Japan v All Blacks
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This was always going to be a bogey match for us. Haven’t played in 5 weeks, some inexperienced players in key positions - RTS/Ennor/Perofeta. Japan on the other hand are coming off 3 match series with Aus A.
Underwhelming, unconvincing and ugly is how I’d describe the AB’s performance and thank goodness we got the W. We looked good when going direct which was hardly any, otherwise we looked loose and lost.
Retallick and potential suspension is going to be absolutely key. Vaa’i showed he’s still raw and prob not ready to start against tier 1 teams. If Retallick is suspended they’ll need to get Tuipulotu back from AB’s. That was the best game I’ve seen him play this year, ran hard and worked his butt off.
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@TheMojoman Most likely, Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock will start, possibly with Vaa'i on the bench.
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@kiwi_expat said in Japan v All Blacks:
I don't know where to start critiquing this performance. The All Blacks were so flat it was almost unbelievable. These are highly paid athletes who are living their best lives playing a sport they love on the world stage and they looked completely disinterested. They lacked energy and intensity and looked lethargic. Like they were bored. It all starts at the top, with a low-energy, low enthusiasm head coach like Ian Foster, of course our players will also lack energy and enthusiasm.
We lacked structure in both attack and defense. Is our new attacking structure based around high-risk offloads post-contact? Because that's a recipe for failure against elite teams in high pressure matches. I'm not sure what our right edge defense was doing, but Japan made a line-break whenever they felt like it when they attacked our right side.
Our forwards were hesitant and lacked physicality at the breakdown and tackle. Our lineout was sub-standard and our maul was the weakest I've seen it. Taukei'aho played his worst game of the season and our backrow was outplayed once again.
RTS showed why he isn't a centre, he's not big enough to bend the defensive line, and not elusive enough in close to create line-breaks with his footwork.
We once again reverted to not committing any more than minimal numbers to the ruck. And low and behold, the outcomes were almost exactly the same as they've been on practically every other occasion we've tried that.
That's the vibe I get too. In previous NZ tests of old you could sense the jeopardy as the clock approached 80 if the Allblacks were losing and watch McCaw, Carter et al strive to put it right.
It looks like these lads aren't bothered. Just get the twitter account to say thanks for the game in the local language and off we pop for selfies in the next city. There is no sense of protecting the legacy.
Agreed regarding RTS . Its Jordie or bust for me at 12 a year out from World Cup. Will Jordan or Beaudy can cover 15 (I suspect WIll Jordan will be fucking unreal at test level from 15). We need a scalpel to run at fatties from broken field when the ball is kicked poorly to us. Jordie doesn't do that.
At 12 he bends the line, tackles , has an offload and is still on the pitch for goal kicking. Its a no brainer for me.
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@Chris-B said in Japan v All Blacks:
@canefan said in Japan v All Blacks:
@Steve said in Japan v All Blacks:
With Will Jordan still out , I fear we will lose Jordie from the 12 shirt, and he is exactly what we need up north on attack and defence.
Play BB at 15 and bring Reece in for WJ
Smith, Mo'unga, Reece, BBarrett - pretty small ball backline!
They were all in the backline that knocked the Irish out of last World Cup? Smith scored twice, and Beady scored no?
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@MN5 said in Japan v All Blacks:
Now that Bridge has gone he’s [Ennor] telling us all to hold his beer.
I'm not surprised. He didn't hold on to much as an AB before this game.
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@Nevorian said in Japan v All Blacks:
And fourthly if I am allowed a fourth takeaway is 4 How has Foster not sweated off a few kilos of fat this year?
It's learnings, not burnings.
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@kiwi_expat said in Japan v All Blacks:
RTS showed why he isn't a centre, he's not big enough to bend the defensive line, and not elusive enough in close to create line-breaks with his footwork.
Really? I thought RTS played really well and was one of the better players on the pitch - which is pretty impressive when you consider he's played less than 20(?) top flight Union games.
He'll get a huge amount out of that game as will the coaching staff (who seem to have managed him well) and he'll be able to consolidate that experience with the All Blacks XV.
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@Victor-Meldrew He did. People like to get stuck into him because he's come from league, but apart from the odd defensive lapse, he's made a good fist of 12 in his first ever year of pro rugby.
I'd still have Jordie at 12, but I definitely see a role for RTS in the squad going forward.
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@African-Monkey said in Japan v All Blacks:
@Victor-Meldrew He did. People like to get stuck into him because he's come from league, but apart from the odd defensive lapse, he's made a good fist of 12 in his first ever year of pro rugby.
I'd still have Jordie at 12, but I definitely see a role for RTS in the squad going forward.
My question would be 'for how long?'. Once the RWC squad gets narrowed down he just becomes an option. Good for depth if he gets a chance to develop more before that, but the reality is that he may not be required. Long time to go before that though.
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Cane talks through tour-ending injury in Tokyo
All Blacks captain Sam Cane faces a visit to a New Zealand specialist to learn whether the two cheekbone fractures he suffered in the 38-31 win over Japan on Saturday will require surgery and the possible insertion of a plate to aid his recovery.
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@pakman said in Japan v All Blacks:
@Victor-Meldrew said in Japan v All Blacks:
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@Steve said in Japan v All Blacks:
@Chris-B said in Japan v All Blacks:
@canefan said in Japan v All Blacks:
@Steve said in Japan v All Blacks:
With Will Jordan still out , I fear we will lose Jordie from the 12 shirt, and he is exactly what we need up north on attack and defence.
Play BB at 15 and bring Reece in for WJ
Smith, Mo'unga, Reece, BBarrett - pretty small ball backline!
They were all in the backline that knocked the Irish out of last World Cup? Smith scored twice, and Beady scored no?
Yeah - but, nek minnit....
And frankly, that was my main take-away from that next game. Too many little backs.
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@Chris-B said in Japan v All Blacks:
@Steve said in Japan v All Blacks:
@Chris-B said in Japan v All Blacks:
@canefan said in Japan v All Blacks:
@Steve said in Japan v All Blacks:
With Will Jordan still out , I fear we will lose Jordie from the 12 shirt, and he is exactly what we need up north on attack and defence.
Play BB at 15 and bring Reece in for WJ
Smith, Mo'unga, Reece, BBarrett - pretty small ball backline!
They were all in the backline that knocked the Irish out of last World Cup? Smith scored twice, and Beady scored no?
Yeah - but, nek minnit....
And frankly, that was my main take-away from that next game. Too many little backs.
Reece isn't little, he's 178cm but weighs around 99kg, he carries a shitload of muscle.
Beauden is 187cm & 92kg in comparison.
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@kiwi_expat said in Japan v All Blacks:
@Chris-B said in Japan v All Blacks:
@Steve said in Japan v All Blacks:
@Chris-B said in Japan v All Blacks:
@canefan said in Japan v All Blacks:
@Steve said in Japan v All Blacks:
With Will Jordan still out , I fear we will lose Jordie from the 12 shirt, and he is exactly what we need up north on attack and defence.
Play BB at 15 and bring Reece in for WJ
Smith, Mo'unga, Reece, BBarrett - pretty small ball backline!
They were all in the backline that knocked the Irish out of last World Cup? Smith scored twice, and Beady scored no?
Yeah - but, nek minnit....
And frankly, that was my main take-away from that next game. Too many little backs.
Reece isn't little, he's 178cm but weighs around 99kg, he carries a shitload of muscle.
Beauden is 187cm & 92kg in comparison.
I didn’t realise Reece was only 25 aswell. He’s still got a few years in him yet.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Japan v All Blacks:
@pakman said in Japan v All Blacks:
@Victor-Meldrew said in Japan v All Blacks:
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@pakman said in Japan v All Blacks:
@Victor-Meldrew said in Japan v All Blacks:
@pakman said in Japan v All Blacks:
@Victor-Meldrew said in Japan v All Blacks:
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Going to renew?
Nope. T'was only way to watch game.
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@Canes4life said in Japan v All Blacks:
@kiwi_expat said in Japan v All Blacks:
@Chris-B said in Japan v All Blacks:
@Steve said in Japan v All Blacks:
@Chris-B said in Japan v All Blacks:
@canefan said in Japan v All Blacks:
@Steve said in Japan v All Blacks:
With Will Jordan still out , I fear we will lose Jordie from the 12 shirt, and he is exactly what we need up north on attack and defence.
Play BB at 15 and bring Reece in for WJ
Smith, Mo'unga, Reece, BBarrett - pretty small ball backline!
They were all in the backline that knocked the Irish out of last World Cup? Smith scored twice, and Beady scored no?
Yeah - but, nek minnit....
And frankly, that was my main take-away from that next game. Too many little backs.
Reece isn't little, he's 178cm but weighs around 99kg, he carries a shitload of muscle.
Beauden is 187cm & 92kg in comparison.
I didn’t realise Reece was only 25 aswell. He’s still got a few years in him yet.
Wing? Two, max. It is the way
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@kiwi_expat said in Japan v All Blacks:
@Chris-B said in Japan v All Blacks:
@Steve said in Japan v All Blacks:
@Chris-B said in Japan v All Blacks:
@canefan said in Japan v All Blacks:
@Steve said in Japan v All Blacks:
With Will Jordan still out , I fear we will lose Jordie from the 12 shirt, and he is exactly what we need up north on attack and defence.
Play BB at 15 and bring Reece in for WJ
Smith, Mo'unga, Reece, BBarrett - pretty small ball backline!
They were all in the backline that knocked the Irish out of last World Cup? Smith scored twice, and Beady scored no?
Yeah - but, nek minnit....
And frankly, that was my main take-away from that next game. Too many little backs.
Reece isn't little, he's 178cm but weighs around 99kg, he carries a shitload of muscle.
Beauden is 187cm & 92kg in comparison.
Has a big head for a small bloke.
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Have avoided the thread as I'm pretty sure what is being said. But I'll throw my tuppence out there four days later. So late it's probably no longer relevant or of any interest, but anyways ... in no particular order...
- Kind of echoed the ABs season to date as a whole. Just when you thought they were well on top they slipped up.
- On the whole ABs deserved the win.
- The defence just before halftime was the biggest issue for me. That was not excusable. It meant that the underdogs found belief. Add in a lucky try and what should have been comfortable gets tricky.
- Hugely surprised that our forwards could not establish dominance. That Japan achieved parity kept our attack at bay.
- Impressed with Warner Dearns. (Which leads me to a side issue that is better explored in another thread re eligibility.)
- Impressed with our offload game when we got it going.
- Pass from Mo to RTS was fine. I called it forward on first view, but replays showed it clearly back out of the hand.
- Which leads me to commentators:
a. Mrs Boo asked during the game "Why did Marshall ever bother playing for the All Blacks if he hates them so much?"
b. I kinda understand why Auckland/Blues fans don't like TJ as his cheerleading for Japan got on my wick. - I thought RTS was excellent
- Further to point 4 above, I felt we were too eager to kick the ball away after not many phases. Kinda wondered if it was deliberate to test our defense. Well it worked... it was tested ... and found wanting.
- There were a number of people pointing out how well Japan has played this year and how likely they were to win. I suspect many of the same will be pointing out how useless the ABs are for not crushing that same team that was likely to beat us.
- We won. Deservedly. But by no means convincingly. I'd normally channel Steve Hansen and flush the dunny, but there's plenty to focus on from that game that needs fixing.
May go back and read the thread now. Might not.
