Geekzone Rugby (Union) Discussion Thread

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Networkn
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#2909262 2-May-2022 12:52

A great Final in the womens 7's. I really thought we had it in the bag.

Michaele Blyde is really something quite special. Her try was a total banger.

We had the ball with 11 seconds to go, is it allowed for us to just run away, with the ball to run the last 11 seconds down and kick it out? I know it's probably not in the spirit of the game per se, but we would have won if not for trying to take contact.

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#2909640 3-May-2022 13:37

@handle9 Interested what direction you think Foster will take the AB's now that he has a new selector and some additional coaching assistance? I still don't feel we have the personnel to compete up front, but backs I think we are competitive at the very least. Do you think it's a matter of hoping we peak with forwards at the right time, or they need to head in a different direction and try and outskill and outspeed opponents? I don't think our scrum or lineout was that great last year and at least at super rugby level so far, I haven't seen obvious improvements, though I am certainly no scrum expert LOL.

I am concerned we still don't seem to have a plan for outright defensive linespeed but also wondering if we are holding our cards to our chest right now...

It's been at least 3 years since we seemed to be able to pull away in the last 20 minutes as we have done for quite a long time. Not sure if that is down to a drop for us, or an overall improvement internationally, I am inclined to think the latter.

On the plus side our aerial skills are finally looking better after quite some time trailing behind other teams.

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#2909652 3-May-2022 13:57

Plus plus side is this year's reduced player work load. The AB's will not show up for the Autumn internationals in a fatigued state has has been the case in previous years.

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#2909653 3-May-2022 14:01

johno1234:

Plus plus side is this year's reduced player work load. The AB's will not show up for the Autumn internationals in a fatigued state has has been the case in previous years.

How many less minutes will players play this year over last?

I mean, I agree that fatigue seemed to be a factor last year, be it physical or mental. I think people were pretty intolerant of the challenges that the AB's travelling and being away from home for so long, less home games, had on them.

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#2909738 3-May-2022 15:54

Please please please let them not use SBW as special comments guy any more. It's excruciating. He is a legend as a sports person, but a natural orator he certainly is not.

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#2909819 3-May-2022 18:09

networkn:

Please please please let them not use SBW as special comments guy any more. It's excruciating. He is a legend as a sports person, but a natural orator he certainly is not.

Give me SBW over Sumo Stevenson any day....

Tight forwards is an issue for the AB's. The only clear pick in the front row is Samisoni Taukei'aho. There is no clear second hooker. Taylor is running on reputation and looks done - can't get the basics right. Our young locks (Lord and Vaa'i) are the picks of the locks at the moment. Loose forwards should be Savea, Papalii and Sowakula (but won't be cos of captain Cane...).

Backs are a bit easier to pick - Smith, Barrett, Barrett (12), Ioane (13), Reece, Clarke and Jordan. Until Goodhue gets more minutes he can't be seriously considered yet, and Tupaea could fit into that backline easily enough as well.

Wouldn't be surprised to see us go down 3-0 to Ireland. We'll be hoping they are fatigued after a long season and the travel to enable us to win that series.

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#2909826 3-May-2022 18:44

networkn:

johno1234:

Plus plus side is this year's reduced player work load. The AB's will not show up for the Autumn internationals in a fatigued state has has been the case in previous years.

How many less minutes will players play this year over last?

I mean, I agree that fatigue seemed to be a factor last year, be it physical or mental. I think people were pretty intolerant of the challenges that the AB's travelling and being away from home for so long, less home games, had on them.

Significantly less... IIRC they are playing at least 1/3 less matches this year in the lead up to the Autumn internationals in the northern hemisphere. On the last tour, when they were soundly beaten by France, I know that the team was exhausted before they even ran on the field.

Source is here - but paywalled: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/gregor-paul-the-awkward-modern-foe-missing-from-all-blacks-2022-schedule/RORUUVG77T3GPTVAK2DQIOS2YE/

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#2909830 3-May-2022 19:29

tukapa1:

Give me SBW over Sumo Stevenson any day....

Holy Moley, I never thought we would find something to agree upon :)

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#2909842 3-May-2022 20:44

tukapa1:

Tight forwards is an issue for the AB's. The only clear pick in the front row is Samisoni Taukei'aho. There is no clear second hooker. Taylor is running on reputation and looks done - can't get the basics right. Our young locks (Lord and Vaa'i) are the picks of the locks at the moment. Loose forwards should be Savea, Papalii and Sowakula (but won't be cos of captain Cane...).

Backs are a bit easier to pick - Smith, Barrett, Barrett (12), Ioane (13), Reece, Clarke and Jordan. Until Goodhue gets more minutes he can't be seriously considered yet, and Tupaea could fit into that backline easily enough as well.

Wouldn't be surprised to see us go down 3-0 to Ireland. We'll be hoping they are fatigued after a long season and the travel to enable us to win that series.

Not sure what you are basing those observations on. I'd agree our forwards seem a bit off the pace, but your comments on Taylor, who was head and shoulders above everyone else until probably the end of the tri-nations last year, seem a bit harsh. Whitelock is a bit off the pace but you'd be mad to exclude him from any AB's side IMO. Same with Rettalick. Ioane at 13 would only apply for me if pretty much every other option was unavailable. He has improved moderately but is still prone to poor distribution and general decision making. He remains a winger for my money.

Personally, whilst it's not impossible to lose 3-0 to Ireland at home, I'd be very surprised. If you are taking fatigue after a long season and a long trip into account, then you could easily discount their last win over us too :)

My biggest issue right now, is that there aren't that many positions where a player is such an obvious choice over another in many positions. There have been many positions where that wasn't true in years gone by.

The breakdown did talk about the fact we haven't got any breakout players this season who might clearly be bolters ala Milne Skudder or MacKenzie were in their years. Jordan is probably the closest thing we have right now.

Lord and Vaa'i are developing well, but have you ever seen either have a game that would come close to a game where Whitelock or Rettalick are at their best?

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#2910096 4-May-2022 12:41

Quite reasonably Dalziel has received a ban for his high tackle on Hooper. 3 weeks, fair enough. Wondering what the Crusaders will do for locks at this point? With 3 injured and 2 serving bans... I believe locks don't have to be specialists like props, so they can move some loose forwards around? Whitelock may be back this week but I think he is 2 weeks away still.

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#2910730 6-May-2022 06:33

networkn:

handle9 Interested what direction you think Foster will take the AB's now that he has a new selector and some additional coaching assistance? I still don't feel we have the personnel to compete up front, but backs I think we are competitive at the very least. Do you think it's a matter of hoping we peak with forwards at the right time, or they need to head in a different direction and try and outskill and outspeed opponents? I don't think our scrum or lineout was that great last year and at least at super rugby level so far, I haven't seen obvious improvements, though I am certainly no scrum expert LOL.

I am concerned we still don't seem to have a plan for outright defensive linespeed but also wondering if we are holding our cards to our chest right now...

It's been at least 3 years since we seemed to be able to pull away in the last 20 minutes as we have done for quite a long time. Not sure if that is down to a drop for us, or an overall improvement internationally, I am inclined to think the latter.

On the plus side our aerial skills are finally looking better after quite some time trailing behind other teams.

Sorry, have been moving house so not really spending much time on here.

I really have no idea what Foster has been trying to achieve. He hasn't made decisions about who his core players are, he has just seemed to roll the dice each week. The only players you could call reasonable certainties to start are Whitelock, Rettalick, Savea, Cane, Smith and Jordie Barrett. None of those players have been introduced since the last world cup and only Rieko and Akira Ioane and Jordie Barrett have made significant progress since the last world cup. The rest have largely muddled along.

It's all indicative of a confused team with mediocre coaching. England are pretty similar at the moment, when you compare them to Ireland they have better individual players and more of them but they don't know who is playing where from week to week.

Franc equally have a plan. Galthie made a conscious decision to play the young guys from 2020 on and cut the cord with a number of proven performers. They have backed them and are now in a great position through good, consistent selection and excellent coaching.

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#2911758 9-May-2022 09:30

Next two weeks should see what the Brumbies are made of, Crusaders and Blues in Canberra.

Quirk of the draw that the Brumbies only have 1 game in New Zealand.

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#2911761 9-May-2022 09:45

Seems like last week none of the Kiwi teams turned up, and this week they all pretty much did but no-one else did.

Pretty high scoring matches. Probably could have predicted higher scores this week in some ways, perhaps not that high however.

I felt the Chiefs didn't play badly, but the Brumbies played really well. Chiefs weren't perfect. The Brumbies have shown they are a pretty good team, they don't score only one way.

Drua were awful, they looked like they didn't want to be there.

The Blues got right in the zone and pretty much blew the Force off the park. When you are in the zone, everything goes your way.

Crusaders finally managed to catch and pass better this week, it was getting pretty awful until that point. The newbies I thought availed themselves pretty much, admittedly against a weaker opponent, though you'd be silly to write anyone off in this competition.

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#2911806 9-May-2022 11:54

networkn:

I felt the Chiefs didn't play badly, but the Brumbies played really well. Chiefs weren't perfect. The Brumbies have shown they are a pretty good team, they don't score only one way.

The Blues got right in the zone and pretty much blew the Force off the park. When you are in the zone, everything goes your way.

These are the only games I saw.

I disagree with the first. The Chiefs played poorly and carried on their form from the previous week. Passes to no one, offloads when holding onto the ball was the better option and poor decision making. When you have a scrum on your own 5m line, you clear the ball quickly. Not keep it in the scrum and give away a penalty, which the Brumbies then score from. And aimless kicking to middle ground that is neither contestable nor gaining territory that just hands the opposition an attacking opportunity.

Jacobsen seems to have the underarm flick pass (a la Sonny-Bill) in his tool kit, unfortunately he uses even when it’s not appropriate.

The most heartening part is the amount of young talent that was on display.

The Blues initially must have wondered what had hit them to be down 14 nil after 8 (?) minutes. But then really hit their stride for the following 65 minutes, including Telea’s freaky airborne touchdown. Maybe they were puffed after scoring so many tries, but they let the Rebels salvage some pride with 2 late tries.

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#2911809 9-May-2022 11:58

Perhaps I should have been a bit more clear. They didn't play terribly. There were good periods of play from the Chiefs, but when you are under pressure you are prone to make bad decisions, and they were under pressure. They are missing their more senior players from an experience and calming perspective. There was a fair bit to like despite losing was more what I was trying to say.

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