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I’ve found it interesting that they’ve retained BB for kick offs – imagine him as a chaser instead! He’s excellent in the air under the high ball – let him have at it!
Barrett: Our attack will click and All Blacks will retain the Bledisloe
BB only missed 1 kick. Jordie kicked the penalty attempt.
Five talking points from the Super Rugby semi-finals
Hm, interesting. A quick look on RPI – they have him as 10/11 for the night!
Four very deserving winners to lift the Super Rugby cup from here
Noticed that too. Wondered if was more of an attempt to rattle him? I mean your 10 is never going to be the strongest defender in the team but BB does a good job and his tackle stats are pretty good. Given also, they are probably slightly misleading as he is often the last defender/tackler chasing a line break, or covering someone else’s miss.
Four very deserving winners to lift the Super Rugby cup from here
Completely agree. His kick to set up Rayasi’s try was a good example. Used a spiral kick that the commentators called “wobbly”, however I think it’s intentional, as we’ve seen it a fews times this year. He’s putting up kicks that are really hard to catch and I can think of about 4 or 5 examples where the catcher has either dropped it, completely misjudged it (ie Pollard) or fumbled it into touch for a huge Canes net gain. His play may not be making the highlight reel as we are used to, but he’s been consistently good for the Canes.
Four very deserving winners to lift the Super Rugby cup from here
Also, I hope they play with the same defensive grit they showed against the Blues last week. It was great to watch. I thought BB was excellent defensively last week and am a bit disappointed he’s not playing again this week. There’s no question about his attacking skills, but wow I love watching him defend well. Same with TJ. He was an absolute nightmare at Blues scrum time – just awesome.
Super Rugby Round 14 teams: Quade Cooper cleared to face Bulls; three changes for Tahs
Totally agree. Maybe they believe between TJ and Jordie they’ll have enough direction to cope without a specialist 10? I sure hope so….
Super Rugby Round 14 teams: Quade Cooper cleared to face Bulls; three changes for Tahs
Off the top of my head, every team has been involved in an ‘upset’ of sorts this season – Tahs v Saders, Tahs v Sunwolves, Chiefs v Brumbies etc etc. Everyone except the Canes… I fear, minus BB, this could be the week. My inner optimist says the Canes proficiency on the counter will see them out of trouble… I hope so!!
Super Rugby Round 14 teams: Quade Cooper cleared to face Bulls; three changes for Tahs
I wonder whether it is more to do with the fact that Super Rugby is (in some ways) seen as the training ground for test rugby. You can practice goal-kicking without an opposition, but it’s much harder to practice attacking rugby, set pieces etc. without an opposition? So they take the chance to practice scoring in 5s and 7s when they have the most useful resource: an opposing team.
What impact could Super Rugby teams ignoring points have in a RWC year?
“you do realise the legal clause was based on moral principles”. Yes – moral principles Folau willingly signed up to….
Michael Cheika the latest to hit out at Israel Folau's recent social media post
Kids don’t need to develop resilience by being harrassed and ridiculed. If that’s how we do it, then yes some will end up tough, but a whole heap will end up with mental health problems, or dead. The stats around LGBTIQ mental health and suicide have been posted here several times and prove that this is right.
The three reasons RA must come down hard on Folau
Good for you. As a gay rugby fan it’s about me too. And while I’m waaay past the point of caring what a dickhead like Folau thinks, I know 13 year old me would have cared. It’s easy to forget how much resilience we develop as an adult, and how little some kids have. Especially kids in already vulnerable positions.
The three reasons RA must come down hard on Folau
It’s easy to say “who cares” or “I’m not offended” when it’s not about you…
The three reasons RA must come down hard on Folau
I never said that though? I think the opposition should be able to respond however they want – singing, walking towards it etc.
I'm totally over the Haka
Completely agree – the haka is a challenge and I think the opposition should be able to respond to the challenge however they want.
I'm totally over the Haka
I understand your point, but I don’t quite follow the leap from “opening of an envelope” to the Rugby 7s example – even if the kiwi women did lose, don’t you think for those players, being a part of their national Rugby (7s) team might be something they’re incredibly proud of – that they want to celebrate and honours, through a haka? I think that’s the issue with these sort of arguments – people tend to think the haka is happening left, right and centre – when in reality the event always holds some significance to the people performing it.
I'm totally over the Haka
As a Maori fan of the ABs, I think it’s excellent they perform it every game. It’s a recognition of the history of NZ (unlike Australian officials who seem to be attempting to forget Australia’s Indigeous heritage – Oh, we better chuck in a Welcome to Country…). Being from a culture of a very limited size (less than a million worldwide) with a very limited number who speak Te Reo Maori (estimated at only about 50,000) – it’s absolutely vital to embrace the culture as much as possible. It will die out otherwise.
Non-Maori people treat the haka as if it’s purely performed for their entertainment – maybe it should be considered that it’s not performed just to keep you entertainment? Maybe it’s not just a spectacle for you to watch and down another beer. Maybe it’s meaning is much more significant – it represents to a whole culture of people that they are not being forgotten, but are significant and valued.
I'm totally over the Haka
Completely agree about his kicking – it’s been excellent since SA lost. Maybe it was the spark he needed.
Also on defence – can’t remember the specifics off the top of my head (good excuse to rewatch the game perhaps?), but at one point he had tackled an English player who offloaded, got up, tackled the next player who also offloaded, and was up again to tackle that player. Awesome work rate.
The curious case of Beauden Barrett
Regardless of any of his faults, if given the choice to watch any player at their best, I’d choose Barrett any day. An absolute magician and a joy to watch.
The curious case of Beauden Barrett
Excellent article as always Nick.
Just a (potentially) interesting thought – I wonder if there’s any merit in playing RM at 12? I am a big BB fan and think that he deserves the number 10 spot wholeheartedly, especially with the impressive kicking recently. I think his sheer skill and experience cannot be overlooked. However, I think there are certainly things RM brings to the table that are different and very positive. His last few cameos have involved a lot of hard, straight running that has been excellent. Plus, he’s an excellent distributor. Playing him at 12 would fit directly to the Kiwi idea of a 12 being a second five eighth, rather than a centre perhaps? Steve Hanson and Co talked about utilising DMac at 15 on the weekend to take some pressure of BB in terms of distribution and decision making, to which they both (as well as BB) agreed after the game was very valuable. I wonder if RM at 12 to play that role is not a better way to go? He’s probably a safer choice than DMac at 15, then also allows Ben Smith back to FB, and DMac back to the bench where he makes a fantastic impact player. It gets the three – BB, DMac and RM – in the starting 23 (as been discussed recently) without shifting Ben Smith from his preferred position. It would also allow Naholo back to the wing, where I think his size is missed.
The mid-field seems the shakiest point for the ABs currently, with both SBW and Crotty injury prone and (somewhat) underperforming.
It would be an interesting choice with who to play at 13? I wonder if RM’s defence would let this idea down? (Not really a comment on his defence – I have not played enough close attention to it – more of a genuine enquiry?)
Do the Wallabies have reason to be cheerful from Bledisloe 3?
Further to the original post – I think the restarts were a real area of concern/let down for the ABs last week. Took too long to switch to a short restart (scored a first phase try as soon as they switched….) and also conceded way too many first phase penalties that allowed the Wallabies to clear their own red zone too easily. One was a high tackle and one an offside (maybe ? cant remember). If you fix that, Wallabies likely clear to touch and you’ve got the ball back (on half way worst case). Instead they were back on defence straight away!! Frustrating viewing.
Barrett: Our attack will click and All Blacks will retain the Bledisloe