Quite a lot of unfair bs in the postings today in my view. A lot of people go on committees to give back to the game they love - after their playing days are over. There are also those that want a career in governance - and get experience via sports they have a passion for. They are there to do a job to the best of their ability - and don't usually make it without ability.
Good board members will not discuss the debates/arguments/choices unless it is in the best interest of everyone. Same with any good CEO who is working with a Board. They all have obligations in respect to risk management. And they have some very tough choices in what they do or do not say. There are lots of experienced and capable staff at NZRU too. Do you really imagine that none of them are consulted and it is all the fault of the CEO, Head Coach or the Board?
The folk at NZRU have a hell of a job to do in my view, and do it pretty well. You can't please everyone. And in the sport I have been most involved in, disgruntled coaches are the hardest to please - all thinking the wrong people are chosen and they would do better. I have seen numerous rumours and negative gossip that put a slant on what really happened - either for personal gain - or to knock others down out of spite or jealousy.
I don't agree with some of the decisions made, but it would be really interesting to be a fly on the wall when the decisions are being debated and to know what factors were weighed up before the decisions. Hopefully it stays inside the room...
The numerous 'insider rumours' of what was decided or was going to happen, would appear to have come from people embellishing the snippets they knew first hand - and possibly using them for their own agendas. It is easy enough to work out where most come from too.
That said, everyone is entitled to post their opinion, especially here. My opinion is that people easily disrespect the intentions and abilities of those who have to make the tough decisions - if they go against their wishes - and maybe need to think harder about the circumstances surrounding the decisions. It is the same in practically every sport I expect.

Terrific display by Boks forwards. Their lineout was the winning of the game. But I thought a few of our guys were well off their game. Thought Akira was missing for the tackle or clean out quite a few times so was quite surprised they took Jacobson off as he seemed more accurate and involved. Felt that was a tactical error. Neither of our hookers had a happy match either. Savea very competitive but I felt he could have imposed himself more on the ref. And poor tactical call not to kick to the corner when time nearly up.
Has Beauden's punting length and accuracy dropped off a bit? Weber gave him great service tonite so no excuses there. He and Reece were pretty good and constructive.
Anyways Bok reserve front row locks and loosies won them the match. And we shot ourselves in the foot with lineout errors and catch and pass inaccuracies. Congrats SA

@Bones geez doesn't feel more than 6 to me

@frank said in Wallabies vs All Blacks 3 (Perth):

@stargazer said in Wallabies vs All Blacks 3 (Perth):

@crucial said in Wallabies vs All Blacks 3 (Perth):

That Ferald article still seems to be the only news. Must have had some inside sauce overnight and everyone else is waiting on Perth to wake up.

I saw Andrew Mulligan tweet the outcome, early this morning, but he deleted the tweet, so I couldn't post it.

This is the stuff article.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/126315375/all-blacks-fullback-jordie-barrett-reportedly-escapes-further-ban-for-red-card

A Sanzaar spokesman confirmed to Stuff a statement was due out from the judiciary around noon (NZT).

Awesome if true.
REALLY want to see the end of DMac at 15 for a while.
Completely unconcerned with justice.
(if it were DMac for the exact same offence I would support a ban for a few weeks)

Unbelievable - but this is the fern....

Geez Foster is amazing taking charge of so many roles normally done by NZRU and other staff. The attempts to rubbish him on things he is not really involved in staggers me. Shows how little fans understand.

Thought Weber much better than TJ. Lot of crucial tackles but commentators never credit him. Some inaccurate passes but quick service nonetheless

Surprised not to see much comment on the string of red-cardable offences in the weekend's internationals - especially after the NH decision not to allow Red Card replacement after 20 minutes. After the weekend I think that is an extremely poor decision.

In watching matches this is what I though I saw, and is always open to interpretation. I have not re-watched and base this on initial impressions only:
a) Two players leap up for the ball and (both?) heads hit shoulders. Red Card Argentina
b) Player sets for tackle, but opponent passes well forward and catching player starts to duck for unexpectedly imminent contact. Medium contact to chin. Red Card USA
c) Player grabs jersey of opponent burrowing into ruck legitimately, and immediately knees him in the face. Opponent goes off straight away. Yellow Card only England
d) Player gets a bit of a hospital pass and shuffles across directly into the line of an exocet missile that launches into his chin sending him flying. Not worthy of review Fiji

With all the talk about mitigation and intention, I thought the first two were yellows due to obvious mitigation. But, the sendings off impacted significantly on the matches.

The other two seemed to be intentional acts with reckless disregard for opponent safety - but on the first one the Referee used the code word 'clumsy' to influence the TMO and it was just a yellow. The commentator suggested he was stepping into the ruck - where there was another head on the ground, and he barely missed another one after the knee. The second incident was not replayed on slow-mo as far as I can recall.

I am no doubt biased in my view of what I saw, but do wonder how much card decisions depend on who the player is, which team they are from, and whether their team is playing at home. And I must question whether the TMO's are listening to the biased hometown commentary prior to the referral.

I wonder what it would take for an England captain to be red-carded at Twickenham, or the Fijian captain in front of a partisan audience?

What do Ferners think? In my eyes this demands a rethink of the 20 minute red card, as I think the referees make plenty of judgement errors because the stakes are too high - and they don't want to make a call that would see them pilloried if judged unwarranted. That tends to favour home teams.

Enjoyed that. Vindicates the work of the coaching staff. Hope to see their contracts extended Monday.
Thought we were dominated by Aussie loosies and Tate in first half but Dalton was much more effective after halftime and Taylor and the locks were great throughout. Akira and Ardie came into their own too. Liked the work of Samisoni after he came on and suspect he adds to scrum power. Enjoyed the 58m kick on a quiet night for DMAC. Surprising Aussie did not target him with high kicks. Well controlled Mounga.
Much better spectacle this week.

@kiwi_expat Isn't that a rather naive interpretation by you? Do you not agree that the premise of Super rugby is at odds with the preparation for International rugby? The need to score more tries and secure bonus points may tailor player's instinctive reactions. And why on earth would our super coaches train predominantly for a battle of attrition as per topflight test rugby, when they have an elongated season to gather enough points for a favourable draw in play-offs.

I think Foster is spot on. And that is not a bad reflection on the Super coaches at all. (I may have missed Foster criticising the ability of the coaches you named - in which case I would agree with your criticism of that) They just train what is demanded for their players and for their Super rugby outcomes. It is Foster's job to modify the player's learned play from Super rugby to suit a game plan for international play. Maybe that is why we instinctively throw 50 50 passes and try to play wide early, because it works far more in Super rugby, with defences not as robust there.

It would also seem obvious that exposure to different playing styles will better prepare players for international rugby. Playing against South African, Australian, Kiwi, Argentinian and Japanese teams had Super coaches adapting their game plans and strategies, and players learning how to cope with the changing strategies of many evolving opponents.

Perhaps the Irish benefit from being in European competition..... I certainly think that Aotearoa Super rugby has not helped the AB's, while the move of South African into Europe has benefited Ireland, France etc. Lord forbid, it may have even left one of two players a trifle weary by late November.

Just back from a wet day out, including this match. Really a match of two halves, in appalling conditions. The masterstroke came with the substitutions - big bruising front-rowers - and a lot of go forward, and the influence of Hazel Tubic. She had an ability to gain lots of ground in the rain and mud, while nobody else seemed capable.

There were a lot of rapt NZRU staff close to me in the stand. Plenty to cheer about, with a great crowd and an even better result to start the buildup to the World Cup.

Amazing T20 captaincy record for Santner now. Geez he spun the ball a lot. He and Bracewell are a tough spin combo now in shorter formats.

Loved the Daryl Mitchell innings. Raw power and heady play.

@KiwiMurph said in 2023 World Sevens Series:

Sydney 7s is over 3 days which is always a bit clunky.

Friday schedule.

BF 7s vs PNG - 1.06pm local (3.06pm NZT)

AB 7s vs Uruguay - 3.28pm local (5.28pm NZT)

BF 7s vs France - 7.05pm local (9.05pm NZT)

Better that way than the crammed schedule in Hamilton in my view

Is Cook Savage unavailable?

Some observations from the ground. Not sure the cameras pick up everything.

For NZ women Blyde Fluhler and Miller were fantastic. Jorja has gone next level. But there are synching issues in backline when Blyde runs from deep. I am sure it will be improved and make us even better. Hotham now finding her legs at this level and promising a lot. Was notable that Hirini Woodman and Williams spent a lot of time on the bench so a changing of the guard was visible.

Was hugely impressed by Japanese women who have improved markedly. Bodes well for the competition.

The approach from USA was weird. Always took the crash and did not look to put the runner into space when they had one there.

NZ men do well with restricted patterns that use well the players they have. Solo was a breath of fresh air. Tactics and players must change forward around him. Rokolisoa was hot and cold but he and Carter posed plenty of threats. Webber was much improved until the final but lacks players running off him. Dickson was great and Collier was far better than comments on here suggest. Our big pair shepherd opposition runners into the tackle and are then quickly at breakdown to contest. Works well. Brady Rush is becoming more effective now too.
We missed having Ng Shiu and Mikkelsen as our power runners making line breaks. And we need a couple of speed threats. Solo should be one. Molia has lost his sharpness and Ware has declining work rate. Wish we had a Henry Patterson type in NZ.
Crowd was up and down with the Fijians leaving in droves after a loss. Brilliant when they were there and for the finals. Ground announcer left a bit to be desired with no updates on pools or finals draws or ground 2 results and an apparent ban on saying if an upcoming match was men or women. Could hear a huge amount of confusion in the crowd about matches coming up. The app was confusing a lot too with separate achedules. Finally it was annoying the announcer would not call scorers names properly always trying to change tone or elongate like an American boxing mc. Hard to understand the name quite often if you wondered who had scored a spectacular try.
That grumble aside everything else was great for spectators. Great atmosphere and such a shame the series is leaving NZ now.

Solo is the plus today. And Webber back into form. Carter energetic.
But Clark is too indecisive on defence for my liking and Molia a bit laboured. Our key man is Rokolisoa though and he was held back a bit today.
Fiji and Australia very good. Henry Patterson is a real threat. Will be interesting tomorrow.

Wonderful defence from Blyde

@Bovidae said in 2023 World Sevens Series:

Collier plays a different role to Molia. He is there to commit defenders and create space for others. Molia isn't going to beat anyone out wide and it was he who was skinned for the Aust try.
Solo made an impact with and without the ball

Spot on with that. I think Solo needs to be the speed man for nz.

Looked like a huge head bump for Leo. Thought he was not going to get up. Fell over when he did. We light in forwards. Brady Rush playing there?

Feels like home venue for Fiji here

David Warner was surprisingly good in the commentary box tonite in a one sided match. And AJ Tye was very amusing in the post match interviews for mom. Great to see the player personalities coming through and insightful stories from within the camps.

I wish we could replicate this stuff in NZ cricket and rugby. I am sure there are lots of players who could shine and promote the game and its personalities and drag in more fans.