|
|
Post by berkley on Sept 7, 2024 23:16:02 GMT -5
Spoilers {Spoiler: Click to show}
Ugly game. I thought the All Blacks played okay in the first half, but they struggled in the second forty. The most frustrating aspect of it was that South Africa didn't play that well in either test. Yet here we are, the first four test losing streak to the Boks since 1949 and the Boks win the Freedom Cup for the first time in 15 years. Plenty of things for the All Blacks to work on. They weren't humiliated on tour, but there are definite flaws. Just finished watching the game. yeah, I don't see a huge gap between the two sides At this point, I think they're mostly being out-coached, which may sound like a condemnation of Robertson but I'm willing to write it off for now as an inevitable adjustment period to a brand new coaching staff. But there are some things I just don't get - like leaving the front-rowers on the field until so late in the game, asking them to play against fresh legs when the team needs every edge they can get. In general I don't see the point of waiting until the last 10 minutes to sub someone.
But I thought there were a lot of encouraging signs for the All Blacks. Ratima didn't look out of place - nothing spectacular but no major screw-ups either, which is something for such a young player in that position. And Sititi, though he took a while to get going, was looking better and better as a the game progressed. I think he provided a significantly bigger attacking threat at no. 6 compared to Blackadder (I see I was wrong to assume they'd put him at 8 and move Savea).
On the negative side, no tries scored, which feels like a regression to the problems they were having on attack a few years ago, until they seemed to have straightened them out in the WC. Part of that may be adjusting to the new coaches so I think they deserve some leeway before passing judgement. I would like to see them give some of the new guys a look, though. Someone like Ruben Love might bring a little creativity to their attack, which they seem to be lacking at the moment. To me, now's the time to experiment with all the new guys, not the year before the WC when you'd hope they'd have all the bugs ironed out.
|
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Sept 12, 2024 21:13:59 GMT -5
Saw the England vs France Women's rugby game. Much the same distance between the two sides as the last time I saw them play each other a few months ago in the 2024 Women's Six Nations: France showing lots of promise and individual talent but as a team not quite at the level needed to really give England a scare. They're not far off but definitely not there yet and I don't think they'll have time to get there before the next WC, which is only a year away. So I think the 2025 Women's WC will be a 2-team contest again between England and NZ, notwithstanding Canada's recent victory over the Black Ferns.
|
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Sept 16, 2024 5:05:01 GMT -5
I watched Tonga vs Canada in the Pacific Nations (Men's) rugby tournament earlier this evening. I was pleasantly surprised that Canada were fairly competitive for most of the match, though Tonga stretched out their margin of victory by the end. But until the last 15 minutes or so they were within one or two scores, so it wasn't the blow-out I had been half expecting.
|
|
|
|
Post by commond on Sept 18, 2024 16:37:22 GMT -5
The All Blacks' side to face Australia in Sydney:
All Blacks match-day 23 (Test caps in brackets)
1. Ethan de Groot (26)
2. Codie Taylor (91)
3. Tyrel Lomax (38)
4. Scott Barrett (74) (Captain)
5. Tupou Vaa’i (32)
6. Wallace Sititi (3)
7. Sam Cane (98)
8. Ardie Savea (88) (Vice Captain)
9. Cortez Ratima (6)
10. Damian McKenzie (54)
11. Caleb Clarke (23)
12. Jordie Barrett (64) (Vice Captain)
13. Rieko Ioane (75)
14. Will Jordan (35)
15. Beauden Barrett (130)
16. Asafo Aumua (12)
17. Tamaiti Williams (12)
18. Pasilio Tosi (1)
19. Sam Darry (4)
20. Luke Jacobson (22)
21. TJ Perenara (85)
22. Anton Lienert-Brown (77)
23. Sevu Reece (28)
Unavailable due to injury: Fletcher Newell (calf), Ruben Love (quadricep).
Robertson, understandably, is under a lot of pressure to win this test given the All Blacks have dropped three of their last four and Australia is coming off a record loss. Not sure what is going on with the backline. After the clamoring for Jordan to start at fullback, he hasn't looked very good in that role in the past few tests, and he's back to the wing where he's shined at the international level. Barrett is back at fullback and McKenzie remains at 10. Ratima gets the nod at 9, which I'm okay with as TJ has been annoying for the most part. Mark Tele'a has been dropped despite being one of the star players at last year's World Cup. Honestly, I'm not sure what Reece offers at this point. Blackadder and Tuipulotu weren't selected despite being match fit. Sititi starts at 6. There was a lot of criticism of Robertson taking him off too early in Capetown. It's not his natural position, and apparently he hasn't even played at 6 for the Chiefs, but the All Blacks are in desperate need of a Kaino-style number 6, and have been basically ever since Kaino retired. The bench still looks like crap.
|
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Sept 19, 2024 0:51:08 GMT -5
The All Blacks' side to face Australia in Sydney: All Blacks match-day 23 (Test caps in brackets)
1. Ethan de Groot (26) 2. Codie Taylor (91) 3. Tyrel Lomax (38) 4. Scott Barrett (74) (Captain) 5. Tupou Vaa’i (32) 6. Wallace Sititi (3) 7. Sam Cane (98) 8. Ardie Savea (88) (Vice Captain) 9. Cortez Ratima (6) 10. Damian McKenzie (54) 11. Caleb Clarke (23) 12. Jordie Barrett (64) (Vice Captain) 13. Rieko Ioane (75) 14. Will Jordan (35) 15. Beauden Barrett (130) 16. Asafo Aumua (12) 17. Tamaiti Williams (12) 18. Pasilio Tosi (1) 19. Sam Darry (4) 20. Luke Jacobson (22) 21. TJ Perenara (85) 22. Anton Lienert-Brown (77) 23. Sevu Reece (28) Unavailable due to injury: Fletcher Newell (calf), Ruben Love (quadricep). Robertson, understandably, is under a lot of pressure to win this test given the All Blacks have dropped three of their last four and Australia is coming off a record loss. Not sure what is going on with the backline. After the clamoring for Jordan to start at fullback, he hasn't looked very good in that role in the past few tests, and he's back to the wing where he's shined at the international level. Barrett is back at fullback and McKenzie remains at 10. Ratima gets the nod at 9, which I'm okay with as TJ has been annoying for the most part. Mark Tele'a has been dropped despite being one of the star players at last year's World Cup. Honestly, I'm not sure what Reece offers at this point. Blackadder and Tuipulotu weren't selected despite being match fit. Sititi starts at 6. There was a lot of criticism of Robertson taking him off too early in Capetown. It's not his natural position, and apparently he hasn't even played at 6 for the Chiefs, but the All Blacks are in desperate need of a Kaino-style number 6, and have been basically ever since Kaino retired. The bench still looks like crap.
I still wonder if it wouldn't be a good idea to let Sititi play at 8, where I think he's spent most of his time, and move Ardie to 6, where he has lots of experience and is highly effective. I thought the Breakdown show guys had an interesting idea in a bit I saw on youtube: if the ABs decided to do a Boks-style Bomb Squad wouldn't Ardie Savea be a tremendous impact player to bring on early in the 2nd half? I think it makes sense in a lot of ways - for one thing, I always wonder, in any physical sport, how long players with such a high-energy style of play can keep it going. If they're hoping Savea can still be a top-class performer in the next WC, I'm not sure starting him every game and asking him to play 70 minutes is the best way to go about it.
Still, good to see Sititi getting rewarded with another start. And Ratima too. I've always liked TJ Perenara's play but have to agree that he hasn't made the best use of his big opportunity as the starting 9 for the ABs. I don't think he's been all bad, but mentally he doesn't seem to have it together right now.
Reece made one bad play last game that led to a yellow card and wasn't all that great apart from that either. But he has a strong track record so I can see why they might give him a few more chances before deciding he's no longer All Black material.But yeah, you wonder why Tele'a wouldn't be picked ahead of him at this point in time. After his WC suspension, it's natural to wonder if there's any behind the scenes stuff going on. NZ has a ton of talent at wing, I'd like to see someone else get a chance if Reece doesn't make a turn-around.
I would like to have seen Tuipulotu on the bench at least. I can see leaving Blackadder out for a bit as I thought he wasn't effective as a ball-carrier against the Boks though he never stopped working. But I thought Tuipulotu was playing well until he got injured, so you'd think he'd have come right back in.
I'm sorry to see Fletcher Newell injured but very glad to see Tosi on the bench. I hope he gets more than 5 or 10 minutes. They've gotta start giving these inexperienced guys more playing time or theyll never be able to adjust to the international level of play.
That said, Australia seems to be in a very bad place right now, having suffered a record defeat against the Pumas. If the All Blacks don't win these two games and handily, I think it will look really bad for Robertson.
|
|
|
|
Post by Rob Allen on Sept 20, 2024 13:05:04 GMT -5
Local news headline: Portland is getting a new WNBA franchise. The league is growing from 12 teams to 16.
|
|
|
|
Post by commond on Sept 21, 2024 4:36:17 GMT -5
All Blacks vs. Wallabies spoilers: {Spoiler: Click to show}
The match started the way the fans and pundits wanted to see and then disintegrated into another horror show in the second half. This time it didn't cost the All Blacks the match, but they are yet to score a single point in the final quarter of any Rugby Championship match this season and their discipline has been atrocious. It's quite surreal really, as we're so used to the All Blacks answering their critics we emphatic performances. At least Ratima and Sititu played well. |
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Sept 22, 2024 22:13:28 GMT -5
All Blacks vs. Wallabies spoilers: {Spoiler: Click to show}
The match started the way the fans and pundits wanted to see and then disintegrated into another horror show in the second half. This time it didn't cost the All Blacks the match, but they are yet to score a single point in the final quarter of any Rugby Championship match this season and their discipline has been atrocious. It's quite surreal really, as we're so used to the All Blacks answering their critics we emphatic performances. At least Ratima and Sititu played well. I can understand patience must be wearing thin for New Zealanders, but I continue to think this isn't so very abnormal with a new coaching staff and a fair number of new players, even though most still aren't getting enough playing time for me. The 2nd-half, and yeah, especially the continuing failure to score in the last 20 minutes is definitely a worry, though. But Australia deserves a lot of credit for their fight-back, too. And then there were the yellow cards against the All Blacks as well. It was an entertaining match with all the ebbs and flows.
Sititu played well again but of the two I thought it was Ratima who really stood out this time and took quite a significant step forward from his last game: then he looked like he belonged made no glaring mistakes but this time he looked to me like a potential star. The last two or three years I've been seeing Cam Roigard as the future for NZ at no. 9 but based on how Ratima played this weekend and assuming he continues to develop, I think he'll give him some serious competition.
Damien MacKenzie had a bit of a tough game, with two bad passes ruining probable tries (though partially created in the first place by him making some really nice moves leading up to those errors), and was run over a couple times when trying to tackle (but I think in each case by a much bigger forward). I don't mind them sticking with him for now at 10 because he's still relatively new to the position at the international level.
In the backs, Jordan has finally again started to look like the dangerous runner he has been, finding holes and making numerous line-breaks. Reece had a better game than last time but mostly just by not making any big screw-ups. Caleb Clarke looks to me like he's really separated himself as their best wing, even better than Tele'a, at least going by his last few games. I'd like to see them try someone else instead of Reece next game, not as punishment but just to give someone else a look.
Individually, in general once again there was a lot to be happy about with many players having impressive moments. So is it a coaching problem? I think it's still early enough to call it an adjustment problem. Next season, though ...
I'll try to see the SA-Arg game tomorrow night, though I screwed up and accidently saw the result, though not the exact score.
|
|
|
|
Post by commond on Sept 22, 2024 23:51:26 GMT -5
Robertson has been loyal to McKenzie thus far, but it might be time to try Barrett at 10. McKenzie is a mercurial player, but there are times when we could do with a more orthodox approach to the game. I don't know if Barrett can deliver that, but it's worth a try and would allow Jordan to remain at fullback. Jordie looks like he's out of the next game so Anton Lienert-Brown will probably slot into the starting lineup. I'd love to see Proctor get another shot, though, especially with the end of year tour coming up.
The bench have been crap but the captain and the leadership group also need to step up. Some of the stats are crazy. Across the 200 second-half minutes the All Blacks have played so far in the Rugby Championship, they have been outscored 79-38, after winning the 200 first-half minutes 104-46. Wayne Smith has been floating about this week offering advice, but first they need to break the Wellington hoodoo. They haven't won there in six years!
|
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Sept 23, 2024 11:02:48 GMT -5
Robertson has been loyal to McKenzie thus far, but it might be time to try Barrett at 10. McKenzie is a mercurial player, but there are times when we could do with a more orthodox approach to the game. I don't know if Barrett can deliver that, but it's worth a try and would allow Jordan to remain at fullback. Jordie looks like he's out of the next game so Anton Lienert-Brown will probably slot into the starting lineup. I'd love to see Proctor get another shot, though, especially with the end of year tour coming up. The bench have been crap but the captain and the leadership group also need to step up. Some of the stats are crazy. Across the 200 second-half minutes the All Blacks have played so far in the Rugby Championship, they have been outscored 79-38, after winning the 200 first-half minutes 104-46. Wayne Smith has been floating about this week offering advice, but first they need to break the Wellington hoodoo. They haven't won there in six years! Yeah, I think they should be trying more combinations at centre - although I have to admit that I thought Ioane had a good game this time, the first in quite a while where I really thought he showed that he belonged in the starting line-up. Jordan Barrett has long ago solidified his spot but the other is still up for grabs, for me, and they should be trying more options, including Proctor.
I think they have the depth to have a really impactful bench but they have too start bringing them on much earlier, say the 50-minute mark, and then put up with a few games in which the newer guys learn what it takes to make an impact at the international level. It's unfortunate, but Super-Rugby right now has fallen off to the point that there is a pretty big difference between what the new caps have experienced at the club level and what they face when playing the top six or seven international sides.
|
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Sept 24, 2024 0:25:10 GMT -5
Super-tight game between the Springboks and the Pumas, with Argentina holding on for the victory. They were a bit lucky, with Libbok missing a penalty kick near the end that Pollard probably would have made. But if SA had won I'd be saying they were lucky too.
Argentina now have wins against all three of the other teams in the tournament but up to now haven't been able to put together two strong games against the same opponent: they beat the All Blacks in NZ but then got blown out in the return match; they lost a close game to Australia and then blew them away next time with a record-setting score (worst defeat ever suffered by Australia, both by points against and points differential). Will they be able to get a second win against SA? I think they have it in them but it won't be easy playing in SA.
In the longer perspective, no matter what happens next weekend, I hope this is a sign of Argentina progressing towards the very topmost rank of international sides, something like Ireland and France did a few years back. I don't think they're quite there yet: the two big missing pieces are I think their set-pieces - they haven't looked good in their line-outs and especially their scrums - and in a more general way, consistency.
|
|
|
|
Post by commond on Sept 26, 2024 7:45:23 GMT -5
As predicted, Barrett has replaced McKenzie at 10.
All Blacks: Will Jordan, Sevu Reece, Rieko Ioane, Anton Lienert-Brown, Caleb Clarke, Beauden Barrett, TJ Perenara, Ardie Savea, Sam Cane, Wallace Sititi, Tupou Vaa’i, Scott Barrett (capt), Tyrel Lomax, Codie Taylor, Ethan de Groot.
Reserves: Asafo Aumua, Tamaiti Williams, Pasilio Tosi, Patrick Tuipulotu, Luke Jacobson, Cortez Ratima, Damian McKenzie, David Havili.
The plan was to have Barrett take over as first five in the second half in Sydney but he was a late scratch due to illness. Cane and TJ get to play their final Test on New Zealand soil. Cane will bring up his 100th cap.
|
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Sept 26, 2024 12:13:13 GMT -5
As predicted, Barrett has replaced McKenzie at 10. All Blacks: Will Jordan, Sevu Reece, Rieko Ioane, Anton Lienert-Brown, Caleb Clarke, Beauden Barrett, TJ Perenara, Ardie Savea, Sam Cane, Wallace Sititi, Tupou Vaa’i, Scott Barrett (capt), Tyrel Lomax, Codie Taylor, Ethan de Groot. Reserves: Asafo Aumua, Tamaiti Williams, Pasilio Tosi, Patrick Tuipulotu, Luke Jacobson, Cortez Ratima, Damian McKenzie, David Havili. The plan was to have Barrett take over as first five in the second half in Sydney but he was a late scratch due to illness. Cane and TJ get to play their final Test on New Zealand soil. Cane will bring up his 100th cap.
I've been a big fan of Beauden Barrett since the beginnings of his pro career but has he played much at 10 these last few years? Might take him a while to get into the swing of things at his old position.
I'm a bit disappointed they aren't bringing in Tele'a in Reece's place, as the latter hasn't been very effective his last few games. Is Tele'a injured or on the outs with the coaches for some reason? Then give someone else a look, they have tons of options at this position. Also not enthused that Havili has been brought back in at centre, as I find he's one of these players that is impressive at club level but not so much in internationals. Nows the time to start looking at some younger guys in preparation for the next WC.
Surprised Ratima is back on the bench as I thought he looked great last game. Though TJ also looked better coming off the bench than he had been doing the previous several games, maybe he showed them enough to get another crack at starting. And I suppose if this is his last home game as an AB that would account for it.
Glad to see Tosi named again, hope he gets to come on sooner this time. And good to see Tuipulotu, I would hope to see him and most of the other forward replacements brought on very early after the break. I would imagine the coaches must be considering this amongst other measures in an effort to address their ongoing problems in the 2nd half of games.
|
|
|
|
Post by commond on Sept 28, 2024 18:44:35 GMT -5
NZ vs. Australia spoilers: {Spoiler: Click to show}
Solid win for the All Blacks. Australia started well, but in a sense I thought that helped the All Blacks work their way into the game instead of starting off all-guns blazing and then wilting under the second half pressure. People will always find something to nitpick about, but we broke the Wellington hoodoo and scored the final quarter, so it was mission accomplished. Anton Lienert-Brown played a blinder at the best possible time and will probably take Jordie's spot at 12 until he recovers. |
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Sept 28, 2024 19:55:42 GMT -5
NZ vs. Australia spoilers: {Spoiler: Click to show}
Solid win for the All Blacks. Australia started well, but in a sense I thought that helped the All Blacks work their way into the game instead of starting off all-guns blazing and then wilting under the second half pressure. People will always find something to nitpick about, but we broke the Wellington hoodoo and scored the final quarter, so it was mission accomplished. Anton Lienert-Brown played a blinder at the best possible time and will probably take Jordie's spot at 12 until he recovers. For once I managed to see the game not too long after it was played and without hearing the score or result beforehand. Yes, I thought it was a very good performance by the All Blacks against an Australia that looks to be slowly finding their way back to a better level of play.
I think Lienert-Brown has been their best centre apart from Jordan Barrett and when Barrett returns I'd like to see him move over to 13 and take Ioane's spot. He's more consistent and makes better decisions. But I still think they should be giving time to other players at centre because injuries happen and it would be good not to have to bring in someone inexperienced at the international level if they suddenly need a replacement in a big game.
TJ had another up and down game in his last outing as an AB at home but it was nice to see him get the acknowledgement from the crowd.
Once again I thought Tosi looked really good in his few minutes. The other prop on the bench, Tamaiti Williams, was brought on a little earlier and also had a good performance. I'd like to see them try bringing on all three front-rowers, those two and Aumua, at 50 or 55 minutes.
Will Jordan had an even more impressive game than last time, if that's possible.
Beauden Barrett didn't seem to miss a beat moving back to 10. Maybe he's been playing there at the club level in Japan?
|
|
