All Blacks v France I
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I felt that tackle by Tupaea on Taofifenua was a sliding door moment and potentially saved Razor's butt given how easily they were scoring points when they got into our 22.
Great work from Tupaea.
@brodean said in All Blacks v France I:
I felt that tackle by Tupaea on Taofifenua was a sliding door moment and potentially saved Razor's butt given how easily they were scoring points when they got into our 22.
Great work from Tupaea.
So he did his job to make a tackle. We applauding guys who make their tackles now?
This take is courtesy of the Fern logic
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@brodean said in All Blacks v France I:
I felt that tackle by Tupaea on Taofifenua was a sliding door moment and potentially saved Razor's butt given how easily they were scoring points when they got into our 22.
Great work from Tupaea.
So he did his job to make a tackle. We applauding guys who make their tackles now?
This take is courtesy of the Fern logic
@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v France I:
@brodean said in All Blacks v France I:
I felt that tackle by Tupaea on Taofifenua was a sliding door moment and potentially saved Razor's butt given how easily they were scoring points when they got into our 22.
Great work from Tupaea.
So he did his job to make a tackle. We applauding guys who make their tackles now?
This take is courtesy of the Fern logic
The guy is over 2m, 140kg and had worked up some pace. Tupaea tackled him front on so he turned over the ball. He did better than a bunch of our forwards did at stopping those big french forwards in their tracks.
That guy has smashed through our line in previous tests.
It was a great tackle 5 or 10 metres from the try line
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@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v France I:
@brodean said in All Blacks v France I:
I felt that tackle by Tupaea on Taofifenua was a sliding door moment and potentially saved Razor's butt given how easily they were scoring points when they got into our 22.
Great work from Tupaea.
So he did his job to make a tackle. We applauding guys who make their tackles now?
This take is courtesy of the Fern logic
The guy is over 2m, 140kg and had worked up some pace. Tupaea tackled him front on so he turned over the ball. He did better than a bunch of our forwards did at stopping those big french forwards in their tracks.
That guy has smashed through our line in previous tests.
It was a great tackle 5 or 10 metres from the try line
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Can someone explain to me why, when we get penalty advantage, we try some low percentage bullshit the very first phase, more often than not immediately turning it over. We do this despite the very firm knowledge the ref will give you 15 free phases if you want them.
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Can someone explain to me why, when we get penalty advantage, we try some low percentage bullshit the very first phase, more often than not immediately turning it over. We do this despite the very firm knowledge the ref will give you 15 free phases if you want them.
@mariner4life smarts...or lack thereof.
Especially when on the 22 or closer, you know it's pretty much going until you score, lose possession or opposition offend again
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Can someone explain to me why, when we get penalty advantage, we try some low percentage bullshit the very first phase, more often than not immediately turning it over. We do this despite the very firm knowledge the ref will give you 15 free phases if you want them.
@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France I:
Can someone explain to me why, when we get penalty advantage, we try some low percentage bullshit the very first phase, more often than not immediately turning it over. We do this despite the very firm knowledge the ref will give you 15 free phases if you want them.
https://media.tenor.com/0gqwZ0fXVB4AAAAM/forrest-gump-stupid.gif
We just aren't a particularly smart side right now. Reminds me of the AB sides that used to get pumped by the Gregan Larkham Wallabies. We shoot ourselves in the foot a lot. Hopefully we will wise up in the near future. Not gonna hold my breath
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@Landers92 said in All Blacks v France I:
@Mr-Fish said in All Blacks v France I:
@frugby said in All Blacks v France I:
@Mr-Fish said in All Blacks v France I:
I hugely disagree about him dominating the lineout. I think Tuipulotu or Lord would've gone just as well against that French side.Holland is basically the Blackadder of locks.
Holy shit I’ve officially heard it all now. This might go down as one of the worst takes of 2025 on the fern.
Not really, the fern hates people who work hard. We want highlights!
@reprobate said in All Blacks v France I:
Not really, the fern hates people who work hard. We want highlights!
Doesn't really explain the Akira/Hosea hate from some, or perhaps it does!
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Can someone explain to me why, when we get penalty advantage, we try some low percentage bullshit the very first phase, more often than not immediately turning it over. We do this despite the very firm knowledge the ref will give you 15 free phases if you want them.
@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France I:
Can someone explain to me why, when we get penalty advantage, we try some low percentage bullshit the very first phase, more often than not immediately turning it over. We do this despite the very firm knowledge the ref will give you 15 free phases if you want them.
In recent years I believe the chances of scoring from long phases has gotten lower. You score in the first three or the defence gets too set. It may even be lower than the speculative kick.
The chances of scoring from a lineout drive or not long after are high. Might as well roll the dice and then just get to the lineout
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@reprobate said in All Blacks v France I:
Not really, the fern hates people who work hard. We want highlights!
Doesn't really explain the Akira/Hosea hate from some, or perhaps it does!
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks v France I:
@reprobate said in All Blacks v France I:
Not really, the fern hates people who work hard. We want highlights!
Doesn't really explain the Akira/Hosea hate from some, or perhaps it does!
Rico was always the favorite
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I hate that he gets no credit for beating 3 dudes
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@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France I:
Can someone explain to me why, when we get penalty advantage, we try some low percentage bullshit the very first phase, more often than not immediately turning it over. We do this despite the very firm knowledge the ref will give you 15 free phases if you want them.
In recent years I believe the chances of scoring from long phases has gotten lower. You score in the first three or the defence gets too set. It may even be lower than the speculative kick.
The chances of scoring from a lineout drive or not long after are high. Might as well roll the dice and then just get to the lineout
@Duluth said in All Blacks v France I:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France I:
Can someone explain to me why, when we get penalty advantage, we try some low percentage bullshit the very first phase, more often than not immediately turning it over. We do this despite the very firm knowledge the ref will give you 15 free phases if you want them.
In recent years I believe the chances of scoring from long phases has gotten lower. You score in the first three or the defence gets too set. It may even be lower than the speculative kick.
The chances of scoring from a lineout drive or not long after are high. Might as well roll the dice and then just get to the lineout
First 3 being the key here though, doesn’t have to be first 1! I’d still much rather we showed a bit of patience and used the (IMO stupid) advantage laws to maximum advantage. Attack with some abandon sure, but no need to take a 3% play on the first phase
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@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France I:
Can someone explain to me why, when we get penalty advantage, we try some low percentage bullshit the very first phase, more often than not immediately turning it over. We do this despite the very firm knowledge the ref will give you 15 free phases if you want them.
In recent years I believe the chances of scoring from long phases has gotten lower. You score in the first three or the defence gets too set. It may even be lower than the speculative kick.
The chances of scoring from a lineout drive or not long after are high. Might as well roll the dice and then just get to the lineout
@Duluth said in All Blacks v France I:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France I:
Can someone explain to me why, when we get penalty advantage, we try some low percentage bullshit the very first phase, more often than not immediately turning it over. We do this despite the very firm knowledge the ref will give you 15 free phases if you want them.
In recent years I believe the chances of scoring from long phases has gotten lower. You score in the first three or the defence gets too set. It may even be lower than the speculative kick.
The chances of scoring from a lineout drive or not long after are high. Might as well roll the dice and then just get to the lineout
That may be true, but I think it's a prime example of a statistic in isolation obscuring the reality of the overall picture. It's frequently multiple phases leading to an advantage, leading to multiple penalties, leading to a card, leading to try off a lineout from one of those infringements. And then frequently another score as a result of playing against 14. And the perception of the ref is that the defensive team is infringing repeatedly.
We're the team that doesn't press the advantage, and we're the team who supposedly gets carded more than our opposition. -
@Mauss said in All Blacks v France I:
@brodean said in All Blacks v France I:
He has the tools but I don't think its in his nature. It's difficult to teach an old dog new tricks and I feel that at 31 that's his instinct.
The carry stats are wrong and where I think we struggled in the game. The highlighted should not be carrying that much considering their roles.
Top Carries
18 Ardie Savea
17 Damian Mckenzie
15 Will Jordan
14 Beauden Barrett
13 Fabian HollandI do think Savea could be a good openside option, especially within Robertson’s system, which seems to be based around ball-movement, constantly shifting the point of attack and getting in behind the opposition defence. Due to the sheer dynamism of the attack – 259 passes, 9 offloads, 182 ball carries, 425 post-contact metres, 13 line-breaks against France – I think it’s very difficult for a classical openside to consistently stay close to the source without being exhausted after 10 minutes.
So what’s important for an openside in this system is game understanding, the ability to cut corners around the field and anticipate what’s going to happen. And I do think someone like Savea has an uncanny ability to see certain plays unfold before they’ve occurred, whether it’s a line-break or an opposition player becoming isolated. So I’d like to see him given an extended run in the jersey, and see whether he can adapt to the requirements.
But what Robertson does need to be mindful of, I think, in the upcoming tests is to have enough “fresh” carrying options on the field at all times. In the France game, Lio-Willie spent the opening 10 minutes of the 2nd half mostly just tackling and cleaning, which meant that Savea did most of the hard carries through the middle on his own. If Robertson goes to his bench earlier – bringing on Taukei’aho and Norris, for example, at halftime – then I think it would’ve been easier for Savea to share the carrying load and maintain his own energy levels.
The attack seemed quite different to me in this game vs last year. Jordie Barrett probably made as many passes in that game as he did in the whole of last season, and was frequently at first receiver too - this I really liked, especially with McKenzie on the field too - it's got to be hard to defend against. I don't like the Barbarians style 'score off every play' mindset though. Other teams will knuckle down when they've got inside the 22, apply pressure and more often that not get a penalty advantage and continue applying pressure until there's a card. We either score immediately or throw (kick) it away. To me that's a big part of why we get carded more than our opposition, which brings with it some of the embarrassing victimhood comments on here.
Your point about the 7 being knackered after 10 minutes I agree with - and to me, playing a lock at 6 is only going to make that worse - which seems like a muddling of tactics. It's made up for to some extent by all 3 locks having big motors and the rest of the tighties being busy, but still...
I've been banging the drum of starting Samisoni and finishing with Taylor to balance the carrying load for some time. If we're going to bring on Norris, Tosi, Finau, Samisoni, potentially Tuipolotu - it seems like the bench is full of powerful ball carriers, and we'd be better off having an extra one in the starting XV to balance that.@reprobate said in All Blacks v France I:
@Mauss said in All Blacks v France I:
@brodean said in All Blacks v France I:
He has the tools but I don't think its in his nature. It's difficult to teach an old dog new tricks and I feel that at 31 that's his instinct.
The carry stats are wrong and where I think we struggled in the game. The highlighted should not be carrying that much considering their roles.
Top Carries
18 Ardie Savea
17 Damian Mckenzie
15 Will Jordan
14 Beauden Barrett
13 Fabian HollandI do think Savea could be a good openside option, especially within Robertson’s system, which seems to be based around ball-movement, constantly shifting the point of attack and getting in behind the opposition defence. Due to the sheer dynamism of the attack – 259 passes, 9 offloads, 182 ball carries, 425 post-contact metres, 13 line-breaks against France – I think it’s very difficult for a classical openside to consistently stay close to the source without being exhausted after 10 minutes.
So what’s important for an openside in this system is game understanding, the ability to cut corners around the field and anticipate what’s going to happen. And I do think someone like Savea has an uncanny ability to see certain plays unfold before they’ve occurred, whether it’s a line-break or an opposition player becoming isolated. So I’d like to see him given an extended run in the jersey, and see whether he can adapt to the requirements.
But what Robertson does need to be mindful of, I think, in the upcoming tests is to have enough “fresh” carrying options on the field at all times. In the France game, Lio-Willie spent the opening 10 minutes of the 2nd half mostly just tackling and cleaning, which meant that Savea did most of the hard carries through the middle on his own. If Robertson goes to his bench earlier – bringing on Taukei’aho and Norris, for example, at halftime – then I think it would’ve been easier for Savea to share the carrying load and maintain his own energy levels.
The attack seemed quite different to me in this game vs last year. Jordie Barrett probably made as many passes in that game as he did in the whole of last season, and was frequently at first receiver too - this I really liked, especially with McKenzie on the field too - it's got to be hard to defend against. I don't like the Barbarians style 'score off every play' mindset though. Other teams will knuckle down when they've got inside the 22, apply pressure and more often that not get a penalty advantage and continue applying pressure until there's a card. We either score immediately or throw (kick) it away.
Totally agree with this. Gone are the days where we can win games by 30 points with 40% possession. This bizarre need to score immediately, to lack the patience to run multiple phases (read: 15+ sometimes), it’s quite bewildering. It seems if we don’t go forward for 2 phases on a row, we feel the need to try something new - an unnecessary pass , a grubber, a cross-kick, or to launch a shitty bomb or box kick that effectively says to the opposition “here, you have a go now”.
We can’t we understand that it’s ok to reset, to control the ball and force the defense to make 20 tackles in the space of a few minutes, proving but playing smart?
It’s the same strange tactics that never sees us making long exits anymore. I know BB doesn’t have the range so some of that is ability. But DMac and Jordie can both kick long but rarely seem to. It seems so rare that we see an exit from our 22 get even close to halfway anymore.
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@Duluth said in All Blacks v France I:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France I:
Can someone explain to me why, when we get penalty advantage, we try some low percentage bullshit the very first phase, more often than not immediately turning it over. We do this despite the very firm knowledge the ref will give you 15 free phases if you want them.
In recent years I believe the chances of scoring from long phases has gotten lower. You score in the first three or the defence gets too set. It may even be lower than the speculative kick.
The chances of scoring from a lineout drive or not long after are high. Might as well roll the dice and then just get to the lineout
That may be true, but I think it's a prime example of a statistic in isolation obscuring the reality of the overall picture. It's frequently multiple phases leading to an advantage, leading to multiple penalties, leading to a card, leading to try off a lineout from one of those infringements. And then frequently another score as a result of playing against 14. And the perception of the ref is that the defensive team is infringing repeatedly.
We're the team that doesn't press the advantage, and we're the team who supposedly gets carded more than our opposition.@reprobate said in All Blacks v France I:
That may be true, but I think it's a prime example of a statistic in isolation obscuring the reality of the overall picture. It's frequently multiple phases leading to an advantage, leading to multiple penalties, leading to a card, leading to try off a lineout from one of those infringements. And then frequently another score as a result of playing against 14. And the perception of the ref is that the defensive team is infringing repeatedly.
I suspect that penalties and cards are more likely from the lineout than from more phases too. I wouldn't assume that this hasn't been thought out. Multiple teams do the same thing
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On the forwards, I can’t believe we are bagging Holland for not being a dynamic runner just yet. Bloody hell, give the guy a break. Certainly not his core role, his job is to clean up the rucks after Ardie and CWL get stopped in their tracks and Kirifi gets smashed backwards…
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@reprobate said in All Blacks v France I:
@antipodean said in All Blacks v France I:
@reprobate said in All Blacks v France I:
@No-Quarter said in All Blacks v France I:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France I:
For the same reason as savea i reckon I'm close to done with DMac.
I can understand the allure, when it goes right it goes very right, but is it balanced out by the untold errors and created pressure?
I'm quite torn on DMac and Beauden, I caused a bit of a stir when I said picking Beauden for this test wasn't all that controversial as I think they are much of a muchness really. Personally I'd have DMac starting at 10 just on account of his kicking game, as we can struggle to get out of our half when on the back foot otherwise.
But outside of that both players go from the sublime to the ridiculous far too often for test match footy.
Hard disagree. McKenzie kicked the ball away badly once (and fortuitously grabbed the rebound). He also threw an intercept - which really doesn't count, as it was under penalty advantage so why not.
Aside from that , his decision-making was pretty conservative - he took contact in preference to trying too much on several occasions.My takeaway was he danced around and then flat footed just popped it to a stationary forward to get smashed.
An the same thing can be described as: he looked for gaps, and made/took a few half-gaps - and when there wasn't one he recycled and maintained possession.
And are you going to rubbish other players for similar/worse poor options? How about Roigard for ignoring Jordie inside him who would have scored? And for his bizarre kick to nobody on attack?
Oh now I see how this game is played: If I respond to a comment at odds with my opinion I then need to apply that analysis/ criticism to every other player too.
@antipodean said in All Blacks v France I:
@reprobate said in All Blacks v France I:
@antipodean said in All Blacks v France I:
@reprobate said in All Blacks v France I:
@No-Quarter said in All Blacks v France I:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France I:
For the same reason as savea i reckon I'm close to done with DMac.
I can understand the allure, when it goes right it goes very right, but is it balanced out by the untold errors and created pressure?
I'm quite torn on DMac and Beauden, I caused a bit of a stir when I said picking Beauden for this test wasn't all that controversial as I think they are much of a muchness really. Personally I'd have DMac starting at 10 just on account of his kicking game, as we can struggle to get out of our half when on the back foot otherwise.
But outside of that both players go from the sublime to the ridiculous far too often for test match footy.
Hard disagree. McKenzie kicked the ball away badly once (and fortuitously grabbed the rebound). He also threw an intercept - which really doesn't count, as it was under penalty advantage so why not.
Aside from that , his decision-making was pretty conservative - he took contact in preference to trying too much on several occasions.My takeaway was he danced around and then flat footed just popped it to a stationary forward to get smashed.
An the same thing can be described as: he looked for gaps, and made/took a few half-gaps - and when there wasn't one he recycled and maintained possession.
And are you going to rubbish other players for similar/worse poor options? How about Roigard for ignoring Jordie inside him who would have scored? And for his bizarre kick to nobody on attack?
Oh now I see how this game is played: If I respond to a comment at odds with my opinion I then need to apply that analysis/ criticism to every other player too.
It's not that, it's just the persistent myth that McKenzie is still a guy who always looks for high risk plays - it irritates me, because a different standard is applied to him than other players.
He has played what, 3 super seasons in a row where he has played relatively conservatively - kicked a lot and kicked well. His sideways running is all but gone from his game, unless it's a quick look for a gap or to buy time for his forwards - which are good things, especially when you're small and need support or risk a turnover. I think he's changed (and continues to change) the way he plays hugely, and the comparisons to Barrett - who hasn't changed a thing, pretty much ever? -
@reprobate said in All Blacks v France I:
That may be true, but I think it's a prime example of a statistic in isolation obscuring the reality of the overall picture. It's frequently multiple phases leading to an advantage, leading to multiple penalties, leading to a card, leading to try off a lineout from one of those infringements. And then frequently another score as a result of playing against 14. And the perception of the ref is that the defensive team is infringing repeatedly.
I suspect that penalties and cards are more likely from the lineout than from more phases too. I wouldn't assume that this hasn't been thought out. Multiple teams do the same thing
@Duluth said in All Blacks v France I:
@reprobate said in All Blacks v France I:
That may be true, but I think it's a prime example of a statistic in isolation obscuring the reality of the overall picture. It's frequently multiple phases leading to an advantage, leading to multiple penalties, leading to a card, leading to try off a lineout from one of those infringements. And then frequently another score as a result of playing against 14. And the perception of the ref is that the defensive team is infringing repeatedly.
I suspect that penalties and cards are more likely from the lineout than from more phases too. I wouldn't assume that this hasn't been thought out. Multiple teams do the same thing
Maybe they are more likely, but that doesn't really change things - you still get that lineout if you take 10 phases under advantage, and will frequently get another offside penalty/advantage in that time. That extra is then on top of the upcoming penalty at the lineout, and there's your card.
My biggest beef is with kicking it away when we have attacking momentum and don't have advantage though i.e. Beauden's grubber etc. One or two against set defence to mix it up sure, but not when we are on a roll.
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I think doing the basics right is incredibly important but I also expect All Blacks do be doing more than just the basics. As I say, hopefully Holland develops into a player that's a bit more than just a safe pair of hands.
Again, I just think there's an interesting double standard between what we expect from a lock (in particular, this lock) and what we expect from any of our loose forwards. Retallick and Whitelock were certainly much more than just busy and accurate (and from right at the starts of their careers too). Holland may get there after only a couple of games too.
@Mr-Fish said in All Blacks v France I:
I think doing the basics right is incredibly important but I also expect All Blacks do be doing more than just the basics. As I say, hopefully Holland develops into a player that's a bit more than just a safe pair of hands.
Again, I just think there's an interesting double standard between what we expect from a lock (in particular, this lock) and what we expect from any of our loose forwards. Retallick and Whitelock were certainly much more than just busy and accurate (and from right at the starts of their careers too). Holland may get there after only a couple of games too.
I would say he puts pressure on 9s when they kicking from base of rucks more than any other lock in NZ. Even when Barrett got the charge down, who was right beside him so the 9 couldn't go that way? Holland. Stop looking for locks and props on highlight packages. He's putting pressure on at second phase most of time and making tackles (highest on Saturday with 16, 13 carries etc etc. I really feel you need to watch a little harder.
