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Joined July 2013
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Coming for the cup? Irish knock off New Zealand 16-9
Congrats to the Irish. It’s a good day to be half-Irish, don’t you think?
Thoroughly, thoroughly outplayed us. The commitment they showed for the full 80, putting their bodies on the line time and time again was one of the more impressive sights I’ve seen from an opposition team.
They looked like they might be there for the taking in the final quarter but the All Blacks’ execution was poor and the Irish didn’t break. Not sure why we took the points at 16-6. A draw would have been a let down so I was kind of happy that the Irish got the win they so richly deserved.
This loss has been brewing all season. The All Blacks were lucky to win in South Africa and at Twickenham but they couln’t scamper home this time. The coaches really need to sit down and have a rethink because if this is their first choice lineup then it simply isn’t good enough. To a man, the Irish outplayed them but there have been flaws all season long.
I cannot see this squad winning the World Cup as it is now. Not without a better blindside and a functioning backline. McKenzie needs to head back to the bench, Ben Smith should play at fullback and TJ should start. Either that or Mo’unga starts, Barrett is at fullback and Smith on the wing. McKenzie was targeted two weeks in a row. He played bravely but the tactics worked. Smith should have been fullback in both games. TJ should have started both tests as well. And Squire is not the man to lead us to World Cup victory unless he recovers some form.
Coming for the cup? Irish knock off New Zealand 16-9
Barrett wasn’t perfect at Twickenham but at least he tried to play a tactical game in the conditions. His goalkicking, which was a liability a few months ago, won us that test. When Barrett attempts a dropkick you know he is trying to show he can be a true five-eighths.
He’s never going to be the player that Fox, Mehrts, or Carter were. The question is whether he can be a World Cup winning version of Carlos Spencer.
I agree that Williams doesn’t play well alongside him. Williams was much more successful outside of Cruden. Cruden was more of a pass-first first five. He didn’t use his running game as much as Barrett does. Barrett doesn’t make great decisions from phase play but he is good at set-piece plays and in broken play or counter-attack situations his playmaking is excellent.
One thing I’ll say about Barrett’s performance at Twickenham is that it gave me more confidence in his ability in a tight test match than Wellington or the Lion series did.
The curious case of Beauden Barrett
The Boks have some exciting players. I thought they played the best anyone has against us since the Irish test in Chicago. Can’t wait for the rematch. There’s a real chance that South Africa will beat us 2-0 this season.
As a rabid All Blacks fan, why was I okay with this shocking loss?
It was a great game and I was happy for the South African players after the game. You could tell how much it meant to them.
But can we please be big enough to hand over the kicking duties to someone else the next time Barrett struggles? Why was he still kicking when McKenzie and his brother were on the field?
As a rabid All Blacks fan, why was I okay with this shocking loss?
My first exposure to the All Blacks as a kid was during the dominant 1987-89 period. I remember being hurt and confused when that team began losing.
I had this foldout Steinlager poster of the 1991 World Cup draw here you filled in the results of each match as the tournament unfolded, and believe me it was unfathomable to me that I wasn’t going to fill in the All Blacks results all the way to the final.
After that, we lived through some pretty dark times — the 1994 French series, the Gregan try, the 1995 World Cup final, the 1998 Bledisloe Cup series, the five losses on a trot, etc. There were some moments of glory during that era like the 1996 series win in South Africa and the Sydney 2000 Bledisloe test and of course those moments meant more than this year’s Bledisloe Cup series. From all of that pain and hurt came moments of triumph and victory.
With regard to the current period of All Blacks dominance, the first point I would make is that it has gone on for far longer than expected. It used to be that you got 2-3 years max out of a great rugby side and then you went through a period of decline and had to rebuild the side. But this All Blacks set-up has managed to sustain a winning culture for 13 years. There have been some dips along the way and some of the squads have been better than others, but this has probably been the most dominant era in All Blacks’ history surpassing the 50s and 60s. So it’s an unprecedented era of success.
If I am being honest, there has been a come down since the 2015 World Cup victory. We finally got the monkey off our backs with that victory but now there is no more Everest to climb and I don’t support the All Blacks with quite the same passion and vigour as I did before.
Deep down, part of me wishes we could lose something important so that we had to fight to regain it. At first, holding onto the Bledisloe was payback for all those years of hurt and frustration during 1998-2002 — and trust me, that period really, really, really hurt. Now it’s a situation where no All Blacks side wants to be the first side to lose the Cup back but at the same time there is no more hurt left. We’ve exorcised all of the demons from those last minute heartbreakers.
I think most serious All Blacks fans care about the performance more than the result. They want to see the All Blacks play well and produce a complete performance. There are still thrilling victories in close tests (there were two last year in the Rugby Championship for example) and there are still the times of games you live for like that test in South Africa a few years back. But I think the losses or the bad performances stick with you far longer than the wins. They gnaw away at you and continue to frustrate and irritate you for years afterward. I’ll be perfectly honest, I am still frustrated by a number of All Black losses in recent times, The euphoria of winning (when it is, in fact, euphoric) fades quickly. In that sense, there is a sentiment at times that the winning culture the All Blacks have established is a desperate bid to fend off the monstrous negativity that comes from an All Blacks’ loss. The team is striving for excellence but it is also afraid of losing. Winning, therefore, can sometimes come as a relief rather than pure joy.
However, the attitude of “oh, we win so much we can’t enjoy it” strikes me as somewhat vain. Like we’re on some kind of higher sphere that other sports fans can’t understand. I am proud of the All Blacks’ record but at the same time always searching for something more.
Are the All Blacks still happy when they win?
Didn’t really like Barrett going for the drop goal or taking the points at 16-6. That’s usually what the opposition do against us, though more and more they are trying to kick for touch and score. A bit too conservative for my liking. It almost feels like an overreaction to Wellington.
The curious case of Beauden Barrett