Geekzone Rugby (Union) Discussion Thread

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#3413745 11-Sep-2025 12:49

Earbanean:

It's already been said quite a bit, but the Chiefies with/without DMac are two different teams. Maybe the same can be said about Jordan for the 'saders. I hope his injury isn't too bad.

As the season gets to the business end, everyone starts looking at players from an ABs perspective. I thought Sititi has looked good again. It'll be the 'difficult second year' in the ABs for him, so good to see form at Super Rugby after a long break.

For me, even as a Chiefs fan, Stevenson is NOT an AB. I think the selectors got that one right. Personally I think the same about Reece. Fantastic Super player, but didn't take the opportunity at test level. Aerial skills are so important in tests, while not seen as much in Super games. I think Narawa and Fihaki fit the ABs wing mould a bit better, having both played 15. It's way to soon to talk about Carter as an AB, but it's going to be interesting to watch his growth. Naholo is going well, but would only be on the radar if Clarke is out.

I think David Havili is looking excellent - "both sides of the ball", as the ABs coaches love to say. His versatility and range of skills will be so valuable in an ABs squad. I'd love to see how he'd go at 13. Same goes for Reuben Love. In a World Cup scenario, having that sort of back up at 10 and 15 is gold.

I think the hardest ABs pick is blindside (assuming Sititi plays 8). I'm still at a loss. On paper, Cullum Grace should be what we're after, but I'm always disappointed in how he plays. He's miles off test quality. Finau had an early shot and hasn't gabbed the spot either. Simon Parker is a seriously underrated player who always seems to play really well, but doesn't get consistent time in a stacked Chiefs squad. Papali'i, Jacobson and Blackadder are all playing well and are great bench/squad options, but I personally don't think they're specialist enough at 6 to compliment Savea and Sititi.

Jeez Earbanean, you were seriously on to it back in May... Has Razor been following you on GZ?

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#3413764 11-Sep-2025 13:31

GV27

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#3414664 13-Sep-2025 20:52

Foster would have never.

Dingbatt

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#3414665 13-Sep-2025 21:09

Wow, that’s embarrassing.

I’m not sure what Razzi said at halftime, but 36 unanswered points in the second half!

It makes the Championship table pretty interesting.

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#3414666 13-Sep-2025 21:10

Reality strikes.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

k1w1k1d

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#3414668 13-Sep-2025 21:29

All Blacks were totally outplayed. They have got a lot of work to do, especially under the high ball.

Well done to the Springboks.

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tukapa1

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#3414669 13-Sep-2025 21:31

Embarrassing.

Razor still picking up those firsts that Fozzie didn't lower the legacy to.

Dingbatt

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#3414685 14-Sep-2025 08:21

Seems a long time ago now that we were in the crowd at Albany stadium to watch the ABs demolish the SBs 57-0 (September 2017 in fact).The final 30 minutes of last night’s game reminded me of that game. Everything the victors did turned to gold and the opposition appeared powerless in the face of the onslaught. That game also lit a fire under South African rugby that is bearing fruit now.
The wholesale change out of the old warhorses, giving the young guns an opportunity, which they seized with alacrity, is something that the ABs may need to consider.

I can’t remember the last time I saw an ABs scrum so comprehensively dominated. I also have to question the mental toughness of the ABs “leadership team”. When they needed to step up, they were muted.

All Black teams of the past used to hold the line for 60 minutes, then shift up a gear and overwhelm their opponents. That is certainly not evident this year.

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JPNZ

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#3414686 14-Sep-2025 08:49

For the last 3 years I’ve been saying the ABs don’t have the players to be best in the world. Being regularly beaten by top 5 teams in the world has become commonplace. No coach will fix it, it’s purely on talent.

I was proud to have lived most of my life where the All Blacks were often unbeatable. No team sport anywhere in the world has a team that consistently wins. The sooner the rabid NZ media realise that the better. The All Blacks new normal started years ago.

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#3415079 15-Sep-2025 11:22

Well, that was a tough watch. Really hard to pinpoint one or two things that went really badly, but it's nearly impossible to win a match when your set piece is absolutely dysfunctional and you fall off 45 tackles, and you aren't coping well with the aerial game plan.

The first half, I thought our attack was showing some really good things, we looked pretty sharp. I had high confidence we would kick on and win that match.

In the past few years, the losses we have had, seem to be because our team just isn't sufficiently fired up. Happened in Fosters era as well. We don't seem to back up a win with another good win, it's like we get complacent. Similarly, we have to lose to get a good win.

Having said that, I don't think anyone could have stopped the Springboks Saturday night. They had something prove, and nothing was getting in their way. The scoreline is hard to digest though.

Razor looked shell shocked. That's good. I want it to really hurt, deep deep in his soul and for that to be the catalyst for change. I have felt that Holland probably needed to go and probably Hansen. It seems clear that yet again, the team isn't giving what the coaches are asking.

Leroy Carter looked fantastic. Some of our kicking was better.

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#3415101 15-Sep-2025 12:03

On the flip side, the womens RWC campaign is continuing well. We beat SA by a similar margin.

We look very vulnerable in physicality, but with ball in hand, we are fast, and I suspect if we can continue to get the ball out wider, we will do OK. I think England are a big ask.

We had a massive defensive effort, 248 tackles made, vs SA who made 80, but SA missed 28 of theirs.

Scoreline probably flattered SA.

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#3415119 15-Sep-2025 12:21

JPNZ:

For the last 3 years I’ve been saying the ABs don’t have the players to be best in the world. Being regularly beaten by top 5 teams in the world has become commonplace. No coach will fix it, it’s purely on talent.

I was proud to have lived most of my life where the All Blacks were often unbeatable. No team sport anywhere in the world has a team that consistently wins. The sooner the rabid NZ media realise that the better. The All Blacks new normal started years ago.

The problem is as much Kiwi Fans who can't adjust to the fact the world has caught up. There is only so much innovation to be had, more often than not, hard work will outdo innovation. It was very very evident in the SA vs Black Ferns match where the Womens Springboks tried a number of things including a 15 women rolling maul, which was successful a number of times, but they still got thumped good and hard.

GV27

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#3415122 15-Sep-2025 12:35

networkn:

The problem is as much Kiwi Fans who can't adjust to the fact the world has caught up. There is only so much innovation to be had, more often than not, hard work will outdo innovation.

Almost anything will out-do not catching the ball.

We should try that first.

GV27

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#3415124 15-Sep-2025 12:42

JPNZ:

I was proud to have lived most of my life where the All Blacks were often unbeatable. No team sport anywhere in the world has a team that consistently wins. The sooner the rabid NZ media realise that the better. The All Blacks new normal started years ago.

Are we stuck with some binary option of "win every game by 50 points" or "just completely forget how to ruck, scrummage or catch a kick?"

There's no need to try and throw blame at a 'rabid media' when you can't win a lineout on your own tryline. I don't think there's any world in which the NZ rugby public should accept that kind of rugby as 'a new normal'.

The wider NZ public is a lot more pragmatic than it was in 2007 but it's not unrealistic to ask reasonable questions about our team when they fall apart at the seams at a time when previous All Blacks teams would be able to grind-out a win through conditioning alone.

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#3415127 15-Sep-2025 12:59

GV27:

Almost anything will out-do not catching the ball.

We should try that first.

How many handling errors did we make vs how many tackles did we fall off? In a 30 point drubbing, I promise you, attack isn't the problem. Missed tackles is the problem. 48 of those dwarfs our handling errors.

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