[Bledisloe 3] Australia v New Zealand in Brisbane 18/10/14

[Darwin]

^^ Absolute rubbish on Mccaw mate. He was the single reason we won this game imo. Some of the balls he turned over were unbelievable and his timing was amazing. I felt he was the only one that was actually up for the game for the whole 80 minutes everybody else looked flat.

He was a constant nuisance for the Aussies at the breakdown nearly every time. Maybe some of it was illegal but he never got yellowed and thats all that really mattered. Single handedly kept us in the game for me.

What "rubbish" did I say on McCaw? I stated pushed the boundaries at the breakdown and got penalized accordingly, and conceded some crucial penalties too. Which part of this do you disagree with? Just because he didn't receive a yellow card it didn't mean his infringements didn't cost us. Two of the turnovers he forced he achieved by (illegally) diving on the ball at the breakdown. He got away with them, but a different referee could have easily penalized him for those offenses. Overall I thought he had a pretty good match - he was the pick of the AB's loose-forwards for me (and the 2nd best AB's forward on display behind Retallick IMO)- but that doesn't make what he was doing at the breakdown any more legal....

 

[austingtir]

Player of the match for me thats why I disagree with your statement about him almost costing us. Fact is he didnt.

 

[Darwin]

Player of the match for me thats why I disagree with your statement about him almost costing us. Fact is he didnt.

Huh? The penalties he conceded "cost" us both points (2 unnecessary penalty goal = 6 points) and field position (not that I even used the word "cost" in my initial analysis). How can you not see that?

Just because McCaw did a number good things this match it didn't mean he was perfect....

EDIT: I assume your initial intention was to suggest I wasn't giving McCaw enough credit, which is fair enough (as that is your opinion), but describing someone else's opinion as "absolute rubbish" isn't going to make you any friends.....

 

[Kapa O Pango]

I could see on the shattered aussie hearts when Fekitoa crashed down and scored.

 

[marianodan]

What an absolute madness is to resign after such display of your team! I can't understand it.

 

[RoosTah]

What an absolute madness is to resign after such display of your team! I can't understand it.

McKenzie had resigned at 10am yesterday, well before the match started. He had had enough and the result was not a factor in his decision.

 

[Chikwa]

^^ Absolute rubbish on Mccaw mate. He was the single reason we won this game imo. Some of the balls he turned over were unbelievable and his timing was amazing. I felt he was the only one that was actually up for the game for the whole 80 minutes everybody else looked flat.

He was a constant nuisance for the Aussies at the breakdown nearly every time. Maybe some of it was illegal but he never got yellowed and thats all that really mattered. Single handedly kept us in the game for me.

McCaw was inspirational! To say great. Player doesn't do him justice. I can't find the words to describe his impact.

 

[austingtir]

Huh? The penalties he conceded "cost" us both points (2 unnecessary penalty goal = 6 points) and field position (not that I even used the word "cost" in my initial analysis). How can you not see that?

Just because McCaw did a number good things this match it didn't mean he was perfect....

EDIT: I assume your initial intention was to suggest I wasn't giving McCaw enough credit, which is fair enough (as that is your opinion), but describing someone else's opinion as "absolute rubbish" isn't going to make you any friends.....

2 penalties for how he totally savaged the aussies at the beakdown is nothing and honestly I think its pathetic to even bring it up. Mccaw was outstanding in this game end of story.

You need to watch this game back for the first half he was like the lone ranger.

Your right I dont agree with your opinion and I think your flat out wrong on this one chap.

 

[Chikwa]

I like the attitude of fekitoa. He didn't start well but kept trying,learning and improving!

 

[William18]

McCaw played one of his 5 best ever games for the All Blacks for me. He was absolutely fantastic. Yes, he got pinged a few times for not rolling away but he was absolutely inspirational out there.

 

[Darwin]

2 penalties for how he totally savaged the aussies at the beakdown is nothing and honestly I think its pathetic to even bring it up. Mccaw was outstanding in this game end of story.

You need to watch this game back for the first half he was like the lone ranger.

Your right I dont agree with your opinion and I think your flat out wrong on this one chap.

McCaw "savaged" Australia at the breakdown? News to me. McCaw did some good work at the breakdown, but I thought Australia had a pretty clear edge at the breakdown overall. As far I remember McCaw forced two breakdown turn-overs. In the 18th minute (when he clearly should have been penalised for not allowing Fainga'a to release) and in the 49th minute (which was probably fine as he was on his feet long enough to get the ball in his hands). Feel free to point out any other turnovers he forced (as I may well have missed them). He slowed down a bit of the Wallabies ball too - often illegally - by falling on the wrong side of the breakdown.

I'm still trying to work out what exactly I said that was wrong? It was pretty obvious to anyone that watched the game that he did conceded a couple of crucial penalties, and if you know anything about the breakdown laws you would have seen a lot of what he was doing was borderline. Not that I complained about this - it is his role to push the boundaries - I simply pointed out that he was a bit lucky to get away with things at times.

If you think it is "pathetic" that someone would bring up the fact that a player got penalized 3 times (and discuss whether they were justifiable calls by the referee, as these calls had been questioned by other posters) then suggest you stop reading this site. Just because a player had a good match overall (as McCaw did) it is not "end of the story", and it doesn't make it "pathetic" if you point out they didn't have a flawless game. Some people actually watch everything a player does during the match - good and bad - and make an assessment on their performance based on this. I'm sorry if this offends you somehow

McCaw played one of his 5 best ever games for the All Blacks for me. He was absolutely fantastic. Yes, he got pinged a few times for not rolling away but he was absolutely inspirational out there.

I agree he played well, but I don't think he was quite as good as some are making out. He certainly did some good things and lead from the front, but I do think he was guilty of making a few too many errors, and pushed the boundaries a few too many times at the breakdown. He has certainly silenced his "doubters" for the time being. I was a bit worried about his performances after the English series but he is starting to string quite a few strong performances together, which is great to see!

 

[Bean]

I could see on the shattered aussie hearts when Fekitoa crashed down and scored.

Just how lucky can the AB's be?! I was waiting and waiting and waiting for them to put something together through the second half, they left it until the last minute.. :|

 

[austingtir]

McCaw "savaged" Australia at the breakdown? News to me. McCaw did some good work at the breakdown, but I thought Australia had a pretty clear edge at the breakdown overall. As far I remember McCaw forced two breakdown turn-overs. In the 18th minute (when he clearly should have been penalised for not allowing Fainga'a to release) and in the 49th minute (which was probably fine as he was on his feet long enough to get the ball in his hands). Feel free to point out any other turnovers he forced (as I may well have missed them). He slowed down a bit of the Wallabies ball too - often illegally - by falling on the wrong side of the breakdown.

I'm still trying to work out what exactly I said that was wrong? It was pretty obvious to anyone that watched the game that he did conceded a couple of crucial penalties, and if you know anything about the breakdown laws you would have seen a lot of what he was doing was borderline. Not that I complained about this - it is his role to push the boundaries - I simply pointed out that he was a bit lucky to get away with things at times.

If you think it is "pathetic" that someone would bring up the fact that a player got penalized 3 times (and discuss whether they were justifiable calls by the referee, as these calls had been questioned by other posters) then suggest you stop reading this site. Just because a player had a good match overall (as McCaw did) it is not "end of the story", and it doesn't make it "pathetic" if you point out they didn't have a flawless game. Some people actually watch everything a player does during the match - good and bad - and make an assessment on their performance based on this. I'm sorry if this offends you somehow

Messam was a non factor in this match which I suspect is why you say Australia had the better backrow. As a trio they were probably better but Mccaw simply because the other two didnt show up was immense as he pretty much had to do it by himself. I agree with the other poster in that this would probably be one of the most memorable performance by Mccaw for me.

Mccaw dominated them Hooper was a non factor in the game because of that. Mccaws timing to either disrupt or actually get the ball was impeccable and put hooper on the back foot on numerous occasions as he just didnt time his entrys as good as Mccaw. What I found really odd is how fanned out our defence was at times and Mccaw was the only guy really getting into the breakdowns with any real impact.

Im not offended by anything you've said I just think your wrong on Mccaw not being the best player on the park and I stand by that!

I will tell you what offends me its the PC nature of this board I think its ridiculous. Alot of people on this board cant handle some one disagreeing with their opinion of what went down and I think its a bit of a joke.

 

[Helmy]

I'm with Darwin here, I don't think McCaw was as great as everyone is making out, nor do I think he's as good a player as he once was (though still exceptional). Take off the black tinted specs and we might be able to see that. Still don't understand the fuss with Cane, either. I'd prefer Matt Todd as a back-up to McCaw, personally.

 

[dasNdanger]

Can someone give me the score and highlights, please? I'm taking care of my sick pa and have limited net access. Thanks much!


das

 

[Bean]

I'm with Darwin here, I don't think McCaw was as great as everyone is making out, nor do I think he's as good a player as he once was (though still exceptional). Take off the black tinted specs and we might be able to see that. Still don't understand the fuss with Cane, either. I'd prefer Matt Todd as a back-up to McCaw, personally.

I do agree. And I hope the All Blacks aren't hoping to rely on a McCaw/Carter combination for the big RWC games...

 

[Bean]

Can someone give me the score and highlights, please? I'm taking care of my sick pa and have limited net access. Thanks much!


das

First 79 minutes: Wallabies domination.

Last minute: All Blacks from no where.

29-28.

 

[dasNdanger]

I'm

First 79 minutes: Wallabies domination.

Last minute: All Blacks from no where.

29-28.

Thanks! Sounds like a great game...for an ABs fan.

das

 

[Wambat]

It was a great game whatever team you support....just the wrong result!

 

[smartcooky]

Anyways, back to the match itself. Even after a sleep I'm still struggling to work out how we won that. I said during the match that if we (somehow) managed to win the match I don't think we will have deserved it. I stick by that. We were incredibly flat for the vast majority of that match, made basic errors with ball in hand, didn't seem to have a game-plan, didn't support our ball runners, were incredibly passive on defense and missed a pile of one-on-one tackles.

Mate, when you have less than 40% possession, less than 40% territory, miss 31 tackles, concede 15 turnovers, and make less than 400 running metres while your opponents make nearly 600m, and yet you still manage win, outscoring the opponents 4 tries to 3, then there its hard to be too displeased.

They say you learn more from your losses than your wins, but a game like this is the exception to that. This was almost like losing without the mark in the "L" column. Those Aussies and Kiwis here who are old enough will understand what I mean when I say this was a "Clayton's Loss; the loss you have when to haven't had a loss."