@Old-Samurai-Jack said in All Blacks XV v Munster:

@Canes4life said in All Blacks XV v Munster:

@Billy-Tell said in All Blacks XV v Munster:

Holland MOTM.

Holland, Kirifi, Tupaea, Lam were all strong. Flanders was very good at 8 before going off as well.

That miss from Flanders before he went off was proper dire shit though.

Oh fk I missed that. Maybe why he was replaced?

Thought his carrying was really good for the most part.

Pretty big effort from Kirifi to play the NPC final last Saturday and then back it up with another big game today

@Steven-Harris said in All Blacks XV v Munster:

@SouthernMann bench did well ..loving the look of Holland

I think if Holland is injury free next Super season, he should leap frog all the other All Black locks to partner captain Barrett.

It was good that this match was an arm wrestle as the players will learn more.

I haven't read the comments yet, but the officiating was poor. A couple more Day-mon specials that wiped out the Kirifi try (the Munster hooker kicked the ball in that ruck), and a obvious double movement on the knees in the last Munster try.

Love didn't have the impact he would have hoped for.

Also, the starting front row did well in the scrums. Not so much for the bench props. Georgia will be a good test as they love to scrum.

Munster played well given the issues they have had at their club but I will say the best thing about the win from NZXV piece was Peter Mahoney loses to a team in Black again

POM wasn't even the captain but couldn't shut up in the 1st half. Muppet.

@Steven-Harris said in All Blacks XV v Munster:

I will always be a fan of shooter especially his attack and kicking game but to be honest his tackling just ain’t up to this level .

sorry who is Shooter?

@nostrildamus Shaun Stevenson

@Steven-Harris said in All Blacks XV v Munster:

@nostrildamus Shaun Stevenson

thanks. Frustratingly talented player if only he could improve tackling and discipline (as in consistency and mindset). I just don't think, sadly, he will. Otherwise he'd be an AB.

@nostrildamus has all the tools to play international rugby but tackling is a non negotiable when your the last line of defence
All Blacks in the past have managed to hide the odd first five in defence but your fullback has to be courageous when it comes to defence
Staggered league were looking at him

@Steven-Harris said in All Blacks XV v Munster:

@nostrildamus has all the tools to play international rugby but tackling is a non negotiable when your the last line of defence
All Blacks in the past have managed to hide the odd first five in defence but your fullback has to be courageous when it comes to defence
Staggered league were looking at him

Winger? His boot is such a weapon given JB is the only one like him and doesn't seem to use it very often/well any more.

Are there any highlight to this game?

In the highlights at least, AJ Lam looked good at center.

NZR+ made this match replay hard to find. I was looking all over the place then eventually found in the carousel after scrolling past a few docos.

The Sky TV coverage was lost until kickoff, presumably due to a problem with the local satellite feed. I never saw the players run out or the haka. Maybe the replay has the full pre-match..

@Bovidae said in All Blacks XV v Munster:

The Sky TV coverage was lost until kickoff, presumably due to a problem with the local satellite feed. I never saw the players run out or the haka. Maybe the replay has the full pre-match..

It starts with Munster doing the huddle at (presumably) the completion of the haka and then straight into the match.

@Frank said in All Blacks XV v Munster:

In the highlights at least, AJ Lam looked good at center.

As did Plummer and the space being given to those outside him (even Christie looked to be moving the ball really well), but supposedly Plummer was average. Go figure.

@Steven-Harris said in All Blacks XV v Munster:

@nostrildamus has all the tools to play international rugby but tackling is a non negotiable when your the last line of defence
All Blacks in the past have managed to hide the odd first five in defence but your fullback has to be courageous when it comes to defence
Staggered league were looking at him

Oh come on, Jordan is no defensive powerhouse.

@Bones said in All Blacks XV v Munster:

but supposedly Plummer was average.

No prizes for guessing which poster thought this

@KiwiMurph said in All Blacks XV v Munster:

@Bones said in All Blacks XV v Munster:

but supposedly Plummer was average.

No prizes for guessing which poster thought this

I have not verified if anyone else said this but I did so I'll vouch for myself.

When I wrote this it was completely valid.

He kicked a penalty dead, knocked it on with no pressure around him, and was losing metres ball in hand when carrying.

He at least got a nice intercept.

@kpkanz featured heavily in the highlights, was lovely to see a backline going forward and finding space.

I watched the game. Plummer first 20 minutes were genuinely horrible, after that he was pretty good.

@Bones said in All Blacks XV v Munster:

@kpkanz featured heavily in the highlights, was lovely to see a backline going forward and finding space.

I watched the full game not just the highlights.

That first pass to Lam for the try and his intercept are the sole positive things he did the entire game, they were an outlier rather than the norm.

What you didn't see were the errors and poor carrying.

But you won't trust my analysis which is fine.

(and the first 30 mins he was genuinely horrible which is when I left my comment, he at least improved after that)

@kpkanz I imagine your analysis of Plummer is about as trustworthy as my analysis of Jordan, which is fine.

@Nepia said in All Blacks XV v Munster:

NZR+ made this match replay hard to find. I was looking all over the place then eventually found in the carousel after scrolling past a few docos.

I'm not impressed with NZR navigation...

@Toddy The penalty try was a ridiculous call.

Yeah the highlights were the complete opposite for the ref.

I thought it was a good, entertaining game. Munster really showed up in front of a big crowd at Thomond Park. I'm always surprised at some of the crowds the Irish are able to muster for these kinds of exhibition games. Their U20s also regularly play for crowds of 7000+ people.

On Plummer, I think he really benefits from a secondary playmaker in the backline, like Perofeta or Sullivan at the Blues, especially in the face of an agressive defensive line like Munster's. With Stevenson at fullback and Tupaea at second five, there wasn't a whole lot of secondary playmaking going on. Stevenson can act as a playmaker but he didn't get much involved in this game. The Georgia game might see Love or even Jacomb get a start at fullback (if Love isn't available).

And finally, the refereeing was pretty shocking at times. Not quite as bad as Craig Evans in the Scotland Fiji game, but some of the decision-making (like the Farrell-try or the Kirifi-non try) was genuinely ridiculous. Without some of these decisions, you'd think the gap would've been substantially bigger between these two sides.

@Mauss said in All Blacks XV v Munster:

I thought it was a good, entertaining game. Munster really showed up in front of a big crowd at Thomond Park. I'm always surprised at some of the crowds the Irish are able to muster for these kinds of exhibition games. Their U20s also regularly play for crowds of 7000+ people.

On Plummer, I think he really benefits from a secondary playmaker in the backline, like Perofeta or Sullivan at the Blues, especially in the face of an agressive defensive line like Munster's. With Stevenson at fullback and Tupaea at second five, there wasn't a whole lot of secondary playmaking going on. Stevenson can act as a playmaker but he didn't get much involved in this game. The Georgia game might see Love or even Jacomb get a start at fullback (if Love isn't available).

Which of the XV looked AB-level ready?

@nostrildamus That's tough to gauge. Munster played well but you can't say they presented test-level opposition.

From the uncapped guys, I'd probably say Fabian Holland and AJ Lam. Holland is a great athlete who stepped up the intensity of his play and Lam showed some nice subtle touches to go along with great physicality in the midfield.

Munster defended better than Fiji did in SD.

@Mauss said in All Blacks XV v Munster:

@nostrildamus That's tough to gauge. Munster played well but you can't say they presented test-level opposition.

From the uncapped guys, I'd probably say Fabian Holland and AJ Lam. Holland is a great athlete who stepped up the intensity of his play and Lam showed some nice subtle touches to go along with great physicality in the midfield.

I noticed Holland's combination of physicality and footwork -impressive stepping for such a big man.*

*Not sure why I typed big Indian bread, ok, now corrected.

@nostrildamus said in All Blacks XV v Munster:

@Mauss said in All Blacks XV v Munster:

@nostrildamus That's tough to gauge. Munster played well but you can't say they presented test-level opposition.

From the uncapped guys, I'd probably say Fabian Holland and AJ Lam. Holland is a great athlete who stepped up the intensity of his play and Lam showed some nice subtle touches to go along with great physicality in the midfield.

I noticed Holland's combination of physicality and footwork -impressive stepping for such a big nan.

Definitely would be.

@kpkanz said in All Blacks XV v Munster:

@Bones said in All Blacks XV v Munster:

@kpkanz featured heavily in the highlights, was lovely to see a backline going forward and finding space.

I watched the full game not just the highlights.

That first pass to Lam for the try and his intercept are the sole positive things he did the entire game, they were an outlier rather than the norm.

What you didn't see were the errors and poor carrying.

But you won't trust my analysis which is fine.

(and the first 30 mins he was genuinely horrible which is when I left my comment, he at least improved after that)

Nonsense. I also watched the whole game and I saw a fluid backline when they got the ball. Something the ABs struggled with all year. A lot of that came down to the halves and the midfield.

Plummer also kicked his goals well.

@brodean Yeah but we're talking about playing against a midweek club team. With a different coach in McMillan coaching the backline attack and a completely different midfield to work with.

I don't know why we're extrapolating the 'fluidity' of the backline as if it's telling us anything about what these guys would do in the All Blacks environment.

I blame most of the lack of 'fluidity' in the backline in the All Blacks to our current top midfield pairing anyway.

Holland was very good and I wish McMillan was part of the the ABs set up. His teams always seem to focus on the physicality side of the breakdown battle. His battles with Razor in SR were games within games.

@kpkanz said in All Blacks XV v Munster:

@brodean Yeah but we're talking about playing against a midweek club team. With a different coach in McMillan coaching the backline attack and a completely different midfield to work with.

I don't know why we're extrapolating the 'fluidity' of the backline as if it's telling us anything about what these guys would do in the All Blacks environment.

I blame most of the lack of 'fluidity' in the backline in the All Blacks to our current top midfield pairing anyway.

It's a scratch team that have never played before. The ABs have had 10 games to get some fluidity but we aren't seeing it.

I agree that the current AB midfield options are an issue and I think that's relevant. We should be considering players in form. Half of Razor's issues are picking players out of form.

@brodean said in All Blacks XV v Munster:

@kpkanz said in All Blacks XV v Munster:

@brodean Yeah but we're talking about playing against a midweek club team. With a different coach in McMillan coaching the backline attack and a completely different midfield to work with.

I don't know why we're extrapolating the 'fluidity' of the backline as if it's telling us anything about what these guys would do in the All Blacks environment.

I blame most of the lack of 'fluidity' in the backline in the All Blacks to our current top midfield pairing anyway.

It's a scratch team that have never played before. The ABs have had 10 games to get some fluidity but we aren't seeing it.

I agree that the current AB midfield options are an issue and I think that's relevant. We should be considering players in form. Half of Razor's issues are picking players out of form.

That's overstating it a bit, BB has played what 1 game at 10 this year, and that was paired with TJ?
Not that I really think time would help.