RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy
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We'll soon find out if the SA and French losses have given Foster and co enough reason to rejig things.
I think the top 15 is pretty settled, and hopefully J Barrett, Cane, Lomax & Frizzell are not far away.
I'd like a Roigard, DMac and Leicester bench. Plenty of impact there.
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Not to put panic in the ranks, but we need to beat these Italians convincingly - no bonus points given and here's why.
France is going to thump Namibia and move to 13 points.
If we have a close win over Italy - where they get a losing bonus point - they move to 11 and we move to 9.
Even when we thump Uruguay we only get to 14 points.
An open running game between France and Italy, where both teams score four tries and France conspire to lose and boom - both those teams go to 15 points. And as long as Italy gets to 15 points, France only needs 14, so they only need to score four tries, not even stay close.
Particularly, if they have some preference to come second, we may be in trouble.
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@Chris-B said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
Not to put panic in the ranks, but we need to beat these Italians convincingly - no bonus points given and here's why.
France is going to thump Namibia and move to 13 points.
If we have a close win over Italy - where they get a losing bonus point - they move to 11 and we move to 9.
Even when we thump Uruguay we only get to 14 points.
An open running game between France and Italy, where both teams score four tries and France conspire to lose and boom - both those teams go to 15 points. And as long as Italy gets to 15 points, France only needs 14, so they only need to score four tries, not even stay close.
Particularly, if they have some preference to come second, we may be in trouble.
Goddamn it Chris!!!
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If we lost to Italy to go out at the Group stage then quite frankly the outrage in NZ should make '99 look like a disgruntled letter to the editor.
Don't spit on racehorses though, that's not cool
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@mariner4life said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
If we lost to Italy to go out at the Group stage then quite frankly the outrage in NZ should make '99 look like a disgruntled letter to the editor.
Don't spit on racehorses though, that's not cool
It won't though, cos none of us will be surprised
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@Machpants said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
@mariner4life said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
If we lost to Italy to go out at the Group stage then quite frankly the outrage in NZ should make '99 look like a disgruntled letter to the editor.
Don't spit on racehorses though, that's not cool
It won't though, cos none of us will be surprised
i fuckin would be! It's fucking Italy!
I would want serious recriminations! Sacked assistants. Players looking at whether they have a job next year. I want blood dammit
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Given the usual arrogance of our media there was a headline posted in another thread today and then this one...
Yeah as much as some would love to see us rolled by Italy, I can't see it, I also can't see the French bending over to Italy either.
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@taniwharugby Barring cards, I can't see us losing either - but, I don't want any doors left open for "engineered" results.
I've probably watched too much cycling...
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@mariner4life said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
@Machpants said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
@mariner4life said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
If we lost to Italy to go out at the Group stage then quite frankly the outrage in NZ should make '99 look like a disgruntled letter to the editor.
Don't spit on racehorses though, that's not cool
It won't though, cos none of us will be surprised
i fuckin would be! It's fucking Italy!
I would want serious recriminations! Sacked assistants. Players looking at whether they have a job next year. I want blood dammit
Fozzie would do well to book himself on a continuous series of Contiki tours around Europe. After about five years the clamour might have died down enough that he could come home heavily disguised.
Would have to be the most disgraceful defeat - by a decent margin.
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@Machpants said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
@mariner4life said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
If we lost to Italy to go out at the Group stage then quite frankly the outrage in NZ should make '99 look like a disgruntled letter to the editor.
Don't spit on racehorses though, that's not cool
It won't though, cos none of us will be surprised
You do realise we're only playing Italy?
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@antipodean said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
@Machpants said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
@mariner4life said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
If we lost to Italy to go out at the Group stage then quite frankly the outrage in NZ should make '99 look like a disgruntled letter to the editor.
Don't spit on racehorses though, that's not cool
It won't though, cos none of us will be surprised
You do realise we're only playing Italy?
Yup, I remember saying that about Argentina, who had been in Covid lock down for a year with no rugby. No chance...
...until Foster
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@Chris-B I know some would see it as a fitting end to his controversial coaching career in NZ, and we are often told players dont read these types of articles/stories, but surely they are acutely aware of the decreasing lack of faith in them? Surely this would usually be a motivator?
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@Machpants yeah if they beat us, dollars to donuts they won't play the game of their lives. It'll just be a case of the ABs having another implosion.
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@taniwharugby They shouldn't be lacking for motivation.
It's mostly the gameplan and our capacity to execute it that concerns me.
But,...we surely haven't fallen so far as to lose to Italy. It's a bit too panicky to be seriously concerned about that.
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@Machpants said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
@antipodean said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
@Machpants said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
@mariner4life said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
If we lost to Italy to go out at the Group stage then quite frankly the outrage in NZ should make '99 look like a disgruntled letter to the editor.
Don't spit on racehorses though, that's not cool
It won't though, cos none of us will be surprised
You do realise we're only playing Italy?
Yup, I remember saying that about Argentina, who had been in Covid lock down for a year with no rugby. No chance...
...until Foster
But Argentina had been competitive occasionally. The closest Italy have ever come was Stuart Dickinson showing the world he was blind.
You have FDS.
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@Bones said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:
@Machpants yeah if they beat us, dollars to donuts they won't play the game of their lives. It'll just be a case of the ABs having another implosion.
Fuck sake, we give a 14 penalties and a red card versus fucking Namibia. It is totally possible for Foster's Fuckwits to further fuck up what was a fantastic legacy
