All Blacks vs Wales

Donsteppa

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Bones" data-cid="586610" data-time="1465642135">
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Yeah and Harris to replace Coles, cos you know, he was better. Harris will end up the better player.
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Harris scored a try too. Harris to be starting hooker by the end of the year :fishing: :whistle: :)

Donsteppa

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Nepia" data-cid="586602" data-time="1465641849">
<div> Nope for me, nowhere near enough brilliance to balance out his awful. He has no game awareness. The positive though is that I've been hunting for a new Hungus since Masaga's departure and it looks like Naholo is the man. The one time he did pass he passed it straight to a Welshman.
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There's always a silver lining. A new Hungus is anointed.

ACT Crusader

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Conan" data-cid="586587" data-time="1465641013">
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Um.. ok. Anyone know where i can find a rubbish rugby replay?
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Not sure bro. There's a guy that usually puts the AB tests on youtube not long after they finish

Frank

I think Naholo has far more upside than Julian Savea.
Perhaps the Wellington stadium will be Savea's saving grace.

Toddy

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Nepia" data-cid="586602" data-time="1465641849">
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Cane was making a nuisance of himself in rucks he was involved in and was making bucketloads of tackles.
 
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What constitutes bucketloads? 6? Or was it bucketloads compared to others... ;)
 
I find it quite hard to compare Cane and Savea. Their roles are different and they both played them well.
 
I really think J Savea needed to be dropped for this series. The guy needs to have a long think about whether he wants to be a bit player and enjoy his food. Or continue his form from two years ago and commit fully to the cause. You can't have off seasons where you put on 10kg and expect it to have no impact on your game. Just ask the wasted talent that was Piri (laziest trainer I've ever seen).
 
The midfield looked a bit iffy but we've been spoilt for so long now. Still, hope it's not a return to the late 90's early 2000's.

pukunui

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Nepia" data-cid="586602" data-time="1465641849">
So when did we switch from our game plan of the last few years to a new one where the openside is supposed to get every turnover? 
Cane was making a nuisance of himself in rucks he was involved in and was making bucketloads of tackles. 
I thought Kaino went well too, there's a bit of anti Kaino feeling around at the moment but he was like Cane, mixing it up when we needed to mix things up. 
Nope for me, nowhere near enough brilliance to balance out his awful. He has no game awareness. The positive though is that I've been hunting for a new Hungus since Masaga's departure and it looks like Naholo is the man. The one time he did pass he passed it straight to a Welshman. 
I expect the ABs will be doing a bunch of defensive practice this week but all in all I'm happy for the first up win after a sketchy start. You've got to feel for Wales as they played bloody well and still had 30 put on them.</blockquote>
 
who said he needs to make ALL the turnovers? Would be nice however if the nuisence he was making had a visible affect on the quality of the opposition ruck ball. I didnt think it did. Not entirely his fault, all forwards are to blame, but an AB 7 needs to be own that area as well as make tackles. Cane usually does hence why i said he was quiet.

Crash

Think we need to sort out whether we plump for mobility or defence as our lead in our flankers. With Ritchie there, we had it all. Perfect balance.
Now the balance has changed, and is still not quite right. Ardie brings that enthusiasm with him and a terrier-like athleticism.
One of the questions for next week is do we start both Cane and Ardie, leaving Kaino on the bench?.

pukunui

I don't really think the balance is off though. Just tgat in THIS game we didn't pressure the breakdown enough. I'd start the same next week but possibly give ardie a shot to start the third. Will depend on how they see using guys like Dixon and Squire though.

Frank

George North possibly out of series.
 
<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/george-north-set-miss-rest-11458865'>http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/george-north-set-miss-rest-11458865</a>

Chris B.

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Crash" data-cid="586650" data-time="1465645931">
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One of the questions for next week is do we start both Cane and Ardie, leaving Kaino on the bench?. 
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No! No, No, No, No, No! (To quote Don Logan).
 
I've seen the two opensides work in isolated games. I've never seen it work long term.

nostrildamus

I wondered if Crofty and Fekitoa were in the wrong positions - something was drastically wrong. 
but worried about the kicking and Save a has either gone backwards or been found out and OMO apart from bench- great stuff from Crockett and Patrick T- thought Wales were the better coached team but hey first game and all that. 
also wonder if Ardie Savea and Cane would work as Cane seems a bit of a 6/7 to me but then would lose line out options. 
would have thought Kaino too slow to be a bench option? 
also thought Wales put A Smith under a lot of pressure but he also cleaned up a lot of sloppy ball. 
oh and Brodie had some wonderful passes but in the lineout we missed Sam. not sure I saw the Romano power in the scrum.

Winger

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Chris B." data-cid="586578" data-time="1465640725">
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We kicked too much - particularly over-egged the cross kicks to the wings.
 
Well done to Wales. One thing they'll have done is stopped Hansen thinking he can roll out quite a few newbies with a bit of cavalry on the bench.
 
Thought Kieran Read was great. My man of the match - might (should) have been the official one. Thought Crotty and later Barrett were the best of the backs. Aaron Smith and Cruden generally reasonable, though the cross kicking was overdone. Naholo a mix of very good and very bad - lacks a bit of vision - worth persisting with because he'll get better. Julian Savea's tackling was appalling. Ben made a few mistakes and seemed a bit anonymous once he moved to wing.
 
Forwards - Moody and Owen Franks were barely sighted. Retallick and Kaino were a bit anonymous by their standards. Diving into that ruck by Coles was a black mark - I saw a couple of Jaguares get red carded for similar. Didn't feature much with ball in hand. Cane was solid - not as visible as Ardie when he came on. Similarly Romano vs Tuipolotu (actually, Romano made a couple of good runs, but missed a crucial tackle). Tuipolotu with an important lineout steal and a couple of other nice touches. Crockett especially and Faumuina linked nicely to put Harris in.
 
I think they'll make very few changes. Whitelock will come in for Romano. Dagg might come in to shuffle Savea out of the 23. Crockett might start with Moody on the bench as a rotation.
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I though both starting props, Romano, Cane, J Savea and the mid field were a bit average
 
I would like to see a lot of changes next week. Maybe two new props, one lock, A Savea at 7, Sopoaga, Taranaki centre and someone to replace Savea. Maybe Barrett at FB

Winger

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Frank" data-cid="586628" data-time="1465643437">
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I think Naholo has far more upside than Julian Savea.
Perhaps the Wellington stadium will be Savea's saving grace.
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Naholo coudl be an AB great. But he needs work on his rough edges
 
For me the backs next week
 
Smith, Sopoaga. Ngatai if fit, Tamanivalu, Naholo, Smith, Barrett
 
Savea needs to sort his head out

nostrildamus

and I thought Coles didn't have the best game and was seagulling again.

mariner4life

Good game. Welsh had a crack and really put the shits up us. But, despite being under the pump, and missing a million tests from the retired champions, we closed it out comfortably again. 
Far from perfect, a few guys didn't have vintage games, but that was a serious hurdle overcome. I expect minimal changes for next week, it wouldn't make any sense.

Rancid Schnitzel

It was comfortable enough in the end but the defence in the first half was pitiful. North made Savea his bitch. His big fat pie eating bitch. Naholo did some stupid shit but he is a farking weapon. Enormous potential. 
Thought Crotty was good, but Fekitoa was meh. 
The bench is the farking bomb. They all made a big difference. 
Read was great. My MoM. 
They should win the next 2 tests comfortably.

pooler fan

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Frank" data-cid="586664" data-time="1465646874">George North possibly out of series. <a class="bbc_url" href="http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/george-north-set-miss-rest-11458865">http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/george-north-set-miss-rest-11458865</a></blockquote>
Bollocks. 
You guys got any spare wings for a couple of weeks ? 
Cheers

ACT Crusader

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="pooler fan" data-cid="586715" data-time="1465652683">Bollocks. 
You guys got any spare wings for a couple of weeks ? 
Cheers ;)</blockquote>
 
You can have Savea [emoji41] 
I'll get my coat 
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Catogrande

A great test match from a neutral POV. Naholo is a beast isn't he? But needs to do more to show he's a bit more than a flat track bully. Savea is not the force he was a couple of years back. Read all class.
 
For Wales I thought Faletau had a good game and Liam Williams looked dangerous. North good too but that's not news. He completely skinned Savea, embarrassingly so one time. Webb was busy all the time and mixed things up very well. I've been wracking my brains for some time now to thick who he reminds me of. Ms Cato No2 got it straight away. Scrappy-Do.
 
Where do Wales go from here though? They gave it a blood good lash today but I only see things getting worse from here on in. The body language in the latter stages of the game and after was downright defeatist. The third test could be ugly.

DMX

I generally am not in favor of Ben Smith playing wing but you have to wonder how much Beaudan Barret has to do to get a start in the back 3?

The Silver Fern

All Blacks vs Wales