Geekzone Rugby (Union) Discussion Thread

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903 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3273530 19-Aug-2024 16:29

Yeah, I though Blackadder was good this test too. He made a lot of tackles and I recall some of them being pretty dominant. His lineout work was great too. However, I still don't think he's the style of blindside that we should have. Same goes for Jacobsen. Personally, with a huge opposition like the Boks, I'd put Barrett in at 6 and leave the locks the same. When marking someone like de Toit (at breakdowns and lineout), some serious size will definitely help. Then a straight choice between Blackadder, Papali'i and Cane for the 7 jersey. Having said all that, I don't think that's what the selectors will do.

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Handle9

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#3273552 19-Aug-2024 18:01

Earbanean:

Yeah, I though Blackadder was good this test too. He made a lot of tackles and I recall some of them being pretty dominant. His lineout work was great too. However, I still don't think he's the style of blindside that we should have. Same goes for Jacobsen. Personally, with a huge opposition like the Boks, I'd put Barrett in at 6 and leave the locks the same. When marking someone like de Toit (at breakdowns and lineout), some serious size will definitely help. Then a straight choice between Blackadder, Papali'i and Cane for the 7 jersey. Having said all that, I don't think that's what the selectors will do.

I really hope they don't. South Africa have significant injury problems at lock and it's potentially an area of weakness for them. There's a decent chance PSDT starts there again. They are also playing on the edge a lot more so mobility is going to be a significant issue for the All Blacks. I also think there's a real chance of 6-2 by the All Blacks, which was the motivation for some of the positional changes on Saturday at 50 minutes.

The final thing it does is depowers the scrum. Both Va'ai and Barrett are natural rightside locks, having that extra power at scrum time is a real advantage. I'm also not sure if Darry has ever been to South Africa, it's a tough place to play green tight forwards.

Darry was decent for a new player but Va'ai was really really good in both tests. It gives me a lot more confidence if he's playing well.

Earbanean

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Ultimate Geek

#3273708 20-Aug-2024 08:32

Handle9:

The final thing it does is depowers the scrum. Both Va'ai and Barrett are natural rightside locks, having that extra power at scrum time is a real advantage. I'm also not sure if Darry has ever been to South Africa, it's a tough place to play green tight forwards.

Darry was decent for a new player but Va'ai was really really good in both tests. It gives me a lot more confidence if he's playing well.

Jeez, our scrum absolutely destroyed the Argies with Vai'i and Darry at lock. I didn't look to depowered to me. Obviously the Argies aren't as formidable as SA, but they're no slouches at scrum time. Also, the loosies add to the scrum power as well. So Barrett on the side would give us even more power than Saturday. Not what I'd call depowered at all. Still don't think the selectors will do this though.

GV27

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#3273851 20-Aug-2024 12:13

Earbanean:

Yeah, I though Blackadder was good this test too. He made a lot of tackles and I recall some of them being pretty dominant. His lineout work was great too. However, I still don't think he's the style of blindside that we should have. Same goes for Jacobsen. Personally, with a huge opposition like the Boks, I'd put Barrett in at 6 and leave the locks the same. When marking someone like de Toit (at breakdowns and lineout), some serious size will definitely help. Then a straight choice between Blackadder, Papali'i and Cane for the 7 jersey. Having said all that, I don't think that's what the selectors will do.

I thought it was still pretty scrappy but an improvement - he was noticeable this time instead of being mostly AWOL. But he almost managed to get himself a red card at one point with what looked like a no arms dive on a player already on the ground, and luckily for him he missed them totally. It would have been all over if he'd made contact.

The idea we should cut the Auckland outside backs (who mostly fired in this game) is nuts though. If Taylor, Peranara, Blackadder were held to that kind of standard then they'd have been gone two games ago. I can't help but sense a theme here. We finally got rid of Reece after a few seriously average hit-outs and after one game we're going to write-off a mostly solid outside back performance? Nah.

GV27

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#3274448 22-Aug-2024 12:28

Obviously something up behind the scenes as Leon McDonald departs the coaching group.

Handle9

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#3274490 22-Aug-2024 14:34

GV27:
Obviously something up behind the scenes as Leon McDonald departs the coaching group.

It was the fault of the Auckland backs.

Handle9

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#3274644 23-Aug-2024 03:41

In all seriousness this is a massive WT AF.

How can you be so misaligned with your attack coach that he’s gone after 5 weeks? It’s really concerning as well as likely costing NZR a lot of money. Maybe going outside the Crusaders mafia might have been a better idea.

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#3274698 23-Aug-2024 10:58

Will Leon MacDonald help the Wallabies? They do not have a backs coach and Leon does not have a job ...

Handle9

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#3275914 27-Aug-2024 22:34

Interesting Springboks side. They really only have one specialist lock in the 23 with Pieter Steph du Toit playing lock and no specialist on a 6-2 bench. Going for Fassi over Le Roux is also a big call.

It’s a seriously attacking backline and a very different team to the one that won the World Cup.

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#3276140 28-Aug-2024 12:45

I think it might have been interesting to watch Steve Hansen square off with Rassie in the mind games department.

networkn

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#3276774 29-Aug-2024 17:39

All Blacks: 15. Beauden Barrett, 14. Will Jordan, 13. Rieko Ioane, 12. Jordie Barrett, 11. Caleb Clarke, 10. Damian McKenzie, 9. TJ Perenara, 8. Ardie Savea, 7. Sam Cane, 6. Ethan Blackadder, 5. Tupou Vaa’i, 4. Scott Barrett, 3. Tyrel Lomax, 2. Codie Taylor, 1. Tamaiti Williams

Reserves: 16. Asafo Aumua, 17. Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18. Fletcher Newell, 19. Sam Darry, 20. Samipeni Finau, 21. Cortez Ratima, 22. Anton Lienert-Brown, 23. Mark Tele’a

Cane to start, that feels like a good decision to me. I think finally people are starting to see what he provides. We haven't got anyone who shifts bodies like him to replace him when he goes, and that's a serious problem.

I wonder how hard the Boks target TJP.

I feel like we have a reasonable chance against the boks if we can get set peice parity and keep the pace of the game high. If the referee allows the Boks to slow the game down with endless water, injury and ever so slow set peice set up delays.

Handle9

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#3276779 29-Aug-2024 18:07

Papali'i is listed as injured. Cane may not have started if he was fit.

Going 5-3 seems too conservative to me, there's enough flexibility in the squad to cover injuries going 6-2

GV27

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#3276898 30-Aug-2024 06:44

God help us if our line-out still doesn't work.

networkn

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#3276920 30-Aug-2024 09:07

GV27:

God help us if our line-out still doesn't work.

Easily fixed by bringing more Aucklanders into the team ? ;)

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#3276922 30-Aug-2024 09:08

networkn:

Cane to start, that feels like a good decision to me. I think finally people are starting to see what he provides. We haven't got anyone who shifts bodies like him to replace him when he goes, and that's a serious problem.

We will have to see. Historically his issue has been coming back after injury to fire on all cylinders and so people finally seeing is not really true, its the consistency he has lacked. But agreed when he plays well he is a big asset. He has got history with ill discipline in the ruck and tackle space which under the newer rules does not serve the team well. I get the feeling this occurs more often with him because he is pushing the limit on physicality, which is no good if you site out the game from the 28 minute mark...

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