AB's v Wales
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@98blueandgold said in AB's v Wales:
I think moving forward I would start ALB, just seems to offer more on attack than Crotty, plus he does not get injured. Crotty is very good and does tough stuff but ALB (when he starts) makes us look more fluid.
Interesting. I'd say ALB was the biggest regresser this year. Was good in game 1 v Samoa and game 17 v Wales. Not good in between.
He'll get plenty of chances next 2 years anyway.
@rapido i agree he has regressed, but is that because he has not started? i have said before if he is not playing 60min + there is not much point having ALB in squad, I would have Laumape for impact.
Crotty is very good, but either Crotty ALB or my pick Sonny and ALB for me is better. ALB is just more athletic, has offloading game etc. Game seems to flow more when he is playing. But there will be a reason the coaches don;t start him. -
@stargazer said in AB's v Wales:
Great try saving tackles from BB and Todd.
Todd missed the tackle not long before right in front of our posts that put us under pressure too.
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Never in doubt.
Wales played a little better than I thought they would. We played about expected. Some really good stuff and some messy.
On Barnes, usually don’t mind his reffing, but today I thought his reffing of the breakdown was all over the show. I thought we were robbed of a number of penalties when we were on the ball and Wales never released. He finally gave Todd one, but I counted at least 4 others previous to that, that were similar but went unrewarded.
@act-crusader said in AB's v Wales:
On Barnes, usually don’t mind his reffing, but today I thought his reffing of the breakdown was all over the show. I thought we were robbed of a number of penalties when we were on the ball and Wales never released. He finally gave Todd one, but I counted at least 4 others previous to that, that were similar but went unrewarded.
And Todd could have been penalised there, as he had his hands on the ground first. The breakdown is still a mess so I don't envy the refs.
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@chimoaus said in AB's v Wales:
Is there a motm thread this week?
Read my mind because I want to vote for the Canes. There was definitely more than one on the field. A McAwe-esque performance.
Rieko is amazing - all the skills and speed needed from a wing but some extras like a centre.
Also thought ALB was really good.
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@pakman said in AB's v Wales:
I'd say Crotty at 13 is excellent defensively and he keeps backline in shape. Offensively things were better with ALB.
Maybe that’s because while Crotty was still there we didn’t have any possession to be offensive with.
SBW seemed to play a better game with ALB there though. Much more direct, and in fact once he got over his early yips I thought he was v good today. He really put his body on the line a couple of times including one dive on a bobbling ball that was incredibly ballsy.
I like the back row combo of Cane-Todd-Squire. All three out in some punishing work on defence in the second half and as a unit they seemed very quick to ball carrier and breakdown. We need to find ways to have Cane and Todd on the field together. I’m amazed at how hard Cane was going at the end considering what he’d done in the previous 80mins.
The highlight for me was calling for another scrum when our senior lock was off the field and we’d just won a penalty from the previous 7 v 8 scrum, and scoring off it. That’s got to mess with the opposition’s heads. Old Aura must be on 250+ caps by now.
@jc I also thought there was a massive lift when Todd came on. Cane plays like a 7/6 anyway and Squire maybe is better at 8 (I thought LW was very quiet, slow for test rugby? and Squire was quiet in first half). Poor Pat T, could not get into it, but Sam Whitelock was magnificent, like Cane. And Naholo was great (like Ione). Strange we don't normally rely on our 2 wings so much especially considering how slow the ball was in the midfield (you can decide if that was the fault of 9 10 or 12).
NB Taylor was very good, again. OTA still worries me when he comes on, big tough unit be can be brainless at times.
But our 15 still worries me, not always well placed, some strange kicks and does not have the mass for dominant tackles. If he is going to be a 10, sub him on at 10. 15 won't prepare him for 10. -
@jc I also thought there was a massive lift when Todd came on. Cane plays like a 7/6 anyway and Squire maybe is better at 8 (I thought LW was very quiet, slow for test rugby? and Squire was quiet in first half). Poor Pat T, could not get into it, but Sam Whitelock was magnificent, like Cane. And Naholo was great (like Ione). Strange we don't normally rely on our 2 wings so much especially considering how slow the ball was in the midfield (you can decide if that was the fault of 9 10 or 12).
NB Taylor was very good, again. OTA still worries me when he comes on, big tough unit be can be brainless at times.
But our 15 still worries me, not always well placed, some strange kicks and does not have the mass for dominant tackles. If he is going to be a 10, sub him on at 10. 15 won't prepare him for 10.Since when do we need fullbacks to make dominant tackles?
Compared to Dagg, McKenzie is a tackling genius.
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WTF? Another one?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=11948058&ref=rss
"That might be four cases we've had and all of them have been vaccinated," Hansen said. "I learnt something the other day about that – they combined the vaccines with the measles and it's not so effective. If you're between the ages of eight and 30 you're vulnerable so I'm just missing out."More reason for concern:
Hansen also confirmed captain Kieran Read continued to battle the debilitating disc issue in his back which ruled him out of the Welsh test and confined him to a bed during the backend of the week. -
@rocky-rockbottom
Scotty B > Pat T -
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Since when do we need fullbacks to make dominant tackles?
Compared to Dagg, McKenzie is a tackling genius.
@chester-draws said in AB's v Wales:
Since when do we need fullbacks to make dominant tackles?
Compared to Dagg, McKenzie is a tackling genius.
Never really given it much thought , but I would probably agree with that ,
Mckenzie despite his faults is a good defender , copy book tackles around the legs .
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WTF? Another one?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=11948058&ref=rss
"That might be four cases we've had and all of them have been vaccinated," Hansen said. "I learnt something the other day about that – they combined the vaccines with the measles and it's not so effective. If you're between the ages of eight and 30 you're vulnerable so I'm just missing out."More reason for concern:
Hansen also confirmed captain Kieran Read continued to battle the debilitating disc issue in his back which ruled him out of the Welsh test and confined him to a bed during the backend of the week.@stargazer said in AB's v Wales:
"That might be four cases we've had and all of them have been vaccinated," Hansen said. "I learnt something the other day about that – they combined the vaccines with the measles and it's not so effective. If you're between the ages of eight and 30 you're vulnerable so I'm just missing out."
That sounds a bit like the whole MMR vaccine thing that sprung up around 20 years ago that was found to be untrue, and in fact a dangerous view at the time that led to kids being left vulnerable to diseases that were previously very nearly eradicated
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Sam Cane. Jesus.
Rieko Ioane. Wow.
Huge efforts all around, but the tactic of constantly returning possession must have been a strategy, which is fine it the kicks are contestable, but it was poorly executed and Wales did well by not really kicking to us at all. When they did, I though Dmac had his best game running back through traffic to link with our forwards, where there were also opportunities (none came off) for breaks as well. Much better and finally some positive signs.
I really like that new Wales 7, he looks the goods. Biggar also went really well I think, and they did well running men through the midfield then taking advantage of our men - although I think they also had about three examples of shepherding/our defenders being taken out, where the attacking player then ran exactly through that space. Fair enough to keep doing it though, because it wasn't being picked up on by the officials. Great try at the end of the first half too - looked a smidge forward, but probably flat enough to not be called back (I wouldn't want that called back for us). Bad read by Barrett I think helped them, but it was a beauty.
Of course, not as good as the 7 man scrum to Ioane move. That was really pretty.
Most of it has been said, but every time I think Patty T will have the game to show he has it in him, he doesn't show up. Made about three great tackles in the first 3 minutes then spent the rest of his time trying to keep up. He's really only a final 20 minutes player, where he can be used well.
(L) Whitelock played relatively well, but he doesn't have Read's speed to cover his game as well. He did OK with his time, but doesn't look like the answer to me. And, I think I'm starting to agree that Squire isn't the answer at 6. He makes tackles, but his lack of defensive impact is highlighted by every tackle made by Cane, who doesn't just make them, but makes them count. To be fair to him, much of his game is based around us having the ball, but I didn't see him putting his hand up to make those runs, and what carries he didi have were pretty ineffective. SBW did a better job coming in from 2nd 5 in taking on that role.
Overall, glad to have that game over, but we are very focused on looking for magic from Ioane. Without him today, how many of those tries would have been created or finished? That's my key problem - even ALB's try was only due to Ioane - because Barrett sure as fuck wasn't help, taking the ball literally flat footed with a straight up pass. He was as non-influential as I can remember today, so little contribution from 10, except for a few cracking cover tackles which only reinforce the view that he is a better international 15 than 10, right now. A number of work ons for him.
Aaron Smith had one of his poorer games and I think needs a break, and a fucking haircut.
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@bovidae yup
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Reckon that ball from Ioane to ALB was deliberate, not fortuitous, was it Cully did a bounce pass to Goldie in a BLedisloe....
Funny Barnes has had to tell the Welsh to pipe down a few times basically any ruck they are demanding a penalty for turnover, even when they havent even got hands on.
Thought the pen on Hames and ?? for obstruction was rough, they booth turned and ran back, they had to run a line, and the one straight to the ball was the same as the Welsh chaser, they had no other line to run unless they wanted to look like mouppets and run away from the ball.
Sam Cane, beast, Ioane, so much skill...
@mariner4life hope you feel filthy, lucky it was only a tenner...
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Reckon that ball from Ioane to ALB was deliberate, not fortuitous, was it Cully did a bounce pass to Goldie in a BLedisloe....
Funny Barnes has had to tell the Welsh to pipe down a few times basically any ruck they are demanding a penalty for turnover, even when they havent even got hands on.
Thought the pen on Hames and ?? for obstruction was rough, they booth turned and ran back, they had to run a line, and the one straight to the ball was the same as the Welsh chaser, they had no other line to run unless they wanted to look like mouppets and run away from the ball.
Sam Cane, beast, Ioane, so much skill...
@mariner4life hope you feel filthy, lucky it was only a tenner...
Deliberate, but still only dependent on him being a bit special. He wasn’t helped in any way by his insides.
The obstruction penalty was a bit tough I thought, but I also think that Hames did adjust his line slightly (out) as Patty chased relatively straight back. That allowed the opportunity for it to be milked a bit, and that should be the lesson. Barrett had it covered and we had a great opportunity if they hadn’t been a bit too cute.
