All Blacks v Fiji at Carisbrook. 22/07/11, 7.35pm (NZT).

[TRF_Olyy]

Have to say, I was expecting a bit more pace from the Fijian backs - I know they haven't exactly had a massive amount of space to run in, but chasing in defence etc.



Edit:
I take that back, what a run by the Number 8!

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Good to see Fiji score.

But man o man, NZ missing loads of opportunities.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Poor call on that penalty try


Good second half by Fiji though - really took it the All Blacks and their 2nd try was quality
Pool D in the World Cup is going to be immense

 

[Sixesandsevens]

How uneducated are the NZ commentators?

They know alot about the Super XV players, even know where most of them went to school etc but they didn't even know that Fiji were understrength, didnt mention it once. They also acted like pushover tries never happened and that a penalty try frm scrum time was a complete novelty! Im no fan of Stuart Barnes but to be fair at least the guy knows his stuff on all competitions North and South rather than just the Aviva Prem and HC.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Utter shambolic call.

Dickinson was dire.

 

[Rhyer]

Slade was very good tonight. Looks like a solid backup for Dan Carter which will ease a few headaches in New Zealand. Weepu is getting there which is worrying for France as I believe he is the number one halfback when he is on form due to his attacking flair. Thomson looked poor, Williams just as bad, Nonu looked too flat, Conrad Smith was sloppy on defence but good on the attack, Sivivatu looked for a lot of work but looked slow, Guildford looked solid, Mils back to his best after a poor Super 15, scrum dominated, Hoeata was solid and that is all I can really say about that.

 

[ozmanoshe]

I felt the Fijians dominated the breakdown consistently securing their own rucks cleanly for recycling and being massively disruptive to the ABs ruck, with their halves always under pressure and throwing poor passes or dropping a lot of ball. Fiji defensive line was also very solid coming up fast and the ABs virtually never managed to construct a worked try through the backs except on 1 or 2 occassions. This was the most worrying aspect, where they were forced onto the boot to score the majority of their tries and was the only time they looked convincing. I also Fiji had the better of the ABs on kick restarts with very poor securing of the restarts from the ABs

The major difference was the more tactical 9s and 10s for the ABs, plus a massively dominant scrum. Add to that the Fijians were forced to play their fullback in the pivot position meaning a less experienced sweeper in the back and a 10 that couldn't move them around the field and get field position and I have to say Fiji did really well.

ABs also got complete rub of the green with some really dodgy calls going their way on all occasions. I felt there were 3 tries they didn't deserve with knockons, illegal work in the rucks and a craposa penalty try from dick-in-ass.

I'm an AB supporter, but I think if they'd come up against Fijis top team with a specialist 10 at pivot and a scrum that could have achieved parity minus a ref whose performance borders on prejudiced, the ABs would have been lucky to have come out 20 points ahead.

After that match:
Drop Guildford
Drop Nonu
Drop Messam
Seriously consider having larger, faster outside centres in the backup squad, Conrad is class, but I think it's a horses for courses and having a massive midfield with plenty of pace, like Sonny Bill and Fruean (or Kahui) would be more effective against the bigger island sides.

Hard done by: Ben Smith - really needs to play in fullback position and get more game time. Not enough speed or x-factor to be playing wing, couldn't help but feel Gear and Ranger would have been far more effective.

50/50 Hoeata, Williams and Thompson - Hoeata had a quiet game so difficult to say off this performance, probably could have hit rucks harder and put in harder hits on defence, Ali made too many mistakes at this level and didn't dominate enough in the lineout on Fijian ball and Thompson just isn't the answer for me at 6 where I feel the ABs have always been better served and the 7 and 8 always play a lot better when they have a big physical 6.

Promote Crockett to the regular starting 15, great support play and powerful scrummaging, probably the best of the front row.

 

[Muzzy]

I'm an AB supporter, but I think if they'd come up against Fijis top team with a specialist 10 at pivot and a scrum that could have achieved parity minus a ref whose performance borders on prejudiced, the ABs would have been lucky to have come out 20 points ahead.

this was fiji's best first five and best half back, i was actually impressed with both bai and their halfback, they weren't getting good but because fiji's scrum was so poor but that was to be expected, its the worst scrum in the world vs the best scrum in the world, what do you expect, maybe fiji could have done better in the scrums if they had their best number 8 Koyamaibole, who did really well against the nz scrum when he played for the pacific island team in 04, he's very powerful off the back, but of course he was banned because of the red card he got against Japan. overall i think fiji should just keep their heads up and look to keep improving, 2 or 3 of nz's tries only came because of sloppy mistakes by fiji, some of them came from unlucky calls by the ref, but fiji should take confidence out of this and keep improving. Qera had an awesome game for fiji, for me it was like watching the two best number 7's in the world go against each other, the only difference is mccaw had a better forward pack around him, but qera worked his ass off and was outstanding. fiji's blindside Waqaniburotu also had an awesome game

 

[ZeFrenchy]

Hard to evaluate the players that looked good. At some point I was tempted to say "Sivivatu earning a spot in the 30" but is was too easy a game to draw such conclusions. Fiji kind of disappointed, even if they had many players missing.

Anyway, my two cents: Ali Williams looked kind of lazy, but his lineout ability is unmatched and can win games. I say that until Boric is fit, Williams has to stay.
Cowan did himself no favours. Weepu will surely start ahead of him.
Conrad Smith continued his Super 15 poor form (btw, his fighting with Nonu to score the try was kind of pathetic, even if you could se it was more like children playing)
Slade took a few minutes to show up, but had a ver good game IMO.
Nonu is running too much sideways.

Frontrowers had a splendid game, all three (starters).

 

[Gavin]

Slade did well tonight, took his try well. Messam went too quiet for me, I don't remember his name being said more than three times.

 

[UilamOsa]

6/10 Performance by the AB's.
Dominated General play and tactically did enough to keep themselves apart from the Fijiians but sloppy work altogether.

7/10 Performance by the Fijiians.
Great breakdown work, Set play was poor - didnt seem to have any major options other than running the ball out wide and hitting the defensive at depth. Shouldn't just rely on natural talent, need some tactics as well. (Just look what Samoa did against the Aussies)

 

[nickdnz]

Meh, crappy game by the All Blacks.

I thought Ben Smith did really well with what he had. Conrad Smith had a very good game I thought, despite the one missed tackle that led to the try (1 missed tackle does not = bad defense), he broke multiple tackles and set up other oppertunities. I'd hardly say he showed bad form. Colin Slade was a bit on and off, but he did have moments of brilliance. Sivivatu worked hard all game and certainly looks to have cemented a place in the team. The scrums were sloppy, but I thought Franks and Crockett did pretty well (not that every scrum didn't collaps anyway). Really wish I could criticize Guildford, but he didn't do anything wrong this game. Didn't do anything really note worthy all game (bar a flat pass), but I didn't expect him to.

Nonu never seemed to get enough space. Cowan was pretty average, Weepu was far better. Ali Williams was fricking dire, and the commentators didn't seem to mention it much. He had like 3 miss passes and 4 knockons. I didn't think Thompson provided much to be honest. When he got his hands on the ball, he made very few metres, not getting past the advantage line. I thought Andrew Hore was good over the park, but his lineout throwing was pretty poor. Interestingly, did anyone else notice how much the All Blacks scrum improved when Flynn came on? Not his biggest fan, but he seemed to really help it (although that could have been Afoa coming on as well). I think the All Blacks clearly need Kieren Read in order to work well.

Overall I can say I'm pretty nervous about how the All Blacks will go in the Tri Nations.

Stuart Dickinson is rubbish. Think it is important to jot that down.

 

[Darwin]

Hard to evaluate the players that looked good. At some point I was tempted to say "Sivivatu earning a spot in the 30" but is was too easy a game to draw such conclusions. Fiji kind of disappointed, even if they had many players missing.

Anyway, my two cents: Ali Williams looked kind of lazy, but his lineout ability is unmatched and can win games. I say that until Boric is fit, Williams has to stay.
Cowan did himself no favours. Weepu will surely start ahead of him.
Conrad Smith continued his Super 15 poor form (btw, his fighting with Nonu to score the try was kind of pathetic, even if you could se it was more like children playing)
Slade took a few minutes to show up, but had a ver good game IMO.
Nonu is running too much sideways.

Frontrowers had a splendid game, all three (starters).

I agree with everything apart from the bit in bold.... I thought Conrad Smith was the best back on the park. He was the only NZ back to consistently break the line - the only thing I can think he did wrong all game was one (admittedly costly) missed tackle.

Pretty average game to be honest, but I wasn't expecting too much. Fiji were very disruptive at the breakdown but the AB's certainly weren't getting the numbers to the breakdown so weren't really helping themselves. It seemed like they all wanted to get their hands on the ball rather than concentrate on securing the ball. I felt the AB's would have been far more effective if they have been much more direct with their running, particularly in close to the ruck. They were very lateral on attack at times - whenever Nonu received the ball he was running sideways.

The scrums were a mess (though that was no surprise with Dickinsen as referee). For the AB's, Crockett looked good around the park and Hore was one of the few AB's forwards to actually hit some breakdowns. Ali Williams handling was very poor, but he did make a number of good runs, and he is by far and away the best lineout forward in the country. He was always a player with fantastic ball handling skills, so hopefully he recovers these skills soon! McCaw was very quiet again, and while Messem started strongly with a couple of big hits he was pretty quiet for the rest of the game. Thomson showed some great line speed on defense, but as expected is not a very effective ball runner against physical teams.

I thought Cowan was poor, but Weepu was a slight improvement. To be fair though the quality of ball they were getting was not good. Slade looked pretty composed - it is noticeable at the ground how much he is talking and organising the backline. His goal-kicking was good, and his generally kicking and defense was pretty solid. My only concern was his complete lack of speed when the Fijian number 8 made the break - Slade is normally very quick and I would have expected him to catch him within 20-30 metres but he didn't even look like he was catching him. Perhaps his groin injury is preventing him from running at full pace... Nonu was very quite, but Conrad Smith was easily the most dangerous back on the park - he seemed to break 1-2 tackles every time he got the ball. It was a bit of a surprise to see him miss the tackle in the second Fijian try though. I thought all the players that played in the back three positions had good games. Sivivatu didn't get many chances with the ball in hand in space but his work-rate was very high. I thought Guildford has a strong game - he didn't get many chances in open space, but he linked very well with the backline, covered well in defense, and was very solid under the high ball (though his last pass in the Muliaina try looked pretty forward to me!). Ben Smith looked very classy (as always) when he got on - he only got the ball a few times but made a number of half-breaks and managed to offload the ball well. Finally it was great to see Muliaina looking dangerous with the ball in hand after a quiet Super Rugby season.

 

[ZeFrenchy]

^^ I admit I had the game on while doing other stuff, so may have missed a few things. Also, I'm pretty sure I saw Smith miss another tackle, but probably my perception comes out of how highly I rate him and that Nonu didn't seem to be giving good passes. Anyway, I won't defend my claim about Smith since I have very little basis.

 

[Amobokoboko]

Happy the boys one and that the Waikato lads scored a try

 

[IKALETAHI]

Guildford and Ben Smith need to go. Yes Ben Smiths followers would like to see him at Full Back, But Mils, Toeava, and Dagg are ahead of him atleast in Henry's eyes. Guildford works hard, but doesnt possess the X-FACTOR to open things up (Super 15 Final). Bring Joe Rokocoko back, He played exceptionally well for Auckland against Otago scoring 2 tries(both coming off his wing to be 1st receiver on the left), I was also impressed with his kicking.

Joe was timed the fastest All Black last yr so no concerns there. He can match up physically, and you cant help but feel any wing in NZ would look good on the wing for the Crusaders.

Wingers that shouldve been looked at for the World Cup

Hosea Gear
Isaia Toeava
Joe Rokocoko
Sitiveni Sivivatu
Rene Ranger

 

[Rhyer]

Guildford and Ben Smith need to go. Yes Ben Smiths followers would like to see him at Full Back, But Mils, Toeava, and Dagg are ahead of him atleast in Henry's eyes. Guildford works hard, but doesnt possess the X-FACTOR to open things up (Super 15 Final). Bring Joe Rokocoko back, He played exceptionally well for Auckland against Otago scoring 2 tries(both coming off his wing to be 1st receiver on the left), I was also impressed with his kicking.

Joe was timed the fastest All Black last yr so no concerns there. He can match up physically, and you cant help but feel any wing in NZ would look good on the wing for the Crusaders.

Wingers that shouldve been looked at for the World Cup

Hosea Gear
Isaia Toeava
Joe Rokocoko
Israel Dagg
Rene Ranger

Fixed. Israel Dagg is awesome and Joe Rokocoko is a legend and should never have been dropped.

 

[Amobokoboko]

Sivivatu didn't had such a bad game. He and Roks on the wing, Lovely.

 

[Thingimubob]

What was the Fijian line out like? Something that I feel that Wales could target in the world cup, if their tactical kicking game is up to scratch.
Also what dyou mean by Smith and Nonu fighting over a try?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Fijian lineout was solid - think they only lost one ball which was an overthrow - they also competed decently (didn't steal any, but didn't make it easy for the All Blacks - though the ABs throwing wasn't that great, with a couple of not straights)



Piri Weepu put a kickthrough and Nonu/Smith both chased and dived for the ball but Smith got to it first