Spring Tour: New Zealand vs Ireland - 3rd Test. (23/6/2012, 07:35 GMT)

[lynam1104]

Clearly an attempt on his life.

 

[big ginger 8]

I believe Teh Mite did.

 

[TRF_woosaah]

probably i coulnt be bothered looking at every post, i did do a search though.

 

[smartcooky]

If Sonny Bill had a game to go along with that offload he'd be unstoppable.

I bet you're wishing you hadn't made that remark

I've seen some teams even in the tri-nations, like, say Australia beating SA huge, and then the very next week SA beating AUS back huge. There are no absolutes, and it doesn't mean anything about the inherent nature of a side.

AB fans will recall 2008 against Australia..... the All Blacks lost 19-34 in Sydney (biggest losing margin to Australia in 9 years, and the third biggest losing margin ever) then a week later, they won 39-10... a 44 point turnaround.

It happens. The Irish should take some heart. They came up against a very, very good side that played out of their skins.

 

[lucky number 7]

I bet you're wishing you hadn't made that remark

I predicted this...

Remember who was 12 across from him. I'd wager that was to a large degree the root of his performance.

The contrast between the first two tests and today makes that a reasonable suggestion

 

[dullonien]

I bet you're wishing you hadn't made that remark

Yup, mentioned it myself as well.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Oops, noticed I've been typing Crane, despite thinking and reading Cane.

Danny will do that to you.

 

[smartcooky]

I predicted this...

Remember who was 12 across from him. I'd wager that was to a large degree the root of his performance.

The contrast between the first two tests and today makes that a reasonable suggestion

Except that 12 doesn't really defend against the opposing 12.


Anyway... IMO, its time for the SBW naysayers to just shut up now.

 

[Larksea]

where to start?

Cane was obviously impressive, the ground he covers and the accuracy of his defense is so like mccaw back in his prime days.

McCaw himself has to be given some props he showed he's not done with test footy yet. If anything in my view it was another argument that a more permaent move from 7 is in order.

Messam deserves props too, infact for me it was one of the really good aspects of the game. Just behind Cane on the tackle count and importantly his tackles really stung the Irish. Fright from the start a big tackle from him stopped the first bit of mommentum the Irish had then soon after he made another tackle that resulted in a turnover for the AB's and that set the mommentum for the AB's and they never gave it up. Messam took his position in the line and if the irish ran at him he punished them for it. I really hope this performance gives him some selection mommentum going into the championship. I was really impressed with his combination with McCaw, looking at the turnovers McCaw won a lot of thjem came from tackles Messam made.

Romano too was impresive and really it was the extra physicality of Luke and Messam that was a point of difference from last week

Aaron Smith got to really do his thing with the quick ball he was getting and really combined well with Cruden and Barrett who both had really impressive games. This has been a great experience for him, again the game lost some of it's edge when Weepu came on. When the AB's get that quick ball he really makes sure it gets used

SBW was awesome, that move where Cruden took it to the line dummied to Gear then went himself and offloaded to SBW who stormed through for a try was one of the better moves I thin the AB's have come up with in some time. and his kick through for Dagg to score was very very impressive. And importantly an ascpect to his game I think he clearly has an edge over nonu (kicking game).

Grat had a pretty solid game too and one really impressive finish. The first coulpe of kickoffs that went his way were shakey but he and Messam sured that area up.

Ben Smith really good too.

wow what a performance, 60 - 0

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Grat? You mean Gear?

 

[austingtir]

I would be making the team that started this game the starting team for Australia. What do you guys think? Even just have Read on the bench as i dont think we will even need him if we play like this against the wobblies. Save read for SA and Argentina where i think he will be required. Whitelock is probably the only one in this game im not that impressed by.

Its proven to me Savea is still to green for test rugby. Guildford is way overrated. Ali getting injured is the best thing that could have happened to the AB's this year. Romano is the new Thorn (I hope).
Mccaw has a few games left in him yet.

 

[lucky number 7]

Except that 12 doesn't really defend against the opposing 12.


Anyway... IMO, its time for the SBW naysayers to just shut up now.

I'm not a huge naysayer of him... I really just think he was shut down vs a good partnership .

 

[austingtir]

I wouldnt get to carried away by the SBW performance i still think he hasnt done much against a solid defence team like SA and the first two tests in this series he was MIA.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

SBW was very good in the first test, and quiet in the second - like almost all the other ABs

 

[Keithmurdoch]

Nah I'd make a few changes, I don't think 6 or 8 makes a huge difference for Richie, to be honest I'd prefur him toiling away at 6 actually, so Cane - Reid - McCaw with Vito on the bench. 100% Gear on one wing, Jane on the other if he's fit - still got ? on Smith at this level, but Savea's definatly still an option.
Also not a brilliant game to judge Romano on, bit of slap ball at the lineout though and I notice when they really needed a clean take on their own line they bought Richie up to jump at 2. I'd have Borich back as soon as he's ready, otherwise Retallick who's been really good IMO. Retalick/Borich could be good actually.

 

[welshglory]

I would be making the team that started this game the starting team for Australia. What do you guys think? Even just have Read on the bench as i dont think we will even need him if we play like this against the wobblies. Save read for SA and Argentina where i think he will be required. Whitelock is probably the only one in this game im not that impressed by.

Its proven to me Savea is still to green for test rugby. Guildford is way overrated. Ali getting injured is the best thing that could have happened to the AB's this year. Romano is the new Thorn (I hope).
Mccaw has a few games left in him yet.

That's what i was thinking, very similar in almost every aspect. Probably just needs to work on defence and fitness, and he'll be the NZ 4 for a long time. Wasn't there that Hoeata guy last year who was saying he thinks he could be the next Thorn? He needs to step up his game if he wants to get there!

 

[nickdnz]

Where to start. I'm going to do my ratings I think, but I'll start off with saying that I'm much happier than I was 13 hours ago.

1. Tony Woodcock: Solid game, scrums really improved and I thought the All Blacks were actually dominant for at least the first half. Pretty solid game - 7.5
2. Andrew Hore: Had a pretty solid game. Was always busy at the rucks and got a nice turnover. - 7.5
3. Owen Franks: Had a good game. Made some very solid tackles and was busy. 7.5/10
4. Luke Romano: Had a very good debut. Carried very strongly and worked hard. Reminded me of Chris Jack. 8/10
5. Sam Whitelock: Bit more quiet in terms of ball carrying but looked busy around the field. 7/10
6. Liam Messam: Had a very good game. Tackled well all match and showed plenty of grunt that has perhaps been missing in the past. Think him, McCaw and Vito should be in the running for the 6 jersey. 8/10
7. Sam Cane: Another great game. Looked every bit as physical as you'd want for a 7, but his ball running was outstanding. Think it's time McCaw make a move to 6. 8.5/10
8. Richie McCaw: Much more impressive game from McCaw and reasserts what myself and others have said about a move to 6. He'll never replace Read at 8, but he showed he still got enough in him to be very good. Lots of tackles and turnovers. 7.75/10
9. Aaron Smith: Piri Weepu didn't play too badly, but after Aaron Smith has been on the field he seemed in slow motion. Superb player. 8/10
10. Aaron Cruden: While he was on the field it was the Aaron Cruden show. Great option taking and skills. Set up SBW perfectly. Pitty he was injured but Beuden did well when he came on as well. 8/10
11. Hosea Gear: A few early errors, but lead in terms of running metres (albeit after one amazing run). What I like about Gear is his pace and power and an ability to finish where others wouldn't and I think he showed that with his amazing try. Not a flawless match, but certainly enough to make the selectors give him more oppertunities 8/10.
12. Sonny Bill Williams: Looked much better in this game. Carried well, ran good lines and made the right choices. Two tries doesn't hurt either. Nothing really to criticise him on. 8.5/10
13. Conrad Smith: Everything he did he did well. Great again on defense and set other up very nicely. He gets the almost permanent rating of 8/10.
14. Ben Smith: Looked good while he was on. Nice carries and made a lot of correct decisions. No obvious flaws. Would like to see him used at fullback at some point. Certainly was busy 8/10.
15. Israel Dagg: Another person I was impressed with. Made a few handling errors but otherwise was extremely good. Set up others well, kicked very well and scored showed lots of speed. 8/10.

16. Kevin Mealamu: While he was on he looked to have made a full recovery. I actually thought he was a bit better than Hore, although he did have fresh legs against an already bet up Ireland. 7.5/10
17. Ben Franks: He came on and Ireland's scrum looked better. He's good around the park but to be honest, when two props are allowed on the bench, he's pobably not going to get more tests. 6.5/10
18. Brodie Retallick: Didn't get much time, but looked busy while he was on. 7/10
19. Adam Thomson: Scored a try and didn't celebrate it like a f*ckwit. I thought he was good while he was on, but when comparing him to who started, I think he should probably miss selection for the Rugby Championship. Not a terrible game, just not as good as the others. 7/10
20. Piri Weepu: Unfortunately he had to come on when Aaron Smith came off. The result was slower ball. Not a bad game, just compared to Aaron Smith 7/10
21. Beuden Barrett: Considering he probably didn't expect to be on untill late in the second half, he did very well. Made some nice kicks under pressure and his defense wasn't an issue. Thought the scoring would slow down while he was on, but it continued. Not quite as good as Cruden, but certainly can be proud of his debut. 7.5/10
22. Tamati Ellison: Didn't really notice him much when he came on the field. Didn't get that much time mind you. 6.5/10.

All of these scored don't take into account how Ireland played. NZ played extremely well and Ireland were invisible (not meant as an insult). Certainly didn't get given much of a chance to get into the game.

 

[Keithmurdoch]

Hoeata has been injured, fit now though and I expect him to be absolutly steaming for the last six weeks of the Highlander's season

 

[Feicarsinn]

Our players are bad and we should feel bad.

 

[big ginger 8]

Our players are bad and we should feel bad.

Your comment says a lot about the mindset of our fans.