All Blacks vs Wales
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@Crazy-Horse said in All Blacks vs Wales:
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks vs Wales:
@chimoaus said in All Blacks vs Wales:
Must admit that was the most forward orientated performance I have seen in a long time and I have to say I loved it.
I'd love to see the stats on forward carries for the game vs the average for last few years. The pick and goes and just solid tight work laid the foundation for the pretty boys.
We had some obvious mistakes that need working on, but overall I was very happy with that.
6 is still not right IMO, looking forward to more of MMT and Gardiner, might be a bit late for them but love their workrates.
I'd be happy for either, with Akira on the bench (not Frizell).
Not you personally because I don't know your stance when the AB 15 was named but Fernland is so fickle (not sure that is the word I am looking for?). In the space of one game Gardiner has gone from 'fucking Canterbury bias, what the fuck is Gardiner getting picked for?' to 'how about putting him at 6 for the ABs.'
Those sour grapes must taste so sweet!
I'm a wayward Blues fan but had no comment on the XV selection. Just happy MMT and Stevenson (and Lam) were selected and played well. Would probably not have TJP there but he played well (apart from passing) and the replacement looked a bit lost to me (but perhaps that is just the way he looks).
The great majority of the team played well IMHO and looked well-coached! So can't ask for more than that and didn't notice a huge Crusaders/Canterbury bias.Seriously Gardiner looked good almost as big an engine as Blackadder and arguably more accurate (I don't really see EB as a 7-others might disagree). -
@Rancid-Schnitzel said in All Blacks vs Wales:
@chimoaus said in All Blacks vs Wales:
@Machpants said in All Blacks vs Wales:
@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks vs Wales:
Great to see Aaron Smith running.
THe last time he made a metre was in Arg 2, basically hasn't run for 4 games until now
There appeared to be a number of subtle plays throughout the game and there was a distinct difference in structure and gameplan. I can't help but wonder if Schmidt has been working behind the scenes on some of this. Perhaps Smith is implementing his plan, who knows.
Based on how he had Ireland playing I think its fair to say that the gameplan had Schmidt's fingerprints all over it. None of the helter skelter shit. Very direct and conservative. I would have liked to have seen the backs unleashed a bit more but this is a good starting point and a million times better than the aimless dross against Ireland.
Kind of the basis of test match rugby really
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@mariner4life I think we targeted the Welsh forwards because they were vulnerable there during the 6Ns.
It will be interesting next week against Scotland because I quite like their pack and they have a bit of edge to their play. But we will have opportunities out wide and so will we revert or stay narrow?
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@nostrildamus as a Cantab I cringed at a few of those Canterbury/Crusader selections for sure and Gardiner was probably one of them. I couldn't help but wonder why players such as Gardiner, Brewis, Gallagher instead of a number of others around the country. All good players with solid futures for sure (and like the rest of the team they all stood up against Ireland), but any better than other young players out there?
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@Crazy-Horse said in All Blacks vs Wales:
@nostrildamus as a Cantab I cringed at a few of those Canterbury/Crusader selections for sure and Gardiner was probably one of them. I couldn't help but wonder why players such as Gardiner, Brewis, Gallagher instead of a number of others around the country. All good players with solid futures for sure (and like the rest of the team they all stood up against Ireland), but any better than other young players out there?
I guess the (unlikely) answer is to have more XV games?
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@Rancid-Schnitzel said in All Blacks vs Wales:
@chimoaus said in All Blacks vs Wales:
@Machpants said in All Blacks vs Wales:
@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks vs Wales:
Great to see Aaron Smith running.
THe last time he made a metre was in Arg 2, basically hasn't run for 4 games until now
There appeared to be a number of subtle plays throughout the game and there was a distinct difference in structure and gameplan. I can't help but wonder if Schmidt has been working behind the scenes on some of this. Perhaps Smith is implementing his plan, who knows.
Based on how he had Ireland playing I think its fair to say that the gameplan had Schmidt's fingerprints all over it. None of the helter skelter shit. Very direct and conservative. I would have liked to have seen the backs unleashed a bit more but this is a good starting point and a million times better than the aimless dross against Ireland.
NZ teams are always capable of scoring brilliant tries. We can always turn on helter skelter from broken play where required. What we have been missing lately is discipline and structure. I am all for the team building on a more limited and controled gameplan for this tour and the RC next year.
Now need to work on not giving so many PK's away.
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@Crazy-Horse said in All Blacks vs Wales:
@nostrildamus as a Cantab I cringed at a few of those Canterbury/Crusader selections for sure and Gardiner was probably one of them. I couldn't help but wonder why players such as Gardiner, Brewis, Gallagher instead of a number of others around the country. All good players with solid futures for sure (and like the rest of the team they all stood up against Ireland), but any better than other young players out there?
This is a very balanced post, aren't you worried that you'll have to hand in your Cantab card?
It's funny, on another unnamed forum Cantab fans were complaining about Gardiner's selection citing his poor form at the end of the NPC. 24 hours later, same fans - Gardiner is the best 6 in the country.
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@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks vs Wales:
@Old-Samurai-Jack said in All Blacks vs Wales:
Great win but I have to question the strength of the opposition. They seemed pretty poor.
Wales are in the wilderness a bit right now. They’re trying to work out their best XV when they don’t have any clear standouts in a number of positions.
i always thought that the Scotland game would be tougher than this one.
Did you watch earlier?
Could/should be a 70 pointer next week
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@sparky said in All Blacks vs Wales:
@canefan said in All Blacks vs Wales:
The comms are going on about humidity in the stadium. Why don't they open the roof?
It rained most of the week and then it rained all day.
And it’s ladies choice
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Lovely day out
Shit from us
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Not too much to add, except for someone who has hated Taylors form this year, I was happy to see him find some of it. I don't care about tries but lineout accuracy is paramount and only missing one target in his time on the field was good.
All our tight forwards did well setting the tone of this one. Frizell didn't execute at his best and left the gate open in a position that seems when anyone gets the chance to nail it as their own, they let the door ajar.
Loved seeing Smith run again, feels like that also has been a long time absent.
Don't move Jordie back to 15
Think Mounga has a few works on when it comes to running that backline still, but don't really want to criticize anyone when you beat Wales and score over 50 points in doing so.
well done ABs
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@bayimports didnt taylor has some off field disruptions/issues he was dealing with, maybe those have been resolved?
Form is temporary, class is permanent...let's hope he keeps hitting his targets.
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@taniwharugby said in All Blacks vs Wales:
@bayimports didnt taylor has some off field disruptions/issues he was dealing with, maybe those have been resolved?
Form is temporary, class is permanent...let's hope he keeps hitting his targets.
Maybe a Canterbury fan can answer that. He has always been industrious, but when our overall attack becomes more conservative and revolves around our lineout then throwing is crucial. Anyway, well done that man, looked good out there.
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'Rage in the system': The two key factors in ABs demolition job
The All Blacks’ demolition of Wales can be put down to two things.
After their impressive win over Wales, the All Blacks players easily identified two key reasons for the big victory, reports Gregor Paul from Cardiff.
The All Blacks demolition of Wales can be put down to smart on-field tactical management and a controlled harnessing of anger.
These were the two factors universally identified by the players as the key to a victory that was achieved in a style that few imagined the All Blacks had in their repertoire.
It was a performance built on bash and crash – on relentlessly bruising ball carrying by the forwards and a directness that began in the first minute and never stopped.
Such a conservative game plan hadn’t initially been on the agenda for the All Blacks.
The intent was to look to play a little more rugby than they did – to add some creative spice to the staple ingredient of direct running.
But conditions and outcomes changed the thinking. Despite the roof being closed in Cardiff, the heavy rain and relatively warm temperature created a degree of humidity inside the stadium and conditions were heavier and wetter than they may have appeared.slippery,” says Aaron Smith. “It was dewy and it was warm. Everyone was dripping wet after about five minutes. There were a few dropped balls early on so everyone had to adjust.
“We shortened up our passes and our forwards tightened up. At times we were really dominant, getting round the corner to win the collision area, deliver good cleanouts and we were breaking into the 22 a lot.”
How easily and often the All Blacks were able to get into the Welsh 22 should be a worry for the home side, but how ruthless and effective New Zealand were once they got there should be a worry to the rest of the rugby world.
Once the All Blacks were in the red zone, they produced direct, brutal rugby that was clinical and almost unstoppable.
They recycled the ball so quickly, had runners queuing up either side of the ruck, and it was too much for Wales to contend with.
“If we get 10 metres out, we back our big boys to get that last 10 metres,” says Smith.
“When our cleans were good, we were dominant and we got some nice tries in that space. Our loose forwards and our locks are dominant carriers. It was a bit of a big boy game and we had to play that way.
“We picked a lot more because we know we had to respect the Welsh defence.
“When we tried to go wide a couple of times, the way they hold their width and come with line speed, it is pretty hard to attack around. But because they are spread out a lot little bit, there is space around the ruck to punch into.”ed coach Ian Foster was the decision-making by the leadership team to be so committed to the direct approach.
It was a style that was working and so the All Blacks resisted all temptation to try to attack wider inside the Welsh 22 and instead just kept patiently hammering close to the ruck.
“Our drivers who direct our game felt like they were getting gains through that area so that was on them,” says Ardie Savea.
“I think this team when they play on instinct, and they do their prep and play what is in front of them and just do things, that’s when we are at our best and it felt like that.
“We went out of structure a little bit and played what was in front of us and it worked well.”
And the foundation to the intensity of the performance came from some serious rage in the system that had brewed on the back of the underwhelming performance the previous week in Japan.
That had been a sore point all week for the All Blacks as they prepared, the message being hammered home that they had to learn the art of consolidating and building on a big lead.
For the third time this season, the All Blacks let a good lead slip midway through the second half in Tokyo, something they were determined couldn’t happen again in Cardiff.
“We were hard on ourselves all week,” says Dalton Papali’i. “We knew we put a pretty average performance against Japan out on the field. We knew it wasn’t good enough.
“All throughout the week we were hard on each other.”
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