Foster, Robertson etc
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An average coach (Foster) outcoached a below average coach (Pivac) primarily by selecting the right players
As soon as I saw Priestland at 10 I knew we were going to get thumped
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My potential future father in law played against Ian Macrae in Hawkes bay club rugby. Said he was a monster before his time.
Bit before my time, but Ian McRae was a game-changer who re-invented 2nd 5/8 play and with Bill Davis at 13 was absolutely key to Fred Allen's 15 man rugby. You can trace a direct line from Nonu's style of play back to McRae.
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Nonu, Bunce combo for me. Would like to take Roberston as he's a Hastings Boy's* high alum but I didn't ever see him play.
- Useless fact: Hasting Boys essentially had a lock on the centre position for the ABs from 1967 through the 1970s as we had Bill Davis then Robertson.
An astonishingly good 13 and one of the greats of that era. Double All Black IIRC.
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@MN5 I'm surprised that (to this point) none of the Hawkes Bay lads have mention McCrae and Davis. They were outstanding on the 67 tour of NH. Probably didn't play together enough at AB level to be real contenders but legends of that record setting HB team of the late 6's.
McRae was I think 6' and 14 stone (1.8 - 90 kg) which was enormous for the time.
Bruce Robertson would have excelled in the modern game, given how good he was in the very limited backlines of the 70's.
It pains me to say it as a Harbour supporter but as a combination i think Nonu and Smith shade Little/Bunce.
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Nonu/Smith for me as the best combination - maybe slightly influenced by the 2 WC's they managed to be a part of.
Nonu was big and physical but added more skill and nuance to his game as he progressed, just got better and better with age really.
Smith certainly not athletically the best AB you'd see (no disrespect) but one of the finest rugby brains I've seen. Seemed to go game after game without making a poor decision or being caught out of position.
It really was the ultimate combination of brawn, brains, skill and nuance.
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@dogmeat I only ever really got to see them in club rugby as I was too young to go to the Shield Defenses as the crowds were simply way too big and easy to get lost from my dad not to mention the long walk to and from where you had to park the car amongst large crowds. I do recall them playing most Saturdays as my father was a Taradale supporter so got to see Davis rather often whilst MacRae was at Marist Brothers Old Boys who were not a team Taradale people supported! However we did go the big games played by Napier Old Boys, Hastings Old Boys, Marist and MAC. Davis and MacRae naturally were our heroes (along with a number of other non AB HB players) and me and my brother just loved watching them play. Davis was silky smooth, much like Bruce RObertson and had good speed and a beautiful pass which me used to put his wingers into try scoring positions. Often that was py passing "into the gap" or often getting the opposition winger to come in to tackle him thus creating space for his own winger who was them in space with not much defence in fron of him.
MacRae was like something not seen before in so much as physically engaging into contact with other players, usually requiring two players to wrap him up thus there was space somewhere else for his team mates to exploit. Often this would involve him running into target a player not directly marking him thus getting his marker and the target to engage with him. You could probably call his style of play a forerunning of the way second fives play these days. I don't really recall him bashing his way through like they do nowadays but my memory is being stretched back to before I was even ten years old so he may have done but my overriding memory is often seeing players swarming around him, kind of like bees swarming around a honey pot. -
With midfielders one stepper and one straight is the way. Doesn't matter which way around(12,13) or even if one or other can do both. As long as one player looks for a weakness and one straightens. That checks the defensive enough that the fullback can watch and direct the next move, either shooting up as an extra or calling it wide and going to support.
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With midfielders one stepper and one straight is the way. Doesn't matter which way around(12,13) or even if one or other can do both. As long as one player looks for a weakness and one straightens. That checks the defensive enough that the fullback can watch and direct the next move, either shooting up as an extra or calling it wide and going to support.
Until JB stepped in I feel like we lacked the straightener
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With midfielders one stepper and one straight is the way. Doesn't matter which way around(12,13) or even if one or other can do both. As long as one player looks for a weakness and one straightens. That checks the defensive enough that the fullback can watch and direct the next move, either shooting up as an extra or calling it wide and going to support.
Until JB stepped in I feel like we lacked the straightener
Alatini’s All Blacks midfield for 2023 World Cup
Several players are currently in the running for the starting midfield duo.
“I think we have to definitely have a look at the performances that Jordie has produced in the 12 jersey in the last two Tests,” Alatini told SENZ’s The Run Home. “Jordie at 12 is a weapon, an absolute weapon,” Jones told SENZ’s The Rugby Run. “The guy is six-foot-four, he’s 108, 109 kgs, gets over the gain line … once we get over the gain line and we analyse the game, then we can play. “If you can’t dominate the gain line, if you can’t get go-forward ball, if you can’t push the opposition back … the game of rugby’s hard. “We don’t want to make it hard, we want to be able to dominate the gain line and dominate the game.” -
@nostrildamus said in Foster:
With midfielders one stepper and one straight is the way. Doesn't matter which way around(12,13) or even if one or other can do both. As long as one player looks for a weakness and one straightens. That checks the defensive enough that the fullback can watch and direct the next move, either shooting up as an extra or calling it wide and going to support.
Until JB stepped in I feel like we lacked the straightener
Alatini’s All Blacks midfield for 2023 World Cup
Several players are currently in the running for the starting midfield duo.
“I think we have to definitely have a look at the performances that Jordie has produced in the 12 jersey in the last two Tests,” Alatini told SENZ’s The Run Home. “Jordie at 12 is a weapon, an absolute weapon,” Jones told SENZ’s The Rugby Run. “The guy is six-foot-four, he’s 108, 109 kgs, gets over the gain line … once we get over the gain line and we analyse the game, then we can play. “If you can’t dominate the gain line, if you can’t get go-forward ball, if you can’t push the opposition back … the game of rugby’s hard. “We don’t want to make it hard, we want to be able to dominate the gain line and dominate the game.”Sounds like a crash-ball merchant to me...
😎😎😎
Kidding kidding - but seriously, he is listed at 95-96kgs depending where you look, not quite the 108-109kgs Alatini (apparently Jones, thanks Bones) has him at.
Anyone got a line on an accurate count?
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@nostrildamus said in Foster:
With midfielders one stepper and one straight is the way. Doesn't matter which way around(12,13) or even if one or other can do both. As long as one player looks for a weakness and one straightens. That checks the defensive enough that the fullback can watch and direct the next move, either shooting up as an extra or calling it wide and going to support.
Until JB stepped in I feel like we lacked the straightener
Alatini’s All Blacks midfield for 2023 World Cup
Several players are currently in the running for the starting midfield duo.
“I think we have to definitely have a look at the performances that Jordie has produced in the 12 jersey in the last two Tests,” Alatini told SENZ’s The Run Home. “Jordie at 12 is a weapon, an absolute weapon,” Jones told SENZ’s The Rugby Run. “The guy is six-foot-four, he’s 108, 109 kgs, gets over the gain line … once we get over the gain line and we analyse the game, then we can play. “If you can’t dominate the gain line, if you can’t get go-forward ball, if you can’t push the opposition back … the game of rugby’s hard. “We don’t want to make it hard, we want to be able to dominate the gain line and dominate the game.”Sounds like a crash-ball merchant to me...
😎😎😎
Kidding kidding - but seriously, he is listed at 95-96kgs depending where you look, not quite the 108-109kgs Alatinu has him at.
Anyone got a line on an accurate count?
I would have guessed around the 102 mark or a little more but not as heavy as 108 ,
I just think at 6 foot 5 , if he was only 95 he would look thinner than he does
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@kiwiinmelb said in Foster:
I would have guessed around the 102 mark or a little more but not as heavy as 108 ,
Correct, according to this. Here are all three Barrett brothers' stats from the NPC media guide.
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@nostrildamus said in Foster:
With midfielders one stepper and one straight is the way. Doesn't matter which way around(12,13) or even if one or other can do both. As long as one player looks for a weakness and one straightens. That checks the defensive enough that the fullback can watch and direct the next move, either shooting up as an extra or calling it wide and going to support.
Until JB stepped in I feel like we lacked the straightener
Alatini’s All Blacks midfield for 2023 World Cup
Several players are currently in the running for the starting midfield duo.
“I think we have to definitely have a look at the performances that Jordie has produced in the 12 jersey in the last two Tests,” Alatini told SENZ’s The Run Home. “Jordie at 12 is a weapon, an absolute weapon,” Jones told SENZ’s The Rugby Run. “The guy is six-foot-four, he’s 108, 109 kgs, gets over the gain line … once we get over the gain line and we analyse the game, then we can play. “If you can’t dominate the gain line, if you can’t get go-forward ball, if you can’t push the opposition back … the game of rugby’s hard. “We don’t want to make it hard, we want to be able to dominate the gain line and dominate the game.”Sounds like a crash-ball merchant to me...
😎😎😎
Kidding kidding - but seriously, he is listed at 95-96kgs depending where you look, not quite the 108-109kgs Alatinu has him at.
Anyone got a line on an accurate count?
It was Ian Jones that said that. The same Ian Jones that thinks Taukieaho is greedy and doesn't so much care about the advantage line when it comes to hooker.
Anyway I'd pick Jordie at easily 105+
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Ian Jones got Jordie's height conversion wrong so I wouldn't rely on him for weight: 196cm is I think 6 foot 5, not 6 foot 4.
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@nostrildamus said in Foster:
Ian Jones got Jordie's height conversion wrong so I wouldn't rely on him for weight: 196cm is I think 6 foot 5, not 6 foot 4.
And when was that height taken, was it with shoes or his rugby boots on?
The only thing more inaccurate than rugby weights and heights is NBA weights and heights.
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@ACT-Crusader said in Foster:
@nostrildamus said in Foster:
Ian Jones got Jordie's height conversion wrong so I wouldn't rely on him for weight: 196cm is I think 6 foot 5, not 6 foot 4.
And when was that height taken, was it with shoes or his rugby boots on?
The only thing more inaccurate than rugby weights and heights is NBA weights and heights.
Yup but his height does seem to be usually reported as that and he looks that height he's no Ardie Savea.
