All Blacks vs Springboks II
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Second half thoughts:
McKenzie good in the air a couple of times, but gets beaten later not getting into the space a couple of times as well. Wind factor?
Noticeable - like the Kolbe intercept - that the Boks are leaving a lot of space for the last defender to cover BUT they're rushing into the eyeline of the attacker e.g. Savea's forward pass at the start of the 2nd half due to the 12 rushing hard.
It looks like a lack of patience; like watching my club side get two offloads away and making some metres, so they keep trying it but fail to understand they're running out of guys to cover rucks.
Bok 2nd try was error after error from the ABs - first all the back rowers are pinned in a retreating and penalisable scrum, then rangaboi puts a high tackle on Reinach for two penalties in a row. Meanwhile the AB backline have shot out of the line and are busy ruck watching when Kolisi takes the pop. Jordan and Sititi utterly fail to cover this breakout, leaving Jordie Barrett to do the work and leave the right side exposed. After Kolisi is tackled, the numbers aren't bad, just looking inward instead of at the danger on the edge: Kolbe.
Not sure why the AB restarts are so deep. Every time Wiese gets a runup and the Boks get a fairly easy possession.
In the 45th minute BB fields a kick and gives it to McKenzie on the 22 but outside - instead of using Jordie and Carter outside him he kicks it straight away. A minute later they get the ball deep inside their 22 and BB to McKenzie who has to try and find touch from the middle of the field. Not sure if there is any clear plan here.
Vaa'i puts in a stupid shoulder charge and is still doing the dickhead laugh and tough guy act after someone reacts. Hardly the "stoic, grim-faced and noble" AB of mythology. I guess there are some Chiefs fans who love it tho
Sititi really looks half a yard off the pace. Tamaiti Williams looks 5 yards off the pace.
At 50 minutes the handling errors and penalties are pretty even but the turnovers conceded favours the ABs 7-10. As Darryl Kerrigan said: "It's what you do with it".
The space is still there on the edges for the ABs, but jeez the skill execution is letting them down - Jordan's wobbly spiral that misses Proctor (who looked too slow TBH) and lands at Carter's feet being a prime example. Jordan should have gone at or around Libbok like the Wallabies did.
ABs a bit unlucky to get penalised at the scrum just on 54:00 - Bok THP elbow pointing straight down.
OMG 55:00 Bok forward pass missed (AR straight in line) then Savea turns it over only for BB to faff around. There is no clear direction in his mind - unless there is some magical bullshit involved, and a rampant forward pack, Barrett has no idea. And a chip kick right after it. Lol sack him.
Wiese eats black jerseys for dinner. Sititi, by comparison, tries a rugby league strip at nearly every tackle.
ABs blow a chance at competitiveness with obstruction at a maul in the 59th minute. After that we're through the looking glass, Alice... I think from this point I was actually watching the game, so I'll go bullet points from here.
- Boks young guns start expressing themselves.
- Backup AB hooker is partly to blame, but fucking around at lineout moreso.
- Three ABs (Tupaea, Carter, Rangaboi) fail to bring down Willemse. Yeesh. They paused instead of smacking a guy on the back foot.
- CHIP KICK! OVERTHROW! OVERKICK!
- At 65:00 missed tackles: ABs 31-29 Boks
- Stupid offload by Jordan after taking the high ball gives the Boks a scrum with 13 to go just outside the AB 22.
- Hooker's break of BB's shit kick made to look better by a fairly shit AB chase line. Sets up field position for Kwagga's try
- Snyman's try is all down to Holland shooting out. I said that on the day I believe.
- 75:35 Hey Will Jordan: two hands for beginners! Tho at the scrum immediately afterwards the Boks should have been pinged as their THP absolutely shit the bed.
- CROSSFIELD KICK! CHIP KICK ARDIE!
- Tamaiti Williams out of alignment for the Boks last try, and instead of advancing, he retreats.
And a bloodied but victorious Esterhuizen is the icing on the cake.
That's the nuts and bolts. New post coming for summary thoughts.
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BB ffs
Get a semi decent fly half and half the problems are solved.
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@autoeuropean said in All Blacks vs Springboks II:
BB ffs
Get a semi decent fly half and half the problems are solved.
If the coach can't see that? Sack the coach
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To me, the scoreline reflects the mindset of both teams.
Springboks know what their plan is, and have burned it into the frontal lobe of every player in the squad. As long as they have their set piece in order, big bodies in midfield, and pace on the edges, they'll keep doing that while it is winning games.
It doesn't always win, because it can be countered if If IF you can compete in the air, or pressure their lineout. But it is high percentage and effective when you've got fit bodies. By my reckoning they're down to their 3rd string front row and still performing, and managed several early injuries. There is a strength in simplicity.
All Blacks look like they're running on an assumed superiority of skill and fitness; a team that looks like their guiding light is a mix of motivational surfer quotes and trick shot pool.
That might be a bit of legacy haunting them TBH - well I remember BB pulling off utterly bullshit kicks that bounced into his arms after nearly brushing the sideline paint to score a try against the Wallabies.
When the magic is gone, you need to roll up your sleeves. Of course when the magic comes back, it becomes much easier.
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@autoeuropean said in All Blacks vs Springboks II:
BB ffs
Get a semi decent fly half and half the problems are solved.
Yep, and get a semi decent scrum and lineout. Unless the set piece improves, we can have Carter at 10 and we still won't win against SA.
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Fixes:
BB has to go. I don't think he offers anything more than McKenzie at 10, and some of his decision making under pressure shows his flaws - particularly some of the passes that compounded pressure on his team mates.
Proctor looks like a whole-hearted player and he mostly does good things, but I wonder where his ceiling is. Perhaps the return of Tupaea to the 12 jersey to add a bit of starch, and moving Jordie out one might help, with them swapping roles depending on the situation.
Your scrumhalf crisis can't be ignored in all this. Christie is serviceable and even good at times, but a fit and firing Roigaard as well as Ratima would help I think.
Up front you really need to sort out what the balance of the pack, and find a better third-string hooker.
I don't mind Holland. Maybe if you team him up with S Barrett it is a bit more even in terms of hard workers, tho the latter did himself no favours on the weekend. I guess you need to find someone better before you go casting players aside.
Vaa'i looks like a blindside flanker to me. A not-very-bright one who would rather pick fights and do Aaron Smith impressions than knuckle down and play rugby. I don't mind persisting with Parker, who fits that bill. If you complement him with Papalii at 7 and Ardie at 8 and captain, it might bring a bit more balance to the back row.
Oh and the defence coach needs to be fired into the sun. Razor to be shown what an "exit play" looks like, on repeat.
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Overall I think the Boks looked good because they were, and partly because some poor decisions allowed them to look good.
On that: I don't think this talk of Rassie evolving their play is borne out in any visible change - the core of the game is still set piece, clatterball, and basic skill execution.
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@NTA said in All Blacks vs Springboks II:
I think the backlash at Eden Park vs the Wallabies in a couple of weeks is going to be reassuring to most here.
It will give the media and the coaches an opportunity to paper over the cracks if we beat you, convincingly or not
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@NTA said in All Blacks vs Springboks II:
All Blacks look like they're running on an assumed superiority of skill and fitness; a team that looks like their guiding light is a mix of motivational surfer quotes and trick shot pool.
When the magic is gone, you need to roll up your sleeves.
The above nails it for me.
These All Blacks are clearly being told every thirty seconds how wonderful they are and how much better they are than the opposition. They are spending far too much vital training time doing trick shots and Harlem Globetrotters moves because someone in senior management thinks that's what the YouTube/TicTok crowd pwant.
They need to be told, screamed at even, to put in the hard yards to do the damn basics bloody well.
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@sparky said in All Blacks vs Springboks II:
@NTA said in All Blacks vs Springboks II:
All Blacks look like they're running on an assumed superiority of skill and fitness; a team that looks like their guiding light is a mix of motivational surfer quotes and trick shot pool.
When the magic is gone, you need to roll up your sleeves.
The above nails it for me.
These All Blacks are clearly being told every thirty seconds how wonderful they are and how much better they are than the opposition. They are spending far too much vital training time doing trick shots and Harlem Globetrotters moves because someone in senior management thinks that's what the YouTube/TicTok crowd pwant.
They need to be told, screamed at even, to put in the hard yards to do the damn basics bloody well.
They clearly aren't getting that message from Razor
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@NTA said in All Blacks vs Springboks II:
@canefan said in All Blacks vs Springboks II:
They clearly aren't getting that message from Razor
Let the record show that "motivational surfer quotes" was deliberate on my part...
We have played some excellent rugby during Razor's tenure. Unfortunately we don't seem to be able to do this for anymore than 10-15 minutes in any 80 minute test match. Maybe that is a commentary of his attention span too....
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@NTA said in All Blacks vs Springboks II:
@canefan said in All Blacks vs Springboks II:
They clearly aren't getting that message from Razor
Let the record show that "motivational surfer quotes" was deliberate on my part...
“I don't motivate people, I inspire people to be motivated”
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@brodean said in All Blacks vs Springboks II:
@Duluth said in All Blacks vs Springboks II:
Here's the stats for what I was talking about above
What I get from those stats is tight forwards should not be passing that much in a game.
They should be hitting rucks, hitting mauls, with some carries.
The out the back stuff is horse shit. Its the same pattern the Crusaders played last year to their detriment. All of the strike runners end up running diagonally across the field and no one is running hard and straight onto the ball.
Whoever was running the attack for the NZu20s this year was doing a very good job. The stacked backline they ran for a lot of their strike moves was excellent - and mobilised/executed with players who have had a best 2-3 tournaments together - far less than the 50-60 games many of our current All Blacks have had to develop.
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@NTA said in All Blacks vs Springboks II:
Sititi, by comparison, tries a rugby league strip at nearly every tackle.
Yeah had a few 'highlights' pop up and he goes for strip instead of a tackle (dual tackles mostly) hope thats not another tactic.
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@DurryMexted said in All Blacks vs Springboks II:
@brodean said in All Blacks vs Springboks II:
@Duluth said in All Blacks vs Springboks II:
Here's the stats for what I was talking about above
What I get from those stats is tight forwards should not be passing that much in a game.
They should be hitting rucks, hitting mauls, with some carries.
The out the back stuff is horse shit. Its the same pattern the Crusaders played last year to their detriment. All of the strike runners end up running diagonally across the field and no one is running hard and straight onto the ball.
Whoever was running the attack for the NZu20s this year was doing a very good job. The stacked backline they ran for a lot of their strike moves was excellent - and mobilised/executed with players who have had a best 2-3 tournaments together - far less than the 50-60 games many of our current All Blacks have had to develop.
This guy?
🏅 U20 Rugby Championship 🥈 U20 World Cup Co-head coach of the New Zealand Rugby U20s 👊 Proud! After a change in coaching direction, I was asked to step up and co-lead the team to the World Cup…...
🏅 U20 Rugby Championship 🥈 U20 World Cup Co-head coach of the New Zealand Rugby U20s 👊 Proud! After a change in coaching direction, I was asked to step up and co-lead the team to the World Cup alongside Jarrad Hoeata (pictured). Running the attack at international level is huge — but doing...
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@NTA said in All Blacks vs Springboks II:
I think the backlash at Eden Park vs the Wallabies in a couple of weeks is going to be reassuring to most here.
Nah, we've seen this movie before. It's the fixture after that one that'll tell the story. I can't see this current iteration doing better than what they've done all TRC; going 1 -1 against the same opposition.
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@Canes4life said in All Blacks vs Springboks II:
Can you get those stats? It would be also interesting to see how many times Proctor passed for the Canes compared to the ABs. Just totally different gameplans which isn't helping him progress and get comfortable in one of the hardest positions within the team.
RugbyPass these days has player profile pages where you can look at specific stats for each competition (TRC, SRP, NPC, and so on). This is Proctor's page, for example:
Billy Proctor Rugby Bio | News, Stats, Age, Height & Team | RugbyPass
Get Billy Proctor stats, ratings, news, & video on the world's largest rugby player & team database. Click here to get the latest news on Billy Proctor
If you want to know how often he passed for the Hurricanes, you can take his total number of passes during this year's Canes season (73), divide it by his total playing minutes (517) and then multiply by 80 to get a match average.
So he'd get to a number of 11.3 passes per 80 minutes, which is considerably more than what he averages for the ABs during the TRC (5.1 passes per 80 minutes).
