RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland
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@Daffy-Jaffy who was Sexton mouthing off at?
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@taniwharugby Allegedly Rieko.
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@MiketheSnow Cane's best performance under Foster.
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A few hours on, that was still as high a quality game as you will see. Two excellent rugby sides (and for all the angst, we tend to forget we are still a very good side) playing very well. Someone had to lose, thankfully it wasn't us. The difference i think was, as the game wore on, we were able to work the game in to our favour more than them.
So much today was little things that i wouldn't have called hallmarks of this iteration of the All Blacks. Our ruck work was excellent. On our ball our pacement and cleanout was highly accurate, and allowed us to maintain a lot of possession. On the other side we made them work really hard for it, got hands and bodies in over and over, and it really sapped their pack.
The defense was excellent. THe shape to shuffle out and keep snuffing out the wraps took their shape away. but the big change was, when they tried to play tight we absolutely smacked them in hard accurate tackles and stopped all momentum. We took their heart a bit there, and it showed in that incredible last set of phases.
On attack we were pretty pragmatic, happy to have the ball, keep the ball, and make them work. And when opportunity presented itself, we took it.
Scrum was dominant, and Porter rightly pinged repeatedly for his 90 degree scrumming. Our lineout was on point as well. And all that meant we had lots of ball.
It really was an excellent, high quality performance.
And yet, for all that praise, and all that good stuff, we won by 4. Credit to Ireland, they were incredible. I always thought scoreboard pressure would roll Ireland, but they never went away, they never lost faith in their plan, and they were in it right to the death. Every AB surge was met with a riposte. But in the end, we met their shape, and messed it up. Took JGP out of the game. Took their ball running forwards out of the game. And we made them resort to wide passes, to the admittedly still dangerous Lowe and Keenan.
The ABs will look back at this one with a well-earned bit of pride. Job not done, but a major hurdle overcome in a big way
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Maybe being really harsh, but watching this morning and having watched it back, reckon James Lowe more or less showed today why we let him go. Don't get me wrong, he wasn't bad, but he is more Shaun Stevenson/Etene Nanai-Seturo than a Will Jordan.
I actually though Gibson-Park was really good even outside of the try, and Aki was obviously immense. Do think at times we tactically gave up soft metres to Aki in particular to ensure they couldn't freely attack the outside shoulder like they wanted. As opposed to risking being caught short as they folded around we dropped off and made tackles. A feature of Ireland in this tournament has been clean breaks, and without having the numbers, it didn't really feel like there were many, particularly meaningful ones.
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Just on that last Irish possession, that was really smart accurate defense. Shuffled, covered everything, picke their moments to try the turnover. It was tense, but we never looked like breaking. Good shape, hard shoulders, smart play.
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@mariner4life said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
Just on that last Irish possession, that was really smart accurate defense. Shuffled, covered everything, picke their moments to try the turnover. It was tense, but we never looked like breaking. Good shape, hard shoulders, smart play.
Watching it back, the only time they really threatened to break us was when Ringrose hit the line with a bit of acceleration, and in fairness he just about got through. Certainly beat a couple of forwards, but was then scragged by J Barrett I believe.
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@taniwharugby Another angle, You will need a VPN to see it from NZ but he is chipping at Rieko. No doubt Rieko was congratulating him on a stellar carrier -
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@Daffy-Jaffy RI asking him to text him with what movies were on the flight home?
Something really unlikeable about Johnny, but the rest seem good blokes.
One of the nz press even asked Cane about a bit of revenge on POM about his shit Richie comment, Cane just fended it off.
Lowe, Ethan and LF after the match.
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Savea said that he (and others) had been keeping receipts.
I'd say there is the public explanation and the feeling in the sheds from the smile on Fozzie's face when SC got asked that question.
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@frugby said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@taniwharugby Allegedly Rieko.
I can’t blame him. R Ioane does come across as a cock, I can see how other teams wouldn’t like the cut of his gib.
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Highlights with the Brit commentary -
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@Daffy-Jaffy One of the Irish papers (Irish Times) was upset with Reiko for putting his finger to his lips and pointing to an Irish section of the crowd at the final whistle.
I wonder if the incidents were connected?
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@nostrildamus said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@chimoaus said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
I think Whitelock now has the record of most RWC games and he has two more to add to his total. Will be hard to beat.
Might have most RWC matches won as well? Maybe we need a Big Sam's Firsts thread...
Be a fair bet. Been to four world cups and lost two games.
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A bit of whining in that article from the Times (here).
Talking Point: Supporters deserve greater clarity in the stadium than a one-and-done replay
The decision not to show further angles of Richie Mo’unga’s shoulder to Bundee Aki’s jaw was baffling
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@gt12 said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
A bit of whining in that article from the Times (here).
The decision not to show further angles of Richie Mo’unga’s shoulder to Bundee Aki’s jaw was baffling
For starters, I think the angle people use to say it was shoulder to the head is quite clearly the chest anyway, but even then, the TMO/Bunker gets tons of angles anyway, they'd have checked everything with scrutiny, and I imagine with the reverse/side angle, you'd probably quite clearly see it is an optical illusion... did his shoulder nudge the chin? Probably, but only after bumping up off the chest.
The biggest miss from the TMO was a neck roll on Rieko on about the 32nd phase of that last movement.
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@booboo said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@nostrildamus said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@chimoaus said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
I think Whitelock now has the record of most RWC games and he has two more to add to his total. Will be hard to beat.
Might have most RWC matches won as well? Maybe we need a Big Sam's Firsts thread...
Be a fair bet. Been to four world cups and lost two games.
And, whisper it, possible only triple cup winner
