Geekzone Rugby (Union) Discussion Thread

Forums › Sports › Geekzone Rugby (Union) Discussion Thread

1 | ... | 601 | 602 | 603 | 604 | 605 | 606 | 607 | 608 | 609 | 610 | 611 | ... | 640

11274 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3260426 16-Jul-2024 19:12

JPNZ:

MikeAqua:

I'm sick of watching opposing players fake injuries to slow the game down and get their breath back.

New rule: If a member of your team is receiving on field medical care for an 'injury', then the rest of you are doing burpies at stipulated pace the whole time, otherwise the 'injured' player gets binned.

This is a bane of all rugby, especially internationals. The game slowed down to the point of boredom just so the injured players team can have a rest. It ruins the flow of the game and the spectacle. They should take a leaf out of the NRL and if the player is not directly in the way of play then they play on. Watch how quickly they make it back to the line or are substituted when their team is one player short.

Serious Injuries or HIA excluded of course.

It’s easy to say but very difficult to do due to the set piece implications. You can’t have a safe scrum without props or a hooker and if you force players to be substituted you’ll in effect create rolling subs for the front rows.

It’s annoying but really hard to fix.

networkn

Networkn
32247 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3261015 18-Jul-2024 13:01

I am fizzing for this game, and to see how these newbies play. Dry Field, 21c predicted temperature, I can only imagine how quickly the AB's are going to moving the ball around.

networkn

Networkn
32247 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3262225 21-Jul-2024 15:29

I felt that the debutants played really well.

Standouts for me were Procter, Cortez until injured, Darry and Hotham. Tosi too.

Blackadder isn't a 7. He looks a bit rusty (understandable), but 6 or 8 for me.

Scott Barrett doing dumb things is really frustrating. He makes me nervous.

I'd be interested to see what ALB and Procter or Jordie and Procter look like together.

Dmac place kicking is excellent, out of hand, far less so. Someone needs to get around him and help him understand why he's kicking in game. He needs a better understanding of what a good kick outcome is vs a nothing or negative outcome. Hopefully, our chase improves as we improve our cohesion.

networkn

Networkn
32247 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3262226 21-Jul-2024 15:31

Georgia scored what should absolutely be considered for try of the year against Australia yesterday. They scored another one which was awesome too.

They are one of my favourite minnow teams.

networkn

Networkn
32247 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3262396 21-Jul-2024 18:02

What was a rumor, shocking in and of itself, has become fact, as Ardie Savea announces his switch to Auckland based Moana Pasifika Super Rugby Team.

I am both surprised, given his links to the Hurricanes, but also, I guess not that surprising, having seen Ardie mention many times, his heritage, that he would see this as a way to give something back.

I hope it goes well.

Handle9

11274 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3262530 22-Jul-2024 03:14

networkn:

Dmac place kicking is excellent, out of hand, far less so. Someone needs to get around him and help him understand why he's kicking in game. He needs a better understanding of what a good kick outcome is vs a nothing or negative outcome. Hopefully, our chase improves as we improve our cohesion.

His kicking is fine. He's doing what the coaches are asking him to do.If you want to make a criticism then it should be of the coaches.

Both he and Barrett were clearly trying to go long in the middle of the field early on. His kick pass is superb and has a very high success rate.

Our woeful kickoff receptions on the other hand are a dogs breakfast, they were bad against England and atrocious against Fiji. They need to fix it in a hurry.

networkn

Networkn
32247 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3262659 22-Jul-2024 10:38

Handle9:

His kicking is fine. He's doing what the coaches are asking him to do.If you want to make a criticism then it should be of the coaches.

Both he and Barrett were clearly trying to go long in the middle of the field early on. His kick pass is superb and has a very high success rate.

These comments don't align with a single pundit in post match analysis.

Yes, his kick pass is accurate, and a strength of his game, but if not for the posts the ball would have gone out, very few of his kicks up and under were contestable, and did not find grass, or put the receiver under any pressure.

It would be surprising to me that any coach would suggest such tactics. (Not impossible however, I guess). If that's the tactic they are asking for, then I'd be surprised if it was the execution they were seeking.

On an unrelated note, do you see any patterns of play emerging from the Robertson AB's as yet? It looks fairly different, but I am not sure what to make of it. The kick over the top of the defensive line seems to have shown up a fair bit, with mixed success.

GoodSync

GoodSync. Easily back up and sync your files with GoodSync. Simple and secure file backup and synchronisation software will ensure that your files are never lost (affiliate link).

Handle9

11274 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3262927 22-Jul-2024 15:33

networkn:

Handle9:

His kicking is fine. He's doing what the coaches are asking him to do.If you want to make a criticism then it should be of the coaches.

Both he and Barrett were clearly trying to go long in the middle of the field early on. His kick pass is superb and has a very high success rate.

These comments don't align with a single pundit in post match analysis.

Yes, his kick pass is accurate, and a strength of his game, but if not for the posts the ball would have gone out, very few of his kicks up and under were contestable, and did not find grass, or put the receiver under any pressure.

It would be surprising to me that any coach would suggest such tactics. (Not impossible however, I guess). If that's the tactic they are asking for, then I'd be surprised if it was the execution they were seeking.

On an unrelated note, do you see any patterns of play emerging from the Robertson AB's as yet? It looks fairly different, but I am not sure what to make of it. The kick over the top of the defensive line seems to have shown up a fair bit, with mixed success.

When have you ever seen a New Zealand pundit make a meaningful analysis of kicking strategy? McKenzie, 3 or 4 times and Barrett once, kicked the ball in the same way from the same part of the field to the same part of the field. It's a strategy, not him making it up on the fly.

The biggest criticism of him is he should probably have kicked earlier as the kicking duel was a result of several phases going backwards in nowhere land. Of course he got criticized for kicking on second phase with a really nice kick that got very well defended but it was a good option. He defended it so they made 10-15 metres of free territory and got to restart from set piece. They scored from that restart after several phases.

They wanted the Fiji to kick to touch so they could restart from a lineout. Fiji kicked pretty well to touch but that is what they wanted and got. It's a very common tactic which the "pundits" don't explain because they are too busy screaming boomfah rather than analyzing the game. They treat viewers like idiots.

New Zealand won the first test against England by kicking and it's going to be vital in SA. They clearly don't want to play between their own 22 and 40 and kick as soon as phases start going backwards, which makes sense, it's the easiest way to give away a cheap penalty. Not every kick is about getting an immediate result, often it's all about showing the defence a picture so they can change it later in the game. Chip kicks and kick passes are all about that as is kicking from wide channels. If you can manipulate the defensive pendulum then you can get value later on, especially with a rush.

A lot has also been made about the supposed poor play of the All Black midfield last week compared to this week. It's much the same as the criticism about kicking, it lacks much real analysis. The midfield in the second test got the ball 23 times with no turnovers (Jordie 16 times, Rieko 5, ALB 2). They got the ball against Fiji 54 times and most of that was in space and still had 3 turnovers. The midfield played pretty well with the ball this week but had incredibly favorable conditions.

Similarly I haven't heard any commentary about how the All Blacks midfield pretty much took Ollie Lawrence out of the game last week, turning him over twice on first phase through aggressive defense. It made a big difference to winning the game and is what they did all last year. You cannot win in internationals without an aggressive rush.

If they want to make a change to play a bit differently then they should do that but its far from the narrative that's being portrayed. It reminds me a lot of the Sam Cane nonsense.

networkn

Networkn
32247 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3263243 22-Jul-2024 22:10

I was not listening to NZ Pundits. I watched a couple of SA and UK ones, not sure how good they are, but what they said made sense to me.

Even if you want your opposition to kick to touch so you can try and contest a lineout (significantly better than the last 2 weeks, but under much less pressure), you still want them to be under as much pressure when they make those kicks, to limit the distance they obtain. No pressure, longer kick.

Perhaps the strategy is OK, but the execution, IMO was pretty average.

I took the commentary of them (coaches) ripping up the play book as more a case of examining each element of play without preconceptions, looking for a new technique or strategy.

In all, I think it's hard to judge the AB's on a match against what was a pretty different Fiji side than we have played in the last couple of years, it was much less competitive.

Having said that, we went with a very inexperienced side, and without many exceptions, the newbies played really well I thought. I'll be interested to see if they can be consistent at that level.

Handle9

11274 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3263244 22-Jul-2024 22:34

networkn:

I was not listening to NZ Pundits. I watched a couple of SA and UK ones, not sure how good they are, but what they said made sense to me.

Even if you want your opposition to kick to touch so you can try and contest a lineout (significantly better than the last 2 weeks, but under much less pressure), you still want them to be under as much pressure when they make those kicks, to limit the distance they obtain. No pressure, longer kick.

Perhaps the strategy is OK, but the execution, IMO was pretty average.

I took the commentary of them (coaches) ripping up the play book as more a case of examining each element of play without preconceptions, looking for a new technique or strategy.

In all, I think it's hard to judge the AB's on a match against what was a pretty different Fiji side than we have played in the last couple of years, it was much less competitive.

Having said that, we went with a very inexperienced side, and without many exceptions, the newbies played really well I thought. I'll be interested to see if they can be consistent at that level.

If the opposition kicks to touch you get the throw in.

networkn

Networkn
32247 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3263345 23-Jul-2024 06:55

Handle9:

If the opposition kicks to touch you get the throw in.

I'm well aware. As England proved, it's often still a contest.

Handle9

11274 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3263682 23-Jul-2024 19:13

networkn:

Handle9:

If the opposition kicks to touch you get the throw in.

I'm well aware. As England proved, it's often still a contest.

You indicated something different in your post.

FWIW Brynn Hall made much the same points as me in in the ARP. It's a very good episode, the first 15 minutes about tactics and then team dynamics and change with a guest from Gainline Analytics.

GV27

5885 posts

Uber Geek

#3265571 28-Jul-2024 15:53

All Blacks squad

Hookers

Asafo Aumua (27 / Hurricanes / Wellington / 9)

Codie Taylor (33 / Crusaders / Canterbury / 87)

George Bell (22 / Crusaders / Canterbury / 1)

Props

Ethan De Groot (26 / Highlanders / Southland / 25)

Tyrel Lomax (28 / Hurricanes / Tasman / 34)

Fletcher Newell (24 / Crusaders / Canterbury / 16)

Pasilio Tosi (26 / Hurricanes / Bay of Plenty / 1)

Ofa Tu’ungafasi (32 / Blues / Northland / 59)

Tamaiti Williams (23 / Crusaders / Canterbury / 8)

Locks

Scott Barrett (30 / Crusaders / Taranaki / 72) (Captain)

Tupou Vaa’i (24 / Chiefs / Taranaki / 28)

Patrick Tuipulotu (31 / Blues / Auckland / 45)

Sam Darry (24 / Blues / Canterbury / 1)

Loose Forwards

Ethan Blackadder (29 / Crusaders / Tasman / 11)

Sam Cane (32 / Chiefs / Bay of Plenty / 95)

Samipeni Finau (25 / Chiefs / Waikato / 3)

Luke Jacobson (27 / Chiefs / Waikato / 21)

Dalton Papali’i (26 / Blues / Counties Manukau / 34)

Ardie Savea (30 / Moana Pasifika / Wellington / 84) (Vice Captain)

Wallace Sititi (21 / Chiefs / North Harbour / 1)

Halfbacks

Noah Hotham (21 / Crusaders / Tasman / 1)

TJ Perenara (32 / Hurricanes / Wellington / 81)

Cortez Ratima (23 / Chiefs / Waikato / 2)

First five-eighths

Beauden Barrett (33 / Blues / Taranaki / 126)

Damian McKenzie (29 / Chiefs / Waikato / 50)

Midfielders

Jordie Barrett (27 / Hurricanes / Taranaki / 60) (Vice Captain)

David Havili (29 / Crusaders / Tasman / 27)

Rieko Ioane (27 / Blues / Auckland / 71)

Anton Lienert-Brown (29 / Chiefs / Waikato / 73)

Billy Proctor (25 / Hurricanes / Wellington / 1)

Outside backs

Caleb Clarke (25 / Blues / Auckland / 21)

Will Jordan (26 / Crusaders / Tasman / 31)

Ruben Love (23 / Hurricanes / Wellington / 0)*

Stephen Perofeta (27 / Blues / Taranaki / 5)

Sevu Reece (27 / Crusaders / Southland / 26)

Mark Tele’a (27 / Blues / North Harbour/ 11)

INJURY COVER: Josh Lord (23 / Chiefs / Taranaki / 4)

Fairly predictable. No room for Sotutu despite there now being seven loosies. Reece and Taylor have managed to hang in there which is as to be expected on every basis except actual form.

Outside of the wingers, you wouldn't know that the best rugby in the southern hemisphere was played by Auckland this year.

networkn

Networkn
32247 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3265578 28-Jul-2024 17:05

GV27:

Fairly predictable. No room for Sotutu despite there now being seven loosies. Reece and Taylor have managed to hang in there which is as to be expected on every basis except actual form.

Outside of the wingers, you wouldn't know that the best rugby in the southern hemisphere was played by Auckland this year.

Because it went so well for us the last time we 'filled' the AB's with Blues, don't you remember? :)

GV27

5885 posts

Uber Geek

#3265584 28-Jul-2024 17:16

networkn:

Because it went so well for us the last time we 'filled' the AB's with Blues, don't you remember? :)

There really hasn't been an ABs squad 'filled' with Blues players, unless you want to count the the mid 1990s. Not in the way we've seen squads filled with Crusaders in the intervening years since, anyway.

Just not sure why you'd select almost exclusively from the squads that were defensively outclassed (also at scrum-time) by one team and pass over the players who made that happen. Maybe the rest of the country doesn't like winning as much as we do up here? Each to their own, I guess.

1 | ... | 601 | 602 | 603 | 604 | 605 | 606 | 607 | 608 | 609 | 610 | 611 | ... | 640