Bledisloe 2 at Eden Park 18/10/20

[Dismal Pillock]

Flanders Hanigan is a big, keen, fit lad. Has come on big time compared to last year. At least as effective as Crossword Frizzle yesterday. Speaking of frizzy, maybe Neddy would get more respect if he lost the Neighbours casting extra hairdo. Just a thought.

 

[eastman]

Wright was playing out of position. We had all hoped we'd seen the last of that crap with the end of Cheika. Not a good look from Rennie at this early stage. Hope he has learnt a hard lesson. Wright would be a different proposition at 7.

We were missing physicality at No 6 today. High workload with some errors of execution from Hanigan as well as giving away a couple or three important penalties. Best way to compensate for Ned's small-man play is to bring back Samu at 6 and have Wright play 7 to provide that third man option in the lineout while still having good on ball presence required in a 7. Wilson looks to have the goods for the No 8 spot but is not a regular or proficient lineout jumper, as evidenced by his knock on when he was the target on one throw.

I don't get this- you'd select Wright at 7 over Hooper purely for the fact he's a better jumper and deficient everywhere else? We already have 3-4 jumpers (as mentioned Wilson at a stretch is a line out option), why would you then select a 7 purely for the line out? Hooper has been lifted in the past, if you're looking for even more variety. And don't give me this rubbish about back row balance- no seven is ever selected for their jumping.

 

[eastman]

Next match:

Samu for Wright - easy decision
Tate for Gordon - Gordon hasn't done much, least Tate has the ability to score a try or add some spark if needed.
Hanigan - I think his positives outweighed his penalties. I'd stick with him.
Petaia - needs to start

Banks - Swap for DHP if fit. Easy choice there. Banks has nothing in attack but solid everywhere else despite a game with a few dropped balls. Hodge boot is the only thing he has and doesn't offer anything extra around the park IMO (and his boot is still only a 50/50 at best). Maddocks I feel would have got destroyed this game. JOC (James O'Connor) at 15 is a risk under the high ball and needed at 10.

Pretty much this, except I actually think Gordon has been pretty decent and coming on with 10-15 mins with all structure lost makes it pretty hard for a halfback. I'd be inclined to start Gordon and bring Tate off the bench.

 

[Derpus]

I don't get why White one match is all clever snipes and box kicks and the next he's just pants. What was so radically different?

 

[Ignoto]

Probably didn't help the ruck was a mess, players were laying on the ball and Gardiner never got on top of stopping it.

 

[Pfitzy]

I don't get why White one match is all clever snipes and box kicks and the next he's just pants. What was so radically different?

Comes down to options that the ABs gave him - they were very aware of that threat this week and their defensive structure changed a little.

 

[A mutterer]

Flanders Hanigan is a big, keen, fit lad. Has come on big time compared to last year. At least as effective as Crossword Frizzle yesterday. Speaking of frizzy, maybe Neddy would get more respect if he lost the Neighbours casting extra hairdo. Just a thought.

well it worked for your lot didnt it? looked like your forward finally found the recharger for the clippers and finished off the job mid week. certainly looked a lot more intimidating as a result.

 

[Dismal Pillock]

looked like your forward finally found the recharger for the clippers and finished off the job mid week. certainly looked a lot more intimidating as a result.

You mean Ofa's Reverse Starburst Mangere Mullet? NOTHING is more intimidating than a Reverse Starburst Mangere Mullet. It is the look of a man with nothing left to lose. A man who can short electric charges with the voltage from his eyes.

RIP, Ofa's Reverse Starburst Mangere Mullet.

 

[Serge]

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.

Bollocks. He was beaten one on one for Smith's try when he should have dominated him by being lower (just watch seasoned forards hieght on goal line defence), and he was ineffectual in most of his clean outs.

 

[Braveheart81]

Bollocks. He was beaten one on one for Smith's try when he should have dominated him by being lower (just watch seasoned forards hieght on goal line defence), and he was ineffectual in most of his clean outs.

If he'd been set there on the line then certainly, he needs to stop Smith from that range.

The main problem there was how much ground the All Blacks had made from the previous carry through poor tackling by our backs. Our forwards were scrambling to get back to the line and were never in position.

O'Connor and To'omua made contact with Goodhue outside the 5m line but Goodhue made it within a metre of the try line before they completed the tackle. JOC (James O'Connor) ultimately fell off the tackle so it was left to To'omua to make the tackle.

 

[Set piece magic]

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.

 

[Pfitzy]

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.

I thought a margin of 8-13 would have been a fair assessment of the game. We made a fuckload of territory between the 22s but finishing and decision making close to the line was poor.

As everyone knows, you make an error within sight of scoring against the ABs, and you could be standing under your posts 30 seconds later.

 

[Derpus]

Those pushed passes on the wings need to go, ASAP. So many turnovers after making good solid meters.

 

[BDA]

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.

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.

 

[Joe Blow]

Someone suggesting that White be replaced and retaining Gordon? White has been massive. Our ruck base was much less organised yesterday, partly due to Gardners reluctance to ref it properly and most likely also because we missed Samus contribution here.
Gordon looked truly lost when he came on and all of a sudden we had no go forward. Having Tate come in and inject some pace is a much better plan. Banks created nothing while being solid at the back. We need more at fullback. DHP maybe if fully fit? If not then start with Maddocks and have Hodge on the bench.
To'omua will be a big loss. His defence and organisation of the backline cannot be underestimated.

 

[Set piece magic]

Gordon also looked lost in the closing minutes of Wellington, a great running player who is unsuited to tense, pressured parts of test matches with a territorial and attritional game plan

 

[Up the Guts]

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.

We also really should have been leading after the first 5-10 minutes. Tupou makes a break and we're 3 out from the ABs line, Savea makes a tackle from an offside position and makes no attempt to enter the ruck through the gate. Ends up being a penalty for holding on.

10-15 minutes later we're down 10-0. We need to get better at flushing those incidents because NZ (and other teams) will always happily risk conceding a penalty to stop a try early in the game.

 

[Braveheart81]

Gordon also looked lost in the closing minutes of Wellington, a great running player who is unsuited to tense, pressured parts of test matches with a territorial and attritional game plan

He's got a good kicking game though which is why he's been preferred to McDermott in the first place.

Gordon hasn't been amazing but he's been solid. Rennie might want to take a look at another option but I can't imagine he'd be unhappy with the Wallabies performance.

Our shape fell apart late in the game yesterday but I don't think that is just down to the halfback.

White's missed tackled were an issue yesterday. Neither his kicking game nor running game got going yesterday which were hallmarks of his excellent performance in the first test.

 

[KiwiM]

That is why people have been wanting Clarke to start. He offers a threat the ABs didn't have last year - he has the workrate of Bridge with so much more attacking ability it isn't funny.

Clarke and Beauden certainly helped the ABs attack which still looks to be in the developmental stage but certainly better signs than Wellington. What looked a vulnerable forward pack on paper stood up for ABs - they got the message and got stuck in. Both debutants went very well.

For the Wallabies the score didn't reflect the game - I agree that DHP needs to come in for Banks and i'd think about someone else (Wright?) for Koroibete. Hopefully the injury to To'omua isn't too bad as he's really been the glue. I agree that Simmons and Wright weren't particularly impressive off the pine.

 

[Derpus]

Gordon also looked lost in the closing minutes of Wellington, a great running player who is unsuited to tense, pressured parts of test matches with a territorial and attritional game plan

No he didn't. He played well in Wellington. Less impressive yesterday, i thought. But i thought by the time he got on our lads had all given up anyway.

I don't think Tate has ever looked good coming off the pine either. You could maybe make an argument that it should have been Tate starting with White off the bench given the dry track.