All Blacks vs Wales Test #2

Billy Tell

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="pooler fan" data-cid="589394" data-time="1466242797">
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Some good rugby played by both sides but Wales fell apart a little in defence in that 2nd half. 
Turning point was around the 50 minute mark when Naholo got away with a blatant yellow, a then that Warburton interception & Faletau dropped pass with the tryline beckoning. NZ then broke down field to score - a real 14 point turnaround. 
NZ irresistible at times, BB is a wonderful footballer as is Ben Smith & Dagg - these guys create space out of nothing. Fabulous players.
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Yeah, that was a definite YC for mine.
 
You guys would be world champions if rugby games were only 60 minutes.
Our bench at present is the greatest in the history of AB rugby: Fuamuina, Tuipolotu, Crockett, Barrett, Savea they all bring speed plus x factor. It's the ABs major point of difference from every other single team in world rugby.

Gunner

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="ACT Crusader" data-cid="589380" data-time="1466242359">
It's funny I thought the test was fine the whole way through.</blockquote>It probably was alright as a spectacle the whole way through. If I could manage to remove my 'I want the All Blacks to play fucking well for 80 minutes' glasses, I might have noticed.

Unco

That game is best watched as a highlight reel... Poor. Just hope Cruden comes out with a clean bill of health.
 
Next week I think I'd like to see Sopoaga and Tamanivalu starting, with Dixon or Squire on the bench. Maybe Taylor on the bench too but I don't think it really matters. Sucks for Ofa, Franklin, Moala and McKenzie to not get a game but eh, Ofa and McKenzie are young and Franklin and Moala were only injury replacements.

Toddy

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Mattasaurus" data-cid="589377" data-time="1466242221">
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Yeah was real good on that the welsh try there, Lima's d far superior
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Am I being whooshed here? Lima would be the worst defender out of the 3.
 
Also thought Naholo should've received a yellow.

dingo

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Toddy" data-cid="589404" data-time="1466243250">
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Am I being whooshed here? Lima would be the worst defender out of the 3.
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To be fair, none of Cruden, BB or Lima defends as well as Carter in the channel. They all prefer side on versus front on defense. Carter seemed to be able to tackle front on without being Jonny Wilkinson stupid. Having said that, BB is a far better defender now days than most people give credit for.

sparky

BB's clearly worked damn hard to improve his defence in the last 2 or 3 years. His defence is much better than he was first selected for the ABs.

No Quarter

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Toddy" data-cid="589404" data-time="1466243250">
Am I being whooshed here? Lima would be the worst defender out of the 3. 
Also thought Naholo should've received a yellow.</blockquote>Why is that? To me it looked like he was jumping for the ball, and would have taken it clean if the Welsh player wasn't there. Or are you (and others) saying he was making some sort of jumping tackle with the intention of taking the Welsh player out? Or that he should not be contesting the ball because the Welsh player jumped fractionally before him? 
I know this is an area of the game they are trying to clamp down on, but it's starting to get a bit silly IMO.

Dice

Kieran Read is looking like the best player in the world again.

Toddy

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="No Quarter" data-cid="589407" data-time="1466243603">
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Why is that? To me it looked like he was jumping for the ball, and would have taken it clean if the Welsh player wasn't there. Or are you (and others) saying he was making some sort of jumping tackle with the intention of taking the Welsh player out? Or that he should not be contesting the ball because the Welsh player jumped fractionally before him? 
I know this is an area of the game they are trying to clamp down on, but it's starting to get a bit silly IMO.
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I only saw one replay, but it didn't look like a genuine contest to me. Also thought he was lucky later on in the game where he appeared to drop the shoulder after the Welshman chip kicked over him.

hydro11

I'm surprised by some of the criticism of the rugby. I thought it was a lot more entertaining than last week.
 
Barrett was good but didn't really answer the criticisms people had of him. I would like to see him start at fullback next week but Dagg was very good.

Gunner

Anyone saying that Naholo deserved a yellow needs their head read. 
He jumped to contest for the ball. 
Coz the other bloke jumped a split second before him, is he supposed to just stand there and watch? 
Get a grip. 
Besides Wales' 15 (forget his name) didn't even get penalised for a similar, but worse offense.

No Quarter

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Toddy" data-cid="589410" data-time="1466243838">I only saw one replay, but it didn't look like a genuine contest to me. Also though he was lucky later on in the game where he appeared to drop the shoulder after the Welshman chip kicked over him.</blockquote>
Agree on the 2nd one, but the replay made the first one look worse then it was. Naholo had eyes for the ball and went for it. Put it into super slow motion and it looks like the Welsh player jumped 2 seconds before, when live it was a fraction of a second.

dingo

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Dice" data-cid="589408" data-time="1466243625">
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Kieran Read is looking like the best player in the world again.
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Its well known that you can't be the best player in the world until you've played through the SH season and then played in the EOYT to the NH when you're buggered but still kicked the arse of whatever pretender the NH scribes have been jizzing over.

kiwiinmelb

For those living overseas the allblacks facebook page has the media conference live

Tim

Hansen just stated that Cruden is OK, and was taken off as a precaution.

ACT Crusader

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Gunner" data-cid="589412" data-time="1466243932">Anyone saying that Naholo deserved a yellow needs their head read. 
He jumped to contest for the ball. 
Coz the other bloke jumped a split second before him, is he supposed to just stand there and watch? 
Get a grip. 
Besides Wales' 15 (forget his name) didn't even get penalised for a similar, but worse offense.</blockquote>
 
I've seen Sivivatu yellow carded for the exact same thing Naholo did tonight. Not saying I think either deserved it, but it could've gone either way. And the fact they replay it on ginormous screens sometimes doesn't help.

canefan

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Toddy" data-cid="589410" data-time="1466243838">I only saw one replay, but it didn't look like a genuine contest to me. Also thought he was lucky later on in the game where he appeared to drop the shoulder after the Welshman chip kicked over him.</blockquote>Naholo's talent is obvious but he makes big errors of judgement. If he's not careful the refs will home in on him and he'll stop getting the benefit of the doubt

canefan

BB did a nice job slotting in for AC, I haven't seen much of Seta but he looked 10x more comfortable in MF than Fekitoa, and Crotty looked better at 13. Happy for Dagg, the Dagg Smith pairing plus one power player looks like a very good back 3. We went up a gear or few after about 10 minutes and blew the game apart

hydro11

Naholo deserved a yellow for the late shoulder charge but the contest was just a penalty.It was still stupid for him to go into that collision the way he did. He has to know how that is being refereed.

tubbyj

Fair play Barret was fantastic in the first 20 minutes of the second half. Best period of play at 10 for the All Blacks so far.
 
If he can reproduce that against some tighter defenses/higher pressure and intensity games in the Rugby championship then he may break out of the super sub role.

The Silver Fern

All Blacks vs Wales Test #2