RWC Week 1: France v All Blacks
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There's quite a lot of panic happening across a few threads, particularly around positions 6 and 12. This just highlights how much the NZRU have f'd up over the last four or so years, most notably not hiring a coach that knows how to get the best out of his players and even more importantly someone that knows how to grow depth across the board.
The biggest disappointment is how inconsistent and meh the ABs have become since the mighty heights of 2015. I know we had a rock star team full of AB greats back then, but how the hell did we get to this point only 8 years later where we literally have no depth in key positions. We have no quality depth at 12, we've still got an unbalanced loose trio, our locks are dinosaurs, we have an uninspiring captain, and despite the odd promising performance, the ABs have lost their ruthlessness.
I hope we can pull something out of the bag this weekend to get some confidence for the rest of the tournament because it could be a hard watch and a pretty swift exit if we don't get shit right fast.
And no, Akira Ioane is not and never will be our answer to 6.
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@Canes4life I wouldnt say I am panicked, I would say more resigned to our fate, the last 4 years have been a tough ride, and expectations are low, a quarter final exit is definitely on the cards and I wont be too surprised, that being said, I dont think we are very far off making the final either, and if we get there, it's all on.
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@Canes4life said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
And no, Akira Ioane is not and never will be our answer to 6.
He should have been with proper coaching and mentoring at professional level - looking at Hansen and the toxic Blues board down when he started
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@nzzp maybe so but you can't teach the toughness that made the likes of Collins and Kaino great. Unfortunately, Ioane doesn't have that steel about him which is something that has held him back from getting to that next level. He's had his chance IMO, there are players coming through post WC that I'd rather us focus on.
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@Canes4life Kaino took time to turn into the player he was. Was loose and fast early, and the all Black's dropped him.
Kaino's early efforts for the Blues were sensational, bit no support.
Anyway, this is peak thread derailment
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Our great hope is the one and only Shannon Frizell - one good game on our home ground against a shell-shocked Bok side after repeated failures in black for years.
Now we are about to select another openside at 6 because our backup guy Jacobsen) isn't good enough and the guy that would have been a perfect replacement (Finau) wasn't picked in favor having of 5 wingers.
Saying all that - expectations are so now low that we could beat the Frogs on the weekend.
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@Frank said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
Our great hope is the one and only Shannon Frizell - one good game on our home ground against a shell-shocked Bok side after repeated failures in black for years.
Now we are about to select another openside at 6 because our backup guy Jacobsen) isn't good enough and the guy that would have been a perfect replacement (Finau) wasn't picked in favor having of 5 wingers.
Saying all that - expectations are so now low that we could beat the Frogs on the weekend.
After all the shit he got on the fern and after some folk favouring A Ioane over him it really is staggering how much hope now resides on his shoulders after ( as you put it ) one really good game ( and it was a goody )
New Zealand’s inability to effectively replace a Collins/Kaino type sure is baffling.
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@Frank said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
Our great hope is the one and only Shannon Frizell - one good game on our home ground against a shell-shocked Bok side after repeated failures in black for years.
Now we are about to select another openside at 6 because our backup guy Jacobsen) isn't good enough and the guy that would have been a perfect replacement (Finau) wasn't picked in favor having of 5 wingers.
Saying all that - expectations are so now low that we could beat the Frogs on the weekend.
To be fair you can add Joburg last year and the Argies this.
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Christ, the moaning and hysteria in this thread is reach 1999 levels and we have even played a fucking game yet!
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@Victor-Meldrew said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
With this game, I'm less interested in a win than I am in coming out with as few injuries to key players as possible.
It's a fair assumption we will qualify and we need as many of our no. 1 squad of 23 as fit as possible for the knockout stages if we are to do well in this thing.
This, together with a performance that suggests we are not as dead and buried as many people think we are. That might come in the form of a narrow win or a narrow loss, but a better performance where we are not completely emasculated, and show glimpses of what we can do we get it right, would be the ideal outcome. In short, we need a performance that restores some of the confidence. However, given the draw, we do not necessarily need a result from this match.
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@DaGrubster said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
Christ, the moaning and hysteria in this thread is reach 1999 levels and we have even played a fucking game yet!
This might have something to do with it:
1999 last ABs game before RWC. Wallabies 28 All Blacks 7
2023 last ABs game before RWC. Boks 35 All Blacks 7.
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@KiwiMurph 2011 Wallabies 25 Abs 20
Second to last game SA 18 ABs 5
I honestly don't think we should be too worried about this opener against France - we've got to peak for the QF and the two subsequent games, so we don't need or want to be peaking a month prior.
We haven't forgotten how to play footy!
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Something to get everyone hyped for Saturday, how good were the ABs in this performance.
Snakey Smith makes an appearance in the video below, is it me or has he aged quite alot since his playing days?
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@Chris-B said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
@KiwiMurph 2011 Wallabies 25 Abs 20
Second to last game SA 18 ABs 5
I honestly don't think we should be too worried about this opener against France - we've got to peak for the QF and the two subsequent games, so we don't need or want to be peaking a month prior.
We haven't forgotten how to play footy!
im worried how many people im seeing talking about peaking being like over no more than a week or 10 days
do we really think fozzie and this team are SO PRECISE that they are building to be on fire for one or two game only
we use to bag teams for "peaking too early" when they were on form a year or 18 months out....now we think losing games in the group stage isnt a problem because they'll turn it all around a week later...against harder opposition....in a knockout game
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@Windows97 said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
Jacobsen - but he got exposed cruelly against SA.
We can now watch Papps get cruelly exposed against France.
Good times...
This is a joke post right?
He was the player subbed. He had fuck all time to be cruelly exposed.
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Stat check says with 40 minutes played Jacobson had:
3 passes, 3 runs, 6 metres, 6 tackles made (1 missed), no turnovers conceded and no penalties conceded.
During the first half, we had 49% possession and 48% territory and were in deep shit. I'm not sure that he is the answer at 6 but he certainly wasn't the problem.
Look to our game drivers who couldn't keep the ball in front of the hard workers.
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How many of the current team played in that match against the Aussies?
That game against the boks was the perfect storm for them.
We will be fine. If we can get on top of France early they will struggle.
We may lose the game, especially with 4 key players out. But either way, there is no real reward for beating France. It’s the qtr final or bust for me.
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