All Blacks v France III

@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France III:

Thoughts to generate some chat again.

Anyone who watched that and doesn't think Finau belongs in test rugby shouldn't bother logging back in, just go post on reddit rugby. He was our most effective loose forward for the majority of the match while the other two swanned about doing dumb shit.
Anyone who watched DMac calmy pass the ball to dangerous areas, kick with accuracy and depth, and just calmly guide us around, and doesn't think he should own that 10 jersey should also not bother logging back in.
The fact Jordie Barrett has come back from Europe playing this well is a damning indictment on our domestic coaching. He's night and day better than last year, so thank you Ireland.
If Razor puts Barrett back to starting lock given the form of the other two guys it would be a disgraceful piece of selecting.

Geez the French have some depth. They played bloody well, that #8 was a fucking menace. Their forwards were so strong too, stopping us over and over again. Credit to the big lads who eventually got over the top of them.

Good test and a good win.

Yep I will eat my words on Finau he did stand up I was impressed by him for once, hopefully he keeps going that way.

ALB was a penalty magnet again. I think he's not capable of playing 13 at this level as he doesn't have the pace to cover the gap our defensive structure provides the opposition. So at best he's down the pecking order of 12s.

@antipodean said in All Blacks v France III:

ALB was a penalty magnet again. I think he's not capable of playing 13 at this level as he doesn't have the pace to cover the gap our defensive structure provides the opposition. So at best he's down the pecking order of 12s.

The one thing he does have is good vision, just often not the tools to implement it. He did rush up quite a bit to stunt the French attack.

@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France III:

@antipodean said in All Blacks v France III:

One player who won't do the hard work with another entirely too small to be effective against a good French pack

Kirifi needs to realise the player he is, not the player he wants to be.

Yeah he took quite a while to get into a groove in SR too, but that's probably a luxury at this level (especially at his age).

I feel there are still more questions than answers right now.
This may ruffle a few feathers but DMac's best place in test match footy is coming into the game as an impact player. I'm not convinced with Beauden as our starting 10 either.
Fabian Holland has taken to test match rugby like a duck to water.
Time to move on from ALB, Reece and Tuipulotu
Clearly daylight between Roigard and the other halfbacks. Ratima has been average this series.
Jury is still out around Proctor at 13 but RI is not the answer so maybe Proctor just needs a bit more time in the saddle.
General play kicking has been poor as has receiving kick offs and exits.

@1kiwi said in All Blacks v France III:

Tuipulotu

Que

@1kiwi said in All Blacks v France III:

Tuipulotu

considering no one would be speaking like this about Patrick, who is the other Tuipulotu?

As expected though, big personnel changes resulted in a very disconnected performance. Who would have thought?

@1kiwi said in All Blacks v France III:

Time to move on from ALB, Reece and Tuipulotu

Bold way to drive traffic back.

Thank goodness for Jordie Barrett

Thought Love was really good, awesome to see a fullback running it back at pace instead of hitch kicking on the spot and being driven backwards or throwing a shitty pop pass to no one.

Jordan should get some time at centre....

A few impressive performances especially given all the changes made to the team, which were always going to lead to a subpar outing. Robertson might’ve answered a couple of question throughout the series but he also has some big decisions to make heading into the Rugby Championship.

@Duluth said in All Blacks v France III:

So, thoughts on that chip kick from the captain?

Oddly, Mrs TR didn't seem that bothered when I was moaning about it to her

@taniwharugby said in All Blacks v France III:

@Duluth said in All Blacks v France III:

So, thoughts on that chip kick from the captain?

Oddly, Mrs TR didn't seem that bothered when I was moaning about it to her

I just texted "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT ARDIE YOU MASSIVE CAT??!!!" to random numbers as a place holder

@mariner4life said in All Blacks v France III:

@1kiwi said in All Blacks v France III:

Tuipulotu

considering no one would be speaking like this about Patrick, who is the other Tuipulotu?

Tane ? Bloody solid Hurricane but struggled for game time with Umaga, Nonu and Smith to be fair.

Very good game from Finau, I had my doubts, let’s hope he builds on this.

@Bones said in All Blacks v France III:

@antipodean said in All Blacks v France III:

ALB was a penalty magnet again. I think he's not capable of playing 13 at this level as he doesn't have the pace to cover the gap our defensive structure provides the opposition. So at best he's down the pecking order of 12s.

The one thing he does have is good vision, just often not the tools to implement it. He did rush up quite a bit to stunt the French attack.

If we could transplant ALB’s brain into Rieko’s body?

@Grooter said in All Blacks v France III:

Thank goodness for Jordie Barrett

It was all Leinster apparently. He was shit prior to that.

@antipodean said in All Blacks v France III:

ALB was a penalty magnet again. I think he's not capable of playing 13 at this level as he doesn't have the pace to cover the gap our defensive structure provides the opposition. So at best he's down the pecking order of 12s.

I don't see the point of having him there. He wasn't particularly good in the past, offers nothing in the present and definitely doesn't represent the future.

Thought it was interesting that Christian Lio-Willie didn't get a run at all. It's not like the loose forwards were having storming games and a bit of extra size (though not much, to be fair) might have helped in the final 30 minutes.

I thought Kirifi showed more than his previous two appearances, but I still have an inkling that once Lakai is fit and healthy he'll surpass both Kirifi and Lio-Willie in the pecking order.