The Silver Fern

I reckon it's kind of as simple as: if other teams kicked to us the way we kick to them, we would fucking love it.

I think Ratima has been a bit disappointing to be honest. If Hotham is out I'd prefer Fakatava - he was one of very few highlights in the AUNZ lions game, service looked crisp.

@taniwharugby said in All Blacks v France III:

you'd hope the Chiefs 9, 10, 12, 13 combo should help.

if, a big if, we roll out close to the number one pack. if we make a similar amount of changed in the forwards it is likely to become a mess.
And given the lock injuries, that's probably where my money is.

@Frank said in All Blacks v France III:

@BerniesCorner said in All Blacks v France III:

@reprobate On domestic form DMac has been the best 10 for the past 2 years. I don't get it.

Except when it mattered in the finals

You know who else wasn't the best in the finals? Tuipolotu, Vaai, Finau, Beauden Barrett, Jacobson, Roigard, Ratima, Taukeiaho, Proctor, Ioane, Narawa, Norris, Tosi, Kirifi.
And what about Holland, Savea, De Groot, Tavatavanawai, Jordie Barrett - not even good enough to make the finals!
Drop 'em all I say, cantablacks all the way.

@Windows97 said in All Blacks v France II:

@Mauss said in All Blacks v France II:

In the end, the gameplan bore very little fruit, Norris’ and Tosi’s combined 4 carries for a total of 7 metres made barely a fundamental upgrade on de Groot’s and Newell’s combined 4 carries for 3 metres made. Norris put in a big shift on defence but the argument can be made that this defensive shift wouldn’t be necessary if the quality of the breakdown, maul and lineout hadn’t plummeted with the bench forwards coming on. If the bench plan is to bring carrying impact then the coaches need to make sure that there are enough forwards on the field who focus on securing the breakdown. Because any plan that results in your backs having to consistently provide clean ball is a plan destined to fail.

I think this hits the nail on the head to explain the decline in the AB's attacking structure in the second half. Thank you for the insight.

This puts the AB's in a conumdrum going forward as per the weekend for example there's really no-one on the bench with a fantastic reputation of shifting bodies at the ruck. Norris, Tosi and Samisoni are ball carriers, Finau plays wide and Kirifi is more of a scavenger at the breakdown.

It begs the question when the bench comes on who's job is it to clear bodes at the ruck? It would appear no-one and everyone...

This is the problem with most people's idea of the 'impact player'. Stack your bench with ball runners, and you won't actually have the ball enough for them to do anything.
It's one of the reasons I'd look at starting Samisoni and using Taylor for the 2nd half. Also one running prop and one cleaning prop per half, same with the loosies...

@Jet said in All Blacks v France II:

@sparky said in All Blacks v France II:

@Jet Clear YC. Refs are consistent on that one. Beauden Barrett should have known better.

Wasnt it forward in the buildup?

Maybe, but who cares? Forward passes and knock-ons get missed in just about every game. That's not some conspiracy, it's just a coincidence. What he did deserved a yellow card - because blocking passes discourages attacking rugby - and it is one of the more consistent card rulings out there.

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks v France III:

Robertson's gone pretty much experimental for the first 2 Tests so I'd be tempted to stick with what works or looks to be working, Scooter for Pat T in the forwards (if fit) and some rotation in the front row. Start Ratima with DMac, and keep Reiko & Jordan in place.

Give QT, Hotham & Lakai plenty of time off the bench.

Did Billy P do enough in the second half to keep him there and does Robertson give Love a shot over BB?

I know I'm a broken record on this, but every man and his dog knows exactly what BB offers. The only possible point in playing him in a dead rubber against France C is if you want continuity and are experimenting with other players around him. But we already know Jordie and Roigard are 9 and 12.
Playing him in this game - even ignoring my opinion that he shouldn't be there in the first place and was poor last game - would make no sense.

@cgrant At least they are trying out a centre (Proctor) and a winger (Ioane). They've also had a crack at doing something about the loosie balance - so kudos for all of that.
But 10 is a problem they're not even trying to solve.

@brodean said in All Blacks v France III:

Tuipulotu is in doubt too apparently. 50 50 with his knee. Vaa'i failed his HIA.

So we could see Ah Kuoi starting with Holland and Finau at 6.

Next cab off the rank at lock would be one of Beehre, Mcwhannel, Walker Leawere or Shalfoon.

Well who could ever have guessed that selecting 4 locks then playing 3 of them at once could lead to problems with injury cover.

The only positives from an NZ perspective were Fakatava's passing looking crisp and accurate, Sotutu and Frizzell both up to the task physically.
For the Aussies, Edmed and LSL.
The others were all varying shades of dogshit.

Fuck Jeff Wilson is a dumb fluffybunny.
Apologies for the tangent, but he really fucking is.

Our best period of the game was when playing with 14. There's something badly wrong when that can be the case.
Forwards in the first half treated the French like the B team they were.

Taylor, Tuipolotu, Roigard.

BB's options are poor. Some of that is on him, some on the game plan. His execution is largely poor, and that's all on him. High kicks too long, he's allowed them to take marks. A couple of corner kicks good, that tactic I like especially if from slow ball.
We genuinely looked more effective with him off the field.

He's thrown his hand out to block a pass, fuck him off. It's a blight on the game.

BB just can't do the basics, and it's forever putting us under unnecessary pressure. It's fucking embarrassing for a guy with that many caps.

@booboo said in Lima Sopoaga:

Sorry. Had to remove the quotation marks in the thread title.

Driving me up the wall.

Does this mean it is actually his real name?

@sparky said in All Blacks v France 2:

I think this will be another tough test for the All Blacks, especially so if the ref starts dishing out cards.

Unless they tighten up their defence significantly, it really shouldn't be close. We made a heap of line breaks and just couldn't finish due to small errors and a lack of patience - if we fix either of those and nothing changes from them it should be comfortable.

@Dan54 said in Rugby or NFL:

@reprobate as it is in Super. But have to be careful, if you drop a scrum to stop a try maybe getting scored, is a free kick enough?

Hence back to the drawing board mate. That could be covered by penalty try rules, repeated / cynical infringing etc.

@BerniesCorner said in All Blacks v France 2:

@kiwiinmelb said in All Blacks v France 2:

@No-Quarter said in All Blacks v France 2:

@gt12 yeah, they've got a lock in Holland now that is built for test footy, and boy do we need his size. That added to Vaa'i completely outplaying Barrett last year has put them in a bit of a spot re: the three. Dropping Vaa'i when he's really come of age at test level would be crazy, and they can't drop their captain, but one of the shorter locks has to make way. The problems at 6 have given them a bit of an out so to speak, but it's dependent on Vaa'i making it work there, which is not that fair on him. If Vaa'i can make the transition from playing like a lock to more of a 6 then I can obviously see the big upside to that, but it's a risk.

If ardie looks impressive as captain in the rest of this series it could add a bit of spice to all this

Well Vaai was more effective at 6 last game than a lot of the 6s we have had over the past 2-3 years.
He's becoming a first rate player

Come on now, he wasn't all that good and the opposition were mediocre. He's become our best lock, but the jury is still out at 6.