[2015 RWC] Pool C: New Zealand vs. Namibia (24/09/2015)

[Tony Manx]

Think criticism is fair. The last few games, since WR "clarified" the TMO thing, we have sen refs make more decisions without referring. Prat tonight hasn't, hes remianed fussy as ever, the 2nd half has been dreary when it shouldnt have been.

Have no idea as was not watching!! Just believe that, when everyone feels aggrieved, bored or just that they need to say something, the ref gets it!!

 

[nickdnz]

Blimey!! The Ref even gets bashed when you are winning in a nothing match!

In my boredom, I have looked at the pool that NZ have drawn for themselves and you do have to wonder if any team has had an easier road to the quarters?

Mind you, an actual match at QF level might come as a shock to the AB's when they might have to stretch themselves for the first time in the competition!!

Sure we do have an easier road to the QF. Symptom of being the top seed. It doesn't help us.

Don't know what it has to do with the shocking match-killing refereeing however.

Not convincing at all by the All Blacks - but it's hard to get any rhytm when scrum resets make up most of the game.

 

[nickdnz]

NZ can't win a game with a decent ref.

Ohh nice! Missed the NZ Cheats wink smiley earlier - but that was also really really funny.

Edit: probably a bit harsh. Not in the mood after that game.

 

[ncurd]

Sure we do have an easier road to the QF. Symptom of being the top seed. It doesn't help us.

Don't know what it has to do with the shocking match-killing refereeing however.

Not convincing at all by the All Blacks - but it's hard to get any rhytm when scrum resets make up most of the game.

It's just the Draw being no.1 seed had nothing to do with it you had just the same chances as Australia, SA or France in being in our group of fun.

 

[nickdnz]

It's just the Draw being no.1 seed had nothing to do with it you had just the same chances as Australia, SA or France in being in our group of fun.

Ahh well. Not much we could do about it. Probably at least gives other top teams a better chance to qualify.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Ohh nice! Missed the NZ Cheats wink smiley earlier - but that was also really really funny.

Edit: probably a bit harsh. Not in the mood after that game.

You can be really mean at times.

 

[nickdnz]

You can be really mean at times.

Srry baby, u kno i luv u xoxo

 

[Expatinnz]

Rubbish game, the All Blacks will be lucky to get past the quarters based on performances so far... utterly awful.

Fair play to Namibia for getting a try on the board!

 

[Mcfadden]

Hmm, Scratchy performance at the end, but we won by what I thought we would! Predictions of 100 points I didn't see eventuating, even if we played sublimely. It wasn't just us being off the pace in the second half, it was also the Nambibians slowing the whole game down, and Poites incompetence (for both teams). That's my rationalisation of it anyway.

First half - brilliant. SBW was probably the biggest positive to come out of this for me. Offload and tackling game were strong, and he has developed a good understanding with Fekitoa. It's encouraging to see that with more game time SBW gets better and steps up to the plate. Fekitoa himself though, very disappointed tbh. This game epitomised my concern with him. A lot of running sideways, not much go-forward happening. If we're criticising Savea on his inability to break tackles then surely Fekitoa should come under the same spotlight? Can't see him being our 13 after the WC tbh, and it's not just cause of this game.

Faumaina seemed to get involved heaps which is great, wasn't sluggish and got his hands on the pill. Vito was probably my other choice for our best player out there today. A lot of energy and ferocity running on to the ball. Code Taylor...what did I tell you guys? He's good!

Savea - I can see what he's TRYING to do but his choices are very poor at times. When you sprint down the touch line and you have about 3 defenders coming at you, wouldn't you cut in field? He did seem to have speed on his side but his ability to finish or make something more of a situation is off for sure. Better than previously but still not at an acceptable standard.

Good learning experience for Sam Cane as captain. However, let's just say I think based on that Read will be our captain f'sure in 2016.

I know Perenara has a strong running game and had an awesome Super but our halfbacks outside Aaron Smith are seriously crap. People say Webber is a carbon copy of Smith. Good, I'll take it.

 

[smartcooky]

Hmm, Scratchy performance at the end, but we won by what I thought we would! Predictions of 100 points I didn't see eventuating, even if we played sublimely. It wasn't just us being off the pace in the second half, it was also the Nambibians slowing the whole game down, and Poites incompetence (for both teams). That's my rationalisation of it anyway.

And a fair one it is too

Namibia got away with a LOT of mucking about at the scrum and winding down the clock, especially when they had a front rower in the bin. One of the radio commentators said the ball was only in play three and a half minutes while that Namibian player was in the bin. Most of the down time was wasted in resetting the scrums, and in the end, Poite simply allowed the SH to feed a scrum that was already collapsed on the tight-head side!!!

They also got away with plenty of spoiling tactics, living offside all the time, and slowing down of the ball at the ruck/tackle.

And as for George Ayoub, well, you learn something new every time he is in the TMO box. I wasn't aware that a player inside a ruck could be accidentally offside when he is in front of another player inside a ruck! Go figure!

 

[Cookies]

Rubbish game, the All Blacks will be lucky to get past the quarters based on performances so far... utterly awful.

Fair play to Namibia for getting a try on the board!

Heh, doubt it. Only if other teams can get away with illegally slowing the game down as much as Namibia did. That's what made the game so hard for NZ. Had the correct rules been enforced, the game would have flowed much faster. NZ would have had four or five extra trys.

 

[ABs2011]

Well, I'm glad I waited a bit to post on this game because it was a very frustrating game to watch.

First and foremost congratulations to Namibia who really did them selves proud in that one. I fear that much of the discussion might be on the officiating after this one, but that would do a real disservice to the way Namibia played. Remember they were about 80 point underdogs in this one, many picked the Abs would top 100 points, and some were even talking record breaking stuff referring to NZ Japan in '95 and OZ Namibia '03. To put it into context you would have gotten 5 times your money at most bookies if you'd backed Namibia to get within 50. Anyway, I thought they did a sterling job. They forced many mistakes from the All Blacks, they contested rucks and mauls relatively well, earnt some penalties, and scored a very good try. And the moment of the match for me, and one that has to go up there as a moment of the tournament was the look on their coaching staffs faces when they turned down a shot at goal to go for a try. To me they just looked full with joy and pride that their boys had the confidence to take on this "invincible" All Black team. To me that was priceless and I am so happy for them despite them costing me $250 !

As for the All Blacks, well, for me were a little disappointing. I thought they should have done better in terms of discipline. Their poor handling, particularly those short balls and offloads in the backline were reminiscent of the OZ game earlier this year. NMS certainly stood out, and SBW as well. Other than that nothing really that positive as the consistency wasn't there from any of them for me to be particularly impressed. I'm not convinced after that game that Savea deserves a spot on the wing. 2 well taken tries, but his option taking is a little poor still, his handling under the high ball terrible, and I might be wrong, but he still doesn't look to have regained his pace after embarrassingly letting himself go post Super Rugby. One has to wonder if Naholo and NMS could be the starting AB wings come finals time. In terms of the other fringe players, Vito, Faumuina, Taylor all looked pretty good. The other concern I have is over halfback. I haven't seen TJP play well for the Abs for some time. He doesn't fill me with confidence at all at the moment, and we will almost certainly need a cool head in the last 15 to 20 come the knock out stages. Is TKB a better option? I hope he gets a chance in the next couple games to show he is.


Finally, while I believe it takes away from the more important issues, the officiating just simply has to be better. Far too much time was wasted in that game. It was incredibly frustrating to watch, particularly the 2nd​ half. The Namibians did exactly what they should have done, but they were allowed to get away with too much, particularly in the scrums. For the sake of a spectacle, free flowing rugby, and viewer enjoyment this game should be used as a chance to review how to improve things going forward. Enough said I think!

Well done Namibia!

 

[Five Meters Out]

This is all going exactly to script in so far as All blacks at Northern Hemisphere World Cups.
Reasonable game vs tough Argie opposition first up (ie v England in 1991). Then we begin to look average in subsequent, meaningless pool matches vs minnows playing with passion.
Come the 1/4 final vs Ireland or France - well we all know what happens then.

 

[nzlizard]

Thought our execution on the last pass was shocking all game though, did all that hard work to get the ball wide and then sloppy last passes let us down.

Also you could see the timing was off between players, not a lot but half a step or half a second and it caused a lot of those dropped balls to happen.

Quite a few positives at the same time though, SBW and NMS in the backs looked really good.

The one concern for me was the soft try we let in, should never have happened, Fekitoa needed better tackling technique that close to line.

Not too concerned about us progressing through the knockout stages after watching that game.

 

[The Jones Boy]

It was a good run for the kids, they need all the experience they can gather because after the RWC and the retirement of legends that will follow, these young pups will be in the position to become legends in their own right, if they have the right stuff.
For Namibia it was a great chance to play on the big stage and have a go and they did and good on them.
I didn't see all the game but it was wonderful to see little Nehe shine after his tough time against the Argies. Good to see Savea and SBW getting game time, there's nothing like game time to play your way into form.
Part of the charm of the Cup is seeing the 'little' teams run out against the big ones.
Some of you blokes are reading way to much into this fixture.
We are not going to hit our straps with a full team until the quarter final and when that comes around we better be fizzing at the bung from the get go or we'll be going home early.
We are still amidst the 'phoney war' at the moment.
Fortunately the other groups offer so much more exciting prospects starting with this weekend and England vs the Dragons.

 

[nickdnz]

One positive - I was impressed with the crowd. Definitely were rooting for the underdog which is to be expected - but were respectful and classy.

 

[smartcooky]

The one concern for me was the soft try we let in, should never have happened, Fekitoa needed better tackling technique that close to line.

Fekitoa also has to stop cutting back as often as he does, and trying to do too much. There were times in this game when either NMS or Savea were unmarked outside him and a simple pass would have put them clear. Instead, he tried one shuffle/sidestep or piece of fancy footwork too many and got caught with the ball, and even though it didn't get turned over, the chance was lost.

He has to learn to pick the right times for the fancy footwork.

 

[ABs2011]

Fekitoa also has to stop cutting back as often as he does, and trying to do too much. There were times in this game when either NMS or Savea were unmarked outside him and a simple pass would have put them clear. Instead, he tried one shuffle/sidestep or piece of fancy footwork too many and got caught with the ball, and even though it didn't get turned over, the chance was lost.

He has to learn to pick the right times for the fancy footwork.

Yup I agree. While for some, probably most, Feki was ahead of SBW, that is certainly not the case now. Sadly for Fekitoa he has been basically OK so far, while SBW really has shone in both outings. That offload for the Fekitoa try was impressive.

 

[Mcfadden]

I haven't seen TJP play well for the Abs for some time. He doesn't fill me with confidence at all at the moment, and we will almost certainly need a cool head in the last 15 to 20 come the knock out stages. Is TKB a better option?

Well done Namibia!

Personally I think TKB is worse and imo he's lucky to be there. I've never liked his decision making. Other times he's just too slow for me. But he's a great tackler and he contrasts the other two via his physicality. Georgia will be a physical pack so his impact in that facet might be what the doctor ordered!

 

[ABs2011]

Personally I think TKB is worse and imo he's lucky to be there. I've never liked his decision making. Other times he's just too slow for me. But he's a great tackler and he contrasts the other two via his physicality. Georgia will be a physical pack so his impact in that facet might be what the doctor ordered!

You might be right, but I guess my concern is that TJP has had quite a few opportunities now (most off the bench I know), but I can't think of once when he has impressed, and today he was a little average as well. It's such an impertinent position given the high probability the back up 9 will have to close out matches, or spark a comeback, and after giving TJP quite a good look, I really don't have a much confidence in him at all. At the leat I'd like to see what TKB can bring. Maybe a start v Georgia or Tonga?