@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

Enjoyed the game. Thought our starting front row were pretty good. Lots of activity and involvement. Nice to see Patty T full of running. Gardiner and MMT were excellent. Quite like how our backline formation worked. Had our 2nd 5 slightly deeper. Nice to see Ennor use that size in defence! Back 3 were excellent.

There were some calls in this game that seemed very questionable. I’m not sure who the ref was or what they were for (I had the sound down because of the commentary), but was this a ‘development’ ref?

Matthew Carley

Carley refereed the ABs last year (vs SA in the Gold Coast).

I like the way this AB XV compete at the LO. Its counter rucking was awesome too. These are two aspects of the game we don't see much with Foster's team.

@Crucial said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

@Winger said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

Damian gets his big chance to see if he's got it as a 10

Verdict?

Looked pretty good to me (with a fairly easy ride)

Very good. After looking a bit average during the npc

So I kept reading it on the live scoring I had and now it's all over the YT highlights - what's with the Irish bizarre obsession with Stevenson being gigantic? He's really not.

@Bones said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

So I kept reading it on the live scoring I had and now it's all over the YT highlights - what's with the Irish bizarre obsession with Stevenson being gigantic? He's really not.

about Lam size? Edit I guess Lam is taller but roughly the same bulk, Stevenson does have a long stride though-maybe makes him look bigger than he is

@Bones said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

So I kept reading it on the live scoring I had and now it's all over the YT highlights - what's with the Irish bizarre obsession with Stevenson being gigantic? He's really not.

According to Wikipedia, he is 1.90 m tall and weighs 90 kg.

@cgrant said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

@Bones said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

So I kept reading it on the live scoring I had and now it's all over the YT highlights - what's with the Irish bizarre obsession with Stevenson being gigantic? He's really not.

According to Wikipedia, he is 1.90 m tall and weighs 90 kg.

I guess other than Stockdale the Irish like to have midgets on the wing but still, he's not even big, let alone huge/gigantic.

@cgrant said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

@Bones said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

So I kept reading it on the live scoring I had and now it's all over the YT highlights - what's with the Irish bizarre obsession with Stevenson being gigantic? He's really not.

According to Wikipedia, he is 1.90 m tall and weighs 90 kg.

Fark off. He's not that much of a string bean.

@akan004 said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

Ffs how is that a yellow

YC every day and twice on Sunday

Came at speed, in from the side, and hit the man late

Take the patch off

NPC media guide has him at 1.91m and 100 kg.

All Blacks website NZ Maori profile has him at 1.93m and 95 kg.

Chiefs' squad page has him at 1.90m and 90 kg.

Don't be too confident in numbers you see on the internet ...

@No-Quarter said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

That really was everything that is wrong with rugby now. Go back all the way to half way for a minor indiscretion and not only rub out the try, but YC the player just because. Would they have even checked it if we didn't score? Honestly how do they expect to attract new fans to the game with shit like that.

He called it live to the TMO way before the try was scored

Great refereeing

@MiketheSnow Wonder how many of these guys get called into the first team. Shaun Stevenson would surely fill the void of a speedy winger.

@SBW1 said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

@MiketheSnow Wonder how many of these guys get called into the first team. Shaun Stevenson would surely fill the void of a speedy winger.

He had a great game, but that's not where the need is

@MiketheSnow said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

@akan004 said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

Ffs how is that a yellow

YC every day and twice on Sunday

Came at speed, in from the side, and hit the man late

Take the patch off

Even the one eyed Irish commentators didn't think it was a yellow but yeah, whatever. You do you.

@akan004 said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

@MiketheSnow said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

@akan004 said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

Ffs how is that a yellow

YC every day and twice on Sunday

Came at speed, in from the side, and hit the man late

Take the patch off

Even the one eyed Irish commentators didn't think it was a yellow but yeah, whatever. You do you.

Always a problem when you view it through one eye

@akan004 Yellow or not, it was stupid. You put your fate in the hands of the officials.

@Old-Samurai-Jack said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

@akan004 Yellow or not, it was stupid. You put your fate in the hands of the officials.

Absolutely it was stupid. Doesn't mean it was a yellow though.

@MiketheSnow said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

@No-Quarter said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

That really was everything that is wrong with rugby now. Go back all the way to half way for a minor indiscretion and not only rub out the try, but YC the player just because. Would they have even checked it if we didn't score? Honestly how do they expect to attract new fans to the game with shit like that.

He called it live to the TMO way before the try was scored

Great refereeing

I agree with NQ. How do the players expect to attract young fans to the game with dumb shit like that and blaming the officials?

@Old-Samurai-Jack said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

@akan004 Yellow or not, it was stupid. You put your fate in the hands of the officials.

As soon as it happened my immediate thought was “he’s going to get a yellow”. Now perhaps my mind has been programmed to think that because I have watched so much rugby from yesteryear to today that in todays world they will look at an incident long enough and find something to give out a card.

I think it’s a pretty useless debate today asking if something deserves a card (like we used to when cards were rare and head knocks and playing with a reckless abandon were commonplace).

Was it a very poor Irish side or was it poor because the AB XV made it look poor ? These Irish players are performing well each week for their respective provinces. Their forwards were expected to crush their NZ counterparts before the game started ... You can make a good side look poor when you put it under extreme pressure and this is what the AB XV did : competing in the LO, aggression in defence, counter rucking at each occasion, commitment at the breakdown with more than two players. This is unfortunately not the All Blacks do under Foster's direction.

@cgrant said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

Was it a very poor Irish side or was it poor because the AB XV made it look poor ? These Irish players are performing well each week for their respective provinces. Their forwards were expected to crush their NZ counterparts before the game started ... You can make a good side look poor when you put it under extreme pressure and this is what the AB XV did : competing in the LO, aggression in defence, counter rucking at each occasion, commitment at the breakdown with more than two players. This is unfortunately not the All Blacks do under Foster's direction.

• someone here said they had less time to prepare than the AB XV?
• they were geared up for Foster-lite not Leon-Heavy?
• their forward depth is not that great?
• got on the back foot and didn't manage/have the firepower to get out of it?
  Edit/add: Farrell didn't have much time to prepare them as his main game is tomorrow?

@Stargazer said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

@nostrildamus I don't quite understand why you'd want to move a player who plays well at 6 to no. 8? Just keep him where he's playing well.

Like Kieran Reid?

@booboo said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

@Stargazer said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

@nostrildamus I don't quite understand why you'd want to move a player who plays well at 6 to no. 8? Just keep him where he's playing well.

Like Kieran Reid?

Who's that?

Watching back Shaun Stevenson had an outstanding game. Pleased he stayed with NZ Rugby rather than the Dolphins.

@Bones well TJ looked maa-hassive next to the Irish 9...man he was small.

@MiketheSnow was it good refereeing though?

I mean let's say we took a further 8 or so phases, ireland turn it over, then Ireland had a continual half dozen phases and we get it back for multiple phases...possibly 5+ minutes, where do you draw the line to go back?

And if Ireland turned over and score does he still wind back the clock?

@cgrant said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

Their forwards were expected to crush their NZ counterparts before the game started ...

I don't think anyone I'd take seriously thought that.

@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

Enjoyed the game. Thought our starting front row were pretty good. Lots of activity and involvement. Nice to see Patty T full of running. Gardiner and MMT were excellent. Quite like how our backline formation worked. Had our 2nd 5 slightly deeper. Nice to see Ennor use that size in defence! Back 3 were excellent.

There were some calls in this game that seemed very questionable. I’m not sure who the ref was or what they were for (I had the sound down because of the commentary), but was this a ‘development’ ref?

Both Bay props outstanding early, loosies worked well as a unit and forwards in general were very good.

The much maligned RTS and Ennor doing ok as well and I must admit I DMac ran the show well at 10. For me Stevenson was superb, almost a touch of Will Jordan about him the way he has been gliding through the line this year. Hope to see more of him

@MiketheSnow

@MiketheSnow said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

@akan004 said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

Ffs how is that a yellow

YC every day and twice on Sunday

Came at speed, in from the side, and hit the man late

WTF is this 'came at speed' bullshit.. saw the same thing with Brodies card

didn't realise there was a speed limit in rugby

@WillieTheWaiter said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

@MiketheSnow

@MiketheSnow said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

@akan004 said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

Ffs how is that a yellow

YC every day and twice on Sunday

Came at speed, in from the side, and hit the man late

WTF is this 'came at speed' bullshit.. saw the same thing with Brodies card

didn't realise there was a speed limit in rugby

Maybe they are using speed to stop unfairly penalizing big players.

If they use force as a measure, it is mass * acceleration, so the bigger you are, the more force for the same amount of acceleration. Whereas speed is distance/time, so they can just use field markings and the timestamps on the replays to determine a players speed upon impact...

@WillieTheWaiter said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

@MiketheSnow

@MiketheSnow said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

@akan004 said in All Blacks XV vs Ireland A:

Ffs how is that a yellow

YC every day and twice on Sunday

Came at speed, in from the side, and hit the man late

WTF is this 'came at speed' bullshit.. saw the same thing with Brodies card

didn't realise there was a speed limit in rugby

Wasn't a tap

Brought his full force from distance; illegally in from the side where the Irish player was unsighted so couldn't defend himself; and hit him late

That's a pretty shit thing to do and deserves a YC