The Silver Fern

Finlay Christie to have a stormer, scoring two tries to earn himself a spot on the bench for the quarters.

@mariner4life said in All Blacks MOTM v Italy:

Perfect game for Ardie to show why the world loves him (also his angle for the breakout try was as good as I've seen an AB forward run in years)

But he doesn’t watch other games…

Mo’unga, Retallick, Savea

HM: Frizell, Taylor

@pakman said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:

@Steven-Harris said in RWC Week 4: All Blacks v Italy:

Some of this post match stuff on Sky is utter trash

Bumped into SJK, Goldie and Grant N on bar crawl back to base. Pretty satisfied with ABs but JK was very disappointed ‘with how shit Italy were’. Pretty fair call.

@ACT-Crusader well they did have a period where they used our 12 as a battering ram, but not using Laumape to do his thing...

@taniwharugby think it's got a lot to do with the way the whole team is doing it, the same with their obstruction - flooding it with numbers makes it look normal and the ref just misses it.

@canefan said in All Blacks MOTM v France:

@hydro11 said in All Blacks MOTM v France:

I understand the votes for Smith and I think he did play well overall. However, his box kicking is just so far behind Dupont's. I know it is not necessarily his fault, it was the tactic to box kick. But those balls needed to be kicked long and going back to Beauden, Jordan or Mo'unga to do so.

We didn't chase any of his box kicks

Well Jordan might have chased a couple...

I decided to re-watch this game to have a closer look at the lineouts. As per previous comments about not using Vaa'i as a lineout target, he was used as a lifter with one of the locks to lift the other lock. Examples being the first lineout of the game, and the lineout after Mo'unga made the try-saving tackle on Penaud. That pod worked well because of the extra height of the lifters. What was of more concern was how little the ABs challenged the French lineout. On one of the few occasions we did, the French lost the ball.

Christie wasn't the only ginga who had a shocker. Newell made de Groot look co-ordinated trying to roll away from a tackle. Zero impact.

Beauden actually played well for 60 mins until he and Mo'unga thought that the best option when chasing the game was to kick the ball away.

@mariner4life said in Best of RWC 2015:

I still think Bernard Foley's game against England was as good as Dan's against the Lions. He did everything, and tore England to pieces. He was never going to be able to reach that height again, he's not that level of player. But that day against England he was incredible.

Very underrated

This is kinda like voting for the least tragically injured person in the room after a fragmentation grenade goes off...

Watching the Final just now brought back a lot of memories. We didn't go to a single game, but what a great time we had! Second best experience of a sports event I've ever had, both watching the games in a mate's beer-filled man cave with a group of friends and the whole atmosphere in NZ during the tournament and after the Final.

The only highlights from this tournament happened off the field for me.

I remember driving back in a dazed mix of bewilderment and anger from a mates place and saw some guy get pulled over by a cop for speeding so I guess it goes to show - there's always someone worse off than you.

Anyway my sister called form the UK to see how I was after the game, she hardly ever calls, we're not particularly close in terms of keeping in touch a lot I guess it's a more quality over quantity type of relationship. But at the time I was going through a messy divorce and she knew that the AB's loosing would have hurt so she just called out of the blue to make sure her little brother was ok.

And I guess that call was a bringing down to earth for all the things that matter in life, family, friends and the people that care are so much more important than what any game of rugby is.

I've forgotten close to every other phone call in my life but I've never forgotten that one.

I felt immeasurably better after talking to her.

As I've said Joubert's decisions favoured France, although as has been said I recall only the one shot at goal on the aecond half (that missed).

But that was pretty much had down to how the ABs backed off the offside line.

They were determined not to concede a penalty. And rightly didn't.

"Bloody well"
"Brilliant"

Really?

Was ok. His pass was at best adequate.

He was Sid Going without Sid's ability for the spectacular finish.

As a halfback he was good. But not better than good.

Certainly not the second best AB halfback at world cups.

I maintain, his votes come on the back of a perception of his ability based on his stand in captaincy, and photos of of him holding the Cup.

@mariner4life said in Best of RWC 2003:

@canefan said in Best of RWC 2003:

Was 2003 also the scene of Gregan's iconic "4 more years" sledge?

all time sledge.

Yep. It wasn’t personal, nasty or laden with profanity - but cut like a knife to the heart.

Ardie, Aaron, Mo'unga.

@Smuts said in Best of RWC 1999:

Who says the rugby gods don’t have a sense of irony? Larkham landing the longest, jammiest drop goal in history to send Jannie Playgirl de Beer and the boks home is some funny fucking cosmic justice.

Live by the sword die by the sword

@Nepia why not double down and discuss how it's the blueprint Ardie set in stone pre-2020?

@booboo said in AB RWC Squad:

@nostrildamus said in AB RWC Squad:

Foster in that article
"He's good, he's realistic… They always feel gutted because they want to give their best and Scott's at the top of the tree when it comes to that.
He's fine, we just go back into process mode now and just try and take the emotion out of it."

Foster doesn't seem to think SB has a tendency to be carded?

Obviously. Because that's exactly what he said ...

Just confirming as that is my reading too but if he doesn't think SB has a weakness re: cards (perhaps his one big major flaw) and going into this tiddlywinks RWC that is a crucial concern ...I am speechless!

Good to see @Tim has the courage of his convictions, (no matter how wrong they are).

@Duluth

I was at the game and have a match programme somewhere but don't remember seeing any footage on YT either. Here is the summary of the team lists and scorers. Poor defence from the ABs. 😉

Ellis at 2nd 5 that day. Three players in the Waikato team who are currently involved with the ABs in some capacity.

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