Scotland v All Blacks
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@His-Bobness The whole thing makes me nervous. For better or worse we should be developing alternative players at 10.
We don't want a repeat of 2011. -
@pakman It's absolutely incredible work by DMac to hold onto the ball given the way he is shifting his weight and rebalancing and contorting his body.
Years and years of touch footy and conditioning allowing him to add to the All Blacks legacy. Beautiful.
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@cgrant said in Scotland v All Blacks:
Though Roigard had a poor game by his standards, he's still the best halfback in NZ by a country mile.
If barrett is at 10 we need more sniping from 9 and run the game from 10.
Otherwise its just shovelling on from Barret and pop gun kicks
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I think I get the problem now. The coaches have an idea of the sort of player profile they want to fit a team, but have little regard for utilising key unique strengths and fostering combinations that are at odds with or tangential to their team vision.
I suspect they are victims of their Crusader-level success. They need to be more flexible, unpredictable, and resourceful. -
I thought it was a great game to watch, if somewhat frustrating at times. A good first half before another inconsistent 2nd half, mostly caused by poor decision-making and ill-discipline. The Tupaea-Fainga’anuku midfield struggled defensively at times – against, to be fair, a very well-coordinated Scottish attack – but I think it’s worth persevering with.
There are not a huge number of areas in which the ABs are improving but offloading, with Fainga’anuku at the forefront, has consistently become a bigger and bigger facet of the AB attack. Unsurprisingly, there is a correlation between successful offloads and higher numbers in both line breaks and post-contact metres, as a shifting point of attack becomes much more difficult to contain for a defensive line under pressure.
After a rather conservative TRC – the Wellington spectacle notwithstanding – the ABs are starting to keep the ball alive in attack more
Defences which are set well typically require offloading as a way to get in behind (looking at you, Eden Park Wallabies). Exceptional defences, however (Cake Tin Springboks), can sustain high numbers of opposition line breaks (9) and offloads (8) without suffering on the scoreboardWhile Fainga’anuku is leading the way in offloading in the past two Tests (2 against Ireland, 3 against Scotland), his desire to keep the ball alive in attack is more and more shared by his teammates. What it does, is put the ABs behind the defensive line, creating doubt in the mind of Scottish defenders as well as a defensive line that is being pushed backwards. Just one phase before the Josh Lord-snipe through the ruck, Fainga’anuku, Clarke and Tupaea cause some havoc out wide, using the offload to keep the ball alive.
One phase later, Cummings is directing defensive numbers towards the right while Ashman only has eyes for Roigard and the attacking shape that the ABs are setting up, completely switching off for his duties as the pillar defender.
Two of Lord’s more outstanding abilities are his game intelligence and his ballhandling, both of which were on clear display for Roigard’s tryThrough the offload, quite a few opportunities were created in the first half, a few of which probably should’ve been finished. In the 9th minute, the ABs make good inroads through short passes at the line, before the ball is eventually moved wide. Tupaea squares up before throwing a beautiful cross-the-face pass to Sititi, who keeps the move alive by throwing the one-handed offload back inside after contact.
If the ABs would’ve been able to better manipulate the space against the two last Scottish defenders – Carter throwing the behind-pass to Clarke or Clarke running a switch to give Taylor another passing option on the outside – another score seems inevitable.
Around 10 minutes later, the ABs would once again be around the Scottish 22. This time, they would attack the space around the ruck rather than out wide, with forwards flooding the space and keeping the ball alive after Roigard made a short incision around the Scottish breakdown. Holland makes proper use of his long leavers to free the ball and put Jordan through the gap.
Ironically, the ABs became much too conservative once inside the Scottish 22, turning to one-off carries and pick-and-go’s which were easily absorbed by Scottish defenders. It’s ironic because it is pretty much the inverse of the Argentina Tests: in those two matches, the ABs barely created anything but were lethal once they were inside the Argentina 22, using intricate strike moves from set piece (4.7 points per entry in Argentina I). Little evidence could be found of such intricacies inside the Scottish 22, however, as the ABs consistently ignored both the space as well as their teammates already there.
A point of focus for the English Test will be to finish any line breaks that are made, rather than get bogged down and turned over in the opposition redzone. The midfield-axis of Tupaea and Fainga’anuku will again be seriously tested on defence, as the English attack has come on in leaps and bounds since the previous meeting of these two teams. Then again, the AB attack is evolving as well, using the offload the find space both through the middle and out wide.
The side which will be able to best contain and disrupt the other’s attacking structures is most likely to come out on top, in my view.
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Excellent analysis! From where I sat Leicester was a bit rocks and diamonds. Attempting offloads does lead to more errors, when sometimes just retaining possession is better option.
Was sitting behind posts and in first 30 noticeable that for all the lovely handling, AB backs were tending to run diagonally which shut down space for wingers. Needed the occasional cut back or just hard straight carry to keep Scots honest.
Also, delaying pass until tackler committed seems to be a lost centre art. Of recent times only recall Jack Goodhue being good at that.
Sort that and more opportunities will be converted, I’d have thought.
Cue old timer comment about Bruce Robertson! -
@pakman the flip side though is pass and back up, let the ball do some of the work to create space. Can't do that if you're tackled as you pass.
Also can't do that if you throw a shitty ball that support has to stop/stray for and support tucks it.
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@pakman Post of the thread. Hope Razor's reading this!
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@BerniesCorner Or that him and @pakman had breakfast together this morning.
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@canefan said in Scotland v All Blacks:
@Dan54 said in Scotland v All Blacks:
@canefan said in Scotland v All Blacks:
I was having a spirited exchange with a mate of mine about BB. His counterargument to my assessment that BB isn't up to it anymore was "we won and he didn't make any mistakes.". This guy knows rugby, and yet that's his view (and BB did make errors anyway). I can't reconcile how anyone who knows anything about rugby can go into bat for BB anymore
Guess that would suggest that you don't think any of the coaches etc know anything about rugby?
Do you ever read my posts Dan?
Mate tongue in cheek. Although I guess a few coaches who select him would go into bat etc is all I meant.
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@sparky said in Scotland v All Blacks:
How many bad games can Ardie Savea and Beauden Barrett keep having in Black?
I can't remember any of our players in the past escaping scrutiny for such consistently disappointing performances.
Thats the issue - there is a cognitive dissonance across the whole of NZ (& world) rugby media and consumers - people genuinely watch these guys play and their branding just over rides any actual critical thought about how these guys should be playing
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@Mauss awesome analysis and agree with all of that, the England match is going to be epic. That gif you posted of Holland's run showed the De Groot draw and pass to put him through the hole that I commented on during the game. Loving De Groot's work there, it's something he's obviously worked hard on and it means attacking movements don't break down if he receives the ball.
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Really good first half, although far from perfect. Followed by possibly the most brainless 20 minutes I've ever seen. Then DMac with an elite few minutes, 50-22, amazing finish then brilliant kick for goal. I hope we're getting closer to an 80 minute performance, we'll need close to that next week. Those yellow cards, my goodness. 2 were epic brain fades and you could even argue that Ardie's was extremely dumb, if he actually had any control in that position. I wonder if they practice defensive mauls that are going backwards - practice letting them score without giving away a penalty try + card, when a try is inevitable. Adding the yellow on top of conceding is catastrophic and was almost fatal to our chances.
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@Richie8-7 agree completely re: Savea. To put on my "whinging about the ref" hat, Scotland brought down one of our mauls 2m from their line by coming in from the side, stopping an almost certain try, but there was no YC for that as we scored soon afterwards. I hate how inconsistent the refs are.
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Very rarely does BB ever take the ball at pace, usually static or at a slow jogging pace then shovelled along, it is just odd how he is playing, and more confusingly, his continued selection.
Makes it so much easier for the defence knowing he isnt really a threat with the ball.
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@taniwharugby said in Scotland v All Blacks:
Very rarely does BB ever take the ball at pace, usually static or at a slow jogging pace then shovelled along, it is just odd how he is playing, and more confusingly, his continued selection.
Makes it so much easier for the defence knowing he isnt really a threat with the ball.
It's sad to watch, he spends most of the game looking like 38 year old Sexton, but without the patten around him or the accurate kicking. It's terrible for us right now, and how it sets us up for the return of our lord and savior who plays nothing like that, I don't know.
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@taniwharugby said in Scotland v All Blacks:
Very rarely does BB ever take the ball at pace, usually static or at a slow jogging pace then shovelled along, it is just odd how he is playing, and more confusingly, his continued selection.
Makes it so much easier for the defence knowing he isnt really a threat with the ball.
Occasionally I have a dream where I'm called up for the All Blacks but I don't know any of the plays so I'm confused, bumbling and hesitant - but I make do with what I can.
This is how BB plays now.
He's not playing by instinct and his brain doesn't work fast enough to make decisions on the fly.
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I kept a slightly closer eye on Will Jordan this game. Hes such a strange player to watch. And he is the polar opposite to the dual playmaker role that we tried to deploy.
In the attacking line, he is an absolute seagull looking to run off shoulders, he is barely ever actually in the line as such. when it comes off its excellent and he has already got a few yards on the defender because hes so quick off the mark. But two things i noticed
- When he spots a gap and runs it - If he doesnt get the pass, he runs about 3 or 4 metres past the play and completely removes himself from the next phase like a league player. Its really strange, i dont see anyone else do it like this, most backs are itching to get back in the line and will stop on a dime to reset
- When he does make a break - his decision making is not flash. But its almost like he doesnt allow himself to slow down and look around, he is purely ears pinned and go. And his body is so locked in to his running style that he just cant give a good pass when it arises.
Its like hes built for pure line breaks
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@taniwharugby said in Scotland v All Blacks:
Very rarely does BB ever take the ball at pace, usually static or at a slow jogging pace then shovelled along, it is just odd how he is playing, and more confusingly, his continued selection.
Makes it so much easier for the defence knowing he isnt really a threat with the ball.
It’s sticks out now like a sore thumb and has become progressively worse over the last 2 seasons. It impacts the forward carries generated off that let alone the backline. Contrast it with Mckenzie (or anyone else) hitting it at pace and still throwing a wide ball at full tilt.
Remember how we were getting it wide at will in the last 10 against Ireland? That’s where the space came from. The defense has to fix and see if Mckenize is going to run it rather than just aggressively closing up on the outside options.
