[2014 TRC] New Zealand v South Africa in Wellington (13/09/2014)

[Kiwi_]

Boy SA blew it in the end there especially after that massive scrum from them.

Pretty relieved to get that win. Pet peeve I hate when we boo drop kicks. Just because we don't do them doesn't mean it is something bad...

Completely agree. It's a distasteful thing from our fan base, it's also something our first 5's should really have up their sleeve as well, I can think of a few games if we had a first 5 capable of making one or two drop goals, we would have even more wins.

Great game IMO. Good win with our injury list as well. Happy with the result. Should fire us up for the remanding games. It's probably we will lose to the Bok in SA given our form and injuries this season.

 

[nzlizard]

Crotty should be back from his injury next week, so he'll be fit for the match against Argentina.

Actually want to see Fekitoa get some game time, I feel we need to start building him a bit quicker.

Bin Smuth can surely play anywhere in the back-line division what a guy.

Mate he is a machine, he just so quick on his feet.

 

[The Jones Boy]

The home match for SA is going to be massive!! If NZ get a win over there this time it will be huge.

Nothing could be bigger than last year.
The Boks scored 4 tries against us last year, and we had to find a way to score 5, up on the high veldt, to secure the championship with a win.
Last year was the most incredible game of rugby I have ever seen.
This year we will go there with an insurmountable buffer (Barring a catastrophe in Argentina) and it won't have the same edge, not since Aussie beat the Boks in Perth.

We wee pretty average today, if the Boks could have kept their 1st half composure for longer we would have been in real trouble, Hendriks was on fire but Le Roux was strangely off his game.

Should fire us up for the remanding games.

We don't have any more games against Australia...

 

[nzlizard]

We don't have any more games against Australia...

One more Bledisloe cup this year to go.

 

[RWC2011Fan]

So, if I'm doing the math right, the All Blacks have the championship wrapped up for another year UNLESS, South Africa win and score more than four tries against Australia and Argentina prevent the ABs from doing the same. Then we have the same setup as the Ellis Park test from last year where the Boks have to win with the bonus point, as well as deny NZ a losing one. Make it happen people! It's a bit of a stretch, but it's possible.

 

[smartcooky]

So, if I'm doing the math right, the All Blacks have the championship wrapped up for another year UNLESS, South Africa win and score more than four tries against Australia and Argentina prevent the ABs from doing the same. Then we have the same setup as the Ellis Park test from last year where the Boks have to win with the bonus point, as well as deny NZ a losing one. Make it happen people! It's a bit of a stretch, but it's possible.

A bonus point win for the All Blacks over Argentina, the Championships is over

If the All Blacks win in Argentina without a bonus point, then the Springboks need;
1. Bonus point wins over both Australia and the All Blacks, and
2. To stop the All Blacks getting a bonus point, and
3. To overcome a 50 point differential plus whatever additional differential is added in the Argentina v All Blacks match

 

[nzlizard]

A bonus point win for the All Blacks over Argentina, the Championships is over

If the All Blacks win in Argentina without a bonus point, then the Springboks need;
1. Bonus point wins over both Australia and the All Blacks
2. To stop the All Blacks getting a bonus point
3. To overcome a 50 point differential plus whatever additional differential is added in the Argentina v All Blacks match

Sweet the AB's just need a win then

 

[The Jones Boy]

One more Bledisloe cup this year to go.

Apart from that pointless waste of time, we have no more games against Australia that count toward the trophies, either the Bleddy or the RC.

 

[Icemn]

AB looked really nervous... man we were bad but somehow the bokks managed to be worst. The boks had alot of turnover, but they then kicked all this good counter attack ball away, why i dont know, but thank goodness they did...

I felt the 2nd to last past that lead to the boks try was a forward pass. I dont know how we won but it was ugly. Luatua really disappointed me, it was a good opportunity for him to step up in the absence of king Kaino and prince messam. Aaron smith also disappointed as did cruden, ben smith was immense!!!

im not sure if we won the game or if it was more a case of the boks losing it, the AB looked out of ideas most part of the game. I think if Strauss stayed on the bokks might have won, SA lost all their lineouets when bissy came on, i think, robbing them of momentum/field position/confidence etc

I dnt know how SA always manage to be worse then the AB. With nonu out i hope malakai will start at 12 rather then crotty.

 

[The Jones Boy]

Sweet the AB's just need a win then

Thats the bottom line.
Win in Argentina and the task is too hard for the Boks after their losses on the road.

 

[RoosTah]

One more Bledisloe cup this year to go.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that... that's shaping as another massacre with the injury toll that's mounting.

 

[Amobokoboko]

Apparently Monu is out with a broken forearm.

http://www.allblacks.com/News/25945/nonu-ruled-out-for-remainder-of-2014-season

 

[The Jones Boy]

No apparently, thats a definite.

 

[Big Ewis]

sorry I'm late for this one, just a few comments if you will:
I didn't think the Boks would get hammered, although I saw it as a possibility. They did come up against a raging Puma side twice, and won both, and then almost did win in Australia, away so...not exactly bad. I thought they were strong in this one again, they did come really close IN N.Z. and came up with the same score we did in 2009, 14-10. Kept the black wave in check and it never looked dominant.

I appreciated Mccaw a lot when he presented the gifts and made speeches for JdV and Habana, I thought he was incredibly pro with his performance, concise but not dismissive, and very direct but not vulgar either. 100 caps for country man, that's fkng awesome !

Individually, I'd like to extend my criticism towards Le Roux: he's got the whole cute guy demeanor, like he's confident and knows his shiit and all, but he authored the worst 15 performance I've seen from a Tier 1 nation in a very, very long time. Didn't count, but smt like 5 or 6 forward passes, a couple of stupid kicks, bad decisions, ran a bit but a lot of show little substance. He's a good FB, but I reiterate resoundingly: putting him in the company of B.Smith or Folau is just...
Vermeulen was a big beast mega power man monster truck madness. What a fkng 3rd rower.
McCaw was class. For a flanker to beat Habana with craftiness and set himself up to take the Read pass and score...
Aaron Smith is so clearly the best SH in the world.
Ben Smith I think had Michael Jackson turn in his grave he was so good with his dance moves.
Savea is just monster. Not, Savea is a monster. No. Savea is monster. That is all.

All-Blacks weren't as genius as we sometimes see them, like in Test 3 England, but they were fkng good. An absolute joy to watch. People saying TRC is boring and predictable just because the Pumas don't win games and the AB always win is ridiculous and isn't criticism that can be taken seriously. The AB come out every weekend to dominate, and it's a thing of beauty to watch. Each match is different and usually exciting, and every opponent has just as much a chance to win as they do.
Scrum looked troubling at a point for them but they came back with more of a response in the later scrums.

Finally, for the Boks, again they played well and couldn't have done a whole lot more, it's not like they have crazy things in reserve they haven't showed today. That's it, it was all there. Blacks were just better on the night. The try they scored was fukking beautiful though. Awesome.

 

[William18]

I think Le Roux doesn't really fit into the style the South Africans want to play. His positional play is average and his kicking game is sub par. His skill comes in how he runs with the ball and that isn't being utilised. Use him properly or put him on the bench.

 

[Darwin]

I think Le Roux doesn't really fit into the style the South Africans want to play. His positional play is average and his kicking game is sub par. His skill comes in how he runs with the ball and that isn't being utilised. Use him properly or put him on the bench.

Le Roux performances for the Boks this season have been quite interesting. He was a real standout during the mid-year tests - so much so that his coach (obviously incorrectly ) suggesting he was the best fullback in he world! During the Rugby Championship however he has been poor. It appears he has been told to kick the ball whenever he receives - if that is all they want from their fullback they would probably be better off going back to Zane Kirchner.... Le Roux can obviously be very effective at fullback - we saw this during the mid-year tests - he just needs to be told to stop kicking the ball away and start backing himself more (and to stop throwing forwards passes...).

EDIT: I was as bit bored so was trolling through some old threads. I found one in particular regarding Ben Smith's initial selection into the AB's (5 years ago). Many posters thought his selection was a bit of a joke, but one particularly knowledgeable poster had this to say: "Selection of Ben Smith a surprise, however he has been outstanding in recent games for Otago and has the skills the AB selectors are after (Good under the high ball, exceptional counter attacking skills). He had a very solid season for the Highlanders (was second in the voting for back of the year) and had the third most line-breaks among all wings in the competition - he is much more that just a safe winger that many posters here seem to think (though I suspect they may not have actually watched him play). He has more than a little of Jeff Wilson about him." Whoever that poster was much be feeling pretty smug at the moment

 

[TRF_heineken]

Well what a test match!!

I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the game. And what made it even more enjoyable was that there were no controversies or yellow/red cards given.

I have to say I want to commend JDV, not only on his 100th Springbok cap, but also for the ballsy decision to go for the lineout. While some may criticise the calls he made from the 74th minute onwards, they really need to look at it in perspective. in the 2nd half the Springboks only had 24% territory. If he was to kick at goal, there wouldn't have been a chance for the Boks to get into another kickable position. And whether you lose by 4 points or one, it wouldn't have changed anything. We still would've gotten a losing bonus point.

The outstanding performers for me for the Boks were: Duane Vermeulen, Marcell Coetzee, Handre Pollard, Cornal Hendricks and Jan Serfontein.
For the All Blacks: Richie Mccaw, Aaron Smith, Julian Savea, and Brodie Retallick stood out.

For a change, I could see why HM picked Strauss ahead of Bismarck. Bismarck was horrible when he came on, missing his jumpers almost at every lineout. But Jannie and Beast has pulled up their socks quite nicely. They were more effective at the scrums that I thought they would and they gave the AB's a tough time at scrums.

I'm not sad about the loss, because at least we have shown what we can do. And I think HM needs to be applauded for his manner in which he got the team together again and also to stick with Pollard.

I can't wait for the next 2 tests... Our touring is done, so now we welcome the Aussies and AB's to SA.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I don't think its fair to say Le Roux's 'positional play is average and his kicking game is sub par'. It certainly was this game but there have been numerous games these last two years that his basic game at fullback was outstanding. I think what one can say is that he is very irratic though, in all aspects of his game. I still prefer him ahead of Kirchner.

 

[TRF_heineken]

I don't think its fair to say Le Roux's 'positional play is average and his kicking game is sub par'. It certainly was this game but there have been numerous games these last two years that his basic game at fullback was outstanding. I think what one can say is that he is very irratic though, in all aspects of his game. I still prefer him ahead of Kirchner.

I prefer him ahead of anyone else in SA to be honest. And yes, he had a poor game against the AB's, but it was his handling that let him down. His tactical kicking was fantastic against Australia, and on several occasions got the ball behind Folau and in the corner.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

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yes, I agree, Hein. His kicking game against Aus was superb. I think the comments here that he just kept kicking is also not accurate. Looking at the stats it shows that he ran with the ball twice as much as kicked and he had 2 defenders beaten. Just the handling let him down this game (4 times losing posession! with Habana doing so twice and Hendricks thrice means our outside backs weren't effective ball in hand or at least in retaining posession) and the ABs had him marked quite well which is something he can't help; he needs more support and guys like Serfontein and Hendricks need to do more work off the ball.

The bad (on top of the backline):

JdB topping the missed tackle count at 5... a trend that hasn't bucked for 2/3 seasons now. We really needed Malherbe to stay fit.

Francois Louw was a passenger this game; Scrum.com has him at 3 runs for literally 0m, and 9 tackles missing 2. 38 year old Matfield made twice the number of tackles from lock and made more ground with half the 'runs'!! Not too mention his good line-out work; 7 takes and 2 steals.
With the amount of quality we have in the backrow Louw needs to unfortunately pay the price for sub standard performances. Coetzee to take over at open side with Alberts coming in surely? Or get Whiteley some time. 1 run, 1 defender beaten and 5/0 tackles is more than Louw did in 7 times the time.
Handling and the accuracy of kicking in general play was what let us down in addition to our set pieces going backwards with Bismarck coming on in the 2nd half. The fact we can count the number of offloads on one hand these last 4 games says a lot.

The good:

Our scrambling defense was effective and we bossed the breakdown for the most part being unlucky not to get a few more penalties IMO which we should get at home I'd imagine. Set pieces we were shading the ABs in the 1st half.