Geekzone Rugby (Union) Discussion Thread

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#2979342 9-Oct-2022 12:43

I do think the Ferns were a bit overhyped by the occasion at the start and it took some concentrated go-forward by the forwards to settle them down. But that took 30 minutes.

It’s pretty obvious they want to play a high tempo game and the Aussie team were already tiring more at the 30 minute mark (admittedly 17 points ahead) than the Kiwis and then being down to 13 players for 10 minutes pretty much emptied the tank. Whether the high tempo game will work against England or France, or whether they’ll get monstered off the park is yet to be revealed.

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#2980186 10-Oct-2022 15:50

Dingbatt:

I do think the Ferns were a bit overhyped by the occasion at the start and it took some concentrated go-forward by the forwards to settle them down. But that took 30 minutes.

It’s pretty obvious they want to play a high tempo game and the Aussie team were already tiring more at the 30 minute mark (admittedly 17 points ahead) than the Kiwis and then being down to 13 players for 10 minutes pretty much emptied the tank. Whether the high tempo game will work against England or France, or whether they’ll get monstered off the park is yet to be revealed.

They are a pretty inexperienced side, that showed in the first 30 minutes when 17 zip down... got to give them plenty of credit for fighting back to win it, that's real character building stuff, which is going to be good value to them in the knock-out stages.

NZ look to have decent set pieces, and clean really well at the breakdown... all these skills need to be executed well if we are going to play a fast paced game, especially against the Poms & France.

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#2983257 16-Oct-2022 09:24

Watched the first half of the women's RWC match between the Poms & France... the Poms had most of the possession and territory,. But thought they were very predictable, slow and boring, all they did was take the ball up in the forwards and kick, Poms rely on just trying to starve the opposition of the ball to win.

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#2983623 17-Oct-2022 09:45

Black Ferns v Wales wasn't their best outing. The scoreline probably flattered them a little. Wayne Smith didn't mince his words either. Down to 13 is pretty bad, discipline was generally poor and accuracy wasn't great. If they play against a more staunch opposition like that, they will almost certainly lose. Wales made almost nothing from pretty substantial. The scrums got monstered and Wales made easy meters on the mauls.

Having said that, we had a very inexperienced team and Wayne Smith has made no secret he wants every player in the squad to get a reasonable chance to play.

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#2983671 17-Oct-2022 12:50

networkn:

Black Ferns v Wales wasn't their best outing. The scoreline probably flattered them a little. Wayne Smith didn't mince his words either. Down to 13 is pretty bad, discipline was generally poor and accuracy wasn't great. If they play against a more staunch opposition like that, they will almost certainly lose. Wales made almost nothing from pretty substantial. The scrums got monstered and Wales made easy meters on the mauls.

Having said that, we had a very inexperienced team and Wayne Smith has made no secret he wants every player in the squad to get a reasonable chance to play.

Yeah, their discipline was very poor, thought it was crazy though that Smith made a heap of changes, no wonder they were so disjointed in the lineouts, especially at scrum time - he should've known what most of his starting 15 was before this tournament started, silly experimenting that much during a RWC... hopefully he names his top 15 against Scotland so it gives us some continuity going into the play-off stage.

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#2983674 17-Oct-2022 12:54

artbloke:

Yeah, their discipline was very poor, thought it was crazy though that Smith made a heap of changes, no wonder they were so disjointed in the lineouts, especially at scrum time - he should've known what most of his starting 15 was before this tournament started, silly experimenting that much during a RWC... hopefully he names his top 15 against Scotland so it gives us some continuity going into the play-off stage.

The new squad has about 65% very new players, and there has been next to no matches since he took over, so he doesn't know his best squad yet.

He was given a mandate of development for the future, and whilst the RWC is a goal, it's not his highest priority.

I think we should be very happy if we finish 3rd or 2nd. It would be something pretty amazing to win.

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#2983733 17-Oct-2022 13:19

networkn:

artbloke:

Yeah, their discipline was very poor, thought it was crazy though that Smith made a heap of changes, no wonder they were so disjointed in the lineouts, especially at scrum time - he should've known what most of his starting 15 was before this tournament started, silly experimenting that much during a RWC... hopefully he names his top 15 against Scotland so it gives us some continuity going into the play-off stage.

The new squad has about 65% very new players, and there has been next to no matches since he took over, so he doesn't know his best squad yet.

He was given a mandate of development for the future, and whilst the RWC is a goal, it's not his highest priority.

I think we should be very happy if we finish 3rd or 2nd. It would be something pretty amazing to win.

He's been working with the players long enough to know which one's are his best players, he'll know the players that can handle the pressure situations better than others... Smith's priority should to be to try & win the RWC, Black Fern are defending Champions, and from what I've seen of the other teams we can definitely win the whole thing.

Got to say the Poms are a really painful watch.

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#2983981 17-Oct-2022 19:08

networkn:

I think we should be very happy if we finish 3rd or 2nd. It would be something pretty amazing to win.

Pretty much. NZ were beaten by 30 points, 40 points, 25 points and 25 points in the northern tour a year ago. We weren't close to France or England and the program was fundamentally broken.

The Black Ferns are much fitter than they were last year but they haven't had the 5 year build up to the World Cup that France and England have had. They didn't play for 2 1/2 years where France and England have had the Womens six nations every year as well as much better resourced set ups.

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#2983982 17-Oct-2022 19:09

artbloke:

Got to say the Poms are a really painful watch.

What they do works. 27 wins in a row over 4 years.

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#2984268 18-Oct-2022 14:33

Handle9:

artbloke:

Got to say the Poms are a really painful watch.

What they do works. 27 wins in a row over 4 years.

Yeah, they execute their style of game really well, but their weakness is they're an one-dimensional team - getting on top in scrums starts in the front row, we have some very big props, so reckon we will go well against the Poms in the scrums, our lineout looks solid... so if we're are aggressive at the breakdown & clean well their forwards will struggle to keep up with the fast paced game we play, then the gaps will open up, giving us every opportunity to run the Poms ragged.

Great how Smith has got the Black Ferns to play a similar style to the ABs.

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#2984297 18-Oct-2022 18:11

I am not sure why you think we would be able to compete with England in the scrum, our scrum went backward almost the entire match against Wales who aren't better at Scrummaging than England. We might improve a bit, but hard to see us competing in physicality, which is why Smith is entirely focused on our fast game and skills execution.

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#2984299 18-Oct-2022 18:21

The Black Ferns aren't playing like the All Blacks. They hardly kick and most of the backline aren't capable of kicking effectively. They tap and go a fair bit as their kicking is poor.

England are far more skilled and a few of the French are as well. England and France have done a much better job of preparing for this world cup than New Zealand. It would be a massive surprise if it was won by anyone but England, especially with the injuries the French have suffered.

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#2984672 19-Oct-2022 13:40

networkn:
I am not sure why you think we would be able to compete with England in the scrum, our scrum went backward almost the entire match against Wales who aren't better at Scrummaging than England. We might improve a bit, but hard to see us competing in physicality, which is why Smith is entirely focused on our fast game and skills execution.

Smith made 10 or more changes for the Welsh match though... it's when our more experienced props came off the bench our scrum was stabilized.

No good focusing fully on a fast paced game... always have to do physical stuff solidly first, then you earn the right to run it wide.

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#2984677 19-Oct-2022 13:51

Handle9:
The Black Ferns aren't playing like the All Blacks. They hardly kick and most of the backline aren't capable of kicking effectively. They tap and go a fair bit as their kicking is poor.

England are far more skilled and a few of the French are as well. England and France have done a much better job of preparing for this world cup than New Zealand. It would be a massive surprise if it was won by anyone but England, especially with the injuries the French have suffered.

I'm talking running wise, yeah, our tactical kicks need to be much better executed, and used at the right times... let's be honest the general kicking by all teams in the tournament isn't that great anyway.

England are not far more skilled - their backs definitely don't have the pace & ball handling skills our backs have... Poms have the advantage of playing plenty of Tests together as a starting 15.

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#2987312 24-Oct-2022 12:53

It's ridiculous that D.McKenzie isn't in the AB squad... he'd be worth his weight in gold coming off the bench.

Christie is a very average 9, he hardly adds anything coming off the bench... Faka needs to replace him in the reserves.

A.Smith's passing service was quicker in that last RC game, but doesn't add much with his running & kicking game... looks like he's been told to pull his head in by not overdoing all those aimless box kicks, which good to see.

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