Comments on: New Zealand beat improved England 19-6

By: Ora

Ora — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:02:47 +0000

Ai Rui Sheng, it is not a very difficult task to come to the conclusion that overall the quality of Interrnational football this year has been well off the pace of previous years. The All Blacks have managed to win on this end of year tour by doing the basics right something it seems eluded them during the tri-nations. The All Blacks just seem to be the best at the back end of an otherwise very ordinary year in test rugby. The South Africans while hot to trot in the 3N have fallen badly off the pace come the Northern tour however this is not uncommon with the Springboks. France seem to have improved and Scotland have pulled off what can only be dubbed the upset of International Union this year.

By: Ai Rui Sheng

Ai Rui Sheng — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:51:13 +0000

If the All Blacks are so bad, why are they ranked top of the world?

This tour has shown a special development series supplied by the opposition.
1. Overcame complacency and media hype in Tokyo
2. Overcame Gotnoland’s trash talk in Cardiff.
3. Overcame biased refereeing in Milano.
4. Overcame a physically bruising and cheating Opium Poppies and the Bleatingish press is not even wehingeing about it.

Can they overcome the ultimate test in Europe? The French in the South of France. Listening to the critics on this site, it would seem not. However when you wake up on Sunday morning you may all be greeted by a great surprise with normal service resumed; Adidas downs Puma.

By: ohtani's jacket

ohtani's jacket — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:50:01 +0000

They’ve pretty much spared themselves the indignity of being one of the worst sides of the modern era.

The performance against England was okay. The scoreline didn’t indicate how well our backs played, but I’d much rather we faced a structured England defence now rather than blowing them out and struggling against a committed defence in the World Cup. If NZ are to win the WC, it will take performances like the one we saw on the weekend where one try is the difference. This sort of NZ side is more likely to win the Cup than a high scoring one.

By: Sam Taulelei

Sam Taulelei — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:43:50 +0000

“So when you take this into account what does that tell you about England?”

Or every other team that has faced NZ the last two years and lost.

Vintage teams from any country will always occur infrequently so I don’t understand the veiled criticisms at the All Blacks when writers make that statement. The All Blacks have never had more than one vintage team in the same decade.

The circumstances and players now are also different from 2004-2006 as are the laws at the breakdown, scrum engagement and kicking the ball out on the full from within the 22. The subtle change in the breakdown laws which allows the tackler to continue contesting the ball at the breakdown even after the ruck has formed was intended as a positive move however teams now recognise the higher risks it poses if you attack within your own half.

Apart from the Lions series, rugby played this year internationally has been pretty poor overall. All teams are struggling to combat the strong defensive screens and finding alternatives to moving the ball other than kicking. No coaching team has yet to create or develop attacking ploys that create space and the players are struggling to launch counter attacks even from turnover ball.

That being said, Henry has improved the All Black lineout considerably through selection and coaching and is unrecognisable from the rabble it was earlier in the season and Tri Nations. Defensively they haven’t skipped a beat and have still to concede a try this tour, if they repeat their feats from last season’s tour that would be a marvellous achievement for coaches and players. The scrum maintains parity without being the destructive unit it was with Carl Hayman. There are signs of some inventiveness being tried in setpiece moves from the backs, but not against England who defended in the midfield very well and NZ did try to counterattack at times.

By: Knives Out

Knives Out — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:48:11 +0000

Banahan plays like a lock. He is a lock. He’s got 5 caps now which is a nice number to be retired on. Hopefully he won’t be present during the 6N. One thing that did surprise me is that Wilkinson rarely attempted the cross-field kick to him. Anyhow, the problem with the backline selected is that the composition was incorrect. 9-15 was unbalanced. Geraghty clearly isn’t a 12, Wilkinson still plays far too deep and Hipkiss is the sort of 13 who likes to take the ball up and wait for the back row to latch on to him. The back three had little hope of getting quality ball from that axis. That problem was exacerbated with the selection of Erinle.

Ultimately, I think England has some decent backs, and if Flood and Flutey are fit then England will have competition at 12 from two intelligent distributors. There are, however, issues with the 13 jersey (I think that Tindall is necessary) with there being few options, but the back three has some good contenders: Cueto, Monye, D. Armitage and Sackey. Do you guys recall Topsy Ojo from the NZ tour? England will always have have fast wingers but they struggle to involve them at the right time and with quick ball. I also have reservations about the skill levels of some players. Ugo Monye, despite being a Lion, seems to struggle with catching and kicking.

By: Ora

Ora — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:40:14 +0000

This is definately no vintage All Black team and I would have to agree with Stephen Jones, this is surely one of the worst All Black teams of the Modern era.
So when you take this into account what does that tell you about England?
Sport is about winning and losing is simply not good enough. We can gloss over aspects of the game as much as we like however it will never change the fact that we lost.

By: jus de couchon

jus de couchon — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:07:08 +0000

Cmon , it was a mediocre All Black team against a failing English rabble. The Irish and the French appear to be the only teams trying to play rugby .

By: Jerry

Jerry — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:59:21 +0000

Cueto looked good, Monye didn’t have many chances (made a good break and pounced on a couple of loose balls that would have been tries if not for knock ons beforehand) but Banahan was a great big lump of dung. A couple of decent tackles, one reasonable drive on a cut back and about 78 minutes of looking like he’d never played rugby before.

By: Mungehead

Mungehead — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:12:18 +0000

McCaw’s chances of becoming IRB player of the year were just ratcheted up a notch.

Personally, my man of the match was Cowan – boy he’s come a long way.

By: Matt0931

Matt0931 — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:50:39 +0000

Congratulations AB’s.

England played well defensively and certainly tried to get in the AB’s faces but to no avail.

There probably should have been a card shown to some English players in the match but the ref was being a bit lenient to some dodgy off ball tactics.

But for an inexperienced side they did well against the world #1

By: ohtani's jacket

ohtani's jacket — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:36:01 +0000

Well, the All Blacks continued to defend well. The lineouts were fine, the scrums okay and I didn’t really have any complaints about the forwards. The backs struggled to finish anything, mostly because of some excellent cover defence by the English. England were awful on attack, however, and the defining moment was that drop goal attempt by Wilkinson. The England back three are big guys. Why they aren’t used properly is beyond me.