RWC Week 1: France v All Blacks
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@antipodean said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
Quick report from your local correspondent here in fucking hot Paris:
Backroom full of donkeys. Vaai, predictability, the worst of them. Tight five carried them. In as much as you can call that display "carried".
De Groot will want to forget that game in a hurry. ALB was MIA after that beautiful pop pass to Rieko.
Will Jordan is obviously a very dimwitted slow learner. Jump to contest you fuckwomble.Beaudy was bloody good until the final quarter. As was Mounga.
The blame for you Foster haters needs to be apportioned to the rest of the coaching staff who have had plenty of time to address the obvious issues. This was a collective display of incompetence.
The buck stops at the head coach. And with Ryan and Schmidt we have had some games which forwards really muscled up and attack was good versus decent opposition. Prior to them, none. So yes Ryan and Schmidt are part of the selectors and coaching team, but there has been improvement with them on board. Foster has the final say, and the midfield bomb/millions of short kicks/play in your own 22 has been the default under the entire foster tenure. And that leads to our losses
@Machpants said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
Prior to them, none. So yes Ryan and Schmidt are part of the selectors and coaching team, but there has been improvement with them on board.
I thought so too during the RC, but comparing this game to the loss against France in '21, we actually seem to have achieved the impossible and gone backwards in Ryan and Schmidt's departments.
Foster isn't the only problem with AB rugby, not by a long chalk.
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Going forward - discipline and handling needs to be so much better. Every time NZ looked like they were stretching France, they either dropped the ball or got isolated and pinged. You can’t let teams like France, Ireland and SA have 12 penalties to play with.
France were blowing hard at times. NZ let them off the hook with poor execution and lack of discipline. Both are fixable.
JB and SF returning will be a big boost. BBBR returning and starting with SB will add some ballast and power.
BB has to be on borrowed time now. Wouldn’t surprise me if DM gets a run at FB in Italy test.
CR to take his chance and force himself onto the bench by QF.
If TL returns by end of the pool, that’s quite a lot of changes/improvements from the 23 seen tonight.
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Going forward - discipline and handling needs to be so much better. Every time NZ looked like they were stretching France, they either dropped the ball or got isolated and pinged. You can’t let teams like France, Ireland and SA have 12 penalties to play with.
France were blowing hard at times. NZ let them off the hook with poor execution and lack of discipline. Both are fixable.
JB and SF returning will be a big boost. BBBR returning and starting with SB will add some ballast and power.
BB has to be on borrowed time now. Wouldn’t surprise me if DM gets a run at FB in Italy test.
CR to take his chance and force himself onto the bench by QF.
If TL returns by end of the pool, that’s quite a lot of changes/improvements from the 23 seen tonight.
@stodders add smarter kicking too...
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The thing is we have some pretty good players
@BerniesCorner said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
The thing is we have some pretty good players
I think our tight 5 is massively overrated (apart from S Barrett)
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@Machpants said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
Prior to them, none. So yes Ryan and Schmidt are part of the selectors and coaching team, but there has been improvement with them on board.
I thought so too during the RC, but comparing this game to the loss against France in '21, we actually seem to have achieved the impossible and gone backwards in Ryan and Schmidt's departments.
Foster isn't the only problem with AB rugby, not by a long chalk.
@Victor-Meldrew the first 40 mins was better than a 10 min purple patch in 21.
The second 40 was an aberration though. Serious questions need to be asked about what happened, especially given they got the try against the run of play at the beginning. 4 quick penalties in succession changed momentum massively. France scored their try by the end of it and the momentum had swung.
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@Mattasaurus said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
Akira and Sotutu ( have watched both live in NPC recently) are not lighting the NPC on fire.... really starting to view them both as flat track Auckland schoolboy players.... was hoping Akira would be stung by begin dropped and have a fire lit inside him.... but not from what I have seen in NPC so far ( as someone said earlier there is a bloody good player in him .... just not seeing it yet)--
and Sotutu miles off the pace for international rugby IMO on current formSotutu not in great from.
Akira has been great. In the Auckland player of the match polls he's had two firsts and a second.. and is clearly in the cumulative lead. Topping the stats in almost every game he plays.
Fuck even TJ was praising him for his enormous workrate in the tight and pointed out that not enough people are giving him credit
A bizarre post. I don't know how anyone watching the NPC doesn't recognise how good he is playing
@Duluth said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
@Mattasaurus said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
Akira and Sotutu ( have watched both live in NPC recently) are not lighting the NPC on fire.... really starting to view them both as flat track Auckland schoolboy players.... was hoping Akira would be stung by begin dropped and have a fire lit inside him.... but not from what I have seen in NPC so far ( as someone said earlier there is a bloody good player in him .... just not seeing it yet)--
and Sotutu miles off the pace for international rugby IMO on current formSotutu not in great from.
Akira has been great. In the Auckland player of the match polls he's had two firsts and a second.. and is clearly in the cumulative lead. Topping the stats in almost every game he plays.
Fuck even TJ was praising him for his enormous workrate in the tight and pointed out that not enough people are giving him credit
A bizarre post. I don't know how anyone watching the NPC doesn't recognise how good he is playing
I have no idea why someone like Vaai gets picked over Akira.
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@BerniesCorner said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
The thing is we have some pretty good players
I think our tight 5 is massively overrated (apart from S Barrett)
@Duluth individually, maybe. But when they work as a unit, they still provide a decent platform.
Locks are still good enough. I’d like to see BBBR and SB paired up going forward.
Think EDG got schooled a bit tonight. France milked at least one penalty out of him because he allowed himself to over extend. In fairness to him, he learned from it and should have been awarded a penalty at beginning of 2nd half.
Lomax was missed. The drop down to Laulala and Ofa is quite big. Newel was disappointing, but he’s young and will be a good player for years to come.
Think NZ need to pick ST to start the games against the bigger packs. Pointless bringing him on later when you have been under the pump.
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The thing is we have some pretty good players
@BerniesCorner said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
The thing is we have some pretty good players
Disagree.
We lack depth in a whole raft of areas - midfield, halfback, lock to name a few. The only area where we seem to have an abundance of talent is 11, 14 & 15 - and after BB & Jordan's performance tonight even that looks pretty thin.
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@sparky said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
The reality is that this AB team is very poor. I think Italy have a chance of denying us a Quarter Final spot.
They'll have to beat the other teams by more than us OR, France deliberately lose to them.
@Joans-Town-Jones said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
@sparky said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
The reality is that this AB team is very poor. I think Italy have a chance of denying us a Quarter Final spot.
They'll have to beat the other teams by more than us OR, France deliberately lose to them.
And France being France, that's quite possible. I was there that glorious Tongan night at the Cake Tin in 2011!
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Anyway, I think the biggest thing we have to do, is workout what our best bench is. The best sides have great benches that bring plenty to it.
I think Sami T arguably deserves the start, so I'd go Taylor in 16. Though I don't think he is perfect, I think Williams could bring some impact. Him and Newell, so some good SR continuity. Scooter goes the 80 for me, so perhaps due to his injury issues, we use BBBR as a dynamite option for the last 20. Frizell starts 6, I think they have to call Blackadder in to the squad, or at the very least Finau. Those guys are impact options, they fill 20. Roigard in 21, ALB in 22, Fainga'anuku in 23.
@frugby said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
Anyway, I think the biggest thing we have to do, is workout what our best bench is. The best sides have great benches that bring plenty to it.
I think Sami T arguably deserves the start, so I'd go Taylor in 16. Though I don't think he is perfect, I think Williams could bring some impact. Him and Newell, so some good SR continuity. Scooter goes the 80 for me, so perhaps due to his injury issues, we use BBBR as a dynamite option for the last 20. Frizell starts 6, I think they have to call Blackadder in to the squad, or at the very least Finau. Those guys are impact options, they fill 20. Roigard in 21, ALB in 22, Fainga'anuku in 23.
No more ALB please for fuck sake.
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@BerniesCorner said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
The thing is we have some pretty good players
Disagree.
We lack depth in a whole raft of areas - midfield, halfback, lock to name a few. The only area where we seem to have an abundance of talent is 11, 14 & 15 - and after BB & Jordan's performance tonight even that looks pretty thin.
@Victor-Meldrew not a surprise. The u20s haven’t really had a decent vintage for a while and the talent pathways aren’t doing the job they used to, and too many players are leaving NZ to play abroad.
The sound you can hear is chickens coming home to roost.
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@Victor-Meldrew the first 40 mins was better than a 10 min purple patch in 21.
The second 40 was an aberration though. Serious questions need to be asked about what happened, especially given they got the try against the run of play at the beginning. 4 quick penalties in succession changed momentum massively. France scored their try by the end of it and the momentum had swung.
@stodders said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
The second 40 was an aberration though.
The whole 80 against the Boks was a aberration. I'd add we need to question why the lessons weren't learned from that.
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It’s pretty wild how dependent we have become on Frizell, Scott B and Jordie B, 3 of the dumbest blokes playing rugby
@voodoo said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
It’s pretty wild how dependent we have become on Frizell, Scott B and Jordie B, 3 of the dumbest blokes playing rugby
Are you picking on Frizell for his off field antics ?
The Barrett reference is pretty self explanatory though !
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@BerniesCorner said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
The thing is we have some pretty good players
Disagree.
We lack depth in a whole raft of areas - midfield, halfback, lock to name a few. The only area where we seem to have an abundance of talent is 11, 14 & 15 - and after BB & Jordan's performance tonight even that looks pretty thin.
@Victor-Meldrew said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
@BerniesCorner said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
The thing is we have some pretty good players
Disagree.
We lack depth in a whole raft of areas - midfield, halfback, lock to name a few. The only area where we seem to have an abundance of talent is 11, 14 & 15 - and after BB & Jordan's performance tonight even that looks pretty thin.
Look Jordan had a stinker, but he has loads of credit in the bank.
As I said in a previous thread Beauden Barrett has 113 caps now. HIs first 70 were fairy tale stuff.
The last 40 or so. Absolute trash.
He is one of my favourite Allblacks of all time (I've backed him at 100/1 for top try scorer), but he is a massive problem. Not only because he is playing crap, but because accommodating him omits other players we could do with and he gets in Mo'ungas way.
Get Jordan to fullback and have a power winger in 11 or 14 with Telea on the opposite side.
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France missed 32 tackles tonight. Not often that happens to an Edwards coached defence. NZ couldn’t capitalise on this, especially in the first half.
France got pumped by NZ in the pool game in 2011 and lost to Tonga. They ended up losing by a point in the final, after a mutiny against their coach.
Strange things happen at world cups
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@mencey said in RWC: France v All Blacks:
This is now just becoming embarrassing. I now live in Canada and I have neighbours who don't know shit about Rugby telling me that the All Blacks are not the same team anymore.
Foster may be a great bloke and all that but he should never have been given the job in the first place. We have just gone to shit under his tenure. We won't get out of the quarters if we are even lucky enough to get out of this pool.
Some of the players should have gone to Japan for good for the payday already. Where is the backup game plane if things are not working? This nonstop kicking the ball away is just a joke.
Richie and Dan must be in total disbelief in the stands. That is the second game in a row that was just sickening to watch. The French can play way better that that. Thank F### they didn't or we would have been in for another hiding.
I haven’t particularly been looking forward to this WC as I knew we weren’t going anywhere but the match at Twickenham and now this defeat has confirmed my worst fears.
All I can say is, I hope Razor can turn things around next year and make me want to watch this team play without a sense of how badly we could lose when I am watching. I am not a Crusaders fan but you have to give it to that man Scott Robinson. His record speaks for itself as does Fosters I am afraid to say.
I wish that I still drank as I could at least drown my sorrows. Yes this is negative but how else are you supposed to feel. My old man was Irish born so that’s who I now hope win if we can’t produce an absolute miracle. Enough said.
Where in Canada?
