territory, and still should have won that going away. The upside for NZ is there, and a lot is goign to be fixed - particularly RIoane's defence ... he's early in his 13 career.
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@mariner4life said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
@Mokey said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
Bridge isn't fast enough to be a test winger.
both our wingers today are painfully slow
Stats for Bridge say otherwise. But not elusive.
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@pakman said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
@mariner4life said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
@Mokey said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
Bridge isn't fast enough to be a test winger.
both our wingers today are painfully slow
Stats for Bridge say otherwise. But not elusive.
Bridge isn't slow. He's a safe selection - in theory a low error rate. It's just galling to see a bloke who struggles to beat someone one on one picked as our left wing. Hell, Ben Smith beat a shedload of tacklers; I've not seen that from Bridge.
Next week I wouldn't be surprised to see Clarke left wing, JB right and BB at fullback.
Honest to god, Foster seems to have taken Goodhue who was looking like a world class centre at times (his performance 2 years ago against SA at the Cake Tin was sensational, particularly on defence), and shifted him into 12. It's like watching pre-MacDonald Tana coach at the Blues at times.
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@Hooroo said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
Pretty good game to watch. Couldn't believe the weak move by Aussie at the end, showing that they don't believe they are good enough.
Not sure if you're trolling. But in a 4 match series, an away draw is a good result. I'd take it, especially if behind my own goal line 8 minutes into overtime. Good clear thinking by Oz decision makers, worryingly I have some doubts we'd have done the same.
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@nzzp said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
Three fullbacks but we got hammered in the kicking game? May as well pick Clarke, Sivivatu and Masaga if you don't care about kicking
Kinda my point, similar to the semi v England, we picked a team with strengths, yet never played for them
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@taniwharugby said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
@nzzp said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
Three fullbacks but we got hammered in the kicking game? May as well pick Clarke, Sivivatu and Masaga if you don't care about kicking
Kinda my point, similar to the semi v England, we picked a team with strengths, yet never played for them
I was told in this thread that Bridge was selected because he has a good kick chase. Funny how the only time an Aussie receiver was placed under pressure from a kick was when Clarke came on.
