There are many who refuse to accept any reason other than pressure from the Springboks for last week’s disgraceful All Blacks performance. There were in fact a number of reasons including poor selections for what was always going to be a battle at the breakdown, leadership was not great and handling skills especially under the high ball were severely lacking from most other than J Barrett.
Springboks pressure no doubt contributed but only in a minor way and certainly not to the extent that many on here wish to express.
Strangely (or maybe not) a lot of that hesitancy in accepting just how bad the ABs game was comes from Wallaby and Springbok supporters. I suspect it is because acceptance on just how bad the All Blacks really were forces by association an acceptance of how woeful the Springboks game has been in the RC and by further association removes some of the gloss from the recent Wallaby performances.
No doubt I will get a tirade of abuse for this from individuals claiming that I am yet another Kiwi arrogantly bashing the South Africans while they are down or trying to pull Ausie fans down from their current and well deserved happy place but…….

My fervent wish is for the All Blacks to turn up this weekend at thier absolute best and so absolutely destroy this fictional “DNA” Rassi has forced on this team that it never shows its ugly presence in a South African, or any other team game plan again!

That was a very arrogant statement
Yes I saw it, was not sufficient to justify that level of poor performance.
You obviously have little understanding of what real pressure is. Just because a commentator says the pressure us great doesn’t make it so.

Calm down, was not a dig in the slightest.
Of all the teams I would consider it foolish to take on in a corner maul SA would be at the top the of list but the ABs persisted with it when it was obviously not going to work not just once but repeatedly – the definition of stupidity.

On a side note, immediate assumption and willingness to believe any misunderstood comment from a Kiwi supporter must be some sort arrogant abuse is getting a bit on the nose.

No sorry, that was disgraceful.
Lose forwards not competing at ruck, if not for Blackadder ABS would have been destroyed.
More dropped balls than you should see from the ABs in 5 or more games and some of those from players specifically chosen for balls skills.
Repeated mauls going to sideline against the Saffas of all teams!
Hopefully Wallabies and Argies can show us how the game should be played.

HaHa, it’s taken me years to understand my Saffa wife and my wonderful inlaws.
They are British African from Durbin so they don’t use the Afrikans nou meaning no but they do have;
now meaning some time in the future,
now now meaning still in the future but probably with in the next 3 days or
just now which could actually mean now, unless it doesn’t.
I of course noticed straight off when I met my lady how she had that almost 1950s style of femininity and elegance mixed with depth of characater that is so common in Saffa women but what I wasn’t prepared for was the toughness and refusal to compromise for weakness or failure.
I recall ringing her once on my way home from an archery competition to tell her that I’d missed first and come in second place. Her reaction, Aagh! so you’re first loser!

Also Roar, I’ve noticed some shameful titles on your articles lately. Here we have a comment by Saffa legend taken out context and tactfully paired with the mention of a “WC hero” made all the worse by throwing a WC winning Kiwi coach into the first paragraph
Not surprising Boke readers might develop a chippy shoulder.
It’s cheap and tawdry.
Do better Roar

Having a bad day?
This from AB assistant coach;
When asked, Plumtree was very clear that his New Zealand pack were going to need to raise their standards if they wanted to win on Saturday. “For our forwards this is going to be the toughest battle since I’ve been involved. Everything we do has to have more power, more speed”.

Sounds like praise for the Boke based on past (albeit not recent) performance while Stransky was much harsher.
Your team of world champions got spanked twice by the Wallabys (ranked 7th at the time) so a certain level of criticism is to be expected but I’m not seeing the level or the source of it that you obviously are.

Stillmissit
You are so very, very wrong about the Wallaby locks.

Now be honest Alex, those first few paragraphs were a deliberate effort to add a little spice and suck up to the anti Kiwi brigade. At least I hope they were, if not then I’m forced to conclude you included comments on a game you did not in fact watch.

There is no doubt he is starting to get his head in the right space but I worry that he should have been in this situation many months ago. What concerns me is that without the centralisation in Aus rugby that NZ has he will in a few weeks lose any input in where, how and when these guys play. AS national coach he should have input on how these players are managed every time they strap on a boot and each of them should be heading back to their clubs with a list of work ons and instructions to their club/rep side/state/super franchise management teams from MC on what he wants and they should comply otherwise next international season MC has start it all again.
To be honest the guy bothers me a bit with his antics but I do understand his frustrations at time due to the system he has to work in plus I’ve gained a little more respect for him over the last few weeks than I had previously.

PK.
I couldn’t care less about the nationality of the worlds best at anything. It does not diminish or increase my self worth one iota as to whether or not I have shared nationality however for you it obviously does and that to be honest is a bit sad. I simply wish that the awarding of that accolade be correct not just bestowed by individuals with a desperate need for shared glory by association – it is pathetic. Your last comment is like so many others I see from you on here that I normally just pass over without wasting time on because they come from a place of envy and bitterness that I prefer not to get involved with and it shows the crux of the problem in that you project these dark prejudices that have got you so twisted onto others.
I genuinely believe Pocock is not the worlds best. Not because he is Australian but because he has gaps in his skill set. If in the dark recesses of PK World that translates into a hatred of Australians then you have some maturing to do.

It’s a valid question Peter. I spent almost as much time locking as I did at 6 & 7 and know intimately what is required through first hand experience to be a lock or losey yet if you put me in at 10 through to 15 I would be completely lost in positioning and probably fail at many of the finer aspects any of those positions require. This is why I am unwilling to offer comment on those who are tasked with those roles yet you who so obviously has no understanding of the full open sides role beyond the ruck area are willing to make sweeping judgements and get snakey when anybody questions them.
Open side is the most fun, adrenaline packed position there is. 7s basically get to be where the action is all the time. There is no out of position because if you are on the ball, smashing the opposition bloke with the ball, or supporting right up the clacker of your team mate with the ball – as a 7 you are in position. When it comes to open side I loved playing it so much and know it so well that it annoys the heck out of me every time some desk top warrior lessens the importance of a top rate 7 by making out that somebody who most definitely does not fill all aspects of the role is “best in the world” simply based a bias brought about by shared nationality. Pocock as worlds best is as ridiculous as the comments I read on here about Folau as worlds best 15 or QC or Foley each in turn having been touted as worlds best 10. Here is a little tip for you – I support a team that has genuinely provided the “worlds best” in so many positions on so many occasions but you don’t hear me constantly proclaiming it because I don’t need the validation that you seem to crave in having another of your nationality reach the pinnacle – their success is not yours and does not make you a better man.

Peter K – you have never played at 7 ( if at all ) if you think Pocock is the best 7 in the world. I don’t understand this irrational need to proclaim your players as ” best in the world” all the time. There are so many more facets to a good 7s game beyond strength in the ruck. Admittedly he also tackles well IF he doesn’t have to move too far or too fast to meet the ball carrier but that’s it, all he’s got. In attack other than on the back of a maul he contributes little as he is just too slow to keep up and lacking ball in ball skills plus he neither jumps nor lifts well in line outs. He is a very limited player. 7 was always my favourite position because it gives one licence to be where the ball is all the time and a 7 without the speed to keep up with ball or the skills/pace to do anything with it when he gets his hands on it is never going to be best in the world.

It’s not all that bad really Curly, everybody likes the Irish and there is no shame in losing to a performance like that from them.
I have to wonder why when it is so obvious that many of us ABs supporters are feeling conflicted, knowing we should be unhappy about the loss but secretly pleased the Irish finally got the result they have deserved before but fallen short on and yet a couple of nasty narrow minded little people are trying to put the boot into NZ or fabricate some sort of poor reaction from us when there just isn’t one.

I am so tired of the high number of pests on this site showing a distinct lack of class with their habitual whinging and their obvious petty jealousy of the ABs prompting them to make inane and insulting comments to Kiwis in general.
Really some of you guys need to grow up!

Yeah weird isn’t it? Sort of feel the same

Wow, wasn’t expecting to log in and read that. It’s not a good thing for an AB supporter to say but with Hansen not showing the common sense to respect the lineout and with the fact I just can’t help liking the Irish a win for the paddys after so many years of trying wouldn’t leave me too heart broken.
Still it’s not a good show for what is supposed to be a promotion of the game and a shame to go down after such a stellar RC

Yep, its there
Channel 513

I heard a company called Bein Sports is likely to be broadcasting the AB games so I checked on the tele last night and fid find 3 channels with that name as part of my pay tv subscription. They are at or around channel 513 from memory. I didn’tknow they were even there previously as the 3 Fox sports at 501 to 503 are all I normally turn on. I still need to check they are in the tv guide as being on one of those channels but I will need one of my teenagers to show me how. I’ll get back to you after I’ve had a look.
I would expect that despite being a smaller international draw card the Wallaby games would be there too as the home audiences are similar.

I’m OK with the no try call as Savea was deliberately impeded in defence by DHP although it is questionable whether or not Savea would have got a hand on him without DHPs foolish action.
I’m OK with the call to accept that Foley got the ball down first in contact with Coles as the motion looked less like interference with Coles than it did an honest effort to get his hand around Coles……… Maybe.
I’m OK with the forward pass call on Cruden despite the imagery suggesting the ball left his hands backwards and drifted forward.
I’m OK with all of this as ultimately the better team won and whether it would have been 6 try’s to 2 or 7 to 2 (or 1) or 8 to 2 (or1) is irrelevant and these ridiculous assertions about momentum shifts or decisions affecting the attitudes of the players suggest a frailty of mind that should not exist in a professional athlete.
There are no game defining moments in an outcome where the gap in skills is so wide. None of these decisions were going to affect the outcome.
On the positive side Australia has finally recognised the value of a strong locking combo – Hallelujah!
I thought the niggle aspect was just right this week too. Not enough to incur the wrath of Owens and not sliding into the brainless thuggery we’ve seen this year but just enough ball slowing and annoyance to disrupt where needed.
The young fellas went well too. Yes some errors in there but they will improve with experience and I believe Aus management needs to persist with them and even bring more into the squad not revert to the short sighted policy of dragging fossils home from the Northern Hemisphere. There is young talent in Australia despite the lack of national direction.

DHP obviously thought a tackle was going to be made.

Rubbish tragic, he impeded Savea in a manner well beyond jostling and it was a dumb thing to do.

DHP changed his line, Cruden did not. No trip.

It’s a pot v kettle thing.

Thank you – exactly what I was going to write. Kafers outburst was ridiculous and unexpected from him. Anybody suggesting Savea might not have caught Speight needs to drop that line also as contrary to the assertion of Kearns that he was 5 – 6 metres behind, he wasn’t and DHP obviously felt that Savea was a danger to Speight or he wouldn’t have changed his running line so obviously. And contrary to the article above it wasn’t a case of DHP “appearing” to change his running line – he deadset impeded Savea deliberately and Owens was correct in his decision.
This was an improved Wallabies performance and full credit to them but a lower standard by the ABs. The foot on the throat type of ruthlessness I expect wasn’t there typified the incredible decision to end the game with a kick to touch instead a scrum and potential further 5 – 7 points. I found that quite bizarre.

There was no deliberate change of line