The Silver Fern

@Bones said in All Blacks v Argentina II:

@pakman or Love and Jordie...

Main thing is a 10 who sees space out wide and is prepared to miss 12 and throw straight to 13.

@booboo said in All Blacks v Argentina I:

@canefan said in All Blacks v Argentina I:

@MN5 said in All Blacks v Argentina I:

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks v Argentina I:

Will Fucking Jordan.....again.

Absolute first name on the team sheet. So classy.

He's raised his level this year

And actually passed to a supporting player (@Bones )

Even fucking Nisbo spotted the supporting player to the right. Jordan didn't even consider it.

Hashtag jobdone

@Machpants said in Poll: Super Rugby 2025 Top 6:

Godfrey is out for the canes, I want to change my vote 😞

Yeah I think the Canes are cooked. You can’t win shit without a good 10. Good news for the Highlanders and Blues as it’s unlikely the Canes will do much with an attacking 10. The fact Proctor is still out for another 4-6 weeks makes things even worse.

I’d like to change my vote and say the Blues will sneak in over the Canes.

@Bovidae said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

@Bovidae said in All Blacks vs Fiji:

The big question is whether TJP is fit, as then they have a selection decision to make.

So my question above was answered, and it wasn't what most of us would have expected.

Ironically, if TJP wasn't injured in the 1st test vs England I don't think Ratima gets the opportunity to show the difference a quick pass makes compared to Christie.

True, but the fact it happened does give me more confidence in the coaching team.

As I've said Joubert's decisions favoured France, although as has been said I recall only the one shot at goal on the aecond half (that missed).

But that was pretty much had down to how the ABs backed off the offside line.

They were determined not to concede a penalty. And rightly didn't.

@His-Bobness said in SF: Crusaders (Good) v Blues (Evil):

Now that I think about the Blues’ shellacking this morning, I was struck by the Sky interview with Beauden Barrett ahead of the game. Asked about the game day ritual he sounded exceedingly chilled - talking about a nice lie-in and the extra space granted by being away from home and the kids. There was time for a leisurely breakfast and catchup with the US Open on TV before a team chat around lunch. Maybe this was their way of not being overawed by the occasion. But from what we saw on the field the result was they came on so ‘underawed’ and mentally unprepared they had no answer for the Crusaders’ intensity.

That sounds like BB's intensity for the last 3 years regardless of who he's playing for tbh.

"Clown's in a minefield" was headline put out by one journo which gave me a good laugh.

The Blues were just beaten soundly at every contact area in the game, lacked physical intensity to match or mental fortitude to dig in and fight in the trench's and instead went for the miracle off-loads just gifting the ball back to the Crusaders.

@MN5 said in 6N 2023 - Italy vs Scotland:

@Catogrande said in 6N 2023 - Italy vs Scotland:

@MN5 said in 6N 2023 - Italy vs Scotland:

@Catogrande said in 6N 2023 - Italy vs Scotland:

@MN5 said in 6N 2023 - Italy vs Scotland:

@Catogrande said in 6N 2023 - Italy vs Scotland:

@MN5 said in 6N 2023 - Italy vs Scotland:

Whew thank goodness the good guys won and secured their standard newly found and expected to be short lived, mid table finish

Anything above the wooden spoon is mid table.

I like your ambition

Scotland > England

Enjoy the moment

It’s lasted a few years now. The Calcutta cup is awesome !

I can just about remember!

@MN5 said in T20 World Cup - Blackcaps vs England:

@ACT-Crusader said in T20 World Cup - Blackcaps vs England:

@Crucial said in T20 World Cup - Blackcaps vs England:

@ACT-Crusader said in T20 World Cup - Blackcaps vs England:

That was still a pretty decent chase. If Kane even went 40 from 30 and had 10 deliveries to one of our more aggressive batsmen, who knows…

That was actually a good partnership 91 runs at a 150 SR (even with Kane sandbagging)

We really needed Neesh or Mitchell to stay in which would have given either another 10-15 balls and a chance to hit a few big shots.
GP also choked up when the wickets started falling and only struck at 100 after KW was dismissed.

The thing with Neesh and Mitchell was when they came in and we were very much up against it so they were under pressure. I still think we would’ve come up short if they went their standard strike rates for an extra over.

Anyway hopefully a few lessons learned for both bat and ball.

Yeah but by the very nature of T20 as a format shouldn’t they be used to that ?

When Neesh came in there were 5 overs to go and we needed 61 to win. So not a lot of time and 12+ RR required. After 4 balls if you haven’t hit a couple of boundaries (on what was a slowing pitch), then you are in a bit of pain for the next over etc. If the required RR is under the 2 runs a ball then I just think the pressure is quite different.

@KiwiMurph said in SF - Canterbury vs BOP:

It's a shame Poihipi isn't a starting 12 in Super. Class player.

@ACT-Crusader said in QF - Canterbury vs Northland:

@Canes4life said in QF - Canterbury vs Northland:

So close Northland. Canterbury are definitely beatable.

I think what this season has highlighted are that there are certain teams that play a way that trouble others.

I don’t think there is too much between the 8 teams that made the playoffs.

Yeah it feels like any of the top 8 can knock one another off on their day, it's about timing your run to the finals and making sure your players aren't gassed when they get there.

@nostrildamus said in Hadlee-Chappell ODI 1.0 + 2.0 + dead rubber:

nb I didn't know his childhood nickname was "Bungalow"-that's a good one!

https://www.crictracker.com/14-facts-ian-botham/

Love Beefy. An absolute legend.

@pakman said in All Blacks v Pumas 1:

@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks v Pumas 1:

@Kirwan said in All Blacks v Pumas 1:

Pretty funny justifications going on here for Taylor. How many Tests does it take to learn to take a half step and throw it down the middle?

Was kinda important.

If there is any accountability left in selection he’d be gone. Stunk up the joint for 35 minutes.

Also - wasn't it an all Crusaders tight 5 when he came on (and wasn't that the point)?

Problem maybe Kiwi refs letting them get away with such for years?

This

And 'line ball' passes

@booboo said in Pick the score AB vs Boer v2.0:

@Bones said in Pick the score AB vs Boer v2.0:

@booboo I believe he probably has nigh in 0% say.

I blame auto correct "fiance's" appeared as "France's" ... read again

Same answer. Brexit n all

Watched the remainder just now.

I maintain there was fuck all between the teams and to be honest the Ockers were probably more creative and looked more likely to score.

Obviously the better team (the one who scored more points being the the one who conceded less points) won.

But not sure you can point the blame at Rennie because his team looked more likely to score more and concede less.

Happy if the Aussies toss him pre RWC though.

@Tim said in Maori rugby Quizzes:

@ACT-Crusader He was so much better than the locks they picked.

In hindsight, no doubt.

I guess with a Lions match the selectors would tend to go with what they know. It wasn’t until that 2017 NPC that Hemopo really came into his own and got on the radar for higher honours.

Since 2000 AB quizzes
For reference there have been 292 tests/games that the All Blacks have officially played since 2000 (includes last Bledisloe match

Bonus Question - Which two players have started together as both a 1st 5 and a 2nd 5?

Dan Carter and Stephen Donald

The Carter/Donald combo started in the 2009 loss to the Boks in Hamilton.
The Donald/Carter combo started in the 2008 win against the Wallabies in Hong Kong

It's a feeling I haven't had in a while as a Wallaby fan: to be happy with a comfortable win, but feeling we played a bit below our best. We left at least three tries on the park. JOC bombed one, Nic White didn't realise the law around grounding on the post pad had changed (unforgiveable), and a few times we lost our cool with numbers out wide.

But our general play around the park was as good as it's been in a long time. Defended well, secured our own ruck ball, created space and then exploited it with simple catch-and-pass. Our 10-12-13 is the best it's looked since the Foley-Giteau-AAC axis at the 2015 World Cup.

Sets up our NH tour really nicely. Not sure how undermanned we will be but that England game looks very enticing.

Can't really do anything with this fucking vertigo, so I had this still on the sky recorded. 2 points that came up later in the year confirmed

ABs attacking shape was fucking non existent, just individual brilliance made most of the tries. As mentioned above set piece was shit, but HEY we've got individual brilliance George bridge has no positive impact, he is such a pathetic thing to have as an all black 11. That's lomu's Jersey FFS.

Also TJ was rather good, aside from his desperate desire to take every penalty quickly. Conversely DMac was a fucking idiot, with no control, crap passing (first 6 mins, 3 passes to ground), and an ability to either pass to someone in a much poorer position, or run himself into a worse position.

@smuts said in Springboks v Pumas 2 - 21 August:

@bones it’s all relative… I’ll show myself out.

Subliminal...so the ref is related to one or many green jersey wearers? 😉

@Tim said in Argentina Two: Newcastle, 28 November:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/300176709/tri-nations-how-many-all-blacks-make-team-of-the-tournament

Chaparro was monstered by Tupou. LH has to be Moody, or failing him, Slipper.

Think I'd take Alemanno OR Phillip, matched with Whitelock.

And hard to go past Matera as fetcher.