[EOYT] France vs. New Zealand 09/11/13

[William18]

I think we are going to have to hope like hell we dont end up with these guys on our side of the draw come WC 2015. That was pretty impressive at the end there from the french.

The French don't really worry me. They have been terrible all year. One swallow doesn't make a summer. South Africa are the ones we should be worried about come 2015, IMO.

 

[austingtir]

IMO this quite likely would of been a loss if it wasnt for that. France was all over us for the last 10 i think they really could of scored again after that one. Until TJ is upto speed on that alone Kerr Barlow is good enough to keep around. Smith was pretty bad in this game aswell.

The French don't really worry me. They have been terrible all year. One swallow doesn't make a summer. South Africa are the ones we should be worried about come 2015, IMO.

How can you say that!? this WC is in Europe and practically will be home games for them. They will be huge come the next WC imo. They have some amazing forwards in that team. There wings and fullback are the problem for them terrible decision making and we just seem to dominate them in that area.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

The French don't really worry me. They have been terrible all year. One swallow doesn't make a summer. South Africa are the ones we should be worried about come 2015, IMO.

Remember that France were playing a hopeless Michalak in the six nations though, Tales isn't ****!!!

 

[Darwin]

Wow, that was a bit tight in the end there. I thought we were going to run away with it in the 2nd half, but France came back hard at the end.

- Not the best performance by any of the front-rowers. We were generally beaten in the scrum, and none of front-rowers were particularly prominent around the field. It got worse when Crockett got on the field - he looked like he was hinging down in every scrum. Honestly I don't think Crockett is good enough for test rugby - he is great around the field but is a massive liability at scrum time.
- Whitelock and Retallick were pretty good. Retallick got through a huge amount of work on defense.
- The loose trio all palyed well as individuals, but we were unable to put much pressure on the French breakdown (the ref didn't help here though). McCaw made some big tackles and made some good runs, but Read was very quiet with ball in hand. Indeed the only time I recall him running with the ball was when he scored his try.
- Aaron Smith was solid, though over-kicked a couple of box-kicks (and got changed down once). Carter was similarly solid - his goal-kicking was excellent, but I thought he made a couple of uncharacteristic errors on defense.
- Nonu made a cuople of good runs, but overall I thought he had a pretty poor game. He made a couple of hopeless grubber kicks, and missed a number of tackles. I thought Ben Smith had an excellent game at centre. He wasn't much of a threat with ball in hand (but who in the backline was?), but he distributed well, did a great kick for Piutatu's try, and his defense was impressive - he made a couple of really crucial tackles.
- Piutau made a couple of errors, but took his try very well and made couple of big hits on defense. I was surprised how sharp Jane looked given how little rugby he has played. He was very close to scoring a brilliant try, made a couple of clever kicks, and looked comfortable under the high ball. It will be interesting to see who our two wings are next week with Savea available.
- Dagg was made a couple of good burst on the counterattack, but apart from that I thought he was very average. His clearing kicks didn't seem to get as much distance as usual (one monster punt aside), he wasn't a threat when he entered the line, and he missed more tackles than he made (as is often the case these days).

Overall I'm happy with the win. However we have a lot of work to do before facing England next week!

 

[tenpm]

Glad for the win - I wasn't sure we were going to get it - but I was pretty disappointed for France at the end. I thought they should have gone for the quick tap; the scrum was a complete lottery with that surface, and it ate up what precious little time they had.

 

[austingtir]

^^ IMO Piutau should get a shot at fullback. Dagg needs another wake up call imo (i still think he's pretty overrated).

A Smith was average mate.

Nonu was fine.

I agree about the front rowers.... this area actually concerns me the most about this team. Our front row is in decline imo. They are actually getting worse not better.

 

[Big Ewis]

OK, my sentiment on this full time follows:

France were special again tonight. There was an utterly, utterly epic opportunity at the end to do exactly this: bring us back up to that 7 point gap with exactly one converted try and we would tie again like we did about a decade ago at home also. 20-20 that time...

I'm happy, in-relation to our last Tour in NZ because:
in all 4 tests, we have been "camping" in the NZ 22 but seldom taking the points for all the time spent, and no tries scored. The only one we did last summer was in test 1 with a full-length center combination Fritz-Fofana. But this time, we managed to camp in the 22, and actually realize the plan. Dullin with the very nice try. I jumped in the air off my couch

Our defense, contrary to the ending of this tale, was in deed epic. The mighty All-Blacks who respectively put 50 and 40 on Aus and S.A.F in their own backyard, only managed a mere 26 here, and conceded a total that's been flirting with their own the whole match.
Boy do those Para misses look dire now...especially that sitter before HT.

When we came close in test 1 in NZ (if only Picamoles had controlled that pass in wide open for the try....) they said NZ was rusty.
Then we got smashed, because France have had their own demons this year and NZ are ridiculously good off counter-attack.
Then we came close again in test 3 (closer than even the score tells). Not too many ppl said anything about that either.

Then NZ annihilates 3 nations for a tournament, and face the French again. And it's close again. In fact, one *HAND IN A SCRUM* away from a draw, perhaps...perhaps.

If anyone is wondering, our starting no.7 is Wenceslas Lauret, and boy did those rookie big arms help out at the breakdown, MUCH better than Nyanga !
We hung in the scrum despite missing our prop "champion", little Thomas Domingo, and still had some good scrummaging, even with replacement (incl. one rookie).

But the certainty is this:
- we can hang with the best of them if we want. Our youngsters like Dullin, Tales, Gael Fickou and others have looked utterly at home already, and THAT is promising.
- we can be suffocating on defense, and that for a full 80 minutes. Besides the 30-0 in June, we haven't conceded tons of points this year despite our horrible year.

Conclusion:
It didn't matter really that we lost this, or even if we'd drawn, it wouldn't matter then that we hadn't won it - because though the All-Blacks are HEAD AND SHOULDERS above us, and we couldn't dream - *DREAM* - of playing like them one game or consistently a full year; on that night, we were as good as them. 2 tries to 1 or not, the general level of play was just about the same for both, and I'd even say we looked like we had the upper hand often.

For the All-Blacks:
huge props for still scoring those two tries. What with that air-tight, organized relentless defense, that back-hand pass to Read I think, and there was still another guy on support. Wow......how I wish France could score tries like that.
You guys really impress the fk out of me with both your attack and d, but the counter-attacking ability...it's like they don't score a try off a counter once every 15 situations. Best team in the world, props, props, props.

 

[austingtir]

Will be very intresting to see weather Cruden or Barrett is on the bench next week.....

 

[ratsapprentice]

Piutau!!! Out of nowhere really. Not convinced Piutau was on side though

He wasn't.

He is a great example of why I am so envious of the AB's development system and attitude to playing new players in general.
You don't have this crippling fear of playing new guys just because they're new that England seem to.

 

[Darwin]

^^ IMO Piutau should get a shot at fullback. Dagg needs another wake up call imo (i still think he's pretty overrated).

A Smith was average mate.

Nonu was fine.

I agree about the front rowers.... this area actually concerns me the most about this team. Our front row is in decline imo. They are actually getting worse not better.

Aaron Smith didn't have a standout game (as I said he was solid), but he still played far better than Kerr-Barlow ever has in Black. He made maybe one error? There is no point in debating this with you however as no matter what Smith does you still think he is ****.

Did you not see Nonu missing tackles (scrum.com have him making 4/8 tackles) or doing useless grubber kicks? He was a liability on defense - Ben Smith had to come in off his man several times to clean up Nonu's missed tackles.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Aaron Smith didn't have a standout game (as I said he was solid), but he still played far better than Kerr-Barlow ever has in Black. He made maybe one error? There is no point in debating this with you however as no matter what Smith does you still think he is ****.

Did you not see Nonu missing tackles (scrum.com have him making 4/8 tackles) or doing useless grubber kicks? He was a liability on defense - Ben Smith had to come in off his man several times to clean up Nonu's missed tackles.

Smith as per usual had a very good passing game, but I think his decision making was poor.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

- we can hang with the best of them if we want. Our youngsters like Dullin, Tales, Gael Fickou and others have looked utterly at home already, and THAT is promising.

Big Ewis: Rémi Talès isn't a youngster; he's 29. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rémi_Talès

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

For the All-Blacks:
huge props for still scoring those two tries. What with that air-tight, organized relentless defense, that back-hand pass to Read I think, and there was still another guy on support. Wow......how I wish France could score tries like that.
You guys really impress the fk out of me with both your attack and d, but the counter-attacking ability...it's like they don't score a try off a counter once every 15 situations. Best team in the world, props, props, props.

Yeah yeah, stop rubbing it in

 

[Sam Owen]

Big ewi, yoe what happened?..
Come sit next to me
I saved you a seat in the losers corner lol.

 

[dasNdanger]

I think we're slowly but surely turning Big E into a kiwi fan...



das

 

[Big Ewis]

Big Ewis: Rémi Talès isn't a youngster; he's 29. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rémi_Talès

Well I didn't know he was 29, I thought like 26-27, but I just mean rookie. He looks at ease in the XV de France, a pleasure to see.

Big ewi, yoe what happened?..
Come sit next to me
I saved you a seat in the losers corner lol.

haha, you're in luck, tonight I graciously accept !

I think we're slowly but surely turning Big E into a kiwi fan...

when did I ever say I *wasn't* a fan of the All-Blacks !

ahhh....good match, good match...

 

[Darwin]

Smith as per usual had a very good passing game, but I think his decision making was poor.

I agree his decision making was poor at times, though overall I didn't think it was too bad. I do think 'solid' is a fair reflection of his game - he did his core roles pretty well without making too many errors. He wasn't a standout, but he certainly wasn't poor.

Incidentally I think decision making is an area that our three top 9's all need to work on. All three are very instinctive players, but at times make the wrong decisions with the ball. The way the halfback position has evolved in New Zealand in the last 10-15 years means the number 9 is now a key playmaker (where-as previously they were simply a passer/sniper...). Personally I think Andy Ellis is by far the best decision making halfback in the country - it is a pity that his passing game is so poor (Weepu is pretty good in this regard too.... it just takes him a lot of time to make his decisions...).

 

[Big Ewis]

P.S.: forgot to say this. What I'm very happy about, is what all this means for the future.
I'd much rather come close to the miraculous ending and not actually achieve it but know that we've now got a good chance for the next 6N, and ultimately, London 2015 looks pretty bright for us.
Beating the All-Blacks itself wasn't nearly the ultimate end to everything, this wasn't a Cup Final or anything, just some test match 2 years from the RWC.
Good signs, signs of stability...and there are so many more I'd like to see in bleus....so much depth.

 

[admartian]

Aaron Smith didn't have a standout game (as I said he was solid), but he still played far better than Kerr-Barlow ever has in Black. He made maybe one error? There is no point in debating this with you however as no matter what Smith does you still think he is ****.

Did you not see Nonu missing tackles (scrum.com have him making 4/8 tackles) or doing useless grubber kicks? He was a liability on defense - Ben Smith had to come in off his man several times to clean up Nonu's missed tackles.

Agreed on Aaron Smith- Not spectacular but not terrible or bad by any means.

I thoguht Nonu had a strong (offensive) game. DUmb grubber kicks at times but one nearly coming off (still think he has overly-fallen in love with these).

 

[austingtir]

Agreed on Aaron Smith- Not spectacular but not terrible or bad by any means.

I thoguht Nonu had a strong (offensive) game. DUmb grubber kicks at times but one nearly coming off (still think he has overly-fallen in love with these).

Seeing as people seemed to miss it i'll state it again smith was average... not poor not terrible just average. Kerr Barlow pretty much made the play of the game for us. How anybody can deny him that is just a crock of ****.

Nonu was fine not outstanding but you could see everything he did made the french think twice. You got to put the credit where it should be Fofana for the french was superb. Anybody wearing that 12 jearsey for us probably would of made the same mistakes as nonu if not worse.

Agreed on Ellis. He has been the kingpin in the ITM cup for Canturbury... honestly he is incredibly unlucky not to be in team especially with peranara's injury's. I do wonder weather something else is going on there behind the scenes as it just seems odd.