Geekzone Rugby (Union) Discussion Thread

Forums › Sports › Geekzone Rugby (Union) Discussion Thread

1 | ... | 250 | 251 | 252 | 253 | 254 | 255 | 256 | 257 | 258 | 259 | 260 | ... | 595

2444 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2115233 27-Oct-2018 22:31

While there was some brilliant passing while running at speed, I really enjoyed watching Matt Todd and Ardie Savea at work. Both showed their strength and determination to get the ball.

I had a good laugh when I thought about mentioning Todd before networkn.

NordVPN

Protect your online activity with NordVPN (affiliate link).

networkn

Networkn
30223 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2115234 27-Oct-2018 22:48

Your suggestion you don't mean anything with your various comments is starting to seem insincere. If you have something to say, spit it out. I'm a big boy and more than capable of handling it.

networkn

Networkn
30223 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2115243 27-Oct-2018 22:54

I thought the Aussies showed some positive signs.

The ABs were too strong, but I still see some scary defensive lapses. We looked good with 2 7's on the field.

Squire gives us some spine I think and Brodies presence was immediately noticeable. I do think Richie Mo'unga changes our attack points nicely. Ben Smith is much better on the wing than FB. I do have my doubts as to where DM fits in going forward. Possibly as bench backline utility?

Hammerer

2444 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2115259 28-Oct-2018 01:13

networkn: Your suggestion you don't mean anything with your various comments is starting to seem insincere. If you have something to say, spit it out. I'm a big boy and more than capable of handling it.

I think that you've misinterpreted my laugh as derisive. There was nothing insincere or mean in what I said . Not today and not a couple of weeks ago. So don't get oversensitive or paranoid.

I laughed because I'm first to praise a Crusader. You are usually first to post after an All Blacks' test and you'll often says something positive about a Crusaders player in the All Blacks.

I also laughed because I never thought I'd be saying "I really enjoyed watching Todd play." At one point, he looked like he was competing in a Judo competition.

Handle9

9642 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2115271 28-Oct-2018 05:56

It was a much better performance up front but to be honest a bit meaningless. Australia are a horror show in the forwards so dominating their scrum isn’t a big deal. They used some nice slight of hand to find space but they just don’t challenge the All Blacks physically. You can use passing for 40 or 50 minutes but big games are won by physical dominatIon in the forwards and Australia aren’t capable of that at the moment.

Mackenzie made big difference and has developed a lot in the last year. His decision making and defence have come a long long way. He gave Barret much more space to work with, as did Williams getting over the gain line early on. The pass he threw to put Squire in for his try was really nice, a flat spiral that put Squire outside his defender at pace. He still looks very rusty but he and Goodhue would be a scary physical midfield.

The emergence of Savea makes us a much stronger team. Having a 7 with his physicality means that we don’t lose anything when he comes on for Cane. He is doing it consistently now which is great. Having him, Barrett, Taylor/Coles Tuifanake and Laulala off the bench gives us real forward options and Tuipolotu has been very good as well. They are good in the loose but more importantly are power players in the tight. I think that Lauala is at least as good a scrummager as Franks so being able to attack the opposition for last 35 minutes is a real weapon.

The biggest positive for me was we scored two rather nice set piece tries. They did a very clever, legal, shepard with Perenara for Reids try and the move for Barrett’s try was great. They used Ioane beautifully to commit the inside defenders and give Barrett space. Barret doesn’t score without Ioane straightening the way he did.

A nice start to the tour, capped off by Auckland rolling over the top of Canterbury in extra time. I only saw the highlights but it appeared to be a massive choke by Canterbury to lose from that position.

tukapa1

690 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2115272 28-Oct-2018 06:19

I watched both games and I enjoyed the Auckland/Canterbury game more than the test.

They showed massive ticker to get up and roll over Canterbury from 13 points down. Reminded me of when Taranaki went to Christchurch and roared back from a big deficit to win the shield.

As a rural provincial bloke I never thought I would see the day but I was really rooting for Auckland to get up in that game and so glad they got there.

They'll be unlikely to get that support from me again.

Handle9

9642 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2115285 28-Oct-2018 07:54

This clip shows why Taylor got in Tolu Latus face

https://twitter.com/TheShadow549/status/1056088894813298688

networkn

Networkn
30223 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2117329 31-Oct-2018 11:39

Jesus I had to look about 20 times to see what the problem was. Was it that Tongan Thor shoved Taylor in the face?

networkn

Networkn
30223 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2117331 31-Oct-2018 11:43

So the Crusaders squad for 2019 has been announced. I am pretty happy, though I don't really see a direct replacement for Seta Tamiavalu and I think we will really miss him. He is a block busting winger/center and some of the tries he scored this year were sensational.

Bridge is a completely different type of winger, and I do think it makes sense to have one big and one quick winger, but from what I see, mostly we are looking to run with 2 lighter wingers.

networkn

Networkn
30223 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2118405 2-Nov-2018 11:42

I was reasonably shocked to see how light on test caps this team to face Japan is.

I mean, I knew they weren't going to play a first string side, however, this is bordering on disrespectful. :)

wratterus

1687 posts

Uber Geek

#2118462 2-Nov-2018 12:08

networkn:

So the Crusaders squad for 2019 has been announced. I am pretty happy, though I don't really see a direct replacement for Seta Tamiavalu and I think we will really miss him. He is a block busting winger/center and some of the tries he scored this year were sensational.

Bridge is a completely different type of winger, and I do think it makes sense to have one big and one quick winger, but from what I see, mostly we are looking to run with 2 lighter wingers.

You will like Leicester Faingaanuku. Just wait and see.

Edit - although I would have liked to see Levi Aumua playing for the Crusaders, he's a weapon.

Dingbatt

6421 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2119514 4-Nov-2018 16:25

Well three matches involving NZ teams and three comfortable wins.
I think Milner-Skudder is done and George Bridge is his replacement in the pecking order. Ultimately I see Bridge as replacing Ben Smith, but perhaps not until after the World Cup. Bridge had a debut that most players could only dream of.
I reconcile the fact that the ABs were inexperienced when I saw it was literally just an amalgam of the Crusaders and the Hurricanes in a lot of the structures. The future looks bright after the performance of plenty of the up and coming ABs.

I reckon the NZ Maori team would probably make the quarterfinals of the World Cup in their own right particularly if they can keep 15 players on the field for the whole game.

The Black Fern's real test will come next week against France.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

networkn

Networkn
30223 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2119641 4-Nov-2018 21:53

Dingbatt: Well three matches involving NZ teams and three comfortable wins.
I think Milner-Skudder is done and George Bridge is his replacement in the pecking order. Ultimately I see Bridge as replacing Ben Smith, but perhaps not until after the World Cup. Bridge had a debut that most players could only dream of.
I reconcile the fact that the ABs were inexperienced when I saw it was literally just an amalgam of the Crusaders and the Hurricanes in a lot of the structures. The future looks bright after the performance of plenty of the up and coming ABs.

I reckon the NZ Maori team would probably make the quarterfinals of the World Cup in their own right particularly if they can keep 15 players on the field for the whole game.

The Black Fern's real test will come next week against France.

Agreed on some points. GB should replace NMS, or Jordie Barret. Initially I thought JB had a horror show of the game, then Steve Hansen made mention that his charge down was the result of a lack of protection from other players, however I watched a fair bit of Rugby over the weekend, and there were a huge number of fullback kicks trying to be charged down, player unshielded, but because they kicked higher and over the approaching player, it wasn't an issue at all. I think SH got this wrong. JB either shouldn't have kicked or kicked at a more severe angle. For me he needs another season with the Hurricanes hopefully to settle his temperament issues.

Richie Mo'unga had a great night, as did Hemapo, Coles, Laumape, Tahuriorangi and Bridge obviously. We seem to have a bright future.

However, if SH and the rest of NZ isn't concerned about our defense now, then honestly, I am unsure what's what. The AB's have been pretty poor all season and despite playing a second-tier team, should not have leaked 31 points to Japan. Some of Japans tries were sensational as were a couple of our's, but for example their second was just incredibly poor defense. 31 in against Japan is bordering on disgraceful.

I was disappointed USA didn't do better, esp considering they played against 13 men for 10 and had a total of 3 yellow cards to make hay whilst the sun was shining. They were missing a number of their best, but even then. I thought standard of reffing all weekend was very average, but the first half effort by the MABUSA ref was truly awful. The MAB was so far offside at times, they could have been at USA's try line, and yet it was missed over and over. They were heavily penalized but should have been even more so in my view. The commentary was pretty one-sided as well.

I thought the shot by Farrell at the end of the ENG/RSA was a minimum penalty, but after watching that game, I am not too worried by England next weekend.

itxtme

2052 posts

Uber Geek

#2119679 4-Nov-2018 22:39

The Jordie Barret try should have been sent upstairs. He was pushed, there is no doubt.

Hammerer

2444 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2119734 4-Nov-2018 23:37

George Bridge played really well and much like he has for most of the year. Well done to him and the other debutants.

But any comparisons of Bridge's performance with those of other players would have to take account of the circumstances. Bridge was playing against a tiring Japanese side, with a fragmenting defensive line and the ball bouncing favourably for him. I doubt that he would have done any better than Milner-Skudder in the first half against a more determined defense. Anyway, we now have to wait a long time before we see him in more testing circumstances to show us if he really has surpassed other All Blacks.

If the USA game is indicative then we seem to have even more good players capable of performing creditably at international level.

1 | ... | 250 | 251 | 252 | 253 | 254 | 255 | 256 | 257 | 258 | 259 | 260 | ... | 595