K
Let’s be honest fosters era was not great , so it’s hardly a pass mark if it’s marginally better but still not that good
It may get to the point that makes us happy and I’m sure we all hope it does, but I think the jury is still well and truly out for now when we are sitting in the disappointing category
I think I heard somewhere next time we play South Africa is at eden park ?
@Damo said in Springboks vs All Blacks 2:
I am not overly worried we lost TBH.
We are not a bad team, we're just up against a team right at the top of their game and on top of the world.
Get all that but that was never an acceptable attitude in the past , we have become the vanilla allblacks,
@Hooroo said in Springboks vs All Blacks 2:
How fucking poke is Talea? Can’t and won’t tackle and can’t catch.
He had a good year last year and a good wc ,it was like he was covered in Vaseline and no one could tackle him ,
but now it’s like all these negatives have appeared that either weren’t there or weren’t obvious last year .
Razors win loss record sits at 57%
3-15 second half ,
I’m envious of the boks , not saying I want to play exactly like them , but their will to win has to be admired
@nostrildamus said in Springboks vs All Blacks 2:
Can't really blame the ref for this game.
Nah we have been pathetic this half
@Victor-Meldrew said in Springboks vs All Blacks 2:
@Bones said in Springboks vs All Blacks 2:
Liking Sititi doing what Ardie used to. Some glimpses of old Ardie in Ardie too.
Taylor is playing really well this season and despite early scrum wobbles, Williams is going great guns.
Jordan is as expected, unfortunately.
Add Tupo Vai'i to that list. Doing a great all round job.
Tupo been a massive surprise for me this year , looking very much a test lock with every game and I didn’t think he had that in him
9-3 , old fashioned score line
@nostrildamus said in Springboks vs All Blacks 2:
For a short loosie that's 2 lineouts in a row for Wallace?
They have thrown to him quite a few times , big surprise
We are doing some nice stuff in attack
@Nepia said in Springboks vs All Blacks 2:
@W32 said in Springboks vs All Blacks 2:
I have no idea about the score for this game. Heart says bokke by 3. Head says ABs by 7
I'm a reversal if that, I think we blew our shot last week.
Mmmm I feel a bit pessimistic too, just felt last week the boks made a lot of unforced errors that they may not do again , but maybe I’m giving them too much credit,
Will be more than happy to be proven wrong
@mariner4life said in AFL 2024:
Good stat
Since essendon last won a final
Hawthorn have built a premiership side, won 4 flags, bottomed out, rebuilt, and now won a final
Under sheedy all those years ago they were such a powerhouse, and annoying if you didn’t support them ,
On the tigers I’m happy they have gone for the total rebuild and given up on trying to patch things , bottom out now and get what they can from the draft before tassie come in . The pain is bearable after our period of success .
@cgrant said in Springboks vs All Blacks 2:
Fears : Jordan under Pollard's bombs - lineout because of the smallest ever FL trio of the professional era - lack of speed on the wings.
Hopes : quick ball for DMac as Ratima's passing is sharper than TJP's - Scrum should work even better thanks to its cohesion (same starting front five) - Pollard less dangerous than Feinberg with ball in hand.
I suspect the back 3 are going to get tested with a lot of high ball, I think they might go after Jordan to test his confidence.
@Bones said in Springboks vs All Blacks 2:
@junior said in Springboks vs All Blacks 2:
@Chester-Draws said in Springboks vs All Blacks 2:
@BerniesCorner said in Springboks vs All Blacks 2:
@KiwiMurph said in Springboks vs All Blacks 2:
This AB pack is starting to remind me of 99-01 AB era packs
Undersized try hards.
That were superior to the SA forwards for the majority of the first game.
ABs were also bigger.
We are not a small side, regardless of how strongly that myth is embedded.
We are not small, but we play small. The way our pack carts the ball - flat-footed, trying to put on a step, and then power through a weak shoulder - could not be more different than what the best - RSA, Ireland, France - are doing - running onto the ball at pace and using momentum and plan physics to get over the advantage line.
I was watching this last weekend trying to figure out why. All I can think is we're trying to play safe with the ball while also forcing the opposition to do all the work on defence. We make them come to us instead of going to them, I assume with the theory we get more secure ball and they tire out quicker.
But yeah it's not really working when our bench comes on and pretend they're in some unimportant exhibition match eh.
Same ,I was surprised how ordinary it looked ,
They were catching the ball flat footed and then having a look at the defence before starting to move
All I can think of is they didn’t want to turn it over and were determined to keep it safe as a priority.
@Nepia said in Springboks vs All Blacks 2:
FFS, Sititi had a few good games for the Chiefs this year but his rise is mirroring the Tongan thug's. Hopefully he turns into a better player than that flake.
He seems like a good kid with leadership qualities, my concern is it too much too early ?
@DaGrubster said in Springboks vs All Blacks 2:
@canefan said in Springboks vs All Blacks 2:
@MN5 said in Springboks vs All Blacks 2:
@No-Quarter said in Springboks vs All Blacks 2:
@reprobate said in Springboks vs All Blacks 2:
@brodean said in Springboks vs All Blacks 2:
Yes I've already said he had a good workrate.
PsDT, Kaino and Juan Smith all had good workrates but they hit hard and thats the difference. These are the last three blindsides to win World Cups. Do you honestly believe that Blackadder has the upside of these players?
He's never going to be a world class blindside. There are players in NZ with the potential to be that. Finau certainly has the athletic ability he just needs some consistent opportunity and guidance. He did well enough against England and should have been persevered with.
So he's not as good as 3 of the best ever so shouldn't play.
If that's your logic, how are we going to even field a team?The point being, he had access to Akira who everybody knows has the talent to be world class, in career best form, who also absolutely dominated the SR finals. Instead he picked a guy that has spent most of his career injured, and two rookies that Akira dominated in the final which is the closest thing we have to test footy at that level. So yes, when we watch Blackadder struggling to make an impact, we become critical.
I'm becoming a broken record on this so will try and make this my last post, but the Blues backrow dominated Super rugby and were influential in the finals. It absolutely pains me that we not only left out 2 of them all together, but it's now become an area of significant weakness for us.
Running riot in sevens is no guarantee of 15s dominance.
But yeah, he should have been picked.
He should have picked the form players Sotutu and Akira, then if they failed he could say "see?!" and bin them and no one would have any complaints, or if they ripped up trees as per SR he would have been able to ride them to some wins and look like a genius. Just a no brainer. But instead he picks a bunch of players who seem on the way down since 23, a couple of long shots from the team that got pumped by the eventual winners of SR, and some Saders who most would argue didn't earn their place on SR form and lacked miles. What a glut for punishment he is
With Akira he had a number of chances over a number of years so maybe they thought he wasn’t going to cut it at test level - even though his game this season was more suited to test rugby than it ever has been.
Sotutu is a bit different in that he clearly did everything he could have in responding to being dropped unceremoniously last year. He should have been back in based on his form and also as an example to others - ‘ you listen to our feedback and fix what we ask and you are still a chance’. Now why would anyone think they can get back in to the side because if the super MVP can’t.
Furthermore, his replacement is too raw to get any meaningful minutes.
My biggest concern with the Hoskins scenario , is he through not being selected , walks out the door and plays for England, and that comes back to bite us on the arse .
Not a prediction, but I think it’s a real possibility, he has a rare skill set.
I’m not so sure razor is under the pump yet, but if we lose this week I suspect there will be people getting their calculators out working out his win loss percentage, which will be below 60 percent . Then the heat might be on .
Win and that sort of talk probably goes away for now .
@Boston-Boy said in All Blacks 2024:
@kiwiinmelb he’s 28 and apparently the Storm want to move on his contract. I would definitely back him for 4 more years. A lot to gain, the Bomb squad would struggle to control him. He would provide a power upgrade the ABs would not have seen for years. Then there’s Ponga who would revolutionise the backline & both have had dreams of playing for the ABs.
Usually storm move on forwards if it looks like they won’t be able to match offers and back their youngsters instead , so I guess it would depend on what his motives are , there will be big money offers. On the table from rival nrl clubs you would suspect .
If he wanted to try his hand at super rugby I wouldn’t be opposed to it .
@Boston-Boy said in All Blacks 2024:
A bit left field but I think there’s an opportunity to really bolster the ABs pack by considering a grab at Nelson Asofa Solomona. He is a school boy rugby union star, would absolutely be able to handle the SA and any other big men in international rugby with ease, has amazing go forward, would just need to keep him under control. I would also seriously consider making a play for Kalyn Ponga. These two players are currently unsettled and would be superstars in the game both having played Union. Just a left wing suggestion but well worth consideration.
As a storm and an allblacks supporter I’ve often thought of Nelson as one that got away , but I suspect it’s a bit late now.