Bledisloe 2 at Eden Park 18/10/20

[waiopehu oldboy]

Went back & read my pre-team naming post:

Coles giving Tupou a slap showed that our forwards weren't gunna get bossed around as much as last week. A good change, that.
Hodgman appeared to be an upgrade from Karl, another good change.
Frizell actually looked like a test AB, justified his retention.
Mo'unga didn't seem to spend as much time at FB as last week hence wasn't out on his feet at the end. So maybe 10. Mo'unga 15. Beaugan can be made to work.
AL-B per usual excellent at 13 without being flashy (as was PU-J). Another good change.
It's all been said re:Clarke, even if he never plays that well again he'll be remembered for that stunning kick return. Possibly the best change of all.
Most significant non-appearance goes to Baby Savea

 

[Viking]

Think people are getting caught up in the doom and gloom. There was really 10 minutes of that 80 min game that we got dominated for. We were unlucky not to put on two more tries for 21 - 27 -- including some suspicious maul defence in the lead up to the BPO non try. Obviously we missed too many tackles but we weren't completely taken to the cleaners. We have come away from NZ with a 1 - 0 record and can win the cup if we win the next two home games, which is what the result would have been if we had been at 1 - 1.

BB and Clarke were a big difference too. Take those 2 players out and the missed tackle count drops significantly. In fact I think we look the better team if they aren't playing.

 

[Tex]

Yes - but perhaps on a more positive spin, those two key moments were from shit house decisions by Tupou and O'Connor. Neither excusable.

 

[Dctarget]

White saved our bacon a few times in the messy rucks. Genia would've stood there with his hands in the air complaining. I'm happy for White to stay.

Two weeks till the next game, two more weeks in the system with Rennie. I have faith.

I will also be buying tickets to said game, pretttttty bloody exciting

 

[Set piece magic]

Fair points re Gordon yesterday and White missing those tackles. I still think Gordon looked a little rushed in Wellington but maybe it's not perception. I'm not suggesting we change things - I still think McDermott needs some time to develop and White is the strongest we have, particularly after his technical/kicking game developed in Europe

 

[Viking]

Went back & read my pre-team naming post:

Coles giving Tupou a slap showed that our forwards weren't gunna get bossed around as much as last week. A good change, that.
Hodgman appeared to be an upgrade from Karl, another good change.
Frizell actually looked like a test AB, justified his retention.
Mo'unga didn't seem to spend as much time at FB as last week hence wasn't out on his feet at the end. So maybe 10. Mo'unga 15. Beaugan can be made to work.
AL-B per usual excellent at 13 without being flashy (as was PU-J). Another good change.
It's all been said re:Clarke, even if he never plays that well again he'll be remembered for that stunning kick return. Possibly the best change of all.
Most significant non-appearance goes to Baby Savea

I think 10 Mo-unga worked with BB at Fullback. But I still think BB at 10 is better with 15 Jordie or DMac. Mo unga was solid but without being outstanding this game. But he doesn't look close to the 'world best 10' by any means. He's had enough chances now a whole RWC and two decent hit-out this year.

BB is world class, (him and Clarke were the difference last game) get him the ball more often. I think its an easy decision to start BB at 10.

But from a wallabies point of view... keep Mo'unga at 10

 

[Braveheart81]

The biggest mistake Rennie made was not providing some additional strength and conditioning coaching to the All Blacks to ensure George Bridge didn't get injured. His injury was a massive loss for us and in hindsight one we really couldn't afford.

 

[Derpus]

Went back & read my pre-team naming post:

Coles giving Tupou a slap showed that our forwards weren't gunna get bossed around as much as last week. A good change, that.
Hodgman appeared to be an upgrade from Karl, another good change.
Frizell actually looked like a test AB, justified his retention.
Mo'unga didn't seem to spend as much time at FB as last week hence wasn't out on his feet at the end. So maybe 10. Mo'unga 15. Beaugan can be made to work.
AL-B per usual excellent at 13 without being flashy (as was PU-J). Another good change.
It's all been said re:Clarke, even if he never plays that well again he'll be remembered for that stunning kick return. Possibly the best change of all.
Most significant non-appearance goes to Baby Savea

It's crazy that this doesn't just fire Tupou up. Someone does that to me, i become way more determined.

 

[Viking]

I agree with this sentiment, although the concerning thing for me remains the inconsistency in performance; a ubiquitous trait of the Cheika era that Rennie hasn't cured yet. I'm fairly confident that the wallabies will win at least 1 of the next 2 games.I can't say I'm confident about their ability to win 2 given the way they basically just shit the bed for 20 minutes of this game.

Absolutely. First week we are strong in contact with low missed tackles but shit on the set-piece. Next week it's the opposite.

It's like we can't maintain our strengths into the next week and it ends up a weakness the next. Are our players incapable of focusing on more then one part of the game each week?

 

[fatprop]

BB and Clarke were a big difference too. Take those 2 players out and the missed tackle count drops significantly. In fact I think we look the better team if they aren't playing.

They were able to bring in one of the best players in the world and a massive beast who has the potential to be one of the best players in the world

 

[BDA]

He ultimately gave away one penalty. There was a second one that led to penalty advantage but someone else then gave away another penalty further down field so that was the one that gets called.

He was clearly one of our best players and was instrumental in our only try.

Honestly I'm not sure I'd be patting Hanigan on the back too much for his performance. He wasn't even the best performing backrower (which was Wilson). He was brought into the team to give us more of a presence in the lineout, to make tackles and to be a presence at the breakdown. Given that (a) our lineout wasn't that great and we failed to put their lineout under any pressure, (b) our breakdown work was a fuckin shambles, and (c) we were out muscled in contact, his performance wasn't where it needs to be.

I'm happy to see him get another crack (there's some potential there and the list of alternatives aint great) but those suggesting he was a "standout" must have really low expectation of our players.

 

[Pfitzy]

i'd think about someone else (Wright?) for Koroibete.

 

[Viking]

Honestly I'm not sure I'd be patting Hanigan on the back too much for his performance. He wasn't even the best performing backrower (which was Wilson). He was brought into the team to give us more of a presence in the lineout, to make tackles and to be a presence at the breakdown. Given that (a) our lineout wasn't that great and we failed to put their lineout under any pressure, (b) our breakdown work was a fuckin shambles, and (c) we were out muscled in contact, his performance wasn't where it needs to be.

I'm happy to see him get another crack (there's some potential there and the list of alternatives aint great) but those suggesting he was a "standout" must have really low expectation of our players.

Actually I think Hooper was the best performing backrower. Wilson is a great but he throws away possession with his offload attempts, and was his breakdown work any better then Hoopers or Hanigan? I don't think so. He didn't have the same impact with his running game, but Hanigan did with a clean line break and helped set-up a try.

Not saying I'd rather Hanigan over Wilson (that's crazy talk), but try to look at this game in isolation and Wilson was only solid. A few solid tackles doesn't make a good game. Especially when the other two topped the tackle count.

 

[Braveheart81]

Was Wilson really that great? I thought he was one of our better forwards but I would have definitely rated him last among our starting backrowers in terms of performance.

What about Wilson's game did you think was so strong? He defended well but our backrow in general made a lot of tackles.

 

[Dctarget]

Wilson had a few key clearouts. One in the 2nd half especially where it looked for all money that they had turned it over but he destroyed two NZ players in the ruck.

 

[Rebels3]

The entire backrow was fairly solid without any standouts, Hooper i thought was the best of the bunch but it wasn't a big difference between the 3.

Those calling for White (just about MOTM last week) and Koroibete (Player of the season last year) need to get a reality check. Paisami i suspect is the only one in the firing line in the backline and that probably because Petaia demands selection.

 

[Pfitzy]

Coles giving Tupou a slap showed that our forwards weren't gunna get bossed around as much as last week. A good change, that.

Nah that was just Coles being a fwit as usual. He's a bit of a knob.

 

[PhilClinton]

Wilson had a few key clearouts. One in the 2nd half especially where it looked for all money that they had turned it over but he destroyed two NZ players in the ruck.

Was coming to post this - he supermanned himself into a ruck at one stage to retain our ball.

His workrate is so high - I like what he's doing at the moment but I get happy nervous butterflies in my tummy when I think about how good he will be in another few years when he's better conditioned to the international game and playing 80min.

 

[formerflanker]

Hooper made a match high 22 tackles and a pilfer. What the fuck more could you want from an openside.

Two pilfers I think.

 

[Viking]

The entire backrow was fairly solid without any standouts, Hooper i thought was the best of the bunch but it wasn't a big difference between the 3.

Those calling for White (just about MOTM last week) and Koroibete (Player of the season last year) need to get a reality check. Paisami i suspect is the only one in the firing line in the backline and that probably because Petaia demands selection.

Yeh Koro and White have 1 good game and 1 average game. So I think they are mostly safe. But then again Samu's performace was solid (definitley better then Koro's last game) but he still got dropped (but for a player with a different skillset - so I guess it's different). Will be interesting to see what happens.

I suspect Banks is on the chopping block too if DHP is fit. Banks was solid first game, average the next. But poor on attack every test game so far.

Bench will be few changes I suspect too. Wright will surely be gone for Samu.