The Roar
The Roar

Sam Taulelei

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Joined February 2008

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You must be younger than your photo presents Hamish.

The All Blacks captaincy during my youth was defined by their status and surety in selection.

The captaincy years that started with Taine Randell and ended with Anton Oliver illustrated a period of regeneration and inconsistency for the All Blacks where the captain wasn’t widely regarded as the best player in their position which attracts greater scrutiny and controversy when the team isn’t performing to public expectations.

Razor's pursuit of 'hard bastard' Sam Whitelock reveals the ugly truth about the modern All Blacks

Tahs will be justified in smelling blood in the water with forced and enforced substitutions by the Clan this week.

Blues dominated possession and gainline carries, and Tahs have the forwards to follow that blueprint. Holloway will be a constant pest and menace at lineouts, and the Clan are already short of locks with injuries to Parkinson, Dunshea and Will Tucker, forcing no.8 Renton to also cover any game injuries in that position.

Lack of X factor??? perhaps to some, and yet when you review the 5 tries scored by the Clan in spite of the lack of possession and gainline advantage, you’ll see evidence of switches on attack, quick and accurate passing, clever offloads, grubber kicks behind the defence, players in motion wrapping round from the blindside which expertly manipulated and broke down the Blues defence.

The assists from Fakatava and Patchell were absolute pearlers.
Lots to like from both sides last week, another tough match to pick this week – is the competition finally starting to live up to its moniker?

ANALYSIS: Battle for the gain-line to decide if ‘Tah tough’ Waratahs can go back-to-back against Kiwi teams

Geoff was thinking to myself, what is the purpose of this round? What is “super” about it? The only distinctive feature is that one venue hosts all teams one weekend. That’s it.
No other sense of this round having a unique identity about it to make people pencil in their calendar for next year and the year after that.
Melbourne is unfairly slighted and criticised only because they put their hands up and in their pockets to host. I think its fair to suggest that we’d see similar fan uptake at other venues, apart from the islands, because as a future appointment it has as much to look forward to as the dentist. Necessary but not necessarily appealing.

The Wrap: ‘World’s best provincial rugby competition’ delivers a superb Super Round

I think you’ve undersold the Canes pack.
They had the best scrum in last years competition winning 89% of their scrums and on the strength of their efforts after two games, they’ve improved again.
Looking forward to seeing them against the Blues who have lost their best tighthead in Nepo Laulala and missing their best scrummaging lock in Tuipulotu.

Five things we learned: The general who caught Schmidt's eye, why next week is vital for Coleman's Tahs

As a competition round the quality of contests was “super”.

Two blow-out results against the Crusaders and for beaten finalist, the Chiefs, reflects their current evolution and development trajectories between seasons , plus a golden point to end the weekend.

Greater competitiveness from Moana Pasifika, Fijian Drua, traditional Australian strongholds, Reds and Waratahs plus the consistency of the Brumbies offer encouraging signs that results are less a foregone conclusion than previous seasons.

Anyone who tipped 6 from 6 for this round, deserves high praise indeed.

I thought Brayden Iose’s performance shaded Hoskins Sotutu. Sotutu’s form is impressive, but when it comes to making dominant tackles, where opposition are wary of running directly at you, Iose’s ferocity was noticeable. Harry Wilson is going to be a handful for defences with his uncanny ability to get the ball away in contact.

Watching the Chiefs play looked very Leinster/Irish with their constant use of the blindside winger (a la Mack Hansen) behind the ball to create the extra man. Their attack has evolved a lot, multiple short passes, using DMac as the second receiver behind the ball, players in motion running from depth and different angles, injecting Nanai-Seturo with his footwork as first receiver to create space in close. It was at times beautiful to watch, the ugliest moment being Xavier Roe’s failure to give the early pass to Stevenson to score a contender for try of the season.

The Wrap: ‘World’s best provincial rugby competition’ delivers a superb Super Round

Conspiracy is that his head went back and to the left, back and to the left.

Force cop fresh blows after Rodda's latest setback and Pearce's ban, Rebels open up on 'deflating' start

Is there something wrong with Nisbo? He kept pronouncing Moana Pasifika as Moana Pasika

The Wrap: Opening round of SRP a case of the more things change, the more they stay the same

Regardless of the result next week.
Ian Foster’s achievement of coaching to the world cup final bookends the closing chapter on probably the greatest group of coaches in history of the game.
Graham Henry – world cup winner
former assistant coach Steve Hansen – world cup winner
former assistant coach Wayne Smith – Womens rugby world cup winner
former assistant coach Ian Foster – world cup finalist, winner TBC

Fozzie was one Test away from being sacked - now he's 80 minutes away from World Cup glory as ABs smash Pumas

While it was an impressive first half from the All Blacks, as preparation for the Boks, Foster got the best of both worlds.

The first half would have boosted the confidence in individuals plus the team collectively in their change of attacking patterns.

The second half was closer to what they can expect against the Boks who will apply greater pressure at the setpiece, breakdown and linespeed on defence.

It was noticeable how few penalties the All Blacks conceded in the first 40, contrasting with the opening ten minutes of the second half when we got pinged several times, especially Scott Barrett which allowed Argentina to piggy back downfield, retain possession and put our defence under the blowtorch.

We had less ball in the second half, and Foster will be conscious of improving how we can play more effectively without the ball. McKenzie for his size is a much stronger and courageous defender in the 10 channel and that will count against a team like the Boks.

McKenzie’s crisp passing followed by Mo’unga’s cameo really illustrated how inferior Beauden Barrett’s game as a playmaker pales by comparison.

The Wrap: Like Hillary at Everest Base Camp, Eddie Jones has a mountain ahead of him

NZRU got the result, one suspects, they always wanted. Announcement caught me by surprise as their initial press conference around the recruitment process indicated a timeline of 4-6 weeks before announcing the new coach.

Perhaps the low number of candidates interviewed didn’t require that much time to reach a decision.

Nevertheless, Robertson has been named and offered a rare four year contract.

At the same time NZRU’s early announcement has provided a clear run for Foster, ending months of speculation around his future in the role and of course the naming of the coach after 2023.

Few outside the All Blacks rate their chances surviving the quarterfinal round, so with low public expectation, confirmation Foster wouldn’t be seeking reappointment and Robertson’s coronation, there is less public pressure and weight of expectation on an All Blacks coach leading into a world cup since Brian Lochore for the inaugural tournament.

NZ Rugby finally gets their man, and in the process, accidentally gets things right

One pleasing aspect from the top 4 Kiwi sides is their improvement in setpiece attack. Starting to see more creativity and innovation. While the Blues were not great the switch play that created a try scoring opportunity was clever and well executed.

I recall the Chiefs working a clever move from throwing long over the line out and switching the point of attack twice and the Canes catching the Rebels breakdown defence napping when switching their attack to an inside runner.

Couldn’t understand the Blues bringing Laulala off the bench, should have started as he’s not an impact player and even less so in that heat.

Beauden looks like a player lacking clarity about how to play. Be the best version of yourself BB play your natural game.

Shaun Stevenson is looking like a future international, low error rate, clinical finisher, confidence is high.

How NZ Super sides aimed up tactically in week 2, with ABs star supreme and Blues crashing after front five flop

Hi Brett

On the Brumbies v Blues game. I was impressed with the Brumbies driving maul, I know detractors love to denigrate this facet of the game in favour of “attacking rugby” but there’s so much skill and technique involved with the setup and execution to appreciate as much as seeing a flowing backline move score a try.

I was really disappointed with the play of Beauden Barrett. His general kicking, passing game was poor and running game was non committal to attract defenders towards him. He is NZ’s most experienced 10 and at 31 should be at the peak of his powers in a position that takes years to develop and mature.

I feel as if he’s caught between two minds in playing his natural game and a game manager style. He’ll never be like Dan Carter but Dan never pretended to be anyone other than himself and someone needs to get in Beauden’s ear and remind him that he needs to be the best version of himself which is when he attacks the line with pace and use his natural gifts that separated himself from his peers.

He’s Beauden lite but listening to commentators rave when he executes a couple of pieces of individual skill completely ignoring his performance for the majority of the game, makes me wonder if they’re all suffering from Beaudie blindspot.

Fingers crossed he finds his mojo this season.

Wet fingers and guesstimations have Reds and Rebels with the most Australian upside

Attended Friday and Saturdays games and was wondering “where is this festival of rugby?” that was used in the promotions. If it were not for the Pasifika performers on Saturday, there would have been no festival feel to what was just a series of games at the same venue. Certainly nothing like a sevens tournament or any tournament.

For a Super round I thought the organisers shot themselves in the foot with the itinerary. This round really needs to play on natural rivalries and ANZAC matches to feed into tribalism.

It’s still early with this concept and the competition but agree despite their best endeavours, Melbourne is a great town for tourists, but not for a super round.

Wet fingers and guesstimations have Reds and Rebels with the most Australian upside

As an alternative viewpoint, NZ has four main test venues. Eden Park, Waikato stadium, the Cake Tin in Wellington and Forsyth Barr in Dunedin.

In any given year outside a world cup year NZ will host up to 6 or 7 home tests.

Unlike the home nations which use the same venue for all their 6N tests and touring sides, NZ, SA and Australia will allocate to as many venues if not all each year.

If it were not for the pandemic SA would definitely have played the centenary test at Forsyth Barr in 2021 and not Eden Park. Not because NZRU refused to but because Carisbrook in Dunedin was the venue for the first test between these two teams.

Six Nations Wrap: 'More negatives than positives' as France scrape past Italy, Gatland fumes over Welsh discipline

While it didn’t appear that all of England’s players agreed with Smith’s decision to kick the ball out, both Owen Farrell and Ben Youngs were on board.

“We just wanted to see where we were off the ruck,” Farrell explained. “If we had go-forward, and we got on the front foot and we had an opportunity, we wanted to take it. If not, we wanted to make a good decision. I think that’s what was done.”

Youngs, lively from the bench as a replacement for Jack van Poortvliet, elaborated with further detail.

“A lot of people won’t understand that [the decision to kick it out], but if a team kicks down the middle, you lose a huge number of backs to that breakdown,” he said.

“You’re in the middle of the field, can go left or right, but your numbers are short. You can’t get to an edge, so you’ve got to carry pretty close to the breakdown to then get everyone on their feet.

“You just know [Ardie] Savea and all those guys will go hard at the breakdown, you’ve got a huge jackal threat there. Do we want to kick the ball out? No. But ultimately the right decision at that point was to kick the ball out.”

The Wrap: Wallabies’ inability to win the big moments a real pain in the neck

Insightful article Highlander.

As fans we’re influenced by match commentary to form opinions on players, refereeing decisions, incidents and tactics.

Your analysis shows not only the difference between efficient and inefficient kicking, but also a lack of understanding of the intent of the kick in the first place.

I remember when I first saw Dan Carter use the tactic of deliberately kicking downfield to the opposition instead of into touch and assumed, including the commentary at the time, that Carter was having an off day with the boot. We all grew up learning that you kick to touch, any deviation from that was a mistake.

I don’t know why it is that overall radio commentary is superior in accuracy and clarity to TV. One day I hope broadcasters provide an alternate feed with just the crowd noise and refs mic so I can watch without the bias or play the radio stream in the background.

The 'aimless kicking' underpinning modern rugby success

Watching this game live I couldn’t understand why the All Blacks were playing so narrowly at the ruck. Every time we saw a wide shot the majority of players (not just forwards) were clustered and bunched so that on the rare occasion they spread the ball wide, our attackers were outnumbered by defenders.

I was thoroughly bored watching to be perfectly honest and really began to nitpick at some individuals who annoy me with some of their decision making.

Are we sure that Beauden Barrett is our best choice to start at fullback?

He committed several errors that a less experienced player would have copped severe criticism for. Plus his decision making and tactical kicking were off the mark. Clear example is following Wales first try. From the restart Wales carry forward off Faletau and they clear with a box kick that Beauden runs in to claim but overruns and luckily his tap down is collected by Whitelock. Clarke makes a strong carry over the advantage line presenting lightning quick ball to Smith and Beauden kicks a midfield bomb that isn’t contestable and easily marked by Gareth Anscombe. Grrrrr what a waste of perfectly won ruck possession.

I’m feeling more and more comfortable with Beauden starting on the bench so that he can just play instinctively as an impact player. He’s demonstrably poorer than Mo’unga, who can also have his brain fart moments, at playing field position either from 10 or fullback.

Wasn’t until after the match that I read conditions under the roof were really greasy and slippery which is why they changed their tactics and approach that I had a greater appreciation for how the forwards applied themselves. Not a night for the backs and of the onfield game drivers, Smith and Mo’unga acquitted themselves very well.

ANALYSIS: All Blacks ditch 'helter skelter nonsense' for patient dominance Wales couldn't handle

Harry not surprised by your no.1 selection but am surprised at how high you’ve placed the Kiwi triumvirate given that unlike the other coaches, they’ve only been together for six tests. so much smaller sample size by comparison.

Coach Power Rankings: Cheik at 5, Eddie at 7, Dave below both. Plus a surprise No.1 ahead of autumn series

Loved the performance by Wellington Lions on the weekend. Not many visiting teams travel to Christchurch to play a final and walk away winners.

Two impressive aspects of the Lions play, their intense defensive effort and the speed of their ruck ball. Perenara so often had the ball presented to him on a plate that he could just play instinctively, his 50/20 one such example. Canterbury were unable to slow down Wellington’s ruck ball whose clever running lines and switch of angles were too much for Canterbury to handle.

To that end the efforts of the tight five and their loose trio particularly Caleb Delany and Du Plessis Kirifi who stood up and gave the proverbial finger to their opponents, many of whom will be on a plane soon as part of the All Blacks XV, is an encouraging sign for the Hurricanes squad next season.

No news yet of Brodie McAlister’s status as he was forced to leave the field after coming off second best in a collision against impressive rookie no.8 Peter Lakai.

The Wrap: Let's get the Wallabies and All Blacks on the plane before they run out of players

Or alternatively Pete rather than refusing to wear, those players could invoke their own form of protest by wearing the apparel but covering up the offensive brand logo. Numerous examples of that occurring in the past.

There’s often been tensions regarding contractual obligations for team sponsorship versus individuals brand endorsement for rival sponsors. This isn’t at the centre of this particular controversy, but as we’ve already seen this year with management excluding players from discussions and decisions surrounding what they wear in other codes, it could have all been avoided.

The Wrap: Let's get the Wallabies and All Blacks on the plane before they run out of players

I have high hopes that Shaun Stevenson may be rewarded with selection in All Blacks XV.

Foster also needs to strongly consider calling time on Dane Coles career and recalling Asafo Aumua to the All Blacks and promoting new talent in All Blacks XV. There is a significant drop in dynamism, power carrying and impact when Taukei’aho starts and is then subbed off.

If Beauden Barrett is now seen primarily as a fullback who can also cover 10, then Perofeta should be the natural successor to Mo’unga and act as primary cover for 10 on the bench. Perofeta is the closest in playing style to Mo’unga.

All Blacks XV is another opportunity to take a look at Josh Ioane again for development after 2023 as both Beauden and Richie will be moving on.

A key selection for me would be who would captain the All Blacks XV?

Tough call for selectors as End of Year Tour and All Blacks XV sides set to be named

I agree Who.

This was my major concern with starting Jordie in midfield and listing RTS as midfield cover on the bench for Bledisloe 2. If the All Blacks suffered an early injury to either Jordie or Rieko they’d be forced to play one of two inexperienced midfielders to defend at centre.

Nothing transpired, but the risk that affected the Wallabies is still there for Foster if he selects RTS as midfield cover.

ANALYSIS: The Pete Samu weakness that makes Hoops a must start when he's ready to reclaim Wallabies' No.7 jersey

Jordie was always going to be up against it trying to shift Ngani Laumape from no.12 at the Canes.

Once Laumape was the established incumbent, I said before the 2019 RWC that Jordie would have to move to another team if he harboured ambitions of playing 12 for the All Blacks.

It was only after Laumape’s departure and midfield injuries that Jason Holland’s hand was forced to start Jordie at 12 for the Canes, it certainly wasn’t a pre-planned move.

ANALYSIS: The Pete Samu weakness that makes Hoops a must start when he's ready to reclaim Wallabies' No.7 jersey

It’s impossible to get consistency week to week from different referees.

As long as you get consistency and clarity from the referee, 1st minute to the 80th minute in a game, that’s the best coaches and players can expect.

Save the jackal: Why another kneejerk law change would cause more harm than good

I don’t think I explained my point clearly. There will always be a place for power in rugby, countries like SA, France, Argentina, England, Samoa, Tonga and Fiji have been blessed with big, powerful athletes.

Teams who were disadvantage by size could rely on speed, forward mobility and greater fitness to take advantage of fatigue later in the game.

The bench interchange has created a situation where power teams aren’t disadvantaged by fatigue when they can replace an entire front row. It’s a strategy that is not without risk but for now the risk is worth the reward.

Save the jackal: Why another kneejerk law change would cause more harm than good

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