Scratchy All Blacks notch second Rugby World Cup win

Yeah agree with all that OJ. For me the further type of game we play here is away from atypical NZ SXV derby the worse things are for us. We need the ball in play all the time playing against teams that want to play rugby. Unfortunately they don't want to play a lot of rugby and the result is more stoppages than we need or want.

Yeah well that's right coconut. Look how far away these matches are from the speed and flow of the NZ domestic Superxv matches are played, clearly the best example of the game being played at the moment in terms of speed and pace. Now we're down to a dawdle, TMOs taking forever, the works. Teams are just afraid to just get on with it for fear of losing.

Didn't in 87 but I know what you mean. Unfortunately by playing our best side next two pool matches we will probably spring into life again.

That's a good question. I don't believe momentum does exist, not in the way a series has it. That's because the opposition is always different, making all the matches one offs. I think 87 allowed the ABs to build up momentum through the tournament and perhaps England in 03 but the rest are largely a bunch of one offs.

Doesnt really explain why almost half the top 15 countries are coached by NZers or NZ educated rugby people (Tonga) does it Birdy? I do agree that nations lift for the WC but its obvious NZ has the best players, the best coaching and the best team in the world. Also it is obvious that France beat NZ out of WCs, as do Aus and SA. Has NZ ever lost to teams they dont lose to out of WCs in a WC? No. NZ does not beat France about 25% of the time. Aus 32% of the time and SA 42%. Nice theory but it doesnt hold up.

He would of been of proud of Namibia's management of the yellow card that could of seen the flood gates open up.

A lot of the time taken out of the game in the second half were due to scrums and lineouts being set from AB errors. The two tries that came off clear cut forward passes. Namibia only made 50 odd metres carrying the ball in hand. You have to give them credit for not conceding 80-90 plus

Another point worth raising is that we've struggled on EOYTs ever seen Hansen took over and had numerous ugly performances similar to the ones we've seen so far, though I did enjoy the Argentina match in terms of ibeing a competitive game. Not sure why we have such a hard time adjusting to NH conditions under Hansen.

The All Blacks didn't seem interested in scoring 100 points, and I don't think they really picked the team to do it, especially with Slade at fullback. I don't think too many people recall the points we put on Canada or Japan in the last Cup and in the end those matches weren't pivotal to our campaign, but it is disappointing to see the same guys continuously struggling even against the lowest ranked side.

I have not yet scrolled down however I expect to find comment to the effect that earnest statistical analysis clearly demonstrates Sir Richie is to blame because he cynically cheats the referees into bringing the game back to his plodding pace. The last match analysis here of the All Blacks was simply the best entertainment reading the contortions performed to get Sir Richie.

Your view wrt the props is interesting. I agree re. Woodcock and have some sympathy for the O Franks view. Woodcock hasn't been world class for 4 years. He's had one good half season in all that time - later part of 2013. Test centurion or not I think he's washed up. O Franks hasn't looked like ripping the oppo apart for a couple of years either although he's quietly got a bit better again this year. i still think he offers more as a starting prop than Fa'aumuina. But his brother Ben has looked pretty hungry all year - perhaps he's worth a crack. IMO Laulala has been our best scrummaging prop this year; there's an Olo Brown aspect to him (but bigger). I can see him leapfrogging both Franks and Fa'aumuina next year.

Straight after the NZRU dug deep to keep him and Brodie in the country for four years on Ritchie and Dan level contracts too.

that "team" that played gets very little time to jell on the field of play. The A team gets all the time in the world. That and every opposition lifts against the ABs .

You are right. The ab's really struggled to put nine tries on nambia despite there only being 12 minutes of rugby in the second half. It was a real demonstration if how terrible the ab's are.

agree oj. I have been asking mates at work about the point of the big teams caring about how they "look" during pool play as opposed to simply ensuring they make the finals. it is hard enough to put 3 complete performances together to win the thing, so why the stress over the pool matches. this time, it would only really matter in the oz/wales/eng group, but again, looking good in that tough pool wont mean much when each final game is played. does momentum exist in WC's?

Like others have said, I'm pretty happy they're not playing blinders and getting complacent from pools. That's gone badly for us in the past.

Opposed training run? Really? The knock ons, side to side running, tackled in to touch and losing it in contact regularly. Never mind the two tries scored off forward passes and the blatant one by the 9 in the build up to the first try after half time. Jacques Burger didn't bitch and moan to the ref to tell him to go upstairs unlike Richie and Cane.

Well done Namibia. They did well in limiting the damage and reminded me of the All Whites in the 2010 Football World Cup. Defend like your lives depend on it, shut as much down as you can and if you get a chance or two throw the kitchen sink at it. I was apoplectic watching the game last night and I think part of it was because I'm worried this fiasco will repeat itself in the knockout stages. Kickoff was at 8pm Irish time and I walked out of the pub the instant the final whistle blew-which was just before 10. That is a debacle. The game was dreadful anyway, with NZ opting to practice their set piece and a structured game instead of running it from everywhere but not being accurate enough in the face of tenacious defence. But the flow of the game was not the only thing that led to the margin being a lot closer than it should. Due to the stoppages Namibia had enough gas in the tank to go the full 80. The All Blacks rule the last 20 traditionally as their skill level and fitness tell. But this advantage that they work so hard to get was completely negated by Poite's whistle. This happened the whole game, but the second half ball was in play for 12 minutes. 12! If the ABs find themselves in a hole in a knockout match and this goes on the chances of them getting out will diminish drastically. They sacrifice a lot for their approach-they are not one of the bigger teams and they often lose the collision in the first half especially, only to pick up as the game goes on. Without this advantage to call on in the second half they may as well have a couple of salad dodgers in the pack to specialise in set piece. They have to bleat about it now and get it addressed. What New Zealand can fix is their intensity and communication. NMS is promising all right but he falls over a hell of a lot and often his teammates aren't in sync with what he's trying to do. They know SBW so are more confident there but hopefully the more they practice the more NMS can get in tune with his support runners. SBW is outstanding at present-would have Nonu start but his impact has been fantastic. Fekitoa was ineffective last night strangely-though I don't think he was entirely to blame. If you look at his feet at the point of contact when he was bumped off you'll see a teammate bump him and put him off balance. Easy meat unfortunately but it happens a lot-a lot of players get slated for missing tackles when people banging into them can often be to blame. The biggest worry to me is NZ's starting props. Owen Franks and Woodcock are not world class any more and they're not playing with the intensity that made them world class. They're not destructive enough in the scrum and they're taking far too long to get up after tackles. Unfortunately the other props are far better as impact players-see how well Fa'aumuina is playing-so Hansen hopefully will give them a kick up the jacksie. Sounds arrogant but I think an 70-80 point win was par. If NZ had cut loose from the start it could have been 100. 70 maybe since they wanted to get some set piece practice in but Namibia's guts and canny ways of slowing everything down (including Poite's infuriating permission of this) put paid to any semblance of that. Felt like the 07 QF. Slag NZ off, give great credit to Namibia, and do your nut in about the officiating. The difference though? Well NZ have three games at least to get it right.

If we had clocked up 100 and everything had worked like clockwork well who knows.we had a spanner chucked at us today.rather have work to do.

I was impressed with Cane for a first hit out in a long time and with the added responsibility.So happy for him.Cant help to think even with a long way to go he is a Mcaw prodigy in the making.