All Blacks 2023
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@MN5 said in All Blacks 2023:
@frugby said in All Blacks 2023:
@MN5 said in All Blacks 2023:
@frugby said in All Blacks 2023:
Is it fair to criticise both Barrett and Foster? If we agree the tactics are shite, then I think it is reasonable to say that Barrett might not look shit under Razor for example.
For all the improvements in the Blues, one of the big critiques, particularly this year, was that they rely on the individual brilliance of a couple of backs (generally Rieko and Telea), so could argue he has been victim of playing in poorly set-up sides.
It is also possible, granted that age/the head knocks have caught up with him, but at his scintillating best, he was considered to be the best player in the world, and that wasn't as a bench player, that was as a world-class first five.
He is only 32, so not exactly over the hill. Having seen the renaissance of Shaun Johnson for the Warriors this year, playing in a good, coherent structure, is it unreasonable to suggest that under Razor, we could have seen a similar revival from Barrett? We will likely never know the answer, but I find it hard to believe Barrett became shit overnight.
It didn’t happen overnight but it did happen
I guess what I'm really saying though, is there are many players, across many sports, including rugby, who people have written off, suggesting they have turned to mud, then all of a sudden, under a new coach, they look a million bucks again - SJ being a great example.
Maybe, but with BB it used to be his extreme pace which got him out of trouble and made him look a million bucks.
I can’t see that coming back.
I'm not sure he has lost that pace though. Still looks lightning on defence, he just seems less willing to take the ball to the line. The question is, is that gameplan, or is Barrett.
To me it seems, for right or for wrong, the All Blacks have decided they aren't going to take the rush defence on through challenging the line, and would prefer to work the chip kick, which I think the opposition has caught on to. Blame Foster, blame Schmidt, but I think if it wasn't the gameplan, then they would play Jordan or Stevenson, or a genuine 15 at the back, rather than a kicking option. Even Jordie Barrett at his best at 15, was never a Ben Smith, running from the back slicing the game open.
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@frugby said in All Blacks 2023:
I feel like adaptions should be small, or as someone else said, simplifying the gameplan, as opposed to changing it. Basically, an option 1 and and an option 1a, rather than going from option 1 to option 2.
i think when we're talking about how its numbered we're talking about semantics, much like differentiating between styles of play or variations or gameplans
i think you need to one of two thing
A. if there is a clear gameplan/way of playing that will beat everyone, something other teams aren't set up to defend, then you pick a squad that can implement that and you pick reserves that are as close to like for like as possible, predicable once other teams see it but but you're set up to implement it it perfectly. The down side to this being you might not select a great player if what theyre good at doesnt gel with the plan
B. you pick all the best players and come up with game plans that work to their strengths, those game plans might be fairly traditional but with the best players they can still work. Because you have a variety of players you should have a variety of plans to compliment their strengths
....having one game plan....and a wide variety of players who all have different strengths and weaknesses....doesnt feel like it would take a genius to see that might not work
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@Kiwiwomble said in All Blacks 2023:
@frugby i think you need to one of two thing
A. if there is a clear gameplan/way of playing that will beat everyone, something other teams aren't set up to defend, then you pick a squad that can implement that and you pick reserves that are as close to like for like as possible, predicable once other teams see it but but you're set up to implement it it perfectly. The down side to this being you might not select a great player if what theyre good at doesnt gel with the plan
B. you pick all the best players and come up with game plans that work to their strengths, those game plans might be fairly traditional but with the best players they can still work. Because you have a variety of players you should have a variety of plans to compliment their strengths
....having one game plan....and a wide variety of players who all have different strengths and weaknesses....doesnt feel like it would take a genius to see that might not work
I'd argue that with the best All Black and Springbok teams, you more or less know/knew exactly what they were going to do, but they would back that their superior quality would get them through.
Maybe I'm biased, but I think the All Blacks still have the best backs in the world, certainly the most elusive, so we should be able to craft a gameplan which gets the best out of it. I think the ABs have been guilty of opting for b. without actually considering how it plays out. The ABs also did it in 2019, by picking S Barrett on the blindside, and the duel playmakers.
If I was building my All Black team, I'd look at Ioane, Telea and Jordan, and go there are the guys who are most likely to get us points. We don't really have the best most dominant forwards in the world, so we are going to play fast.
I then pick Aaron Smith as my first five, and Mo'unga or Barrett at 10. I don't think it matters which ones. If we are going down this route of looking to go wide, J Barrett is obviously the best 12, as he can both act as a playmaker, whilst also keeping the defence honest by carrying hard, which creates space on the outside. You then need another outside back, and it would boil down to the fact you we want to play counter-attacking rugby. I think there is a fair argument, that if we were looking for elusiveness, Narawa is a superb option, or alternatively, a left-footed kicking option might be quite handy, so you'd look to a Fainga'anuku, a Nareki or a Nanai-Seturo for balance.
We are working a gameplan around mobility, but need a platform, so you'd pick the tight five as they have, and then you'd be looking at what other roles you need to fill. It is clear that you would want two robust, noted ball-carriers, one of whom is a lineout option. At 6, that is Frizell and Finau, and at 8, in my opinion, someone who is going to do the dirty work, making a lot of tackles. Jacobson. Savea at 7. Bob's your uncle.
The perfect encaptulation of Foster picking the players before working out how he is going to make them work together, was the weird selections of RTS. Shoe-horned into 12 for the best part of two years, only for us to realise his best position is actually 15 once he has already signed to go back to league.
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@frugby said in All Blacks 2023:
@Chris said in All Blacks 2023:
So Barrett is only shit because the structures of every team he plays for,It seems to be there is a common theme,Barrett is now not playing well .
I'm posing it as a question... to me, the question is, do we think Barrett could go from being the best player in the world, to being in his current form so quickly, even accounting for age and the head knocks. To me it seems unlikely?
it's not quickly mate. he was world player of the year in 2017.
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Gameplan should come first. Whether built around players or other factors, picking all the players before working out the gameplan doesn't tend to work well.
A great example of this was the Lions, who realised that if they start running it rather than going for classical South African methods, other teams would struggle to keep up at altitude. Did they have gun players? The best in the competition? Not really, sure they had some good weapons, but more importantly, they had a gameplan built around a specific principle, where the players were then picked to play that way.
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@MN5 said in All Blacks 2023:
@frugby said in All Blacks 2023:
@MN5 said in All Blacks 2023:
@frugby said in All Blacks 2023:
Is it fair to criticise both Barrett and Foster? If we agree the tactics are shite, then I think it is reasonable to say that Barrett might not look shit under Razor for example.
For all the improvements in the Blues, one of the big critiques, particularly this year, was that they rely on the individual brilliance of a couple of backs (generally Rieko and Telea), so could argue he has been victim of playing in poorly set-up sides.
It is also possible, granted that age/the head knocks have caught up with him, but at his scintillating best, he was considered to be the best player in the world, and that wasn't as a bench player, that was as a world-class first five.
He is only 32, so not exactly over the hill. Having seen the renaissance of Shaun Johnson for the Warriors this year, playing in a good, coherent structure, is it unreasonable to suggest that under Razor, we could have seen a similar revival from Barrett? We will likely never know the answer, but I find it hard to believe Barrett became shit overnight.
It didn’t happen overnight but it did happen
I guess what I'm really saying though, is there are many players, across many sports, including rugby, who people have written off, suggesting they have turned to mud, then all of a sudden, under a new coach, they look a million bucks again - SJ being a great example.
Maybe, but with BB it used to be his extreme pace which got him out of trouble and made him look a million bucks.
I can’t see that coming back.
He saved a possible try when he turned around and chased down that Frog kick ahead. Doesn't suggest he lost any pace. But he certainly is gun shy. He used to explode into the line and look dangerous from almost anywhere, but now he very rarely goes for it. Ultimately that was his strength and what made him lethal. He never was a traditional A4 player and it makes no sense to try and make him one. But Foster and logic don't generally mix.
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@Rancid-Schnitzel nicely put. He started showing this in 2019 for the Hurricanes, I remember the Canes had a backline geared for running rugby and all Beauden did was kick, kick, kick. Then he took that same mentality onto the Blues and he's been doing it ever since. Maybe lost his confidence somewhere along the line but from seasons 2015-2017 he was notably one of the best runners of the rugby ball going around.
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@Canes4life said in All Blacks 2023:
@Rancid-Schnitzel nicely put. He started showing this in 2019 for the Hurricanes, I remember the Canes had a backline geared for running rugby and all Beauden did was kick, kick, kick. Then he took that same mentality onto the Blues and he's been doing it ever since. Maybe lost his confidence somewhere along the line but from seasons 2015-2017 he was notably one of the best runners of the rugby ball going around.
He was absolutely phenomenal then, but it's almost as if a switch was flicked. He never really went back to playing that way. The speed and skills were still there, but it seems his mindset or instincts completely changed.
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@sparky said in All Blacks 2023:
It looks like Frizzell, Jordie Barrett and Lomax are all still broken. Will any of them be available for Italy? Are they all going to be available for the Quarter Final (if the ABs get there)?
Jordie yes, they're being cautious. Not sure about the official word about the other two
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@Machpants said in All Blacks 2023:
@sparky said in All Blacks 2023:
It looks like Frizzell, Jordie Barrett and Lomax are all still broken. Will any of them be available for Italy? Are they all going to be available for the Quarter Final (if the ABs get there)?
Jordie yes, they're being cautious. Not sure about the official word about the other two
Just chuck them in a quarter final with massive pressure. What could go wrong ?
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Jordie is about 6 foot 6, that is a lot of frame his knees are bearing..I'm concerned.
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we should stop stressing....i cant see any problem going into knock out games with players like bb and savea having played every test this year and 4 other blokes coming back from injury
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@nostrildamus said in All Blacks 2023:
Jordie is about 6 foot 6, that is a lot of frame his knees are bearing..I'm concerned.
I think a knee injury is a knee injury no matter what
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@Kiwiwomble said in All Blacks 2023:
we should stop stressing....i cant see any problem going into knock out games with players like bb and savea having playered every test this year and 4 other blokes coming back from injury
Even if that doesn’t work out impact subs like Christie and Havili will come on and change the tide in our favour
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@MN5 said in All Blacks 2023:
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks 2023:
Jordie is about 6 foot 6, that is a lot of frame his knees are bearing..I'm concerned.
I think a knee injury is a knee injury no matter what
I think it is quite a serious injury and our cupboard at 12 is um...not great.
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@nostrildamus said in All Blacks 2023:
@MN5 said in All Blacks 2023:
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks 2023:
Jordie is about 6 foot 6, that is a lot of frame his knees are bearing..I'm concerned.
I think a knee injury is a knee injury no matter what
I think it is quite a serious injury and our cupboard at 12 is um...not great.
Yeah that’s my point. five foot six or seven foot six…..does it matter ?
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@MN5 said in All Blacks 2023:
@Kiwiwomble said in All Blacks 2023:
we should stop stressing....i cant see any problem going into knock out games with players like bb and savea having playered every test this year and 4 other blokes coming back from injury
Even if that doesn’t work out impact subs like Christie and Havili will come on and change the tide in our favour
even better
just realised ive been saying 4 guys being BBBR, Frizell, Lomax and JB....didn't even think about Cane
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how often has the BB at 15 and RM at 10 combo worked? I recall one game I think it went well, just trying to remember the others. If it is a winning tactic, it should be established by now given how long they have played there?
