Bledisloe II

MajorPom

Someone on Reddit just stated that the Wallabies are 3-1 up over the All Blacks when refereed by Barnes. Interesting or nah?

That would go someway towards explaining the permanent hard-on the Walrus has for Barnes.

Crucial

@daffy-jaffy said in Bledisloe II:

Someone on Reddit just stated that the Wallabies are 3-1 up over the All Blacks when refereed by Barnes. Interesting or nah?

Barnes doesn't ref Bled matches that often, but yes, the last three times he has the result has been an Oz win.

Billy Tell

So Giraffe at the back and Laumape at 12.

Happy enough with that - would be nice if BFA has a stormer at 14.

Big chance again for Naholo too

infidel

ALL BLACKS: Jordie Barrett, Ben Smith, Jack Goodhue, Ngani Laumape, Waisake Naholo,, Beauden Barrett, Aaron Smith; Kieran Read (capt), Sam Cane, Liam Squire, Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick, Owen Franks, Codie Taylor, Joe Moody. Reserves: Nathan Harris, Karl Tu'inukuake, Ofa Tu'ungafasi, Scott Barrett, Ardie Savea, TJ Perenara, Damian McKenzie, Anton Lienert-Brown

Darren

Happy with that, but surprised to see Laumape in over ALB who look good last week.

kiwiinmelb

@darren-nicholson said in Bledisloe II:

Happy with that, but surprised to see Laumape in over ALB who look good last week.

Before the first test Shag made a comment where he thinks ALB can provide good impact off the bench ,

I think most people in this case would see him as the steadier starter and Laumape as the guy to provide impact.

Unless its a tactical ploy , they want Laumape punching holes through a certain channel

taniwharugby

Most of the usual media types that get the inside oil have had ALB at 12 and BFA at 15...the latter doesn't surprise me and it is what I thought but I never thought they go for that 12/13 combo given the relative inexperience of the duo.

Crucial

I did think they may go ALB on the bench as a known quality with versatility and a desire to develop Laumape.
As stated earlier I hope JB and BFA swap around a bit to get Ben in a good position to observe and direct.

Bones

ALB strikes me as a bit of a tactician too, in the Piri mould.

No Quarter

The Canes mafia is pleased with these selections.

MN5

@bones said in Bledisloe II:

ALB strikes me as a bit of a tactician too, in the Piri mould.

Hopefully minus the takeaways and driving pissed to Maccas

No Quarter

Provided the ABs actually have a plan that centres around Laumape punching holes in close on a regular basis (unlike the bloody Canes), I can understand the selection with ALB coming on around the 55 minute mark to wreck some havoc against a tired defense.

Bovidae

ALB did pick up a leg injury in Sydney so perhaps they think it is best to give him limited minutes off the bench.

taniwharugby

@bovidae I thought they always viewed that from the other side of the coin, in that what if Laumape or Goodhue go down in minute 1, can he play 79 mins.

Bovidae

@taniwharugby Injury was not a factor according to the Stuff article.

"We wanted a specialist second five," explained Hansen. "Alby (Lienert-Brown) has been playing a lot of his rugby at 13. Whilst we're very happy with his performance [in Sydney], we love what he does for us off the bench.

"He brings a security, a sense of understanding of what's needed in that area and Ngani is more of a starting-type player. It just made sense."

antipodean

@infidel said in Bledisloe II:

ALL BLACKS: Jordie Barrett, Ben Smith, Jack Goodhue, Ngani Laumape, Waisake Naholo,, Beauden Barrett, Aaron Smith; Kieran Read (capt), Sam Cane, Liam Squire, Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick, Owen Franks, Codie Taylor, Joe Moody. Reserves: Nathan Harris, Karl Tu'inukuake, Ofa Tu'ungafasi, Scott Barrett, Ardie Savea, TJ Perenara, Damian McKenzie, Anton Lienert-Brown

Another remarkably predictable team, for a predictable outcome.

Steven Harris

@mariner4life totally agree,I really don’t think Laumape is a long term fit for 2nd five,let’s face it,if Crotty or SBW we’re available and If they are available for RWC 2019,they would be selected ahead of Laumape,where I believe Goodhue is a lock in centre moving forward,ABL is also proven..I still don’t think outside the Laumapes running game,I don’t believe there’s many more strings to his bow..

Chris B.

@taniwharugby said in Bledisloe II:

@rancid-schnitzel is he though? Granted he comes across as a bit of a dick, but is he that bad?

Am sure there has been analysis done elsewhere, but what are his results like vs anyone but NZ compared to previous coaches?

Thier super rugby teams are a bit shit, how is he supposed to magically turn those same players into a team to beat the best in the world? Would any other coach do any better?

Yeah - I think Chieka is doing OK. His problem is that, while he's got lots of lots of pretty decent cattle, they're not quite as good as the ABs - and that "not quite" translates to usually losing. He also doesn't have the same depth of resources (as the Super rugby results show) so he's forced into shoehorning his best players into the team and injuries hurt the Wallabies worse than the ABs.

That being said - the Wallabies can win, if Hansen runs out a less than full strength team, if we concede stupid cards, or if the ABs play poorly.

I don't think they can beat a full strength AB team that plays well.

Machpants

@chris-b said in Bledisloe II:

I don't think they can beat a full strength AB team that plays well.

There are no teams that can beat a full strength ABs team that plays well.

Chris B.

@machpants Maybe a World XV coached by Schmidt that played a similar lead up programme as the Lions?

Be mainly the Lions with a few reinforcements from Oz, France and SA.

The Silver Fern

Bledisloe II