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Very scratchy performance by the AB's. They will be happy to get the win and a couple of aspects of their game, but they certainly have a lot to work on.

Not sure at all why people seem to think the AB's had a weak scrum - they had the dominant scrum for 60 minutes of the game! People seem to believe that how the scrum goes is entirely linked to who is in the front row, but this is not the case. It wasn't Taumololo coming on for Tonga, nor Ben Franks coming on for the AB's that changed the scrum dominance, but rather Brad Thorn coming off for New Zealand. Thorn is regarded by many as the best scrummaging lock in the world, and he was replaced by Sam Whitelock, who is in average (at best) scrummaging lock; this also meant the AB's had two loosehead locks on the field. It was no surprise that Tonga had the dominant scrum when this happened - the only other time the AB's scrum has gone backwards this year is when these two were paired versus South Africa! Not sure why Whitelock replaced Thorn in the first place - Boric is a genuine tighthead lock and a strong scrimmager (you only have to look at how the AB's scrum always improved last year when he replaced Whitelock). As long as Brad Thorn (or even Anthony Boric) is on the field the AB's scrum will be fine, as it has been for the last 6-7 years.

I thought Owen Franks had a pretty good game, and Woodcock was ok. Hore was pretty quiet, apart from one great turnover which lead to an AB's try. Ali Williams was again disappointing; I wouldn't have him in my matchday 22 versus France. Kaino was easily the pick of the forwards for me. He really thrives on these sort of physical games; his defence was huge (and his line speed very impressive too), and he almost always broke the advantage line with ball in hand... then ran forward several more metres with a couple of defenders hanging off him. McCaw was pretty quiet, as was Vito.

Cowan and Carter were pretty quiet, but I though SBW had a pretty good game. He pulled off a couple of big hits on defence, and he did set-up a couple of good tries with some nice off loads. Nonu looked dangerous, but didn't look that comfortable at centre. As others have mentioned Kahui was exceptional. He just always seems to play well at test level; he may well have secured himself a spot on the wing to play France (possibly the left, with Jane on the right). I can't really understand he criticism of Toeava. I didn't think he had a bad game at all. He made one mistake that I can recall (a basic knock-on early on), and just failed to finish off a try, but he was rock solid on defence, and looked dangerous with ball in hand (particularly a first receiver from set play). Dagg was ok - he scored a couple of good tries, but did make a few errors. Not sure whether he did enough that game to secure the 15 jersey off Muliaina.

<blockquote data-quote="Darwin" data-source="post: 443148" data-attributes="member: 24910">Very scratchy performance by the AB&#039;s.&nbsp; They will be happy to get the win and a couple of aspects of their game, but they certainly have a lot to work on.Not sure at all why people seem to think the AB&#039;s had a weak scrum - they had the dominant scrum for 60 minutes of the game!&nbsp; People seem to believe that how the scrum goes is entirely linked to who is in the front row, but this is not the case.&nbsp; It wasn&#039;t Taumololo coming on for Tonga, nor Ben Franks coming on for the AB&#039;s that changed the scrum dominance, but rather Brad Thorn coming off for New Zealand.&nbsp; Thorn is regarded by many as the best scrummaging lock in the world, and he was replaced by Sam Whitelock, who is in average (at best) scrummaging lock; this also meant the AB&#039;s had two loosehead locks on the field.&nbsp; It was no surprise that Tonga had the dominant scrum when this happened - the only other time the AB&#039;s scrum has gone backwards this year is when these two were paired versus South Africa!&nbsp; Not sure why Whitelock replaced Thorn in the first place - Boric is a genuine tighthead lock and a strong scrimmager (you only have to look at how the AB&#039;s scrum always improved last year when he replaced Whitelock).&nbsp; As long as Brad Thorn (or even Anthony Boric) is on the field the AB&#039;s scrum will be fine, as it has been for the last 6-7 years.I thought Owen Franks had a pretty good game, and Woodcock was ok.&nbsp; Hore was pretty quiet, apart from one great turnover which lead to an AB&#039;s try.&nbsp; Ali Williams was again disappointing; I wouldn&#039;t have him in my matchday 22 versus France.&nbsp; Kaino was easily the pick of the forwards for me.&nbsp; He really thrives on these sort of physical games; his defence was huge (and his line speed very impressive too), and he almost always broke the advantage line with ball in hand... then ran forward several more metres with a couple of defenders hanging off him.&nbsp; McCaw was pretty quiet, as was Vito.Cowan and Carter were pretty quiet, but I though SBW had a pretty good game.&nbsp; He pulled off a couple of big hits on defence, and he did set-up a couple of good tries with some nice off loads.&nbsp; Nonu looked dangerous, but didn&#039;t look that comfortable at centre.&nbsp; As others have mentioned Kahui was exceptional.&nbsp; He just always seems to play well at test level; he may well have secured himself a spot on the wing to play France (possibly the left, with Jane on the right).&nbsp; I can&#039;t really understand he criticism of Toeava. I didn&#039;t think he had a bad game at all.&nbsp; He made one mistake that I can recall (a basic knock-on early on), and just failed to finish off a try, but he was rock solid on defence, and looked dangerous with ball in hand (particularly a first receiver from set play).&nbsp; Dagg was ok - he scored a couple of good tries, but did make a few errors.&nbsp; Not sure whether he did enough that game to secure the 15 jersey off Muliaina.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Darwin, post: 443148, member: 24910"] Very scratchy performance by the AB's. They will be happy to get the win and a couple of aspects of their game, but they certainly have a lot to work on. Not sure at all why people seem to think the AB's had a weak scrum - they had the dominant scrum for 60 minutes of the game! People seem to believe that how the scrum goes is entirely linked to who is in the front row, but this is not the case. It wasn't Taumololo coming on for Tonga, nor Ben Franks coming on for the AB's that changed the scrum dominance, but rather Brad Thorn coming off for New Zealand. Thorn is regarded by many as the best scrummaging lock in the world, and he was replaced by Sam Whitelock, who is in average (at best) scrummaging lock; this also meant the AB's had two loosehead locks on the field. It was no surprise that Tonga had the dominant scrum when this happened - the only other time the AB's scrum has gone backwards this year is when these two were paired versus South Africa! Not sure why Whitelock replaced Thorn in the first place - Boric is a genuine tighthead lock and a strong scrimmager (you only have to look at how the AB's scrum always improved last year when he replaced Whitelock). As long as Brad Thorn (or even Anthony Boric) is on the field the AB's scrum will be fine, as it has been for the last 6-7 years. I thought Owen Franks had a pretty good game, and Woodcock was ok. Hore was pretty quiet, apart from one great turnover which lead to an AB's try. Ali Williams was again disappointing; I wouldn't have him in my matchday 22 versus France. Kaino was easily the pick of the forwards for me. He really thrives on these sort of physical games; his defence was huge (and his line speed very impressive too), and he almost always broke the advantage line with ball in hand... then ran forward several more metres with a couple of defenders hanging off him. McCaw was pretty quiet, as was Vito. Cowan and Carter were pretty quiet, but I though SBW had a pretty good game. He pulled off a couple of big hits on defence, and he did set-up a couple of good tries with some nice off loads. Nonu looked dangerous, but didn't look that comfortable at centre. As others have mentioned Kahui was exceptional. He just always seems to play well at test level; he may well have secured himself a spot on the wing to play France (possibly the left, with Jane on the right). I can't really understand he criticism of Toeava. I didn't think he had a bad game at all. He made one mistake that I can recall (a basic knock-on early on), and just failed to finish off a try, but he was rock solid on defence, and looked dangerous with ball in hand (particularly a first receiver from set play). Dagg was ok - he scored a couple of good tries, but did make a few errors. Not sure whether he did enough that game to secure the 15 jersey off Muliaina. [/QUOTE]