All Blacks v Tonga
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@chris-b said in All Blacks v Tonga:
He's not going to be the greatest of All Black wingers - but, he's far from the worst.
Not the worst generic rugby player (not talking about wing play). In fact he's pretty good, he doesn't make many mistakes.
But maybe the worst foot work of an AB winger in the professional age? I'm struggling to think of another one
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@duluth said in All Blacks v Tonga:
@chris-b said in All Blacks v Tonga:
He's not going to be the greatest of All Black wingers - but, he's far from the worst.
Not the worst generic rugby player (not talking about wing play). In fact he's pretty good, he doesn't make many mistakes.
But maybe the worst foot work of an AB winger in the professional age? I'm struggling to think of another one
He makes Zac's footwork look good.
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Not really sure what people see in Clarke to be honest. Apart from one game at Eden Park in which he made a few line breaks against a poor Aussie team, he was fairly average in Aussie, really poor this year (for whatever reason).
Riko on the left wing, Will on the right (Reece is there as well) and that is as much firepower as you'll ever get. -
@stag said in All Blacks v Tonga:
7 clean breaks…….
7 clean breaks, and 6 "don't hit me, I'm not a threat" as soon as the 2nd layer of defence is reached. (With the 7th of those clean breaks, being 'there IS NO 2nd layer of defence, I'm over the line, thanks guys')
I want him to be good. I want every NZer to be good. But in this game, he didn't do very well. I sincerely hope that in the next one, and every subsequent one, he does, and becomes a legendary All Black. I hope that for every guy who puts on the All Blacks jersey.
But, in this game, he wasn't a very good winger. And... why people defend "a player" rather than just saying "yeah, he made mistakes"... is frankly, fucking bizarre. -
@nepia said in All Blacks v Tonga:
@chris-b said in All Blacks v Tonga:
@nepia Neil Purvis.
To be brutally harsh - the second coming of NMS.
Sheesh Grandpa, couldn't you pick someone most of us had seen play?
I harshly did!
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@chris-b said in All Blacks v Tonga:
@nepia said in All Blacks v Tonga:
@chris-b said in All Blacks v Tonga:
@nepia Neil Purvis.
To be brutally harsh - the second coming of NMS.
Sheesh Grandpa, couldn't you pick someone most of us had seen play?
I harshly did!
Neil Purvis was a very tidy 12 shifted out to the wing.
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@kirwan said in All Blacks v Tonga:
@crazy-horse said in All Blacks v Tonga:
@crucial said in All Blacks v Tonga:
A firing Caleb Clarke solves the problem doesn’t it?
Certainly does. Let's hope he can put this
seasonbehind him.Injury, you mean.
Wait what? He's played well this season you think?
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@nepia said in All Blacks v Tonga:
@antipodean said in All Blacks v Tonga:
@tim said in All Blacks v Tonga:
@stag ABs have been committing about one man per ruck. Would be better served getting some contact practice in by hitting rucks.
And not permitting any kicking. Treat this like the RWC group stage match against minnows it is.
Fozzie can't risk doing that, remember how much shit Hansen copped in 2015 when they did that.
Perhaps if his reappointment is marginal it comes down to points difference?
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@duluth said in All Blacks v Tonga:
@chris-b said in All Blacks v Tonga:
He's not going to be the greatest of All Black wingers - but, he's far from the worst.
Not the worst generic rugby player (not talking about wing play). In fact he's pretty good, he doesn't make many mistakes.
But maybe the worst foot work of an AB winger in the professional age? I'm struggling to think of another one
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I think Rieko's shift to centre has come a few years too early. We are far better off utilising his pace off the mark, power and footwork on the wing while he is still young.
He was carrying an injury in 2019 and then seemed to want to move in after that, but he appears to he back to fill fitness now. If I was the AB coaches I'd be saying to him we need you on the wing, but behind the scenes we will continue to develop you as a centre and move you in during the 2nd half in tests where appropriate to gain experience there.
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@no-quarter not a fan of moving players in from the outsides during a game, that's a defence risk, much prefer the other way. Last year Rieko would've been perfect off the bench, but he's too dangerous now to leave out.
Would be interesting to see him in combination with Havili.
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@pukunui said in All Blacks v Tonga:
I actually had a similar thought during the game. That maybe Bridge would make a better midfielder than wing. Similar style to Crotty. Not particularly fast or dynamic but just dare i say it…..safe.
Don't give Foster ideas. The last thing we need is 5 more years of experimentation at 12 & 13.
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@crazy-horse said in All Blacks v Tonga:
For the big games I think our best hooe is for one of the two new 12s to demand selection so ALB can be at 13 and Rieko at 11.
I think Reiko has grown a lot at 13 and if DH gets chance at 12 against Fiji and does well, I can see the midfield choice being ALB, RI, DH and a fit Goodhue.
ALB would be first pick, but what is his position and best partner in midfield?
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@victor-meldrew would like to see more of Peter umaga jenson aswell
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@jk said in All Blacks v Tonga:
@tim said in All Blacks v Tonga:
NZ TAB has the spread at 79.5 points. If the weather's good they should cover that easily.
Opened at 73.5 mate.....quick to snap that up
And the -99.5 at $9 was a steal too on reflection! Think it closed around $6-7
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@pukunui said in All Blacks v Tonga:
@chris-b said in All Blacks v Tonga:
@pukunui said in All Blacks v Tonga:
The fact he was given a rating of 9 in that player rating article just demonstrates the poor quality of journalism in NZ.
Though to be frank, it's more accurate than the collective pile-in that went on on here. Reading this thread you would have thought you were watching a meltdown of Colin Farrell proportions.
Yeah maybe, but a group of unpaid, old/youth adjacent blokes posing as experts on an internet forum should be given a bit more slack than someone claiming to be a sports journalist.
A 5 or 6 is probably fair when compared to what others got.
So the score of 9 was 3-4 too high.
Tsf probably 3-4 too low if the comments reflect a score of 1 or 2.He was given Equal lowest 6 on the stuff version
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Well was a game of popcorn rugby in the end and felt rather sorry for Tonga. you would hope that things might change in the future so they can field their best team but unfortunately we all know that wont happen anytime soon...
Things just went from bad to worse for Tonga and for some reason kept kicking the ball when they couldn't even win their own lineouts - let alone one against the throw.
Hard to take much out of it for the AB's but I was impressed by the forwards ability to offload and despite the dreadful tackling the support play was excellent, someone would make a break and there would be 3,4,5 players there in support.
Good to see young players get a go and perform and while you can say "it's a good start" we still have no idea how they will perform under pressure.
Good mental strength from the AB's to keep the donut, which is probably the most pleasing aspect of the game you can take out of a game like that..
