Hey Rapido, I agree with the first line but not the second. I do not need to harden up and I am not a princess.
This was not the game to do that. In the leadup to this game we had all and sundry from the AB camp talking about how good a side Ireland are and also how this AB side wanted to set new standards on and off the field and add to the legacy. A 111 year old record is something to treasure and not to give up without a fight.

This game demanded the best we could put on the field.

Aaron Smith got yanked against the WBs for getting flustered and has been seriously stuffed up by the well known shenanigans in Christchurch. TJP has really stepped up this year and copes miles better with aggression around the breakdowns and scores tries that Smith can't. He is the form 9 and should have started.

ALB has amazed all of us with his maturity and his play for someone so young. He is to the manor born. I refuse to believe the bs that he is tired and not to have him on the bench defies belief. Fekitoa has been around for a while and has just not improved his game at all which is inferior to the variety in ALB's game. In no time at all ALB has formed a good partnership with Crotty and should have started. Again, in a game of such massive importance you DO NOT fucking rest and rotate. Moala is definitely worth persevering with but with his shortcomings this was not the game for him.

Two big bruisers on the wings, WTF, both of whom have limited skillsets. I thought we gave this away in 2009. Again, we knew what the Irish would bring and they did. Dagg on the right wing has added balance to the side this year and the Irish would have got a lot less change from their efforts if he had been there. Apart from his bust for the first try Naholo looked all at sea which for me pretty much sums up his season in black. Again, Shag, why ?

Jerome is the world's best 6. I don't buy the reasons for not starting Barrett at lock. He is a lock. Why weaken the blindside to plug a hole at lock because you have then successfully weakened two positions. Squire for all his potential is not a starter yet and we really missed Kaino at 6.

Read made a comment about their heads not being 100% right. You said what Keiran. I have said for ages that my biggest worry at McGod's retirement was the captaincy. Read was quoted last week as saying that he has demanded that he and his leadership team are in control of the team from Thursdays on. The coaches pull their heads in apparently from that point. To my eyes there was a deficiency of captaincy smarts in Chicago. That seriously needs to be addressed. All well and good when you are winning but captaincy in adversity is a much tougher gig.

Anyway, just my views. If we were going to lose to Ireland I would rather have done it in a less insipid manner. I am an old geezer and probably get the shits too easily but geez I would have liked to have been able to say that I was immensely proud of a losing effort when the Irish won.

The Silver Fern

Jimmy Jimmy