The Cane vs Savea Debate
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@shark said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
For the record I think Cane is a very, very good openside flanker. Probably world class. But so is Savea, and I much prefer what Savea brings to the table in terms of skillset.
An argument I've always found highly distasteful is that for the selection of a player predominantly for a skill which others in the team should have covered. And this is a huge part of the argument put forward for Cane: his dominant tackling. He shouldn't be there for that, but it's a bonus if it's part of a package which first and foremost includes winning turnovers and - for mine anyway - link play. But people argue for Cane because they believe we need his tackling which supposedly won't come from the 6 and 8. But it's 2020, not 2019. We don't have the new incarnation of Blair Larsen on the other flank and a number 8 who bucked NZ tradition and couldn't be usurped when past his best, due to lack of depth. Any combination of Sotutu, Grace and Frizzel should provide that grunt, and then the door is open for an openside who can provide the icing rather than providing the eggs to the batter.
@Bones even I don’t go this far back with my anecdotes on past players
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@shark said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@booboo Umm well I've resisted talking about this for four whole days, but on Thursday night I was privy to the actual Canterbury / Crusaders analysis of Akira Ioane and the stats don't paint the picture that he can offer that particular skill. And his character was called into question, to boot.
But for mine, he's impressed me in a handful of games this season. It's a small sample but let's hope the stats aren't the be all and end all, and the single opinion expressed was also just that, and incorrect.
I hope you don’t think you are going to get away with not spilling the beans a bit more on what you heard.
Surely it’s time for another Akira thread.Regardless, I agree, Akira doesn’t fill that Kaino role of smashing people. He offers something different which is closer to what Savea offers ie. athleticism and ball skills.
Sotutu seems to be a mix of both. -
@pukunui huh that's interesting - what I noticed most about Aoane this year was his brutal defence. Guys would just stop dead running into him and he's very good at holding people up.
Also interesting.... didn't Ardie have waaaay more dominant tackles than Cane this year?
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@Bones said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@pukunui huh that's interesting - what I noticed most about Aoane this year was his brutal defence. Guys would just stop dead running into him and he's very good at holding people up.
Also interesting.... didn't Ardie have waaaay more dominant tackles than Cane this year?
I’d be interested in what they expect from Aoane.
This season he was very dominant in the tackle. Pretty impressive really.
What I noticed from my armchair view though was he still seems a little lost in attack. Frizzel may not appear to hit as hard in the tackle or drive attacker players back like Aoane did, but he seems far more involved and assured in attack. This isn’t just about ball carriers, but attack ruck play, getting back in alignment.
I guess with Cane being captain it really comes down to who complements Cane at 7. At this point I would say it’s Frizzell.
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@shark said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@booboo Umm well I've resisted talking about this for four whole days, but on Thursday night I was privy to the actual Canterbury / Crusaders analysis of Akira Ioane and the stats don't paint the picture that he can offer that particular skill. And his character was called into question, to boot.
But for mine, he's impressed me in a handful of games this season. It's a small sample but let's hope the stats aren't the be all and end all, and the single opinion expressed was also just that, and incorrect.
Great oil. 👍
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@Yeetyaah said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
It's always a funny debate. I like them both. Savea runs hard and has pace, Cane is a bit more technical and is better defensively.
I think people who watch rugby a bit more casually see Ardie run hard and think he's automatically better. I see people making the argument on Facebook all the time and if anyone disagrees they spam clown emojis and think they won the argument.
I don't think Cane has ever not played well in the black jersey, same with Ardie.
However, one thing Cane has over Ardie is his defensive work. We lack the physical presence when he isn't on the field e.g. RWC semi final.
In a team that has been roundly and justifiably criticised as having gone a bit soft over the past few years, it's really odd to me that so many are so keen to jettison one of the very few available genuine hard fluffybunnies - he broke his neck 2 years ago FFS - in favour of another loose forward who does his best work running ball in the wide channels.
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@shark said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
So all the support for Cane is based on how we can't be without his dominant defence. Is this first and foremost how we select our openside flankers now? Not their ability to win turnovers, their link play, and hell, their ability to simply catch a rugby ball?
The greatest player who ever wore the black 7 jersey also had absolute tits for hands. Clearly, we don't expect perfection and can tolerate some flaws for strengths in other areas
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@pukunui said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@shark said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@booboo Umm well I've resisted talking about this for four whole days, but on Thursday night I was privy to the actual Canterbury / Crusaders analysis of Akira Ioane and the stats don't paint the picture that he can offer that particular skill. And his character was called into question, to boot.
But for mine, he's impressed me in a handful of games this season. It's a small sample but let's hope the stats aren't the be all and end all, and the single opinion expressed was also just that, and incorrect.
I hope you don’t think you are going to get away with not spilling the beans a bit more on what you heard.
Surely it’s time for another Akira thread.Regardless, I agree, Akira doesn’t fill that Kaino role of smashing people. He offers something different which is closer to what Savea offers ie. athleticism and ball skills.
Sotutu seems to be a mix of both.This is a good point, because that NI back row looked like they'd run riot in the NI vs SI game, but it didn't quite work, perhaps because all of those players are very similar - in good ways - in that they all can be very effective with ball in hand, and can all make dominant, tackles, and can be very effective in the loose. But, for that to happen, there needs to be the grunt work being done, bodies being moved etc. and my feeling is that it was harder to design a game-plan that took advantage of each of their strengths, as they seem to overlap a lot. For example, all three are good off the back of the scrum, but only one can play 8.
They are all good with a bit of space, but we need two (probably, depending on who is at 2) primarily in the middle of the park. That should mean that having three similar players sounds good, but what if the primary role of the guy in the middle is getting off his ass faster than everyone and being into absolutely everything? (let's call it the McCaw role). If that's the role needed for one player, I can totally see why they might feel like they need a Cane out there - being the benchmark for workrate and commitment on both sides of the ball.
Although I don't trust the stats from rugbypass so much, a quick look at the stats for Super rugby for Cane and Savea indicates that Cane just gets in the game much more often. We are comparing 8 versus 11 games, but Cane made more than twice as many successful tackle attempts as Savea, despite having a lower percentage of tackle success.
On attack, Savea is way out front. Cane gets you less metres, and far fewer defenders beaten, but one question might be when and how those metres get made and those defenders get beaten? It may very well be that Savea gets most of his metres, many of his try try assists, and even many of his turnovers, during the last 30 minutes of a game. If that is that case, it makes sense to have the more involved Cane on for the the full 80 or first 50 (it's only a matter of time before we start subbing our captain) and having Savea there to finish things off - taking advantage of tired defenders and the game opening up.
We can put them both out there at some stage in the game, and that might be the very best way to use both of their talents to suit our strategy - certainly if it is to finish games. Starting them both means Ardie needs to be WC 8 - which he isn't - or Cane needs to be a WC 6 - which he isn't - so finding the right balance of when to use whose skill is crucial.
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@shark said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@booboo Umm well I've resisted talking about this for four whole days, but on Thursday night I was privy to the actual Canterbury / Crusaders analysis of Akira Ioane and the stats don't paint the picture that he can offer that particular skill. And his character was called into question, to boot.
But for mine, he's impressed me in a handful of games this season. It's a small sample but let's hope the stats aren't the be all and end all, and the single opinion expressed was also just that, and incorrect.
Was this recent analysis or from the start of the year? We've heard that before and it's quite believable. But everybody would have to admit he's been a massive improved this year.
But this is an anti-Chiefs player thread not an anti-Blues player thread, let's not digress ...
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It's funny how Cane's handling is being knocked - not saying it has been great lately but when he burst on the scene he had quite good hands and was a decent link player.
If there is one game we can point to the difference between the players, its the biggest game of last year. Speculative but I think everyone would agree we needed more dominant tackles and tight physicality.
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@shark said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@mofitzy_ So you're saying it's the openside flankers' role to provide all that physicality?
It's everyone's job to provide physicality in the modern game - aside from nine (and they used to!) and the occaisional outside back like Kolbe or DMac.
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@shark said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@mofitzy_ So you're saying it's the openside flankers' role to provide all that physicality?
No, it's everyones. This argument that if we have a hard hitting 6 then we can afford to carry someone who is passive in the loose forwards is ridiculous. Test rugby against good opposition is trench warfare and every opportunity we get to stop their forward progress so they give us the ball back needs to be taken.
Cane is a better openside flanker in the mould of McCaw. He reads the game better than other flankers, he gets involved more than other flankers and his involvements matter.
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@antipodean said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
This argument that if we have a hard hitting 6 then we can afford to carry someone who is passive in the loose forwards is ridiculous.
not sure thats what people are saying?
We have seen the discussions here many times before where there is making tackles and dominant tackles, both have thier place, your 7 if he is playing for t/os isnt gonna go hunting for the big hits
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And Ardie is in no way passive. His hits are more often dominant than cane in SRA
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@taniwharugby said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@antipodean said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
This argument that if we have a hard hitting 6 then we can afford to carry someone who is passive in the loose forwards is ridiculous.
not sure thats what people are saying?
We have seen the discussions here many times before where there is making tackles and dominant tackles, both have thier place, your 7 if he is playing for t/os isnt gonna go hunting for the big hits
So you end up with a flanker like Cockwomble. If your support and cleanout is on the job, his entire game is nullified and you're making yards.
There are far too many people who watch SR and think that translates to Tests.
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@Machpants said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
And Ardie is in no way passive. His hits are more often dominant than cane in SRA
Nonsense.
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@antipodean said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
So you end up with a flanker like Cockwomble.
yes...which to me isnt how we play, more so when you look at how easily nullified he can be
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@taniwharugby said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@antipodean said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
This argument that if we have a hard hitting 6 then we can afford to carry someone who is passive in the loose forwards is ridiculous.
not sure thats what people are saying?
We have seen the discussions here many times before where there is making tackles and dominant tackles, both have thier place, your 7 if he is playing for t/os isnt gonna go hunting for the big hits
I think some are confusing the 7 jersey with Pocockwomble.
McCaw wasn't an out and out jackler and that's what made him great. He got stuck into being among the first to the breakdown via excellent running lines, then being a nuisance once there or cleaning out for quick re-cycling.
The likes of Boshier are still trying to balance their game out in this regard.He can turn on the jackling at critical times but looks more to being first to the breakdown or making the tackle.I think both Cane and Ardie are also not quite there on that perfect balance but in different aspects.
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@antipodean said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@taniwharugby said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@antipodean said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
This argument that if we have a hard hitting 6 then we can afford to carry someone who is passive in the loose forwards is ridiculous.
not sure thats what people are saying?
We have seen the discussions here many times before where there is making tackles and dominant tackles, both have thier place, your 7 if he is playing for t/os isnt gonna go hunting for the big hits
So you end up with a flanker like Cockwomble. If your support and cleanout is on the job, his entire game is nullified and you're making yards.
There are far too many people who watch SR and think that translates to Tests.
thats offensive to my people
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@Machpants said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
And Ardie is in no way passive. His hits are more often dominant than cane in SRA
I'd like to know how they classified a dominant tackle.
Mitchell Brown was second but I don't remember him smashing players in the tackle either.
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@Kiwiwomble said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@antipodean said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@taniwharugby said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@antipodean said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
This argument that if we have a hard hitting 6 then we can afford to carry someone who is passive in the loose forwards is ridiculous.
not sure thats what people are saying?
We have seen the discussions here many times before where there is making tackles and dominant tackles, both have thier place, your 7 if he is playing for t/os isnt gonna go hunting for the big hits
So you end up with a flanker like Cockwomble. If your support and cleanout is on the job, his entire game is nullified and you're making yards.
There are far too many people who watch SR and think that translates to Tests.
thats offensive to my people
I thought Kiwi was your Iwi. Womble just your designation?
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@Crucial im not actually sure on the correct answer...im just offended on behalf of all wombles
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@Bovidae said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
I'd like to know how they classified a dominant tackle.
Wayne Smith did an interview or was in an article several years back about what they deem a tackle vs a dominant one, I dont think it will be in our archives here.
If he said, it is FACT
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Sam Cane winning percentage 88.23
Ardie, 82.95
Start with Cane and perhaps, now that Hansens gone, we can get back to prioritising actually winning games again.🙂
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@antipodean said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@Machpants said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
And Ardie is in no way passive. His hits are more often dominant than cane in SRA
Nonsense.
Whelp, that's what the stats said.
Cane's Super Rugby Aotearoa stats show that he has made the third-most tackles in the competition, behind fellow open sides Dalton Papalii and Dillon Hunt, despite sitting out the opening two rounds.
He is making dominant tackles at a solid rate of 19%, but that sits below other loose forwards Ardie Savea (31%), Mitch Brown (28%), Papalii (25%), Du'Plessis Kirifi (25%), and Tom Christie (25%).
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@Machpants said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@antipodean said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@Machpants said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
And Ardie is in no way passive. His hits are more often dominant than cane in SRA
Nonsense.
Whelp, that's what the stats said.
Cane's Super Rugby Aotearoa stats show that he has made the third-most tackles in the competition, behind fellow open sides Dalton Papalii and Dillon Hunt, despite sitting out the opening two rounds.
He is making dominant tackles at a solid rate of 19%, but that sits below other loose forwards Ardie Savea (31%), Mitch Brown (28%), Papalii (25%), Du'Plessis Kirifi (25%), and Tom Christie (25%).
Whose stats are those, Helen fucking Kellers? Not even Ardie's mum thinks he makes dominant tackles a third of the time.
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@antipodean you didn't watch SRA then, he was fkn massive for the canes. He was smashing people back. Cane was doing the work in the background stuff, never really noticed him. Sure he hit lots of tackles (losing team, duh) but apart from that not much. Also f all leadership in said losing team.
EDIT: Rugbypass, owned by sky, stats BTW
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@Machpants said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@antipodean you didn't watch SRA then, he was fkn massive for the canes. He was smashing people back.
Yeah righto Mrs Savea.
EDIT: Rugbypass, owned by sky, stats BTW
Clearly none of them have a quality dictionary judging by their definition of dominant.
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@Machpants Without going into the Cane vs Savea discussion, the stats from Rugbypass are usually not very good. Opta/SANZAAR stats (not sure whether SANZAAR stats come from Opta) are the best, closely followed by ESPN. Fox Sports stats are somewhere in-between Opta/ESPN and Rugbypass.
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@Stargazer and none of those watch the match and note dominant tackles, so the point is moot. Cane was, outside of defensive work rate due to leading a pile of arse team, anon in SRA. Ardie, after a quiet start, was impressive in offense and defence. I agree with those stats.
Doesn't mean he's better when they are both on form, or better in test matches. But cane had not looked good this year, whereas Ardie has in patches, along with being one of our best players for ages (as voted by his fellow ABs). So I'll believe rugby pass stats, and I also think foster was stupid naming cane as Captain so early when he is not our best in that position. It's like hooper too me.
Cane will do the job, Ardie will do it better.
So GFY Harriet
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@Machpants said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
So GFY Harriet
It's Catherine Everett .
I'm firmly in teh Cane camp. Our style is that we don't need the turnover merchant, but a physically dominant and effective player. Cane rocks that for me. Savea is great in his own way, but just not as physically dominant.
Simply put, Cane kills people in the tackle, and in Test rugby, that's what you need. That's also needed from 6+8, but Savea is one of those players who just doesn't fit unfortunately ...a bit short and a bit small to be long term dominant at Test level.
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Harriet is Sam's other half, posting as @antipodean
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@shark said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@mofitzy_ So you're saying it's the openside flankers' role to provide all that physicality?
Yes. It's in fact the job of everyone in the pack to show some physicality. And it doesn't only mean smashing people with ball in hand or in the tackle (although that's obviously a significant part of it), it also means cleaning out opposition players and winning the ruck quickly and cleanly (and conversely not being cleaned out quickly and cleanly when defending). It's a cliche that rugby is a game of inches, but it's true and Cane is one of our best at winning those all important inches. Being a 7 is not all side steps or ball steals - if it was we wouldn't have been so critical of Pocock.
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@Machpants said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@antipodean said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@Machpants said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
And Ardie is in no way passive. His hits are more often dominant than cane in SRA
Nonsense.
Whelp, that's what the stats said.
Cane's Super Rugby Aotearoa stats show that he has made the third-most tackles in the competition, behind fellow open sides Dalton Papalii and Dillon Hunt, despite sitting out the opening two rounds.
He is making dominant tackles at a solid rate of 19%, but that sits below other loose forwards Ardie Savea (31%), Mitch Brown (28%), Papalii (25%), Du'Plessis Kirifi (25%), and Tom Christie (25%).
How many dominant tackles does that equate to over the course of a match, then? Because I can make 50% dominant tackles, bu if i only make two tackles per match then it really means fuck all
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@junior said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@Machpants said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@antipodean said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@Machpants said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
And Ardie is in no way passive. His hits are more often dominant than cane in SRA
Nonsense.
Whelp, that's what the stats said.
Cane's Super Rugby Aotearoa stats show that he has made the third-most tackles in the competition, behind fellow open sides Dalton Papalii and Dillon Hunt, despite sitting out the opening two rounds.
He is making dominant tackles at a solid rate of 19%, but that sits below other loose forwards Ardie Savea (31%), Mitch Brown (28%), Papalii (25%), Du'Plessis Kirifi (25%), and Tom Christie (25%).
How many dominant tackles does that equate to over the course of a match, then? Because I can make 50% dominant tackles, bu if i only make two tackles per match then it really means fuck all
It doesn't mean 'fuck all' but it is a good point. Ardie wasn't the main tackler for the canes, like cane is for chiefs. Playing in 8 is part of the reason, and the loose trio balance. But the fact that when he tackles Ardie is dominant 1 out of 3 times, compared to canes 1 out of 5, is not meaningless. However, Ardie's massive attacking upside is very important compared to cane's minor defensive upside and tits for hands
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@shark said in The Cane vs Savea Debate:
@gt12 Savea was playing 8, and Cane 7. So it's even less apples for apples. Which is then followed up with making a point based solely on an assumption (the stuff about the last 30 mins).
Excellent point, that’s a great reason why Savea shouldn’t be playing 7 for the ABs.
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All this discussion about 'dominant tackling' has made me realise that my initial top of the head comment about Cane possibly contains the key.
I said that Cane was the more dominant tackler 'in the loose' and by that I mean tackles other than the front on close to breakdown ones.
For me Cane gets himself into stronger positions to make harder hits when covering while Ardie gets there and tackles but it is slightly more side on and doesn't stop the carrier in their tracks as much.
That makes a huge difference as even slight momentum after being tackled can allow overall momentum to regenerate. If runners have to check their runs it slows down the impetus.
Not saying that Ardie is poor in this regard just that Cane is a little better.
That semifinal where England were able to just roll forward and make ground at will was embarrassing in this regard.
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