@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks vs Scotland:

@Joans-Town-Jones said in All Blacks vs Scotland:

I'm sick of these people on here claiming we need to find a second option to JB.

So your answer is not to bother about any back-ups at 12 and just play Jordie there and give bugger-all thought to managing his workload?

The only problem with that is what you do (apart from blaming Foster for being an idiot for not developing MF options) if/when Jordie gets injured.

Listen to yourself FFS. We have 10 tests or so. Potentially our greatest pairing had something like 30-40 in a partnership over 6 or 7 years to become O for awesome. Wats your suggestion? Keep playing alternative 12s for the next fucking 10 tests until we find JBs* back up? We don't have fucking time because Foster has been shit for the last 3 years. We're a year behind in our development. Ideally all this shit would have been sorted last year. It's fucking unbelievable you're still advocating for a merry-go-round in selections to search for backups for the backups with 10 tests to go. We either lock in our combinations now and hope to gel as a unit OR keep this rotation of selection going until the QF against SA or Ireland. Because it worked out fucking well in 2019.

@Steve said in Foster:

@ACT-Crusader said in Foster:

@Steve said in Foster:

Think about who the leadership group are

Aaron Smith, Beaudy, Cane, Etc are involved

Quiet diminutive fellas .

Need some more McCaws, Reads , Carters that people will actually listen to.

Carter didn’t have to be hidden in the back field . He would put you on your arse and try and flog the ball .

We are hiding our tens in the back field and hooking our captain at 60 minutes.

It’s a shambles

You might need to go back and watch a bit more tape. DC regularly dropped back from the defensive line. It was an important tactic to our kick reception game because of his sweeping left boot. Sure he tackled in the defensive line in set pierce (as does Beaudie and Richie), but DC’s technique and timing as a tackler, for not a big guy, was exceptional.

Fair enough. He just always seemed a more independent 10. No fuss.

We are talking the greatest 10 to ever play the game. He was our first 10 for a long, long time that could tackle and tackled hard. He was good over the ball as well but his greatest asset I believe was his ability to gain territory with his raking punts that our 10s right now cannot seem to find. his finest game is widely regarded as that Lion's test but for me, what cemented his greatness was the 2015 SF and F where out of nowhere he snapped two really big drop goals.

"So, a tough learning curve for this group at the moment.''

• Ian Foster since 2019.

@Tordah said in Bledisloe 1:

Wobs got a clear forward pass try because the ref was too slow to check, so it doesn't feel too bad winning like this. But ABs were shambolic as soon as they led big.

It should never have been that close. They stuffed countless opportunities to out that game away that offload should have been immaterial.

@nostrildamus said in Springboks v All Blacks 2 (Fozzie's Swansong??):

In test 2 I'd really like us playing on our strengths and their weaknesses. Ever since Hansen this "we worry about our team" schtick really gets me. The opponents work out and exploit our weaknesses and make us play their style (esp Ireland, SA). Why do we let them do this? And why can't we play the refs like they do? Am guesstimating but I expect the penalty ratio is getting worse and worse.

Ireland for every tackle, breakdown and everything in between were bitching and moaning at the ref. Cane is too passive and needs to voice up. There were so many questionable calls by Gus (whether right or wrong) but Cane needs to make himself heard.

@antipodean said in Springboks v All Blacks 2 (Fozzie's Swansong??):

@booboo said in Springboks v All Blacks 2 (Fozzie's Swansong??):

This team, to my mind, is full of decent players who are less than the sum of it's parts.

I'm starting to believe the opposite. That we've a squad of players either not in form or exposed to Test rugby too early. Simply too many gaps in skills; other nations are finding and developing players while our famous depth is nowhere to be seen.

Predictability in attack shape just compounds the problem so now we don't know who is what.

How can they not be in form? Most of the squad played in a SR Final. They played good rugby. They step into the ABs and they turn to shit. Is that because they're out of form or because the coaching strategy is not working? 23 players can't be bad.
Who are the experienced players you propose to pick outside of the ones that are there?

I don't think it's depth. There's something fundamentally wrong in the coaching set up.

For all the hype, Gus gifted the Boks a couple of scrum penalties. Our lineouts functioned. We have players but they get into the AB environment and they suck.

@SidBarret I'm actually encouraged after the scrum and lineouts performance. It wasn't until DC came on that we fluffed one and pinched a couple of theirs. The scrum was 50/50. Sure Angus copped some penalties but they were more technical rather than being pushed over. I believe we have the players. They don't go from SR finals to complete shit because they're bad. The coaching for whatever reason isn't working. The same blokes under Razor are winning championships.

I want to see AI at 6 again. I would like to see HS at 8 and AS at 7. We know AS is world class so FC needs to start and he needs to run that fucking ball from the base. We shovel it from side to side right into the face of a rush D. Hell, that Aussie 9, not White but the kid with the mullet carved us to pieces with his running. I'd like to see more punch in the midfield so JB at 12 and twinkle toes at 13. CC at 11 and SR 14 with WJ at 15. It's time RM gets a decent run at 10.
If our players are as bad as we say they are we'd be getting flogged by 30 points. We aren't. As bad as we are as a team, we're still in the fight on the scoreboard. Let's remember, as shit as we were, SA's tries came from a dropped up and under and a shit pass and catch. With all that "domination" they need the bounce of the ball to go their way. I just don't see how Foster can get the team out. He's had 3 years to show improvement and an upward trend. We can only go on his results and they stink. I'd settle for a reemployment of the Canterblacks at this point to get some fluidity and confidence back.

DH was damn awful. Is it Crucial who owes us all an apology?

DH is a damn good player. Under Razor. Unfortunately for DH, Razor isn't the coach and the current coach has the inspiration and coaching ability of a pre-born nat.

I'm sick of these people on here claiming we need to find a second option to JB. We have 10(?) tests left before the QF. We do not have the fucking time to find backups. JB and ALB were more potent on attack in their few minutes running 12 lines than DH all year.

Ma'a Nonu had 70 odd tests at 12. He partnered CS 62 times. We have a 6th of that time between now and the QF to get RI and JB to gel. We have to trust they won't get injured and if they do, the backups will stand-up and do the job.

We just don't have the fucking time.

@Donsteppa of the last 10 tests, we've won 5. Two of those against the USA and Italy. Since the EOYT in 2016 the ABs have nose dived. Foster can bleet all he wants about being the man for the job, resilient and strong but the stats don't lie. The team is trending downwards since 2016, loses to Argentina, Ireland, series loss at home, 66% win ratio and 50% from the last 10. How can his position be justified, hand on his heart? Hell, Mitch had an 80% win ratio and was jettisoned.

@booboo said in All Blacks v Pumas 1:

@MiketheSnow said in All Blacks v Pumas 1:

@booboo said in All Blacks v Pumas 1:

@MiketheSnow said in All Blacks v Pumas 1:

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v Pumas 1:

Well done Argies.

ABs very poor.

Most random reffing performance I have seen for some time, well since that Wales v Boks test.

He's simply not up to standard but he wasn't the reason you lost.

Was a factor.

Take him out and we win.

Not convinced

Ref wasn't committing the penalties and throwing the ball in shit

Ref invented penalties, for one side and ignored the other side.

It created the scoreboard pressure. And subsequent panic.

Sure we did stupid shit too.

But change that factor and put a proper ref in charge and that result changes.

You have to be kidding right? The ref was no where near as bad as the ABs from 44 mins on. That loss was purely down to the ABs resorting to shit and the Argies tackling anything in black.

@Stargazer said in Rennie Sacked, Eddie In!:

@Joans-Town-Jones I don't think so. Unpaid/volunteer work is still work.

How about text exchanges?

@mariner4life said in Rennie Sacked, Eddie In!:

As i get older, i find more and more comfort in history repeating itself.

My fashionable wife has informed me that superb look for chicks from the 90s of cargo pants and a crop top (best modelled by Gwen Stefani) is on the comeback. With a bit of luck chokers and landing strips are next.

Eddie Jones is once again the coach of the Wallabies, and Rugby Australia is looking to spunk eye-watering amounts of money on backs from Rugby League.

Yeah that shit is goooooood

@voodoo said in Rennie Sacked, Eddie In!:

Seems entirely reasonable of RA to me. Every senior exec contract I’ve seen has a similar clause. As others note, enforceability can be hard, but Rennie would need to actively challenge it

Many companies have stuff they’d like keep private, I can’t see why the Wallabies would be any different.

End of the day he’s getting paid out, I can’t quite accept the argument that it’s affecting his career by somehow making him irrelevant so quickly

As someone said, allowing him to work with a Tier 2 or lower country would be fairly harmless, though you’d rightly expect him to do that for free or to refund RA any earnings offset

Can Rennie operate as a "volunteer" for the ABs? Not contracted or paid but hold tackle bags? Would his RA contract run that deep legally?

@Dan54 said in Rennie Sacked, Eddie In!:

@sparky said in Rennie Sacked, Eddie In!:

@NTA Childish moment from Gregan. They went lost to England the next week anyway so wippie-do.

Actually Gregan always said it was only ever aimed at Kelleher, who he disliked, Justin Marshall actually thought it was good as he also thought Kelleher was a piston wristed gibbon, and heard him say those exact words!

Yeah what was the beef between those two?

@Dan54 said in Rennie Sacked, Eddie In!:

@Chris said in Rennie Sacked, Eddie In!:

@Dan54 said in Rennie Sacked, Eddie In!:

@Crucial said in Rennie Sacked, Eddie In!:

@Dan54 said in Rennie Sacked, Eddie In!:

@taniwharugby said in Rennie Sacked, Eddie In!:

@Dan54 said in Rennie Sacked, Eddie In!:

Unfortunately will Rennie have to rebuild his reputation again?

dunno, I reckon he has done enough in NZ rugby to serve him well, and from an outside perspective, you can see he has made improvements although Aus Rugby and he werent without thier issues.

NZR seem to love that International experience....

Yep taniwhai, but Deans seemed to of never really got another gig, and his rep was probably even higher than Rennies?

He's doing very nicely for himself in Japan without the stresses of test rugby.

Yep coaching at a level he is very good at.

He hasn't been that bad as an International coach of the last 6 Wallaby coaches over the last 21 years he has the 2nd best winning percentage behind John Connolly who only coached for 25 tests compared to Deans 75 tests and has a better winning percentage than Eddie Jones,Ewen McKenzie,Michael Cheika and Dave Rennie

                                                                                      Winning %

11 Eddie Jones 2001–2005 57 33 2 1 57.89 %
12 John Connolly 2006–2007 25 16 8 1 64.00%
13 Robbie Deans 2008–2013 75 44 29 2 58.67%
14 Ewen McKenzie 2013–2014 22 11 10 1 50.00%
15 Michael Cheika 2014–2019 68 34 32 2 50.00%
16 Dave Rennie 2020–2023 33 12 18 3 36.36%

Not knocking Deans Chris, just think super etc was his level(very good at that too), and maybe man management etc was/is his weakness, especially if you hear and read what former players say, even Dan Carter who has a lot of time for him says he struggles with experienced players who already know the game well.
With your experience at coaching, I would suggest you know the difference skills required as a coach at different levels etc.
Some bloody great club coaches just don't make the step up to NPC etc etc, just different skills etc.

Was it that he struggled with experienced players or he had trouble providing critique? I read a passage from his book that he sat down with McGOAT and confided in him.

@bayimports said in Rennie Sacked, Eddie In!:

@ACT-Crusader said in Rennie Sacked, Eddie In!:

@sparky said in Rennie Sacked, Eddie In!:

Last time Eddie Jones was appointed Wallabies coach Iphones, Youtube, Twitter and Facebook did not exist and even harder to imagine Australia actually held the Bledisloe Cup.

Never forget it Ferners…

lol great photo of the cup being held by the suitcase it came with!

Ruben James played a blinder.

@Nepia said in Foster, Robertson etc:

@Chris said in Foster, Robertson etc:

@Nepia said in Foster, Robertson etc:

@Old-Samurai-Jack said in Foster, Robertson etc:

I find this thread therapeutic.

I find it the complete opposite.

It’s like a bad Groundhog Day with the same stuff being repeated every few pages.

Its making you a tougher man .

I grew up in Flaxmere, surely I can't get any tougher.

Pffft, I grew up in Renwick. We didn't even have a police station. Proper lawlessness.

@kiwi_expat said in Foster, Robertson etc:

The NZR have backed mediocrity 3 times in a row.

On appointment in 2019, 'another 2 years' in 2021, and 'sinking in South Africa' in 2022.

Does the NZR have the courage to step outside the box and back proven ability and success?

Everyone knows the turnaround is attributable to Joe Schmidt & Jason Ryan (Razor's originally proposed forwards coach...)

He's delivered numerous unwanted firsts & has tarnished the team's reputation - which Henry/Hansen rebuilded.

Most disturbingly, Foster has cultivated a prevalent culture of mediocrity, where accountability is almost non-existent and embarrassingly poor excuses are constantly peddled to the rugby paying fan-base.

He treats the rugby public with contempt & doesn't bring the innate connection individuals like Razor/Smith carry with the wider public.

The NZRU made correct decision in Smith when the BFs were in disarray, the results were automatic (8 months).

Under Foster they've recorded a meagre 30% (3 from 10) success rate against top-tier (top 5) nations.

I would add 2017 to that...

@ploughboy said in Foster, Robertson etc:

@Joans-Town-Jones said in Foster, Robertson etc:

@ploughboy said in Foster, Robertson etc:

@kiwi_expat said in Foster:

Was flicking between the Barbarians match and the All Blacks. Really showed who is the coaching guru out of the 2 games, the difference in cohesion and tactics. We certainly shouldn't be giving Robertson any credit whatsoever for taking a rag-tag group and turning them into a winning team in two coaching sessions.

Razor had 2, yes 2 training sessions with this team that beat a All Blacks B side, who had already been together for weeks and already had a win on tour. Took a group that haven't played together, from different countries and languages and beat a NZ XV team that had weeks of training together including another game. Then we flick to All Blacks with the Foster swapping players game after game with little clue of a game-plan. I certainly didn't waste much more time watching the aimless kicking and disorganized mess in Black.

Also McDonald has had more failures than successes, always outsmarted by Robertson in head to heads. Razor does it his way and doesn't have to call in the likes of Schmidt and other international or ex-international coaches to help him out. McDonald seems to lack the technical skills that Robertson displays in his game-planning, strategy & team selections. NZRU adore Leon though, despite his limited success and his inability to counter Razor's pragmatic tactical nous and astute calculated game-plans.

yeah what a legend 277 caps in baa team. only three havnt played internation rugby in the starting team against 116 in nz team.against 6 Abs that two had 83 caps combinded,.
if you carnt get that team organized you would be pretty poor

How many test caps do the ABs now have and Foster has had them all season?

i dont think you understood the post

Enlighten me

@No-Quarter said in All Blacks v England:

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks v England:

@mariner4life I think what that England match showed was that despite being very good players, the Jordie/Ioane midfield has a long way to go in knowing how to play together. As a combination it didn’t really work. I’m not a doubter in terms of it being able to work, but there were a few concerning moments.

The last match they played together they didn’t really play as a combo either. Jordie played well because he tucked the ball under the arm and had a really attacking mindset. And there was space for him to operate in (Richie was far more assertive in that match also as opposed to England).

I hope they persist with it but it was one of a number of problems in this match.

It's almost as though they should play them together more... and they should not shunt Jordie back to 15 every second game... and that playing Havili against Scotland was a complete and utter waste of fucking time... God that was a frustrating selection.

Pretty sure @Victor-Meldrew wants JB wrapped in cotton wool until the QF so we can develop a back up 12 and protect him from injury. Playing JB and RI in consecutive games is just madness.