[2014 TRC] Argentina v New Zealand in La Plata (27/09/2014)

[sigesige00]

NZ's 3rd try was clearly a foul (forward-pass). There is necessity for video-referee.

 

[psychic duck]

I really am not sure what you are trying to get at, it's something I've struggled with my whole life, and am trying to get passed it.

Seriously, change the record, it's predictable. We get it, you hate the working class and football. You do realize you come across exactly as the people you denigrate?

Draggs, please change that tard's username. Something along the lines of Nick de Luca would be a more apt reflection of the quality of posts.

 

[iINDOMINUSxx]

Draggs, please change that tard's username. Something along the lines of Nick de Luca would be a more apt reflection of the quality of posts.

eh excuse me, Nick de Luca has his bad games alright ? if you say anything else about him then i'll wreck your face.

jks i dont actually like de Luca think he waste opportunity like Ross Ford now

back onto topic you shouldn't change his username, nuff said

 

[kovana]

Jeez.. this Pumas team is absolute gash. 17 matches in the RC.. 0 Wins.

What a joke.

If they were not part of the tourny, the deciding match would have come down to the last match between the saffas vs NZ nxt weekend.

NZ would have 11 pts.
Saffas 7 points.

well done pumas. I expect 3 consecutive years of no wins in the RC. remarkable achievement.

 

[LittleGuy]

This wasn't a particularly good Pumas performance and I won't blow smoke up their butts about it, but they have three losing bonus points and have really given away a few games in the last three years, they should really have two or three wins at this point.

I've actually been surpised this year I expected them to get run over but they are a factor in how close they've kept games, beating Oz at home next week certainly isn't out of the question either.

 

[Kapa O Pango]

Move over Nonu, Fekitoa our man now.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Just watched the game now...
- The tight five for the All Blacks were all effective, Thrush and Moody both did well in their time on the field. Bit disappointed Harris didn't get some more game time.
- Fekitoa was excellent. He still has a wee bit more to learn in terms of when to throw the pass, but he was definitely a lot better tonight than in his previous matches.
- I actually thought Barrett was pretty good, his goal kicking was obviously spot on which is a change from the last time he kicked!
- Once again I have to ask what the heck are the assistant referees for? The Argentina player that intentionally touched the ball against the AR at the start of the match should have been yellow carded for cynical play, what he did was directly done to prevent the All Blacks taking a quick throw. It's no different to throwing the ball into the crowd. The AR should've passed this info on to the ref instead of being an inspid price and just telling Joubert that it had touched him.
- Joubert... How do others feel about him? Am I the only one that thinks he's a pretty average referee?

 

[Bean]

Pumas are strong. I expected them to run out of steam, but they didn't really.

Not happy with NZ conceding a try though.

Also that green laserlight was back for the third year in a row...

 

[The Jones Boy]

Great result from a great team.
I hope they can get the clean sweep with a win next week but the Boks are rock tough at home. It was a miraculous game that saw us win there last year.
RC in the bag, lovin' it.
Pumas totally deserve to be in the mix with the big three.
How long was it before italy started to show promise in the 6 Nations?
... and that was against much lower tier teams than the Big three.
Pumas deserve support and credit for sticking to a task that would kill off almost all the Home nations teams.
They are a top ten side and they perform strongly at RWC's.
Im proud of their involvement and sooner rather than later they will take a big scalp in this really tough tournament.

 

[nzlizard]

Only saw bits and pieces of the game, but from what I saw

Fekitoa looked good
Mealamu looked good
Barrett learnt to kick
Savea was beast

Good to see us win, would have liked to see whole game but great to see us wrap up the RC before heading to SA.

 

[Tony Manx]

Draggs, please change that tard's username. Something along the lines of Nick de Luca would be a more apt reflection of the quality of posts.

You leave the greatest Scottish export to Biarritz alone!!!!!

 

[TRF_Olyy]

- Once again I have to ask what the heck are the assistant referees for? The Argentina player that intentionally touched the ball against the AR at the start of the match should have been yellow carded for cynical play, what he did was directly done to prevent the All Blacks taking a quick throw. It's no different to throwing the ball into the crowd. The AR should've passed this info on to the ref instead of being an inspid price and just telling Joubert that it had touched him.

I thought he gave the ball to the AR/passed it at him?
Same outcome/intent as you said, but slightly more believable than just having one of your players randomly touching it.
I'm surprised it doesn't happen more, considering how inconspicuous it is compared to throwing the ball over the advertising boards etc.

 

[Darwin]

Right then. A few thoughts on the match. I was pretty happy overall with the AB's performance, but I felt Argentina played right into the AB's hand. The AB's thrive on turnover ball and Argentina duly obliged by turning over the ball time, and time, and time again. I thought we matched Argentina in the scrums, and our lineout functioned well. There were a few concerning aspects about the AB's performance however. Argentina breached our defense far too easily at times - it was only their poor execution that prevented them from scoring a few more tries. Argentina are credited with 13 line breaks - that's a lot of line breaks for the AB's to concede.

The biggest concern for me was the fact Argentina looked the stronger side at the send of the match. Traditionally once the AB's get a good lead they run away with the match, but in recent times the AB's have faded worryingly in the 2nd half. It is difficult to work out whether this is due to the substitutes or the fading performances of the starters, but I can recall numerous times these last few seasons where we have struggled at the end of games (Wales 2012, In France last year, the 2nd England test this season immediately come to mind). Obviously there are worse problems to have - and it hasn't cost it yet - but it something we need to be careful about.

Onto the players....

- Franks and Crockett did their jobs. I'm getting more confidence in Crockett every week. Moody again was solid off the bench (which is good given his lack of experience), but he never seems to have a big work-rate on defense....

- Mealamu's demise has been greatly exaggerated. He isn't the player he once was, but he had an excellent game in my opinion (a couple of questionably straight lineout throws aside). He must be incredibly hard to tackle, as he always appears to be trying to burrow under the legs of the defense...

- Sam Whitelock showed how much he has been missed. He was everywhere. I hope Retallick's injury isn't serious, as we need him versus South Africa.

- Kaino made some mistakes and pushed the limits a bit at the breakdown, but his line speed on defense was impressive, and he made one great run with the ball (the NZ commentators confused him with Fekitoa...). McCaw impressed again, particularly at the breakdown. I couldn't believe my eyes when he accelerated through that gap and broke the line! Read made some good hits, but was pretty quiet compared to the other loosies.

- A Smith was good again. I was really impressed at his commitment when going for the loose ball, and he dealt well with the scrappy ball he got on occasion (something he doesn't always do).

- Barrett was.... ok. He kicked his goals, but the rest of his game was pretty average. He seldom threatened with ball in hand, made a number of handling errors, and his general play kicking wasn't great. I suppose he did make a couple of good kicks - if Savea hadn't been slightly in front of him the AB's would have had a couple more tries...

- Fekitoa was impressive. Very impressive. He still is working on his distribution but his passing was better than expecting, he was a threat with ball in hand (as always), and punishing in defense. I would be happy if Nonu played that well in the AB's 12 jersey....

- Savea had no right to score the try he did. It was incredible. If he got his timing right he could have scored at least one, possible 2 more. I still think Ben Smith is wasted on the wing, but he had a couple of good touches. Dagg actually played pretty well. He hit the line well on a couple of occasions (both resulting in tries), and his passing was more accurate than usual. Despite this I would still prefer Smith at fullback - imagine how much damage he would do if he had as many touches - and as much space - as Dagg received. If the AB's selectors are going to continue to play Smith on the wing they need to give him a license to roam around a bit more. He is often at his best at first or 2nd receiver, as when he runs with the ball in two hands he can cause a lot of issues for the opposition defense (this skill is far less valuable when he is the last man on the chain on the wing...).

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

I thought he gave the ball to the AR/passed it at him?
Same outcome/intent as you said, but slightly more believable than just having one of your players randomly touching it.
I'm surprised it doesn't happen more, considering how inconspicuous it is compared to throwing the ball over the advertising boards etc.

The Argentine player runs behind the AR and touches the ball to the AR's back (and then either lets it fall to the ground or puts it on the ground, I can't remember). I actually went back specifically to check when it happened.

 

[Jaguares]

Draggs, please change that tard's username. Something along the lines of Nick de Luca would be a more apt reflection of the quality of posts.

Oh! Look who's back! Welcome to the forum! Are you ready to be eliminated in the first round in your own country next year? I don't see how this Wales team could win England or Wallabies next year. Good luck with that, will need

 

[Big Ewis]

Pumas didn't play great, a little bit disappointing considering what they're capable of producing, but on the other hand the AB were just clinical. Those tries were all beautiful, and even when they weren't scoring tries the movements were pure gorgeous. They were their usual brilliant selves, only they really looked on a different level than their opponents in this one.
I think they feel liberated when they play in Argentina as the AB generally hate/fear the unknown, and I think they feel more pressure when they host them earlier in the tournament at home, when they're still a little bit shy to play them. They always produce a better match away than at home against the Pumas, at least so far in TRC.
Better at scrum time, under control in every other department. Complete victory. They just recited their Rugby like a poem they'd perfectly memorized. Easy. Pumas pack looked under pressure and subjected most of the way, although retaliated effectively in patches - so many TO's on the ground from the AB. Such activity, such relentlessness.
They win the tournament hands down, regardless of what happens next week, although just for pride and keeping their aura they'll want to take that too for sure. Which I'd put my money on will happen.

More individually:
the man the NZ commentator seems to think is named "Gravy", hooker and captain Creevy, showed up once again. Awesome player. Imhoff was great when he touched the ball, Montero very soft on that one try he gives away and Sanchez showed his solidity again.
Great activity from Sam Whitelock (17 tackles), Aaron Smith awesome, Savea no comment, Read silky, and Hansen ought to keep Fekitoa, no discussion for me (maybe just Nonu's experience ??...meh).

For me NZ currently have those as the very best in the world by position: 4.Retallick 8.Read 9.A.Smith 11.Savea.
Arguably best or second best (or at most 3rd best): 5.Whitelock 6.Kaino 10.Cruden 15. Ben Smith.

ARG try and extra bonus footage at 1:20

 

[dasNdanger]

Jeez.. this Pumas team is absolute gash. 17 matches in the RC.. 0 Wins.

What a joke.

If they were not part of the tourny, the deciding match would have come down to the last match between the saffas vs NZ nxt weekend.

NZ would have 11 pts.
Saffas 7 points.

well done pumas. I expect 3 consecutive years of no wins in the RC. remarkable achievement.

They are greatly improved over last year - definitely a more challenging contender. If they keep pace with their improvement I suspect they could pull off their first win next RC, if not sooner.



das

 

[Big Ewis]

 

[petite]

Bad game for the pumas. So many mistakes. Cubelli' s bad passing is so damm slow. Pumas never getting the ball on full speed they look amateur.
The only smile of the day came when i realized that kieran reed looks like michael rappaport. See you guys the next trashing

 

[petite]

Glad I kept watching for the Agulla try, expect to see a Unicorn tommorow at this rate.

Hahaha good