All Blacks vs Wales

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?

sparky

Things we've learnt: 
Wales aren't a bad side, 
Some of the newbies are still learning their trade, 
You do miss Richie McCaw and Conrad Smith, 
The All Blacks still have awesome impact from the bench 
Questioning the ability and performance of Sam Cane goes down like a bucket of sick with some Ferners.

Bones

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="sparky" data-cid="586800" data-time="1465669262">Things we've learnt: 
Wales aren't a bad side, 
Some of the newbies are still learning their trade, 
You do miss Richie McCaw and Conrad Smith, 
The All Blacks still have awesome impact from the bench 
Questioning the ability and performance of Sam Cane goes down like a bucket of sick with some Ferners.</blockquote>
Boo fucken hoo. Cry again. 
But anyway, Most missed for me behind McCaw was Nonu. Workhorse on defence and actually makes his tackles then lines up another one. Plus a lynchpin on attack. Smith was very good, but got overtaken by Nonu a couple of years ago.

sparky

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Bones" data-cid="586801" data-time="1465669651">
Boo fucken hoo. Cry again. 
But anyway, Most missed for me behind McCaw was Nonu. Workhorse on defence and actually makes his tackles then lines up another one. Plus a lynchpin on attack. Smith was very good, but got overtaken by Nonu a couple of years ago.</blockquote>I've been a big, big, big Nonu fan since 2003 or so. He's been one of my favourite All Blacks of all time, even before it was fashionable to think so. 
I thought Crotty had a decent game. Between Crotty, SBW, Ngatai and Jordie Barrett there is going to be lots of competition for the 12 jersey in the next few years, but I'm not so sure about the quality available at 13. Fekitoa was disappointing, but are there better alternatives? Moala perhaps?

kiwiinmelb

With the losses of the greats ,
 
I think working out what happens next in the forwards is far more straight forward than the backs , 
 
The backline could take some time , by the time the next world cup comes around , it may be very different from last night .

nostrildamus

in the forwards the props may change by next RWC (nb thought Charlie's scrummaging didn't look a weakness last night) and there will be strong competition in the loose forwards. 
at 12 SBW looks to have a much easier time of it to keep the spot- wonder if the much drier tracks/ more common roofed grass and faster- bigger loosies means the 10-like 12 is now definitely a thing of the past. 
and maybe Crotty is better at 13 even though he isn't the biggest or fastest?

kiwiinmelb

I think it was mentioned here quite a bit in the past , that a SBW 12 Crotty 13 , gives us the most similar look and feel to a Nonu Conrad partnership , if that is what we want to achieve , at this stage I think we need to see what Ngatai can offer at this level 
 
I understand the backline picked last night , with the losses , it was probably trying to get the balance between experience and continuing on from what worked at the WC

Unco

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="sparky" data-cid="586800" data-time="1465669262">
<div>
Things we've learnt: 
Wales aren't a bad side, 
Some of the newbies are still learning their trade, 
You do miss Richie McCaw and Conrad Smith, 
The All Blacks still have awesome impact from the bench 
Questioning the ability and performance of Sam Cane goes down like a bucket of sick with some Ferners.
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</blockquote>
 
You forgot:
sparky is a whiney baby.

nostrildamus

>sparky is a whiney baby 
unfair imo: sparky can have a different preference for #7 
I was just surprised there were no Todd fanbois for once! 
nb I'd also like to see if Moala or Ngatai would go ok in the midfield- Fekitoa has the attributes but not the assurance over how many tests now? 14?

The Silver Fern

All Blacks vs Wales