Geekzone Rugby (Union) Discussion Thread

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Networkn
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#2300072 15-Aug-2019 22:33

I really wish we had more players better under the high ball. It's worried me and I have continued to lament that and the quality of our passing (I am not talking about handling or short transfers).

sonyxperiageek

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#2301051 17-Aug-2019 22:26

And that, is how you make a comeback! Great work by the new wingers this week!

Sony

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#2301052 17-Aug-2019 22:27

And is it just me or is allblacks.com down at the moment?

Sony

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#2301057 17-Aug-2019 22:36

yup this is the wallabies i know. individuals generally ok but as a team is toothless. poor kicking, slow turning over, can't deal with deep kicks to the fullback, no real plan of attack - if there were it's not able to be executed. 15 v 14 and it showed.

Handle9

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#2301058 17-Aug-2019 22:37

Other than Coles being an idiot and a couple of stupid penalties that was a dominant performance. The lineout was pretty poor but the All Blacks were so physical it didn't matter.

Laulala, Williams, Bridge, Reece and probably Tuipolotu booked their tickets for Japan. If I was Owen Franks I would be very very nervous. He's not an option off the bench so it's hard to see if he fits in the squad. They'll probably still take him on reputation but he'd on form he'd be lucky to go.

It was also great to see how dominant Smith was. For me he and Laulala were the men of the match. If we get a platform and Smith plays like that we are in for a strong world cup .

tdgeek

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#2301070 18-Aug-2019 00:20

A weird game. AUS kicked the ball away a lot, last week they held it and ran it. Thats why they controlled possession, Now they hand it back? The first half was throwing it to the AB's with errors, so poor. Beats me how professional sides can be useless one week then reliable the next. One week they get 47 scored against them and this week the they score 34 unanswered? .

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#2301084 18-Aug-2019 01:04

It's a lot easier to catch the ball when it's not greasy and you are going forward. It was wet and the All Blacks were monstering them physically.

It doesn't matter how professional you are, pain causes mistakes. For all of the amazing skills the players have big games come down to who hurts the other team the most. When your scrum us getting flogged and you are getting smashed you start looking at the defense and not the ball.

Hatch

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Hatch (affiliate link).

networkn

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#2301175 18-Aug-2019 11:15

I think everyone needed that victory pretty badly. I could tell during the Haka that the AB's were up for it. I have watched the AB's perform the Haka many times, it's almost always something to behold, but I had the hair on my arms and neck up watching it. With so much at stake (Revenge for a poor performance, SH 100th Match and the Bledisloe) I felt we were in for a big one this week and boy did we deliver.

SH showed once again why he is all class, with his selection decisions proving again to be a big point of difference I think. I was anxious about putting two classy but relatively inexperienced wingers into such a big game, but he was on the money and boy did they have a game!

Patrick Tuipolotu had his best game by some margin in Black and was immense, and Sevu Reece showed he could carry his freakish skills to the highest level. He reminded me of prior Fijian wingers and his defence was excellent as well. Kieran Read had another unbelievable game. Some of his tackles will still be felt by the receiving player's children 20 years from now :) I really like the loose forward trio and with a guy down, Saveas move on the scrum right before the ball went in was genius. How a 7 man scrum could massacre the Wallabies 8 man scrum was probably one of the most impressive things.

I don't have any doubt that Mo'unga is a test grade 10 and I am liking the 10/15 combination.

We were far from perfect as well though. We missed 19 tackles, which is a worry, and our lineout is broken probably on the back of having lost some height and poor throwing by Dane Coles. I am interested to see what got Coles so riled up? He can be hot-headed at the best of times, but not usually without provocation.

Overall I am happiest at keeping the Wallabies to Zero. Our defence, despite 19 missed tackles, was excellent. Some of those second up tackles were really something. Dane Coles flying tackle in the second half and a couple of others were really noticeable.

Sadly, we have indeed lost our number 1 place at the top of the table and probably can't get it back before the world cup if I am not mistaken. It's hard to say "Wales is the number one team in the world" without having a bit of a smirk on my face.

I don't feel any team could have beaten the All Blacks last night and I hope they have both intent to continue to be focused, and have more up their sleeve.

@tdgeek i think there is a reasonable explanation for why there was such a big difference. Most of us are paid professionals, I doubt any of us could say we give 100% every day we go to work, for a variety of reasons, and sometimes it takes something bad to happen for us to realize we aren't doing well enough and force a refocus. The biggest thing is being able to respond that makes people professionals and whilst I don't magically think all our Rugby issues are fixed, I do think we have what it takes to win the RWC in 2019.

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#2301178 18-Aug-2019 11:45

Held scoreless eh. That's 2 kicks from right in front of the posts that a high school 10 would have scored both times. Tryless is a better word. I did say they can't kick, as well as can't keep up in general. If you can't keep up at least find someone who can kick and one person's one foot will single footedly cause havoc. Cue England and SA. Those things give nightmares come knockout time.

networkn

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#2301183 18-Aug-2019 12:36

They kicked fine last week. Both out of the hands and from place. Pressure is a strange thing. As you say on a normal night any kicker would usually kick those over. Richie missed a similarly simple kick.

As you say though, it's more important they were kept tryless. There were a couple of massive tackles (Tuipolotu and two others about 8 seconds later) where they were on our tryline and we kept them out. The Tuipolotu tackle was similar the Kaino one a few years ago where the player was over the try line and was picked up and driven back over the try line.

tdgeek

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#2301185 18-Aug-2019 12:45

networkn:

@tdgeek i think there is a reasonable explanation for why there was such a big difference. Most of us are paid professionals, I doubt any of us could say we give 100% every day we go to work, for a variety of reasons, and sometimes it takes something bad to happen for us to realize we aren't doing well enough and force a refocus. The biggest thing is being able to respond that makes people professionals and whilst I don't magically think all our Rugby issues are fixed, I do think we have what it takes to win the RWC in 2019.

I do get that, but IMHO, it applies more to individuals than teams. I can have an off day, although if I felt off I should not start. A good team can have an unlucky run of the ball, the worse team can have a lucky run with the ball, but i never saw that last week. Warriors are a poor example though. Our heart wasn't in it, when losing, then they beat a better side a week later, I'd fire all of them. (Warriors)

A team is paid to play their best. Luck can and will affect that, but having 47 points scored against them when away and in nice weather is a big loss. Here, home ground, the fortress, they fought back to score 34 against AUS, in conditions that will suit us more . The first two tries were soft too, so a great win, but not a re write. Id like to see another two games in the dry to get a better opinion.

Not sure about AUS now, it looked like they turned a corner last week. Maybe their excellent tactic to run the ball, they got lucky by dropping few of those great passes? So they looked better than what they are. AUS were rubbish, after the big win they were still treated like rubbish. So, if the big win was a bit of a good anomaly, and discount the red card, then last night while looking good, maybe doesn't give any guide to ENG, IRE, WAL and a resurgent RSA.

Yes, we can win the RWC as we are the best side, but its super close. Now that its super close and not dominatingly ahead, yes, that forces a refocus.

tdgeek

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#2301201 18-Aug-2019 13:11

I see WAL are $10 for the RWC win, which is essentially quite an outsider in such a small field. Ranked No.1 , so yes, worth 3 smirks

NZ 2.25

ENG 5.50

RSA 5.50

IRE 8.00

WAL 10.00

AUS 15.00

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#2301204 18-Aug-2019 13:44

Anyone of the top teams can win it. There is one team that if they are at their best on the day is the favourite and it's reflected by the bookmakers. But while i doubt Australia will win it, stranger things have happened in sport. Which is why the knock out stages are so exciting. The group stage is also exciting for other reasons. Inc the final group game being a knock out match for a few teams.

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#2301206 18-Aug-2019 13:50

networkn:
They kicked fine last week. Both out of the hands and from place. Pressure is a strange thing. As you say on a normal night any kicker would usually kick those over. Richie missed a similarly simple kick.

As you say though, it's more important they were kept tryless. There were a couple of massive tackles (Tuipolotu and two others about 8 seconds later) where they were on our tryline and we kept them out. The Tuipolotu tackle was similar the Kaino one a few years ago where the player was over the try line and was picked up and driven back over the try line.

I feel that with Cheika, the Wallabies are trying to copy the all blacks. At their peak they have 15 maybe 18 players who could. Which is why they are neck and neck until 60 mins every single time. The ABs have about 30 players who can do it, with another 3 or 4 pretenders who could be called back from whitebaiting if needed. Big difference.

Australia can't copy Australia, they don't have enough flair. So they're stuffed because of NRL and AFL snapping up anyone who is world class. They don't even have 15 players who are world class today. That's why I rule them out.

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#2301207 18-Aug-2019 13:54

Also the English mind games have started with Eddie Jones trying to offer pressure Wales starting the are favourites as world no 1.

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