agree. why sotutu didnt start puzzles me. much better 8 than ardie is, though ardie is more versatile. but sotutu is a specialist 8 and better at it.
Frizell is "one of those guys", he is a guy that does his job very well for no limelight, he is a Conrad Smith, a Sam Whitelock... and more recently a Jack Goodhue, or a George Bridge... These guys are not the "superstars" at their positions, but ultimately keep us in games when those "superstars" cannot defend their counterparts on the other teams. Savea is a hard worker, a strong runner and a very good ball stealer... But I really think his time at 8 is done, I think that experiment is over, especially with Sotutu. He was playing 8 with Read injured... You either have him as a super-sub, or attempt to have him play 6 where him, Cane, and Read were so dangerous in the World Cup. Would that be poor on Frizell? Yeah, it would... But we kinda need any edge we can find at this point in time.
Cane was very good, I'll give you that, but still does not mean he's the best openside in NZIve not seen the game yet I'll comment on it later, but what I do know from the stats is that Sam Cane clocked up 25 tackles at 100% and the next best on the tackle sheet had 16
That is mind blowing I dont know if even McCaw ever clocked up a number like that. Heck hitting 20 is phenomenal Ive seen Cane and McCaw clock up 22 in the past but not 25... People still think hes a dud selection? what was it? Our 4th best openside you say? Maybe rethink that
. However, it's a moot point anyway, as since he was appointed as captain, he has to play.
+1 Harry Wilson - he was everywhere, hell of a game.
From the 15 that started the World Cup semifinal I think it was just read, retallick, and Scott and Beauden barrett Unavailable. From the 23, maybe one other (I can't remember who the third back reserve after tj and Jordie was). Wallabies had much bigger changes.
I think even if His less than highlanders quality performance was his fault he still deserves a second chance. But yeah, I think we had a different defensive style from last year, holding off a bit initially so we don't get wrong footed in our rush (and white was making us second guess), and noR did we manage to get frizell and co running flat off smith like he does for the highlanders, whether that was just because of the game plan or because of aussies defence I'm not sure.
I umm and ahh about the savea conundrum, because for the most part I agree that he isn't great at 8, but then he does deliver big moments in big games even at 8. He's worse at 6 imo. I just wish they had the smarts To adapt the game plan to make use of his strengths (Not gonna happen with Plumtree who told him off in the canes when he started playing 8 and kept going for turnovers), otherwise maybe the bench is his best spot, don't know. I sometimes wonder if cane could be as effective at 6. He's got a hard shoulder.
As above, what do you personally think about cane at 6?Cane was very good, I'll give you that, but still does not mean he's the best openside in NZ
What do you do with the loosies than? In my humble opinion, you have only three options, as follow:
1. Savea at 6, Cane at 7 and Sotutu at 8;
2. Frizell at 6, Cane at 7 and Sotutu at 8 (Savea off the bench);
3. Cane at 6, Savea at 7 and Sotutu at 8 (I saw various opinions that Cane plays more like a 6, and he could be switched to play in that position).
It's time to play a specialist and an in-form player at 8. As everywhere else on the park I might add.
I think the team would benefit more from a "Cane (6), Savea (7), Sotutu (8)" combo than playing Ardie out of his 7 preferred position, at either 6 or 8.
Luke Jacobson looked great for Waikato a couple days ago but the AB's generally don't really call players in unless their is an injury. I expect they will work with what they have got.
I still believe that Dmac brings more at 10 than at 15, or off the bench rather than starting.pretty crazy game, wasn't a great match till the last ~25 when it flipped on its head.
All Blacks seemed to be the far more dangerous side when they had the ball the problem was actually getting some possession. They lived on scraps pretty much. Such a glaring issue like that suggests to me that it will be an easy fix.
People are going at DMac as usual and as expected yet seem to mostly be giving Richie a pass or at least overlooking his performance as he didn't do much... sure DMac was involved in some big incidents. The kick that went dead, he tried something if the ball had bounced a foot the other way he would have won a lineout 5m from the aussie line and probably won the game, it didn't quite work which sucked but the potential was there and he almost pulled it off. That so called "strip" that landed aussie a try was a harsh call, if anything he hit the players arm I replayed that over and over and the refs were wrong to call that so quickly if they had looked at it as closely as they looked at Ioanes grounding then I think it would have gone the other way, that is much more a lose carry dropped by contact to the arm than a strip. on the flip side it was a DMac kick return and subsquent wrap around that landed the All blacks first try (also good work Frizell with that last pass). He was also the most dangerous looking player with ball in hand for the AB's where Richie looked pretty lost every time he touched the ball. Not to mention some great defense and a potentially try saving turnover 1m from the try line in the 22nd minute. Richies contribution amounted to a couple of good tackles and 1 good offload in the 2nd half. A lot of the time he got the ball and froze. Part of that I will put on Smith who was slow to clear at times. It frustrates me and not many seem to pick it up but Smith takes a step and double pumps a lot and puts the 10 under more pressure than needed.
Best on show for me was Sam Cane 25 tackles couple of turnovers and all round just a menace at the breakdown without giving away needless penalties. I look at that performance from Cane I recon you take Cane out put anyone else in that position for this game and the All Blacks would have lost. He doesn't just tackle he stops players in their tracks, huge effort.
I'm not sold on the Goodhue/Ioane midfield combination. I really think Goodhue is much more a 13 than a 12 and I wish Ioane stuck to being a winger and learned a new technique for grounding the ball lol. That to me looked like two guy out of position. Leave Barrett at 14 and sort the midfield out....
I could go on But more than anything I'll come back to possession, with a bit more of the ball the ABs would have cruised to win. solve that and everything else will follow I'd start by looking at some of the kicking options and handling errors then cleanouts and security of the ball on the ground, Tidy the lineouts improve some of those areas and the possession will even up.
Was a bit miffed with Jordie Barretts miss from 39m out right in front, that was a sitter. kinda feel like we would have been better off with Richie or DMac kicking the closer ones and conversions. Maybe Jordie was kicker for his experience at the ground but it didn't really work to our advantage. What was strange to me is that when you get wind like that what it often does is stop the ball from having the natural curve you normally get and they just go straight. it looked to me like that was what was happening but Jordie didn't adjust. You could probably forgive those missed conversions but he should have nailed that 39m sitter. Funny how its not being talked about much, maybe it if was a chiefs player who missed it then people would be up in arms
yeah i was surprised that everyone was kicking the ball high. with the cake tin you have 2 breezes. the one at ground level and another prevailing wind higher up. in the past piri or beaudy would kick the ball low so they only had to contend with one wind.
