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Joined August 2018
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mostly grey hair now, still play golden oldies, try to be balanced but struggle at times, played in NZ and a little in UK back in the day - Club level.
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Nope. You can hear Garces in the game telling England to “get on the line” etc four times – in the first 4 AB throws. They ignored him and he did nothing so the AB’s figured it was low risk to do the same.
Sir Brodie takes Prince Maro off his high horse at Twickenham
The WB lock, Coleman was it – who kept on running into contact vertical. Was it 3 lost possessions/penalties for the same thing by the same player? Pretty crucial. Pocock was awesome, but the lone ranger. Kerevi too slow for centre, and in my opinion will be cited and will be suspended. Toomua looked good, should be at 2nd five anyway. Foley OK.
But a strange game plan from Oz. Folau a passenger. Wales gave so many chances to exploit, but none were.
Wallabies frustration continues with loss to Wales
Isn’t the best measure, the number of years for which a player was first choice AB (whatever team) starter?
Meads = 14 or do we take off 1957 – 58?
McCaw = 13 or one less’perhaps as he wasn’t always starter in 03?
Fitzy = 11? or take off 1986 to make 10?
Nonu = 12 years but less say 4 years when he wasn’t #1?
My numbers are off the top of my head but you get the point.
All Blacks and those 'confetti caps'
Adam, I’m saying that if the Ref puts one team in front in the first 5 mins for an accidental offside penalty or similar – BUT then won’t call one the other way in the last 5 minutes, that is not acceptable. If it were just the rub of the green – fair enough, but what the WR Ref guy said was that they don’t want the Ref to be in the hot seat, by taking an action that decides the game, – they want the players to decide it. BUT the unintended consequence of that is that the Ref does decide it, but in an unfair way by NOT calling a blatant penalty, – for the sole reason that the game is close and near the end. I agree that if you are good enough – you will build a lead such that the Ref can’t influence the result. But in the case of two closely matched teams, two identical offences, one in the first 5 mins and one in the last 5 mins = one team winning by 3 points. I think WR have this wrong and the Ref should apply the rules the same way from the start to full time, and the players should be well aware of that, – as opposed to knowing it is worth a risk inside the last 10.
Were South Africa denied a crucial game-winning penalty opportunity?
The big issue here is that since at least RWC 15, Refs have pretty much been under instruction to let the players decide the match in the last 10 minutes. I.e. to try to avoid deciding a game by use of the whistle in the last 10. The all time classic example is in the B&I Lions final test last year. Clear inarguable penalty vs Lions, and called as such. Then the touchie says “we have a way out of this”. Have seen it is quite a few other tests as well, and the Farrell tackle is another example. For mine, the Ref decides the match by inaction as well as action. The failure to call a penalty in the last minute decides the game – just as calling a penalty might. So the Ref is still deciding the result, but is doing so by allowing breaches of the laws. That is a far greater injustice than calling a penalty. But the main problem is that the players know this and start playing accordingly. In the last Bledisloe, the AB’s got a penalty 7 m out from the WB goal line. Foley and 3 others stood 1m in the field of play, when they should have been behind the line. That 1m is the difference between scoring a try and not. Why should these things be allowed in the final 5 minutes, are World Rugby suggesting that the last five mins can be a free-for-all? And will that be applied to all sides? Or are only the under-dogs allowed that leeway? I.e. there is leeway if it “is Good For The Game”.
Were South Africa denied a crucial game-winning penalty opportunity?
You mean the way Kepu tried to take out Carter in the WC final 2015, or Pocock tried in BC 2 last week, that kind of thing?
Pocock out: Wallabies hit by major injury blow ahead of Springboks Test
Yep Neil, had a good look, still feel the same way… Lived, worked, played in England – loved it, great people. But their rugby establishment – no thanks. Supporters – very cool, we passionless kiwis could learn a lot from Pommie fans, exhibit 1 – the great fun had by mixed Lions and AB supporters before and after the third test, was awesome, and as some English fans said – if it was football, the riot police would have been needed in force, but there were zero arrests. But on the other hand, the arrogance of the RFU takes the breath right away.
Are the All Blacks still happy when they win?
Some cool comments here. Brings to mind how I felt when Ireland beat us for the first time, in Chicago. They outplayed us, threw the kitchen sink, went for tries and got them – deserving winners, and although it was disappointing to let them get that monkey off their backs – we kind of knew it was coming after increasingly narrow escapes in the Schmidt era. Would the admiration have turned to griping had we lost the return battle in Dublin? Maybe,… The thing is – me and I think most of my rugby mates, enjoyed the game in Chicago because of the endeavour and skill of Ireland, and maybe because in our gut we felt that we had one escape too many, and karma would get us in the end..
So is it sustainable? Or will the NH money overcome all in the end, and will we see International rugby go the way England and France want it to – and the way League did ages ago, where Clubs rule and tests are a unimportant sideshow? I bloody well hope not. Which is why it’s in everyones interest for tests to be competitive.
One last comment – I doubt I would ever enjoy seeing England beat us, no matter how well they played. And I fully understand the flip side of that view….. If we beat them by 120, I would enjoy every try. I get that many other countries have that view of the AB’s, – they want to see them fail and fall. And thats OK.
Are the All Blacks still happy when they win?
Baggio – that is what I was referring to in respect of the great Ozzie cricket teams, why they celebrated so much when they beat little old NZ. Maybe it’s the same reason that we ceelbrate beating litle brother or big brother – there is an extra element to it than just objective logic
Are the All Blacks still happy when they win?
I used to wonder this about the great Ozzie cricket teams of Warne, Waughs, McGrath etc. They always won, it was really just a question of by how much. At times it used to grate a little when they would celebrate wildly upon beating someone that everyone else thought was a given – and I think that is also the case with the AB’s.
Especially for us who saw some of the lows of the 70’s, 90’s etc. My mates are enjoying this “McCaw” era, as we know that it won’t last forever. The day will come – as it did for the Ozzie cricket teams, and all other dynasties, when the star falls, and the grind returns. Maybe we should call it the “Hansen” era as his star is more closely aligned with the AB’s recent winning ways. But remember the Eales era – when it seemed we were never going to beat them, then we longed for the day Eales retired, and along came Mortlock et al.
So yes, we enjoy every moment watching this streak, yes we can be picky, and instead of being happy with a win, we want more, we want to see some scintillating tries, and stellar individual games. That does not beat the epic down to the wire contests where the lead changes hands several times – as we have seen versus the Boks a couple of times in the last few years. As long as we win…..
The Lions series – now there was a hollow feeling. We should have won and we didn’t. SBW, the Refs, the Lions, Gatland, all played a part – but there was not much pleasure to be had after the first test. But was it good in the longer term for AB and other rugby? Yep. 07 was way more disappointing than that. No doubt the great Oz cricket team could proffer up some similar hollow feelings. Quite a few Oz league teams have been in the same vein, no-one could consistently compete with them, but their supporters (as with us AB fans) sometimes seemed unable to recognise the inevitability of beating inferior sides who were in a low patch and doing their best. The worm will turn one day, so take it easy…
Look at English football, where fans go decades of their team battling away in lower grades, but oh how the loyal fan celebrates when his moments in the sun return again. Leicester a good example. So for this AB fan – yes, watching the AB’s thrash someone, playing good code has it’s own kind of buzz. Not the equal of winning a seesaw one where both play well, like a classic one dayer where you give up hope, seven down with 100 to get off 10, only to see your team claw back into it. Do we think it will last forever? Hell no, although the culture that Hansen, Umaga, McCaw, Mealamu, Read, etc have created certainly seems pretty durable right at the moment.
Are the All Blacks still happy when they win?
Did you notice when NH scored that last try, the R Hodge was absolutely spent, and battling to even run. I haven’t gone back to see if he had just made some superhuman defensive effort to even be there, but along with a few other Wallabies, he looked out of gas. Didn’t seem to me that the sides were that far apart in terms of what defence cost them in gas, pretty even all around in the first half anyway, and well into the 2nd. I know defence takes it out of you more than attack, so maybe that is what happened. After SR, would have thought everyone was pretty fit, making allowances for Hooper and others just back into it from injury.
Overall – the Wallabies were two spilt passes/bad decisions away from being well ahead. The AB’s may have run them down. We also got the rub of the green from the ref, and as is the way of those things – if both of those two factors change at Eden park – I think it will be a good tight game. it will be the test of Cheika – if they get whipped, I think his management and tactical skills will be in the spotlight. If the WB’s make it tight or god forbid win – he will be rightly due praise of high magnitude.
The Wallabies had Plan A. The All Blacks had Plan A and B
Those clips also highlight how J Mitchell (and others such as Gatland, Farrell, and plenty in the SH as well) have coached what they call linespeed. In actual fact – it is working out how offside the outside backs can be without getting pinged. As you can see above – it’s about 1 to 2m. Thats the difference between a good game of code and a not so good one, in terms of entertaining skillfull backplay. It’s interesting that the AB’s are playing a different D and it looks like they are practising for the RWC by making sure they are onside all the time, to avoid risk. Recalls the spidercam shots of the RWC 2011 final, when under huge french pressure, you could see the backs incl sometime offenders like Nonu – all turning and getting well back behind the line before turning and coming again. Energy sapping, and bloody hard yakka, but a good discipline, especially with an away crowd. I do wonder though, whether it might be better to join the linespeed crowd as it doesn’t seem WR are going to do anything about it.
"If it bleeds we can kill it": Can anyone bring down the All Blacks?