@Bones said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:
Nah, Ireland are poke
Agreed. Totally shit team. Have been since 2022 - now much worse. Never believed all the hype about then being No.1 in the IRB Rankings going into RWC2023. Heck, even Foster & Razor-coached AB teams managed to beat them - and that was without Roigard, Love and Moorby.
50+ points easily...
They’re a nation in decline with a 10 who’d fit in just fine with the Wallabies. They’re not scaring anyone and need to be turned over.
That said, the ABs haven’t proven to be good enough to put a team like this away comfortably in many years.
@JK said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:
All Blacks: 1. Ethan de Groot, 2. Codie Taylor, 3. Tyrel Lomax, 4. Josh Lord, 5. Patrick Tuipulotu, 6. Tupou Vaa'i, 7. Luke Jacobson, 8. Ardie Savea (c), 9. Cam Roigard, 10. Ruben Love, 11. Josh Moorby, 12. Jordie Barrett, 13. Quinn Tupaea, 14. Will Jordan, 15. Damian McKenzie.
Bench: 16. Asafo Aumua, 17. Xavier Numia, 18. Fletcher Newell, 19. Anton Segner, 20. Peter Lakai, 21. Cortez Ratima, 22. Anton Lienert-Brown, 23. Caleb Clarke.
Unavailable: Fehi Fineanganofo (shoulder), Leroy Carter (shoulder)
I'm sure it's done to death but ...
...talking poInts for me.
Is not hugely controversial. All players picked are capable.
Biggest surprise for me is Darry missing out, given three locks in the starting XV. He'd been excellent till now and he was not not named in the injured. Lord and Paddy T are well uo to the job, but IMO Darry would be incrementally better. Not losing sleep though.
Next biggest personally is I would have gone Newell to start, with Tosi on bench. Only coz lack of footy for Lomax. Lomax is my starter all things bring equal, just felt he's missing some rugby. Fletch on the bench I'm surprised at. Having said that there us plenty of imoact from AA, XN and loosies (see below).
Kinda similar at hooker. I'd have started Sami T, AA on the bench. Not that I'm complaining.
Interesting TV at 6. Not unhappy. Them Paddies have some size that need combating. And I like the height.
Hopefully LJ plays like he did against the Frogs.
Interesting bench and the whole lock loose forward mix. I assume the intent to to match them up front early, then run them off their feet.
Moorby played well and deserves the start.
Bench covers appropriately.
Re the players who did not get selected for any of the Squads? Meh. So what?
Am sure for some the sky is falling. But personally am happy enough with XV and XXIII.
@Bones said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:
Rattle JGP, get him off his game and they're a bit of a nothing side now.
Same could be said for Roigard
@Victor-Meldrew said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:
@Bones said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:
Nah, Ireland are poke
Agreed. Totally shit team. Have been since 2022 - now much worse. Never believed all the hype about then being No.1 in the IRB Rankings going into RWC2023. Heck, even Foster & Razor-coached AB teams managed to beat them - and that was without Roigard, Love and Moorby.
50+ points easily...
They suffer from not having enough Kiwis in the side.
The Vaa’i selection to me is mostly a response to the likely Irish game plan, which will be similar to their Dublin strategy against Scotland in the Six Nations: disrupt the breakdown, slow down opposition attack and frustrate opposition halfbacks.
The Scottish and AB attacks are currently very similar: gain momentum through quick ball, keep the ball alive and find the attacking space before opposition defence can realign.
The Irish, however, led by Beirne, completely shut down this quick ball against the Scots, limiting them to just 34% LQB (the ABs had 85% against the French, remember). They consistently put multiple defenders into the breakdown (winning 6 turnovers to zero from the Scots), denying the Scots quick ball and any attacking momentum.
Vaa’i is there to help with securing the breakdown, counter Beirne and to help the ABs go through the middle. Tuipulotu is the battering ram. Whereas the halfbacks were crucial against the French, this match will be decided by the back 5 and who can dominate the breakdown.
Whether it will work remains to be seen but it’s a very logical selection, once again. In terms of strategy and selection, Rennie is doing well right now.
@MiketheSnow said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:
@Bones said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:
Rattle JGP, get him off his game and they're a bit of a nothing side now.
Same could be said for Roigard
Nah.
@pakman said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:
Lineout formation will be interesting. Patty and Josh both typically jump at 4.
Funnily enough I've had some more oil that they won't both be jumping at 4 at the same time.
Which makes it slightly less interesting.
@pakman said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:
@Bones By George that's insightful.
Do you really want to hurt me
@MiketheSnow said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:
@Bones said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:
Rattle JGP, get him off his game and they're a bit of a nothing side now.
Same could be said for Roigard
Roigard's yesterday.
Moorby's now the man.
@Bones said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:
@pakman said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:
Lineout formation will be interesting. Patty and Josh both typically jump at 4.
Funnily enough I've had some more oil that they won't both be jumping at 4 at the same time.
Which makes it slightly less interesting.
I got to keep reading the oil, it's so enlightening mate!!
Geez after watching the team naming press conference with Rennie and co, anyone else get the impression of a fair bit of openess etc from this group?
@Dan54 said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:
Geez after watching the team naming press conference with Rennie and co, anyone else get the impression of a fair bit of openess etc from this group?
You mean they're not completely full of shit, out of their depth and bluffing everyone into thinking they know what they're doing?
@booboo said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:
@ACT-Crusader said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:
@The-Irishman said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:
Easy win for the AB's.
We will play an aging rake, don’t have any world class locks, can’t even decide who our best 6, 7 or 8 are, have a rookie 10, a revolving door at centre and left wing. Add to that a new game plan that barely got us over the line against a France D side. Plus the daunting unbeaten record since forever at Eden Park. Take all that into account and add that Ireland have NZs greatest ever non-AB halfback.
Ireland by 10
Add in a fullback prone to choking
A right-wing who should be fullback
Severe drop off to back up 9
Too many Crusaders
...
Guys, we have Sam feckin Prendergast! An aging forward pack, (VDF hasn't played to his past standards for a long long time, Furlong and Ryan the same), and let's not forget fortress Eden Park. This is not the team to break that record. A lucky win against the Aussies (look what the French B team did to them) and a poor display against Japan. No, easy win for the AB's. 10-15 points or more.
@Mauss said in NC: All Blacks v Ireland:
The Vaa’i selection to me is mostly a response to the likely Irish game plan, which will be similar to their Dublin strategy against Scotland in the Six Nations: disrupt the breakdown, slow down opposition attack and frustrate opposition halfbacks.
Let's hope Nic Berry is better at policing the breakdown than Luke Pearce was that day.
