The Silver Fern

@antipodean said in Rugby World Cup 2027 Draw - LIVE:

How is it we've never had a good draw?

Define good draw? NZ had a good draw in 1995, but Suzie did her thing.

2007 was a decent draw too until the ABs and Wayne shat the bed.

@gt12 said in All Blacks 2026:

My goal for the ABs in 2026 is to at least be the team that fans from Wales want to avoid at the WC (this video could also likely go in the stupid things you see thread)

Guy lost all credibility when he named Marcus Smith as the potential player of the tournament. Of all the people you could pick, he wouldn’t be in the top 50

@jimmyb said in Rugby World Cup 2027 Draw - LIVE:

So will likely need to beat the Bok and France to get into the final

Probably against England. SA, France and England on consecutive weekends…

Or…throw the Oz game and get (likely)…
Samoa/
Japan, England then France/Boks in the final

@Mauss said in NZ Sevens 2025-26:

Tocker was pretty good for the NZ U18 team at last year’s Global Youth Sevens. I prefer him in the sevens format, as I think it’s a better fit for some of his strengths (e.g. high ball work on restarts) and his athleticism. He’s great in the lineout as well, he can get up very quickly and effectively contest opposition throws.

That said, I don’t think he’s a like-for-like replacement with Rob Rush. Rush was really good at the breakdown in Dubai and I think that’s an area where Tocker still needs to improve quite a bit, especially in terms of the aggression and accuracy of his cleans. He also doesn't really play with the kind of abrasiveness that I associate with Rush. To my eyes, he's something in-between a forward and a back (which is also why I prefer him in sevens rather than the 15 man game).

I do think Tocker could be a handy option, especially from the bench. And it's good to see some new faces in the sevens squad, they really needed to freshen up.

High ball work you say Mauss? Get him in the ABs

Would NZ throw the Oz game to miss playing SA in the QFs?

Mark Robinson leaves as CEO and NZ teams start winning again

@W32 said in Bokke vs Wales:

@sparky said in Bokke vs Wales:

Horrific from Eben Etzebeth. Is this really the image World Rugby wants for its game?

Probably an accident

Not worth the wind up. Be that objective Bok fan that condemns thuggery

@sparky said in Bokke vs Wales:

@Jet said in Bokke vs Wales:

Sad day for Rugby?

Impressive day for Rugby?

A reality check.

Wales are way, way off. Only terrible All Blacks defence allowed them to paper over the massive cracks last week.

The Springboks are one of the very best teams of all time.

Wales are missing a few of their 1st XV. The have no depth. This week’s team would struggle to beat Tonga! They are a step down from last week, which made them cannon fodder for the Boks.

WRU should hang their heads in shame for arranging this fixture outside the official window. Heads need to roll.

@antipodean said in Wales v All Blacks:

@Number-10 said in Wales v All Blacks:

Kirifi, ALB, Reece, Christie. It's like a fucking nightmare.

The only bright aspect is no Savea wasting a position on the field and Damien has to make a turd sandwich palatable.

8/9/10/12 are Chiefs. Will be interesting to see how it goes

Missed opportunity to run Savea off the bench as 7/12 cover.

Ardie Savea and Beauden Barrett aren’t playing. Now we get to see how things go without them.

@pakman said in All Blacks 2025:

https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/the-all-blacks-have-become-prone-to-extreme-mental-paralysis-in-the-20-minutes-after-half-time/

Comments below the article are illuminating. Check out the comment with the England game stats.

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2025:

@stodders said in All Blacks 2025:

@Nogusta said in All Blacks 2025:

@brodean

You can't say its "DP's decision" unless you have some evidence that Razor actually picked him and DP said no.

Razor: "Dalton I've picked you for the All Blacks"

DP: "No thanks.

Nailed it bruv

Got the 'call up' whilst with the ABXVs
Said thanks but no thanks.
Won't play for a coach he has lost respect for
NZRU considering sanction/fine of some
kind.
He got shafted last year around the time of the Northern tour and again this year.
Was it (this years shafting) to do with his non selection? Yes and no.

The end of season review may be brutal.

It should be. It should also be done in private. Let's not have any of the briefings and airing of bad blood we've had in the past.

Agreed. Have to hope that Kirk hires a CEO that wrestles control from the marketing department and puts the high performance team back in charge.

@Nogusta said in All Blacks 2025:

@brodean

You can't say its "DP's decision" unless you have some evidence that Razor actually picked him and DP said no.

Razor: "Dalton I've picked you for the All Blacks"

DP: "No thanks.

Nailed it bruv

Got the 'call up' whilst with the ABXVs
Said thanks but no thanks.
Won't play for a coach he has lost respect for
NZRU considering sanction/fine of some
kind.
He got shafted last year around the time of the Northern tour and again this year.
Was it (this years shafting) to do with his non selection? Yes and no.

The end of season review may be brutal. Interested to know if there are clear factions in the squad. Robertson should be under immense pressure if that is the case. No elite team can deliver if the coaches and players aren’t fully bought in.

@reprobate said in England Vs All Blacks:

@stodders said in England Vs All Blacks:

@jimmyb said in England Vs All Blacks:

@canefan said in England Vs All Blacks:

@jimmyb said in England Vs All Blacks:

@canefan said in England Vs All Blacks:

@reprobate said in England Vs All Blacks:

@canefan said in England Vs All Blacks:

Still nothing compared to the media firestorm Fozzie had to face

I think that's largely because Foster took over a good team, whereas Razor took over a bit of a shit show. It's deterioration vs going nowhere.
Cue someone saying 'oh we should have won the WC final with 14 men but for the ref'... yeah nah bullshit, we were crap and the good performances were the outliers.

I'd argue that the team Fozzie inherited were already on the way down as demonstrated by our 2019 loss. I think Fozz got a lot of shit because there was fatigue for the outgoing coaching group by that time, and he didn't seem like he had the credentials for the HC gig

@canefan said in England Vs All Blacks:

@reprobate said in England Vs All Blacks:

@canefan said in England Vs All Blacks:

Still nothing compared to the media firestorm Fozzie had to face

I think that's largely because Foster took over a good team, whereas Razor took over a bit of a shit show. It's deterioration vs going nowhere.
Cue someone saying 'oh we should have won the WC final with 14 men but for the ref'... yeah nah bullshit, we were crap and the good performances were the outliers.

I'd argue that the team Fozzie inherited were already on the way down as demonstrated by our 2019 loss. I think Fozz got a lot of shit because there was fatigue for the outgoing coaching group by that time, and he didn't seem like he had the credentials for the HC gig

That is disgusting revisionism

Care to elaborate? I was as critical of Fozzie as anyone. And he made lots of mistakes in selection and in gameplan. Things didn't seem to improve until Ryan and Schmidt joined him. But Razor's record probably isn't much better, and some of our play has been as bad. So I'm curious to hear your argument

I’m just not sure how Foster can inherit a team he’d already been coaching for 7 years. The RWC final team only had 4 (I think) players that had debuted post 2019 RWC. He didn’t have to do any work to develop players and he was still shit. Razor on the other hand has to develop a 2nd row, entire backrow, two halfbacks, a 10, a centre pairing, and a back three. Foster had his squad handed to him on a platter and only needed to tweak a few small elements

Foster was a poor AB coach. Nobody was surprised though as he was a poor Chiefs head coach too. Pretty good assistant though.

Dave Rennie came in and instantly turned Foster's Chiefs shitshow around, whereas Robertson has completely failed to do that for Foster's AB shitshow.

Unlike Foster, Robertson doesn’t have : Retallick, Coles, Whitelock, Smith. Foster’s handover to Robertson was like the Fergie handover to Moyes at United

Robertson has not helped himself with poor leadership and coaching as well as poor selections at times (injury has been his best selector at times), but the AB squad has changed far more under him than Foster.

@jimmyb said in England Vs All Blacks:

@canefan said in England Vs All Blacks:

@jimmyb said in England Vs All Blacks:

@canefan said in England Vs All Blacks:

@reprobate said in England Vs All Blacks:

@canefan said in England Vs All Blacks:

Still nothing compared to the media firestorm Fozzie had to face

I think that's largely because Foster took over a good team, whereas Razor took over a bit of a shit show. It's deterioration vs going nowhere.
Cue someone saying 'oh we should have won the WC final with 14 men but for the ref'... yeah nah bullshit, we were crap and the good performances were the outliers.

I'd argue that the team Fozzie inherited were already on the way down as demonstrated by our 2019 loss. I think Fozz got a lot of shit because there was fatigue for the outgoing coaching group by that time, and he didn't seem like he had the credentials for the HC gig

@canefan said in England Vs All Blacks:

@reprobate said in England Vs All Blacks:

@canefan said in England Vs All Blacks:

Still nothing compared to the media firestorm Fozzie had to face

I think that's largely because Foster took over a good team, whereas Razor took over a bit of a shit show. It's deterioration vs going nowhere.
Cue someone saying 'oh we should have won the WC final with 14 men but for the ref'... yeah nah bullshit, we were crap and the good performances were the outliers.

I'd argue that the team Fozzie inherited were already on the way down as demonstrated by our 2019 loss. I think Fozz got a lot of shit because there was fatigue for the outgoing coaching group by that time, and he didn't seem like he had the credentials for the HC gig

That is disgusting revisionism

Care to elaborate? I was as critical of Fozzie as anyone. And he made lots of mistakes in selection and in gameplan. Things didn't seem to improve until Ryan and Schmidt joined him. But Razor's record probably isn't much better, and some of our play has been as bad. So I'm curious to hear your argument

I’m just not sure how Foster can inherit a team he’d already been coaching for 7 years. The RWC final team only had 4 (I think) players that had debuted post 2019 RWC. He didn’t have to do any work to develop players and he was still shit. Razor on the other hand has to develop a 2nd row, entire backrow, two halfbacks, a 10, a centre pairing, and a back three. Foster had his squad handed to him on a platter and only needed to tweak a few small elements

Foster was a poor AB coach. Nobody was surprised though as he was a poor Chiefs head coach too. Pretty good assistant though.

@DaGrubster said in All Blacks 2025:

@stodders said in All Blacks 2025:

Part of the reason why Rassie is so admired is that he put in place the systems that have elevated SA to the heights they are now at. He poured over the structural issues in Bok rugby as the General Manager: High Performance teams in 2012, before leaving for Munster and returning as the Director of rugby and Bok coach.

He had a forensic understanding of the talent that was available and also the bottlenecks that were stopping them from reaching their potential. He also oversaw a major revamp of the coaching structures and pathways. His legacy is so much more than just the Boks and WC triumphs and will likely last for a while after he calls it a day.

Henry did this for the ABs in 2004. He implemented the player led approach and massively changed the way that super rugby coaches worked together to develop players for the benefit of the ABs and developed the playing style the ABs were famed for (combining tough forward play with smarts and players who could solves issues as they unfolded with mental strength).

Do NZ have someone like Henry now? Wayne Smith is a creative, out of the box thinker - he isn’t the systems/process guy NZ needs. He works best in the right structure.

Where can we find details of what he actually did and changed that you talk about?

You can follow journalists like Brendan Nel who have covered it.

Here is an article that gives a glimpse of how Rassie saw SA Rugby being run badly, which is why he left for Munster. When he came back, he came back as the DoR AND Bok head coach.

https://www.planetrugby.com/news/rassie-erasmus-springboks-were-making-the-same-errors-thats-why-i-went-to-munster

@Bones said in All Blacks 2025:

@stodders that's all well and good, but....pored.

Pored? Or bored?

Part of the reason why Rassie is so admired is that he put in place the systems that have elevated SA to the heights they are now at. He poured over the structural issues in Bok rugby as the General Manager: High Performance teams in 2012, before leaving for Munster and returning as the Director of rugby and Bok coach.

He had a forensic understanding of the talent that was available and also the bottlenecks that were stopping them from reaching their potential. He also oversaw a major revamp of the coaching structures and pathways. His legacy is so much more than just the Boks and WC triumphs and will likely last for a while after he calls it a day.

Henry did this for the ABs in 2004. He implemented the player led approach and massively changed the way that super rugby coaches worked together to develop players for the benefit of the ABs and developed the playing style the ABs were famed for (combining tough forward play with smarts and players who could solves issues as they unfolded with mental strength).

Do NZ have someone like Henry now? Wayne Smith is a creative, out of the box thinker - he isn’t the systems/process guy NZ needs. He works best in the right structure.

@OomPB said in Nations Championship:

Springboks starting off against England. Sadly the Irish escape South Africa again.

Last time the were there they shared the series 1-1

So lucky escape for the Boks?