The Silver Fern

@Crucial said in Springboks v All Blacks 2:

@sparky said in Springboks v All Blacks 2:

Squidgey's take.

One of the few of his I have managed to watch right through (maybe because he was being complimentary to the ABs )

Makes a very good point at the end. The ABs have shown that they have the ability now to adjust to what the opposition showed the week before. That is a very different proposition to an EOYT where you go in fresh each week against a side waiting to ambush you (just like the RWC) and it will be very interesting to see how that goes this year. Last year it didn't go so well especially against a French team that, since their resurgence, was a bit of an unknown quantity. In that game we did adjust on the fly but couldn't make the adjustments stick long enough.

Looking way too far forward to the RWC we have one game that will presumably be our biggest hurdle and that is the quarterfinal.
Let the opener against France play out. It doesn't really matter if we come first or second in the pool. Take a standard game against them and gather information for a possible future meeting. It is the quarter against SA or Ireland that we need to target and plan for. Luckily for us both of these teams have pretty set styles. Sure they will tweak some stuff up but we know that Ireland base themselves around being very organised and drilled. Disrupting that is the key and we can watch their game against SA to see what happens there.

I rewatched the game slowly AND Squidge. Squidge reminds me why I stopped watching him ... he gets orgasmic about pod systems and ends up equating a lot of micro in-game stuff done well with actual "strategy"

I saw much simpler things than Squidge like Frizzel improving the backrow balance and overall workrate, the pack being far more cohesive, Mounga's movement and passing giving a lot front-foot ball (Rieko in space etc), that patterns work better because he doesn't drift, that Jordie plays a traditional 15 role (strong boot, hits the line at the right times), and no Beauden 'golden-boy' Barrett trying to play 10 and 15

Looked like the coaches did KISS principle, people knew exactly what they were doing and credit to the coaches however that happened

Tactically I got the impression the AB's are caught between trying to move from a drift defense to a rush defense as the line seemed disjointed ... ironically it may have helped as SA played more open rugby which suited the ABs, and tired the Boks. Credit for a win at Jo-berg but I really wonder if that performance would have beaten Ireland with Sexton, or France. Part of that defensive line may be that the ABs were putting an extra forward into the breakdown though? ... anyway that's what decent analysis might have looked at

I know the ABs love a power winger but even his missed tackle aside, I'm unconvinced on Caleb Clarke - yes he'll make a bust or maybe two each game but ... decision-making / heads-up rugby, workrate, finishing, linkage all doesn't seem AB level. The Boks negated him by kicking to him, that breakdown in comms with Jordan etc.

I didn't notice in-game but THAT Mounga turnover if you watch it again?
Mounga changes his mind and decides to take the hit ... there are 3-4 forwards who were meters ahead of Clarke who have read it (5,7,16,17). Clarke is ball-watching and remains totally static (gametime 57:47-57:50) meaning first Mounga has to go around him, and then Clarke's total lack of movement then ends up also slowing them getting to the breakdown too. Yeah it's all split second stuff - but hey, that's rugby at this level

Is Sevu Reece injured? Sevu actually always surprise me and seems to offer more than I expect

Not a kiwi, just a fan

I rewatched the defensive system as they were cut apart out wide so many times. The loose trio defended very narrow to negate the Boks strengths (maul - watch Cane and Savea each side on every maul, plus pressure at scrum time):

• Mounga is more exposed without loose forward cover
• Havili tends to cut in to help Mounga, leaving Rieko unsure at times
• Rieko imo has a natural tendency to (a) cut in anyway or (b) track Havili too close
• Either way it leaves them narrow and either the winger having to shoot or Rieko having to make a cover tackle or both

Gametime: 36:04, 39:53, 41:02, 43:48, 45:47 (well tbh the whole defense system doesn't reset here - 6/7/8/10/12/14 all within about 10 metres). 51:22 looked perfect defense by Mounga, Havili, Rieko and they still got flanked at 51:40

(not sure if anyone noticed in-game but Lomax gets lucky at 25:46, a no-arms tackle on Vermeulen looked a dead-set yellow)

@pakman 100%. I suggest we stop or remove funding for all gender affirming surgery and cross sex hormones immediately. US, UK, New Zealand etc. No more transes, no more transgender problems. Call me a transphobes but a lack of common sense has just gone far too far, and now it's affecting our kids

From afar that was an oustanding performance, Jo-burg is just a cauldron of fire - no bigger test

• Tactics were on-point 'suddenly' and people knew what they were doing - Schmidt's influence plus Ryan?

• Whitelock rolled back the years, irreplacable on that form

• S. Barrett stood up

• Frizzel stood up

• Mounga looked like a real game manager, and Havili looked like he knew what to expect

• Everyone made mistakes incl. Mounga, Havili, Fizzel but they stuck to a plan and still won

Personal views moving to the RWC?

• Need consistent selection but -

• Rieko to 11 not Clarke and ALB to 13 when back (Goodhue too slow), BB stays on the bench

• Jordie Barrett didn't look like Bambi-on-ice these days - made the right plays and has a huge boot

• Frig**ng stability during the rest of the RC including 6/7/8 - experiment only on the NH tour

• Schmidt to be in charge of per-game tactics - guessing here on Joe's influence but definitely there were positive changes for this game

• Lock-in Robertson post RWC or others will have him

As a neutral - the rugby was great because the ref was excellent, and a great game to watch, up there with Ireland 2013 (Owens), SA in Jo-burg 2013 (Owens!) and the RWC final 2015 (Owens!!)

@pakman Yup, may already have been posted but yes Wayne Smith ...

The whiteboard session that proved Ma'a Nonu as an All Blacks great (https://www.rugbypass.com/news/the-whiteboard-session-that-proved-maa-nonu-as-an-all-blacks-great/)

Rewatching the game now ... may post later

Yesterday in the UK Telegraph... good good we're starting to roll back their "rights" so we can out trans kids. Finally

The first bit of common sense has prevailed in the trans debate. It’s about time

"Writing about one of the many scandals to hit London’s now defunct Tavistock child gender identity clinic three years ago, I came across a “detail” that I had to check once, twice, three times – because what I was reading couldn’t possibly be correct.

Teachers were not required to inform parents if their children were expressing a desire to change sex or had “feelings of gender distress”.

As a result, there were instances of children being taken off to consult with the Tavistock about their possible referral to be prescribed such things as puberty blockers without the parents’ knowledge, let alone their consent.

The thinking was that the confidentiality of a trans child trumps everything, including a parent’s right to know. The reality was a systematic institutional failure of child safeguarding on a level only revealed to us last month, thanks to a report published by the think tank Policy Exchange.

It found that just 28 per cent of schools who responded were “reliably informing parents when a child said they had feelings of gender distress”.

Obviously, if your child wore the wrong blazer, stole another pupil’s pen or was overheard using the F-word in the playground, the school would be on the phone to you within minutes.

But little things like “Felix thinks he may actually be Felicia” barely warrant a mention. Crucially, the report was alarming enough to prompt action from a government that has been too scared to do the right thing for years…in case it looks wrong.

New rules are now being finalised which will mean that within weeks, parents will have to be informed if pupils start using a different identity.

This is a triumph, but it’s hard to think of it that way when the failures have been so eye-watering, and allowed so much damage to be done."

UK-based lurker ... if Scott Robertson will only take the job on his terms, why blame him?

His job market has been global since the late 90s. Afaik Scotland, England, likely Wales and maybe Australia will be in the market for a head coach after the next RWC. Four jobs and very unlikely he's not in contact with a few, probably all of them right now?

If NZR don't see it that way, they can create a 'Robertson law' like they had in 1998-00
NZRFU to discard 'Henry Law'

@Crucial Yeah , what I wrote was partly aimed not so much at Squidge etc but more why we don't get decent mainstream rugby analysis, apart from maybe Nick Bishop who's a pro, plus in the UK the Telegraph can be okay e.g. this analysis by Steffan Thomas - paywalled but disable JS

Aug 13, 2022

What New Zealand changed to pull off an unthinkable victory over South Africa

Telegraph Sport analyses how the All Blacks got back to winning ways in impressive fashion over the Springboks

Tactically it was deliberate trade-offs right? That maul defense pinching in with Cane and Ardie flanking is a thing of beauty. It worked just, negates the Boks and plays to the AB's strengths i.e. more mobile out wide but jeeze the Boks could easily have score a couple more on another day? (foot in touch, Rieko and Jordan at 43:49 snuff out a 3-on-2)

Maybe related that for Argentina, SA have brought back Kwagga Smith into the 23 albeit on the bench

Next RwC, not so much between have the Boks, Ireland, France, ABs and Eddie can always knock out at least one of them. Gonna be so tactical and game-by-game. Please shoot anyone (normally an aussie) who wants to remove the maul from the game btw

@Nepia Yeah ... it is the way of the kiwi public when the AB's aren't #1 or #2
The talent stream from 2003-4 that peaked in 2013-16 was once in a generation though

I really respect Wayne Smith for stepping down. He gave it a go then he admitted he was not a NOT a natural head coach at that level ... shows reals self-awareness and humilty which Foster appears to lack

From afar Robertson may not see turning down a poisoned chalice as sacrilege unless he can get it on his terms i.e. he's negotiating - and part of that negotiation goes public. NZR are in a pickle, they have no one else to blame but themselves?

I think a deal WILL be reached btw

If you can't take Squidge Rugby with a pinch of salt, I mean ... maybe lighten up a bit

Squidge is just a real rugby fan who never started it for the $$$, his early videos were hilarious and so edgy he got banned from using content, so he had to wind things back a lot

If you WANT proper tactical professional analysis read someone Nick Bishop on The Roar and especially pay a tiny amount for RugbyPass plus - I do. Seriously insightful guy https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/contributor/nick-bishop/

Scotland is looking bad, more and more silencing of our women

Trans activists face action from university after blocking film again

Feminist MP ‘no-platformed’ by Edinburgh Fringe venue

Trans+ Pride defends activist who told crowd to punch TERFs ‘in the f------ face’
Sarah Jane Baker who served 30 years for kidnapping and attempted murder addressed attendees at the march on Saturday

https://archive.is/b4XMd

Interesting...

Sep 2, 2024

Female darts players threatened with disciplinary action for refusing to play transgender rivals

Crackdown has been condemned by those campaigning for trans women to be banned from female-only sport competitions