England v All Blacks

@KiwiMurph said in England Vs All Blacks:

@brodean said in England Vs All Blacks:

LF for me has been very much hit and miss. He does make things happen but he is also a very slopply player in defence, in his handling, and in his discipline. He's arguably the most inaccurate back in the squad. I think whether good outweighs the bad is up for debate.

Because of how Razor has picked the squad - the alternatives dont offer much. Reece, Rieko and ALB are all past it. Which begs the question why they are in the squad at all.

Well then Razor and co need to do a better job selecting the squad. The squad selections have been rubbish.

For me the following should be gone:

• Parker <- Sotutu/Flanders
• Jacobson <- Papali'i
• Kirifi <- Flanders/CLW
• Ratima <- Fakatava
• Christie <- Preston
• ALB <- Ennor/Lam
• Reece <- ENS/Tangitau
• Carter <- ENS/Tangitau
• Beauden Barrett <- Reihana

I'd dump Barrett completely. It's no coincidence the Blues won their SR TT title and SRP title when he was away in Japan.

@Jet said in England Vs All Blacks:

Keep in mind Codie got a yellow, for our first penalty in the game. Near the halfway line.

I thought it was harsh but we shouldn't have allowed the game to get away from us. We had already started to let the game get away from us. We had one good first quarter and the rest was garbage.

I always thought that there would be question marks about how Robertson's Super success would translate to test level because his players wouldn't be allowed to get away with the same level of shenanigans they got away with at Super level.

@Nepia said in England Vs All Blacks:

@ACT-Crusader said in England Vs All Blacks:

@sparky said in England Vs All Blacks:

@Tim Nope. That was 2012.

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Nooo that must be some AI. That says the ABs had Jane and Nonu, Conrad and McCaw, Mealamu and Whitelock. And this was Hansen basically photocopying Henry’s playbook. I thought they were ruthless and calm and well coached.

Tuilagi and Barrit ripped us a new one that night.

TBF that was a one off extremely bad performance that is still talked about today because of how inept we were (especially at defending the overstayer). Whereas today's performance is not even the worst of this season.

Didnt most of our team have a dose of the shits?

Norovirus.

@booboo said in England Vs All Blacks:

@Gunner said in England Vs All Blacks:

Beauden Barrett, not once but twice, fucking TWICE missing touch

In BB's defence it was ONCE ... (once too many). Roigard fucked up the second one.

Which points of the fact BB was injured, and should have been hooked.

In fact both were carrying injuries through the first half, dont know if Roigards ankle was already gone when that second missed touch finder took place. I think we all agree Roigard more important to stay on the field than BB if he could . Yes BB should have been hooked.

Razor mentions in a post match speech that a few were carrying injuries into the half time break.

...he also said lots of changes next week

@bayimports said in England Vs All Blacks:

@booboo said in England Vs All Blacks:

@Gunner said in England Vs All Blacks:

Beauden Barrett, not once but twice, fucking TWICE missing touch

In BB's defence it was ONCE ... (once too many). Roigard fucked up the second one.

Which points of the fact BB was injured, and should have been hooked.

In fact both were carrying injuries through the first half, dont know if Roigards ankle was already gone when that second missed touch finder took place. I think we all agree Roigard more important to stay on the field than BB if he could . Yes BB should have been hooked.

Razor mentions says in a post match speech that a few were carrying injuries into the half time break.

...he also said lots of changes next week

In other words pour all the reserves on and watch them flounder

Not going to add to much as we were beaten well and truly from pillar to post from a team who looked much better for eighty minutes through the middle. On the few chances we had where we did look to create space we were arguably better at that and our defensive lineouts in the first half were outstanding. However our passive attack and defense for the rest was awful.

When we did have controlled phase ball we would generally only make 5 meters in 5-10 hit ups. Players often in each others way and was hard work to get the half break. Just an awful watch

On the other hand England hit it up with pace often which was irritating to watch, when your team should be capable to do so, but fails.

Interestingly we had been resting some of our loosies through rotation but arguably Ardie should have been rested for more mins in previous games, as not for the first time this year looked off top speed. He was not the only one who looked gassed , but if ever there was a time you want the highlight reel to shine and inspire his troops, that would have been it.

Well done England.

@canefan said in England Vs All Blacks:

@bayimports said in England Vs All Blacks:

@booboo said in England Vs All Blacks:

@Gunner said in England Vs All Blacks:

Beauden Barrett, not once but twice, fucking TWICE missing touch

In BB's defence it was ONCE ... (once too many). Roigard fucked up the second one.

Which points of the fact BB was injured, and should have been hooked.

In fact both were carrying injuries through the first half, dont know if Roigards ankle was already gone when that second missed touch finder took place. I think we all agree Roigard more important to stay on the field than BB if he could . Yes BB should have been hooked.

Razor mentions says in a post match speech that a few were carrying injuries into the half time break.

...he also said lots of changes next week

In other words pour all the reserves on and watch them flounder

apparently was always part of his master plan...

I think our worst actual problem is how passive and completely choreographed our attack is.

It is so bad it is quite shocking. We have some of the most talented players on the planet (we 100% do, the deserving starters at least) and we are effectively playing with one arm tied behind our backs.

I genuinely had huge optimism for Robertson because I had always thought he was an innovative and thoughtful analyst of the game who could understand these patterns, and how possession matters.

But we genuinely play as if we are taking possession for granted. Just useless nothing one off runners, you can see the players are not playing what's in front of them but are actually falling to the ground pre-tackle to set up the next phase in their 'plan'. The embarrassing 'pod' system, having some of the worst handlers in the team (like Scott Barrett) handle the ball every time we are hot on attack and looking to go wide? REALLY?!

And as for heads up play, Roigard is our best player because he's one of the very few who actually still plays heads up. He actually plays what's in front of him and is therefore extremely unpredictable.

Also hilarious that Fainganuku has been one of the more impressive players on attack because he also is playing heads up rugby and thinking on the spot. The rest of our team doesn't do that. So so so predictable and easy to defend.

And when your attack is that pedestrian, the opposing team gets more opportunities to attack you back. So I'm not surprised at all to see us concede more than in previous years and struggle with cards (teams are primarily carded when under defensive pressure).

@booboo said in England Vs All Blacks:

@Gunner said in England Vs All Blacks:

Beauden Barrett, not once but twice, fucking TWICE missing touch

In BB's defence it was ONCE ... (once too many). Roigard fucked up the second one.

Which points fo the fact BB was injured, and should have been hooked.

I thought I read online a day or two ago that Scott B said his leg injury wasn't fully healed-if true (and if my memory is correct) why would they play him?

@No-Quarter said in England Vs All Blacks:

@Dodge can you please go and read my whole post before commenting

This would set a bad precedent for the Fern as a whole and may even lead to people suggesting informed comments. I don't think I could countenance such horror.

@nostrildamus said in England Vs All Blacks:

@booboo said in England Vs All Blacks:

@Gunner said in England Vs All Blacks:

Beauden Barrett, not once but twice, fucking TWICE missing touch

In BB's defence it was ONCE ... (once too many). Roigard fucked up the second one.

Which points fo the fact BB was injured, and should have been hooked.

I thought I read online a day or two ago that Scott B said his leg injury wasn't fully healed-if true (and if my memory is correct) why would they play him?

The simple answer is - too conservative. Lock is actually a place of strength for us.

@Jet said in England Vs All Blacks:

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The absolute state of this presser.

Body language and messaging is abysmal.

Insipid. The pair of them.

You're too cruel. I thought Scott B's mo suited him, so there's that.

@Nepia said in England Vs All Blacks:

Usually injuries have worked out for Razor in improving the team, in this case it didn't as once JB was out we can only really move QT back.

You're in luck then (and so is Razor) as we appear to have some injuries. Actually I think Lord was an injury replacement and he played ok, right?

@Nepia said in England Vs All Blacks:

I woke up this morning to see my Saffa mate was messaging me, he only does that when the ABs lose, so while I ignored the messages I was fully prepped for the loss.

Your mate?

Your mate...

Random observation from Wales v Japan as there isn't a thread for it: the last maul that ultimately got Wales in range for the winning kick was illegal.

I felt sure BB missed two. But ok, let's say he's so injured he misses one then decides he can't do anymore PKs for touch...a kick you do with time and preparation, basically starting from standing still.

How the fuck is that same guy taking cross field kicks on the run moments later?

@No-Quarter said in England Vs All Blacks:

That's not even fair on the ref, let alone the players and paying fans.

I stopped paying to go to rugby matches because of the card lottery about 15 years ago. Used to go to matches all over the world but just had enough of the inequality of contest with uneven numbers on the field. It changes the whole flow of a match. Watching on TV I can just turn it off when the card inevitably comes out. Sad, but life is like that. I'll probably be back next year, but I don't think rugby does anything for me anymore, except piss me off. I really just watch to see the result rather than actually enjoying it.

Really pleased the cricket is starting.

@No-Quarter said in England Vs All Blacks:

@Dodge said in England Vs All Blacks:

It didn’t ruin the game is my point. Don’t do it. Sometimes the ref will ping you. (Same goes for Earl).

Could not disagree more. Cards have been ruining games for years now and I am sick of it.

Yep.

Having said all that, well done England, you play the cards that you're dealt. I just think that we need better croupiers if they want me to return to their casino. The odds of winning by seeing an equal number of players contest (even if my team loses) aren't good enough for me to invest in tickets at the moment,

@Bones said in England Vs All Blacks:

I felt sure BB missed two. But ok, let's say he's so injured he misses one then decides he can't do anymore PKs for touch...a kick you do with time and preparation, basically starting from standing still.

How the fuck is that same guy taking cross field kicks on the run moments later?

I stopped watching after the Taylor yellow, but up to that point BB missed touch first and Roigard second. I went back to check who it was because live I noticed it was kicked with the left foot and I was enraged about BB using his left foot when he already struggles with his right.

Utterly bored of this dumb, badly coached side run by an insular group of insecure middle aged men who are scared to drop veterans, scared to try new things, and too stubborn to change their ways. Total bullshit. Tour is worst possible result. Razor stays and fuck all changes.