Geekzone Rugby (Union) Discussion Thread

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407 posts

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#2939208 7-Jul-2022 14:34

Glad to see Fakatava on the bench - really rate this bloke, has a fast flat pass, darts around the edges whenever he spots a gap, has a good kicking game & reads the game well... reckon in a couple of years time he could be our best halfback.

Papalii is better suited to 6... doesn't really have the pace as a 7 to be a link player.

Don't rate Christie much... Weber should've had his spot in the squad.

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artbloke

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#2939216 7-Jul-2022 14:45

Don't usually like players playing out of position, but when J.Barrett wanted to switch to the midfield for the Canes thought he performed really well there, also at 6' 5" he's always going to be better than our other midfielders at getting one-handed offloads away when he's held up by 2 or 3 players, has all the skills & good pace, also looks a lot more solid defending wise in that position than R.Ioane... so from the players we have in the Squad I'd prefer a J.Barrett/Havili or J.Barrett/Goodhue midfield combo.

networkn

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#2939228 7-Jul-2022 15:14

I'm also keen to see Fakatava play. Papilli has been pretty good for the Blues for 2-3 seasons at 7. I'm ok giving him a go at 6 under the circumstances. There must be a reason they haven't selected Akira, previous weeks it's been he has a foot complaint. If that isn't resolved, then that will explain it, if not, then it may mean he has fallen out of favour, but I suspect he wouldn't have made the squad in the first place if that was the case.

Also don't really rate Christie (he's not a bad player by any stretch). He was in my opinion, a placeholder for Fakatava.

Whilst Hall wouldn't be considered for the AB's, Bryn Hall was probably the form halfback this season overall. (I think even Smith struggled and Fakatava only played a relatively limited number of games). His pass was something to behold all season long. He gave excellent quick service at the base of the ruck too.

I don't really think Weber was the same after he broke his leg.

artbloke

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#2939704 8-Jul-2022 11:12

networkn:

I'm also keen to see Fakatava play. Papilli has been pretty good for the Blues for 2-3 seasons at 7. I'm ok giving him a go at 6 under the circumstances. There must be a reason they haven't selected Akira, previous weeks it's been he has a foot complaint. If that isn't resolved, then that will explain it, if not, then it may mean he has fallen out of favour, but I suspect he wouldn't have made the squad in the first place if that was the case.

Also don't really rate Christie (he's not a bad player by any stretch). He was in my opinion, a placeholder for Fakatava.

Whilst Hall wouldn't be considered for the AB's, Bryn Hall was probably the form halfback this season overall. (I think even Smith struggled and Fakatava only played a relatively limited number of games). His pass was something to behold all season long. He gave excellent quick service at the base of the ruck too.

I don't really think Weber was the same after he broke his leg.

Is Akira fit ? he's about the same size as Papilii, about 113kg & 6'4'' - Akira is certainly quicker than him & has better ball handling skills, Akira's weakness though at times is his lack of work rate... for me Papilii would make a top 6, he's very physical & has an excellent work rate.

Really rate Hall as a 9 - as we know Aaron Smith's obvious strength is his passing game, but he's getting older now, you can see he's losing a bit of speed passing wise & hardly ever runs... yeah, Fakatava may have only been coming off the bench for the Highlanders, every time he came on though he was very impressive, as you say he has a great flat fast pass, also impressed with his running game.

Weber showed a lot of energy & looked sharp against Ireland B.

artbloke

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#2939718 8-Jul-2022 11:48

JPNZ:

Based on form, I'd have Papalil and Savea ahead of him at 7. Ardie is not technically an 8 either we should be playing and bedding in PGS or Sotutu and blooding grace.

Once again we play players out of position just to fit them in the team.

Cannot believe Tuipolutu makes it onto the bench after not even playing in NZ this year, not a good look for young up and coming locks like Josh Dickson, Isaia Walker-Leawere, Sam Darry, Quinten Strange etc

Anyways, I expect a high scoring match under the roof, Ireland will be fired up and should play a lot better for an extra week of prep in NZ.

Ardie is excellent at 7 & 8... he'd have to be the best 8 we have in NZ... he has explosive pace off the back of the scrum, also with his powerful leg drives he powers through more tackles than any other 8 we have.

Amazed they wanted Tuipolutu back... he was never an athletic lock, lacks mobility around the field etc.

artbloke

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#2939969 9-Jul-2022 11:55

2nd TEST {Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin}

Sat 9th July - 7.05pm

ABs : 1. George Bower, 2. Codie Taylor, 3. Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 4. Brodie Retallick, 5. Scott Barrett, 6. Dalton Papalii, 7. Sam Cane – Captain, 8. Ardie Savea, 9. Aaron Smith, 10. Beauden Barrett, 11. Leicester Fainga’anuku, 12. Quinn Tupaea, 13. Rieko Ioane, 14. Sevu Reece, 15. Jordie Barrett (37)

Reserves : 16. Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17. Aidan Ross, 18. Angus Ta’avao, 19. Patrick Tuipulotu, 0. Pita Gus Sowakula, 21. Folau Fakatava, 22. Richie Mo’unga, 23. Will Jordan.

IRELAND : 1. Andrew Porter, 2. Dan Sheehan, 3. Tadhg Furlong, 4. Tadhg Beirne, 5. James Ryan, 6. Peter O’Mahony, 7. Josh van der Flier, 8. Caelan Doris, 9. Jamison Gibson Park, 10. Johnny Sexton, (c) 11. James Lowe, 12. Robbie Henshaw, 13. Garry Ringrose, 14. Mack Hansen, 15. Hugo Keenan.

Reserves : 16. Rob Herring, 17. Cian Healy, 18. Finlay Bealham, 19. Kieran Treadwell, 20. Jack Conan, 21. Conor Murray, 22. Joey Carbery, 23. Bundee Aki.

Kopkiwi

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#2940193 9-Jul-2022 19:58

This sport is so s*** lol.

linw

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#2940195 9-Jul-2022 20:15

Never seen anything like it before, Sheeeesh.

tukapa1

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#2940197 9-Jul-2022 20:17

It's half time as I write this.

The Irish have really choked in that second quarter. They should be 20+ points clear by now.

That score by Beaudy just before half time will have them doubting their ability to win.

They should still win comfortably as I expect the ABs will run out of gas in the last 20.

Kopkiwi

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#2940200 9-Jul-2022 20:29

All Blacks got no clue, forwards getting smashed, backline getting run ragged.

tukapa1

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#2940202 9-Jul-2022 20:39

Not that they have no idea, it's just what happens when you're out of gas.

Should have happened well before now so the Irish should be disappointed it's taken so long.

dfnt

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#2940204 9-Jul-2022 20:45

Kopkiwi: All Blacks got no clue, forwards getting smashed, backline getting run ragged.

Sums up Foster and Plumtree’s coaching

networkn

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#2940210 9-Jul-2022 21:53

Quite disappointing is all I can say about the result. The first yellow, how is someone supposed to stop in midair? Chances are if he hadn't of braced he could have even more badly injured the player on the ground.

Pretty unfortunate to lose both a Prop and our best loose forward.

I don't think you can blame the coaches for the handling errors. That is on the players. We had chances, we blew a few, it could have been closer.

On defense, we were immense again, good tackle completion rate, those things and the fact we put Ireland under pressure after a shaky start in the first 5 minutes, those are things you can give some credit to the coaches for. The way we scored right before half time showed a lot of grit. Ireland could easily have been penalized 3-4 more times for being offside in defense.

It's nearly impossible to win a game with 14 men for 50 minutes and 13 for 20 minutes, let alone against a resurgent Irish side.

What is more disappointing is the poor attitude of so many supposed AB's 'fans' who just want to tear us down every time we lose, or make a mistake.

Fakatava didn't disappoint on debut, he has an outstanding pass. Not sure on Sowakula yet.

networkn

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#2940211 9-Jul-2022 21:59

dfnt:
Kopkiwi: All Blacks got no clue, forwards getting smashed, backline getting run ragged.

Sums up Foster and Plumtree’s coaching

Oh please tell us how Foster and Plumtree could have changed tonight's result?

tukapa1

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#2940214 9-Jul-2022 22:26

networkn:
Oh please tell us how Foster and Plumtree could have changed tonight's result?

Not often I agree with you, but having played the game myself the boys would have been out of gas at half time.

We can take a lot from that game that we only lost by 11.

If Ireland had lost a man to a red card at the same time then we would have won by 40+.

That was a massive defensive effort by the ABs

Hopefully the debate about Beauden vs Richie will be a bit less one sided after this game. Beaudy clearly showed his value and Richie showed how hard it is behind a pack not dominating.

Well done Ireland. Congrats on your first win on NZ soil. I look forward to next week's game and hope for a card free game.

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