All Blacks vs Tonga
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Very one-sided affair. ABs forwards looking to be in great condition. Excellent passing performance by the inside backs. Woeful defence from Tonga. ABs' Back Three had enough about them to cut a disorganised defence to pieces again and again. Good to give Josh Ioane some game time, just in case they need to fly him out to Japan later in the tournament.
Two negatives for me.
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No Jack Goodhue. Been out with the hamstring injury for a while. Is he going to be fit for RWC?
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Beauden Barrett's kicking from hand was substandard. Richie M is now the clear first-choice First Five.
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@gt12 Worried he (Jack) won't be fit for the Boks.
ALB in great form so we have excellent cover at 13, but Goodhue the more complete player.
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This is probably not a very popular opinion, but I think that ALB is playing a bit better right now.
So, assuming they keep either Crotty or SBW at 12, Goodhue may not get a run.
Btw, I’d probably have ALB and Goodhue as my first choice - although I doubt that is the selector’s thinking.
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@booboo said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Salacious-Crumb said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Machpants said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
Still listening to the conference, Hansen very grumpy, back to bad old Hansen
His jab at the press at the 6:12 mark was awesome. Calls them out for being lazy boring useless time-wasters.
Didn't think his reactions were all that necessary.
What are the questions they should have been asking?
Something not along the lines of the boring "emotional" crap most were.
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@Siam said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
I might be alone but I thought Bridge was a bit of a hungus actually. Fluffed a couple and scored one which benefited from weak tackling rather than rugby skill.
He's perfectly adequate but I strongly prefer Reiko in the next game.
Yeah he definitely was, even when he looked to pass he'd somehow run away from his support. That does seem to be a fairly common thing for new AB wingers though - I reckon they get told in first few games to just go for it.
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@Siam said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
I might be alone but I thought Bridge was a bit of a hungus actually. Fluffed a couple and scored one which benefited from weak tackling rather than rugby skill.
He's perfectly adequate but I strongly prefer Reiko in the next game.
I think his hungusness was discussed in the thread when the match was on, he’s making a run for the new Hungus Masaga title - although Hungus Bridge doesn’t have the same ring to it.
Luckily for him we usually scored despite his hungusness. I’m fully in the Rieko camp, as @No-Quarter stated there’s no way Rieko wouldn’t have carved up in that match. I’d like us to try Bridge on the right wing.
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@Siam said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
I might be alone but I thought Bridge was a bit of a hungus actually. Fluffed a couple and scored one which benefited from weak tackling rather than rugby skill.
He's perfectly adequate but I strongly prefer Reiko in the next game.
Bridge didn't have the perfect game, but still scored four tries. Even allowing for the pants opposition defence and the brilliant ABs midfield passing, he did okay.
The ABs have three excellent wings in Bridge, Reiko and Reece. All three will be used at some point for the tournament's key games. Fitness will influence which of the two start. Ben Smith and Jordie Barrett might be used on right wing in Japan but are behind the top 3.
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@gt12 said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
This is probably not a very popular opinion, but I think that ALB is playing a bit better right now.
popular with me
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@Nepia said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Siam said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
I might be alone but I thought Bridge was a bit of a hungus actually. Fluffed a couple and scored one which benefited from weak tackling rather than rugby skill.
He's perfectly adequate but I strongly prefer Reiko in the next game.
I think his hungusness was discussed in the thread when the match was on, he’s making a run for the new Hungus Masaga title - although Hungus Bridge doesn’t have the same ring to it.
Luckily for him we usually scored despite his hungusness. I’m fully in the Rieko camp, as @No-Quarter stated there’s no way Rieko wouldn’t have carved up in that match. I’d like us to try Bridge on the right wing.
I'll give him teh benefit of the doubt for one, as he and BB totally lost each other (and really BB should have stayed wide and used his pace)
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@mariner4life said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Nepia said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
@Siam said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
I might be alone but I thought Bridge was a bit of a hungus actually. Fluffed a couple and scored one which benefited from weak tackling rather than rugby skill.
He's perfectly adequate but I strongly prefer Reiko in the next game.
I think his hungusness was discussed in the thread when the match was on, he’s making a run for the new Hungus Masaga title - although Hungus Bridge doesn’t have the same ring to it.
Luckily for him we usually scored despite his hungusness. I’m fully in the Rieko camp, as @No-Quarter stated there’s no way Rieko wouldn’t have carved up in that match. I’d like us to try Bridge on the right wing.
I'll give him teh benefit of the doubt for one, as he and BB totally lost each other (and really BB should have stayed wide and used his pace)
I'm with @Nepia -- I thought Bridge tried to butcher some tries too. I'm not locked in for him on the other wing to Rieko, but I don't like BFA there more, and don't know who else you'd seriously consider. Can't see Rieko and Reece playing together.
ah, the joys of selection eh
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@nzzp said in All Blacks vs Tonga:
I'm not locked in for him on the other wing to Rieko, but I don't like BFA there more, and don't know who else you'd seriously consider. Can't see Rieko and Reece playing together.
All of that for mine.
I guess if Bridge does play right, and the are playing BB at the back with RM at 1st, then Bender on the bench (or Jordie).It's f'ing confusing - hopefully Rassie doesn't a clue like the rest of us.
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Well if Rassie reads the Fern, we are doing our part to confuse it even further given we have three threads going where we are talking about selections.
Confuse away ferners
