@Mr-Fish said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

Haven't been completely focusing on this match but to me Nock's been overplaying quite a bit and the turnaround has been more to do with much better work from the forwards to finally get some possession.

I think there were two darts from the base from Nock which were unlucky not to win a penalty against Japan for offside. He's been miles better than Lennox though.

@antipodean said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

Amazing how much better they look with Nock directing play.

Kemara also setting that backline up better.

But yeah forwards are actually applying themselves.

Poor old Rivez taken some hits on high balls today

Rehiana looks to be carrying an injury, or, he's a snail.

Ref is a douche, Reihana clearly taken out in the air by a player doing nothing but run underneath him

@Nepia said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

Rehiana looks to be carrying an injury, or, he's a snail.

He's a snail

Kemara is shit

@Bones said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

Ref is a douche, Reihana clearly taken out in the air by a player doing nothing but run underneath him

A handful of times too.

Finally Kyle Brown is on - no idea why it's taken so long.

@KiwiMurph said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

@Nepia said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

Rehiana looks to be carrying an injury, or, he's a snail.

He's a snail

He still runs good lines and is big enough to slice through.

@Bones said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

Ref is a douche, Reihana clearly taken out in the air by a player doing nothing but run underneath him

Very odd for a NH ref, they're usually all over that, I'm still giving him credit for telling his TMO to go fuck himself.

Kemara with a solo try.

Kemara!

Rueben who?

Excellent effort by Kemara.

I reiterate my point from earlier - Nock's service from the ruck is making a huge difference.

That's a horrifically shit decision from Reihana

Reihana still doing his best to lose this.

@antipodean said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

Excellent effort by Kemara.

I reiterate my point from earlier - Nock's service from the ruck is making a huge difference.

Lennox just seems over excitable, needs to not pop the cold and flu before the game.

Great composure in the last few minutes to defend a slim lead...

ref sure was keen on blowing us up for not straight to the lineout seems to have forgotten about that rule on the last 2 Japanese throws

@Bones said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

@antipodean said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

Excellent effort by Kemara.

I reiterate my point from earlier - Nock's service from the ruck is making a huge difference.

Lennox just seems over excitable, needs to not pop the cold and flu before the game.

He's a very good ball runner, and works well sniping around the ruck, but does seem to make some basic errors, frustratingly so.

Japan dudded there.

Taele seals it at the end. What a prospect Great come from behind win for the Maori Abs. Big second half.

No clear touch for me.

@KiwiMurph I agree. You don't require high definition footage to know that that ball has been touched.

Sam Nock's harassing defense has been brilliant.

Smart play by Kemara to drain the clock

Didn't seem clear and obvious to me. Looked like it went under his hand.

Bit lucky but once they stopped dropping it all the time and got some quick ball they ran over the top of them.

Take a bow bench players

@brodean just a bugger it’s taken so bloody long to what he’s capable of

Never in doubt.

Spencer is much taller than I realised. He'd be well over 190.

@antipodean said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

@Landers92 said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

What’s with the Taele slander? He’s only 21 years old. Plenty of room for growth in my opinion. Punching above his weight for a 21 year old that’s for sure

Because he's a dreadful defender. He's going to have to put on some weight and spend a lot of time learning to tackle.

He topped the tackle count tonight. Needs to work on his accuracy though.

@KiwiMurph said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

Take a bow bench players

Too Ellison's credit he used the bench heavily early and it paid off. Guess he didn't have any influence on the ABs bench last year.

how did Howden and Barnes go? I only caught the end where it looked like most of the players had just got out of the jacuzzi.

The ref's decision for the last try probably summed up his performance as I thought Japan got the rub of the green for most of the game.

Nock and Kemara made a big difference to the attack. Howden and Cahill put in a big shift.

TJ as bad as Nisbo with his player ID.

@nostrildamus said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

how did Howden and Barnes go? I only caught the end where it looked like most of the players had just got out of the jacuzzi.

Barnes packed some oomph with ball in hand, Howden was busy. Tough game to watch/judge though.

Thanks for the watching tips fellas. Was re-watchable today at least on Maori+ for anyone interested.

I thought Barnes (particularly) and Howden were good up front. Taele missed some bad tackles.
Lennox needs to get his passing accuracy and errors sorted, but man that acceleration is so handy both on attack breaking the line and getting in support quick, and also putting pressure on defence off the scrum.

@brodean said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

@KiwiMurph said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

Take a bow bench players

Too Ellison's credit he used the bench heavily early and it paid off. Guess he didn't have any influence on the ABs bench last year.

Kemara will be an AB one day. Has the temperament needed for the next level. Has a low error rate too.

@KiwiMurph said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

Nock-on...

That was an under-appreciated comment.