The Silver Fern

Hmm. Just watched this. Chiefs loosies carried the day for me. Jacobson my mom and Sowakula and Cane not far behind. Finau packed a punch too. Didn't realise Ardie was playing until the end. Rather anonymous. Retallick could have been mom too.
Roigard good again for Canes and best I have seen Flanders play. But PUJ looked a bit ponderous and Rayasi lacked urgency. Narawa and Rona were better in my view.

Another standout was Ollie Norris from the bench. Gets around the park well.

Was confused by the refereeing at times. Some odd calls at times but did not impact result.

Final comment is on DMac who I thought controlled the game very well and created lots of threats. He made some errors which were not costly. But that comes from looking for runners and territorial options the whole time. Must be a nightmare to defend against him. Morgan and Booth were not such a threat.

Bitterly disappointed with this selection. Perhaps the most unfathomable one of the past decade in my view.

Plummer might not be the last fringe AB to fly the coop this summer. Have to feel sorry for Ruben Love, Josh Lord, Christian Lio-Willie, Stephen Perofeta in particular, but there are others who have also long awaited a chance to show their wares. And a real kick in the guts for DMac too - " thou shalt not play with Cam Roigard" and show what you might unleash in tandem.
It really looks like there is a desperation to get 2 or 3 players back in ahead of those who fronted for the AB's this year, and to promote some familiar players at any opportunity. Just don't know what to think really.

Quite a lot of unfair bs in the postings today in my view. A lot of people go on committees to give back to the game they love - after their playing days are over. There are also those that want a career in governance - and get experience via sports they have a passion for. They are there to do a job to the best of their ability - and don't usually make it without ability.
Good board members will not discuss the debates/arguments/choices unless it is in the best interest of everyone. Same with any good CEO who is working with a Board. They all have obligations in respect to risk management. And they have some very tough choices in what they do or do not say. There are lots of experienced and capable staff at NZRU too. Do you really imagine that none of them are consulted and it is all the fault of the CEO, Head Coach or the Board?
The folk at NZRU have a hell of a job to do in my view, and do it pretty well. You can't please everyone. And in the sport I have been most involved in, disgruntled coaches are the hardest to please - all thinking the wrong people are chosen and they would do better. I have seen numerous rumours and negative gossip that put a slant on what really happened - either for personal gain - or to knock others down out of spite or jealousy.
I don't agree with some of the decisions made, but it would be really interesting to be a fly on the wall when the decisions are being debated and to know what factors were weighed up before the decisions. Hopefully it stays inside the room...
The numerous 'insider rumours' of what was decided or was going to happen, would appear to have come from people embellishing the snippets they knew first hand - and possibly using them for their own agendas. It is easy enough to work out where most come from too.
That said, everyone is entitled to post their opinion, especially here. My opinion is that people easily disrespect the intentions and abilities of those who have to make the tough decisions - if they go against their wishes - and maybe need to think harder about the circumstances surrounding the decisions. It is the same in practically every sport I expect.

Just home from this one. Great performance from Queensland. Real nail biter.
Takeaways for me: Chiefs paid the price for playing PGS ahead of Jacobson. Too many costly errors. And Luke was great when he came on subbing the wrong guy. 3 mom contenders from Chiefs. Finau was it for me. Kept turning up with impact all over the park and in many facets of play. Maybe I won't be only one seeing him as best 6 in NZ now. Brodie was back to his huge engine best. Dmacs handling and kicking were fantastic and held the Chiefs together under siege.
Kudos too to ALB for a lot of valuable touches under pressure and to Emoni Narawa and Shaun Stevenson who showed their skillsets. Was good to be able to see who put in the effort off the ball.
Lynagh impressed me at 10 and Wilson played strongly. Best ever union game from Vunivalu too. Campbell caught the ball well but I thought much of his kicking was poor. Reds front row very strong too.

@Bones geez doesn't feel more than 6 to me

Terrific display by Boks forwards. Their lineout was the winning of the game. But I thought a few of our guys were well off their game. Thought Akira was missing for the tackle or clean out quite a few times so was quite surprised they took Jacobson off as he seemed more accurate and involved. Felt that was a tactical error. Neither of our hookers had a happy match either. Savea very competitive but I felt he could have imposed himself more on the ref. And poor tactical call not to kick to the corner when time nearly up.
Has Beauden's punting length and accuracy dropped off a bit? Weber gave him great service tonite so no excuses there. He and Reece were pretty good and constructive.
Anyways Bok reserve front row locks and loosies won them the match. And we shot ourselves in the foot with lineout errors and catch and pass inaccuracies. Congrats SA

Just watched on delay then read the thread. Geez I see a few things differently to many posters but similar to the TV team

Thought LF and Ofa tried to play themselves out of qf 23 tonight. LF was lazy slow and inaccurate but seemed not to get noticed when he played better in midfield in second half. Ofa still looks awkward to me. Gosh I hope Lomax is OK and Newell too. Tamaiti went well.

For me standout mom was Dmac. Can't believe how many times others messed up when he was in a try scoring position. Really don't think Jordan or BB are the answer at 15. It just has to be Dmac. And he was the best 10 on the park as well as 15. Richie seems to slot back too much so Dmac has to be there to compensate.

Not sure why the haters for Luke J. Both he and Cane were close to the ball and effective all day competing against the best Uruguayan.

Roigard can do better and will learn from today but still looks a big threat. ALB did a lot of good work. Others were remarkably quiet.

Looks OK for QF provided Lomax is OK.

Absolute masterclass from Razor and the AB's today. They have emulated the Crusaders winning approach totally. Absorb lots of goalline pressure, concede cards where needed to save worse, and use their weapon of scrum ming for penalties to the absolute max. Stunning!

Gee haven't Italy improved from conceding 96 points to Fozzie's rabble last year.
In fact it was such a complete performance, I might look for something more flawed to watch next year, like NRL.

Geez Foster is amazing taking charge of so many roles normally done by NZRU and other staff. The attempts to rubbish him on things he is not really involved in staggers me. Shows how little fans understand.

@frank said in Wallabies vs All Blacks 3 (Perth):

@stargazer said in Wallabies vs All Blacks 3 (Perth):

@crucial said in Wallabies vs All Blacks 3 (Perth):

That Ferald article still seems to be the only news. Must have had some inside sauce overnight and everyone else is waiting on Perth to wake up.

I saw Andrew Mulligan tweet the outcome, early this morning, but he deleted the tweet, so I couldn't post it.

This is the stuff article.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/126315375/all-blacks-fullback-jordie-barrett-reportedly-escapes-further-ban-for-red-card

A Sanzaar spokesman confirmed to Stuff a statement was due out from the judiciary around noon (NZT).

Awesome if true.
REALLY want to see the end of DMac at 15 for a while.
Completely unconcerned with justice.
(if it were DMac for the exact same offence I would support a ban for a few weeks)

Unbelievable - but this is the fern....

Still beats me why you would give so much away in the hope that someone less invested than you can do something you should have been able to do yourself.

Best on the park were Valetini and Scobar. Bell was great too but just 2 strong Wallaby performances.
Thought Smith had a sloppy game for him and Dalton seemed to lack impact in first 60. We missed Cane!
Our bench was great and added punch. Cam looks like a keeper and ALB was on fire.
I hope we see a bunch of changes next test to give everyone a good shot for RWC.

It just seems downright bizarre to me. Would have up to 10 players ahead of Chay Fihaki. Zarn, ENS, Narawa, Ennor, Gilbert etc

I think we would be mad dragging him in over form super players. Guys like Procter and Narawa deserve those chances

Thought Weber much better than TJ. Lot of crucial tackles but commentators never credit him. Some inaccurate passes but quick service nonetheless

Surprised not to see much comment on the string of red-cardable offences in the weekend's internationals - especially after the NH decision not to allow Red Card replacement after 20 minutes. After the weekend I think that is an extremely poor decision.

In watching matches this is what I though I saw, and is always open to interpretation. I have not re-watched and base this on initial impressions only:
a) Two players leap up for the ball and (both?) heads hit shoulders. Red Card Argentina
b) Player sets for tackle, but opponent passes well forward and catching player starts to duck for unexpectedly imminent contact. Medium contact to chin. Red Card USA
c) Player grabs jersey of opponent burrowing into ruck legitimately, and immediately knees him in the face. Opponent goes off straight away. Yellow Card only England
d) Player gets a bit of a hospital pass and shuffles across directly into the line of an exocet missile that launches into his chin sending him flying. Not worthy of review Fiji

With all the talk about mitigation and intention, I thought the first two were yellows due to obvious mitigation. But, the sendings off impacted significantly on the matches.

The other two seemed to be intentional acts with reckless disregard for opponent safety - but on the first one the Referee used the code word 'clumsy' to influence the TMO and it was just a yellow. The commentator suggested he was stepping into the ruck - where there was another head on the ground, and he barely missed another one after the knee. The second incident was not replayed on slow-mo as far as I can recall.

I am no doubt biased in my view of what I saw, but do wonder how much card decisions depend on who the player is, which team they are from, and whether their team is playing at home. And I must question whether the TMO's are listening to the biased hometown commentary prior to the referral.

I wonder what it would take for an England captain to be red-carded at Twickenham, or the Fijian captain in front of a partisan audience?

What do Ferners think? In my eyes this demands a rethink of the 20 minute red card, as I think the referees make plenty of judgement errors because the stakes are too high - and they don't want to make a call that would see them pilloried if judged unwarranted. That tends to favour home teams.

Great display AB's. It just wasn't meant to be with so many challenges to face. Maybe this match will change the impact of the Tmo moving forward. I sure as hell hope so. Well done South Africa, you had such a tough draw.
Proud of our entire squad. You gave your guts and represented us so well.

Very pleased with that result. But geez I think the TJs and the dickhead TMO really let down Gardner with their oversights and review judgements.
Best game I have seen from Ratima. TJP was at his worst though, trying to milk every advantage. Christie is easily our best test 9 behind Roigard now.
Don't get all the rubbishing Jacobsen Vaai and ALB get on this forum either.
DMac remains most influential player in Super rugby.
And Sititi and Dyer might get watched closer by AB selectors in final.
Thinking hard about a trip to Eden Park next Saturday like about 20000 others from Chiefs territory no doubt!
Anyways great season Canes! Very consistent throughout and so many players playing to peak ability each week.

@kiwi_expat Isn't that a rather naive interpretation by you? Do you not agree that the premise of Super rugby is at odds with the preparation for International rugby? The need to score more tries and secure bonus points may tailor player's instinctive reactions. And why on earth would our super coaches train predominantly for a battle of attrition as per topflight test rugby, when they have an elongated season to gather enough points for a favourable draw in play-offs.

I think Foster is spot on. And that is not a bad reflection on the Super coaches at all. (I may have missed Foster criticising the ability of the coaches you named - in which case I would agree with your criticism of that) They just train what is demanded for their players and for their Super rugby outcomes. It is Foster's job to modify the player's learned play from Super rugby to suit a game plan for international play. Maybe that is why we instinctively throw 50 50 passes and try to play wide early, because it works far more in Super rugby, with defences not as robust there.

It would also seem obvious that exposure to different playing styles will better prepare players for international rugby. Playing against South African, Australian, Kiwi, Argentinian and Japanese teams had Super coaches adapting their game plans and strategies, and players learning how to cope with the changing strategies of many evolving opponents.

Perhaps the Irish benefit from being in European competition..... I certainly think that Aotearoa Super rugby has not helped the AB's, while the move of South African into Europe has benefited Ireland, France etc. Lord forbid, it may have even left one of two players a trifle weary by late November.

Enjoyed that. Vindicates the work of the coaching staff. Hope to see their contracts extended Monday.
Thought we were dominated by Aussie loosies and Tate in first half but Dalton was much more effective after halftime and Taylor and the locks were great throughout. Akira and Ardie came into their own too. Liked the work of Samisoni after he came on and suspect he adds to scrum power. Enjoyed the 58m kick on a quiet night for DMAC. Surprising Aussie did not target him with high kicks. Well controlled Mounga.
Much better spectacle this week.