Bledisloe II @ Eden Park

[Joe Blow]

We were terrible in the wet conditions. Lealiifano was a shadow of the player we saw in Perth, partly because of the conditions but more so because our pack was getting smeshed.
Kerevi was strong with ball in hand again but he is a crap playmaker/distributor. Beale had one of those games that are always just around the corner for him. He is better suited to a bench role to be injected at 12 or 15 if needed.

The scrum, what happened to it? Laurie Fischer needs to be involved through the RWC and then after as set piece dude.

Who knows what the RWC holds? I guess it depends on the weather and which Wallaby side turns up on the day.

 

[KOB1987]

Yeah I’m not going to lose sleep over it. We outperformed last week and underperformed this week, reality is we’re somewhere in between and par for course the expectation is to make the quarters at the RWC and anything beyond that would be a bonus, and dependent on who we line up against. I think the MO for Cheika in a World Cup year was to keep the opposition guessing as to what our best line up is and what our game plan is. We came out with something unexpected in both last week and managed to put them to the sword, but this week we brought out the same and gave them a week to rehearse a counter plan, and under conditions which didn’t suit. 2 missed goals and 2 easy tries and it was all over.

All that said it was a very disappointing performance. But the sun is up and the earth is still spinning.

 

[Up the Guts]

Theyve been beaten once? Like last time.

They probably phoned it in because they were playing the Wallabies and not expecting us to somehow string together a perfect game for the first time in 15 years. Plus the red.

Nek minnut they are pushing 8 men off a scrum with 7.

Weve been hearing 'oh the All Blacks arent all that this year' since the dawn of time and its almost never the case.

Saffas could take them down in the pool games. Just don’t give them counter-attacking opportunities.

 

[Derpus]

Saffas could take them down in the pool games. Just don’t give them counter-attacking opportunities.

I agree, the Saffas are our last hope.

I don't begrudge them success like i do the ABs or the English.

 

[Finsbury Girl]

So much for the "new dawn" rather a new low.

Loose forwards absolute garbage all night. When will the penny drop & we play a proper 6 & 7? Naisarani can run but where is he in the tight? Invisible. Gutless. Dumb.

At least Rodda was in there doing the hard yakka. Thor has ticker.

Token 10 mins to Wright playing on the wrong side still managed more work than LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) in 70 mins.

At least I can watch the 2 of the 3 future Wallaby back row @ Ballymore this arvo. And a few in the backs as well.

New chuckle bros KB (Kurtley Beale) & Hodge. Hope we never see Hodge in the green and gold ever again & KB (Kurtley Beale) revert to form. Hilarious.

Credit to New Zealand they were fantastic. 1 - 15 pure class. Loosies were absolute beasts. One negative, I did notice a lot of contact around the neck not just the ones that were pulled up by the ref but it definitely seemed prevalent at the breakdown.

 

[Derpus]

KBs form always seems to reflect that of the team. He's something of a luxury player.

When the team are on the up hes a world beater, when they are struggling he sucks.

 

[Rebels3]

KB (Kurtley Beale) wasn’t the issue last night, he did okay with a well beaten pack.

Hodge was one of the better performers.

I think it highlighted LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) a little, but he’s young but the speed of the game got away from him, his mobility around the park is solid for a lock but below standard for a flanker. Personally I think Pete Samu or Jones are better 6 options.

Sio didn’t have a happy night, but we know he can perform at the level.

Coleman in my eyes is perfect for the bench. He failed to impose himself. Arnold is a big loss.

CLL I hope they persist with but those missed goals didn’t help build pressure.

Overall I think we were just beaten 5-10% by each opposite man which leads a dominant performance.

 

[Derpus]

^^^^ i think LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) is better suited to a different style of play.

 

[formerflanker]

Totally disagree. NH powerhouses don't play footloose and fancy free like NZ/Aus. For them it's just a murderously dull regimen of tactical kicking and the battle of inches. Running into open spaces just means "risk of getting isolated."

Like we did last night. Several times.

 

[JRoss]

We were terrible in the wet conditions. Lealiifano was a shadow of the player we saw in Perth, partly because of the conditions but more so because our pack was getting smeshed.
Kerevi was strong with ball in hand again but he is a crap playmaker/distributor. Beale had one of those games that are always just around the corner for him. He is better suited to a bench role to be injected at 12 or 15 if needed.

The scrum, what happened to it? Laurie Fischer needs to be involved through the RWC and then after as set piece dude.

Who knows what the RWC holds? I guess it depends on the weather and which Wallaby side turns up on the day.

WC? anything can happen. Japan knocked off SA. Nobody saw that coming. England gone end of pool play to Wales, ouch! Australia ended up in the final against the AB's after a patchy period with Cheika at the helm for only a year. I for one rate Australia stepping up again this year!

 

[Derpus]

WC? anything can happen. Japan knocked off SA. Nobody saw that coming. England gone end of pool play to Wales, ouch! Australia ended up in the final against the AB's after a patchy period with Cheika at the helm for only a year. I for one rate Australia stepping up again this year!

Anything can happen, true. But i think we all know what will happen.

 

[Adam84]

On a positive note, I thought that was Tupous best performance in gold, the scrum settled a bit when he came on and he was good in the loose.

 

[Up the Guts]

On a positive note, I thought that was Tupous best performance in gold, the scrum settled a bit when he came on and he was good in the loose.

His hands when he collected that ball off the deck. Just hope they included an off-season caloric limit in his contract.

 

[Slim 293]

Some random thoughts........ probably repeating myself from the pre-beer hours.........

I think ultimately, despite the scrum woes of yesterday, out tight five is largely settled in.......... just need to work out who that third hooker is going to be?

After last night Latu's grip on the starting jersey might have slipped though, but a good effort from Tupou off the bench.

Arnold missed....... I thought Rodda did alright - our lineout was largely solid and I do recall at least one steal.

I think we need to try LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) as a bench lock, who can cover 6 in an emergency.

We all know it - our backrow is unbalanced and not working but we don't really have the time for any more experimentation - the Samoa test isn't really going to reveal anything.........

In hindsight, there may be a few backrowers we might regret not having a look at.

Lilo didn't have a great game, but I'd still persist with starting him for now......... ultimately our flyhalf options are not inspiring.

Our 13 starved of ball again......... Kerevi needs to do better here, but we also need to involve the 13 more - we might not have seen the end of the two K's.

Koro is a lock on one wing, but we still need to work out who to play on the other side.........

I wouldn't mind seeing Banks at fullback and Beale on the right wing.

And the team as a whole needs to work on its support play, perform better at the breakdown, go forward before going wide, and quit the miracle passes.

 

[swingpass]

imo what the last two weeks show , is that a below par AB's are almost as good as an above average Wallabies, and the reverse is so far from true.

 

[KiwiM]

Well what a turnaround from last week.

I thought Wallabies tactics were strange considering the conditions.

When I heard Wallabies had won the toss and were kicking off I was sure they would kick deep in the wet. Nope - tried to go short.

The move that resulted in the opening try was risky too in the conditions.

It didn't seem like the Wallabies had much of a specific game plan in the wet. It does feel like a bit of a Cheika staple - not known for a variety of game plans.

Wallabies showed all the urgency last week - this week it was the ABs. The ABs were direct, smart and physical. Kicking game far better this week. Tuipulotu's best ever test. Read, Aaron Smith and SBW's best tests in years. Cane put in a shift and Laulala is the new ABs starting tighthead - someone on here was questioning his scrummaging before the game but he answered that.

The good news for the Wallabies? Well ABs smashed the Wallabies at Eden Park in 1999 and 2015 and Wallabies went on to have pretty good World Cups in those years!

Agreed with those calling for LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto)'s jersey - he is not a test 6. Too slow. He was Hanigan level bad. I'd say the best back 3 is Banks, Speight, Koroibete. Beale to the bench. With JOC (James O'Connor) at 13 you may not need Beale as an extra playmaker so Banks becomes an option.

 

[wamberal]

Why? I was never one for much training myself, but I venture the opinion that maybe the Darkness got their tapering wrong leading up to last week's game? They looked flat. They looked the opposite yesterday. There has to be a reason.


As for Lilo muffing the kick-off, I thought immediately of Quade's effort when he had a 'mare against the ABs way back when.

 

[mark_s]

So, well done all blacks. Convincing in the end, but we matched them for ~25 mins until mistakes got the better of us.

For us too many mistakes, not all were terrible errors but you need to be better than average to be competitive with the abs. our two penalty misses hurt a lot. Imagine being ahead 6-3 with good territory nearing the 30 min mark, the pressure would have been on the abs.

The ab forwards were maniacs, and they grew as the wrested momentum from us. Coles is a wild card, actually I think you can guarantee he will do something stupid in a big game, But it didn’t matter as the AB forwards were superb when down to 7 and schooled our 8 pigs. Ironically coles yellow card was (IMO) the turning point of the match, but it was against us.

Once again, the ABs are able to make wet night time conditions look like perfect daytime rugby. It’s more than luck, maybe we need to train more in the wet at night! When is the last time we won a night time test in NZ? Have we ever?

I went to the game, and despite getting toweled up on the field, had a great time. I was the sole yellow jersey at the east end, but the banter was good with the black jerseys around me and there were lots of handshakes before and after the game.

 

[jollyswagman]

In contrast to last week, I wonder how many punters here have been brave enough to rewatch the game...... Anyone?

 

[Spruce Moose]

I think its hard to see the team changing for the RWC Fiji match due to trying to win the Bledisloe (correct call IMO), however I think he should have used DHP on the bench instead of AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) to see if he could show some form (feel he had a one off stinker against SA).

Think for Fiji match only changes will be Pocock in for LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) (revert to 3 options in lineout) and obviously Arnold in for Coleman. I know Hodge isn't our 2nd best winger(guess is he is there for his kicking) I'd prefer Maddocks or Speight and us try two out and out wingers with either KB (Kurtley Beale) or DHP at full back.