The Silver Fern

@sparky said in Bokke vs Ireland:

Ireland have been a really dirty, negative team for such a long time. Good to see them getting their deserved.

Never had a a beef with the Irish but today they were lucky. Missed the first 38 mins but after that Ireland were offside every ruck, their scrum couldn’t stay up…honestly if the ref used yellow cards consistently they would have been lucky to have 10 on the field. Match that with their constant bleating (those NZers in their team seem to be the worst) they make themselves a hard team to like.

@Mattasaurus said in England Vs All Blacks:

@Steven-Harris said in England Vs All Blacks:

@jimmyb you are correct
The discipline is as bad as it was under the back end of Hansen,Foster and now Robinson and it has’nt improved under the later
The aimless high kick and cross kick game still a major problem under all 3 coaches

I think a lot of it comes down to BB being immune to being dropped - aimless, low percentage kicking has been his bread and butter for years now.

The bigger problem of the above is that our forwards win enough ball to expect the backs to progress the game or even score - these moments are not that common and when they are duly wasted on yet another feckless BB kick you have to wonder what it takes to roll the dice on some of the younger options

It takes away from the DNA of our rugby. Heads up rugby with players who like to run with the ball. The most frustrating play is the cross kick when under penalty advantage - a low % play when the ref is going to give you every chance to work space and score close to the line. We know the balance is important but when the ABs were down against Boks in Wellington and we had low % plays like chip kicking for Ardie Savea… ffs.

The other aspect of this is how incestuous our rugby community is - ex ABs as player agents and commentators on the game, a press that incessantly talks up the coaches narrative on the kicking game yet ignores how poor we kick and our inability to retain possession and build pressure. You can critique players/ coaches for decisions, performance and skills without denigrating them. Instead we talk in cliches until it smacks us in the face.

@canefan said in Ireland v All Blacks - Chicago2:

@kev said in Ireland v All Blacks - Chicago2:

@canefan said in Ireland v All Blacks - Chicago2:

@Jet said in Ireland v All Blacks - Chicago2:

@ACT-Crusader said in Ireland v All Blacks - Chicago2:

Overall a clunky game but always great to beat Ireland.

Fainga’anuku was very good. Plays direct and is hard to get to ground. The way Ireland defend you need that extra time on your feet to allow support players to arrive. Him and Clarke and also Quinn provide that.

Plenty of negative that no doubt will be highlighted, but happy to win and a shame we couldn’t get that last try.

I think we have to call it like it is. We are not very good. The coaching and selections are mental.

Mexteds infamous quote comes to mind.

We are like blind men in a brothel. Just groping.

It's not cohesive. Not authoritative. We dont have any players giving us 8/10 every week.

Someone always saves our arse.

Who are the bona fide world 15 players in the squad. Jordie (at a push)?

The lack of strong game plan is making us much poorer than we should be

I thought they created space and attacking opportunities in first half but poor passing and lineout execution cost them.

Failure to create phases up the middle, and the narrow field, meant almost everytime we went wide we lost it

I thought we lost a lot at restarts when on attack. Usually Codie throws well but we were picked off, knocked on coming down, not straight etc. Then we had a clear break and Jordan dummied and then threw a passs to Carter who has overrun him. I would hate to see visits to the 22 and points scored in the 1st half.

I thought Tamaiti Williams made a difference in the scrums. Had is side up and the Irish walking around. Bringing him on with 30 minutes to go usually gives us a boost.

@canefan said in Ireland v All Blacks - Chicago2:

@Jet said in Ireland v All Blacks - Chicago2:

@ACT-Crusader said in Ireland v All Blacks - Chicago2:

Overall a clunky game but always great to beat Ireland.

Fainga’anuku was very good. Plays direct and is hard to get to ground. The way Ireland defend you need that extra time on your feet to allow support players to arrive. Him and Clarke and also Quinn provide that.

Plenty of negative that no doubt will be highlighted, but happy to win and a shame we couldn’t get that last try.

I think we have to call it like it is. We are not very good. The coaching and selections are mental.

Mexteds infamous quote comes to mind.

We are like blind men in a brothel. Just groping.

It's not cohesive. Not authoritative. We dont have any players giving us 8/10 every week.

Someone always saves our arse.

Who are the bona fide world 15 players in the squad. Jordie (at a push)?

The lack of strong game plan is making us much poorer than we should be

I thought they created space and attacking opportunities in first half but poor passing and lineout execution cost them.

@frugby said in Ireland v All Blacks - Chicago2:

Fuck yeah. Ireland behaved like a pack of morons. All about the niggle, got what they deserved.

A much better last 20 for the All Blacks - I think that is the blueprint for what the coaches want us to do. I guess it is up to the individual as to whether you like it.

The worst were their Kiwis. James Lowe always behaves like an idiot. An embarrassment.

Our forwards were awesome this year - scrum time, lineout when Moulds was throwing, winning the contact. Ran out of gas ️ in the last game with injuries etc. I loved what Heenan did for the team. Accurate, a leader, a real professional - we only have a few guys fit that fit that category - Moulds, Cory Evans leads the backs….but signs this year that players are learning to stay in games.

@mohikamo Good to see the list. Some guys will have played big minutes. Others not so much. Some big players missing for us. That’s the way it goes.

@Gunner said in Northland 2025:

Disappointing.

Can’t help but wonder when the Tani’s will play to their potential consistently. We have too many good players to be missing out on the playoffs.

It’s been mentioned elsewhere, but we’ve got to start backing some of our young guys more often. Why do we sign guys then never play them?

Stewart (the 10) had a great game on debut, but probably wouldn’t have even been on the bench if not for injury. Why hasn’t he been developed with minutes off the bench during the season? Maybe because the coach has some weird obsession with the unneeded import Balakana and having two wingers on the bench?

That’s my rant for the evening.

Plenty to like about the season, but soo bloody frustrating and disappointing not to be in the playoffs.

Hurt us at the end of the year not having spread the load during the season. That said lots of close games that we won. Forwards outperformed for me. Scrums were a real strength.

The backline is the work on. Got a bit better as the season went on but not giving Salmon more game time was disappointing. Be nice to have a player with express pace as well.

Hope the young guys (e.g. Zac Shanks) got something out of the season and are hungry to make the squad next year.

@reprobate said in All Blacks vs Wallabies Bledisloe II:

McKenzie looked rusty, uncharacteristically poor off the T though hit the ones that mattered, and in very poor conditions it wasn't the great 'thank fuck let's leave him there' performance which most of us were hoping for. However, he covered well in defence, made some good tackles, his high kicks were on the money, and I think he was about our only player who caught a high one all day.
Most importantly, he took the ball moving forwards instead of standing still, and passed it. Consequently the defence had to hold, everyone else was moving already and looked better - same as last week. Jordie's 2 best performances since the start of the season no coincidence. Tupaea getting 3-4x more play than Proctor has been.
So let's not forget the bar right now is not Daniel Carter - the bar is the slop that BB has been dishing up over the previous 5 weeks. And for those advocating Love - and I myself do want to see him play there - we need to remember he has started a handful of super games at 10, and those were pretty much as 3rd choice for the Hurricanes, behind Cameron and Godfrey.

A good perspective. He missed touch on a penalty and a conversion in front. In general play his kicking was no worse than BB - I wonder how much of that is just shit tactics/ a rote response to modern day defences. But your comments about moving onto the ball are bang on. I liked seeing Jordon running at half gaps ( I think he is a full back ) and the metres we made with ball in hand.

@MN5 said in All Blacks vs Wallabies Bledisloe II:

@kev said in All Blacks vs Wallabies Bledisloe II:

Reiko is not a centre. Tried, failed. They have moved on.

I wouldn't say that, he just made very few breaks that was expected of such a quick winger.

Very good on defence overall.

@MN5 said in All Blacks vs Wallabies Bledisloe II:

@kev said in All Blacks vs Wallabies Bledisloe II:

Reiko is not a centre. Tried, failed. They have moved on.

I wouldn't say that, he just made very few breaks that was expected of such a quick winger.

Very good on defence overall.

He dropped the ball on attack regularly and didn’t pass the ball when line breaks were made. So while good on defence I think we want more.

Reiko is not a centre. Tried, failed. They have moved on.

I must be odd one out. Scott Barrett is still one of my first choice forwards. Love the way he carries, hits hard in tackles and rucks. Good that we have 4 locks now that are playing well but he is not going to be dropped anytime soon.

DMAC still can’t kick conversion. Horror night. FFS means we get BB back.

Convincing. Never in doubt.

Good kick DMac

Wtf DMAC?

@jimmyb said in All Blacks vs Wallabies Bledisloe II:

@hikastags said in All Blacks vs Wallabies Bledisloe II:

I'd like to see Leicester move into 12, straighten things outside Dmac.

No one can straighten properly with a 10 that crabs sideways, can’t take on the line, and passes at your inside shoulder

Always been DMacs issue. But I like that he runs more than BB. If he could just execute better. His kicking has been shit.

@jimmyb said in All Blacks vs Wallabies Bledisloe II:

The question for QT is what will he do against centres that are as big or bigger than him

You can only play what’s in front of you. He looks really good.

DMac not so much. His kicking game is all over the place.

How the fuck does McKenzie miss that conversion?