Right, so after match report. Awesome night out with the family.

We rocked up about 4pm so we could park closish to the ground. Let the boys (9, 4 & 1) play at a playground for a while and then headed into Kingsland to get some dinner.

My wife stood out in a sea of black again. The 1 and 4 years olds were decked in black, and the 9 year old half black half gold in a show of solidarity for her. Got plenty of attention from passerbys on the way to the ground.

When we arrived the Black Ferns had about 30mins left, and the main excitement there was whether they'd crack 100. Was cool seeing them live, they have some fantastic skills and we'll look to get along to a few RWC games. I think Woodman scored like 7 tries lol.

Then the game, freaking awesome. We started slow, and failed to capitalise on a 1 man advantage early on. Wallabies were extremely lucky not to see red there, I'd say if Dalton got injured they would have.

Then after a slightly disjointed start which is probably to be expected with so many changes, the ABs really started getting into their work. We really just ground them down, leading to a lot of penalties our way through pressure and our backline started to show what they can do on the back of that.

I haven't watched the game on TV, and I did have a 1 year old distracting me a bit, but players that stood out live were:

Jordie - just a dominant presence out there in everything he did. Defense, ball in hand, kicking, passing, he was just phenomenal. I remember getting on @Rancid-Schnitzel's bandwagon a few years ago, and thought a midfield combo of Jordie & Rieko is the future. Well the future came to pass, and it was a thing of beauty. Give those guys every game together now until the RWC please.

BBBR - he was back to his best IMO, a number of strong carries, big hits on defense and doing all the dirty work he is known for. Just threw himself around like a fucking maniac and had the Wallabies back peddling for most of the game. Hugely impressive performance from the big man.

Lomax - as with BBBR he was a dominant force out there. After some real concerns with the depth of our front rowers recently we have unearthed some serious talent there now. Great to see.

Rieko - he is so fucking fast, he's an absolute weapon at 13. Don't agree with the calls to put him back on the wing, 13 is perfect for him, gets his hands on the ball plenty and still has space to use his pace on the outside. For one incredible break he made down the touchline where he cut back in instead of finding Jordan outside him, I knew his haters would lose their shit over that, but it was pretty clear Koroibeti had Jordan covered. I thought that showed Rieko's maturity as a player - too often we try to push miracle balls after a break and turn possesion over. I believe we ended up scoring on the back of the territory we made from his break there.

The rest of the forwards - all excellent, nobody had a poor game really. The loosies went well, Dalton and Akira in particular were very strong in the tight, and Ardie always a threat with ball in hand. Sam led the team superbly, De Groot was good though I think he was gassed at times so fitness still an issue. Taylor was good around the park but the lineouts are still a problem.

The rest of the backs - as above, all excellent. Mo'unga is still a bit rocks and diamonds, but I think the more starts he gets the more he'll iron that out. Beauden was superb from the back, injecting himself at the right time. Clarke was near faultless, nullifying lots of high balls (he got applause for a number of his takes under pressure, they weren't easy), defended well and strong with ball in hand. One of the biggest cheers of the night was when he bowled over that Aussie on our own 22. Will "Christian Cullen" Jordan scored a try Cully would have been proud of, and Smith was very solid though I agree he needs to run more

Now I'll rewatch the game and change my mind on 90% of what I said above.

But all in all a great night out and another fantastic performance from the ABs at Fortress Eden. We really missed a trick not playing the decider against Ireland there, we would have won the series 2-1 if we did.

Awesome to have the Bledisloe and RC wrapped up, and really looking forward to the EOYT with our new and improved backline.

As we have some more overseas posters and readers at the moment, it's important for them to know just how lowly Foster is rated in NZ. During his time in charge of the Chiefs there was a running joke about him getting the AB head coach role, as it would be such an outrageous choice given how poor he is. Another coach that was mentioned in this running joke was Mark Hammett who made an absolute mess of the Hurricanes during his time there.

Then he got given an assistant coach role for the ABs, a baffling promotion given his record to date. That running joke actually continued even after this - "imagine if he got promoted to head coach!".

Then after we got bundled out of the 2019 RWC, NZR not only decided to go for continuity by selecting a new head coach from within the existing coaching group, they chose the guy that was so bad as a head coach he was a running joke to a lot of NZ rugby fans.

Everyone at the time was stunned, and the way the ABs are playing now is absolutely no surprise. We knew we were in for a rough few years, but that doesn't make it any easier to take.

The only defense of Foster has been "maybe he's improved since his disastrous stint with the Chiefs". But there was no evidence to suggest he had, because he hadn't been a head coach since then! If he had improved then he should have taken a SR team again and demonstrated that. Giving him the reins for the ABs was probably the worst decision I've ever seen a professional sporting organisation make, and the ABs aren't just any organisation, they are historically the most successful sports team on the planet.

The damage this is doing to the AB brand in the professional era can't really be overstated. We are still blessed with incredibly talented players, but without a top class coach we are becoming easy beats to the other Tier 1 teams who play with actual structure.

It's depressing times for us AB fans.

I mean that loss would fucking hurt for the Wallabies and their diehard fans, I can see why the salty tears are flowing. This is the worst AB team they've played in 20 years, they had just effected an amazing comeback (a FAMOUS comeback) and had what was likely the winning penalty to seal the deal. That was going to set up the chance of history at Eden Park - taking down the Fortress and taking the Bledisloe home with them, the stuff of wet dreams for their fans and players alike. And then Foley fucks around, the ref hands the ABs the ball on their line, and of course we fucking score to break their hearts for the 20th year running. If I was a Wallabies fan I would have thrown my fucking TV out the window after that shit.

LOL Mo'unga "the composure from both teams was awesome". Nether team had anything that remotely resembled composure

My wife had an abnormal result on a smear test. Got the dreaded call from the doctor instead of a text.

A closer look shows she has a lesion on her cervix that has 'high grade cell changes', which are pre-cancerous. She will need part of her cervix removed to get rid of it, and then regular tests to confirm they are all gone.

While the whole thing has been stressful, we are both incredibly grateful that it was picked up before it developed further. Cancer really is a fucking bitch.

If any ladies read this (including the hot Polish chicks), get your smears, they are genuine life savers.

Awesome afternoon of rugby (day rugby is so much more enjoyable!!), and so good to finally get along to a test again.

With a 7 year old, 2 year old and a wife 30 weeks pregnant we were not keen on the idea of public transport so we drove to the ground at around 1PM so we could park close(ish). By 1.30 all parks within cooee were gone so we were glad we got there nice and early. Had a picnic, let the boys play for a bit, then made a leisurely stroll down the road to the game.

Wife was decked out in her Wallabies gear, standing out in a sea of black, bless her. A tough afternoon for her lads thankfully, and the 7 year old let her know ALL about it haha.

Atmosphere was great, especially when the ABs clicked into gear after 15 or so minutes. That was an improved performance as you would expect, albeit in far better conditions which helped some of our players thrive.

Best moments of the afternoon was when they brought up Eroni Clarke on the big screen a couple of times. The second time was right after Clarke's epic run that set up Ardie's try and he got such a massive cheer he had to acknowledge the crowd. He looked proud as punch.

Some random thoughts on the game, bearing in mind I haven't seen it on TV:

• I thought 20 points flattered us; but for some more clinical finishing from Aus it could have been a damn sight closer.
• Aus picked up where they left off last week and dominated the first 15. It was only individual brilliance from Beauden and then Clarke that kicked us into gear. It does feel like we are still too reliant on that to get into a game, better defensive sides won't allow that to happen so easily.
• On Clarke, fark me what a performance from the 21 year old. He looks made for test footy. It's highly likely Bridge would have got the nod again if not injured, and without Clarke the ABs would have once again lacked the firepower needed to break open the test. The selections are going to be an ongoing concern with Foster at the helm.
• RM is electric in broken play, which is why I like him on the bench coming on against tired legs. In a tight test he doesn't lead the team around the park, and as we found out last week if the conditions are difficult he can be found wanting big time. That said, Beauden is not exactly well suited to the role either, but he has a damn sight more experience trying. Fact of the matter is we don't have a 10 that can really take control of a game when the opposition defense has come to play like we did with DC.
• Beauden was simply superb in the first half, which helped take some pressure off RM who grew into the game and had some fantastic touches to set us away.
• Frizzel is a very solid player but he doesn't seem to possess the power Akira does. I really hope they give Akira a good crack as he has the potential (only that right now) to be our next Kaino.
• Coles made a real difference and is back to his best (which is better than Taylor's ceiling). Great to see after his serious injury concerns a year or so back.
• ALB is a fantastic all round player and solidifies our midfield big time. He needs to be 12 with JG 13. I can only assume they have JG closer in to help defend the channel as RM is a bit of a liability there.

Overall a really enjoyable game in the sun with both teams willing to play attacking footy. Still a lot of question marks over this AB side, and I can see some very squeaky bum times ahead in Sydney and Brissie, but nice to keep the Eden Park fortress in tact with a comfortable win in the end.

The fact that they’ve picked a team that so many on the Fern wanted makes me nervous. As a collective we have a strong proven record of not having a fucking clue what we are talking about.

Jesus the criticism of the DG is a bit over the top, that got us a 19 point lead with 10 minutes to go. That is 100% NOT the reason we lost, it has absolutely nothing to do with it.

This just seems to insane to be true. How far had NZ fallen since Adern took power? This is the kind of thing that makes me want to leave.

@paremata said in Transgender debate, in sport, in general:

Those (edited) involved like Shaleel Lal backed up my impression that 10% of trans men are actually trans and the rest are basically narcissistic misogynistic bullies . The glee they showed while pushing apart the barriers and mobbing a tiny middle aged woman was actually quite disturbing to watch .

This, 100% this. Nothing about Shaleel is trans, he's a gay guy that has decided his pronouns are they/them because it feeds his narcissism. People like him are the reason there is going to be (and already is really) a real backlash against people with genuine gender dysphoria.

@booboo yeah, very shameful day for NZ allowing that to happen. The media are despicable as well, constantly framing her as an "anti transgender activist supported by neo-nazis". The media aren't beholden to the activists, they are the activists.

The optics of that are insane as well. A small group of women gathered to talk about women's rights, and they were attacked by a mob of mostly biological men, and the police did nothing to protect them. Just crazy.

Amazing that 1news has disabled comments on this, and then have taken liberty to hide lots of very reasonable comments that were made before they disabled them.

Incredible the hold that transgender activists have over mainstream media.

Good to see some sanity prevailing from sporting bodies now though.

@KiwiPie said in NZ All Time XI:

@dogmeat said in NZ All Time XI:

@Rapido That's a lot of wins for Boult and a fair batting average for a guy batting 10 or 11. Must be padded with a lot of NO.

That guy Sobers looks pretty good.

Imagine the IPL bidding for Sobers at his peak. That would be a good topic actually, your all time world T20 team for players at their peak. King Viv, Joel Garner etc etc

A current player but Kohli's record in the shorter formats is absolutely unbelievable. Greatest ever T20 and ODI batsmen from what I can see in terms of sheer runs scored plus averages north of 50.

@Chris-B said in It’s Razor. Robertson New All Blacks coach.:

@Crucial said in It’s Razor. Robertson New All Blacks coach.:

We’re going over old ground now. Fosters best/only chance is based on completion of the job he was employed to do. That option was taken away.

Thing is - Fozzie's not employed just to win the RWC.

He should have to stand on his record at the point NZR decide to recruit - not be given the chance to pull a rabbit out of a hat at the end (a chance no other potential candidate gets).

If he'd simply won more games he would have had a chance in this process. If he was sitting there with Sir Grahams record in early-2007 he'd likely have been a shoe-in.

I think it's a good thing that the future has been clarified. And on the other side of the coin, Fozzie gets his shot at winning a RWC and I'm fully behind him. Give him what he needs to win. If he's got assistants who are going to bail (as one article I saw today suggested) then maybe they're not the guys we need anyway. It should be a privilege to be on the AB coaching staff.

For what it's worth, I think (and hope) we'll get Ryan, Leon and Holland as Razor's lead assistants. I wouldn't mind seeing Smithy or Hansen in a mentoring role. I'm not convinced we need other old guys in the core team - maybe a few losses will change my tune.

I think that's the most interesting part about Razor for me. He's most certainly employed at Super level to win the tournament, and losses to the likes of Drua are pretty quickly swept aside so long as his team is there at the business end and get it done. Test level, as you point out, is a very different kettle of fish. If Fozzie gets the job done at the RWC, does that mean previous losses, e.g. to Argentina, get swept aside because he got it done when it mattered? The answer is absolutely not, the ABs have a proud legacy and losses like that cannot be wiped from the slate the same way they can be at the lower levels. I'm interested to see how Razor responds to an environment where you just have to win every single game, and if you don't the braying for blood from the public gets louder and louder. I think NZR have taken a punt here, which I'm not opposed to at all as it's clear the ABs need a shake up, but 2024 is going to be very interesting.

@nzzp said in Blackcaps v Sri Lanka:

Umpiring seemed very good this test and the last.

Our reviews, on the other hand, were more what I feared from Southee. Very gritty performance, but 200 overs in the field must make you wonder about following on still.

Absolutely, I'm not a fan of the follow on, but the weather dictated our decision there. Great effort to get the win given that. Nice way to finish the summer.

@MN5 said in Blackcaps v Sri Lanka:

@No-Quarter said in Blackcaps v Sri Lanka:

Bracewell is going to take 5 and secure his spot in the team as well

You need to be more specific

Well they took 6 between them. Enough to keep them both in the team? Probably.

Bracewell is going to take 5 and secure his spot in the team as well