[November Tests 2017 EOYT] Scotland vs. New Zealand (18/11/2017)

[TRF_heineken]

Venue: BT Murrayfield​

Time: 19:15 CAT (SA, GMT+2)​

 

[galumay]

I suspect the Scots will find the AB defence a bit harder to break than Samoa's!

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I suspect the Scots will find the AB defence a bit harder to break than Samoa's!

And if Scotland defend so badly this will be a seventy pointer for the ABs. But they won't. I can only assume it was a mental lapse and depending on injuries in the front three Scotland might be able to keep this within 15 points.

 

[MikeTheNative]

Nell and Swinson are out for the AI's as well, you have to feel for Scotland they have loads of injuries in the pack. I fear upfront for Scotland, I think they might get hammered by the All Black pack.

 

[mania]

im hoping aumua gets some game time here.

 

[Spuds100]

Given the absolute annihilation of France, I expect this to be 300-6 NZ.

 

[The Jones Boy]

Hah, you're such a drongo Spud, but your optimism does make me laugh.

Scotland looked good against Samoa.
Huw Jones is a class act at centre.

Scotland can be tough to beat, lets see how this one pans out at the legendery Murrayfield.

 

[The Jones Boy]

I suspect the Scots will find the AB defence a bit harder to break than Samoa's!

Hah hah You are turning into a regular Nostradamus aren't you Mr Galumay, Lol

 

[Icemn]

im hoping aumua gets some game time here.

This... Fafita, Laumape and Havili

 

[RedruthRFC]

Scotland looked good against Samoa.
Huw Jones is a class act at centre.

Did they though. Other than the early exchanges, I had the game muted in the background of the England game. Every time I looked up, either they were scoring out wide against some rather flimsy Samoa defence or were conceding a soft try to the Samoan forwards, neither of which impressed me that much, nor did shipping 38 points to Samoa. Genuine question - as I say, I wasn't paying much attention.

 

[Spuds100]

Hah, you're such a drongo Spud, but your optimism does make me laugh.

Scotland looked good against Samoa.
Huw Jones is a class act at centre.

Scotland can be tough to beat, lets see how this one pans out at the legendery Murrayfield.

Okay, okay, you got me. 300-6 is too much.


100-12 NZ.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Nell and Swinson are out for the AI's as well, you have to feel for Scotland they have loads of injuries in the pack. I fear upfront for Scotland, I think they might get hammered by the All Black pack.

Yeah, Scotland can put out a good XV when fit but have wafer thin depth in areas.

NZ have been very ordinary by their standards this year against the Lions, Boks (last game) Wallabies (last two games) and France. I'd like Scotland to keep it tight and territorial for the first 15-20 to try and make sure they don't get blown away, then try and have a real crack at them.

 

[mania]

Okay, okay, you got me. 300-6 is too much.
100-12 NZ.

kiss of death

 

[g6mcg]

Did they though. Other than the early exchanges, I had the game muted in the background of the England game. Every time I looked up, either they were scoring out wide against some rather flimsy Samoa defence or were conceding a soft try to the Samoan forwards, neither of which impressed me that much, nor did shipping 38 points to Samoa. Genuine question - as I say, I wasn't paying much attention.

A pretty fair summary! Our pack isn't going to be able to compete at the weekend so things might get really ugly... we had enough trouble with fringe defence against Samoa!

 

[iINDOMINUSxx]

I think Scotland are getting underestimated again...

Yes, the Samoa game for me is one to forget in terms of defense but Gregor will pick up on this and work in this area in preparation for this match. The question is that is our scrum really going to be our real weakness in this game ? I thought the scrummaging was an area Scotland were good at against Samoa, I would say Stuart McInally was our real weakness in terms of scrummaging. Marfo and Bhatti had solid debuts and i'm sure Scotland can build a strong pack with them both even though they're both loosehead props.

I truly believe that this will be a tough game for both sides. The all blacks will trouble our defense but Samoa's game plan was to give it to a strong runner and blast through the defense while the all blacks yes I expect them to do this also but they will look to play the ball more through the backs than just blast it up which will suits Scotlands defense better with the pace of the back three to cover the gaps well.

 

[mania]

wow this is an awesome squad
ALL BLACKS: Damian McKenzie, Waisake Naholo, Ryan Crotty, Sonny Bill Williams, Rieko Ioane, Beauden Barrett, Aaron Smith; Kieran Read (capt), Sam Cane, Vaea Fifita, Sam Whitelock, Luke Romano, Nepo Laulala, Codie Taylor, Kane Hames. Reserves: Nathan Harris, Wyatt Crockett, Ofa Tu'ungafasi, Liam Squire, Matt Todd, TJ Perenara, Lima Sopoaga, Anton Lienert-Brown.

i wouldve liked to have seen aumua get some time but this is still a strong team.
wow just think when retallick and benSmith get back this teams gonna be awesome'r

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

wow this is an awesome squad
ALL BLACKS: Damian McKenzie, Waisake Naholo, Ryan Crotty, Sonny Bill Williams, Rieko Ioane, Beauden Barrett, Aaron Smith; Kieran Read (capt), Sam Cane, Vaea Fifita, Sam Whitelock, Luke Romano, Nepo Laulala, Codie Taylor, Kane Hames. Reserves: Nathan Harris, Wyatt Crockett, Ofa Tu'ungafasi, Liam Squire, Matt Todd, TJ Perenara, Lima Sopoaga, Anton Lienert-Brown.

i wouldve liked to have seen aumua get some time but this is still a strong team.
wow just think when retallick and benSmith get back this teams gonna be awesome'r

Bit disappointed in the team named.

Next week I'm expecting we'll field our top team again (so everything here is based on that and I'll gladly eat my words if that isn't the case!), which means that on this tour it's really only the first XV and the bottom XV that have had ample chance to play. Guys like ALB surely deserve more game time. I also question how much experience players like Duffy get from playing in games where they're surrounded by players just as new to the squad as they are. I'm sure the most gains come from being one of a couple of players suiting up with the top team to see what a 'real' test match is like. It really feels like we've had two separate squads playing on this tour: the test team and the midweek team.

 

[mania]

It really feels like we've had two separate squads playing on this tour: the test team and the midweek team.

yes definitely. hansen said that they were taking this tour as a pseudo WC. 2 teams, mid week and weekend squads.
what is wrong with that? the mid week team were given valuable experience and have been in the ABs environment. how else would they have got there without this opportunity?
and other than moody, retallick and benSmith and possibly kaino this is pretty much a top side.
agree about ALB, who in my opinion has always been international test level, but SBW's now got that spot and imo is reaching the same utility levels as ALB. different contrasting styles but both bring a lot to the ABs. however SBW is now a power player and thats something that was missing from his game and why nonu was always preferred.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

lets not forget the guys getting a run out for the Baabaas! a fair chunk of a third team

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Bloody hell. Hansen must rate Scotland higher than I do. It's to be near perfect conditions so this should be a try-fest.