The Silver Fern

@kiwiinmelb said in All Blacks v France I:

@MN5 said in All Blacks v France I:

@kev said in All Blacks v France I:

@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France I:

Negatives?

Our spine are dumb and why we struggle. 9, 10, 15. No control at all, no feel for tempo. Flat out, always. Playing for them must be exhausting.

Proctor was average at 13, but he'll he saved by the fact his most likely replacement was worst on ground. Ioane is cooked, get rid.

What the fuck do you fo either Ardie Savea? With ball in hand few are better. But in a test team? He's do selfish. He will actively avoid attacking rucks, so he can get the next run. At 7 he made no dent in the French breakdown.

I think it's a worry that the main problems I see are guys you know will get selected every week

Ioane does look cooked. Doesn’t pass or look to setup those around him. Was just running straight at defenders.

He is at that age unfortunately. How come other countries wingers last longer than ours ?

I think it’s usually our so called power wingers who might start to drop away athletically and to go with that , there might be younger guys demanding pick me

We had two of the best in Ben Smith and Corey Jane. Emoni Narawa looks like that type of balanced player.

@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France I:

Negatives?

Our spine are dumb and why we struggle. 9, 10, 15. No control at all, no feel for tempo. Flat out, always. Playing for them must be exhausting.

Proctor was average at 13, but he'll he saved by the fact his most likely replacement was worst on ground. Ioane is cooked, get rid.

What the fuck do you fo either Ardie Savea? With ball in hand few are better. But in a test team? He's do selfish. He will actively avoid attacking rucks, so he can get the next run. At 7 he made no dent in the French breakdown.

I think it's a worry that the main problems I see are guys you know will get selected every week

Ioane does look cooked. Doesn’t pass or look to setup those around him. Was just running straight at defenders.

Reiko has the same weakness on the wing that he has at centre.

@Windows97 said in All Blacks Vs France, Test One, Dunedin:

Surised to see Barrett at 10, the golden sun continues to shine out of his *ss. Looking forward to 20m touch finders and pointless chip kicks.

I have heard some commentators say that BB has had a better season than Damien. What it I remember from the season is a completely disfunctional Blues backline and repeated throwaway comments about the variation in his kicking game. All I see is a guy that kicks - a lot, leading an underperforming backline.

Damien had a shocker against Waratahs ( I think ) but was generally great during the year. Chiefs backline was awesome. Came finals time he didn’t play badly but didn’t dominate. Missed 2 kicks in final.

So in the end they prefer someone that is less mercurial - less up and down. Still think this is Damien’s position to win if he gets the chance. If he can play like he did against Ireland and not have too many brain explosions.

In the meantime we are left with BB and his kicking game.

@Donsteppa said in NRL 2025:

They really needed that pass to stick....

Edward Kosi just lacks that class of the better players.

@kev said in Final - Crusaders v Chiefs:

@antipodean said in Final - Crusaders v Chiefs:

I think we've seen the end of calls for Stevenson to be an All Black based on that performance.

And Beaudy is now clear first choice 10.

I would still have DMac as first five. No his fault their front row wasn’t up to it.

I see those errors most weeks. The difference was the Crusaders set piece was so dominant the Chiefs didn’t have the attacking opportunities they usually do. Probably the missing thing in DMacs game was goal kicking - conversion wide out and a penalty from 45m. Small margins.

@MajorRage said in Final - Crusaders v Chiefs:

Reihana, Jordan and saders front row were immense.

Every scrum in the 2nd half was a penalty opportunity. Chiefs had no answers.

@antipodean said in Final - Crusaders v Chiefs:

I think we've seen the end of calls for Stevenson to be an All Black based on that performance.

And Beaudy is now clear first choice 10.

I would still have DMac as first five. No his fault their front row wasn’t up to it.

@Tordah said in Final - Crusaders v Chiefs:

disappointing performance from the Chiefs. Once again falling just short after being the best during the regular season

The front row of the Crusaders too good. Win on the back of forward dominance and kicking your goals.

@nostrildamus said in SF Crusaders v Blues:

Whether it was the early head knock or not I am sad we're unlikely to use and motivate Sotutu's notable skills in black, that could be it for him at the ABs this season, but he is only 26 I guess there are still a few years left for an 8.

Not his best game but still a talented player.

@Chris said in SF Crusaders v Blues:

Rivez Reihana signs through to 2026

Dynamic first five Rivez Reihana has committed to the Crusaders for another two seasons. The 24-year-old joined the Crusaders for the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season, debuting in Round 1 against the Chiefs – a team he played three seasons for before shifting his skills south to Christchurch.

They would have to sign him for longer now - kicked all 3 conversions, 2 from wide out. But 2 moments stood out -1st half when he accelerated at the line drawing the defenders to him then popped a pass to Fihaki who ran into the gap he created but was cut down just before the line. The 2nd was when after the Crusaders had been on D for first 15 min in 2nd half he put in the wipers kick that turned Telea around and gained about 40 metres and Crusaders went on attack for next 20 and won the game in that period.

You can see the Crusaders coaching staff have done an excellent job on him. He now carry’s the ball to the line with intent which means defenders have to watch him and it creates space outside. Cruden was the best at that - his combination with SBW. But good to see a young Northlander with talent improving so much. The Crusaders really do have great systems,

The Crusaders made some average calls on attack. No prop for Blues so they call the lineout. Prop comes back they call the scrum.

@KiwiMurph said in SF Crusaders v Blues:

@kev said in SF Crusaders v Blues:

@KiwiMurph said in SF Crusaders v Blues:

Thought Zarn played pretty well

He kicks long but did nothing on attack.

Yeah his lack of speed I do think holds him back

If only he had his brother's pace

Yeah his brother is awesome.

@KiwiMurph said in SF Crusaders v Blues:

Thought Zarn played pretty well

He kicks long but did nothing on attack.

Commentators are hopeless. You have to lower your head and shoulders in contact.

@canefan said in NZR review:

@gt12 said in NZR review:

Hopefully good news.

Two seats for Silver lake...

Ejector seats?

Does anyone know what this Commercial arm has done? Or is doing? Will Silver Lake be a positive? Or a dead weight?

@gt12 said in QF Brumbies vs Hurricanes:

@Canes4life said in QF Brumbies vs Hurricanes:

Roigard hasn’t run once tonight. Really disappointing.

He’s been pretty fucking shit. Is that really the best we’ve got in NZ?

His forwards have been dominated

Chiefs, Crusaders final

@Damo said in QF Brumbies vs Hurricanes:

The problem is that there is an air of inevitably whenever Brumbies have ball in Canes half.

Exits have been key

Another poor exit