Bledisloe 1
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@Kiwiwomble I regularly mute match threads for that reason. Often too negative and too many broken records. Not enough celebrating good things.
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@Rancid-Schnitzel I just about woke the kids when he did that. He had link players on both sides and went with the dumb, solo option. We've have applauded him if it had come off, but it was such a low percentage play.
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@Stargazer said in Bledisloe 1:
@Kiwiwomble I regularly mute match threads for that reason. Often too negative and too many broken records. Not enough celebrating good things.
definitely, havent been in a match thread during a game this season i think, enjoy the 80min much more, just really interesting reading through the next day
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@Rancid-Schnitzel said in Bledisloe 1:
I'm still scratching my head about Sotutu's kick. Wtf was he thinking there? He was surrounded by support. He should go the way of 2008 Lauaki for that alone.
But obviously it was incredibly concerning how that 15 vs 13 advantage wasn't exploited. Schoolboy teams would do a better job than that. Add the sometimes shocking defence out wide and you wonder what they're actually doing in training.
Anyone with that haircut has questionable decision making across other facets of life to be fair.
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Set piece stats are interesting:
Scrum - OZ 5/6; ABs 2/5
Lineout - OZ 12/14; ABs 13/13.So overall both sides lost 3 of their set piece ball. Good to see us challenging every one of their lineouts.
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@ACT-Crusader said in Bledisloe 1:
Good to see us challenging every one of their lineouts
couple of those "closing the gap" penalties were harsh i thought considering what the Wallabies were doing on the other side. at least we were having ac rack though
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@mariner4life Valentini has a very high work rate on both sides of the ball. Led the Aussies in tackles and number of ball carries. And for a guy that is heavily involved at the breakdown and tackle he has very good discipline.
One of the best games I’ve seen Samu play ever. He was playing a more hybrid role than what Hooper generally plays, but yeah he was up there in terms of the best on the park.
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@ACT-Crusader i honestly didn't think Samu had that in him, he was not a name i was worried about pre-game
I thought even 12 months ago Valetini was not robust enough at test level. He's definitely improved in that area, and his test game now looks like his Super game used to. Hugely improved player.
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Well now that I have had time to digest it all it was quite a test match. Some great skills from both, some ordinary skills from both. I am all for referees having what might be called their different interpretations or styles, wouldn’t rugby become mundane if it was all so predictable?
The final result? Obviously happy to have secured the Bledisloe for another year but can’t help feeling a bit disappointed overall, firstly that we won in “controversial” circumstances that will be talked about for ages but mostly disappointed that at 31-13 we took our foot of the gas. Good AB teams would have taken no prisoners and turned that into a 30+ point winning margin.
The tension now grows for Eden Park where we will see some different players on the field, at least Ardie will be back, and whether Foster can maintain the EP hoodoo.
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@mariner4life go back and read the thread, people bitching about DP and HS.
Just saying they come in cold, and get grilled.
Well there needs to be development, don't expect weekly changes, but they can still develop without doing that.
What has happened this year is the result of 2+ years of ignoring issues in front of you.
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@Crucial Yup agree on the Clarke theory on him being told to shoot up. Its a very high risk strategy especially with our widest man being given the task of doing it and I also don't like it as its asking a hell of a lot from Rieko Ioane to cover in behind him with the sweeping player (usually Mo'unga), and by that time, the support runners have already swept around which creates the overlap anyway.
The risk is certainly higher than the reward in the strategy.
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@taniwharugby said in Bledisloe 1:
@mariner4life go back and read the thread, people bitching about DP and HS.
Just saying they come in cold, and get grilled.
Well there needs to be development, don't expect weekly changes, but they can still develop without doing that.
What has happened this year is the result of 2+ years of ignoring issues in front of you.
i think we are also a victim of our structure. Basically, from mid-June, if you are not playing in a test, you have nothing meaningful to play. And with all due respect, NPC rugby is a glorified club game compared to test rugby.
So basically the first choice guys play, everyone else goes cold.
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@mariner4life although I think this year the starting 15 has been changed less than in many, many years...
This isn't really due to how well they were playing, was a combination of lack of choices in squad and clinging to jobs.
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@mariner4life its a paradox though isn;t it, NPC quality drops at least partially because the best players dont play in it
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@Stargazer said in Bledisloe 1:
@Kiwiwomble I regularly mute match threads for that reason. Often too negative and too many broken records. Not enough celebrating good things.
Interesting you say that when you have been one of the most vocal critics of Beauden when he plays, constantly searching for negatives even when he's played well.
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@No-Quarter Your memory is wrong. I haven't posted much in match threads this year, and that includes posts about BB.
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@taniwharugby said in Bledisloe 1:
@mariner4life although I think this year the starting 15 has been changed less than in many, many years...
This isn't really due to how well they were playing, was a combination of lack of choices in squad and clinging to jobs.
in my eyes the best team plays every week unless they are unable to. I LIKE the way they have handled it this year. Especially with a week off after every 2nd game. And it's not like guys coming off the bench are actually enhancing us. in most cases it's been the other way.
Yes you take the chance of last night's situation. But i believe Sotutu would have played better had Frizzell been playing. Or even Cane stayed on, as there is only minor disruption. Not wholesale.
But that is obviously just my opinion
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@mariner4life I agree with you that they should be looking to start the same team as much as possible. What's hampered us this year is we haven't been able to introduce new players to test footy from the bench as we've been under the pump so often.
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Its amazing how full the websphere is at the moment about a 79th minute correct refereeing decision.
Oh, rugby, oh how I no longer love thee.
I do wonder about an alternate reality where referees were never miced up back in the 90s, and morphed into on field coaches.
"But sir, you only warned me once?, oh was it twice? But I didn't hear the second warning, how can I be to blame for pushing it beyond the taking-the-piss mark if I only heard one warning and one time-off?"
Keep quiet, keep them guessing, I reckon we'd be amazed at the good behavior.
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@No-Quarter said in Bledisloe 1:
@mariner4life I agree with you that they should be looking to start the same team as much as possible. What's hampered us this year is we haven't been able to introduce new players to test footy from the bench as we've been under the pump so often.
i think our bench has been an issue performance-wise. I don't seem to recall too many guys coming on and immediately impacting a game positively. And that definitely would have impacted the coaches thinking.
