@pakman said in All Blacks v Springboks I:
Watching Stan analyse Tuapea try.
Two things:
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Excellent clearance from Christie; and
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Tuapea had a LOT of work to do. Great line, but went through three or four half tackles.
This is what's often overlooked.
The All Blacks only won that game on the back of two great individual tries to Jordan and Tupaea. Obviously teamwork put them in the position to make those plays but ultimately so much of a game of rugby comes down to individuals having a big moment. Similarly, Savea getting his turnvover and Ioane holding up the ball prevented the Boks from getting scores (and on the flip side, Marx missing a fairly regulation tackle on Jordan).
Had Tupaea and Jordan not had their individual moments of brilliance, the post-match vibe would be completely different. Percentage plays ensure you have a greater number of opportunities for freak occurrences, of course.