Italy vs All Blacks 2021 NH Tour
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@junior not quite fair. I thought both the initial front row and sub props went ok. Christie had a decent game for someone so green. Cane got some needed game time.
What did you really expect though? Novice locking combo, a back row that had never played together (with a 7 returning from long term injury) an early disruption in the halves, a centre combo who have never played together with v few caps between them.
Mo'unga didn't go v well today, but that was more to do with players dropping the ball 2 or 3 phases in as the line was being bent. I expected to see him kicking behind the rush more to at least put doubt in the Italian defensive line. No kicking just gave the Italians licence to rush with impunity.
Of all the players on the pitch, McKenzie was the biggest disappointment. He's an experienced player now, yet his ability to make poor decisions was top notch today.
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@stodders said in Italy vs All Blacks 2021 NH Tour:
@victor-meldrew not many teams can field a 7 as a passenger (he was better in 2nd half but didn't control his team well in 1st because he was concentrating too much on his own job) to get his fitness back up and still post a 47-9 away win 😉
Not disagreeing, but I'd want a fit Sam Cane in my team any day. Today was progress.
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@victor-meldrew of course, if fit. I'm not sure working your way back to fitness in the AB setup is right though. ABs know what they get from Cane. I think it is a missed opportunity to look at someone else, especially with the leadership group of Whitelock/Retallick/Savea/Coles in the pack.
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@stodders said in Italy vs All Blacks 2021 NH Tour:
several ppl have said it on here...he gets dominated at test level.
Up until he was injured he was really solid at 15 and certainly wasn't dominated by the NH sides in 2018. But at times he looks a shadow of the player he was pre-injury.
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@victor-meldrew He's off to Japan next year. By the time he comes back, I think he'll be behind J Barrett and Jordan at 15 at least.
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@victor-meldrew on current form, you wouldn't want him defusing the bombs that are certain to rain down in Dublin next week.
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@stodders said in Italy vs All Blacks 2021 NH Tour:
@victor-meldrew He's off to Japan next year. By the time he comes back, I think he'll be behind J Barrett and Jordan at 15 at least.
I think he is now.
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@stodders said in Italy vs All Blacks 2021 NH Tour:
@victor-meldrew on current form, you wouldn't want him defusing the bombs that are certain to rain down in Dublin next week.
Cue Jordie to have a shocker...
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That was a very hard watch.
If passes stuck like a good ab team then it’s a good win and we are happy. They didn’t and we sucked and we are unhappy.
Halfback only really performed well. I wonder what his odds were for first try scorer given he was on bench and we were playing Italy.
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I think Whitelock is a fantastic captain
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@berniescorner said in Italy vs All Blacks 2021 NH Tour:
I think Whitelock is a fantastic captain
Fully. When Fozzie first made the decision to have Cane as his captain I was shaking my head.
Whitelock is arguably as good as McCaw as a captain.
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Ok haven't read the thread and only 70 minutes in. Three things.
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How is it that everyone in the world can see Ennor isn't an international centre's arsehole, apart from Robertson and Foster?
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How is it that everyone in the world can see Bridge isn't an international winger's arsehole, apart from Robertson and Foster?
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Who the fuck is Dixon? Probably the worst ref performance at test level in decades.
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Well not a great performance, as pointed out probably noone in team forced the coaches to say he needs to be in team next week. Think they were ok, not switched on properly, and one or two would be disappointed they didn't take chances to put hands up.
DMac as said really struggled I thought, RMo would be disappointed with his game, I think he need a second playmaker to play his best, he operates much better when he can loop around behing havili or someone and take the ball off them. He just seemed intent on shovelling ball on , or kicking down middle of field. Ennor will have nightmares about his game, as perhaps I think Jacobson will, he seemed to struggle to get into game.
I will add although I was disappointed with how ABs played, I was pissed with the camera work etc too, and bugger it was still a decent margin , so...... -
Just watched the replay , glad I didn’t sit up for it , that first half was a tough watch .
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We didn't play well but we still flogged them. We often play poorly against Italy, and normally win by less than 38 points.
Christie played well I though and Cane got through 80 minutes.
Flush the dunny and move on. In 2 weeks everyone will have forgotten this game except for the score.
