AC Rugby

[Gissie 814]

The rush defense has been our weak point for a long time. Exposed by the last Lions tour. Nothing was do to solve it and the Poms used it to their advantage. Hopefully it stops Foster becoming our next coach.

Poms going for the trifecta now.

[Flags 59]

Never mind you have Alice

[Horn Rock 1,202]

1 hour ago, Stingray~ said:

accounts I’ve seen suggest the score was close to being even more lopsided,

They crossed our line a couple more times but the tries were disallowed, and rightfully so. But yeah, they were dominant, won the collisions, the battle at the gain line, and the AB's got handed their arses.

1 hour ago, Stingray~ said:

They must be odds-on favorites to win the Final?

Big time. I can't see them not winning on the back of that performance.

1 hour ago, Stingray~ said:

Any guesses about SA vs Wales? 

Could go either way, although the Saffers will start as slight favourites.

[Avant22 8]

55 minutes ago, Horn Rock said:

They crossed our line a couple more times but the tries were disallowed, and rightfully so. But yeah, they were dominant, won the collisions, the battle at the gain line, and the AB's got handed their arses.

Big time. I can't see them not winning on the back of that performance.

Could go either way, although the Saffers will start as slight favourites.

[Salty Seacock 320]

Congrats to the POMS for taking the Allblacks out. A deserving win.

Allblacks had: A poor game plan. Blokes playing in dumb positions. No half time stratagy. A shit result.

[RobG 677]

5 hours ago, Stingray~ said:

Tough break but accounts I’ve seen suggest the score was close to being even more lopsided, England played a very good game, won on territory, time of possession, kicking game, and more.

Possession was 51% - 49% England's way, so very even. Watching the game I would have said 60/40 to the Poms, they seemed much more in control. Territory was more like 70/30 with England in the Kiwi half most of the game, that's what mattered. NZ made some great attacks down the field, but the poms had enough of a buffer to pull them up short. 

England had a clear game plan, stuck to it and executed very well. Their usual ill–discipline didn't arise. NZ seemed to think they just needed to run the ball, there was almost no kicking or variety. They started to loose it near the end with stupid penalties to the point of being warned for deliberate fouls. A clear sign of frustration and lack of options.

England vs South Africa for the final, I don't care who wins. It should be a great game. ;-)

[Sailbydate 2,412]

33 minutes ago, Salty Seacock said:

Congrats to the POMS for taking the Allblacks out. A deserving win.

Allblacks had: A poor game plan. Blokes playing in dumb positions. No half time stratagy. A shit result.

Quite dumbstruck in fact. Even Steve Hanson sat in his box with a blank look of surprise on his dial. He had absolutely nothing to contribute, so his comms. went dead. The boys were stuck in the glare of the headlights with nowhere to go. Road kill.

But still, the sun came up this morning and there was another tomorrow.

[Salty Seacock 320]

10 minutes ago, Sailbydate said:

Quite dumbstruck in fact. Even Steve Hanson sat in his box with a blank look of surprise on his dial. He had absolutely nothing to contribute, so his comms. went dead. The boys were stuck in the glare of the headlights with nowhere to go. Road kill.

But still, the sun came up this morning and there was another tomorrow.

Oh yeah. I'm out in the Gulf so I care less.

All that matters is that fish still like my hook.

[Indio 795]

13 hours ago, nimbus said:

Cheers.

Fuck, never saw that hammering. Totally out-thought, out-played, out-passioned and dominated!! Now I know how the Irish felt after the QF because the Poms did the same to us. Well done England, congratulations on a well-executed game-plan.

Aaron Smith should have been yanked after 40 minutes - he was pop-kicking in desperation, and he was caught at will before he could clear the ball. Mo'unga was rendered harmless by the Pom tactics, forced to kick aimlessly in desperation. Foster is/was in charge of the attack game-plan: after last night's rudderless performance, he'd be lucky to get an interview as Hansen's replacement. Scotty Robertson can't take over soon enough for me.

Guess what's on the lunch menu...well done England..

 

[inebriated 72]

lol

[Horn Rock 1,202]

2 hours ago, Indio said:

Scotty Robertson can't take over soon enough for me.

https://media.giphy.com/media/3ohs7T9NIIMFa2S1eE/giphy.gif

You mean this guy. Yeah nah.

[Priscilla 2,103]

There was a time when after such a drubbing the NZ stock market would drop and a black cloud of despondency would blanket the country for months.

My how things have changed and now we just rock on enjoying tomorrow as another day unless you are the twits in Devonport that mugged this mini. 

 

[weta27 4,007]

It's tough living in Devonport.

One minute we're snobs; next minute we're yobbos!

[Boybland 515]

1 hour ago, Horn Rock said:

https://media.giphy.com/media/3ohs7T9NIIMFa2S1eE/giphy.gif

You mean this guy. Yeah nah.

If he wins us the World Cup he can do naked handstands in the middle the Stade de France for all I care!

[Horn Rock 1,202]

9 minutes ago, Boybland said:

If he wins us the World Cup he can do naked handstands in the middle the Stade de France for all I care!

He's been coaching at provincial level for what 3 years? Heaps of other guys with way more experience.

[Priscilla 2,103]

Anybody but Foster.
Newly appointed NZ rugby coaches Scott Robertson and John Mitchell pictured journeying to the 2023 RWC France.

 

 

[Stingray~ 1,263]

SA vs Wales was pretty damn physical, wow.

Slugfest ahead!

[Indio 795]

16 hours ago, Horn Rock said:

https://media.giphy.com/media/3ohs7T9NIIMFa2S1eE/giphy.gif

You mean this guy. Yeah nah.

The same. He can dance in the nude for all I care - it's his coaching results that matter. He's got a great empathy for the younger players - he brings out the best in them. The Ioane brothers need to leave Auckland if they want to be consistent All Black selections. Beauden Barrett's All Blacks career is seriously at risk joining the Auckland Blues in 2020 - the Blues are All -Blacks career-killers!!

[Indio 795]

12 hours ago, Priscilla said:

Anybody but Foster.
Newly appointed NZ rugby coaches Scott Robertson and John Mitchell pictured journeying to the 2023 RWC France.

 

 

Mitchell will never ever darken the NZ Rugby HQ doorway again..he was easily the worst-ever coach we had. And he's broken an unspoken taboo that no All Blacks ex-coach coaches or helps coach a Tier-1 opponent of the All Blacks.

The Poms totally out-played us physically and tactically - Foster was in charge of attack, and we showed nothing. As it is, the Welsh will be salivating at the prospect of striking while we're depressed in the pointless 3rd-4th play-off.

Be interesting to see the NZ viewing stats for the SA-Wales semi-final last night . Broadcasters/live-streamers would have pulled out what little hair they had left...

 

[Forourselves 1,012]

Robertson is a great coach, and he does have a connection and an empathy for the younger players, but at All Black level, I believe we need someone less emotional, someone who presents a calm, clinical personality like Graham Henry and Steve Hansen. The All Blacks don't need a coach who breakdances on the sideline after a big win, they need someone who is humble and keeps the guys in check. Robertson IMO isn't that guy.

[Horn Rock 1,202]

Just now, Indio said:

Foster was in charge of attack, and we showed nothing.

Wasn't Foster's fault. Our forwards never laid a platform for the backs. We had no front foot ball, lost the collisions, and lost it at the gain line. This begins and ends with the forwards. The backs were trying to do it way behind the gain line, and despite the talent of Barrett et al couldn't do shit without time and space. We lost it up front.

As for Razor, he's had no experience OS, never worked with a national team as an assistant, which is a usual requirement. He's as green as fuck and in no way ready to coach the AB's - yet. Give him some time, may be one day he'll be ready.

[Horn Rock 1,202]

3 hours ago, Stingray~ said:

SA vs Wales was pretty damn physical, wow.

The first hour last night was horrendous. All they did was kick. Terrible advert for rugby. England is going smash the Saffers out of the park IMO.

[Gissie 814]

1 hour ago, Horn Rock said:

Wasn't Foster's fault. Our forwards never laid a platform for the backs. We had no front foot ball, lost the collisions, and lost it at the gain line. This begins and ends with the forwards. The backs were trying to do it way behind the gain line, and despite the talent of Barrett et al couldn't do shit without time and space. We lost it up front.

As for Razor, he's had no experience OS, never worked with a national team as an assistant, which is a usual requirement. He's as green as fuck and in no way ready to coach the AB's - yet. Give him some time, may be one day he'll be ready.

It was all the coaches fault, defense, attack and the boss. The Lions played the same way last tour and we had no answer for it. Now, all these months later, we still had no answer for it. It was a pathetic show of lack of leadership or imagination. They believed their own bullshit, running over much lesser teams allowed them to pretend there was no achilles heel that needed to be dealt with. They became stale and complacent.

[Boybland 515]

1 hour ago, Horn Rock said:

The first hour last night was horrendous. All they did was kick. Terrible advert for rugby. England is going smash the Saffers out of the park IMO.

I'm actually not so certain, England were absolutely fantastic on Saturday, but pretty ordinary leading up to it, the All Blacks were fantastic the week before but pretty ordinary on Saturday.

It can often be hard to get that maximum intensity every game and England bought their absolute A game. I doubt England will be as close to intense next week as they were on Saturday.

I do think they will win though, South Africa are very one dimensional on attack especially with Kolbe out, but it will be closer than this weeks results would suggest.

[Salty Seacock 320]

16 hours ago, weta27 said:

It's tough living in Devonport.

One minute we're snobs; next minute we're yobbos!

I live in the 0624 and can attest to the remarkable mixture of social behaviour available to view. Mostly it's the trust fund babies that cause the ruckus. 

[Horn Rock 1,202]

9 minutes ago, Gissie said:

It was all the coaches fault, defense, attack and the boss.

Disagree entirely. You don't have a record like Shags if you're a shit coach. You can't coach guys to win collisions. Man for man in the forwards they had better blokes. England always produces good packs. They just needed a decent coach to get the best out of them, and they found that in Eddie. The All Blacks not winning the RWC is a good thing for world rugby. We'll be back, and I look forward to following that journey.

[Horn Rock 1,202]

2 minutes ago, Boybland said:

It can often be hard to get that maximum intensity every game and England bought their absolute A game.

Yeah I don't think our blokes had fully recovered from their hard game against Ireland. England had an easier game against Aussie and were physically fresher.

[Gissie 814]

12 minutes ago, Horn Rock said:

Disagree entirely. You don't have a record like Shags if you're a shit coach. You can't coach guys to win collisions. Man for man in the forwards they had better blokes. England always produces good packs. They just needed a decent coach to get the best out of them, and they found that in Eddie. The All Blacks not winning the RWC is a good thing for world rugby. We'll be back, and I look forward to following that journey.

The coaches all should have known we had a weakness and that England would have found it during the Lions tour. They should have also known that this was the game we had to win to hold onto the cup. So why did we have no answer for it. And if there is no answer why didn’t we train to do the same. I could understand if it was a new thing, but we had two years to work out a strategy. The boys were sent out without the tools the coaches should have given them to deal with it. 

As for being good for rugby, agree completely. 

[Horn Rock 1,202]

28 minutes ago, Gissie said:

So why did we have no answer for it.

We've had a really good run for a long time. Rugby is a cyclical thing. The signs were there in the Lions tour that the era of our forward dominance was coming to an end. We lack an abrasive 6 with the retirement of Kaino. Shag tried various guys - Frizelle etc but no one really stood out with the exception of Squire, who was unavailable for personal reasons. So we started an open side there and it diminished our physical presence. Read is also not the player he was a few seasons ago. Cane hasn't been the same since he broke his neck. All these little things add up to pack that wasn't quite up to it on Saturday.

Edit: I know we started Barrett at 6 - but that just highlights our issues in that position as he's not a 6, but a second rower.

[Boybland 515]

45 minutes ago, Horn Rock said:

Yeah I don't think our blokes had fully recovered from their hard game against Ireland. England had an easier game against Aussie and were physically fresher.

It's more a mental thing.

The All Blacks had a beef with Ireland after the recent losses, the moment Japan won and they knew Ireland was a possibility they would have been starting to fire up for that one game.

Eddie and the English have been picking away at wanting to beat the All Blacks for several years now and have known since the draw that they would likely hit them in the Semi, this was their number one targetted game, pretty easy to get up for!

It's like the All Blacks last time against France, they were itching to send a message to them and blasted them off the park! They were still good enough to beat the Aussies in the final but nowhere near as completely dominant as they had been in the earlier game.

[Gissie 814]

32 minutes ago, Horn Rock said:

We've had a really good run for a long time. Rugby is a cyclical thing. The signs were there in the Lions tour that the era of our forward dominance was coming to an end. We lack an abrasive 6 with the retirement of Kaino. Shag tried various guys - Frizelle etc but no one really stood out with the exception of Squire, who was unavailable for personal reasons. So we started an open side there and it diminished our physical presence. Read is also not the player he was a few seasons ago. Cane hasn't been the same since he broke his neck. All these little things add up to pack that wasn't quite up to it on Saturday.

Edit: I know we started Barrett at 6 - but that just highlights our issues in that position as he's not a 6, but a second rower.

England have always fronted up with their forward pack, this is not a new thing. The real change was they were prepared to throw it around rather than shut it down. Even when they got in front they kept the pedal down. Anyone that was surprised by this, for example our coaches and players, have been asleep at the wheel for the last couple of years. It doesn’t really bother me and in many ways it is a good thing. Had they flukes it and won we would have a continuation of the same old nepotism going forward. This will force some, hopefully, real decisions rather than a rubber stamp for the next one in the queue. The boys will be back, just not the boys we now know. 

[phill_nz 638]

i will just go to my original

if / when smith thinks he can play well he screws it up bigtime 

when he is hungry he is a good player 

we got the overconfident dick for that game 

you cannot win many games with teams that are not far away in talent if you keep giving them the ball 

 

anything about nigel owen will go unsaid as it didnt change from the game before

and again

well done the poms

i cannot see anyone else picking up the cup

 

                  

                       

[Brittaniawaivestherules 32]

[Sailbydate 2,412]

8 hours ago, Brittaniawaivestherules said:

Indeed it is. And if you plonkers are good enough, you might make it as well. ;-)

[167149 97]

hats off to the jappies, they fumped the soap dodgers and took it away

[Horn Rock 1,202]

Massive choke from England. Congrats to South Africa.

[Stingray~ 1,263]

 

Overjoyed SA fans react to Springboks' World Cup triumph

https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/look-around-you-everybody-is-united-overjoyed-sa-fans-react-to-springboks-world-cup-triumph-20191102

[Sailbydate 2,412]

Well, well, well...Congratulations, South Africa. 

[Stingray~ 1,263]

1 hour ago, Sailbydate said:

Well, well, well...Congratulations, South Africa. 

First rugby game I’ve watched in a while but  the Boks did appear to dominate, especially the scrums. The two try’s were pretty impressive too, especially that first one in about the 66th (?) minute.

Huge celebrations in SA, so good for that country!

I played a bit of rugby not far from where the Boks first-ever black team captain grew up. I revisit occasionally and will do so again in Feb. Great to see how the sport has grown in popularity and support, it’s so unifying now.

[Pants on Fire 8]

What a game, my 7 yr old son was so relieved when the match ended, poor guy... some memes doing the rounds here, for your amusement...

[Stingray~ 1,263]

 

[Stingray~ 1,263]

The electricity in SA is 95% supplied by a state-owned company called Eskom and when rolling blackouts happen it leads to huge disruptions but also some humor.

 

[Pants on Fire 8]

Yes, you need a sense of humour (and a generator every now and then) to deal with the comedy that is Eskom... on the plus side We have great weather and lots of sun so rooftop solar is fast becoming a viable option.