Roar Rookie
Joined March 2017
2.8k
Views
1
Published
7
Comments
Published
Comments
Perhaps Jim O'Neill and Phil Kearns have it right. What if we've been thinking about this culling of Super Rugby teams all wrong? There…
It’s not meant to be an Auckland bash per se. More the problem of Auckland media dominance influencing selection. Rugby isn’t the only area to be troubled by the changing media landscape – an irony is that theroar is small part of this problem/solution of course.
The three blokes Paddy has to shift out of the way are Scott B, Sam W and Brodie. He just hasn’t become a must start, which is similar to most of the others in the list above.
Thanks for the article Highlander.
All Blacks squad for Springboks series suggests Foster is about to make the same mistakes all over again
There are just too many Aucklanders.
We’re off to South Africa, the land of Wild Dog packs and rampaging Wildebeest backs. Their rugby is direct, simple and beautiful. We need staunch man ‘o man rugby. But we are carrying dead weight.
Caleb Clarke. A wrecking ball going forward but poor under the highball and reading defence. Plus has been under an injury cloud. Mayne they’ve been working on some of those deficiencies, but is that what the AB’s are for – remedial work?
RTS. A special project. Reeks of elitism. Most have to bide their time in NPC and Super Rugby, earning their rugby stripes there. Remembering Things Past – at best this kind of appointment would be introduced in a match against Italy, and spend several years working his way through the ranks. Not SA away.
Rieko Ioane. Yes he has speed, but that is not the most important element in a Center. Our great centers Conrad, Smoking Joe were slow pokes by comparison.
Stephen Perofeta. Why is he here? We don’t need three first fives. Is he there purely for his interplay with BB. That’s a double down on one man. Viva la team.
Finlay Christie. Two brand spanking new halfbacks to tour South Africa with. Really? What happened to wisdom and experience. Weber and/or TJ must be feeling mightily aggrieved.
Dalton P / Akira Ioane. We have too many sevens in our back three. We have one specialist 6 in Frizell ( a late addition) and one specialist 8, Sotutu, who can’t seem to get on the park as the 8 slot is taken by Ardie. We need to get rid of one of these two.
Patrick Tuipulotu. Poor old Paddy. Just hasn’t been able to shift the three blokes ahead of him out of the way. Will he ever match the plethora of great locks we see around the world at the moment? Nah.
As for the small numbers. Who the F knows. but I see an Auckland pack touched up by the Brumbies and the Highlanders and I wonder – are they really the men for the job?
Look, I hope I’m wrong, but as Mr Highlander has said, it’s hard to see much change ahead. The best mix and match I can see is something like this. Bye bye Aucklanders.
Bench – Attack Attack Attack
SR, BB, FF, AS – Ardie covers all 3 with aplomb TV, SS, unsure of best props
Run-on team
JB, WJ, RI, JG, QT, RM, AS, HS, SC, SF, SB, SW, CT – Pairing with SB and SW…., unsure of best props
All Blacks squad for Springboks series suggests Foster is about to make the same mistakes all over again
Selection is everything.
It was a shambles from the beginning, why announce the AB selection before the Super Rugby final?
It’s hard to say this but there are too many Barretts. All have the “I can play anywhere man” attitude. I see no family synergy dividend on the park either. SB, the man with the most undervalued skill set, now looks like number 1 of the trio.
There are way too many Blues. Just because Auckland has the loudest media doesn’t necessarily make what it says is correct. I’m looking at you Sir JK along with a host of other myopic clowns.
Tough bikkies Dalton P. You have to get past our two good 7’s in Cane, and Savea. Bide your time. We don’t need you at the moment, our sevens aren’t the problem.
Nah to Ioane as a Center. Sure you are fast, but that is not a core element in being a Center – see Smoking Joe Stanley or our man Conrad.
And way too many Blues in the front row. Touched up by the Highlanders and the Brumbies pre the Super rugby final so why persist?
And just sort out the 6 & 8 slots. How hard can it be?
An 8 or 6 that shines in an average pack means either the pack isn’t that average or they are way above average. So for example in the bottom of the table Highlanders, I’m looking at you Frizzell and Tu’u. If the pack is better than perceived, allowing 6 and 8 to play, then test them out – hello De Groot & Dickson.
As an aside Grace has a free ride in a fat pack. Choose someone who understands adversity, (on the proviso that they have the basic skills.) And please just say NO, NO, NO to Akira or DP on the side. Fine against Italy, awful against South Africa.
Put Savea, BB and Will J on the bench – attack time should it be needed. Make our bench feared. The flip side of the bomb squad.
Little heart, zero discipline: The falsest of All Black dawns collapses in a heap
The tables have turned.
1. France. Sacrebleu. Beautiful gorgeous France playing Rugby Total, à la (former) les Noirs.
2. Ireland. The smiling eyes of the assassin. Boa constrictor rugby. Hold the pill, control the tempo, smother defence and play in the other’s half.
3. South Africa. Thugby as it is played in heaven. They have the world’s second mightiest pack, the first sits on their sideline.
4. New Zealand. First of the mercurial Pacific Island nations. A little bit meh on set piece and forward play, but oh what beautiful breakout skills some of those lads have.
Little heart, zero discipline: The falsest of All Black dawns collapses in a heap
Hang your head in shame NZ.
You had two years to counter the Boks strategy. Two years. There were no surprises, no phantom trickery, it was the same Boks 2019, 2020 and now 2021. Yet you had no answer. You were beaten in the breakdown. You were beaten in the scrums. You were beaten at the lineout. You failed repeatedly to catch the ball, whether it was high or low.
Yes, yes, you won. But you failed. Miserably.
All that ball that was given to you to catch and return with interest you failed. If this is where the new coaches have lead us I remain fearful for the future.
Boks coach bemoans 'bounce of the ball' as youngster's massive play secures All Blacks win
I don’t think mediocrity is the right word Nicholas.
The idea is to create a “competition” – where people compete in a “match”. Teams which are of a similar ability (matched) are likely to create an environment where there is ‘competition’. The results should not be easily guessed – make the bookies work harder for their money.
At the moment one could argue that some of the other rugby competitions suffer some systemic ‘match’ and ‘competition’ flaws. The 6N nations have Italy, perennial cellar dwellers ( apart from a couple of years). The Rugby Championship + Tri-Nations is NZ skewed, as the graph above shows, and the jury is out on Argentina’s ability to compete for the ultimate prize. I’m not abreast of European rugby competitions to comment on them.
Ultimate excellence should reside in the Internationals, where the cream of each country performs for the greatest honours. What we are craving for is a competition where teams are matched.
Winning isn’t everything in a ‘competition’. Scotland’s role in the 6Nations , where it hasn’t ever won ( 16 years and counting) plays the role of a constant spoiler. It has integrity even if it hasn’t won any trophies. One might say that the Highlanders have played a similar role in NZ.
Equally I don’t necessarily buy the argument that the rugby is any more mediocre in Super 18 than it was in Super 12. That was part of the point in the analysis – NZ has dominated the tournament since the advent of Sanzaar (nee Sanzar). If we could time travel a team back in time I wonder how 2016’s Hurricanes would perform against the Super 12’s 2004 Brumbies. or if the 2004 Cats played the 2016 Sunwolves.
What I thought of interest is that in the Super 6 and 10 both SA and Australia prospered. This indicates to me that at that point the domestic structures of SA and OZ where producing a higher standard of rugby than NZ’s NPC equivalents. (Clearly would need some extra analysis but an interesting conjecture.)
Once Sanzar was formed it all went downhill for SA and OZ. It may well be that this NZ dominance is cyclical, but it’s a very long cycle, and as someone famous once said – in the long run we are dead. (It’s lucky that rugby is the game they play in heaven then!)
Cutting teams is not the answer for Super Rugby
Irony Alert:
The ABs, SA, France, Wales, Ireland, you get the picture, have never wasted, sorry, managed the end of a test game where they have a slender winning margin.
I look forward to watching the All Blacks with this new found mindset in the future.
'Worst call in rugby history' or 'brave, correct and necessary'? World reacts to Bledisloe controversy, ref torched