The Silver Fern

@nostrildamus said in Springboks vs All Blacks I:

@Bovidae said in Springboks vs All Blacks I:

Hinton, Goile, Cull

The Post

this one? Quite a few different takes in that article.

biggest takeaway from that article is from Cully:

"it again shines an unflattering light on the All Blacks coaching appointment process. MacDonald's hasty exit means his recruitment was a mistake from the outset, and there is a further layer to it.

In the period between Scott Robertson getting the job last year and finalising his coaching team, I contacted Tony Brown to see if he had been approached.

Brown, who has always been a straight-shooter with me, said no but he was available and was looking for a job because his old mate Jamie Joseph had already decided to head back to NZ.

So, the All Blacks might have also missed out on Brown by going with MacDonald − to the Springboks' benefit."

I'm still not convinced about Ardie Savea's place in this team looking at the long-term going forward, I think NZ's backrow will continue to get outplayed against the top sides with him at 8, especially as he's only getting older and less effective.

The Hurricanes had their best season in 8 years off the platform of their back row functioning a lot better than last year and appearing much more cohesive without his individualistic headless 'cannonball' style clogging up every play...

He has to transition into a Kwagga Smith-type utility bench option if he's to make it through to the 2027 World Cup.

letting Schmidt go for super coaches rangi and holland is such a monumental fuck up

What is up with the complete lack of deception in the attack shapes under Holland and McDonald.

When Schmidt was coaching our attack we had lots of bodies in motion and players running creative lines, I can't see any positive developments since he left, we have regressed massively.

Can't see excuses because when Schmidt took over the attack in mid-2022 it only took two tests for his attacking patterns to come together - we are coming to our 5th test of the year and Holland/McDonald's attacking structures look non-existent.

@cgrant said in All Blacks vs Argentina I - 10 August:

@Lancaster-Park said in All Blacks vs Argentina I - 10 August:

Christies defensive game is why he get picked for the big games. Defence wins trophys.

I was surprised though at just how much slower his passing was compared to both Ratima and Hotham which I think was a very significant reason why the 'finishers' had such a late game impact. The backs had more time and your pods can run onto the ball because you know its coming rather than waiting and then starting your run. (are getting it passed to where you are standing not in front of you).

Against a rush defense, Christie's slow delivery hampers considerably the backs attacking possibilities. Defense may win trophies yes, but Ratima isn't bad in defensive situations, and his kicking is top notch too. I am not sold on Hotham's defense though.

Good point and didn't Ratima set a Chiefs bench press record for the backs this year? I'll take his Tawera Kerr-Barlow esque strength and physicality off the bench over Christie's occasional heroism on defense thanks...

The people on here who were calling Jordie average and not in the league of Kriel / De Allende or other top centres need to watch Leinster's last few games since Jordie became available, 3 MOTM worthy performances in a row.... anyone who thinks Jordie isn't a top 3 centre in the world must be kidding themselves.

Maybe just maybe.... it's our coaches (ie Jason Holland) who aren't utilizing him as well as we could be, just look at recently how Jordie was praising Leinster and 2024 Hurricanes attack coach Tyler Blyeendal for his coaching & influence on his game.

The All Black's current problems are not cattle-related, we just have poor technical coaches and are really missing a Tony Brown / Wayne Smith / Joe Schmidt, etc...or even just a Nick Evans or Blyeendaal creative influence in the coaching group.

@Bones

@Bones said in All Blacks v Argentina II:

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v Argentina II:

@nostrildamus said in All Blacks v Argentina II:

I'm surprised Lord is still there, didn't really notice him last game.

Who would you select to replace him?

Give Walker-Leawere a shot. Why not?

Cam Suafoa at 6 over Blackadder. Why not?

Razor's bench management has been absolutely terrible all year, he keeps destroying the team's cohesion and shape with his poor timing & decisions.

What on earth happened to his great feel for the game and momentum while coaching the Crusaders? What happened to his astute use of the bench that we witnessed in those knockout games?

He continues to take off the wrong players and also makes too many changes at the wrong time which ruins the team's cohesion - see 2nd-half Argentina at Eden Park..

I feel Razor left changes from the bench too late & momentum started to swing back towards the Boks by the time our bench came on & then they got flustered.

Feels like Ireland are at the beginning of a steady decline. They have an ageing squad with a lot of key players getting long in the tooth. And the players primed to take their place just aren’t getting the big game experience due to the dominance of this team over the past few years.

Exactly the same thing happened with England leading up to 2003, then fell off a cliff after all those guys retired after the WC win.

Where is that Landers guy and the starting backline for England? He's a bit behind this week.... it's already Wednesday!

@sparky said in All Blacks vs England 2:

ABs tackling at 91%. The problem is when he have the ball, we don't use it well.

Leon McDonald.

@gt12 said in All Blacks vs Ireland:

@MN5

I’ve met him at an event here, he’s fucking jacked.

Not super tall (just at or maybe a bit over 6 ft I reckon) but doesn’t look like he has a ml of fat on him.

Vermuelen was also there, and he is just a fucking monster.

Roids.......you should look at some of the Springbok shirtless gym photos from 2019 and also 2021 that were shared on reddit, there's no way that' muscle/fat ratio is natural, those Saffas are desperate unsporting cheaters who resort to every & any avenue to win - it's nothing unexpected for such a corrupt 3rd world nation.

@Tim said in All Blacks 2024:

There are still really interesting and insightful people who post here. I love this forum, even Papalii knockers post really good stuff sometimes.

Papali'i knockers (if there is such thing) are far worse, the guy is comfortably the best loose forward in NZ - he is more important than Ardie to this team due to his size and impact on defence.

@Windows97 said in All Blacks v Argentina II:

@Mr-Fish said in All Blacks v Argentina II:

It's interesting that Ethan de Groot's place hasn't been questioned at all.

He's an excellent scrummager - there's no question about that - but he still offers very little around the field. He's not one of the 'new breed' of props and without any scrums during his time on the field (which is admittedly a rare occurrence), he offered little on the park.

This is the major problem with our tight 5 - we either have technically proficent set piece players that are hopeless at carrying the ball, or good ball carrying players that are technically deficient in the set piece.

In our tight 5 on Saturday all good set piece players, useless at carrying the ball.

We then bring on our "impact bench" of guys who can carry the ball (excluding Newell who just does like for like) and our set piece goes to kak.

We seem to be stuck with a lot of one dimensional forwards atm.

I actually don’t think it’s our carriers so much. I think it’s more our attack that's the problem - we’re not putting any deception into how we attack. If you look at SA on the weekend - their attack often changed during a move - the outside support runner drifted off a number of times and then became an option once the ball was transferred out the back. The deception meant that the SA runners (already massive) were hitting weak shoulders, and engaging the defense on their terms. Contrast that with when NZ do it - and there is literally no deception at all and the Argentinian defenders were simply lapping it up. If you look at the Crusaders as a potential example of how Robertson likes to structure the attack - Mounga was always a threat - off the back of every pod and also linking with the outside pods/runners. I don’t see the same thing with McKenzie - at least it is completely obvious when the ball is going to him - the NZ unders/hard line runners don’t attract any defenders. In order for our carries to start getting over the gain line I think we need to re-align the attack so all runners are possible carriers, and get McKenzie (or Beaudie) as a genuine option in the support role of the forward pods. Right now the AB’s are easy to read and are getting double teamed on the tackle (or chopped and jackaled)

Just throwing my two cents out there.

I remember Razor made a relevant point in the recent documentary how he and Leon approached the game differently, he was saying how he tends to look for 'what could go right' whereas Leon tends to look for 'what could go wrong'.

I think it comes down to their mindset. Razor is an optimist by nature and risk-taking individual while Leon's coaching and selections have always tended to be conservative and low-risk in nature - see his Blues tenure.

Leon is conventional and coaches more by the book while Razor is the opposite of that, he's more of an unshackled unorthodox free-spirited individual Lol.... maybe Razor is right into that new age stuff?

@pakman said in Springboks vs All Blacks 2:

At least Sititi in starting won’t be there at business end, where experience of Jacob’s son will be valuable.

I don't understand the rationale for Jacobson over Papali'i. Cane and Savea are already small loosies, Jacobson is like-for-like, but Papali'i is the biggest loose forward in the squad and should be in the 23.

@MN5 said in All Blacks 2025:

@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2025:

he is inferior

Jordie is good but SA alone have De Allende and Esterhuizen who are better than him

Now that's a deluded take if I ever saw one - I remember distinctly those 2 guys couldn't make an impact against NZ teams when they were in Super Rugby, their teams were also made whipping our boys.

And it's possibly no coincidence the Canes with Jordie last year finished the robin 1st with a whopping +199 points differential & are now sitting 7th... without him.

Savea needs to be cut completely. I wouldn't even have him in the 23 anymore. Worst AB forward on the field.

It will be a fucking farce if Razor selects Ennor and Havili ahead of Daniel Rona.

Razor apparently said:
“Because of how much effort and care [was displayed by the players]. Every game we have been in this year, we have either led or had our chances to win it."

Rather optimistic way of looking at 2024 performance.

This team/coaching group really just aren't learning a thing. Mistakes and dumb penalties have kept opposing teams in games all year. We're 11 games into the season and we're still our own worst enemy. It's so incredibly frustrating to watch.