one of the biggest problems when reviewing players is the extreme language people use

"the bokke are playing abysmally! and the AB's are outstanding"....when there is like a 7 point difference

or someone will be verbally flayed as the worst in the position to ever play....and they're having a 6-7 out of 10 game

christie...yes...very slow pass and i dont like him with BB as hes also a bit slow with the pass....and he made some suspect decisions...but also was pretty solid, got around the park and put up a lot of kick for them to deal with in wet weather...6.5/10...hardly deserving of the harsh critiques or praise

@nostrildamus said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@NTA said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

Scrum battle was weird - at times both sides looked very shaky. Bok reserve bench particularly noticeable under pressure.

Could it have been the grass?

Maybe, but if so the props should have used longer studs

From the Boks pov: Marx was very ordinary, and really has been during TRC in general. Does not have the presence about him of past years, when he had the benefit of coming off the bench with the bomb squad.

Lot of mistakes which is usually OK playing clatterball but things out in the open were their undoing IMHO.

Le Roux missing the tackle for the first try was laughable. Almost as laughable as his faux-confused look whenever he does something wrong like give away a penalty.

There is still a lot of talent there, and it would be unwise to write them off, but they're not getting any younger and RWC is over 2 years away.

@Goffman said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

I noticed on at least one occasion when the Boks kicked off they kicked high to Jordie, meaning he was caught with the ball and in the ensuing ruck. Not sure if this was by design or accident, but with the rest of the team being unable to kick further than a primary school kid, I would be positioning Jordie so the other team can't find him when restarting.

If he's not catching it, he's often asked to carry.

Just managed to login.
Well done AB's - well deserved victory.
The Boks.... eish.
We have some work to do. Way too many facets of the game where we are not at our best. Most of them in fact.
Hoping for a better performance in game 2.

Cunning AB lineout tactics:

@Bones Any aping of Maro Itoje is to be discouraged.

@pakman said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

Cunning AB lineout tactics:

View embedded content

Was he wrong in his observation?

@MiketheSnow He looks right on the lineout. However, all good teams play to the ref. I also think that Boks, by having a pow wow 2m away and then coming in, open themselves up to this. If they stand 0.5m from line of touch from beginning then ABs kept honest.
IMO one or two times Nche could have been pinged for shenanigans. Conditions didn't help.

@NTA said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@nostrildamus said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@NTA said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

Scrum battle was weird - at times both sides looked very shaky. Bok reserve bench particularly noticeable under pressure.

Could it have been the grass?

Maybe, but if so the props should have used longer studs

I thought that. It was very noticeable that before scrum set the Boks loosies were kicking their toes (and thereby studs) into the turf to get set. Not the ABs.
I'd have thought a day for the gnarliest studs allowed.

@MiketheSnow said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@pakman said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

Cunning AB lineout tactics:

View embedded content

Was he wrong in his observation?

Probably got a fair point or two.

Now let's open the other eye and analyse South Africa ...

Oops, sorry, they were 100% squeaky clean and did not transgress any laws.

@booboo said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@MiketheSnow said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@pakman said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

Cunning AB lineout tactics:

View embedded content

Was he wrong in his observation?

Probably got a fair point or two.

Now let's open the other eye and analyse South Africa ...

Oops, sorry, they were 100% squeaky clean and did not transgress any laws.

What, no screenshots, arrows and lines showing the SA jumper at the lineout between our jumper and our halfback?

That video takes me back to Green and Gold Rugby, circles and arrows.

Love a good whinge.

@Bones said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@booboo said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@MiketheSnow said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@pakman said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

Cunning AB lineout tactics:

View embedded content

Was he wrong in his observation?

Probably got a fair point or two.

Now let's open the other eye and analyse South Africa ...

Oops, sorry, they were 100% squeaky clean and did not transgress any laws.

What, no screenshots, arrows and lines showing the SA jumper at the lineout between our jumper and our halfback?

Ha. #booboo. But only just.

@booboo To be fair he did reference the abnormally high Boks error rate. My hunch is that rain was a big factor.

@pakman said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@booboo To be fair he did reference the abnormally high Boks error rate. My hunch is that rain was a big factor.

It will likely be a dry track on Saturday

@Bones said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@Billy-Webb hopefully you don't need therapy fella.

:beaming_face_with_smiling_eyes:
I am at that age where very many things could (should) be cause for therapy, but sport is no longer one of them.

@canefan Wind?

@pakman said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@canefan Wind?

Bound to be

It’s what it says on the Caketin.

@booboo said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@MiketheSnow said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@pakman said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

Cunning AB lineout tactics:

View embedded content

Was he wrong in his observation?

Probably got a fair point or two.

Now let's open the other eye and analyse South Africa ...

Oops, sorry, they were 100% squeaky clean and did not transgress any laws.

Didn’t say they were

Just commenting on this particular video

@MiketheSnow

Fuck I hate pro refs.

They're like democracy; fuckin shit; but no one has come up with a better idea.

One thing I sure as hell aint doin, is wastin my time dissecting the performance of some little cnt who didn't get bullied nearly nuff at school.

Now, dissecting what some one like, say, Jorja gets up to on a rugby field, fuck yeah!

@Billy-Webb said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

Just managed to login.
Well done AB's - well deserved victory.
The Boks.... eish.
We have some work to do. Way too many facets of the game where we are not at our best. Most of them in fact.
Hoping for a better performance in game 2.

Whisper it quietly Billy, but might the issue be that the Japanese Boks are a bit underdone? The Japanese sojourn is great for extending their careers, but at what cost?

@Bones said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

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I absolutely love how Vaai does this. Its the sort of fizz the all blacks need. Gets in the saffas heads. Brings some shit housery.

@DurryMexted said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@Bones said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

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I absolutely love how Vaai does this. Its the sort of fizz the all blacks need. Gets in the saffas heads. Brings some shit housery.

Yup. It's not the 50s to 80s, players are more expressive now

@DurryMexted said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@Bones said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

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I absolutely love how Vaai does this. Its the sort of fizz the all blacks need. Gets in the saffas heads. Brings some shit housery.

Good thing his last is not Ioane. Just saying.

@DurryMexted said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@Bones said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

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I absolutely love how Vaai does this. It’s the sort of fizz the all blacks need. Gets in the saffas heads. Brings some shit housery.

Fuck that

Let his teammate put his ribs back in the right order

@DurryMexted said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@Bones said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

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I absolutely love how Vaai does this. Its the sort of fizz the all blacks need. Gets in the saffas heads. Brings some shit housery.

I must confess to loving this at the time - but then a mate pointed out it's exactly the thing that we whine about Itoje doing....so I have changed my mind and now hate it...

There were complaints recently over ABs being too nice.

Vaai is doing his bit to address that.....

@voodoo said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@DurryMexted said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@Bones said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

View image

I absolutely love how Vaai does this. Its the sort of fizz the all blacks need. Gets in the saffas heads. Brings some shit housery.

I must confess to loving this at the time - but then a mate pointed out it's exactly the thing that we whine about Itoje doing....so I have changed my mind and now hate it...

Sean Fitzpatrick was the king of this stuff, and we made him captain.

@voodoo said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@DurryMexted said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@Bones said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

View image

I absolutely love how Vaai does this. Its the sort of fizz the all blacks need. Gets in the saffas heads. Brings some shit housery.

I must confess to loving this at the time - but then a mate pointed out it's exactly the thing that we whine about Itoje doing....so I have changed my mind and now hate it...

I reckon thats the point. Its not his job to make other countries like him. Similar with Itoje, the last thing i would Vaai thinking about is if hes displeasing a Saffa sitting at home

I hate it. The same thing can be achieved by having a bit of a stare/smirk at them, you don't have to behave like a fuckwit.

@Kirwan said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@DurryMexted said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

@Bones said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

View image

I absolutely love how Vaai does this. Its the sort of fizz the all blacks need. Gets in the saffas heads. Brings some shit housery.

Good thing his last is not Ioane. Just saying.

Lol he'd become public enemy number 2 (behind Rieko).

it's hilarious that a bloke laughing and clapping is getting all the attention when the cringiest thing i have seen on a field in forever was Savea flexing after that breakdown penalty. NFL players don't carry on that much FFS.

@mariner4life said in All Blacks v Springboks I:

NFL players don't carry on that much FFS.

Well....they do.....

Good thing Kevin Pietersen never carried on like a pork chop on or off the cricket field