All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider
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@JC said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
@taniwharugby said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
@Kiwiwomble maybe he was there giving our centres some tips...
A USB stick full of videos of Ma’a and Conrad hopefully.
Edit: Just typing that out made me shake my head. How blessed were we to have had that team?
The drop off was always going to be painful
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@Duluth hopefully he keeps growing his game at 13 - he has made big improvements and if he gels well with RTS that could be a primo combo for the next few years.
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@Paekakboyz said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
@Duluth hopefully he keeps growing his game at 13 - he has made big improvements and if he gels well with RTS that could be a primo combo for the next few years.
….for the Blues, yes….
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@Paekakboyz said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
@Duluth hopefully he keeps growing his game at 13 - he has made big improvements and if he gels well with RTS that could be a primo combo for the next few years.
The only way that is going to happen is if we get a real kicking game from our fullback. Maybe I'm the only one, but I think Jordie is playing like shit / not being used effectively at fullback.
We could probably really use Dmac's kicking game and ability to move to first receiver, as Barrett seems to be essentially at fullback during the kicking duels.
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@Duluth said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
Maybe Perofeta is worth looking at. BB and him already have that combination
That's an excellent point.
I see why they've brought in Havili, but I wonder whether we would be better have Jordie up in the midfield and a more effective game driving fullback.
Hopefully we'll see some effective kicks in play from Havili because we need them.
Edit: JK was making sense on the breakdown pod today, for those who subscribe.
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@Dice said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
@kiwiinmelb said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
@pakman manukau , close
Isn't he from Mangere?
I think Tupou Vaai might be from Otara.
Yep Jonah was from Mangere. He lived next street down from me, Quennell Ave I think.
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@Paekakboyz said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
@Duluth hopefully he keeps growing his game at 13 - he has made big improvements and if he gels well with RTS that could be a primo combo for the next few years.
Yep agreed. I think we can safely say barring some unforeseen incident or rise of some other option, the days of Rieko on the wing are over.
At super level, RTS’s lack of a kicking game isn’t a worry. At test level it’s a massive hole so like Nonu before him RTS needs to develop one pronto.
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@gt12 said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
@Paekakboyz said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
@Duluth hopefully he keeps growing his game at 13 - he has made big improvements and if he gels well with RTS that could be a primo combo for the next few years.
The only way that is going to happen is if we get a real kicking game from our fullback. Maybe I'm the only one, but I think Jordie is playing like shit / not being used effectively at fullback.
We could probably really use Dmac's kicking game and ability to move to first receiver, as Barrett seems to be essentially at fullback during the kicking duels.
I love DMac and his kicking game, not sure how he would have gone with his side to side running against the Irish though
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@Bones said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
Why is RTS' (rumoured) lack of a kicking game a problem, but it's not a problem for Tupaea? Even Goodhue very rarely kicks. Anyone got any strong memories of one of ALBs pearlers off the boot?
That’s what we’re missing. None of our 12’s have a strong kicking game to speak of. It would be advantageous to have another kicking option outside of Smith, Barrett & JBarrett.
Even Nonu developed a rudimentary one towards the back half of his career. Good short kicking game, serviceable long game.
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@TheMojoman said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
@Bones said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
Why is RTS' (rumoured) lack of a kicking game a problem, but it's not a problem for Tupaea? Even Goodhue very rarely kicks. Anyone got any strong memories of one of ALBs pearlers off the boot?
That’s what we’re missing. None of our 12’s have a strong kicking game to speak of. It would be advantageous to have another kicking option outside of Smith, Barrett & JBarrett.
Even Nonu developed a rudimentary one towards the back half of his career. Good short kicking game, serviceable long game.
Jordan and Clarke are both good kickers, we actually have a few options there.
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@TheMojoman said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
@Bones said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
Why is RTS' (rumoured) lack of a kicking game a problem, but it's not a problem for Tupaea? Even Goodhue very rarely kicks. Anyone got any strong memories of one of ALBs pearlers off the boot?
That’s what we’re missing. None of our 12’s have a strong kicking game to speak of. It would be advantageous to have another kicking option outside of Smith, Barrett & JBarrett.
Even Nonu developed a rudimentary one towards the back half of his career. Good short kicking game, serviceable long game.
Oh sure, but RTS needs to develop a kicking game is what I keep reading. I'm struggling to recall any of our other 12 options being known for their kicking - but only RTS needs to do so.
Edit: and Nonu had an excellent short kicking game, but that's kinda irrelevant now
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@TheMojoman said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
Even Nonu developed a rudimentary one towards the back half of his career. Good short kicking game, serviceable long game.
Nonu's kicking was rare but really effective and was always a threat which Ma'a used to keep the opposition guessing. And he had a really smart rugby brain on him - which took a long time for people to appreciate.
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks vs Ireland - series decider:
@Bones yeah Nonu had a pretty well rounded game by the time he retired, including some great touches off the boot.
That's true, but let's not pretend he was regularly kicking that team out of trouble every match he played. The kicks Ma'a put in were genuinely good quality, but it would be fanciful to suggest that he was consistently used as a second or third kicking option in his 100+ tests.
