BTW, just watching a replay and most certainly McCaw tackled the French winger in the air when they had both contested but the ball had been taken by the winger. Should have been a French penalty, but Owens awarded a scrum to the ABs and in a subsequent phase, Read scored near the posts.
1997, ABs scored 55 against the boks at Eden park. Was unthinkable at that time when winning by 10 was comprehensive
We scored 35 ourselves that day, though. We were actually leading at half time.
France hit back nicely and weren't that far away for the first 30 minutes, really, and I'd like to place a lot of blame for the halftime margin on their useless Fijian blindside winger: caught in no-mans land on Savea's first try, then getting bumped for trying to tackle a bus around the shoulders in the next. Spedding also guilty of that.
Speaking of working hard, it was good (and a little scary) see Savea look like someone who had been told they were on their last chance. Running hard and straight like he stole the ball and everyone else was a copper.
We scored 35 ourselves that day, though. We were actually leading at half time.
2011: 7-40
Though they sent a B team and NZ reciprocated the following week, gifting the Aussies the Tri Nations.
That was with Abortion De Villiers at the helm.
In the Heyneke Meyer era, our biggest loss has been 16 points in matches vs. New Zealand. We'll be in it come Saturday.
lol I know. I think so too.
That tackle in the air was nothing really. Loads of people get away with taking the man like that if they're not pulling him down.
That said, it was a poor call by Owens - shouldn't have been a turnover as it was a maul straight from a kick.
Owens said it was from your own kick, so turnover. Didn't know that rule. Apparently it's only on opposition kicks that you keep the scrum feed
The laws of the game require all players not part of the front row to bind onto a lock.
That means the two locks must bind onto each other.
Clearly on the photo below Whitelock is not bound to his fellow lock.
The All Blacks only did this on French feeds and did it throughout the game. (They bind correctly for their own put in.)
All I can presume is that Whitlock is effecting a crotch bind on both the loose head prop and the hooker (treating the hooker like a prop) in an effort to develop more power and also attempt a wheel.
It is illegal, dangerous and should be penalised.
It should also be twittered to Jonathon Kaplan so Whitelock, Marlow and Kaplan can all catch up for a coffee!
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Still stoked with that result (& would be more so but paying the price of breaking my no alcohol before lunch rule by ~7 hours), the second 40 was just brilliant stuff regardless of how poor France were: possibly the worst 40 I've seen from a T1 side & among the best I've seen from an AB outfit. Like I said on the front page, I don't think anyone would've got within 20 points.
Boks will be tough, they always are, and IF we get past them so, too, the Wobblies, they always are, but I'm a lot more hopeful than I was say three days ago.
Actually WOB the second 40 reminded me a little of the first half at Athletic Park in 96, they just got in the zone and noone was going to live with that.
I pleased to see Mark Ella saying the same thing.
But that was last week , and now we got this week!!
I was at the wind tunnel that day & for me it remains the bench mark for AB performance, mostly because despite the atrocious conditions we barely made an error, and IIRC no unforced ones, playing into it.