Pommie BaaBaa & Froggie XV
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Saw the game this morning - I agree with @KiwiMurph, Laumape was great, made lots of good decisions and took his chance. He's knocking on the door to run with the top 15.
Fifita should be shot for fucking up that try - illustrated perfectly by Luatua who looked for people in a better situation than him, and as a result they scored.
Naholo was probably our best player in the first half, which is a bit worrying, although I though both locks got through plenty of work. I thought Harris was poor, and Hames was a bit of not much around the field. Kaino was kind of anonymous, but I noticed him making a few tackles. We looked much better when Cane came on.
Mounga took his chance well, Bucky made a lot of nice touches, and Kwagga was, I think, deservedly MOTM.
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@rocky-rockbottom said in Pommie BaaBaa & Froggie XV:
Kaino parked out on the wing while the forwards are failing to secure breakdown ball? Maybe it was tecticul...
Babas jaunty, assured and flamboyant til they ran out of puff
AB's wonky and ponderous til babas ran out of puff.ffs.
some of those guys should be sitting in the stands for the rest of the tour.
It was carnival rugby, that was all. The closest you can get to 'a freindly' in rugby. No need to read anything into it
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@hooroo said in Pommie BaaBaa & Froggie XV:
@rocky-rockbottom said in Pommie BaaBaa & Froggie XV:
Kaino parked out on the wing while the forwards are failing to secure breakdown ball? Maybe it was tecticul...
Babas jaunty, assured and flamboyant til they ran out of puff
AB's wonky and ponderous til babas ran out of puff.ffs.
some of those guys should be sitting in the stands for the rest of the tour.
It was carnival rugby, that was all. The closest you can get to 'a freindly' in rugby. No need to read anything into it
And bring on more of it. It was fun, stupid fun, but fun.
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I watched this game a bit sleepy , so missed a bit of detail ,
But don't remember much from Jules Savea , was half expecting the return of the bus as he tries to make a statement,
Could it be , that game did him more harm than good ?
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@kiwiinmelb said in Pommie BaaBaa & Froggie XV:
Could it be , that game did him more harm than good ?
I think it did him no harm because his form this year isn't close to good enough for a return. It might have calmed down some boosters who suggest that his non-selection was a mistake, but I doubt the AB selectors are in that group.
Seta T looked better, and I would suggest he's only in the squad because so many outside backs are out.
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Savea SHOULD stand out in NPC, as should many of those near AB selection (Aumua, Goodhue, Duffie as the newbies all stood out)
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Thought we lacked control and composure at crucial times especially in the first half. Too keen to go wide early without doing the hard yards. The introduction of Cane and TKB improved this area.
Catch and Pass must be on the menu for this weeks learnings surely. The amount of dropped ball was ludicrous.
Naholo was good value, Romano worked hard and Laumape grabbed his chances. We worked better as a unit with Cane and TKB on the field.
We sure as hell better get a succession plan in place for halfback, as when TKB goes, I am not comfortable with the thought that TJ is second in line. Support play was fine but I'm sure he thought he was on a basketball court with those bloody loopy passes he was throwing for Luatua.
Thought Harris, Havili and Jules all comfortably played their way out. Was Kaino playing?
For the Baabaas Kiwis hopefuls, was impressed with Moli, Bridge (who outplayed Havili) and Luatua served up a timely 'don't you forget about me' reminder to Shag of what he still offers. Jury still out on Mounga who looked very good but went missing at times.
Bird and Whitelock did nothing outstanding, but were solid, and didn't do their chances any harm either.
All in all glad to get that one out of the way - now on to France. -
@kiwimurph thats the thing, he should be, but wasnt for most of the M10 cup, so was odd with some calls for him to be included in the AB EOYT squad.
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@kiwimurph said in Pommie BaaBaa & Froggie XV:
Until the playoffs - Julian Savea wasnt standing out in Mitre 10 Cup either.
Did people watch the final? I remember him straight up just missing two bombs. We all know in international rugby strengths like speed, size and power are less relevant while weaknesses like being poor under the high ball or a low work rate are going to be spotlighted. I didn't see any evidence in the Mitre Ten Cup that Julian had sorted out the deficiencies in his game. The try he scored in the final, he would be unlikely to score in a tight test.
Julian Savea needed to take more ball at second receiver last night.
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I honestly haven't come across anyone saying Savea should be in the squad for some time now.
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@no-quarter I dont recall anyone here, but were some sections of our media that seemed surprised at his omission.
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BTW, I still think Jules is a fine option. Teams have just worked out how to defend against him and exploit his weaknesses. The main thing working against him is just that Naholo and Reiko Ioane are just better players now. Ioane doesn't always go looking for contact and seems to have no weaknesses. Naholo set up two tries which Savea couldn't have set up last night. I would rather have Savea on the wing than Tamanivalu. However, being the third best power winger in the country won't get you many starts, given we rarely need a power winger on the bench.
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I know it was a team made up of second (and in some cases third and forth) stringers but i was hoping for a bit more composure in this game.
It was the Baabaa's that looked like they were the team that had been together all season not us.This game really highlighted a bit of the deadwood that we are carrying at the moment.
Harris just isn't up to it IMO. Hoping Aumua can go past him on this tour.
ALB has been pretty rubbish this year. Not blaming it all on him but he is a contributing factor in the disjointed, stuttering backline. Hopefully Goodhue is an upgrade.
I don't really rate Havili but given we are missing about 50 fullbacks there isn't much we can do there.
Fifita really needs to work on finding his support. He bombed a near certain try by trying to do it all himself.
Pity Duffie didn't get on earlier. Don't think he touched the ball.
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Smith MOTM head and shoulders. Continued his good Super Rugby form
