Geekzone Rugby (Union) Discussion Thread

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#3430812 4-Nov-2025 14:12

networkn:

My comment stands and is correct. More of his Linebreaks result in turn overs or other errors, than tries.

So no, your comment is actually incorrect. DMac = 1 line break, which led to 1 try (Sititi's), with no turnovers or other errors.

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#3430813 4-Nov-2025 14:13

Lost at bottom of last page, so putting here for education purposes.

I hate to let hard facts get in the way of a good rant, but given it's Geekzone, I guess I should.

From match stats, Turnovers lost:

McKenzie = 0.

Clarke = 3, B Barrett = 2, Jordan, carter, Tupaea, Roigard, de Groot, Holland, Parker, Fainga'anuku = 1

Clarke highest turnovers lost, but had 14 carries. So 21% lost. By comparison, B Barrett 2 from 7 lost (29%), Roigard 1 from 3 lost (33%). J Barrett 1 from 2 lost (50%)

Linebreaks from Carries:

McKenzie 1 from 3 (33%), Clarke 3 from 14 (21%), Jordan 1 from 12 (8%). B Barrett 0 from 7 (0%)

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#3431123 5-Nov-2025 08:51

Earbanean:

So no, your comment is actually incorrect. DMac = 1 line break, which led to 1 try (Sititi's), with no turnovers or other errors.

Yes, in this ONE game. I am talking about his overall performances. I did try and collate some stats with ChatGPT, but unfortunately, it wasn't very readable.

He has been dropped or benched by 3 AB's coaches despite getting reasonable time starting. Surely that tells you something.

When was the last time before this match, where he created a similarly impactful bit of 'magic'? It's great when it happens.

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#3431158 5-Nov-2025 10:35

johno1234:

England and Ireland in particular played kick-or-position rugby for years, along with the rush defense. The ABs now use it when they're unable to overcome the rush defense. It is ugly and dull to watch.

Strangely enough, Australia seem to do better than most with rush defenses. AB management should take a look.

Yea, its strange how its sort of crept in over time and now seems the default ways most teams play the game. I'd love for some coaches to challange the status quo and play with more attacking flair.

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#3432378 9-Nov-2025 10:16

Damian Genius McKenzie! Take a bow. The ABs were gone for all money, then the little master completely turned the tide. As good a 50 22 as you'll ever see, followed by as good a corner finish as you'll ever see. Then a pretty decent penalty from long range to put the icing on the cake.

Sure, the keyboard warrior narrative is he's too small, or he runs sideways, blah, blah, blah. But people who know their footy appreciate the rare talent we have here.

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#3432386 9-Nov-2025 11:47

He can certainly be a fantastic impact player, and undoubtably won the AB's this game from that role. That 50:22 was unbelievable. Still not a starting 10 though. The 'wait for Mounga' approach that Razor is taking will cost this team. He had the mandate to blood new players once he took over from Fozzie but didn't do so and it's now too late. Mounga will not be the saviour at 10 - he wasn't before and he won't be now coming from the soft rugby he has been playing.

Hopefully the over the top clamour for Fainga'anuku will calm down a bit. One game last week and suddenly apparently our centers are sorted. He showed why he's not the answer (at least yet) today as he was terrible in defence.

Apparently Lord is no good as well. Got some wheels.... We have some depth in that second row now (not by design though - Razor wouldn't have any of these guys playing if it wasn't for injuries to the others).

Is Sacha Feinburg-Mngomezulu the next Dan Carter? He is magic so far. No team has a 10 that can play like that at the moment.

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#3432537 9-Nov-2025 22:11

I'll stand by my critisicm of Dmac, but holy crap, when he is on, he is on.

I have critisized his out of hand kicking as aimless and inaccurate, but that 50:22 was sublime and totally changed the game for us.

I would also say, there probably isn't another player on the planet who would have scored that try that way. I thought he was going to be bundled into touch, it's something special to be able to convert from that much pressure, into a try.

He likely saved our grand slam chances.

It was an exceptional bit of vision and execution.

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#3432541 9-Nov-2025 22:22

I have said this before, we are vulnerable to teams who get momentum and follow it up with out and out passion. Scotland looked out of it at half time, I was feeling relaxed and confident going into the second half and by 60 minutes I was saying to my wife, we were a decent chance to lose to Scotland. Having said that, we played over 1/3 of the game with 14 men. That trip was a disgrace and that 'attempt' at an intercept really really hurt us.

I really just don't know what this team is about. I watch SA, England, Ireland and even Australia play and I have a sense of their style. When I watch the AB's play, I don't have that same sense. I even felt under Foster that even though we weren't executing, we were building toward something. I am not sure what we are building toward.

Most weeks we fix something, and something else is broken. I can't really say I have seen a complete performance under Robertson, except perhaps the defence of Eden Park against the Bok's which was pretty special. I don't often look... Clinical.

This morning marks the first Maul Try we have conceded since Jason Ryan joined the AB's under Foster. I imagine he isn't very happy at all, and to Scotland of all teams. We held SA out many times.

I really hope Caleb Clarke is OK. Watching him wobbly like that whilst kneeling made me feel really quite ill. It was awful.

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#3432628 10-Nov-2025 09:45

Yep, agree with all that.

I said it a while ago, that our defence seems way too passive. When opposition teams get into our 22, they can just use straight runners and make 3 or 4 metres each phase until they get to our line. That happened again big time against Scotland. It was only the held up over the line call that saved us on a couple of occasions. We don't seem to be able to hit attackers with dominant tackles behind the advantage line. By comparison, Scotland seem to hold us out for a large number of phases.

And yeah, the attack wasn't great as well. Carter was unmarked a couple of times and the pass didn't go to him. No wonder he got frustrated. Maybe our distribution isn't where it needs to be with the emphasis on power midfielders. It'll be interesting to see which way they go with Clarke (sure to be) out against England. Whether Faingaʻanuku goes to the wing and Proctor comes in, or another wing comes in (is Narawa over there?), or whether DMac goes to 15 and Jordan to the wing.

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#3432645 10-Nov-2025 10:14

Earbanean:

Yep, agree with all that.

I said it a while ago, that our defence seems way too passive. When opposition teams get into our 22, they can just use straight runners and make 3 or 4 metres each phase until they get to our line. That happened again big time against Scotland. It was only the held up over the line call that saved us on a couple of occasions. We don't seem to be able to hit attackers with dominant tackles behind the advantage line. By comparison, Scotland seem to hold us out for a large number of phases.

And yeah, the attack wasn't great as well. Carter was unmarked a couple of times and the pass didn't go to him. No wonder he got frustrated. Maybe our distribution isn't where it needs to be with the emphasis on power midfielders. It'll be interesting to see which way they go with Clarke (sure to be) out against England. Whether Faingaʻanuku goes to the wing and Proctor comes in, or another wing comes in (is Narawa over there?), or whether DMac goes to 15 and Jordan to the wing.

Clarke is indeed out. We do show reasonable defense, but one of our top tacklers (Scott Barrett) is out at the moment. He is Sam Cane underrated, for what he brings. He isn't nearly as showy as Ardie, but his ruck attendance stats are very good.

Union has become overly defensive, I am unsure what the answer to that.

I agree we seem to have very narrow 'vision' on attack, it's been a while we have struggled in this, and there have been a few times where I have felt the ball was passed perhaps a second or two, too early, or the second to last attacker takes contact. This may be to avoid the last attacker being turned over or bundled out. It's also surprising to me that a couple of times, our last attacker, ends up being a forward like Codie Taylor. He isn't going to burn a back. If it was passed to a Carter or someone with real wheels, we would be far further down the field.

Again and again I note the difference in our kicking. BBarrett didn't look right all match. I am finding it incredible he didn't fail HIA or post match contact protocols. Barrett is generally better than Dmac, but neither finds space or grass nearly as often as other teams 10's and 15's do. The number of times we don't find touch is alarming to me. How these aren't fixed week on week, concerns me. There seems to be at tactic in play I don't understand.

I'd bet money on the fact DMac to 15 and Jordan to 14 against England.

To beat England we are going to need to play like we did against SA in game 1.

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#3432766 10-Nov-2025 13:59

AB's XV vs England A was pretty much exactly what you'd imagine it was, with the players who are in that team, for the AB's XV. It's like they unleashed the players who have been struggling to find the time and space to do their thing. Lots of free flowing fast moving Rugby.

I enjoyed watching it. Jacobsen can't catch a break.

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#3432767 10-Nov-2025 14:19

networkn:

Earbanean:

Yep, agree with all that.

I said it a while ago, that our defence seems way too passive. When opposition teams get into our 22, they can just use straight runners and make 3 or 4 metres each phase until they get to our line. That happened again big time against Scotland. It was only the held up over the line call that saved us on a couple of occasions. We don't seem to be able to hit attackers with dominant tackles behind the advantage line. By comparison, Scotland seem to hold us out for a large number of phases.

And yeah, the attack wasn't great as well. Carter was unmarked a couple of times and the pass didn't go to him. No wonder he got frustrated. Maybe our distribution isn't where it needs to be with the emphasis on power midfielders. It'll be interesting to see which way they go with Clarke (sure to be) out against England. Whether Faingaʻanuku goes to the wing and Proctor comes in, or another wing comes in (is Narawa over there?), or whether DMac goes to 15 and Jordan to the wing.

Clarke is indeed out. We do show reasonable defense, but one of our top tacklers (Scott Barrett) is out at the moment. He is Sam Cane underrated, for what he brings. He isn't nearly as showy as Ardie, but his ruck attendance stats are very good.

Union has become overly defensive, I am unsure what the answer to that.

I agree we seem to have very narrow 'vision' on attack, it's been a while we have struggled in this, and there have been a few times where I have felt the ball was passed perhaps a second or two, too early, or the second to last attacker takes contact. This may be to avoid the last attacker being turned over or bundled out. It's also surprising to me that a couple of times, our last attacker, ends up being a forward like Codie Taylor. He isn't going to burn a back. If it was passed to a Carter or someone with real wheels, we would be far further down the field.

Again and again I note the difference in our kicking. BBarrett didn't look right all match. I am finding it incredible he didn't fail HIA or post match contact protocols. Barrett is generally better than Dmac, but neither finds space or grass nearly as often as other teams 10's and 15's do. The number of times we don't find touch is alarming to me. How these aren't fixed week on week, concerns me. There seems to be at tactic in play I don't understand.

I'd bet money on the fact DMac to 15 and Jordan to 14 against England.

To beat England we are going to need to play like we did against SA in game 1.

The All Blacks seem to get the ball when they're flat footed, so get tackled back. The Scots were running on to it. Whether or not that's because they are deeper behind the gain line I don't know.

Kicking (apart from DMac's 50/22) was pretty aimless and straight to hand.

Kicks to us were generally contested, and we lost most of those contests.

I wouldn't have thought an All Blacks team needed skills coaching, but this lot really do look like they need it. Also, they need some serious discipline coaching. Unacceptable to be down a player for over a third of the game for stupid stuff. Scotland were warned in the first half, they didn't get pinged again close to their line for the same thing. They adapted and listened to the ref.

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#3432771 10-Nov-2025 14:44

trig42:

The All Blacks seem to get the ball when they're flat footed, so get tackled back. The Scots were running on to it. Whether or not that's because they are deeper behind the gain line I don't know.

Kicking (apart from DMac's 50/22) was pretty aimless and straight to hand.

Kicks to us were generally contested, and we lost most of those contests.

I wouldn't have thought an All Blacks team needed skills coaching, but this lot really do look like they need it. Also, they need some serious discipline coaching. Unacceptable to be down a player for over a third of the game for stupid stuff. Scotland were warned in the first half, they didn't get pinged again close to their line for the same thing. They adapted and listened to the ref.

I mean, for sure, the only way you can run onto the ball if the defensive line is flat, is to pass the ball earlier, or deeper. The problem with that, is it gives defenses more time to prepare for contact. We seem to want to pass the ball at the point of contact, creating doubt into the minds of defenders so they stop defending so flat. The margins are so small though it feels like we aren't often getting the rewards for that, even when it comes off.

A chip kick over the top can pay dividends, but we seem to only do this at the center of the field, and there are players in the second line of defense who grab it, and we have just given up possession for no benefit.

I'd like to see us make use of pushing for more territory kicking, turning defenders and tiring them earlier. It worked really well for the Boks against us in Wellington. The team was gassed by halftime and in the second half they ran us ragged making holes at will.

If we want to win against England, I feel we need to keep them pinned in their own half for as much of the game as possible.

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#3432772 10-Nov-2025 14:46

To be fair to the AB's. We played for 30 minutes with 14 men, made loads of mistakes and failed to execute a lot, and still beat Scotland, at home by 8 points.

I am not suggesting we take this approach every week, but finding a way to win, is something this team, and a few of the teams before this one, has been missing, that was absolutely present during the Hansen/Henry era. You'd even say that Fosters men managed to figure it out just in time for the RWC.

Contrary to Phil Giffords take, the most disappointing card for me, was the Yellow to Carter. It was poor sportsmanship, showed a lack of ability to deal with frustration, and was the most preventable and avoidable of the 3. Hopefully, he learns something.

Sititi's card was second, frustrating, but to some degree, less difficult to understand as reflexes play a part.

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#3433400 11-Nov-2025 15:31

I must admit to being surprised at the AB's Coaches use of the bench. Traditionally, by 60 minutes, most players who are going to be replaced, are replaced. I guess to some degree, this is usually when the coaches can see the opposition is tiring, and fresh legs on our side will put additional pressure on, and a lot of it is to do with not overworking players etc. I guess it's also done when the 'jobs' done and you are looking to close out a game and not risk players getting injured.

This coaching regime tends to replace a bit later, and often not at all ie Cam Roigard replaced by Ratima in the 78th minute. It does feel a fraction like the coaches don't trust the bench to the same degree that previous coaches have.

Having said that, you can't win as the AB's coach I guess. I recall many times over the years, when we have been under huge pressure, and a player who has been playing really well, has been replaced by a player who may not be considered quite as good, let's say Roigard for Cortez, and wondering what the coaches were thinking, just replacing players arbitrarily.

The risk I guess, is that you send the wrong message to the players, and also aren't giving them the game time and therefore the experience, and miss the added element of being required to step up under pressure to finish a game. In the big test matches, these are the qualities you require in my view. They are the difference between two teams.

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