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.

@ACT-Crusader said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

@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.

He has a pop gun kick. He worked ok for the Crusaders because he had Havili next to him.

@brodean said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

@ACT-Crusader said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

@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.

He has a pop gun kick. He worked ok for the Crusaders because he had Havili next to him.

He definitely used to, but I don't recall it being an issue this year. I like the idea of his Crudenish style alongside Love's Carterish style.

@Bones said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

@brodean said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

@ACT-Crusader said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

@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.

He has a pop gun kick. He worked ok for the Crusaders because he had Havili next to him.

He definitely used to, but I don't recall it being an issue this year. I like the idea of his Crudenish style alongside Love's Carterish style.

I'm not 100 per cent sure I understand the Cruden comparison. They're both small and have good acceleration (and aren't the greatest kickers) but Cruden was very much a playmaker first and foremost; he created a lot of space and time for the players around him with his excellent passing game. So far, I've not seen that from Kemara - who does create a bit of carnage for opposition sides at times, but normally through his own individual plays.

But I'm not sold either way.

@Mr-Fish not a lot of people were sold on Cruden either early on. Those early career games for the Canes he looked out of his depth. The skill was there for sure, but there were many that questioned whether he could utilise his skill to compensate for the lack of physicality.

And he did.

@Mr-Fish it's the way he takes it to the line and utilises the short passing game - to be fair Dmac can play in a similar way.

@Bones unless there's a breeze

@antipodean said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

@Bones unless there's a breeze

A "breeze"? Have you got the same concussion as Luke Jacobson?

@Nepia said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

@antipodean said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

@Bones unless there's a breeze

A "breeze"? Have you got the same concussion as Luke Jacobson?

You Aussies wouldn't understand.

@Bones said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

@Nepia said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

@antipodean said in Māori All Blacks v Japan XV:

@Bones unless there's a breeze

A "breeze"? Have you got the same concussion as Luke Jacobson?

You Aussies wouldn't understand.

How dare you, I'm no Aussie.

You've probably delayed my citizenship application by another 6 months now.